Sue's Interview with Savage7289 about her fic 'Surviving Bella'

 

Surviving Bella

Spending time on a sailboat on the sea should be the time of your life! But when the ship sinks, Captain Edward and passenger Bella end up in a life raft together. Can they survive the elements and their colliding pasts? M for mature themes/language

OH my what a twisted tale Savage tells. If you have read any of her stuff you know this. She writes a great bad boy and we all love the bad boys don't we? You know, the kind of jerk you just wanna make have a breakdown and turn kinda sort of good... ish. We do not want them completely rehabed and turned into, well, a pink polo wearing softy. We want the swearing, we want the possessive thoughts, we want the smooshy bedtime cuddling....

I am a fan of shows like Survivorman and that guy that stays at hotels and the husband and wife team that eat worms for lunch, so this kinda fic is right up my alley.

This is a fantasy romance heart clencher with plenty of giggles.

A boat sinks. The asshole of a drunken captain and a mousy passenger are the only ones on an inflatable life raft with only a few things to survive under very intense conditions.

Sadly there is no rum...

You have a heavy boozing Edward, that is rough gruff and low on cigarettes (heaven forbid!) and a, well, quiet Bella that talks to him like she is rehabing a pitbull. YES so cool to listen to the interactions!

I think of it as survivor meets fight club meets gilligans island (stole that from her) meets some movie with great couple banter...

You will love and hate this Edward.

This Bella starts out as mousy and kinda afraid of him (but can you really blame her? He is an ass!) and then BAM she stops being annoying and Bella-ish. She gets her backbone and we get to see she has strength.

A WARNING this post has some NSFW ish pictures in it. SO if you go on, make sure whoever is around you is allowed to view these HIGHLY suggestive photos.

Now lets check to see what this witty writer had to say in answer to my probing Qs....

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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?

I took a Caribbean cruise last spring. It was fantastic.  I was sitting in

the hot tub and noticed the lifeboats hanging off the side, and the initial

idea (along with the theme to Gilligan's Island) just kind of came to me. My

buddy and I starting singing the theme song (we might have had a couple of

cocktails). It built up from there (the story – not the song).

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?

I usually have something about a story going on in my head about 24/7, and I just have to find the time to sit in front of the computer (or my iTouch) and get it written out. Sometimes I will  wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about a certain scene, and then I can't get back to sleep until I write it down. I also write all of my smut from the orgasm backwards. I have no idea why, but it works for me.

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?

In part, it is a story of surviving the physical elements of being on a life raft in the middle of the sea, with no real hope of rescue.  It's the bond that forms between two people in an absolutely insane situation, where there

is no one they can depend upon but each other. It's also about a man seeking redemption through a woman whose father he watched die. He's never forgiven himself for not taking action in several life situations where he truly had no control. She is the one living person able to offer him the absolution he seeks.

Do you picture particular actors for your characters, or are they someone

else entirely? If so, who?

Not usually. Rob's a hottie, so he always makes an appropriate Edward. In my head, characters have body types and various characteristics (eye color, hair,

whatever) but no actual face in my mind. Does that make sense? 

I do not picture him either but he is FUN to look at!

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

It started out as completely on the fly.  I was interested in seeing how well I did without a real outline. I normally have the whole thing all planned out – beginning to end – before I ever write anything. I intended to do the whole thing that way, but my OCD just wouldn't let me. I have the rest of it all planned out, but it was more spontaneous up until about chapter 8.

Do you have a Beta and would you like to give him/her a shoutout here?

I do have a beta! It's Gospikey/Goster, who got the job when she kept finding my typos in Hide and Drink chapters. I figured if she was finding what my current beta missed, she had to be good! Betas are God's gift to writers.  If you are a writer, treat them well. If you are a reader, recognize their value and be patience for the next update while it's in the beta's hands.

Have you got any other projects going on? Any planned for the future?

Judging Books is my other current project. I was supposed to be a one-shot, but quickly got out of hand. Now it's three very long chapters and just about complete. I've been begged to continue it, so there might be more in the future – you never know. I like the characters so we'll see. I also have

another story that will start posting after Surviving Bella is done.  It's called Unexpected Circumstances.

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

I was brought in looking for more Edward point of view fics. I loved the incomplete Midnight Sun, and really wished there was more to be found.  I discovered a lot of great fics, but not exactly what I was looking for at the time. Since I didn't find it, I ended up writing it instead. That story became Hide and Drink. Since then, things have just sort of taken off all over the place. Surviving Bella was a concept when Hide and Drink was a little more than half way done. I love very close, closed scenes with a very small number of characters. You really get to know two people well when they are the only ones you ever see. 

Do you have a background in writing?

Not professionally, but I have always enjoyed writing.

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?

I find most of the feedback I get is very positive, and I am very receptive to anyone who gives me something to help me better my writing, characters or story.  Sometimes someone will leave a review that simply says "I don't like it." Though of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and there's no way everyone would ever like the same stuff, I do prefer the ones that are more helpful. I think in general, I'm pretty laid back and don't mind a little criticism. It's an opportunity for me to learn – either to improve my writing, or to improve my tolerance. :)

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?

Not too many, no.  Immediate family, yes, and a handful of friends. When

someone says "what's your hobby" and you answer with "smut writer" there are

just too many questions that follow!

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

most?

Good lord, I hope not. 

Which RL author(s) inspires you?

Too many to really name, but here's a sampling. I love Stephen King for his

ability to delve into a character's psyche, I love Jean Auel for her incredible descriptions and ability to create an entire culture, I love E.A. Poe for his writing devices. 

Did any FF authors inspire you? What was it that had you reading FF and thinking "I could do this"?

There are a lot of them out there I enjoy reading.  I'm not sure if I get

inspired by other people's work too much, but there are certainly ones I

admire.  I have no idea how I got caught up in Fanfic originally - it's been

too long since I started writing it.:)

What advice would you give to an aspiring fanfic writer?

Just write. Most people quit before they start. Also, be coachable (this

goes for anything and everything – not just writing). I don't care how good you are, there's still room for improvement. Pay attention to reviews that

tell you how your reader FEELS. That's the real stuff, there. 

Give us a Random Fact about yourself?

I won 1st place in the Toastmaster's International Humorous Speech Contest

last weekend. Go me! :)

If you could have 15 minutes with anyone alive or dead real or fictional

who would it be and what would you say to them?

Anyone who has ever been elected president.  And I would say "What the fuck?"

What is your FanFic Pet peeve?

Changing POV. If you don't know whose head you are going to be inside all the time, write in third person.

What is your Fandom Pet peeve?

I am not really sure what this means…maybe I don't have one.  Is this things my fans do that annoy me or something?  If so, I don't think I have one – I think they are awesome.

Anything else you would like to add?

Just a big thank you!  I'm really glad people are enjoying this story – it has been a lot of fun to write. I've learned SO MUCH about survival!  I think

I'm ready to be tossed overboard at any time. With Edward, of course.

Sue's Interview with Savage7289 about her fic 'Surviving Bella'