Have you ever gone looking for a fic and it promises to be funny, but it really isn’t? The ones, where the characters are underdeveloped or worst case, the lemons just aren’t realistic? I have a story for you that solves all these problems.
Love in My Box is a joint effort on the parts of Cosmogirl7481 and Marvar29, two lovely ladies on opposite ends of the country who as they say, met on Fan Fiction, fell in love and are now raising a...err...writing a story together.
Meet Edward, in his fourth year of medical school at Dartmouth. He’s extremely particular, exceptionally bright and somewhat nerdy. He’s got no game with the women according to his ex-girlfriend. Bella is a Women’s Studies student at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a shy, forward thinker, women’s libber, nice girl with a romantic streak, trying to be more exciting and adventurous to appease her best friend Rose.
Bella and Edward meet in a bar in Miami during spring break and after copious amounts of Jack and Coke, hook up for an amazing night of passion that ended less than perfectly. Edward seeks her out via email, desperate to reconnect. What ensues is a sexy, beautiful, long-distance, love-filled romance, full of entertaining asides, medical references and stories about hijinks at the gym.
The hilarious dialogue and the extremely good development of character is what makes this story an absolute winner. Add in the secondary characters and their own funny quirks and issues (Charlie, a member of Promise Keepers?) and you have a wonderfully lighthearted romance that will keep you begging for updates and re-reading chapters because they are that good.
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What was it that gave you the 'spark' for your story? Was it a picture? A moment of event? Can you remember the initial inspiration?
Cosmo girl: Marv, do you want to take this?? LOL
Marvar: I think we said our text messages were so much fun we should write a story like that, right?
Cosmo girl: Yes!!!
Kit: so you guys met on Twitter? and started texting?
cosmo girl: No, we met through FF
Marvar: Please tell our love story.
Kit: ahh... someone reviewed someone's story?
Cosmo girl: Marvar read my fic and left me a review and I fan-girled all over her ass
Marvar: Oh, please.
Kit: yes - I read that fic!
Cosmo girl: I had like 20 reviews at the time
Marvar: I had ten on my story.
Cosmo girl: She was the first author to review me
Kit: and I remember - Marvar, you started to beta for her too?
Cosmo girl: Yes...thank fuck
Kit Robertson: LOL! So then you became fic wives and texted and decided to write the story?
Cosmo girl: She became my ficwife right away
Marvar: I asked her to beta my fic then too.
Kit: Gorgeous! Love it! I love how you hit it off right away. Sometimes you just know...
Cosmo girl: I was in loooove with her immediately.
Marvar: She tested my skills and found me worthy
Kit: so what was the spark for Love In My Box? How did you decide the story, the arc?
Cosmo girl: Honestly, it really was that we texted each other all the time and we thought we were entertaining. LOL. At least to each other.
Kit: You are entertaining - there is a whole Twitter community that backs me up on that one! Hee Hee!
Marvar: Exactly. We thought people would enjoy our crap.
Cosmo girl: :)
Kit: So - let's see - Marvar, I know you 'are' Edward, or rather his voice in the story. And Cosmo, you 'are' Bella’s voice. Cosmo girl: She wrote me an email from Forthwithward and I responded as Bella.
Marvar: We just threw out ideas. I wanted a geeky Edward.
Kit: I love that, the birth of the creative process. So then you guys write a chapter (or half of a chapter) and Beta each other's stuff?
Cosmo girl: Marvar beta's and we write in gdoc together.
Marvar: We just respond to each other; she writes all the girl parts and I write the guy parts. We supply dialogue for each other.
Kit: So you write back and forth, like a real conversation. It works really well - and you can hear the two voices perfectly - but they aren't disjunct or anything - it flows perfectly. Having you both play the different parts really adds a depth of characterization.
Cosmo girl: Thanks.
Marvar: :)
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?
Kit: I know you said you write together on gdoc... But do you have 'mood music' beer? wine? lol
Cosmo girl: I find that we work well in response to each other.
Kit: so you keep it bouncing back and forth, so to speak?
Marvar: I drink Boones Farm.
Marvar: I need quiet, and Rob porn.
Kit: yeah - Rob porn helps. How about scheduling? I can only imagine it isn't easy...
Cosmo girl: Well, I'm a vampire and never sleep...
Kit: So that's helpful!
Marvar: I'm a lazy bitch and need threats to comply.
Cosmo girl: Yes. Especially when my soulmate is three hours behind me. LOL
Marvar: The time difference sucks.
Kit: But you seem to have worked out a system, which is great for the rest of us.
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?
Cosmo girl: That Edward is the best fucking Edward...EVER! That it’s funny as shit and that there will never ever be angst.
Kit: I would totally agree about the funny as shit part - it is hilarious, but sweet too. Marvar? Anything to add to the elevator pitch?
Marvar: Edward is hot but awkward and will make you swoon. Bella is sweet and funny and has a stream of consciousness that will crack you up.
Do you picture particular actors for your characters, or are they someone else entirely? If so, who?
Marvar: I only picture Rob.
Cosmo girl: In my mind they are the cast from the movies.
Marvar: Me too
Kit: So Bella is Kristen? And Rose and Emmett and so on?
Cosmo girl: Yes, exactly
Marvar: Yes.
Cosmo girl: Down to Jasper and the fugly hair.
Kit: Really, I think Jasper is hilarious. His hair is awesome.. and the whole 'new age' thing! Marvar: Jasper's hair is a tribute to the movies.
Kit: yeah - I'd have to agree with you there... what's up with that?
Cosmo girl: The new age Jasper was all Marvar!!! Totes her idea!!! And it was brilliant.
Marvar: Aww.
Kit: He cracks me up - and Esme as a, um... forward thinking, drinker LOL
Marvar: That's Cosmo.
Cosmo girl: Esme is totally who I will be in 15 years
Is the story all planned out or do you do it as a fly by the seat of your pants thing?
Cosmo girl: A little of both I think.
Marvar: The basic outline is planned.
Kit: So you have a 'loose arc'
Cosmo girl: Right, we know where we are going.
Marvar: That's a nice way to put it.
Kit: But each chapter is more fly by the seat of your pants?
Marvar: We think of crazy stuff and add it.
Kit: Right - and that's what makes it so fresh I think. It would be hard to make outline every single detail...
Marvar: Yeah. Like Edward is going to Hooters.
Kit: The Hooters thing - loved that - and that the server thought they were gay.
Cosmo girl: We talk about it. And work it out. If it works, it works.
Kit: Especially Edward's little asides and stuff.
Marvar: Charlie being in Promise Keepers.
Cosmo girl: hahahahahaha!!! I still love Promise Keepers!
Kit: LOL - promise keepers - Renee said something hilarious about that... what was it?
Cosmo girl: That it was a circle jerk in church.
Kit Robertson: Yes!! I think I laughed for a full minute on that one.
Cosmo girl: :D
Kit: Even now, I’m laughing!
Do you have a Beta and would you like to give him/her a shoutout here? Kit: do you guys send this to anyone else before you post?
Marvar: Cosmo. Lol.
Cosmo girl: We beta each other, but mostly Marvar is a grammatical genius and NEVER makes mistakes.
Kit: so no pre-readers or anything?
Cosmo girl: Nope.
Kit: There are a lot of sad pre-reader hopefuls out there...
Have you got any other projects going on? Any planned for the future?
Marvar: Oh please.
Cosmo girl: LMAO
Kit: I know Cosmo has a new fic - and Marvar - you are working on another one too, aren’t you? Any more planned together for the future?
Marvar: I can't even finish my first fic.
Kit: you finished Yeah, You, didn’t you? (loved it by the way - one of my favorite movies! - totally my time!)
Marvar: It's not finished. I just can't write the end.
Kit: I think we can all identify with that.
Cosmo girl: I do have a new fic...and we have an idea for a new one together. But it's a secret. LOL
Kit: I think everyone will be thrilled to know you have ideas for another one!
Marvar: When LiMB is finished we're going to do the new one.
Cosmo girl: Yes!!!!
Kit: yay!!
What brought you to twilight fanfic? What is that has kept you here besides your own writing?
Marvar: I love reading and I needed a fresh supply of stories.
Cosmo girl: OMG, wow. I fell in love with the books. After swearing I would never read them. I read them all like 6 times and that led me to fanfic.
Kit: IKR! I swore I would never read them either...and then I did and they were...done.
Marvar: I just wanted some more Twilight. Kit: So, besides each other of course, just the vast supply of 'more' is what has kept you here.
Marvar: I think the authors on FF are so talented and they keep me entertained.
Cosmo girl: The people are so fucking talented...and these women (and men) are incredibly intelligent and totally people that I would love in real life.
Kit: I agree - amazing!
Marvar: Fucking MFEO.
Cosmo girl: MFEO
Kit: Great minds...
Do either of you have a background in writing?
Cosmo girl: No...LOL. I don't.
Kit: Marvar?
Marvar: Hell no. I hate writing. I wanted to be a beta. On FF you had to have written a story to beta.
Kit Robertson: HA! But you both write so well...
Cosmo girl: We balance each other I think.
Marvar: Thanks, but I think I'm terrible at it. Cosmo has the pretty words.
Cosmo girl: Please. You make my words pretty.
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?
Cosmo girl: I think that putting yourself out there can be nerve-wracking.
Marvar: I'm amazed by the reviews we get. I wanted to hurl when I first posted anything.
Kit: Most people are good though, right?
Cosmo girl: I've gotten a few bad ones. LOL
Marvar: From me. LOL
Kit: Really? How did you handle it...
Cosmo girl: I cried to Marvar and ate chocolate, or we watched New Moon or Pride and Prejudice together on the phone.
Marvar: LiMB reviews are awesome unless you worked at Hooters, and Yeah, You doesn't get reviews. LOL
Kit: Sounds like a perfect plan...!
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 to yourself?
Cosmo girl: Only my husband knows. Otherwise, he would think I was having an online affair, and I kind of am.
Kit: how does he react? is he cool with it?
Cosmo girl: He's fine with it. He thinks it's strange, but I spend a lot less money now. LMAO
Kit: So - mom? dad? sis and bros?
Cosmo girl: No one else in my life.
Marvar: Hubs knows, and a couple of friends who don't give a shit.
Kit: Does it make you squeamish??
Marvar: What?
Kit: it freaks me out for people to know that write...but some do. Because they always want to READ it...
Cosmo girl: Oh, I would be shamed by my friends.
Kit: LOL
Marvar: Hubs thinks Rob is ugly. Which is blasphemy.
Kit: I would agree.. blasphemy!
Cosmo girl: It is. He is perfection.
Kit: Seriously, I could just stare at him for hours...
Marvar: I'm staring at my avi.
Cosmo girl: The last time we went to see Eclipse, we just looked at his jaw and sideburns.
Marvar: I mean, JFC.
Cosmo girl: And now that the peen has been released on the world...no man will ever stand a chance.
(Silence here for a minute as we all try to snap out of our Rob-haze. We digressed) Marvar: People don't get it.
Cosmo girl: They already think I'm crazy with the whole Twi obsession.
Kit: Yeah, I know, but honestly, I think it 's a great outlet.
Cosmo girl: And like I said, the most amazing people are in this fandom.
Kit: I agree! Just the whole FGB thing shows that...
Marvar: Jaysus. The peen. The fingers. The lips. It's really not fair.
Kit: The hands.. The fingers...
Cosmo girl: Hahahaha!!! h00rs
Kit: *startled* wha’ what?
Marvar: Shut up. You know you want it.
Is there a particular character in your story that you identify with the most?
Cosmo girl: I think that on some level, I identified with all of the three main characters. Bella, Edward and Jacob. It's hard not to.
Kit: how so?
Cosmo girl: Well, Bella is this ordinary girl. Who doesn't identify with that?
Kit Robertson: yes - she's kind and somewhat feminist - I like this Bella - she's very smart for one and clever.
Cosmo girl: I am totes feminist.
Marvar: I love all the political commentary she writes.
Kit: Marvar... who do you identify with?
Marvar: I'm somewhat of a LiMB Edward.
Kit: Marvar - you are exacting like he is? With a romantical sweet side? Because he's very sweet...
Marvar: I have definite geek tendencies. But I'm completely sarcastic.
Which Real Life Author(s) inspire you?
Marvar: All I read is FF.
Cosmo girl: I love Jennifer Weiner. Flove her. I also love the classics. That part of Bella is completely me.
Marvar: I like thrillers and mysteries. And Harry Potter.
Kit: Lurve Harry Potter..
Cosmo girl: I have never read Harry Potter.
Kit: gasp!
Cosmo girl: *hides*
Marvar: And yet I still love her.
Cosmo girl: Marvar loves me anyway.
Kit: clever, clever writing...
Cosmo girl: MFEO
Kit: yes - well....
Marvar: Hahahahahahaha!
Did any FF authors inspire you? What was it that had you reading FF and thinking, "I can do this!" Kit: who are your fav FF authors?
cosmo girl: Marvar is my favorite!!!
Marvar: Shut urp.
Cosmo girl: I will not!
Kit: I know you guys like the Paper Cut-outs Authors...the team of Astilbe13 and TwistedCoincidence.
Cosmo girl: I love them! I do.
Marvar: I love Ciao Bella and Write on Time and ABG.
What advice would you give to an aspiring FF writer?
Cosmo girl: Get a beta! And hopefully she will end up being your soulmate.
Marvar: Aww. I teared up.
Kit: Marvar?
Marvar: Please proofread.
Cosmo girl: Is something in your eye?
Marvar: *flips bird*
Kit: (chuckle)
(Kit) Cosmo: Give us a random fact about yourself.
Cosmo girl: Random fact: I can reference a Friends episode for anything. Literally...anything. And also, I'm Monica.
(Kit) Marvar: Give us a random fact about yourself.
Marvar: I coached cheerleading for years.
Kit: okay - this is my favorite question for the two of you and i want you to answer separately...
If you could have 15 minutes with any Edward (FF or SM's) which one would you choose and what would you do? If you do not LIKE any of the Edwards, feel free to substitute an actor here. Rob, Kellan, Pfach or Jackson - any actor at all
Marvar: Seriously I would want LiMB Edward because he's my ideal. I made him do and say exactly what I want, but I like all Edwards that are not druggies or whores or bad guys.
Kit: yeah - there's just something about the sexy geeks that just seriously are... uh... *fans self*
Cosmo girl: At the moment, I would choose (hands down) Subward from Our Lives Unbound, and I would tie him up and cover his with soft, wet kisses...for the entire 15 minutes.
Marvar: Your answers are always hotter than mine.
Kit: Yum! I think I may have to be reading that fic...
Cosmo girl: LOLOLOL. Yeah...but you are always hotter than me.
Kit: I am SO surprised neither of you eschewed Edward for Rob!
What is your FanFic Pet Peeve?
Marvar: When Edward comes like five times in a row with no down time.
Cosmo girl: popping the "p" Hate it!!! Hate it!!! Oh and also, Edward making Bella come on command. I don't know why people do it...and idgaf. When I see, I roll my eyes.
What is your Fandom Pet Peeve?
Cosmo girl: I don't know that I have one. Really, we live in our own little world. No one really bothers us. We are still surprised that people read and review our fic. LOL Marvar: I don't like when people badmouth others. I hate some fics but I keep it to myself, and Cosmo.
Kit: Yeah - I think there are forums for serious critiques but not in the review list...
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Kit: Love in My Box updates approx how often?
Cosmo girl: Lately....every two weeks. LOL
Marvar: Whenever Cosmo makes me write.
Cosmo girl: hahahaha!!!
Marvar: I think the fandom is amazing and I'm proud that anyone likes our story.
Kit: I'm proud of the fandom in general...
Kit: What about your new individual stories?
Cosmo girl: Well, I try to update weekly.
Kit: Awesome - so anything else? Thanks guys for sticking with me through our...err... technical difficulties, and for doing the skype thing...
Cosmo girl: I love the fandom. I mean, fuck, we tried for an hour just to talk to you because we love this so much. LOL
Marvar: I love Cosmo.
Kit: I had fun... you guys are great!
Cosmo girl: I love Marvar.
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