Sue's interview with Jadedandboring author of 'The Kübler Ross Model'

 The Kübler Ross Model

A tragic death. A failing relationship. Two very different events with hauntingly similar effects. M for language and difficult situations.

Twilight - Rated: M - English - Hurt/Comfort/Friendship - Chapters: 7 - Words: 17,852 - Reviews: 419 - Updated: 11-21-09 - Published: 10-6-09 - Bella & Edward - Complete

I was on twitter one evening chatting with a friend Jadedandboring about fic and life and things she told me she wrote a Remember Me o/s. So I read it and I cried. This o/s is the story of what happens to Tylers sister and how she deals with the grief of great loss. Well, after reading that and begging her to continue the o/s because, me being me, I had other questions about that story, she told me to go read The Kübler Ross Model.

Many of you know I do not usually go for angsty fics that are gonna make me cry. I have to say I'm glad I did not skip this one.

This story deals with the stages of grief. Having lost many people in my life I can strongly identify with these stages.

The story starts out at the funeral of Dexter. Bella, his fiance, is giving his eulogy. Throughout the story, in a series of flashbacks and dreams and Bellas imagination, we get to know and love this man who captured Bellas heart.

If you have an afternoon and want a good fic that will captivate you based solely on the love of two people and how they deal with a tragic loss of a young man, (yes Dexter deals with the loss of his own life and health) then please read this one and once you do come back and let me know what you think!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 actually remember exactly where I was. I have a dear friend whose partner lost his battle with alcohol addiction in August 2009. He hung himself after two or three stints in rehab. One drink was all it took for him to feel like he was letting his family down, and he gave up. It was an awful situation. I was actually sitting in the back of the church at his funeral when this idea hit me - how do people deal with tragedy? I knew there were steps to grief before I started writing, but I didn't know what or how many there were. As soon as we were released from the service, I immediately DM'd or texted [I don't remember which; maybe it was email], my friend jjuliebee with this idea. She encouraged me every single step of the way.

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?  
Ha. No, I have two children, so I write when I can. I wasn't even pregnant with my second when I was writing KRM, though, and I did a lot of it at work or when my son was in bed. I blipped music like crazy, and was occasionally accused of preemptively depressing people.

Bellas Tattoo in this story

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?  
It's short. It's easily read in an hour or two, depending on how fast you read, but it takes a lot of guts to get through it. It deals with a very specific, very real situations that affect people every single day. It was as hard to write as it is to read, because I became very attached to the characters, specifically Dexter.

Do you picture particular actors for your characters, or are they someone else entirely? If so, who?  
I didn't really have anyone in mind when I started writing them. I used the basic book description of Edward. Then I found the most amazing picture of Rob, taken on the set of Remember Me, and he became my Griefward. Bella has never, ever been Kristen Stewart for me. I can't even remember which movie it's from, but I found a picture of Rachael Leigh Cook hugging herself in this big sweater and smoking a cigarette. My Bella in KRM is a crass, smoking bartender, and that picture of RLC was perfect. Ryan Gossling with brown hair is Dexter, and Ali Larter is Rosalie.

Is the story all planned out or do you do it as a fly by the seat of your pants thing? 
I had the basic idea to write each chapter depicting the stages of grief, with a prologue and an epilogue. 

Do you have a Beta and would you like to give him/her a shoutout here? littlesecret84 did the beta work for KRM. LyricalKris does most of my beta work now. [True story, I had her read over this to make sure I didn't use too many commas.]
 
Have you got any other projects going on? Any planned for the future?  
I'm slowly but surely writing the sequel to KRM, called Tie Me Here in Time. I'm doing a collab with forbidden-fruit81 [she wrote Mens Rea: A Guilty Mind] called Fickle Hearts. A couple of someones I know - :looks pointedly at Sue: - are pestering me to continue this Remember Me one shot I wrote, so there's that. Oh, and there's a Roseward in there that has LyricalKris constantly reaching for her "bukkit."

Dexter as seen by the author this is Ryan Gossling

What was it that brought you to Twilight fanfic? What is it that has kept you here (besides your own writing)?  
I can't even remember what drew me to TwiFic, and to be honest, not much is keeping me here but my own writing and my readers right now. There is so much drama, but I'm pretty oblivious to it. There are a few people I'm sticking it out for, too. 
  

Do you have a background in writing?  
If the school paper and yearbook count, then yes.

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? Oh, lord. Honestly, my self-confidence is seriously lacking. I depend on my pre-readers SO MUCH. But if I can sound like a broken record for a moment, I have the best readers ever. I mean that very literally. I was absolutely terrified to post KRM and the reactions I got were just . . . they were unreal. I had a woman PM me to tell me her story of losing her husband. That PM was what inspired me to come out to my husband about my fanfic writing because I was in awe that someone I'd never met was trusting me with her story.

 

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?  
My husband knows. I've met a few people through the fandom that know, but none of the friends I had BTF (before TwiFic) know. I'd never live it down.

Is there a particular character in your story that you identify with the most?  
Hands down, Dexter.  He's an original character and I've poured so much of myself in to him.

Which RL author(s) inspires you?  
I'd include Christopher Moore as one of my inspirations. He actually reads his email and responds to it. My husband and I were each reading books by him once, and I sent him an email telling him that we were reading to each other and laughing. He responded the next day. I have a hard time responding to my reviews these days, but if someone tells me a story or asks a question, I make an effort to reply because of Christopher Moore.

Did any FF authors inspire you? What was it that had you reading FF and thinking “I could do this”?  
My friends inspire me every day. But I wouldn't say I started writing because of any particular FF writer.

What advice would you give to an aspiring fanfic writer?  
Outline, outline, outline. And then outline some more.

Rosalie in this story

Give us a Random Fact about yourself? 
I still listen to 90s bubble gum pop music when I'm in a bad mood. Nothing like Bye, Bye, Bye to make a cranky woman smile.

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?  
This is so personal, but I want 15 minutes with my great grandmother. She passed away when I was 14 and we were extremely close. I just want 15 minutes with her to introduce her to my husband and kids, and to thank her for being a true inspiration, and giving me an excellent example of how to live my life.

What is your FanFic Pet peeve?  
Can words be a pet peeve? I hate reading lemons with stuff like "member," and "bundle of nerves." Penis and clit, people. I can excuse stories like Unexpected Circumstances and My Viking, because they're period pieces and I can't seen either of those Bellas saying anything but "manly flesh" or "manhood."

What is your Fandom Pet peeve?  
I have issues with people who can't separate the actors from their characters. Their names are Rob and Kristen, not Edward and Bella.

Anything else you would like to add?  

Baaahhh.

Sue's interview with Jadedandboring author of 'The Kübler Ross Model'