Author Spotlight: Adverb

Posted by Susan in Author Spotlight | 6 comments

I’ve decided on a name for my new bi-monthly column: “The Proud PG-13.”  In each column, I will be featuring a story that holds a rating of PG-13 or below. This idea came to me one day when I was having a fit about not being able to write lemons.  Then I realized it’s okay if I don’t write lemons, because there are lots of other authors out there who don’t.

Not that I don’t enjoy my fair share of lemony exploits, but there are also some excellent and well written stories that have a lower rating, and I enjoy those as well.  So, tune in every other Tuesday for another PG-13 recommendation.

This week in my column, I’m featuring a fun story called Raising the Stakes by Adverb.  In Raising the Stakes, Bella is talked into a Spring Break vacation in Sin City with her girlfriends, and immediately loses everything. Then a mysterious, yet beautiful stranger steps in and offers to help her win her money back.

Adverb is another one of the proud PG-13 authors. We had the chance to sit down and discuss a little bit of everything over the course of an afternoon between the Christmas and New Year holidays. We had a great chat and discovered that we have quite a bit in common when it comes to our writing and reading styles. There isn’t much more I can do in the way of introductions, so…here’s our chat:

Susan: So where did you get the idea for Raising the Stakes?

Adverb: Well, I’ve always been a huge fan of Vegas. I love gambling, and I love the city. As I started reading fan fiction, I started thinking about what kind of story I wanted to write that would be different, and so it was only natural to want to use Vegas as my backdrop. I was also a little bit disappointed because when I went searching for stories with Twilight and Vegas in them, they all had quickie marriages.  And they were all human, too.  I’m thinking The Cullens would be perfect in Vegas with their powers!  So I wrote a one-shot called Poker Face, which eventually developed into the multi-chaptered story Raising the Stakes.   The one-shot I wrote was originally for a contest where Edward and Bella had to work together – so it seemed perfect.

Susan: I love the story so far, it’s very original.

Adverb: Thanks. I’m actually surprised it isn’t done more. I was really just writing the kind of story I wanted to read.

Susan: I do the same thing. I ask my beta, “is it bad that I really enjoy re-reading my story?”

Adverb: I love re-reading stuff. It’s also a good way to see you grow as a writer.

Susan: I kind of cringe at my early chapters of Supernova.

Adverb:  Yeah, it’s hard not to cringe at your own stuff, sometimes. But it also can be entertaining.

Susan: You can kind of see where you hit your stride too.

Adverb: It certainly is a big step to put it on the web for everyone to see, too.  It can really be a mixed bag when you go public with your writing, but I think it’s really awesome when people are genuinely interested in your story.

Susan: I obviously love fan fiction. But I like really off the wall stuff too. I like authors that aren’t afraid to something different.

Adverb: Yeah, I think the fandom needs authors who step out of the box, otherwise the genre becomes boring. I worry that the AH genre is reaching its limit.  The problem with AH is that it can step so far away from Twilight, it doesn’t feel like Twilight anymore.  That’s not to say it’s not good, but I don’t think it really pushes the envelope as much as it could.

Susan: I agree with you to an extent. But there are some AH stories that are amazing.

Adverb: Oh definitely, I’m not saying all AH is bad. I guess I’m saying that when you write a story that is so far from Twilight to begin with, it’s hard for it to grow.

Susan: so, have you always been a PG-13 writer?

Adverb: Pretty much, yeah.

Susan: did you set out the write that way?

Adverb: I tried writing a little bit of smut, but it’s far easier to read than write. When I first started writing my story, I actually rated it as R, but, as I was writing it, I realized an R rating didn’t really fit.  It was important for me to keep my Edward and Bella canon.

Susan: I am the same way; canon writing is difficult.

Adverb: It is!  And I mean, you sometimes have to take some liberties.  Like with me, a canon Bella would NEVER go to Vegas, so I had to give her a back story to at least get her there. But I think as long as you make an effort to keep things in canon as much as you can, your readers will be understanding.  The story is only supposed to take place over a week (since it’s a vacation), and if Edward and Bella are in canon, there really wouldn’t be too much R stuff going on after a week.

Susan: I think canon stuff where it isn’t exactly like the book is great. Like change one element and keep the characters in canon, as in your story, Raising the Stakes.

Adverb: Yeah definitely, I am a huge fan of “what if” stories, where the situation is different, but characters still meet. Like… what if Bella never went to Forks, would she still have met Edward?

Susan: I’ll be honest,  I get a little bitter about the fact that it seems as though AH and smut gets the reads and reviews.

Adverb: I definitely notice that, too.  People like AH because it’s approachable, but I think in some ways it also can be easy. You don’t really HAVE to know about Twilight to write AH.  But canon, especially, you really have to know.

And smut definitely gets lots of reviews, too.  I’ve actually had a few people suggest that I write smut into my stories to make it more interesting.  But once again, I want to keep it canon, and more importantly, I don’t want to take away from the story. Which is … Bella’s in trouble and in Vegas.

Susan:  Personally, I would find it offensive for someone to tell me that the story is uninteresting without sex. In your case, that is so not true. It’s a great story.

Adverb: Are you familiar with TLYDF? They had an article on smut, and they said the first rule of smut is that is should progress the story. I think people forget that.

Susan: There are amazing stories that have great sex scenes in them, but a lot I have read are just smut for smut sake, and I can only read so much of that.

Adverb: I agree. I get really annoyed with contests when they require a lemon.

Susan:  The Mystic Awards has a challenge that asks for a lemon-free o/s!

Adverb: Yeah, I always like when I see those.  I also like when they separate the categories into best lemon and best non-lemon.  If you want to write one, fine… but if the prompt has nothing to do with sex, why force it?

Susan: I wrote one as an outtake but that was it.

Adverb: How did you feel after writing it?

Susan: well, I don’t know that I’ll ever do it again, but it was a good exercise in writing.

Adverb: That’s kind of how I felt after I wrote my first sorta-smut. It’s far easier to read than write, and my story was only a drabble.  Maybe one day I’ll venture into that territory, but I admire authors that are able to write a strong story without it.

Susan: I like to read it. And I liked being able to write an outtake involving it, but my story is a PG-13 story. Sex is not the motivator.

Adverb: Which if you think about it – that is essentially what Twilight is. The book series is PG13… it might allude to it, but never comes out and says it.  I think some people were so upset with the “fade to black” that they had to seek it out, which is why it is probably so popular.

Susan: I agree. But it seems like everything these days is centered on it. And, sometimes I think people see how popular smut is, so that is what they write.

Adverb: I think you’re right.

Susan: same way with AH.

Adverb: The problem with writing fan fiction is that it’s hard not to “write for your audience,” and if you audience wants smut, and that’s what gets more readers.  And it’s very hard as a public fan fic writer NOT to write for reviews.  People work hard on their story, and it’s frustrating when you feel like it doesn’t get noticed.

Susan: I agree, and I love me some reviews, and I’m not ashamed to beg for them.  But I love my story so much that I would write it regardless.

Adverb: That’s good that you feel that way.  I think a lot of authors are so focused on reviews;  I can be guilty of wanting reviews, but I would rather have 10 really solid reviews than 100 “write more plz” reviews. I do appreciate, though, that they took the time to review at all.

I had originally asked Adverb what her5 all time favorite fics were, but that was a daunting task, and she wasn’t able to answer because she has so many!

I hope you enjoyed the interview with Adverb, and if you haven’t already, go read Raising the Stakes! It’s a great AU canon story that will have you wanting more at the end of every chapter! It’s hard to believe the story only had 7 reviews, so let’s try to change that. Make sure to review every chapter you read! :)

Until next time…

SusanAshlea