Author Spotlight: Wordslinger

Posted by Susan in Author Spotlight | 2 comments

Spotlight on: Wordslinger, author of Distortion

interviewed by SusanAshlea

On Friday I recommended the amazing fic, Distortion by Wordslinger. Hopefully you all checked it out and reviewed because if you didn’t your are seriously missing out. I wanted to asked Wordslinger some questions about her writing process and the intricate story she has created.  Without further ado…

1) How did you get into fan fic?

When I finished Breaking Dawn for the fourth time, I was left feeling disappointed (that Bella ended up with Edward after all), and wanting so much more (of Jacob).

Initially I went searching on The Twilight Saga forums for other people who wanted to know what happened with Jacob and Renesmee. It never occurred to me that I could have Bella with Jacob.

Eventually, I found FFN and had one of those movie moments where a hazy light fills the room and angels are singing.

I realized I could have Jacob and Bella any way I wanted them. It was awesome.

2) How did you come up with the idea of Distortion?

This is a difficult question. There’s a lot of things that I take inspiration from. I’d say, though, that it was a late night conversation with BellaFlan and the Jeremy Irons, and Leo DiCaprio version of The Man in the Iron Mask on TV that first got the plot bunnies humping.

What if Jacob were to be sent away to battle so Edward could try and seduce Bella, much like King Louis did to Raul and Christine?

BellaFlan promised to hold my hand through the scary parts of multi-chaptered fic writing. She hasn’t let go so far, and I love her for it.

Since then I’ve taken ideas from Heroes, Dr. Timothy Leary’s theory on futants, Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, and a bunch of other things I can’t think of right now. It’s an ongoing process.

3) What motivated you to start writing?

Writing fanfiction?

That’s an easy one! My hugely inappropriate crush on Taylor Lautner. I wrote a one shot for a contest based on a little football fantasy I had. After the contest was over, I was encouraged (BULLIED) by BellaFlan to write a second chapter.

Distortion was a leap of faith. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going with it.

4) One of the things I love about Distortion is that the relationship between Bella and Jacob never feels forced. How did you do that? *lol*

Um, I don’t know! For me, the relationship between Bella and Edward always seemed so forced. I mean, they had to try so hard to see eye to eye on things, and had to hurt so many people to be together. I didn’t like it.

When I read New Moon, I got so irritated with Bella for making the relationship she had with Jacob awkward. Yeah, she said it was effortless, but she was clearly holding back. If she would have just let go of this “I’m a martyr, and I like it” mentality she could have been so much happier. Without the looming shadow of Edward, she and Jacob could’ve easily slipped into something much healthier and natural.

What I tried to do was create a situation where Edward didn’t ever have a chance with Bella. I didn’t do anything special. I just wrote a Jacob I loved and a Bella that I could stand. I wrote them the way I thought they would be if Edward hadn’t ruined everything with his emo.

5) What is your writing process? There is so much detail and such a very delicate stream of information that you reveal in each chapter; can you give us some insight on how you do this?

Up until chapter seven, I had no outline. No thoughts of where things were going or how I’d get there. I mentioned to jkane180 and BellaFlan in an email once that I felt like I was flying by the seat of my panties, and I was down to bare ass. I needed an outline. Pronto.

So I made one. It’s all color coded & stuff. Very grown-up and responsible-like. Mostly. It’s also vague, and for the last two chapters, I’ve been stuck on what was supposed to be all chapter nine.

I just sort of go with it. Make stuff up as I move along. If it comes across as detailed and delicate, I won’t argue with you. Really though, it’s total chaos in my head. I take forever to update, but it only takes me about two weeks to churn out an actual chapter. I’m lazy.

The information flow has to be credited to my beta, BellaFlan. She won’t let things that are too “expository” fly. I’ve seen that word in her notes so many times.

6) Without divulging too much, can you explain the Cullen Party/Volturi aspect of the story?

Sure! Aro Volturi was the political figurehead for a long time. He was a slave master and vicious leader. Kind of like a dictator, but the humans were weak, and the native tribes had no way of taking on his Volturi Guard without severe losses. Like in the Godfather, the concept of keeping people loyal with fear was very effective.

Carlisle decided it was time for a change and instigated a political coup d’etat. He managed to secure a tepid treatise with the Quileutes, promising an end to the native slave trade if they promised to help if things turned bloody. There wasn’t open war, and we all know how good Carlisle was at keeping his promises. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Essentially, the term Cullen Party stems from Carlisle’s sur-name, Cullen. He’s the only Cullen in this fic. Everyone else has been reverted to their original human names.

Yes, they’re a vampire ruling class, but not all regions or cities are under vampire rule. This will come into play later.

7) How did you come up with the idea of Sonja? She’s one of my favorite characters.

Sonja is the name I gave to the wilder, angrier side of my personality. She’s less inhibited by things such as tact and social etiquette. She might also have a bit of a rage problem. Situations that she controls rarely end well; they are, however, much more satisfying. For me.

She took life when BellaFlan and I were discussing what a riot it would be if her character from Becoming Bella Swan, Bella Flanagan, and Sonja were institutionalized together.

I want to point out though, that the Sonja that appears in BBS and the Sonja in Distortion are not the same.

8) What made you decide to make Renesmee such an instrument of evil? ;)

It was an easy decision. I based her a little bit on the character Claudia from Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire.

You would be surprised how little tweaking it took to make such evil characters out of perfectly harmless canon ones.

Renesmee has such an interesting gift. What if, instead of showing images of love, she showed ones of pain and torture? I like the idea of evil Renesmee. She’s creepy enough on her own; I really didn’t do much!

9) Are you close to finishing Distortion? If not, how many more chapters do you estimate?

I have no idea how many more chapters. Not a clue. I do have an ending in mind, though.

I want to say that I really hate it when a fic ends with a nice pretty bow and all the loose ends are tied nice and neat. I like a little heart fail with my endings, as well as a fair amount of open-ended-ness.

So if you’re looking for a frayed-edge-free ending, you won’t get it from me. I make no apologies.

10) Are you currently reading any books or fanfics you’d like to recommend?

As you well know, missy, I’m still reading Lover Mine of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. The series has blown me away, and it’s so nice to be, um… plowed by a vampire race that’s not all evil and stuff.

Right now (I say that because I have a short attention span and my likes and dislikes change weekly or daily or whatever), I’d say that The Definition of Want by CarrieICL and Forks in the Road by sowrong are high on my love list.