I am so privileged to have had the chance to speak with Awesomesauce416, who wrote the crazy, awesome fic Last Tango in Forks!! {Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5918985/1/ } This fic was originally recommended to me by RoseArcadia, as I perused her blog one day admiring her handiwork. She encouraged me, no, pretty much -forced- me to read it, saying I would not regret it. Well, I did NOT regret it, in the least.
AwesomeSauce416, or as I affectionately like to call her AwesomeSauce76 (heh!) Is a very nice and lovely woman (I -think- she’s a woman - jk).
Without further adieu (don’t know what the hell that means!) … the “Interview”:
AwesomeSauce76: I got held up with friends from work, then had to let my dogs out normally would have been home WAY earlier!
Kris: No problem, at all.
AwesomeSauce76: whew!
Kris: Sorry... laughing a little. So… how are you - other than rushed off your feet?
AwesomeSauce76: I'm good! You? lol
Kris: Awesome… listening to the LTiF Playlist I got off your profile.
AwesomeSauce76: Yay!
Kris: I absolutely loved the vid you made... I cracked up at the ending.
AwesomeSauce76: Which one?
Kris: um… hold on… “Tear You Apart”?
AwesomeSauce76: Ah! I loved that one. I could only get like one site to host it.
Kris: So...This is my little patented disclaimer (not really)
Listen up!
If at any time you do NOT wish to answer a question, please say "No Comment", fuck off, or some other journalistic-type mumbo-jumbo, k?
AwesomeSauce76: Of course.
Kris: Are you offended by swearing?
AwesomeSauce76: Fuck no.
Kris: Hell YES! I just do it for you know...FUN!
AwesomeSauce76: Yeah, me too.
Kris: What other fucking reason is there for it?
AwesomeSauce76: lol
Kris: And...
do NOT worry about typos...I'll fix them (not really) and even if you don't make any...I might put some in just for the hell of it...
AwesomeSauce76: lol, ok good
Kris: Great! smiles (she is really too easy, isn’t she? He-hee…)
And as you can see this is conversational style and everything pretty much will be used.
and again...I'll add stuff later to make it...interesting.
:)
AwesomeSauce76: Interview verite
Kris: Oooh...I like that I'll have to steal that (she’s trying to throw me off by speaking Italian…)
AwesomeSauce76: ;) lol, be my guest.
Kris: So you just completed the most awesome fic... Last Tango in Forks ...how does it feel?
AwesomeSauce76: I am soooo thrilled to finally be finished.
I haven't done anything but read fic’s I'm behind on for two weeks straight.
Kris: I know what it's like...I took a few weeks break from mine...sooo nice. I have to tell you how I came to read it... RoseArcadia suggested it once when I left a comment on her site. That's awesome.
AwesomeSauce76: She's so lovely! She made the most wonderful blinkie for LTiF.
Kris: I will def check that out... haven't yet… got distracted. I'm not great at research... other than reading. cringes
AwesomeSauce76: Hey, at least you can read. ;)
Kris: I can! Proud (think that was a compliment, what do you guys think? I’ll give her one ‘by’…)
Sorry...I'm a bit um...distracted atm... okay... (this is pretty rude of me, I’ll erase that ‘by’ and start from scratch)
AwesomeSauce76: What is distracting you?
Kris: I usually number the questions... but I found that on Skype it gets all messed up with shit at the side. I ended up deleting all numbers... last time, even when I asked about Hits for an author's fic’s and shit, it was a disaster... but funny. (see I’view with MarieAyanna & MizSimone)
Distracting...?
AwesomeSauce76: Uh oh. lol You said you were distracted.
Kris: I think it's the music...
AwesomeSauce76: Ahh… which playlist?
Kris: Not my normal... you know? The LTiF. It's great though.
AwesomeSauce76: The main story one? I loved coming up with a new chapter song every time.
Kris: Yes… that would be fun, I'm sure. I think it is the main one.
So… How long did it take to write this fic?
AwesomeSauce76: Just under a year. I started in early April of 2009.
Kris: Did you write it as you went along, or was it already written before posting?
AwesomeSauce76: I wrote the first few chapters before I started posting, but I get too impatient for feedback, so I ended up posting them the moment I was done writing each chapter.
Kris: You sound like me...
AwesomeSauce76: Instant gratification.
Kris: But nobody reads mine… so no reviews shrugs Disappointment, I'm a glutton for it obviously.
AwesomeSauce76: Awww hugs
Kris: tears thanx
I think I remember reading that you were inspired by the movie “Last Tango in Paris” ... did I remember right?
AwesomeSauce76: Yes, that's right. Combined with a Twilight interview where Rob & Kristen talked about watching that movie together.
Kris: Aahh... interesting, didn't know that part.
AwesomeSauce76: Yeah. It made me think about how that is SO NOT a movie you watch with a guy who's just a friend. And then that made me start thinking of how the Twi characters would fit into the basic outline of the story.
Kris: Well...it worked out pretty well. nods
AwesomeSauce76: Thanks!
Kris: What is your background, as far as writing is concerned?
AwesomeSauce76: Well, I never studied it formally or anything. I'm just a mid-thirties woman who did well in English class back in college.
Kris: …with a good imagination… Do you write with an outline first?
AwesomeSauce76: I always wonder how good it is, since I still needed the basic setup of the movie to get me going. I tried, but I'm not much of an outliner. I made a few notes about key scenes I wanted to include, as well as a long list of songs.
Kris: I'm the same... I write from the hip.
Did you have the same process for your other fic's?
AwesomeSauce76: Yeah. My only other multi-chap was a re-telling of Breaking Dawn, so I had the book as an outline, but I never really knew exactly what I was going to include until I would sit down to write.
Kris: Do you set aside a set time to write or do you just write when the mood hits?
AwesomeSauce76: I try to set aside time. In the beginning I was just so driven to get this thing out of my head and into existence, but after a while I was feeling rushed to try and update within a certain amount of time. I hate when it starts to feel like a chore. I do it for fun.
Kris: Exactly. Love it when it flows.
AwesomeSauce76: Yep.
Kris: Did you plan to write such a smutty fic?
AwesomeSauce76: Of course. That was sort of my goal, lol
Kris: So this is the way you normally think?
AwesomeSauce76: Well... yeah. lol
Kris: You do an excellent job of it...
AwesomeSauce76: I likes me some smut.
Kris: I actually read one scene in one of the last few chapters to my hubs... and...yeah
mind wanders to that night, shakes head to bring me back
AwesomeSauce76: Yay!! I love the hubs.
Kris: It worked out really well! Thinks I need to hide hubs, all these authors have a thing for him
AwesomeSauce76: I love when women tell me that. I feel like I helped. lol
Kris: You have no doubt inspired many a couple...
AwesomeSauce76: I had one fan thank me for her newborn baby.
Kris: Many babies have been…
AwesomeSauce76: lol
Kris: Yes! Wow! Lol That's such an awesome thing to be known for...I told hubs just today that nobody in the Fandom thinks of butter the same way anymore.
When did you first read/watch Twilight Saga?
AwesomeSauce76: I have always enjoyed smut and writing lemons, but it really was a goal of mine in this fic to almost make it another character. I wanted the main couple to know each other's bodies way before they knew their minds. I first saw Twilight in Feb of __* . It was at the cheap theater, and a friend from work asked if I would go. (* yeah, I did the number goof again! Rolls eyes)
Kris: Were you hooked?
AwesomeSauce76: That weekend I ran out and bought all four books and read them in the span of a week.
Kris: Ahh...the movie did nothing for me... it wasn't until, idk, a while later when I bought the first book.
AwesomeSauce76: I enjoyed the movie, but it made me want to know MORE. I wanted to know the full story, because I could tell there was tons missing.
Kris: (pause) Sorry… hubs just brought me coffee.
AwesomeSauce76: Sweet hubs.
Kris: He is, totally loves what's happened to his wife. I've only been into Twilight for a year.
Have you read the books only once through?
AwesomeSauce76: I've read each one once. I re-read the first book about a year later, and then I nearly memorized BD after dissecting it so much while I was writing B&L.
Kris: Right... which one is your fave? BD?
AwesomeSauce76: I think so. I know there are a lot of haters, but I really enjoyed it.
Kris: Yes...I've only interviewed 2 authors who liked Eclipse the best. (That number could be incorrect, due to my Skype number issues rolls eyes)
Who is your fave character?
AwesomeSauce76: Probably Edward. He's just... sigh
Kris: Is it Edward really... or...Rob?
AwesomeSauce76: Exactly. Yes, that's it.
Kris: Ha! You might not believe this, but I truly loved Edward a LOT more than Rob, for the longest time. I just loved the character.
AwesomeSauce76: I can see it.
Kris: Do you have posters? Most women do, in their closet.
AwesomeSauce76: Not up in my house. I have a keychain and some bookmarks.
Kris: I have a keychain, too!
AwesomeSauce76: But I have Rob and Twilight things all over my computer.
Kris: That's cool...hubs downloaded an app onto my cell, a Twi-clock and Edward sayings or some shit like that...
AwesomeSauce76: Aww!
Kris: He really is after something... cannot figure it out…
AwesomeSauce76: Mine rolls his eyes at it all.
Kris: Does he read you stuff?
AwesomeSauce76: Except on the DVD release day of Eclipse, mine woke me up with an Eclipse cake
Kris: Nice!
AwesomeSauce76: He knows what I write and he's proud that I do it, but he's never sat and read my stories. He snuck around online and found my first story, but only read a few paragraphs.
Kris: Really? Does he know - what - goes on in them?
AwesomeSauce76: I'm less embarrassed about the smut aspect than I am about the Twilight part.
Kris: Oh... interesting…
AwesomeSauce76: lol
Kris: So, you were a church secretary or something, right?
AwesomeSauce76: Nope. I just get embarrassed for him to read them because he doesn't... get it, you know? He doesn't understand the whole fandom genre.
Kris: I only ask because it seems that almost everybody is...or they're teachers to ...little… kids...impressionable minds...
AwesomeSauce76: lol Nope, I work with an eye doctor.
Kris: Or that... I've actually done all of the above. LOL
AwesomeSauce76: Ha!
Kris: Well… not an eye doctor...but in the medical profession nonetheless.
Do your friends know about your writing? Have any read anything or yours?
AwesomeSauce76: Only one friend other than my hubs, and NONE of my family.
Kris: That -would- be awkward.
AwesomeSauce76: Yeah, definitely.
Kris: I know, I let my sisters read one of my o/s's and they've never looked at me the same.
AwesomeSauce76: lol
Kris: Not that I write bad/good smut. Yeah... unless you are into Twilight they don't get it.
AwesomeSauce76: Anything sexual weirds out people who know you.
Kris: True pretends not to be ‘weirded’ out
How did you first find the fandom? What prompted you to write for FF?
AwesomeSauce76: I just went searching one day after I had read all the books. I used to read some fic a long time ago, and I wondered if there was any good Twi-smut out there. Little did I know how enormous the fandom was.
Kris: What was the first one you read? When?
AwesomeSauce76: Hmm… I think Midnight Desire was the first one I really read. That, then I found The Submissive/The Dominant.
And then I found The List, which thrilled me because I was looking for vamp fic’s back then.
Kris: I have not read any of those, unfortunately. There's a lot of that sub/dom stuff, huh?
AwesomeSauce76: Some are really good.
Kris: What are you reading at the moment, that you would drop everything to read?
AwesomeSauce76: Hmm... I am really getting into Bratty Vamp's writing over the last two weeks.
Kris: I think I might have heard of her, but not sure… title?
AwesomeSauce76: Oh my, I have really loved them all.
Kris: I must look them up.
AwesomeSauce76: She has a new one now called In Vain that updates every couple days.
Kris: Ooh… love those types of fic’s.
AwesomeSauce76: I am reading tons of fic’s, though.
Kris: Do you read anything other than FF? Like... REAL books?
AwesomeSauce76: lol I do, but not as often as I used to. Sadly, it's usually when Rob has a new movie he's filming, then I run out and get the book for it.
Kris: Isn't it odd? Everyone I've talked to says the same thing.
AwesomeSauce76: lol
Kris: I've yet to do that, buy the book.
And have you stopped watching TV, as well?
AwesomeSauce76: Yes!
Kris: That seems to be the other side effect of Twilight/FF. Crazy shit! No?
AwesomeSauce76: I used to be obsessed with movies and TV, but I hardly turn it on now.
Kris: ME TOO! I never turned the TV off. Literally.
Oh... (off topic) what type of dogs do you have?
AwesomeSauce76: I has a normus boxr an to litl dahsuns, one of tha ltle ons wev ly hd fer u weak.
Okay, you know I had to do that…at least ONCE, right? It was just too tempting, she’s too good :p
Kris: Aww...must be cute. bursts out in evil laughter
No cats?
Birds?
Fish?
AwesomeSauce76: Nope, just the dogs, they are a handful. Had a cat many years back, but all dogs now.
Kris: How can you take them for walks all together?
AwesomeSauce76: It's very hard. We don't often. We have a large back yard that's fenced in.
Kris: That's handy.
AwesomeSauce76: Yes!
Kris: Love animals.
AwesomeSauce76: No probs! They are my babies. (Me, too.)
Kris: We have a dog and a cat.
They're our babies now that our kids are older...the old cliche kind of. That's prob not what I mean to say, but wth.
AwesomeSauce76: I know what you mean.
Kris: You're a clever one.
AwesomeSauce76: ;)
Kris: Do you hob-nob with other authors anywhere online? If so, who, and where?
AwesomeSauce76: Really just my friend Aylah. I met her through writing.
Kris: Yes, I saw that you had done a Christmas o/s together?
AwesomeSauce76: I have spoken to some others on Twitter & things, but I don't really know many people well. Yes, we did a fun o/s collab.
Kris: That's awesome. I'd love to do a collab...
AwesomeSauce76: It's the only one I've done. I don't know that I would like to do it often, and I know it probably depends on who you are writing with, but I enjoyed it.
Kris: The last i'view I did was with 2 women who have been writing together for I think a few years now. (I don’t really know how many because that was my last I’view, where I deleted all numbers – heh!)
They've never done anything on their own.
AwesomeSauce76: That's amazing that people can do that.
Kris: IKR? Ha, sorry... glasses made me see that wrong. It's ok.
Do you have any ideas for any future fic's rolling around in your head?
AwesomeSauce76: Well, I still owe a o/s to a VERY patient person who bought it during the FGB auction. She said I could wait until i was done with the story, so I took her up on it. I need to get that going soon, but I'm not sure what she wants yet. And i signed up to write something for the Fandom4saa fundraiser.
I'm thinking it might be a future outtake of LTIF.
Kris: Oh! That would be awesome!
AwesomeSauce76: I haven't been able to think up a whole multi-chap idea yet. I have this high school idea going around my head a bit, but right now it feels more like a possible o/s right now.
Kris: Does hubs give you suggestions?
AwesomeSauce76: Good lord, yes. Horrible, horrible ones. lol
Kris: Mine as well… omg… it would be an epic story probably, if we used all of their suggestions...
AwesomeSauce76: Lol, Yeah, an epic ‘crack’ fic.
Kris: Yes. Do you ever think or have plans to write outside of FF/fandom?
AwesomeSauce76: i would really love to publish something one day. Who knows? I'd love to come up with a really awesome fic that was totally my idea, and only needed the names changed to be sellable.
Kris: Me too... delusional
AwesomeSauce76: I think I'd mostly love to make a living doing something I think is fun.
Kris: Yes. It would be great.
Do you read any other fiction, such as Hunger Games or Harry Potter?
AwesomeSauce76: I really haven't. I have tons of friends who are on my case to read HP. I have liked some of the later movies, and I know the books are supposed to be wonderful. I just know how obsessed I get when I read, and I don't have time for another obsession right now
Kris: Wise.
AwesomeSauce76: I did really love the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Kris: Never heard of that.
AwesomeSauce76: I was totally bummed that Golden Compass blew so bad that they never made the other two movies. The Golden Compass was the first in the book.
Kris: I never read that, but did see the movie.
AwesomeSauce76: It was a fantasy trilogy.
Kris: Ahh...
AwesomeSauce76: And it was actually a wonderful, amazing set of books.
Kris: I'd love to say I'll read it, but...hmm...maybe. There is just SO much to read in FF.
AwesomeSauce76: I did it on the rec of a friend a long time ago, and I couldn't put it down back when I used to read real books, I really liked Wicked.
Kris: I did buy Hunger Games for Christmas...
AwesomeSauce76: Haven't seen the play yet, though.
Kris: Wicked was a book? Never knew that.
AwesomeSauce76: A very excellent book.
Kris: Again...would love to say I'll read...
AwesomeSauce76: I have the sequel, and another by the same author, but they are downstairs in a box and I forgot I had them.
Kris: Wish so badly I could, ahh… so maybe now that you have more time?
AwesomeSauce76: Maybe! All depends if I start writing again soon.
Kris: I hope you do.
AwesomeSauce76: Right now it's so nice just to read for the fun of reading.
Kris: Again...I totally get ‘that’ feeling. It takes a while for the brain to relax...
AwesomeSauce76: Yes.
Kris: Have you ever written anything and lost it due to some computer glitch or not having saved it properly? Or virus?
AwesomeSauce76: I've never lost whole things, but I have lost large sections to my glitchy laptop wanting to just highlight and delete shit whenever it feels like it. I've learned to save frequently.
Kris: Really... Right. I had a virus on my new lappie last summer...and I was dying…
AwesomeSauce76: Oh, I bet.
Kris: I camped out at the computer store... to wait to see if they could recover the doc's...they DID!
I LOVE that guy now, but it was a little embarrassing… the pic's of Rob… Yikes!
AwesomeSauce76: Oh, we had our hard drive crash last year, and i lost so much good Rob porn.
Kris: tears
AwesomeSauce76: I used to be so panicked about saving every little pic of him. But now, I just save the really, really good ones and drool over the others.
Kris: And… there are a LOT of them... I don't really have that much...I don't think...but like you I save the drool-worthy ones. You can always go onto Twitter and click on links...they're constantly tweeting them.
AwesomeSauce76: Exactly.
Kris: So do you go onto Twitter often? I'm a Twitter h00r, which is why I ask.
AwesomeSauce76: Not as much as some. I try to check for alerts at least once a day. I don't follow a ton of people, so it's never that swamped on my page. But there are times I'm on there forever.
Kris: It’s addicting...
AwesomeSauce76: Yes, very.
Kris: I keep telling myself to limit it...but it's so hard. I need to un-follow.
AwesomeSauce76: I can barely keep up with the ones I DO follow, and I know I'm only seeing a tiny snippet of what's going on.
Kris: Believe me...you're not really missing that much. I know quite a few people who only follow a small amount of people...and they love it that way.
AwesomeSauce76: It is easier to keep track.
Kris: Right, because there's only so many you actually talk with anyway.
AwesomeSauce76: Yes!
Kris: I think I've come to the end of my questions...and I don't want to keep you too late. I saw that there was a link to the banner on your profile. May I use that on the blog?
AwesomeSauce76: Yes, please! I'm proud of that. I made it. Not as fancy as some, but those ARE Rob’s fingers in the background.
Kris: There was one question I kind of wanted to ask... Really?
AwesomeSauce76: Sure.
Kris: How do I put this...?
AwesomeSauce76: ??
Kris: For the "sex" scenes in LTiF...
(I really did save the ‘best’ for last, didn’t I? And you guys thought this I’view was over??)
AwesomeSauce76: Yes…
Kris: Did you… um…
Kris: ...research?
Kris: …read?
Kris: …or
Kris: …? (huffs now I choose to get all shy and shit???)
AwesomeSauce76: haha
Kris: ?
AwesomeSauce76: You mean the butter or all the scenes?
Kris: and… the other 'hot' scenes... well they were all pretty damn hot...
AwesomeSauce76: Well, the butter was straight out of the movie. I just tried my hardest to make it sexier than the near rape in the movie.
Kris: Was it your imagination or experience? puts on serious journalist face on
AwesomeSauce76: I'd say a good 50/50. I think a lot of them were fairly normal things for a couple to do at some point in their relationship. It just seemed so illicit because they didn't know each other.
Kris: thinks I should watch said movie
AwesomeSauce76: I just do my best to either imagine really hot sex I've had or think up really hot sex I WANT to have. (with Rob)
Kris: LOL (holy shit, her husband must be one happy fucker laughs hard at my own funny)
AwesomeSauce76: And then I try really hard to describe it how I'm picturing it.
Kris: You've done an excellent job, my dear nodslotsandlots
AwesomeSauce76: Why, thank you!
Kris: You really up-ped the standard to be sure.
AwesomeSauce76: I know anything I write will undoubtedly have smut at some point, but I don't think the next one will have quite as much. This was excessive for a reason, but I'm still happy when people say they like the plot, too.
Kris: ...not excessive...I LOVED the plot as well... Especially when Rose was a writer...and then at the end when they found out her book was about them...LOVED that bit.
AwesomeSauce76: I just think of other fic’s I read that go for chapters and chapters and manage to be sexy and hot, yet really only a handful of lemons. Sometimes less is more.
Kris: I agree.
AwesomeSauce76: Thank you! I thought that up in the last few chapters.
Kris: A really fun twist.
AwesomeSauce76: I thought it would be fun to have her be a write. And to actually be likable.
Kris: Oh...especially loved Emmett giving Edward the beating...it was em right?
AwesomeSauce76: yes, I loved that, too. Boy, I caught some hell from other readers, tho.
Kris: Really? They're fickle. Do you get really upset with reviews like that?
AwesomeSauce76: Many people thought it was too violent and that violence never solves anything. I honestly laughed when I wrote it. I thought the visual was funny. I wasn't trying to be overly dramatic about it.
Kris: it was...totally. That's the way I saw it. I'm writing one where Bella cheats on Edward...ppl do NOT like that idea...
AwesomeSauce76: I don't get upset about the ones who just state why they might not have liked something. i know I can't please everyone. But I HATE the small minded idiots who have nothing better to do than be really nasty and shitty. That's not constructive or thoughtful at all. Ooh, wow. Yeah, that will get hate mail.
Kris: Oh… that's bad. I can't believe people would do that either. Isn't the whole theme of FF to be supportive and shit.
AwesomeSauce76: Overall I was very lucky. I really only got a handful of truly nasty, spiteful ones.
Exactly! Some people just forget that REAL people are taking their own time for no money to post this stuff. They may not like it, but is it really necessary to be cruel?
Kris: Ridiculous!
AwesomeSauce76: It can suck all the fun out of it.
Kris: And... not everyone is a professional writer... yes. Well, I guess those people are everywhere...unavoidable.
AwesomeSauce76: Yes.
Kris: Okay. If I have any other questions, which I might have forgotten, may I ask you later?
AwesomeSauce76: Of course!
Kris: Thank you so much for agreeing to do this. Your writing is fantastic and I so look forward to reading more of it.
AwesomeSauce76: Thank you! Let me know whenever this is up!
Kris: Yes. AWESOME (sauce)!
AwesomeSauce76: What's your Twitter? I'll follow.
Kris: LaMs_Rob_le Thank you! Now, go relax and read some fic!
AwesomeSauce76: You too! Thanks, I had fun!
Kris: Great! Me, too! Good night!
AwesomeSauce76: Night!
x~O~x~O~x~O~x~O~x~O~x
So, thus ends another interview with another fabulous author!
I was kind of shocked that she was perfectly normal and lovely. I was sure I’d be talking to a woman with a potty-mouth or something. Ha!
What did you think? Please leave some love for the author in the ‘Comments’ section below.
