Sue's Interview with Camoozle about her fic 'For The Summer'

For The Summer by Camoozle

Summary: Every year Bella waits for the 'Pay Checks' to roll into her sleepy river town and every year Edward's hers, just for the summer. AH, AU, OOC, B/E

Twilight - Rated: M - English - Romance/Drama - Chapters: 9 - Words: 83,166 - Reviews: 1724 - Updated: 6-17-10 - Published: 4-30-10 - Bella & Edward

Random SUE fact:

I worked for a few summers at Aunt and Uncles trout farm/bait shop.

YUP I was a tour guide to the trout ponds I showed little kids and their parents how to bait hooks and catch fish 

SO what does this have to do with this fic? wellllll

we had regulars families that would come up every summer

SO I have that connection to this fic I remember working when other people were having fun.

ALSO I am the same age as the Bella in this fic 

ANNNND I love how at the start of each chapter she puts up little bits of information of things that happened during that year in the real world.


There is no good guy/ bad guy in this fic which is another bonus all these characters have depth and feel very real when you read about them 


IF your friends have not convinced to read this fic then check out my long and rambling interview with Camoozle where I learned some fascinating things about the writer behind this amazingness! 



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What was it that gave you the ‘spark’ for your story? Was it a picture? A moment or event? Can you remember the initial inspiration?

Cam: It was actually a song. "Summer Skin" by Death Cab for Cutie.

There's a part that says something like "we peeled the skin from our shoulders, and left our love in our summer skin"

And I immediately thought of the river where I vacation every year. My best friend whom I vacation with and I always used to hold these ridiculous conversations during the 4 hour car ride there from california and we always would wonder what the people that live in these tiny towns were like

And now we have Marina Bella...lol

should I roger when I'm through...lol

Sue: no, This is good! Keep going if there is more!

Cam: nope that's it

Do you have a particular process when it comes to your writing, perhaps a certain mood, environment or music? Do you have any ‘triggers’ to get you in the writing mood?

Cam: music for sure. I have a playlist on my mp3 player that is just writing music. I also write best first thing in the morning when I'm just waking up

Give us an elevator pitch. Say you’re in an elevator with a prospective reader for 2 minutes – what would you tell them about the story?
Cam: shit this is hard

Sue: I ask the hard hitting Qs

Cam: It's mostly about the journey I guess. less about the where people end up and more about how they get there. It's about growing up and is hopefully a balanced portrayal of the realities of moving from childhood into adulthood and the disappointment, elation, excitement, anxiety that comes with it. It's a love story mostly but it's also a life story

Sue: Those are some lofty goals for a fic which BTW has become quite popular

Cam: yeah, I have a hard time focusing it's the ADD. I totally thought it would be a fun little story to do after the monster of angst that I wrote previously. I totally didn't expect people to react this way

Sue: did you think it would do as well and speak to so many people as it does

and if that Q makes sense then you and I have been drinking the same beer! BWHAHAHA

Cam: I totally got it bb and I'm just getting started with my cocktails!

Sue: WHEW cause sometimes I type and what I type is not what I meant to say or it sounded better in my head LOL

Do you picture particular actors for your characters, or are they someone else entirely? If so, who? This Q BTW is my little way of trying to get more pictures in our posts

we all love to look at pretty

Cam: when I'm writing, I don't have actors in my head. They're like faceless entities but I totally scope on rob for my inspiration. I wish I could quit him!

Sue: LOL we can work with that nah don't quit Rob being a Rob fan is fun most of the time

Cam: I'm so disappointed with this whole media fuckery thing

Sue: which one?

Cam: it turns me off of the who thing

the robsten, are they, aren't they, drama

ugh i hate the paparazzi

Sue: I do as well

Cam: I just avoid it all together

Sue: The whole are they aren't they thing is silly really

it is none of our business and no skin off my nose either way

Cam: it's so lame

Sue: which is why I am team IDGAF

Cam: seriously!!! me too

Sue: it's nice here

Cam: I'm not a kstew fan

Sue: I simple enjoy the interviews for what they are

neither am I honestly

but I do not begrudge those who are

if that is their thing no biggie

Cam: to each their own

Sue: but she is not my thing LOL

Cam: but i just can't read anymore of it

I haven't even watched the trailers for eclipse

Sue: Then go to my affiliate Strictly Rob Pattinson

it is a web site of only Rob news that has been varified

no gossip no drama

Cam: oh schweet!!

Sue: The person who set it up is one of my former BBR hoors Vanessarae

Cam: good news good news

Sue: I am a source of all kindsa crazy things

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

Cam: It's completely planned out

I have an outline. A character development chart detailing the steps of development for each character for each year. All the important plot points are sequenced which can be bad and good

it leaves NO room for flexibility especially because each chapter is one summer. It all HAS to happen in that one chapter or I'm screwed lol. It's been a bit of a challenge

Sue: IT all sounds so organized

Cam: especially because I've made it a personal goal to keep the filler to a minimum. It's pretty organized but I'm a space cadet. I have memory fail

Sue: ME TOO!!

Cam: if I don't write it down it's GONE

Sue: *poof* I understand

Cam: omg, I'm so horrible. I keep a notepad in my purse so I won't forget shit that people tell me on the phone. The phone is the worst.

Sue: me too! I have lists to make lists of things to do

Cam: oh god, the epic lists I have lol

Sue: and I am easily distracted by pretty and fic and stuff

Cam: oh yes, i am so easily distracted

Have you got any other projects going on? Any planned for the future?
Cam: I don't have anything else going on but I am planning a couple of EPOV outtakes for this story, for the Fandom Gives Back auction. I don't actually KNOW what I will be writing yet

but that's what I'll be working on next

What was it that brought you to Twilight fanfic? What is it that has kept you here (besides your own writing)

Cam: One of my real life sweeties and reading buddies, misformarisa recommended I read Wide Awake after we both read the books. i was hooked after that. I think the friendships are what keep me here. I love the people I've met through this process. I talk to some of them every single day

Sue: I know the feeling

 

Do you have a background in writing?

Cam: I've always written poetry, and really it is my first love. My grandma is a poet and actually just finished her first book and she's always given us a poem on our birthdays and stuff, prose scribbled on paper and stuffed in our cards. Writing has just been all around me, I guess.

She used to make us read the dictionary when we stayed the night at her house.

it was a game...find a word that grandma doesn't know

lol

Sue: sweet

Cam: she's a crazy old bat lol just kidding

Sue: mine used to tell me that if I sat on the counter it was a sign that I was a whore

THAT is a crazy old bat

Cam: omg that is fucking awesome! i love it

Sue: I know gramma was NUTS

Cam: nutty grammies are the best!

How about your creative self-confidence? By nature writers tend to be a notoriously insecure lot so how are you finding the online writing experience?
Cam: i'm a spaz. A total spud as my beloved besties would say. I'm so completely clueless about a lot of things, especially when it comes to fandom. Basically, I just smile and nod and then run and freak out to them. They laugh at me and tell me to shut up and then I'm better. I think it's easier to think of the story as separate from my brain

Sue: my friends encourage the freakouts cause their funny

Cam: if reader's don't like it, it's okay because it's the story they don't like, not me and my words

Sue: VERY wise

Cam: yes, i'm like a hot yoda lol

Sue: LOL OH one thing you realize that you made Bella the same age as I am. I just wanted to point that out. She graduates from high school in 89

Cam: you know, I have had SO many readers comment on that exact point!

Sue: I was probably one of them. You sent me a review reply asking about the summer of 89

Cam: oh yes was that today?

Sue: but I forgot what I wrote in my review LOL

Cam: I forgot what i wrote in the reply

Sue: so ask away

Cam: lol

Sue: you wanted to know everything that happened

Cam: OH MY GOD yes!!! I remember!

Sue: I am guessing because I brought up the hottie I dated in the Summer of 89

Cam: ugh

Sue: he was a tall skinny geeky red head

Cam: yes, and he left for college

Sue: yes he did

Cam: what happened???

Sue: but we had a great summer. well we had a great Summer

Cam: did you ever see him again

Sue: lots of fun we both worked jobs and it was my first summer staying in town. I used to work at my aunt and uncles place in the summer. oh sure he and I dated on and off for 2 years

then I broke up with him because he went to school so far away and having a long distance relationship was hard he was busy with school

Cam: YES

Sue: and I was busy with school I have not seen him in about 18 yrs but I hear a song by kid rock called all summer long adn I think of him

Cam: oh geez! awwwwww that kills me

Sue: he was a great kisser too

and no comment on the sex

LOL

Cam: lol

Sue: blush

Cam: nice!!!

Sue: OH YES

Cam: love that story!!!

Sue: thanks!

 

Do you tell your friends and family that you’re an online author with a devoted following, or is this something that you tend to keep for yourself?

Cam: I brag about it all the time lol no really, they all know

Sue: ME TOO!

Cam: they actually read sometimes

Sue: my hubs betad my O/S

Cam: but they're lazy so they usually flounce after like 2 chaps

Sue: which is funny cause it is about his mom

Cam: oh awkward lol

Sue: nah he laughed at it

Cam: my husband helps me brainstorm all the time

Sue: mine helps me sometimes with editing if I cant get a hold of my editors and he approves the porn and RObporn and recs me fics LOL

Cam: he's pretty judgy about morals and ideals so I present situations to him and he tells me if they're realistis or not. My husband has read some fics, he LOVES the smut

Sue: MINE TOO huge fan of ElusiveKoolaide

Cam: thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. He's pretty supportive but he went through a rob hating phase

Sue: mine teases me about Rob but has come to accept it

Cam: he's still doesn't see the appeal

Sue: I think mine gets that it is more Rob's interview personality than his looks really that makes him attractive

Cam: yes, it so is. Plus he's fuckhot

Sue: Rob interviews are entertaining

Cam: oh so entertaining

Sue: there I will agree with you. his verbal diarhea OMG LOVE IT! and how most of what he says goes over peoples heads slays me

Cam: it's so adorable! YES THIS

Sue: I am so looking forward to the DVD realease of Remember Me

Cam: his little sly comments are killer

Sue: he is doing the audio commentary

Cam: oh god I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch that movie again I am traumatized

Sue: I love it SOOOO much

Cam: I will need a good amount of adult beverages and quite possible an antidepressant

I love it so much it hurts

Sue: I read a draft of the script

Cam: i watched it in the theaters all on my own the first time

Sue: and I cried for 3 hours

Cam: yes, I read the last pages and fucking flipped a bitch

Sue: I never got to see it in theaters it was not released in my are

area

Cam: and then I was like, if they change this ending I will be so furious!

oh no!

Sue: yes I only saw it online

Cam: i was just going to ask that lol i love the interwebs

Sue: Which is heartbreaking because the BBR horrz and I were together everyday last summer as the pics were released

Cam: oh GAH! I remember that! I was so excited for the wall fuck

Sue: It was fantastic ME TOO

Cam: and my best gal n7of9 got to see it early and she text me from the theaters to rub it in my face

Sue: now we are watching the WFE pics get released daily on twitter

Cam: oh I am not on the twitter

Sue: OMG get on TWITTER

Cam: twitter is EVIL

Sue: you get to see the pictures as they come out from the WFE sites

nah, not really it can be used for good or evil depends on the people you follow

Cam: I will surely use it for evil lol

Sue: LOL and once a week you get to see my porn spam

Cam: i'm prone to the dark side

Is there a particular character in your story that you identify with the most?

Cam: well, I think obviously Bella since the whole diddy is her POV

I actually read my middle school journals so I could get a voice for a preteen

and OMG drama central!

Sue: LOL

Cam: I think what she's going through, a lot of people can identify with and I've thrown in a lot of personal experiences like the tampons. omg I hated them for so long. I was literally, scared to death of them and then to find out they could cause Toxic Shock Syndrome like freaked me out

and my parents are divorced. I grew up with a father who owned his own business only it was a restaurant and me and my sister spent our time running a muck and causing trouble while my dad worked

 

Which RL author(s) inspires you?

Cam: I love Tolkien, and LOTR. Robert Frost, Kate Chopin and the Awakening

and I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. I love fantasy worlds

Sue: I am a big HP fan

Cam: OMG trailers!!

Sue: I KNOW it is going to be soooo good

Cam: I cannot wait for this movie

Sue: at least I hope so

Cam: CAN'T WAIT I didn't like the last two movies

Sue: I scared for how they deal with the final battle

Cam: yes

Sue: I read a little HP fic too

Cam: i was so disappointed with HPB rooftop "battle"

Sue: a very little

Cam: I haven't ever read HP fic

Sue: I have read and loved a couple of Cedric fics for obvious reasons cause I am nuts

Cam: FABULOUS omg, i hated cedric when i read the books

Sue: realy? I loved him

Cam: I don't know, something about his smirk lol

Sue: LOL

Cam: now it's a smirk I'm quite fond of actually

Did any FF authors inspire you? What was it that had you reading FF and thinking “I could do this”?
Cam: I was quite obsessed with WA and then I started reading these other stories, you know for the smut and I don't know if I ever thought "I can do this" I just had this idea for my other story, which deals with eating disorders

and thought it would be a good release to get the words out. I love jeesiechreesie's (god I know i spelled this wrong) stuff because it's so dark and graphic, everything i wanted in a vampire story but didn't get from the twibooks...lol I love gore

Sue: LOL I used to love gore I adored Stephen King

Cam: I'm a gore whore I love any fight sequences. SPARTACUS! have you seen this? omg, EPIC LOVE

me: no I have not I am a comedy nut

Cam: so gorey and there's porn and sweat and omg, I love it

me: and romantic period drama

Cam: yes, i love the comedy as well

I love stand up

me: OMG I used to watch this stand up comedy show when I was in high school

it was on A&E

crap now I forget the name

it was different comedians in front of this brick wall

it was the first time I saw Jeff Dumham

Cam: it was the improv

me: Evening at the imrov

Cam: we go to the improv like once a month or so

yes!

me: I used to do Comedy Sportz while I was in high school it was a competetive team sport

Cam: I've seen mitch hedberg, dave chappell, daniel tosh

OMG, I so love the comedy sportz

me: similar to 2nd city

It was started in Milwaukee that is where I am from

Cam: I used to be in theater when I was in high school and we went to a conference where they had a team

and I was just in awe

me: It was so much fun!! crazy but fun

What advice would you give to an aspiring fanfic writer?

Cam: something that I get stuck on a lot is what other people are going to think

I write way ahead so readers won't influence where the story is going

because ultimately you have to write the story you want to write

not what others think it should be

Sue: Good advice!

Give us a Random Fact about yourself?

Cam: I can tap dance. I've tapped for like 15 years

Sue: my 15 yr old son is a tap dancer!

Cam: i love it! i tap everywhere. in the market. in the kitchen. walking down the street. just everywhere lol

Sue: fantastic. I cant dance well I can but I am never on the beat

Cam: I am a great interpretive drunk dancer

Sue: so i look like the last key stone cop

Cam: lol

Sue: yeah it is funny

Cam: I love dance. so you think you can dance is like my obsession right now

Sue: I love to watch others dance

I rarely get to watch TV

If you could have 15 minutes with any Edward FF or SMs which one would you choose and what would you do?
If you do not LIKE any of the Edwards feel to substitute an actor here. Rob, Kellan, PFach or Jackson or my personal favorite Colin.SIGH(taking a moment to contemplate Colin) any actor at all really
Cam: dude, I'd totally smoke a bowl with How to Save a Life potward

Yeah, I know, he's clean now or whatever but before...i'd be bobbing my head to some wutang and lighting that shit up

What is your FanFic Pet peeve?

Cam: um, I don't know nothing really bugs me

Sue: common ones are

popping the p

anything strawberries

anything throbbing or dripping

heated cores

Cam: I think maybe the excessive lemons

i don't like excessively smutty fics

unless it's part of the plot

if it's just there for the sake of being there it's useless

i skip it

What is your Fandom Pet peeve?

Cam: I think when people try to make this too serious

it's for fun, you know and I like it

if it were serious I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much

 I also don't like the competitiveness that seems to occur around reviews and what not

i don't know, I've kind of gotten to a place where fandom doesn't bug me

Sue: I ignore the BS and focus on the good

Cam: it's like I'm in my own little safe bubble

yes!exactly

Sue: I am too old for most of the BS

Cam: i stick with my sweeties and it's all good

Sue: ditto

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Cam: um everything lol. A marine biologist. A psychologist. A dancer. I used to pretend I was on oprah lol

Sue: LOL I vacillate between wanting to be a lounge singer and wanting to be a movie Critic I mean where else could you get paid to eat popcorn and tell people your opinion?

Cam: omg totally! I was a drama nut, so i always wanted to be on broadway

Sue: as a lounge singer I could indulge in my festish for sequins that will never be met by dancing because I cannot dance. so lounge singer works for me. me too!

Cam: love sequins by the way!

Sue: WOW we are made for each other LOL

Cam: lol!!! totally!!!

Sue: I must drag you onto twitter

Cam: Bella has a twitter (@FtSBellaSwan)

Sue: I will make it a mission

Cam: my Boo set it all up for me

Sue: How can bella be on twitter and you not tweet? Who tweets for you?

Cam: miztrezboo, my prereader and maker of things technological, set up a blog for me and a twitter for bella. We share it. It's mainly for story updates and things

Sue: I will convince you

Cam: and so I could do the read-a-long

Sue:  I mean how else will you find out about this blog post unless you join twitter or haunt my blog?

Cam: lol you'll send me something right??? RIGHT????

Sue:  maybe BWHAHAHAHA we could talk sequins and dance costumes

Cam: heeehehee... omg the costumes! they're so horrible

Sue:  LOL

Cam: I'm more into the stomp style of tap right now

Sue:  I am happy I have a son in dance

Cam: so baggy pants and blocks are my style of dress 

Sue:  the costumes for boys are easy

Cam: oh yeah, pants, button up and a tie

Sue:  unless they have a kooky old dance teacher

Cam: with a little sequins on the collar

Sue:  who loves sequins on boys

Cam: and the cuffs. maybe down the side of the pants

Sue:  his best costume was black jeans a black button down with black sequins on the cuff and one line on the collar

Cam: oh nice!

Sue: it was. we will get him in dance again in the fall

Cam: that sounds like a grease number

Sue: he misses it

he did not do dance this last year

Cam: my daughter just got into ballet, she's four

Sue: OK last Q then I have to convince my 3 yr old it is really bed time

cause he is still awake

Cam: lol

Sue: you ready this Q is epic

Cam: ready

Anything else you would like to add?

Cam: oh dear. I really am thankful for the opportunity to share and get feedback. I love it all. I love it when reviewers yell at me or criticize the characters. I love it when they bring up things I didn't notice or when they provide alternate perspectives on issues. I love when they ask questions and when the totally just GET what I'm trying to convey. I even love it when they DON'T get it. Fanfic is a great way to expand our thinking to broaden what we think we know, to learn about others and ourselves. that's all

me: WOW LOL that was great baby. thanks so much for doing this

Sue's Interview with Camoozle about her fic 'For The Summer'