Monday Meet & Greet with ElleCC

with

ElleCC

Hello, Lambchops!

When the Lambs first came out with the Meet and Greet idea, each of us were given an opportunity to choose an FFn writer we would love to be included for this segment. Without hesitation, I chose ElleCC.

I was first introduced to her as the writer of A Murmur of Fire in the Vein, in which we met Firesper, one of my all-time favourite Jaspers in Twific. The fic itself also became one of my J/B favourites, and I believe it's one of the best J/B fics out there.

She's also written multiple one-shots and a couple of entries for The Twilight Twenty-Five Challenge, most of which are Jasper-centric. She also wrote another favourite of mine, The First Breath, a multi-chapter fic written for JAustenlover for winning the bid in the Support Stacie Auction and co-written by LaViePastiche.

The two also hosted For The Love of Jasper contest, which was in my opinion one of the most successful contests in Twific. It had close to 120 entries, and it paved the way for new writers, including me. Who knew a twitter joke about writing a P/B/J one-shot would actually help me boost my confidence, and since then, I've written five fics to date. I'm still far from being one of the best writers out there, but I'll be forever thankful to ElleCC and LaViePastiche.

ElleCC's a very active 'member' of the fandom and is well-loved and respected by most, which is why I'm very honored to introduce her as our Meet and Greet this week.

-MissMaj

Tell us about yourself. Married? Single? Kids, age, ..whatever you'd like to share.

I’m in my early mid-thirties and married. No kids, but we have a fish tank filled with tiny fish. I call my husband “Husbandward” (or just “HW”) because he has some very Edwardian tendencies. I haven’t told him that :) When we went to see New Moon (long story), he liked Jake, so he would probably flip if he knew I called him that.

Tell us about Twilight. How did you first get into the Saga, when was the first time you read it, and which book is your favorite?

I actually hadn’t read the books when I saw Twilight the day it came out. I love supernatural fiction, and am very much a fan of Young Adult/Teen books, but from what I’d heard about Twilight, the main female character was weak, and I generally don’t find that appealing in fiction. But the movie ads looked decent, and I had that day off from work, so I decided to go see it. When it was good enough to hold my interest (okay, I really liked it), I picked up the first book and finished it the next day. And then I read New Moon on Sunday.  I had the whole thing completed by the weekend (and this was during NaNoWriMo, so most of my time was devoted to writing). I also managed to see the movie three more times in the next few weeks (yeah, crazy, I know!), and it was right after I saw the movie for the fourth time that I went searching for fanfiction.

Which book is my favorite... I’m honestly not sure anymore. Fanfic has so obscured my views on the books that I don’t even really remember my initial impressions... but I do know that during those few weeks that I saw the movie so many times, I also reread the books twice. I could probably go find which book has the most bookmarks in it... except I’ve removed a lot of them while doing research for Canon fic pieces.

What got you to start reading Twilight Fanfiction? Do you remember the first fic you read?

I went looking for fanfic because I need more than what the books provided. I wanted more story, more character development, just more. I don’t remember the first fic I read – it was something I randomly found when I googled – but I do know that in that first month, I was reading maybe two or three a day and staying up until three or four a.m. every night. I discovered americnxidiot and jandco within the first few weeks, and read – among other things – You Get Me Closer to God, The Antidote, and AngstGoddess’s Wide Awake while we were home at my parents’ for Christmas.

Which are your favorite stories?

Some of my favorites... Someone Else’s Memoirs by a certain slant of light; You Get Me Closer to God by americnxidiot; Scotch, Gin and the New Girl by jandco & wtvoc; Tropic of Virgo by in.a.blue.bathrobe; Acting Out by eroticfan; Son of a Preacher Man by LaViePastiche (even though it shreds my heart); Salacious Behavior and Earnest Speaking by ThisColony (ditto the shredding my heart comment).

Who are your favorite characters, from who you like the most to er...who you would like to kill right off the bat?

I pretty much love all Jaspers and dislike all Alices. I’ve only come across one fic Jasper that I didn’t like, and only a handful of fic Alices that didn’t drive me insane (and I have small hands). My favorite Jaspers are from Scotch, ToV, and SoaPM. (I guess that’s why the fics are on my favorite stories list even though they’re E/B stories. I’m a simple creature.) I also liked Jasper from LolaShoes’s Let Your Light Shine series. My next favorite behind Jasper is Emmett, but it has to be in a fic in which the author respects him and doesn’t treat him like a brain-dead jock.

Which fics are you reading right now, and which ones have your complete attention whenever they pop with an update?

Currently reading and very excited about: The Long Way Home by TheHeartOfLifeIsGood; Running by Merina Green; Forgiven by Socact; A Priori by Mopstyle... those all have my attention as soon as they’re published. I would include SoaPM, but I’m lucky enough to usually have pre-reads of that.

What made you finally decide to start writing your own?

I finally started writing my own because I had been discussing with Legna989 – my ficwife (who eventually became my beta, also) – whether or not it was possible for a story to exist in which Jasper and Bella ended up together and Edward wasn’t: 1) a raging ass; 2) gay; 3) dead; 4) otherwise completely out of the picture. I don’t have a problem with those scenarios, but could Edward be in the picture – at least to some degree – and have people buy that Bella could end up with Jasper? That was my initial goal. I had also been writing original fic for myself for a while, and thought fanfic might be an opportunity to put that time to some use.

What's the atmosphere like when you're writing? Music.. quiet..kids screaming and ripping each other apart, or husband bitching in the background? Do you drink and/or smoke?

My favorite places to write are at home in my dining room or at Panera. At Panera, I usually listen to music, which cuts down on the background noise. But I’m there so often that I’m pretty used to other people being around. At home, I sometimes have the TV on the background, or sometimes I’ll listen to music – particularly if I really need to concentrate or am having a hard time focusing – but a lot of the time, I just sit here with no background noise. I’ve tried writing while drinking, and it doesn’t work all that well :)

What else do you like to read besides Twilight?

I’m currently halfway through Stephen King’s latest book – Under the Dome - and really enjoying that. The man could write grocery lists and I’d read them. I’m a big fan of the SVM series (there is some awesome SVM fic out there, too – when I started reading Twific, I also read a lot of SVM fic). I have a whole home office filled with books that I have bought but haven’t read. Honestly, since I started reading fic, and even more so since I started writing, I haven’t been reading “real” books much at all. I would feel really bad about that, and do sometimes, except I know that it’s the same for a lot of other Twific girls.

What else do you like to do?

I’m supposed to be doing other things?

Tell us a secret.

I can’t think of a single interesting thing – I’m pretty much an open book.