Awake in the Infinite Cold by quothme
Summary: Sometimes the fruit is forbidden for a reason. A mélange of Twilight and How to Be, with an Artward who so carefully and so softly sneaks under her skin and into her soul. Not your typical E/B romance. Complete
Awake in the Infinite Cold begins when Bella moves to Seattle and is saved by a mysterious stranger, who immediately disappears. This starts a chain of events that intertwine the two in a way that neither suspected. It’s a story about people, the good and the bad in them and how we all see the world. It is one of the most touching and well composed stories that I have ever read.
Disclaimer: As I was writing up the answers below, I felt like Kristen Stewart in this Letterman interview. At one point, Kristen says, “I’m actually really boring...I was like ‘What am I going to talk about on Letterman?’” Letterman deadpans, “Did you tell somebody that?” :)
1. Where did you get the idea for this story? What was your inspiration?
Rob as the character of Art in How to Be was my inspiration. I finished watching that movie, felt all kinds of weird (because my psyche was having a hard time resolving RobArt with Robward from Twilight), and thought to myself, “I need to write a fanfic in which Edward looks and moves like Art.” Oh, and in which he stuffs tissues up a bloody nose and eats an overflowing bowl of cereal. I have this theory that in Twilight fanfiction, it’s all about Edward. Want people to read your stuff? Write about a unique Edward. Even better? Make sure he’s in some type of pain. Not to say that I thought about it quite that clinically when I first started, but that’s the conclusion I’ve come to now. Make that maternal instinct kick in, ya know?
2. Why do you think readers should read your story?
Because I spent many an hour of my life to try and make this story worth reading. My goal was to write a fanfic that had some type of impact, one that you wouldn’t soon forget, whether you actually like it or not. I tried to infuse a positive moral into this story and am pleased with how the final chapter embodies that moral.
3. Is there anything you would want readers to know specifically?
The story is not for everyone. I knew that going in. I knew that it was not going to be a “broad market appeal” type story, so I’m not offended if people can’t read past a certain chapter. At this point, I feel like I’ve received more than my share of positive affirmation.
4. Give us a random fact about yourself
I play piano and Boggle, though not usually at the same time.
5. Do you do anything special while writing a chapter like listen to special music, need total silence, eat a bag of M&Ms, drink heavily, whatever …
I’m one of those boring, silence-only writers. To keep myself in the mood for writing the last few chapters of Awake in the Infinite Cold, however, I did watch this final segment of the movie Pay It Forward before starting to write.
6. What do you do after you click the submit button for a chapter?
I skim the posted chapter to make sure I uploaded the correct one and that the formatting and section breaks are all working properly. Then I retreat to the Bat Cave and go to sleep. I need to give myself a chance to calm down, mentally prepare for feedback, and re-focus on writing the next chapter.
7. Do you have a soundtrack to your stories?
No, I’m kinda boring that way. I’ve tried to at least find one song that I could use for the promo videos I created for AitIC and Glitch. A theme song for Type O Negative continues to elude me. (Would welcome suggestions, btw.)
8. What actor/actress do you picture as YOUR Edward and Bella?
Rob and Kristen will always be my Edward and Bella. I read the books a week before the movie came out, so I didn’t have time to formulate any other visuals. And I fully accept of them in the roles. Jasper, not so much. :)
9. Is the story all planned out or do you do it as a fly by the seat of your pants thing?
Bulleted lists are my little friends. I make at least a high-level outline for each of my stories so that I don’t write myself into a corner later. Although I must confess that I don’t usually know the exact ending; I’ve found it hard to write an effective ending without seeing everything that will come before. I’ve also regularly tried to take Orson Scott Card’s advice and write a rudimentary draft for the entire story before I dive in to improve. It doesn’t always work out, but that’s always my goal.
10. Do you believe in HEA?
A well-crafted HEA makes me as happy as the next girl. Then again, effectively woven tragedy or heatfail also does it for me. Ultimately, I’m attracted to masterful writing and a compelling tale, regardless of the story’s ending.
11. Give me a list of your current projects.
I’m recovering from the intensity of AitIC by writing Glitch, a psychological exploration of whether Edward is merely a figment of this Bella’s imagination. I think we can all agree, however, that the only interesting thing about Glitch so far is the promo video, which might very well end up outshining the fic. :)
12. Do you have any more fic plans in the future?
Yes, but I’ve found that if I talk about my ideas, they go away. My original goal when I started writing in this fandom was to write five complete stories. Glitch is number four, and then I have at least one more planned. Why five? Well, I read somewhere once that writers often have to write five complete novels before they truly start getting in the storytelling groove. Since I was too daunted to write an actual novel, I started with fanfic and have set myself a goal of writing five fics so that I can practice pacing an end-to-end plot.
13. What brought you to fanfic? To Twilight?
I’m about to embarrass myself. I started writing my first Power Rangers fanfic when I was in eighth grade. Who can blame me? The Green/White Ranger was hot. I didn’t even have internet at that point, but as soon as I did, I started looking to see if other people were writing Power Rangers fic. Of course they were. Granted, Power Ranger fic is god-awful (much like the show, hm?), but it exists. Through the years, I’ve continued reading fanfic for every fandom I’ve happened to be in at the time.
As for Twilight, my story is pretty cliché—somebody begged me to read the books; I ate them in a week; I went desperately searching for fanfic to prolong the high; Edward took over my life; I lost my job; got a divorce; family disowned me; now I live on the streets of LA hoping that Pattinson will see me, slip a glass slipper on my foot, and marry me. That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.
14. What is your background in writing?
I write and edit to make monies in real life. I have a Master’s degree in Technical Writing, in which I learned some fun theory about how to write clearly, concisely, and cohesively. I can write essays, articles, white papers, web copy, blah blah blah in my sleep. Creative writing, however, is an entirely different animal, as I quickly found when I started writing Type O Negative. I’m still very much a baby creative writer but am trying to spread my wings a little more each day in the hopes that I can someday fly.
15. FANTASY TIME
If you could have 15 minutes with any Edward FF or SMs which one would you choose and what would you do?
The idea of fantasy time with Edward makes me so, so happy. I’m going to spend significantly more than 15 minutes right now thinking about which Edward I should chose. (...) To be honest, the only thing I would like to do with any Edward is watch him play the piano, preferably some difficult classical piece, the better to showcase those fingers. The only caveat—he has to be human and barefoot. Therefore, a whole horde of fanfic Edwards will suffice (including the lovely Logicward from Eye Contact—wink, wink). I could probably listen to Logicward talk about his “special interest” all day. I am very patient.
16. What is your FF pet peeve?
Bella giggling. For a long time, I thought Bella giggling was out of character (can you see Kristen Stewart doing the whole cutesy giggling thing?), but then I was re-reading Twilight the other day, and—cue an angel’s chorus shining through clouds—Bella giggled. I almost dropped the book. And then I got grumpy because I always comment on the word “giggle” when I’m beta’ing for other people. Not going to stop me from commenting on that word, though. And if you see anyone in my stories giggling aside from Jessica, her equivalent, or a hyena, drop the hammer on me. Please.
17. What is your fandom pet peeve?
It’s not exactly a pet peeve; I just flat-out don’t do drama. I will quickly slink away from confrontation, whether directed toward me or anyone else. I’m in this fandom to read and write about Edward (and, of course, to stalk Robert).
18. Which RL author inspires you?
18. Which RL author inspires you?
My favorite real-life authors are Orson Scott Card and Robin McKinley. I re-read many of their books at least once a year, including Ender’s Game and The Blue Sword. Oh, and I just read The Host by Stephanie Meyer...it was a phenomenal sci-fi ride. I was surprised because I hadn’t heard much about it in the Twifandom.
19. Did any FF authors inspire you?
19. Did any FF authors inspire you?
I envisioned Awake in the Infinite Cold as the love child of Poughkeepsie by MrsTheKing and The Blessing and the Curse by TheBlackArrow—if, of course, the child was born prematurely and/or dropped on its head. Borderline inappropriate kidding aside, I’m consistently amazed by the unparalleled metaphors and word choice used by both authors and strove mightily to infuse the same level of creativity into each word of AitIC.
20. Anything else you would like to add?
I’d like to give a shout-out to everyone who drank AitIC to the last, bittersweet drop. I can’t tell you how many reviews I received that said something like, “I know you’re probably going to get a lot of flames for this ending, but I loved it.” Well, guess what? I’ve gotten zero flames about the ending (knock on wood). Everyone has been overwhelmingly kind. I’m proud of the fandom and of the brave readers who have taken the time to read. Said in the style of Kristen after not-kissing Rob at the MTV Movie Awards: “Thank you so much.”
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