Author Spotlight: Shoefreak37

Posted by Susan in Author Spotlight | 4 comments

Just a warning folks, this article discusses sexual themes, so if you aren’t old enough to buy porn, you should not read this article. Just so you know. Now, on with the blog…

I’m always complaining that there aren’t enough Volturi-centric fics out there, so I have been begging people here, there and everywhere to recommend any and all Volturi fics they have discovered.  EllaB, a fellow Volturi author (she wrote His Angel, a lusty Demetri tale), recommended a story called Tracking Redemption by Shoefreak37, and I was intrigued.  The one thing that stood in my way was the fact that it was a Demetri/Edward pairing.  Slash.

I have never read slash; it’s just not my thing.  I have read many other things out there, but slash…well, it’s just not something I’ve ever gotten into.  But, EllaB kept insisting that I read it; then I entered a WC with the author, and she was so darn sweet (not to mention it was two against one with EllaB in the room *lol*) I had to give it a shot.  So, I did.  I planned to read one chapter per night because honestly, I just don’t have much time to read anymore.

Well folks, I couldn’t put it down.  Tracking Redemption is different, but Shoefreak is a strong writer and weaves such a beautiful tale.  I’ll be honest, I’ve never been interested in slash, but this story was written so well and is such a beautiful love story that I have a hard time calling it “slash”.

In Tracking Redemption, Bella has died at the hands of Laurent, and Edward goes to Italy seeking death in any way the Volturi will grant it to him.  Unfortunately for Edward, Aro has a few tricks up his sleeve and he easily blackmails him into joining the Guard.  He is immediately paired with the arrogant, excessively talkative and overly positive Demetri; Edward takes an immediate disliking to him.  The first five chapters showcase Edward’s frustrations and confusion as to his ever changing feelings toward not only Demetri, but his lot in life.  He quickly befriends Chelsea and Felix, and over the course of the story, he learns that he has been given a second chance at life and love.  For so many years, he has been denying himself the basic pleasures in life out of a strong sense of self-loathing.  Oddly, it takes working for the Volturi to open his eyes and make him realize this.

Shoefreak writes relationships very well; she almost has a Marcus-like quality to her writing when you are looking at the relationships through her eyes.  And her dialogue is A-MA-ZING!  Demetri is one of those characters that comes across as annoying at first, but then after awhile you realize that all the platitudes he keeps jabbering away about have some truth to them.  He quickly falls for Edward, but he is willing to take whatever Edward is willing to give him.  In the meantime, he gives Edward every part of himself, including his wealth of knowledge about learning to live with the monsters they have become.

The biggest surprise in this story is Chelsea.  I absolutely adore the way Shoefreak has developed her character; she is witty, understanding and wise.  She is also Edward’s first true friend in Volterra.  Aro is a very peripheral character, but he is spot on.  The only thing I didn’t like about the characters was Felix, but I think that has nothing to do with the way Shoefreak has written him and everything to do with the way I, myself, have written Felix.  Those of us who write fan fiction all have come to develop such a relationship with the characters the way we write them .  That being said, Felix has some amazingly hilarious lines and I don’t think the story would have turned out as well without the comic relief that he brings during the most stressful parts of the story.

The lemons?  Well, I can’t say that I’ve completely boarded the slash train, but Shoefreak writes them very tastefully and eloquently.  There is one scene in particular that sticks out in my mind as very touching.  In this scene, Edward has a breakdown after being sent on a mission, and he is in the shower trying to scrub the blood from his hands.  To make matters worse, he is extremely confused about the feelings that Demetri brings out in him.  When Edward reveals to Demetri that he has gone over a century without so much as gratifying himself, Demetri tenderly explains the importance of a proper release.  It’s not an all out lemon but as far as the sexual situations go, this was my favorite scene in the entire story.

I had the opportunity to chat with Shoefreak and ask her a few questions about the story, and her writing is just as eloquent on google as she is in her stories. Seriously, I had to do NO editing to her answers.  My questions were a mess, but her answers were edit free:

SusanAshlea: How did you get into fan fic?

Shoefreak37: My sister started writing fanfiction way back in 1999, so I’ve known about it for years. I’d read a few Harry Potter fanfics in college, but never really got into it.  It was when I was thirsty for more Twilight after I devoured the first three books that forced me to read fanfic. Prior to that, I used to tease my sister relentlessly for spending time writing something that would never be published, but now I think I’m worse than she ever was.

SusanAshlea: Why Edward/Demetri? What influenced that pairing?

Shoefreak37: I had started reading a lot of slash, and they were all Edward /Jasper pairings and all-human. I wanted to do something that would be more challenging, so I thought about who Edward would be least likely to fall in love with. That got me thinking about the Volturi, and Demetri just seemed to be the most sexually ambiguous.  I honestly haven’t read many gay vampward slash stories, so it was definitely fun to play with. :) Does that make me sound awful? Stereotyping Demetri like that?

SusanAshlea: No, because I think many people think that.  I have seen interviews with CB in which he purposefully wanted to portray Demetri as sexually ambiguous.

Shoefreak37: I read that interview after I’d posted my first chapter!  It made me so happy.

SusanAshlea: What made you decide to write Slash?

Shoefreak37: Edward Cullen, to me, seemed like such an asexual character.  Who goes a century without having sex, unless there’s some kind of fear involved?  I know that Meyer just wanted him to be perfect for Bella, but in doing that, she made him questionable. I like reading slash, and I like a challenge.  Writing slash stretches my writing muscles.  And to be completely honest, I find it more erotic than just reading het. I know all about a man and a woman having sex; when I read I want something different, so I wrote what I wanted to read.

SusanAshlea: How did you come up with the specifics of the storyline? You did a good job describing how the relationship was even possible, because it happened over the course of several chapters, and a visible amount of time passed in the story.  Did that idea just pop into your head one day?

Shoefreak37: The idea came to me easily once I decided I wanted to write a vamp fic with slash. I actually started with an outline that had me writing seven or eight chapters, but once I started writing it, I realized it would take more than that to make it remotely believable.  I knew the core story arc when I started, but some of the characters shoved their way in, and ended up being important. Like, with Chelsea, she wasn’t going to have any dialogue when I wrote my outline, but without her I don’t know that Edward would’ve ever approached Demetri.  I always made fun of Meyer for saying her characters ‘spoke’ to her, but they really do. I’m just not going to talk back to them like I’m sure she does.

SusanAshlea: I yell at the characters often.  I hate it when they wake me up chit chatting.

Shoefreak37: lol I’ve had trouble sleeping thinking about them, but I try to carry on conversations. :)

SusanAshlea: What made you decide to write in 3rd person (which I love, btw)?

Shoefreak37: It was yet another thing I didn’t see a lot of in the fandom. I guess I was bound and determined to be the red-headed stepchild of Twific. For some reason I like to do things the hard way, and third person (for me) is more difficult because you’re not right there in the characters head.

SusanAshlea: Are you working on anything else at the moment?

Shoefreak37: I just finished two one shots that are in anonymous contests right now, and I’m working on a collaboration with katiewinkles that’s a crossover between Twilight and Zack and Miri Make a Porno; it’s called Lessons Extracted Through Using Sex for Underpaid Computer Knucklheads. It’s pure crackfic.

SusanAshlea:  Are you reading anything currently?

Shoefreak37: I have a few that I keep on alert. Your Biggest Fan by OfTheDamned,  Errors & Omissions by Oh Jasper My Jasper, I Wept Not by ArcadianMaggie (those are all slash) and Blossom by ms.ambrosia.  I haven’t started anything new in awhile, though.

I hope you enjoyed the interview as much as I enjoyed chatting and making a new (Volturi!) friend in the fandom.  Make sure to check out Tracking Redemption, and review! Even if slash isn’t your thing, the story behind the relationship will blow you away!

Untill next time, have a blessed day!