Sue's Interview with AmethystJackson about 'Only Human'

Only Human by AmethystJackson

Attention! Attention! 

Sue is breaking out of AU Human Twific and is reading something with Vamireps! I know, I know… shocking! My friend Molls told me to read this ages ago. She said something like “Read it, bitch! You know I don’t read bad shit!”

Well, with a glowing recommendation like that, how could I refuse? (Yes, Molls went into more detail, but it wouldn’t be as funny, so we will leave it there).

Here is Amethyst’s description of the story: A wish sends Bella back in time to Chicago, 1918, and to a human Edward.

And here is mine: SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! Bella makes a wish on her candles. Something to the effect of (remember, I am doing this from memory as I have no puter access) she wishes that Edward could have all the human experiences that he allowed her. OK, pervy minds, take a moment to think about this…

Even my romantic mind (insert Lady Tater *snort*) could not create anything as lovely as this well told story. It does not go the way you would expect.

So, I say, as Molls so eloquently put it, just fucking read it!

And now, without any more from me, here is the interview:

Where did you get the idea for this story? What was your inspiration?

I wanted to write a story about Bella and Edward in Edward’s time, in 1918, but I didn’t want to change the characters. I wanted it to be the Bella we knew from the books getting to meet Edward before his change…thus necessitating some time travel. And Only Human was born.

Is there anything you would want readers to know specifically?

About Only Human? It’s not perfect, especially in the details – not everything meshes with the canon story, and there are probably things that aren’t historically accurate – but I think Bella’s journey and the overarching themes of the story are more important than those things.

Why should readers read your story?

Because…Edward is really cute as a human? That seems to be the general consensus.

Any more fic plans in the future?

Oh, yes, of course. I’m still working on Bonne Foi – updates are slow, but I haven’t stopped writing it, not by a long shot. There’s also Madman’s Mercy to work on, and I have another one that’s started that I’ll begin posting after Bonne Foi is finished. It will take place in the early 1800s in England.

What actor/actress do you picture as Ed/Bella?

I like Rob and Kristen in their roles, but before they were cast, I liked Gaspard Ulliel and Emily Browning. Gaspard was perfect for Edward in A Very Long Engagement.

 

Do you believe in HEA?

Oh, goodness, yes. That’s not to say that the story ends and everything is perfect every moment of every day for the characters, but people can have problems and still be happy. I definitely don’t subscribe to the cult of realism, though – or the idea that happiness can’t be realistic. Most people don’t spend their lives in a state of perpetual angst.

So you do anything special while writing a chapter like listen to special music, need total silence, eat a bag of M&Ms, whatever… ?

Well, I can’t write if anyone is looking over my shoulders, but other than that, I don’t really need any special conditions.

Is the story all planned out or do you do it as a fly by the seat of your pants thing?

It’s definitely not all planned out. I think readers tend to think thatauthors dream up stories fully formed, and maybe some of them do, but I tend to have only an overall plan for where the story is going. How it gets there tends to be made up as I go along…so it’s kind of a miracle if everything comes out coherent and making sense.

Do you have a posting schedule? If so what is it?

I used to, but with my senior year of college getting underway, it’s been impossible to stick to. I just update whenever I can.  

What brought you to fanfic? To Twilight? 

  I sort of wrote fanfic before I even knew what it was, but I really got into it through the Harry Potter fandom when I was 13. I found some stories online and started posting my own. I was 18 when I read Twilight and I couldn’t resist diving into Twilight fan fiction.

What is your background in writing?

I’ve made up stories for as long as I can remember. I started seriously writing at the same time I got into fan fiction – I wrote some horrible poems in my teenage years, and now I have original stories in progress along with my fan fiction. I study literature now because I want to learn from the masters.

Any Twilight related/RPattz dreams?

Yeah, now and then. Once I dreamed I stood in line for hours to meet RPattz and then some other girl tried to worm in on my time with him. I’ve had Twilight dreams now and then, too, but nothing like S Meyer’s dream that inspired it all. My dreams rarely make sense.

Any soundtrack to your stories?

I make iTunes playlists for all my stories. My music taste is all over the place…the Only Human soundtrack has Josh Groban, Muse, Eisley, Regina Spektor, Lifehouse, and The Killers, to name a handful.

Which character do you see yourself as? And would like to see themselves with?

I relate the most to Edward. Our brains work the same way – well, to an extent. Obviously, I do not have a vampire brain. I like Bella for Edward – I really like Bella as a character, too. She has a kind of selflessness that I could never possess, but I really admire it in her. If I was going to pick a character for myself to be with, I’d probably still say Edward…but that could lead to some problems. We might be too alike.

Which RL author inspires you? Did any FF authors inspire you? Stephenie Meyer inspires me, obviously, in that I love her characters, and I also love the way she can take something fantastic and impossible and blend it so seamlessly into the real world. Jane Austen also inspires me – she didn’t subscribe to the cult of realism, either. I really admire authors who can seamlessly incorporate grand themes into a compelling storyline. Fanfic authors do inspire me. Whenever an author can capture a character really well or move me with their writing, I try to learn from that.

Rec a fic and tell me why I should read it…

This is virtually impossible because there are so many amazing fics out there, and I just want to rec all of them. The most recent one I’ve started is Edward Wallbanger by feathersmmmm, and I love it because Edward’s character development is just beautiful, and the growth in the friendship between Edward and Bella gives me warm fuzzies.

And, there you have it! So if you are leery of the AU Human world and want to stick closer to canon characters, this is a good fic for you. It gives you the best of both worlds. Best of all, no fade to black!

Sue's Interview with AmethystJackson about 'Only Human'