Summary:
Cute, trendy Bella returns home to escape the heartache of her past. She immediately befriends neighbors Jasper and Edward, bonding with them in the treehouse out back. Bella and Edward discover they have more in common than they ever dreamed of. AH A/U
Twilight - Rated: M - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 27 - Words: 323,651 - Reviews: 6924 - Updated: 1-17-10 - Published: 7-16-09 - Edward & Bella
I first started reading "High Anxiety" when I saw the banner while browsing through the "Most Recent" stories over on Twilighted. (yes, I confess, I usually choose the stories I read by the banner) Then, there were only around 5 chapters and I got hooked instantly. For some reason tho, I lost sight of the story (that was before I heard of story alerts and before I thought of checking if the story is on FFn too) - until someone mentioned this really awesome story on Twitter and posted the FFn link. Checking the summary made me realize that I've actually already started the fic some time back and I couldn't stop reading until I was finally uptodate. Only then did I notice that EdwardsBloodType is, in fact, the author of one of my all time favorite stories I'll Be You're Lover Too (run, don't walk if you haven't read it yet). Yeah, I really suck.
Why I love "High Anxiety"?
Well, we've all read the cliché characterisations: a Bella, that doesn't know how to dress, an Alice, that spends tons of money on clothes and stuff, Jasper, who's hopelessly in love with Alice as soon as he sees her,Charlie, who hasn't had a relationship since Renee left, a flighty Renee,
Not here!
Bella, DOES have a sense of style (in fact, she comes of as a bit materialistic in the beginning). Alice lives with her single mother across the street and needs to work for a living. Jasper can't stand Alice, calls her "Xanax" (I really want to slap him). Charlie is in a relationship and works as private investigation in Seattle. Renee owns two boutiques in L.A.
What else is there to know?
Esmom is only making organic food (Tofurkey anyone?) Bella works for “Big Billy’s Party Time Fun" (IKR, sounds like a stripclub =) ) Even 17yr olds LOVE sleeping in racing car beds. A "Create A Mate Kit" (Mock Cock) should always come with shaving cream. (I can't believe I nearly forgot to mention that) There's lots and lots of sexual innuendo and masturbation. There's drug use. And Eddie has a bad case of OCD (which makes him really adorable)
But don't forget that High Anxiety is also in the "Angst" genre. And that for good reason. So make sure to read her warnings in the A/N.
Here's what EdwardsBloodType has to say:
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1. Where did you get the idea for this story? What was your inspiration?
I had actually read an article in a magazine about a corrupt judge that was sentencing minors from wealthy families who had committed moderate crimes to attend private boarding schools and boot camps whereby he received monetary kickbacks from the institutions. I had been thinking about different story ideas and using a restraining order in conjunction with a corrupt judge came to mind. The story I had been currently working on at the time was thirty seven chapters of lemons and dirty smut, and I was admittedly burnt out from that. I wanted to write a story that was plausible and interesting enough keeping the main characters who readers were so used to being intimate with each other, to not have contact, which would allow me a break from writing sex scenes.
The tree house and the smoking pot came from my own high school experiences, and it is a trip to write about stuff that I did so long ago. What began as a simple writing challenge and uh…laziness, turned into High Anxiety.
2. Is there anything you would want readers to know specifically?
I love you guys, every one of you…not you mean ones though. *sticks out tongue at mean readers*
I have already reiterated this many times, but while the restraining order is real the circumstances that lead Edward to them are unconstitutional. There would have to be more evidence and some sort of trial for this to happen in real life. When I started this, I had no access to a consulting attorney, so I just used what I could find off the internet as far as legalities go. Now, I am working with a parole officer, and an attorney to try to stick with facts and realistic circumstances. I am currently looking for a judge, preferably a corrupt one, if anyone is interested (hint hint.)
Oh and the reason I chose for Bella to call Edward “E”, was simply because I had been reading and writing so much fanfiction that I was actually calling my sons Edward, which my Twilight loathing husband was less than pleased about. My little one’s name is Ethan, and I often refer to him as E, so this was a clever cover up. However, it makes me feel entirely pervy and weird and gross to write a lemon (or non- lemon in my case) where Bella is sexing up her boyfriend using the name I call my two year old son.
3. Why should readers read your story?
Cause it’s frigging awesome! I am soooooo kidding. I think for the most part, the idea is original, if not completely absurd, but I am trying to keep it interesting and as authentic as possible. If the readers want to read something angsty and heartbreaking with teenage antics, drug and alcohol use, lots of masturbation and foul language, High Anxiety will certainly provide that. Other than that, I don’t know why anyone would read this. Honestly, I am surprised so many people are reading this when there is so much great writing out there. I am kind of overwhelmed at the positive response it has received amongst the fandom, and I am truly grateful and honored. Makes me feel all squishy inside.
4. Do you do anything special while writing a chapter? Like listen to special music, a need for total silence, eat a bag of M&Ms, drink heavily, whatever…
Since I practically live in my car, I listen to music while driving which gets me motivated to write my chapters, and I have been known to chow down on chocolate Twizzlers. I don’t have any specific rituals or anything. I need quiet to write, because I find music or the television incredibly distracting. I did try to write once when I was drunk and that turned out less than stellar. Lesson learned.
5. What do you do after you click the submit button for a chapter?
I relax. I walk away and don’t come back for at least twelve hours. Or sometimes, I dive straight into a new fic to cleanse the palate so to speak.
6. Do you have a soundtrack to your stories?My bestie and beta Suzy, who is amazing, made me a bunch of CD’s with random songs that fit the theme(s) of the story. I listen to that music to get inspired. One song I fell in love with so much I actually altered the storyline to fit the lyrics. Yeah I am a sell out, but it’s a great song. And I can’t tell you what that is…too revealing.
7. Who do you picture as YOUR Edward and Bella?
Edward is definitely Rob, but a much younger, much more polished, shaven, washed, better dressed version. I see HA Edward in the December Vanity Fair shots of Rob. Bella is Emmanuelle Chiriqui from Entourage. Sexy and sweet at the same time. She wears makeup, styles her hair, dresses in trendy, designer clothes. She is not a wallflower, or a Mary Sue by any means.
8. Is the story all planned out or do you do it as a fly by the seat of your pants thing?
The entire essence of the story is planned out however, there are certain scenes, particularly the ones involving the tree house and family time that just sort of erupt spontaneously from something mundane. A lot of the scenes or conversations are stolen from my day to day life (such as the swing set, Sesame Street conversation, the meatcake and brandy from the old lady) or random past personal experiences. And though I know exactly what is going to happen, sometimes the story takes a weird unexpected turn. Like when E & B go to the concert in Seattle, all of a sudden I was like, hmmm…what would happen if Tanya showed up, and then poof! She was there causing a ruckus.
9. Do you have a posting schedule? If so, what is it?
I bust my ass to post once a week, but rarely post on a set day, as my life ensures no predictability whatsoever. I use two betas, one who resides in Australia, so with the time difference, I never know when I am going to get the story back proofread.
10. Do you believe in HEA?Absolutely. I have read stories where there was no happy ending and even though it may have been appropriate to the story, I felt very unsatisfied with that, disappointed and almost regretting reading the story because it left me empty. Though High Anxiety will not necessarily have a “happy” ending, it will be an ending that the readers will be happy with. I hope that makes sense.
11. What are you currently working on/do you have any more fic plans in the future?
I have several story ideas that are brewing in my head, but the one I am most enthusiastic about requires a tremendous amount of research, as I would be delving into subjects that I know nothing about, and I am not sure I can make it authentic. Also, right now, with so many Twilight fanfics, it is extremely difficult to find a theme/ topic/ storyline that hasn’t been done. I think about all that is left is the Cullens as circus folk. I can see it now: Charlie is the stern but kind ringmaster, EmRo and Jalice are the flying Cullini’s, while Edward, the mutant piano playing trapeze artist with his emerald green eyes, really tiny arms and freakishly small penis falls for Bella the Bearded Woman/ shy elephant tamer who is engaged to Jacob the half wolf boy. I think that will be my next project.
12. What brought you to fanfic? To Twilight?
So here I was, bored mother to two little kids looking for something to fill idle time. I heard about Twilight on the radio when the deejays were talking briefly about how obsessed with the books they had become. (I had no idea they were about teenagers or vampires or I wouldn’t have ever bought the book.) I would sit bored out of my mind while waiting a few minutes each day for my son to get out of school, and I figured that it was October, if I read ten minutes a day, I could be done with the book by June. Well, five days and 2800 pages later, on no sleep, no food, mounds of dirty dishes and laundry, two neglected kids and one very pissed off husband, oh and endless hours on the internet searching for SMeyer’s outtakes and pictures…I was so far gone.
I then discovered that a movie was coming out with the adorable preppy kid from Harry Potter, and that just fueled the obsession. Through Googling Robert Pattinson, (yes, I love him and I have no shame) I came across a fanfiction site and I was in sheer heaven. It was there I discovered that I could read several different versions of the infamous and highly disappointing fade to black Breaking Dawn scenes. It was better than hitting the lottery. Then I discovered all human fics and I was floored as to how much talent was out there.
13. What is your background in writing?I have a degree in Special Education and in reading and literacy. The only real writing experiences I have are term papers for college. As far as writing creatively, I have kept diaries in my teens and aspired to write a children’s picture book someday, but that was about it.
FANTASY TIME
If you could have 15 minutes with any Edward, fanfic or SMs, which one would you choose and what would you do?
Um… seriously? I can’t pick one!
Stephenie Meyer’s Edward…I would slap him around for being such a controlling prude (even though that’s kind of hot) and then I would ask why Alice couldn’t see the paper cut happening. I mean, come on Alice… way to be vigilant!
Masters of The Universe Edward… I’d read his fabulous emails while I let him spank me at the same time he’s spending gobs of money on me while flying in his helicopter.
Eye Contact Edward…I think his Autism is fascinating and I would talk to him about anything he wanted to talk about, of course, fitting the time into his schedule appropriately. And I’d ask him for a paper crane as a souvenir.
High Anxiety Edward…I’d hug him and show him my story outline, proving that he will eventually get laid!
Clipped Wings & Inked Armor Edward… 15 minutes isn’t enough time for a tat, so I’d let him pierce me anywhere he wanted to, and then I would ask to see his giant anaconda with my own eyes. Then I’d take pictures if time permitted.
15. If you could ask any Twilight Cast member a Question, who would you ask and what would your Question be?
Jackson Rathbone…why in God’s name would you allow them to style your hair like that for New Moon? Why? Just…why?
(Don't we all wonder about that?)
16. What is your FF pet peeve?
My biggest issue is Fanfiction Edward having emerald or jade green eyes. Emerald and jade green eyes do not exist. True green eyes occur in like 1% of the population and are pale green like apples or beach glass. If you put Emerald green eyes on a bronze haired, chiseled faced Adonis, who has freakishly long fingers, 24 pack abs, a crooked smile with perfect gleaming white teeth and a giant man muscle between his legs, you have an alien, cyborg or a Ken doll, under the guise of human Edward Cullen. No offense to those who write him with emerald or jade eyes- to each her own…
Oh also, the following overused phrases irk me to no end: popping the p ( or any other letter), letting out a breath that said character wasn’t aware they were holding, anything to do with carrying Bella bridal style, or tilting upward of the chin. Though I must admit, I may have been guilty of some of these in my earlier writing, but currently avoid them like the plague.
17. What is your Fandom pet peeve?
Well, while the vast majority of the fandom is amazing, there are a few people that feel it is okay to be hurtful or abusive in reviews, thinking it is constructive criticism, or it is within their right to be demeaning or insulting. They need to remember that the author, who in most cases has no formal training, prior experience or expertise in fictional writing, is doing this for free… for fun, so that they can provide you with entertainment in the convenience of your own home. No one is forcing you to read, and to tell the author who has spent countless hours writing, researching, organizing, conferring, editing, imagining and posting, that their story is boring/ stupid/ downright sucks is just plain mean and unnecessary. I believe this is the general consensus of the fandom authors.
18. Which character do you identify with the most? Any character who would you like to see yourself with? Either as buddies or more?
Honestly, I would take any Edward from any story, at any time in the bedroom, no question. However, I would love to be friends with Emmett from any story. He is just the epitome of awesome in just about every characterization. Also, he’s hot so he would be a great fuck buddy too. I don’t wholly identify with any of the female characters really, I am more a splice from all of them. I think I least identify with canon Bella, because she’s so boring and Rose because she’s such a vain bitch. Maybe canon Alice?
High Anxiety Bella is a partial manifestation of myself when I was in high school and college, and I find it hilarious when I get a review telling me they hate my Bella and think she’s a shallow, selfish dimwit.
19. Which RL author inspires you? Did any FF authors inspire you?
Martin Millar, Jodi Picoult, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Stephenie Meyer, Eric Carle, Shel Silverstein. I want to be all intellectual and say The Bronte Sisters or something but honestly, I couldn’t get past the third page of Wuthering Heights. It was boring and they used the word ejaculation and it totally distracted me. Yeah, I have no depth.
I love Hunter Hunting’s smut, In A Blue Bathrobe has an amazing talent for poetry, Hwhimsey’s writing is just overall amazing, Feathersmmmm and AngryBadgerGirl kill me with their humor. I have many other favorite authors, each for a specific reason. The talent in the fandom is truly awe inspiring.
20. Any recs for us?
Printed works- The Very lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
I am currently loving
- Eye Contact,
- Master of the Universe,
- A Rough Start,
- University of Edward Masen,
- Clipped Wings and Inked Armor,
- Emancipation Proclamation,
- The Naked Guy Upstairs,
- The Screamers,
- Breaking Trinity,
- The Caged Bird,
- This Is Not My Life…
21. Anything else you would like to add?
I am honored to be asked to do the interview, and I am continually thankful to the girls who read this and support the story.
*SPOILERS*
Tell us about the "law" you're talking about in your fic. I understand that you made it up at first?
Yes, I initially thought about how restraining orders have a specific distance one person must remain from another. I thought it would be funny to make him have to stay like three feet away from any female. But with Edward' s OCD and his perfectionism, he would be carrying around a ruler with him in his back pocket and that was just dumb. So I thought, what would happen if he couldn’t touch any female at all? Then once I had the story all planned out, I post and come to find through readers that it is an actual thing! How anyone can realistically be expected to remain without contact and still be permitted to go to school, work etc is beyond me. I think the order is completely absurd and designed to fail.
Bullying/harrassing is also playing a big part in High Anxiety. Are you talking of personal experience here or why did you choose to talk about that?
(here's where I completely embarrassed myself. Who knew that just b/c a word sounds/looks English it doesn't necessarily IS English?)
The situation with Bella’s past and the falsified photos was initially something very different. But I wanted her to remain a virgin while having gone through a traumatic incidence socially that would lead her to experience panic attacks, so this was something that not only allowed her to relate to Edward’s plight, but his fragile emotional state as well. It’s something that is happening all over the world is slowly becoming an epidemic of sorts. I do plan to touch on the topic in further chapters.
Fortunately, I have no experience with anything like this. When I went to high school, there weren’t even CD’s or DVD’s yet, never mind Internet, cell phones and photo shopping. I can’t even begin to imagine the hot boy stalking I could have done with that technology. I would so be in jail right now.
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