#everlarkselfinterview

[everlarkrealornot]

As authors, we typically love talking about our works but don’t always have the ability to do so without feeling like we are bragging or being conceited. I wanted to create something that allowed us to freely talk about our fics and get positive feedback while avoiding that awful self-centered feeling. THUS! Everlark Fic Writers Self-Interviews was born.

Yeah, I know. Not a very catchy title. But it gets the point across. And what is the point, you may ask – to self-interview!

Honestly, it is exactly what it sounds like. I want fic writers to think of questions that they would want to be asked by their readers and then answer them. Some ideas of this might be, Where did you get the idea for the story? Or what was your inspiration for a particular chapter? Maybe you have visual inspirations that you want to share – do that too! Whatever it is that you want to share about a fic, do it! (I’ll post more ideas in the next couple of days.)

Alright, I know it sounds amazing, so when is it? November 15th. Yup. Three weeks from now! Pick 1 to 3 fics that you want to do a self-interview on, write up your self-interview, and then post them on Friday, November 15th with the tag, everlarkselfinterview .

(Can’t decide what fics to use? Ask your readers / family / tumblr mutuals. Use the fic with the most comments / bookmarks / subscriptions / ect. on AO3.)

[gamesmakers]

Everlark Self-Interview

The Writing Process

You know how NaNoWriMo is about getting words on paper and then editing later? I write slowly, delete everything, keep three words, and then never edit once I move past that point. I tend to have loose outlines that usually get reworked a few times before the final version gets posted. Writing every day has been my New Year’s resolution for the past three years, and I still end up doing 95% of my writing the day something gets posted. I don’t recommend this approach.

Quicksilver

Why did you choose this story?

Quicksilver is definitely my most popular story, so I was going to choose it anyway, but it’s also special to me because it’s been knocking around my head for probably ten years. The original concept is only loosely related to what’s made it to paper, but it’s gratifying to finally have something come from these ideas.

What was the original concept?

This story has been changed up and reworked so many times that I’m not even sure anymore. The starting point was Julia Quinn’s novel The Viscount Who Loved Me, which I strongly recommend. I think those who have read the book can see that Quicksilver’s starting point is essentially the same: a widowed mother from the poorer side of the upper class takes her two daughters to London for one season, and Kate/Katniss is certain that she’s going home single. There’s even a past relationship with an opera singer (whose name might have been lifted, I’m realizing as I type. I no longer own the book to check, but isn’t Anthony’s past lover named Carlotta too? I was thinking Phantom of the Opera with that name). The two stories definitely diverge from that point, though!

At this point, Quicksilver barely looks like the outline I had when I started writing three years ago. I at first intended it to be a long oneshot, about 10K words, with no spy subplot. It grew.

What makes Everlark work in this story?

To me, one of the most important elements of Peeta and Katniss’ relationship is their camaraderie and humor under pressure. That’s what I really wanted to focus on with this story. Those two are going to flirt and banter and gallows humor (verb form?) through everything.

Let’s talk about Gale.

I get quite a few comments about Gale – erm, “Hawthorne” - on this story. My goal for his character is that though he and Katniss would not work as a couple at all, they can make good teammates. Like anyone, his strengths are his weaknesses. Gale’s intellectual (boring), respectable (rigid), and feels protective and responsible for those around him (can be controlling). He’s also getting his own story once I finish this thing.

What are your favorite parts to write?

The diary entries! I know it’s kind of corny, but I love it when historical romances have journal entries, lists, newspaper columns, etc. at the beginning of every chapter. They’re often the last bit of a chapter I write, and though a few of the jokes don’t really land, I really like most of them. My two favorites:

Two events of note occurred today. First, I realized that Peeta Mellark, who just yesterday I considered an ally, and far more importantly, a close friend, is an irredeemable prat. Second, I became betrothed to him.

There’s a reason it’s the story summary. Also -

After much thought, I have determined that I have no legitimate complaints about Mr. Crane. Similarly, Sir Darius St. Andrews has no legitimate children, yet Mother's friends have theories about practically every redheaded, freckle-faced child in London. I find this encouraging.

Last thoughts?

I have loved historical romance for years, and I’m so happy to finally be writing one of my own. There are things I would absolutely change about this story if I were to rewrite it, but I’m pleased with where it is now. I find myself smiling when I read through it.

Thanks for reading. 💜

[lovely-tothe-bone]

#everlarkselfinterview

Just a reminder to check out that tag today. So far I've seen at least two, @everlarkrealornot and @mtk4fun . There's a whole day left to throw one together if you want to participate. If you need help finding the post with suggestion questions, ask!

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

So I guess I suck at interviews, lol. I had to ask others for questions. Thank you to @savvylark​ and @stjohn27​ for providing questions. Also there were requests to talk about Pure, Wrapped in Red, and Outside Chance. Doing so probably put me over the top into making this far longer than you wanted to read.

What does it feel like when you get an idea in your head and the muse hits you and everything just flows? How does it manifest itself with you?

It’s a crazy high, a little bit trippy, and a lot of mania. It usually happens in a weird place or an inconvenient time. You know that scene in the movie Inception, when Ellen Page’s character is learning to manipulate and alter the dream world and everything is bending in weird ways but still looks somehow normal? And how there’s this pause when things stop moving? It feels like that. Slow percolation of random things that I’m not really actively thinking about so much as they’re a side show playing in my brain and then with a quiet rumble… the pieces align and there’s my story...mostly, lol. That’s the trippy part.

I feel like most of my inspiration, the thing that causes the pieces to even start moving and also to align, is usually something external. Very rarely have I just come up with an idea on my own that’s led to a story I was willing to share. There is actually an entire folder on my drive of story ideas, a few random paragraphs, that are things I thought up on my own. They’ve gone nowhere. But the stories that were born from something external, some combination of a prompt, a picture, a song played at the right time, something I see happening around me, or from someone else’s words or questions they’ve asked me... those seem to be the stories that stick with me.

Sometimes I’ll see a handful of scenes, flashes that eventually become my waypoints or landmarks to get from the start to the finish. Other times I’ll be writing something that I intend to keep short, playing around with the words or the idea… Then the characters start talking to me. That sounds bizarre, but when they come to life in my mind and start talking to me, that’s when I know it’s a story worth pursuing. And eventually, there will be a complete picture in front of me. The streets might be vertical and there might be a staircase on the ceiling, but I’ll know I can make it work. From there, I’ll usually outline.

Generally speaking, when I post the first chapter of something, I have that and the outline written, the rest is in my head. I rarely ever outline first thing. There are a few exceptions to this, of course.

Come on Baby Light My Fire stands out as an exception of a different kind since it was very much a flying by the seat of our pants story this thing only lives if you all send me words as prompts reader interactive type story… until maybe halfway through when I had enough words sitting in my inbox to sketch out some kind of outline for where we were going.

This is where the mania comes in. A lot of times, I churn out a ton of chapters up front or start a new project on what looks like a total whim because I’m almost afraid that if I don’t, I’ll lose my steam and the story will fizzle out on me. I will write on my phone, in my home, on a laptop, while I mop, in a notebook, while I cook! I'll write with a fox, on a box. On a train, in the rain… Oops, wrong story. I will write anywhere! When the mania to do so hits. Not recommended as a healthy way of living btw.

What does it look like when the muse visits and bestows that blessed IDEA I can’t seem to ignore upon me? Hmm, well if you were a fly on the wall, you might see a lady walking into a wall whilst typing on her phone and going “I’m okay!” From the floor whilst still typing. Or you might see a mad dash through the house whilst wrapped in a towel with hair dripping wet (not recommended to be a fly on the wall for that one ieeeee). Most likely there will be gleeful cackling, loud music, and dancing in a seat while madly typing out words. That would be the crazy high point. ;)

On the flip side, what does hitting a wall feel like and how do you work through it?

It feels like running into a wall. Literally. It’s sometimes actually physically painful, but for the most part it’s very sudden and emotionally awful. Working through it inevitably involves walking away from it, at least for a little while. And when I feel like I’m ready to come back to it, maybe searching about for some new music to add to my playlist or flipping through some visual inspiration. Sometimes I’ll write a little from another character’s POV or maybe sketch out a future take.

Sometimes (a lot of times) talking to a trusted beta reader or fandom friend has helped break through those walls. I cannot stress enough how valuable it is having someone you can talk to about these things, and most of the ladies I’ve worked with as beta readers have also been my friends. Our conversations are not just limited to fandom and writing. I feel like that has enriched the sort of feedback they can and do provide me with and me for them. Since we know more about each other as a person, we can provide more constructive and insightful feedback. They’ve been an important part of my life. I’ve been fortunate to work with several extraordinary beta readers who’ve all helped me grow in some way, and whom I knew I could rely on to tell me if I’m being too hard on myself, or even more importantly… if I’m not and the story is in need of work. A really good beta reader, to me, isn’t just going to gush over my writing and build me up but also feels comfortable telling me when it’s not there yet. It’s called constructive criticism and it is every bit as important to writing as praise is, perhaps even more so.

Getting over that wall… It’s kind of a trial and error of things that have worked before.

Okay so here’s something I haven’t really talked about before, but I feel like I can now that I have several completed multichapter stories to my name. This wall you’ve asked about… I have hit one with every single one of my multichapter stories. Every. Single. One. It usually happens when I’m a few chapters away from completing it. And this wall isn’t a lack of motivation or even lack of inspiration, it is called Pressure. Pressure to deliver, to perform as a storyteller, and it can be just as crushing as a lack of motivation or inspiration. It’s almost entirely self induced though.

I spend a lot of time working on my fics whether it’s planning, researching, actually writing, responding to comments etc. I am not here to spend all of that time crafting my stories only to slop together an ending just so I can mark it complete. I’ve only done that with one story and trust me, it’s my least favorite thing I’ve written. I literally vocalize the sound “Ugh” whenever someone mentions it or comments on it or even so much as leaves a Kudo for it. And it is somehow one of my more popular stories don’t ask me to explain why because personally I don’t see the appeal. And I wrote it. Anywho!

That wall of pressure is mostly my own issue. I don’t spend all that time on my stories to not stick the landing. I do not want to be the type of writer who has to explain or defend the ending to their franchise (cough cough looking at you Marvel writers wtf?) or the kind of writer who leaves my readers feeling incomplete. If it doesn’t make sense or work for the majority of readers who have lovingly followed it, then chances are I mucked it up somewhere along the way.

Now this wall, when I hit it, I usually stop posting and go silent for awhile. So if you’ve read a lot of my fics, you might have noticed it. Maybe not. There will be a long break when there’s like two or three chapters left, depending on the length of the story/size of the project, where I doubt myself and what I’ve done so far and my ability to bring the story to a satisfactory close that is true to the characters and to the story itself. Soooo much pressure. Sometimes I’ll hit that wall mor than once with a story. I hit it before chapter 8 of Pure, and again before chapter 10. I hit it somewhere around chapter 25 of Wrapped in Red. In between every single chapter of It’s All a Lie. Somewhere after chapter 10 of COBLMF, and so on. This is actually where I am currently with Outside Chance. I haven’t given up on it, I’m just a little stuck and feeling the pressure to deliver the kind of ending I envisioned and that you all expect.

The thing is, I am mostly satisfied with and proud of the stories you see marked complete under my name. Are there things I could’ve done better? Obviously. But for the most part, I feel like I put out the best story I could, given where I was at the time.

So that leads nicely into the next question I have…

What made you want to tackle OC when you knew you didn’t want another WIP?

Insanity.

Lol, no. I had just finished Wrapped in Red and was staring at a list of eight WIPs. Eight incomplete stories… three that I started literally years ago as in way back in 2014/5 and want to finish as Everlark stories … some day Ahahahahahaha (Ampersand, One Last Hope, Everything You Are), two that I started for either PiP or EFE but almost immediately decided that while I liked the idea, it needed some fine tuning and therefore I never posted them outside of tumblr (Septimus, In the Waiting Dark), one that I didn’t know what the hell to do with at the time (Secret Kisses, Secret Wishes), and two that I wrote for ms2sl but that I seriously wanted — and still want — to turn into originals instead of finishing as fan fictions (Caught in the Net of the World, Spiral & Collision). I wanted to focus on those eight projects and get them done. I was determined to not start a new project. But noooooo.

OC is one of those stories where everything aligned in my head without my permission and the characters took shape so vividly that, quite frankly, I felt like I was going to burst if I didn’t get it out of my head onto paper, so to speak. I couldn’t NOT write it and I was too much in love with it far too fast to stand a chance of resisting it. I just happen to be lucky in that I write as part of a fandom that is so open to new materials and continues to forgive writers who leave their works without updates for a year or longer.

The patience is much appreciated, btw. It makes it easier to produce what I hope is quality fic if the audience is willing to wait for it (refer back to that answer about hitting walls ;)

Which story means the most to you and why?

Oh good lord. I hate this question. Have I mentioned that I hate this question??? Alright. So all my stories mean a lot to me. They are truly a labor of love. So how about I tell you what I loved about each of my top tier faves? Because I can’t limit myself to one.

The Rim of the Sky: This one is completely raw writing. No planning, no outline. It’s essentially an emotional vomit and is also the first piece I shared that anyone really took notice of. I think I went from 20 followers to over 100 almost overnight after posting this sucker. The response to it absolutely blew me away and gave me the confidence to keep writing and sharing.

Lay Me Down, Let Me Dream: Co writing dream come true. The synergy of this thing… I can’t even explain it. And the fact that we managed to churn this puppy out in a matter of weeks! I learned so much about myself as a writer through this project and it’s also a story that’s kinda close to the heart since there’s a history of mental illness and suicide in my family.

Break: The first multichapter story I finished all on my own. Need I say more? It was especially meaningful because I had several WIPs at that point that I’d lost all progress and outlines for in a computer crash. I was discouraged and thinking about giving up fanfic writing altogether when I managed to pull this one out of the dust and turn it into something I could be proud of, therefore it will always have a special place in my heart. Also smut. ;)

Pure: Gah! I went so far outside my comfort zone at the time of writing this one, but I am so glad I did. It gave me the courage to explore all kinds of worlds and storylines I would have previously shied away from attempting. This is also one of the stories that is a prime example of what happens when I listen to my characters, feeling them come alive and letting them guide the story. The proof of that is in the fact that every story I finished before this one (and quite a few that came after) when I marked it finished, that was it. I had nothing more to add to the story. I toyed with writing a few outtakes from Break but none of them stuck or felt… right. But Pure kept leaving little moments in my head of their future, of Peeta’s POV. I could make a case for Everything You Are also being one of those stories where the characters kind of took over and became almost larger than life in my head, but unfortunately Lark and Jay have been eerily silent for awhile now. Maybe because Hummingbird and Cupcake are so damn loud and obnoxious about getting their story told. ;) Anyways, Pure really stayed with me for awhile after I finished it for some reason.

Come On Baby Light My Fire: Two words. Reader. Interaction. I know firefighter Peeta is a huge draw, but to me this one is special because of the way it was almost an interactive story. To me, this is a great example of one of the best parts of writing for a fandom, that interaction with the readers and other writers.

Spiral & Collision: Step into my crazy galaxy and see if I don’t break your heart along the way mwahahahahahaha! Okay really this is the story, since it was the second one where I was in the midst of writing it and also simultaneously banging my head on a wall going “Stupid stupid stupid this is original material stop writing it as Everlark” and yet couldn’t seem to stop writing it as Everlark, when I decided I really wanted to try getting publish one day. Still working on it. Fingers crossed. Also I think this may have been the first lengthy story in which I made one of them a single parent… I had written drabbles before but not long stories. Anyhow, I kinda fell in love with the trope after this one. As evidenced by the one that came almost right after it...

Wrapped in Red: Karina Karina Karina! Is it any wonder that shortly after S&C I went on a kind of single parent AU binge? The toast(ish) babies in this one are my faaaaaves. Avery, Olive and Cole… I wish I could’ve given them more screen time, I adore this crazy found family. Plus those socks… ;) This one was just fun to write.

9000 RPM: Three reasons… One: stylistic paragraphs and attempts to write the feel of speed (or lack thereof) into the story. Two: The characters stole my heart. Shamelessly. Ruthlessly. Raven my precious baby. Peeta gah if only all men were like this Peeta, and Katniss ooooh my darling. She’s tough and yet suuuper vulnerable, take no shit but sooooo loving. And also Aunt Laverne. She’s an iconic archetype and the response to her is exactly what I was aiming for. Three: The journey the characters went on is one of my faves that I’ve written for them…. Also car sex… ;)

Outside Chance: I feel like this epic is my fandom opus and I talk about it all the time anyways so you had to know it’d be on here right?

Which was the hardest story to write?

Emotionally - Lay Me Down, Let Me Dream. Um it was an incredible writing experience, as I said previously, but it was also a very emotionally taxing story to produce. I spent a significant amount of writing this story in a bit of a depression. Mr. KDNFB almost staged an intervention but there was far more going on than just writing this story. So the way we did this was titania wrote Peeta’s POV and I wrote Katniss’. I had a really, really hard time writing my first chapter of this. I texted my beta at the time “I can’t kill Prim. Why can’t I kill Prim?” Even though I knew it was essential to the plot. The rest of the story doesn’t happen without Prim’s death. I cried through writing the whole thing. Ugly crying. And if that wasn’t enough, shortly after we posted the chapter in which Peeta dies, I was (ironically) in a serious car wreck. I still cannot see a car wreck in the middle of an intersection without getting shaky. Anyhow. Chapters 5-7 were written with me bedridden, on narcotic level pain killers and muscle relaxers. Not recommended, but I managed it.

Technically - I gotta go with Pure. I was very ambitious with the kind of imagery I wanted to use as well as the kind of mirror structure that SC uses in our source material. I’m still not convinced that I pulled it off, lol. Not to mention, as I said earlier, it was a world that was out of my experience almost entirely.

Physically - Outside Chance…. just look at the freaking word count. Also it’s the story that has spawned two other stories and the three in my head that I refuse to write on principle... at least not until I get the core three done oi.

Writer’s choice! Because I’m selfish. ;)

Story time! Okay so I’ve lived in quite a few different places, and it had an interesting result on my development as a human being. When I went to college, it was at a university in the Deep South. The second I opened my mouth, inevitably someone would either ask “Where’d you say you were from?” Or say “You aren’t from around here, are ya?” I am still to this day saved in my born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama roommate's phone as “Damn Yankee.”

There was this girl who lived on our floor and she kind of prided herself on being able to guess where you were from based solely on your accent and speech patterns. Apparently she didn’t understand Military Brat because I stumped her. I didn’t know this at first so she kind of creeped me out, because every time I would talk to her or even just talk around her, she’d go all squinty eyed and stare at me. And ya’ll call northerners rude ;) Anyways. About a month and a half into the semester, she threw up her hands and made this exasperated noise and said “I give up! I can’t place you! Where’d you learn to talk?” …. “Uuuh, Alaska probably? First words likely in Hawaii? Illinois for serious language development maybe??? Why?” Which led to a conversation that explained to her why when I talk she would hear west coast, far north, Midwest, a little southern but not much (because I’d picked up a few inflections there already) and something else she had no idea how to explain (four years living in Europe). The point is, I sounded Wrong to her, no matter where I claimed to be from. And she wasn’t the only one. I just started telliong people that I’m a military brat when they’d ask where I was from and they’d go “Ooooooh, that explains a lot.” *Insert eye roll emoji here*

It was a lesson in voice. A very awkward one, but a valuable one. That New York Times test that places you in the USA based on words you use and how you pronounce them… it’s given me a completely different answer all three times I’ve taken it. I’m not even kidding. All of that has made me extremely self conscious about the way I speak but also hyper aware of character voice when I write and how the slightest mistake can take someone out of the story with a sense of “that’s not right” but no real explanation for why it’s not right unless they’re focused on the voice aspect of a story.

And man, I have some fun stories about voice and language discussions that occurred in my house while writing 9000 RPM. (Ex: Why do you call it a lunch box if you call the meal dinner instead of lunch? Answer: Because lunch is lunch and dinner is fancy lunch. Supper is yer evening meal, don’t be calling that shit dinner. *Must be said in a southern twang and I swear to god if you’ve heard a southerner say shit... it’s like they’re simultaneously saying “sheet” and “shiiiiiiit.” Like that’s the best way I know how to describe it. I cannot replicate it but I know it when I hear it.)

I had a point here…? Maybe just that it’s important to me, or that when someone tells me I’ve nailed the voice, I get this incredible thrill because it is something I am so so worried about all the time. Next to telling me that I made you feel all the feelings or that you would spend money to read my writing, that’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten as a writer. Anyways. Moving on!

Some of this I know I’ve talked about before, so I apologize for any repetition. So here we go! We’ll go in chronological order, starting with Pure:

Where did the story come from? What inspired it? Where were you when the idea hit?

I was sitting on my couch scrolling through tumblr, hoping for some inspiration for COBLM and also kind of hoping I could come up with something for the upcoming round of PiP, when I saw this picture.

Like pretty much everyone else, I thought oh look at the pretty Everlark picture! Then I went down a spiral of who is this Everlark? How do they get to this snowy wedding kiss? And for some reason, I honed in on the uniform and my brain leapt through An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, a little bit of Cinderella (especially the Drew Barrymore Ever After version), a few other stops and then suddenly Katniss was walking through snow in a stupidly short dress and boots, trying to make herself both invisible and also available. “It’s always snowing when I fuck up.” And from there Katniss didn’t stop talking, so I kept writing. I finished the first chapter in one frantic and very very late night, sent it off to my then beta reader and asked if she thought I had something or if I was out of my damn mind. Pure was unique to me in that the ending that sparked inspiration, not the beginning or middle, which is usually the case for me. Sometimes I think Pure consists 90% of me attempting to prove to PBG that I could take Everlark from such an awful, bleak starting point and believably get them to that fairy tale wedding kiss in the snow. Did I manage it? You the readers are the true judge of that. ;)

However, Pure is an example of how I usually operate in the method of writing once the idea has hit. Usually I will write part of the story first, get a feel for the world and the characters and their voices as well as the mood of the story. The outline comes second and I’m open to changing it as I write. I don’t believe in rigidly sticking to my outline if something else, some other path that I feel works better, presents itself. Beta and reader feedback have also caused me to rethink certain things, make changes if it feels necessary, or more often it means adding scenes to round things out a little better. Clearly I am not talented enough to write in a vacuum, lol.

How long did it take you to write it and did the story change as you went through things in life?

Pure took me about six months to write. It’s also over 100,000 words. I’ll take this chance to say that what I learned about myself as a writer with this one is that I can churn out words at a stupid rate, given the right circumstances and the right story. It’s become one of my benchmarks for whether or not a story is going to work out. If writing it is laborious at the start, then it might not be worth my time to pursue it, and I know this sounds like a total cop out but it’s worked for me this far.

And the story did change as I went through things in life. I was working as an assistant to a boudoir photographer at the time, and that meant that I did a little bit of everything for her. Dealing with sets and lighting, changing out her lenses so she could keep her rhythm, bookkeeping, scheduling, errands, assisting with hair and makeup and wardrobe selection, she even started teaching me a little editing near the end there, sales at bridal and trade shows. It was a serious Jack of All Trades job. But the biggest portion of my job with her was to help set the right atmosphere to help our clients feel comfortable in an extremely vulnerable, uncomfortable state. You are literally somewhere from in your underwear to buck naked in front of a camera lens. It was all about empowering women (and a few men) in their skin. I think that affected how I wrote several of the girls in Pure and their interactions as almost a kind of sisterhood. Johanna took on some big sister/maternal qualities as well as the attitude towards her job that will keep her in it.

There were other things that changed along the way, but most of those had more to do with the characters themselves and how I felt they would respond to situations. Example: I wasn’t actually planning to have Katniss and Madge meet. Originally, it was going to be Gale’s treatment of Katniss that led K to cut things off with him. But then I realized that she wasn’t at the stage yet where she’d care enough about her own well being or think highly enough of herself to want to protect herself for her own sake. She would, however, see what kind of pain she has indirectly caused to happen to Madge through her profession. The bulk of the blame lays with Gale, obviously, for being a lying cheating POS in this story, which is why Katniss gets so furious with him and ends things. She doesn’t want to keep hurting Madge or other women like Madge. Bonus is that it protects Katniss herself, too. Because at the end of the day, Katniss values loyalty, and this Gale was not loyal to his wife so Katniss has no reason to believe he’d be loyal to her.

What was the hardest part of the story for you to write?

Any time Katniss is with a client. The lunch scene where Plutarch basically bullies her into giving their waiter a hand job was especially tough to write. Cringe cringe cringe I hated doing that to Katniss because she was so miserable in her life and felt like this was all she could do to survive, all she was worth in her own eyes is as a plaything. It made it all the more important to me to pull off a believable HEA without her being a prostitute and with Peeta in her life. I threw so much shit at this Katniss that more than anything, I wanted her to wind up in a really good, happy place.

What was the easiest part to write?

The entire section where Katniss goes back to Twelve with Peeta for his mother’s funeral. That was like a breath of fresh air, a taste of hope, a turning point all rolled into one. It gave me a chance to write them as they could be, to show their potential. They are there for one another in a very emotional way, but also kind of domestic and comfortable with one another. She walks in when he’s taking a bath, and he’s not surprised nor is he put off when she climbs in the tub with him, nor does Katniss even think twice about it. I hope it came across as being very organic and natural for them. Also it’s the first time they’re physically free with their affection and sexual desires for one another without it being an exchange, which is a huge huge step for them both.

Were there any parts that related directly to your life?

Lol not really? Maybe some of the military related stuff.

Any part you want to rewrite?

Shockingly, no. I’m sure there are places I could improve if I went back and wrote the story now, but I kinda like leaving it as is. I’ve always kind of toyed with the idea of writing additional scenes for them, future takes, scenes that would fit in the three years gap between chapter nine and ten, some stuff from Peeta’s POV during the five years between Mrs. Everdeen's funeral and Darius’ bachelor party, but I just never seem to find the time to devote to it, plus there are other projects...

Now for Wrapped in Red:

Where did the story come from? What inspired it? Where were you when the idea hit?

This one started as a prompt from @savvylark​ who wanted Katniss to have an extremely powerful and vivid sexual dream about her best friend Peeta and then not be able to look him in the eye the next day. So I wrote a little something something and ended it on an angsty, uncertain note. I didn’t want to continue it. I was, in fact, actively trying to NOT expand it. I’ve had mixed results with things that I post as tumblr drabbles/oneshots and then expand. Some of them have turned out amazing, others I wanna burn to the ground and wish I’d never even tried. With WIR, it was sort of a slow devolving over a couple of days from “not gonna do it nope nope nope go away ideas I’m not gonna do it” into me glaring at the speakers in my car while Kelly Clarkson sang her heart out and all I could see was Katniss dancing through the house in those red socks, singing along and completely oblivious that there’s a slack jawed Peeta watching her from the doorway. Cut to me looking up the lyrics of the song Wrapped in Red (yes yes, I win the award for least creative titling ever), and muttering curse words to myself when I realized that ignoring the chorus repetitions, there were about twenty-seven lines I could work with as chapter titles. Prologue + 25 chapters + epilogue. I had always wanted to write an advent style Everlark fic and post a new chapter every day leading up to Christmas plus one after for those holiday blues, and here it was, staring me in the face.

Cut to me with a pen stuck in my hair and post it notes all over my wall. I took one color and wrote chapter numbers and one line of song lyrics on them. Then I took a second color post it and wrote plot points. The post it’s made it easier for me to move or change things until I had an outline I was happy with. Then as I wrote each chapter, I happily tossed away the post it notes for it, slowly making my outline disappear.

How long did it take you to write it and did the story change as you went through things in life?

Just under three months for this one. I didn’t manage to stick to my chapter a day goal. I think I posted the last one pretty close to Valentine’s day actually...

And if anything changed as I was writing, it was the emphasis on Katniss’ project saving the lake. I wanted this version of Everlark to really feel like three whole people becoming a family in every way, not a two people focused on each other to the exclusion of everything else going on around them with a kid hanging on the periphery. So they deal with Karina’s growing pains and matchmaking, they deal with Katniss’ job and her passions, they have to deal with Peeta’s ex and his insecurities and also with both of their friends and families that already exist as part of their lives. They’re best friends but they still learn things about one another as the story progresses. At least, that was my goal.

What was the hardest part of the story for you to write?

Their first date. I always feel like I miss the mark with the kind of snarky old married couple kind of banter Everlark has in canon. Shut up and eat your pears. Don’t be so superior. Say the arena is a giant cake… Usually I feel like I write them too cheesy or sappy. Most of the time, if there’s a writer I envy enough that they make me want to flip tables in rage, it is for their dialogue writing skills. So first dates give me hives with Everlark. Until the clothes start flying across the room, then I feel comfortable with them again. ;)

What was the easiest part to write?

The smut? Lol, actually the easiest parts to write were the ones when Katniss is freaking out and doubting herself. This was my first serious foray into writing an over thirty Katniss and I felt more at home in her voice because of that, being you know, over thirty myself. ;)

Were there any parts that related directly to your life?

I looooove knee high socks and think they’re like one of the sexiest things a girl can wear. Knee high socks, long shirt and a smile. Sigh. So! gratuitous writer attraction included. ;)

Any part you want to rewrite?

Maybe some of Peeta’s dialogue (see previous answers ugh). He was a little harder for me to pin down with this story since he’s in such a different place from how I usually write Peeta. He’s a divorced, single Dad in his thirties. He’s more cautious and more self conscious than the apparently but not really self assured 18 to late twenties year old I usually spend more time writing. Thus, this Katniss wound up being the aggressor/instigator in their relationship. It was kinda fun, though, to write Katniss as the one putting herself out on a limb more and consciously wooing him at first rather than the other way around.

And now the big one… the Outside Chance universe:

Where did the story come from? What inspired it? Where were you when the idea hit?

Has anyone else noticed that the three stories you all asked about revolve very heavily around winter and snow? Or that two of the three are totally @savvylark’s fault? Hmmmm….is it safe to call Savvy my muse yet? ;)

So this one started when Savvy asked me what winter sport Peeta would compete in. The discussions that followed were phenomenal. There were any number of drabbles and a few fantastic multichapter stories that came out of it. I had zero intentions of writing anything. I really did. But buttercupbadass threw the Paralympics out there and then someone said something about Peeta as a snowboarder and Katniss as a biathlete. Then @honeylime08​ said she’d give a gold medal to anyone who gave her all three Mellark brothers in the Winter Olympics and my brain turned into idea soup. It started simple. I wrote a short bit, which eventually morphed into the scene in chapter 13 when they’re flirting and racing down the mountain together. I only meant to write a oneshot where Katniss is in a slump and goes to Skadi (which actually didn’t even have a name yet) to have some privacy while training, and she’d meet Peeta there, and somehow convince him to compete in the Paralympics. Buuuut, as I kept thinking about it and researching, bits and pieces kept jumping out at me and then my oneshot story quickly grew out of hand into this massive epic story that I literally could not contain. So I caved and started really working on it. It took me weeks to lay those foundations until I felt comfortable sharing, and ideas came to me in random places at random times.

How long did it take you to write it and did the story change as you went through things in life?

Good lord. We’re at a year and nine months now? Still not finished. And it still grows and grows until all the holes and gaps start to connect.

Did the story change as I went through life? Not really. The bones of it are still the same. I would say there are some details that have changed, especially as I’ve explored the other two Mellark brothers with their partners. The new perspectives changed how I saw certain things, but the story itself, even with the additions, has remained largely unchanged. As with some of my other stories, beta and reader influence has guided some of the additions that weren’t in the original outline but I feel like the story itself has stayed true.

What was the hardest part of the story for you to write?

So far… the hardest part has been keeping the voices of the three girls straight in my head. They share some similarities, but Savannah is a mom of four and is ten years older than Katniss, fourteen years older than Prim. My three ladies have different viewpoints, strengths and weaknesses, life experiences. They are going to and should sound different as they narrate. Sometimes I feel like they sound too much alike and switching between them has complicated things. Keeping Rosie separate and unique from the other two has been far easier than keeping Katniss and Savannah separate and unique from each other...

There is also the fact that Katniss and Prim, as WOC, specifically women of indigenous descent, one of whom is passing white, their voices are more… I don’t want to say difficult to write so much as they are something that I wanted to write with respect and understanding and to get right, since well… I am not.

The flashback scene in chapter 9 was difficult to write emotionally as well as technically. I’m not in the medical field but wanted to convey what was happening while also giving life to the sort of desperation Katniss would have felt.

What was the easiest part to write?

The beginning because it’s the shortest chapter and none of it since then? It’s a massive project?? Lol.

Were there any parts that related directly to your life?

A scary large amount. I’ve hidden quite a lot of my own personal and family history in here. So much that if any of my stories give away who I am to people I know away from fandom, it’ll be this one.

I’ve talked about her before, but Agnes is heavily inspired by my aunt, who was a swimmer headed towards the Olympic team, but her dreams died due to an injury and a sort of breakdown afterwards that left her married and pregnant at a young age. She spent years unhappy and bitter and took a lot of it out on her athlete sons. My cousins are a-holes though, and I adore these three Mellark boys. Then again, my cousins didn’t have a grandfather like Eirik…

So bonus! I’ll talk about common reader reactions to characters or scenes that bother me, because I’ve tried not to be too vocal about it since everyone is titled to their opinion, but it relates to this question anyways. Believe it or not, I get kind of cheesed off when people tell me that Gale coming back into Katniss’ life in chapter 23 and stirring shit up after two years of being gone and her response to it doesn’t feel believable because guess what… that happened to me. The guy I dated in high school and into college kept putting pressure on me to talk about marriage and kids and plans for the future, and I wasn’t ready to have those kinds of talks. Our relationship was toxic, at best, maybe borderline abusive, I don’t know. I feel too close to it to be able to stick that label on it accurately, especially because I feel like I fought back in many ways that could maybe be classified as me being abusive of him?? Hence why I usually call it toxic. We brought out the worst in each other. Eventually we did fall apart, for different reasons than what happens to Gale and Katniss here, but the point is, nearly three years after we broke up and I told this guy to never call me or contact me ever again because he had been harassing me for months after we broke up over the way it happened and kept insisting we could be friends, when it was clear we couldn’t possibly… three years after that, three years of no communication, he pops up out of nowhere to act all possessive and angry, asking how the hell I was married to someone else. Yep, that’s right. He heard that I got married through Facebook or town gossip or whatever and then contacted me to basically trash all over me, to include telling me that he had seen pictures from my wedding and it didn’t look anything like me at all. He told me I looked terrible on my wedding day. Also he blamed his then failing relationship on me somehow, even though I hadn’t spoken to this guy in almost three years. Somehow, the fact that his girlfriend was miserable with him was my fault. A real winner. But yeah. Gale here is heavily influenced by that ex of mine.

And so is Katniss’ response to him. As much as I had grown in those three years, and felt stronger and far more independent without him, when I was faced with him again, I fucking froze. It was a literal time warp to who I was when we were together and it sucked. So yeah, I get pretty defensive of OC Katniss when people say she should have done XYZ in that scene. Yes, she should have, but I wrote what felt true to life and to the character. This actually also goes for Peeta in that scene too, because he’s dealing with a similar effect from his mother’s abuse and only just realizing that his entire family has seen her recently, including Katniss, and yet kept it from him for months.

Savannah. Savannah is an amalgam of myself and every other mother I’ve ever vented with. A lot of her experiences are drawn from my own as well as my friends. I think that’s part of why people have become so enamored with her. She’s real to you because she’s based so heavily in real life experiences. Graham is actually… and this is going to sound so freaking weird, but he’s a combination of a friend’s husband, my older sister, and my own father. *face palm* That sounds so weird when I write it down but that’s what he is…

Ryen is built around a lot of my own experiences in terms of his relationships with his brothers. Hi, yes I am a middle child and can relate to a lot of the things he says or does in response to his brothers. He’s got far more panache and a much larger wild streak than me, but the way he responds to Peeta and Graham is somewhat rooted in personal experience. Okay actually I pulled a whole lot from my experiences as the middle sister and perspectives to write the brothers Mellark here. There’s an upcoming scene in the next OE chapter where Graham basically interrogates Ryen and nearly accuses him of being on drugs that is lifted almost directly from personal experience. My older sister was far more overbearing in asking about that stuff than my parents ever were when I’d come home from college...anywho!

Any part you want to rewrite?

Not yet, unless you count the fact that I am kind of background plotting how I’d turn this into an original piece...

Listen to music while you write? Special playlist?

While I always always need music playing while I write, and a lot of times my writing is heavily influenced by the music I’m listening to, as in I’ve had a story take an unexpected turn because the next song on shuffle happens and before I know it I’m squinting at the screen going “What is this shit? It was not in the plan!! Who cares just keep writing it, you can always delete or edit later.” That being said, Outside Chance was one of the first projects where I built a seriously dedicated and unique to that story playlist. Not the first story that had a dedicated playlist. Spiral & Collision, since it takes place in literally another world, was the first one that had a truly unique playlist and holds that honor; and quite honestly, S&C actually owes a lot of it’s inspiration to music. My kids had recently seen TRON: Legacy for the first time and so we were listening to the soundtrack quite a bit, because I’m sorry that music by Daft Punk goes hard and while we were listening to that, the story for S&C really started to take shape. But we’re here to talk about Outside Chance… Prior to OC, and ignoring S&C, I had a general Everlark writing playlist, and sometimes there would be one album that got played on repeat (Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red for WiR), or maybe a handful of songs that only applied to that specific story. I think I had ten songs that were Pure!Everlark but didn’t really work for any of my other stories in terms of inspiring my writing. But OC…

Music is such a central part of who this Everlark is that the playlist for this universe is insane. There’s music on it that Katniss would love, music that Peeta would love, music from the Savannah and Graham courtship era, songs that scream Ryen because Ryen can't do anything quietly, songs that are there to create the mood for specific scenes, songs that were selected for specific playlists that Peeta himself has on his iPod or phone, etc etc etc… The playlist is a story all to itself for this universe and it’s constantly growing and being edited. Quite a few people have sent me songs and said it made them think of some part of the OC universe or some specific scene, and if I hear it too, it gets added to the playlist. When I’m out and about, if I hear a song that fits, it gets added. OC Peeta totally has the Shazam app on his phone and it’s one of the most used apps. I know I’ve used it a ton for this story.

The downside to this massive playlist being a driving factor of the story itself is that every story I’ve written since I started OC has needed its own dedicated playlist to help me set the mood. Example: I started 9000 RPM and almost immediately hit a wall. I loved the idea, the characters were forming and the plot was outlined, but something was off. I wasn’t hitting the right note until one day I had a bunch of music on shuffle and providence granted me a favor. My music spit out Ciara’s rendition of Paint It Black, followed immediately by a song by Vixen… pretty sure it was Anyway. I sat up and screamed. This was Katniss’ musical voice. I scoured for all of my girls who rock music and cobbled together a soundtrack and while that was playing, the voices came easier. It’s now become a thing. I almost need a musical mood board before I can get anywhere with a story. Just one more thing, lol. Spellbound has actually been a lot harder to pinpoint a playlist for. Maybe that’s why I’m struggling so much with writing it???

This concludes my self interview. Feel free to ask any follow up questions if you want to, and happy writing & reading!

<3 KDNFB

[alliswell21]

Everlark Self Interview:

Hello all, here is my contribution to this exercise, lol.

I’m going to feature my story “A Pixie for the Mellark Children” on this self interview, because is the one kicking my butt right now, and it’s my most sincere dream to finish it like I envisioned.

Here goes!

-Did you do an outline, brain stormed or did you start writing?

I did, actually. I outlined the story to be 14 chapters long and each chapter was detailed-ly mapped out, with a few choice dialogue notes here and there, and a whole list of web pages with pixie folklore info I used to consult.

-How long did the story take to write, and did it went through changes in the process?

Yeah… it’s been like 3 years at this point? *sighs* I moved houses, then had a baby, and now I’m trying to catch up.

-Where did the story come from? What inspired it?

We were getting ready to buy our new house, we’ve been saving for a couple of years, because we needed a better school district, and then one morning my husband got a call from the bank from fraud prevention, somebody had stolen his debit card number— thank goodness they weren’t that smart— they tried going over the limit and the bank blocked the card right away. We could’ve lost all of our savings then… bye-bye house.

I was completely stressed out about the whole thing. I was angry and very disappointed in humanity.

So I started writing a story as opposed to my situation as I could. I had recently read about pixies riding ponies in the English countryside, and I decided that sounded kind of lovely, so I did some research, and took some creative license in creating the world of the pixies and how they interact with children and senior adults that need help. By the way, Fairies are totally mean, they will kidnap your kids! But Pixies are cool, they watch out for animals, children and old folks.

-What was the hardest part of the story to write?

I wanted to write an a-hole Peeta for whatever reason. So, sometimes I have to sit and think “what will sweet, kind, generous Peeta do/say in this situation?” And go in the opposite direction. The readers hate him :)

-What was your favorite part of the story?

Researching the Pixie traditions. Writing about Devon, England— I’ve never been, but I printed pictures of it and the wild ponies because the place is beautiful. I hope to visit someday.

-Were there any parts that related directly to your life?

Not really. Most of this story has been written out of research and second hand experiences. My beta @shellibug did such an amazing job describing some of the landmarks of London, it felt as if I was there with her. She’s also help so much with “Britishism” and dialogue, is one of the best parts of the story I believe.

-Which are the easiest and hardest characters to write?

Peeta has been hard to write, because he can get so OOC. The easiest I think has been Prim and Haymitch. They pretty much write themselves.

-Any OCs?

Not quite Original. Unless the pony (that’s just a pony without any anthropomorphic abilities) counts?

I do have Mrs. Mellark and Peeta’s brothers; while they’re canon, we never see/hear the brothers in THG trilogy, so mostly they are characters I’ve half made up for this story.

-Did you learn anything about yourself as a writer with this story?

I’ve learn a lot with each of my stories. This one is no different. I did learn that things change and mutate from what you envisioned and I can cringe at my own choices at times.

I’ve decided to cut a few things out of the story from what I wanted in the beginning, because now they look redundant or too ambitious, and having a toddler again has seriously made me reconsider everything around me. I hope I can write a good ending for this story I hold dear to my heart.

[shesasurvivor]

Everlark Self-Interview

First, let me just say that I think this is a brilliant idea, and I love it a lot. I’m just hopping on after a long day at work, but from what I’ve read so far, reading everyone’s interviews has been insightful and fascinating.

I first started writing The Hunger Games/Everlark fanfiction in June 2012, two months after I finished reading the books for the first time. I adored them so much, they left me wanting more, particularly with Katniss and Peeta. After induldging in others’ fics for two months, I decided I wanted to try writing out my own ideas for stories. My first ever fic was ‘All That Love’s About,’ a post-Mockingjay oneshot where they talk things through after seeing Gale on TV. The title came from the title of a track off the Wall-E OST, which in turn came from a line from Hello Dolly. Everlark and THG both reminded me a lot of Wall-E (a favorite of mine), so I thought the nod felt appropriate.

The Writing Process

Do you use an outline?

I tend to create a loose outline that helps me structure the story. I’ll usually decide on how many chapters I want the story to have first. Sometimes these will have some sort of special significance, but usually I just go with my gut. From there, I’ll work out the main beats, and write a generalized summary of what I want to happen in each chapter. After that, I like to say that I basically just vomit words on a screen.  I’m a big fan of improv, and once I have the general idea of what I want to happen, I’m basically improvising the rest. 

Do you use a beta?

I have used the help of several wonderful people over the years, but my one consistent person who helps me with everything is @triplebigday​. Not only does she beta, but she helps me work out a lot of the story when I do get stuck, and we bounce ideas off each other. This isn’t just true of Everlark, either: we have a whole, massive Star Wars AU we’ve cooked up together. I like to say she’s the Taika Waiti to my Jemaine Clement. Anyways, she’s the best, she gets me and what I’m doing like no other, and cooking up stories together is one of my aboslute favorite things in life. 

Where do you write?

On my couch using my Chromebook. LOL. 

Do you listen to music or make a playlist?

I will definitely make playlists that feel appropriate for my stories, but I don’t listen to anything when I write. Usually I’ll do it in complete silence, because it’s easier for me to focus. Sometimes I’ll use the Coffitivity app, though. But with music, I find myself wanting to actively listen to it, and it prevents me from getting any actual writing done. 

Do you start posting right away, or wait until you’re done?

At first, I would post my chapters as soon as they were done. Lately, however, I’ve been leaning towards trying to finish things first. I don’t know, it really depends on the story, I guess. 

The Story

I’m going to focus primarily on my Blue on Grey/A House United universe, and The Tigers Come at Night.

Where did the story come from?

For A House United, the story came from a prompt on a round of Prompts in Panem. The idea is actually influenced by Gone with the Wind, because I remember thinking Katniss and Scarlett were both similar and very different ways, and I wanted to play with that idea. But also, I’m not going to lie: I also just found the idea of smut between them kind of hot.

As for The Tigers Come at Night, the idea was always meant to be a ‘Katniss-actually-pregnant-in-the-Quell’ fic. That was one of my favorite tropes to read, and one day I started thinking about what I would write if I were going to do a take on it. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like it would probably have to take something like forced prostitution for Katniss to actually be pregnant in the Quell, and that was a darker, more dystopian story that I had been wanting to try. 

How long did the story take to write? How did your life change?

A House United took me a year and a half to write. In that time, I dealt with PTSD, a nervous breakdown, and relocated to a new state to put myself back together. 

I’ve been very, v e r y slowly chipping away at The Tigers Come at Night since November 2013, so needless to say, things have changed a LOT for me since then. I started the story shortly after the aforementioned nervous breakdown; I’ve recovered tenfold since that time, to the point where I don’t even feel like the same person anymore. It’s insane looking back on where I was when I started this story, and it’s even more insane that it’s been so long and this story is still not complete! I think I need to set a deadline for myself, and just knock it out already.

What was the hardest part of the story to write?

For A House United, it was dealing with the fact that it was set in Reconstruction-era South. There’s the historical accuracy you have to look for, and then there’s the obvious issue with racism in the era. I actually had a whole plotline worked out where it turned out Katniss was herself a WOC, and not the white southern belle she’d initially been painted as, but I ended up scrapping it because I needed to end the story for mental health reasons. 

I think it’s probably obvious that The Tigers Come at Night is an inherently hard fic to write due to the subject matter, and probably one of the main reasons I’m so slow in finishing it. Making things feel true from a psychological perspective is very, very important to me, so I don’t want to make light of the subject matter at all. But because of this, and my own struggle with my mental health, there have been times when I simply couldn’t deal with it at all.

What was the easiest part to write?

Haha, any time Katniss and Peeta get a good shippy scene together is always my favorite! I also adore writing Peeta’s wit, and any banter between the two, because I’m honestly just the kind of person who is going around saying that crap anyways. It’s a ton of fun. 

Any parts you want to rewrite?

I periodically visit the idea of rewriting Blue on Grey/A House United, because every so often I come up with a new way I would make the story go this time around. The idea that comes immediately to mind now, though, is one that’s more of a retelling, where Katniss and Peeta get stuck together for a period of time, and because of the time period, are forced to marry to avoid scandal. Peeta spends the time thinking Katniss wants nothing to do with him and wants to marry Gale instead, while Katniss, who was reluctant/resentful at first, is slowly falling in love with Peeta. Maybe I’ll write that, but honestly, don’t hold your breath.

As for Tigers, I just want to finish writing it the first time!

The Characters

Easiest to write?

Without a doubt, Katniss. Our inner thoughts are very, very similar. But Peeta’s sense of humor is also super easy for me to write.

Hardest to write?

Plutarch springs immediately to mind. He’s like the polar opposite of who I am, so it’s difficult getting into his head sometimes. Even Snow is easier for me to write. 

OC’s

None, unless you count developing characters we didn’t see much in the books, like Peeta’s brothers or the toast babies. Now Star Wars, that’s where my OCs get out of hand. LOL.

Who do you relate to the most?

LOL J/K, we all know who I relate to most. 

Any characters you don’t like writing?

Like honestly, I get annoyed having to write Katniss and/or Peeta interact with anyone who isn’t each other. I just want to write Everlark, and the rest is filler. LOL!

[savvylark]

Everlark Fic Writers Self Interview - SavvyLark

 @everlarkrealornot came up with idea, how unique. Thanks for the nudge to do this @creamytinydays and @butrfac14.

I’ll start where @creamytinydays asked some things already. 

How did you start out writing these stories? My writing process starts out as something vivid, a scene, and action and usually a what if question. 

I have a pretty active imagination so if grows and builds and if I can’t shake it, it becomes a story. A lot of it is curiosity, how would this play out? And if it bugs me enough, I start putting pen to paper. I have a favorite pen, and I always use a blank page to just jot out a few scenes, from there a story developed, a back story to answer the questions of how they ended up in this predicament, and i usually have a few plot points I need to hit from there and it takes off into an outline. when I’m this zone I have to follow the story’s vague trajectory until the end. I need the end insight. If I get interrupted all is lost...kidding, but its really hard to make the story what I had in mind if I can’t fully outline it while its first hot.

Do you use a beta? how did that go? Listen, having a Beta has changed my life, when it comes to writing. I actually get emotional when I get a get my work back from a beta critique, like, this isn’t a steaming pile of crap, they see the potential, polish it up and truly enjoyable to read. they see the goodness in it and help refine it. Having that kind of support might be what gave me the courage to finished anything and show what I’ve worked so hard on! I really enjoy writing, but writing well enough to show someone? I don’t know that I would have seen the potential with out a beta’s eyes and comments “You could cut this out,” “Maybe out this here?” and when I’m stuck? stalled and don’t know how to fix it? The time someone like @katnissdoesnotfollowback takes out of her day to talk about how my story could go a different direction, or where I hit a dead end? I can’t even describe how grateful I am and how encouraging that is. Trustworthy beta’s are amazing and mine has incredibly keen insights, is a talented writer, an especially good friend. 

What’s your favorite story to write? My favorite, that’s a loaded question. Not Your Mama’s Hallmark Christmas was just fluffy goodness. Love in Dark Places was indulgent... I think my favorite is Crush It. A lot of it is an escape into a time and place, summer college fun where anything is possible, even love, Katniss has her eyes on the wrong guy and things get messy. The rabbit trails with that one were a forces and a real problem. You wouldn’t believe how many side drabbles are in existence from that story.

What was the easiest story to write? The easiest story I wrote was Love in Dark Places, its short and I really just wanted to write a fantasy realized from Katniss’s perspective in time for Valentine’s day for the fandom, sexiness with emotion and a backstory. I channeled a few fantasies, a healthy but forbidden love, crush on a friend’s older brother, small age gap, possible soulmates. I used some characterizations from the homecoming King from my high school, a fellow artist who’s still a friend of mine, for Peeta because I think he’d be a fun wild card fantasy. Once I had it all figured out in my mind, it nearly wrote itself, I couldn’t type fast enough. My main goal in the story was sexual tension and build heat... its just porn really.

Were you ever shocked/disappointed by the response a story got? um, Yeah. I was amazed so many people were interested in Crush It. I know @ra3lynn3, @lovely-tothe-bone, and I was so excited by the response Feast Your Eyes received after we had put so much into it. With all the trigger warnings on ‘as not to awaken ghosts’ I wasn’t surprised it didn’t get a very good response, but I felt a little disappointed, because I’m pretty proud of it. It has a lot of head-canons in it, I made a Merchant district 12 Johanna, it’s a scary one that cover a lot of my deepest fears including an authority figure abusing his power and taking advantage of women, revenge is executed. I also explored some of my Choctaw native american roots with a few of the legends and the Sioux Nation that lives in this area and the history with the boiling springs itself. 

@b-boop5 asked about Feast Your Eyes. This story started it out as an @everlarkficexchange prompt: 

well, I ran out of time... I gatta go, feel free to reply/message me if you want me to expand on anything...I’ll just tag @lovely-tothe-bone​ ;) Do you want to take this one?

[creamytinydays]

Everlark Self-Interview: The Twist!

Author name: Creamytinydays (tumblr) / EvvyKurler (Ao3)

Story: The Twist (posted on Ao3)

What makes The Twist unique from your other stories?

One of the fun parts of this story is almost every single character is a professional baker. Katniss owns a bakery, Effie is a cupcake baking queen, and Cato and Gale and Haymitch all bake, too. 

You get to bake! And you get to bake!

  Normally in my stories, the characters have different jobs, lol. So, it’s a fun challenge to differentiate them - how does Katniss approach a baking challenge, versus Delly or Gale? 

What was the inspiration for the story?

I watched way too many baking competition shows. The inspiration for the reality baking competition tv show in the The Twist came from Sugar Rush, with a little Nailed It! and Cutthroat Kitchen sprinkled in there ;)

I came up with the idea a year ago, so I can’t remember exactly what sparked the concept, however, I remember thinking that if Peeta were in the real world he could probably win a baking show like that. Anyway, now we’re here. :)

Do you outline or brainstorm? Or did you just start writing?

I’m generally a lawful good kind of person, but when it comes to writing I’m solidly chaotic neutral. I write scenes on random scraps of paper or across different apps and then forget about them, only to discover them later.

Some stories I have resisted writing. For Mockingjay Temple, I read the prompt and decided I didn’t want to participate because I wanted to finish The Twist. Naturally, the next day, I sit down and start writing a scene for Mockingjay Temple. Now neither of those stories are complete. :)

Did you use a beta? How did it go? 

Yes! Betas are the frosting to my cupcake. Chapter 1 of The Twist was beta’d by my non-Ao3/non-tumblr beta, 2ee. Chapter 2 was beta’d by both 2ee and @butrfac14​. Earlier this year 2ee and @butrfac14​ and @ally147writes​ all beta’d a chapter in another story of mine, which to date is probably the most ambitious story of mine in some ways. Their advice gave me encouragement and confidence in a piece that was very challenging.

My beta dream team has also read Chapter 3 of The Twist. I really value how each beta brings a unique perspective and will comment on different things, and it helps me understand the story through the eyes of a reader. 

Check out @butrfac14​ and @ally147writes​ as they are both awesome, talented Everlark authors.

TLDR: I would highly recommend working with a beta. I really can’t thank mine enough. I know people always say that, but it really is true.

What was the hardest part of the story for you to write?

I was surprised how difficult it was to manage writing 12 named characters in the first chapter. Usually, I’m only writing Peeta and Katniss, and a few supporting characters. Normally, my first chapter of a story will have have two to four characters, and build from there. For The Twist it’s the opposite: because it is a competition, the number of characters actually decreases throughout the story as teams get eliminated. But for the first two chapters, I had to manage everyone! That’s a lot of character descriptions, introductions, and dialogue. It was a lot, and I didn’t expect it to be so tough. 

What is your favorite part of the story?

My favorite is anytime Peeta and Katniss yell at each other talk. One of the first scenes I wrote for The Twist was of them arguing, and it helped me decide to bring the story to life.

So, when are you posting the next chapter?

Soon! In the next two weeks...

[hutchhitched]

Everlark Self-Inteview

Okay, this spiraled out of control. My apologies. Here are some thoughts on this fine Friday.

I posted my first Everlark story in September 2013. I still feel like a newbie in the fandom.

Fanfiction is a creative outlet for me. Some days the muse is strong and feeds me. Some weeks/months it does not. I am never trying to put someone off or delay posting. I know that doesn’t make the wait any easier or shorter.

Be kind to others. We’re all trying.

Edit your story before posting. Typos drive me crazy. Please let me know when I have one. I always go back and fix them when I find them. (Also, read more links are your friend.)

New people come into this fandom every day. It’s intimidating. I’ve been here a long time, and I still feel like no one knows who I am. Find out the history of the fandom, but you don’t apologize for being new. I, for one, am happy you’re here.

The rest of the interview is under the cut. Also, my past interview is here. 

Writing process:

 Do you outline?

 This is going to come up a lot, but the honest answer is it depends on the story. I’ve been writing for a very long time. I’m in my early forties, and I wrote my first story when I was in second grade. Every story I write has its own voice and method and process, but one thing is similar. I’m a thinker. I don’t always write down an outline. I’m a procrastinator, which is code for, “I think about things until I’ve got it organized in my head. Then I’ll write.”

 That said, there are some stories that have pretty elaborate outlines. Too Familiar has an outline now, but it didn’t when I started it since it was only supposed to be a one shot. Always Rivals has an outline. End of Love has an outline. All my completed JHutch and Joshifer stories had outlines. I know District 14 and Code Name: Mockingjay need outlines (and am procrastinating on making them). When a story gets long(ish), I end up needing an outline.

 Do you use a beta?

 Again, it depends on the story. I used to use a beta for everything I wrote. @myusernamehere and @jennagill and @cheeks-and-white-tshirts and @xerxia31 have all been regular betas for me. A few others have looked things over. Now, I tend not to use a beta, although @xerxia31 still glances over a lot of things for me before I post.

 Good betas who will tell you if your story is crap and/or needs development or whatever are the best and absolutely amazing. I am super grateful for them. The reason I stopped using one every time is more for timing reasons than anything else. I’m a procrastinator, so asking someone to beta when I’m up against a timeline just isn’t fair to those who are volunteering to help me. Also, I’m a pretty good proofreader and editor, and I’m usually fairly confident about what I want to do in a story. I’ve typically talked out the plot with someone beforehand, so the chapter by chapter beta-ing isn’t needed the same as it used to be.

 Do you post right away?

 Almost never. Drabble challenges, yes. I’ve actually whipped out some @talesofpanem stories in a couple of hours and posted, but that’s only because of the deadlines. I tend to let a story sit for a while and edit a few times before posting it. It helps catch repetitious words and typos I wouldn’t catch otherwise. I don’t want to post something half-assed because I don’t want to read something half-assed.

 I’ve posted one story that was completed before I started. It was a Josh/OC story, so nothing from Everlark. However, that will change with the two @fandomtrumpshate stories I’m writing. Both will be complete and shared with their respective bidders before I start posting to tumblr and AO3. I’m also trying to use this month’s Nanowrimo to finish some stories (or get a big jump on them), so posting time between chapters isn’t so long. I understand people’s frustration. I really do. I’m trying to be better.

  Story questions:

 Where did the story come from?

 Too Familiar—I’ve put this out there before, but here it is again. I was in grad school, and another grad student and I met and clicked instantly. He was married. We became the best of friends and ended up falling madly in love with each other. I honestly believe if soulmates exist, we are it. The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life is give him up. Eventually (after I moved to Houston), we cut off communication. I talked to him for the first time in eight years last month. He still loves me. He’s still with his wife. He thanked me for the sacrifice I made by letting him go. It is a terrible, awful, horrible situation, and there is no happy ending for either of us. In the story, I tried to give Everlark one, even though it’s messy and complicated and some readers hate both Katniss and Peeta in it. But it happens. People don’t always do things the right way, and that’s what I was trying to show in the story. Sometimes love isn’t fair or right or moral or good. Sometimes it’s painful and raw and means breaking the rules—at least in fanfiction.

 Sole Beneficiary—I had an ex-boyfriend who worked nights. He and I still really liked each other, and I was lonely and stressed out in grad school. I used to go over to his place after morning workouts and climb into bed and cuddle with him. He was all sleepy and warm and teddy bear-like, and it was really comforting. It was also really confusing, which is what the story’s about.

 Cattle Show—I used to show cattle when I was in 4-H. There was a family from a neighboring town with three brothers. The middle one was named Brett, and he was one of the kindest, sweetest, most gorgeous creatures I’d ever met. His family owned a registered farm with a logo and everything, and my family rented our farm and didn’t have the money to invest in outward appearances. Still, those nights at the fair were some of the best of my childhood memories. Sleeping in the cattle trailers (and me in the bean truck) and hanging out after it was dark and a lot of people drinking and people sneaking off together all happened. I was younger and much more innocent, but those three brothers were always in the middle of it all. Brett was always kind to me, even though I was five years younger and kind of on the outskirt of things. He passed away a few years ago in his early forties, and the world is a darker place because of it.

 Which was the easiest to write?

 Of the three, Cattle Show is lighter and more fun. It’s also the one that doesn’t really skirt the boundaries of acceptable moral behavior. Because of that, people have accepted it more readily even though the others have gotten more attention.

 What is your favorite part of the story?

 Too Familiar—I just wrote the exchange between Madge and Katniss, and that was A LOT of fun (and probably not what people are expecting). However, I think my favorite part was when Peeta confesses how he feels about her for the first time and then is absolutely mortified when he does at the end of chapter 1 and beginning of chapter 2. He’s so vulnerable, and she’s so stunned and angry. It’s kind of beautiful and simultaneously heartbreaking.

 Sole Beneficiary—I love this line: “I swear someday I’m going to say no to you,” he growls and tugs my clothes off. “Someday I’m going to realize I’m a fool for letting you use me. Someday I’m going to find someone else.”

 Cattle Show—There’s some drunk Peeta in there, and I adore writing drunk Peeta.

 Were you shocked or disappointed by the reaction the story got?

 Too Familiar—Not exactly. It’s gotten a lot of attention on AO3, and not all of it’s good. There are some readers who hate both main characters and say there’s nothing redeeming about either of them and no excuses for their actions. I’m not really sure why they keep reading the story, to be honest. It disappoints me that the story I’m trying to tell about gray areas is being read in black and white terms.

 Sole Beneficiary—Not for this one. I’ve been really pleasantly pleased that people seem to want more. I get more requests for this than any other story. I don’t really know why it’s so compelling to so many, but I’m appreciative of the reception.

 Cattle Show—I’m always a little surprised when someone tells me this is their favorite. It kinda flew under the radar, so when it comes up, that makes me happy.

  Future plans:

 Top tier priority—Too Familiar, Three Months, Maybe This Summer, Float Your Boat, Playlist: Home, Hold It

 Second tier priority—Always Rivals, Code Name: Mockingjay, Influenza, Sole Beneficiary, District 14

 I’ll get to them eventually—Extended Office Hours, The Cipher, Mother of Pearl, Bullseye, We Wish Real, High Society, Go With Me, Hope Boldly, The Doppelganger, The Worst Day, Small Town Secrets, The Cry

[everlarkrealornot]

Everlark Fic Writers Self Interview Sample Questions

Hey peeps! I wanted to give you some ideas of questions you can ask yourself for next Friday (Nov. 15th)! Please don't feel like you have to use all of these or even any of these. Remember to use the tag everlarkselfinterview when you post so everyone can see!

(Sorry these are pics and not text you can copy - I made the mistake of writing this in a new app and I didn't realize it wouldn't let me copy the entire document)

[lovely-tothe-bone]

Everlark Self Interview

I answered almost every single question so it’s kind of long because I’m a thorough person. @b-boop5 requested to hear about Feast Your Eyes but Savvy ran out of time and asked me to do it.

Since Feast Your Eyes is a multi author fic based on a prompt from @everlarkficexchange it required brainstorming and a pretty loose outline was done. Personally I've found like @hutchhitched that each of my stories has a unique voice and forms in a different way.

FYE was beta'd by the two who hadn't written the chapter, it sort of required it since we did alot of it all at once and some of the chapters ended up including scenes written by two of us, plus there's a lot of details. It was pretty casual though.

I wrote all over the place which wasn't easy because noise can be very distracting for me. At the time I was taking a course for a certification plus my baby was only about 5 months. I do not enjoy writing on my phone so I used my laptop mainly but I had to be ready to do it any free chance I got. My other stories mostly get written down pen and paper with a few scenes or a plot and if it's multi chap I do an outline.

For me I've found that making a playlist and having moodboards really help me. With The Sun Will Rise I listened to the playlist pretty much the entire time I was writing. Some other stories (yes I have several that are unpublished) I can't have any noise. With FYE I listened to the playlist before or I would take a break from the scene and listen to get some inspiration. The scene at the karaoke bar when Katniss sings for the first time, I would play parts of the song and then go back and replay that part again. I always have a visceral reaction to that song, it's an incredible piece lyrically and instrumentally and Florence's voice is perfection. I've always felt it's an Everlark song and @ra3lynn3 had already mentioned Florence as her voice cast for Katniss so when I started making a list of songs to use it was at the top of the list. Anyway, I wanted to capture the emotions and reactions that someone who is utterly bewitched by another would have hearing, basically an adult translation of 5 year old Peeta hearing Katniss sing for the first time. So I spent a lot of time playing/pausing then writing to achieve that.

Since FYE was for EFE we basically had to start posting pretty quickly. The first 4 chapters were submitted to EFE and then we updated fairly regularly other than a couple chapters taking a little longer. It's been a year since our last update which none of us wanted. I'm definitely not going to give a timeline for an update because I disappointed myself twice already and now that I started getting back into it I'm sick. I would love to have it complete by the end of the year but I'm not sure if that's realistic. 

For the most part the storyline has stayed true to our original ideas. Just a couple minor tweaks and approaching one situation differently than planned and what the ending scene looks like. Which I think is important, if something isn't working don't try to force it. The point of writing fanfiction is to have fun. Your story should be something you love. Which isn't easy with a multi author work. I think we got lucky that we came into it cold, didn't know each other super well but basically clicked and were on the same wavelength on who Katniss and Peeta were in this universe. The things that changed were either super minor adjustments for consistency or needed to be altered to fit the tone of the story as it's told from each writers POV. 

My first scene was the hardest to write, chapter 2, because it was my first time writing fanfiction. Other than my own personal writing I hadn't written anything in story form in at least a decade and certainly not for others entertainment. After reading hundreds of fanfiction stories it's pretty scary to write with two other people who are already established. Looking back I would not recommend a multi author as your first step into fanfiction.

My favorite part is the meet ugly. I felt very clever coming up with that descriptor for it. I feel like I really acheived what I had in mind, Katniss being ridiculously challenging and Peeta outwardly keeping his calm and playfully bantering with her attempting to put her at ease and because he is insanely attracted to her. I think the fun and intensity and chemistry came across really well. As the last commenter put it, that's not a meet ugly that's a meet awesome!

A little bit of Peeta's history and a lot of Katniss' history came from a couple of our lives. We wanted to mirror the roughness of their canon lives without it being exactly replicated and that was something a couple of us could really speak to in terms of how we grew up. For me there's always an element of what I have lived in the stories I write. 

There's nothing I want to rewrite but I do wish I could have finished out the karaoke scene on my own. Savvy did a wonderful job stepping in when I was just tapped out emotionally. I actually had to take a break from reading fanfiction for a little bit because the happiness and love was just making me depressed about my own life. I couldn't get myself to write about crushes and romance.

So far I find everyone hard to write but I think with more experience I'll find out who I'm most comfortable with. I relate to Katniss and Peeta both in different ways but it's still scary to translate that into writing because you're worried about living up to keeping them in character. I feel alot of pressure to get Katniss right, more so in canon which I swore I'd never write canon and then I wrote The Sun Will Rise.

I was absolutely floored at the response that FYE received. It still amazes me to this day. I was truly in shock at how much so many people enjoyed it. The kudos, hits, comments continued to roll in at a pretty regular pace up until recently which I understand since it's been a year. But those first few months even after the last update I would constantly get email notifications. The response on EFE submissions was amazing as well but still didn't prepare me for the response on AO3. We only had one somewhat negative comment, on the karaoke scene, which upset me greatly because it came across that they were accusing me of copying a scene from a well known fic in the fandom. I don't think I was rude in my reply but I was very honest. I spent a lot of time deciding what that scene would look like. I even asked around to find other fics with karaoke scenes because I wanted it to be completely different from any others that were out there. 

ICYMI we had three visual posts we shared. There may be more to come but I'm not sure.

| . || . |||

[creamytinydays]

the pony counts, @alliswell21​! lol

the backstory for why you decided to write this is story is really interesting. Thank you for sharing!!

Everlark Self Interview:

Hello all, here is my contribution to this exercise, lol.

I’m going to feature my story “A Pixie for the Mellark Children” on this self interview, because is the one kicking my butt right now, and it’s my most sincere dream to finish it like I envisioned.

Here goes!

-Did you do an outline, brain stormed or did you start writing?

I did, actually. I outlined the story to be 14 chapters long and each chapter was detailed-ly mapped out, with a few choice dialogue notes here and there, and a whole list of web pages with pixie folklore info I used to consult.

-How long did the story take to write, and did it went through changes in the process?

Yeah… it’s been like 3 years at this point? *sighs* I moved houses, then had a baby, and now I’m trying to catch up.

-Where did the story come from? What inspired it?

We were getting ready to buy our new house, we’ve been saving for a couple of years, because we needed a better school district, and then one morning my husband got a call from the bank from fraud prevention, somebody had stolen his debit card number— thank goodness they weren’t that smart— they tried going over the limit and the bank blocked the card right away. We could’ve lost all of our savings then… bye-bye house.

I was completely stressed out about the whole thing. I was angry and very disappointed in humanity.

So I started writing a story as opposed to my situation as I could. I had recently read about pixies riding ponies in the English countryside, and I decided that sounded kind of lovely, so I did some research, and took some creative license in creating the world of the pixies and how they interact with children and senior adults that need help. By the way, Fairies are totally mean, they will kidnap your kids! But Pixies are cool, they watch out for animals, children and old folks.

-What was the hardest part of the story to write?

I wanted to write an a-hole Peeta for whatever reason. So, sometimes I have to sit and think “what will sweet, kind, generous Peeta do/say in this situation?” And go in the opposite direction. The readers hate him :)

-What was your favorite part of the story?

Researching the Pixie traditions. Writing about Devon, England— I’ve never been, but I printed pictures of it and the wild ponies because the place is beautiful. I hope to visit someday.

-Were there any parts that related directly to your life?

Not really. Most of this story has been written out of research and second hand experiences. My beta @shellibug did such an amazing job describing some of the landmarks of London, it felt as if I was there with her. She’s also help so much with “Britishism” and dialogue, is one of the best parts of the story I believe.

-Which are the easiest and hardest characters to write?

Peeta has been hard to write, because he can get so OOC. The easiest I think has been Prim and Haymitch. They pretty much write themselves.

-Any OCs?

Not quite Original. Unless the pony (that’s just a pony without any anthropomorphic abilities) counts?

I do have Mrs. Mellark and Peeta’s brothers; while they’re canon, we never see/hear the brothers in THG trilogy, so mostly they are characters I’ve half made up for this story.

-Did you learn anything about yourself as a writer with this story?

I’ve learn a lot with each of my stories. This one is no different. I did learn that things change and mutate from what you envisioned and I can cringe at my own choices at times.

I’ve decided to cut a few things out of the story from what I wanted in the beginning, because now they look redundant or too ambitious, and having a toddler again has seriously made me reconsider everything around me. I hope I can write a good ending for this story I hold dear to my heart.

[everlarkrealornot]

TPI - Self Interview

I focused on my fic The PANEM Initiative (TPI). The basic concept of this fic is that the Human Race is experiencing issues with fertility. Women are having multiple miscarriages and a large percentage of the population can’t even get pregnant. By percentage, the population is growing old and the number of births is declining. The PANEM Initiative was established as a genetic matching system to increase the population. Peeta and Katniss are matched up and this fic covers their year of courting. 

Writing Process:

·         For TPI I had a general idea when I started writing and after a few chapters I ended up sitting down to write a basic timeline for the fic. I was getting lost in the details from chapter to chapter and having on outline was extremely helpful.

·         I actually had two betas for a short period of time. It went well at first but there was miscommunication and I think we both got frustrated which lead to me finishing the fic without a beta. I don’t know if I will try to use a beta again as I have expectations that I know are really high, especially for someone who isn’t getting paid to help me.

·         When I write for Everlark I tend to listen to Taylor Swift (her country music) or RaeLynn.

·         I had about five chapters written before I started posting. I was able to actual post the last chapter of the fic three years to the date after I posted the first chapter. There were a lot of things that happened in my life during those three years, so this fic means a lot to me.

The Story

·         I don’t remember what inspired TPI but it took me awhile before I started writing. The scene where Katniss throws the remote at the TV was the first thing that I ever wrote down for this it originally went like this: “Making happy matches and prospering lives for the future. Katniss still had her hand in the air as the remote crashed through the front of the TV. She blinked several times before lowering her hand. She jerked her head around as small crash startled her.”  

·         The story changed often as I wrote it. The general timeline stayed the same, but details changed. The biggest thing that changed the fic was the Review Hearing with Gale – I literally run into that idea as I was writing…it took on a life of its own and it really helped the story line. Also, the scene where Katniss threw the remote at the TV changed places in the fic several different times.

·         The hardest part of the fic to write was the rules for the PANEM Initiative. Trying to keep them consistent throughout the fic was difficult. Also, it was really hard to not just write Peeta and Katniss in love with no issues – I just want my babies to be happy!!!

·         The easiest part of the fic to write was probably any time Peeta and Katniss were having cute moments, kissing, flirting, ect…I love these two being in love!

·         So I have lots of favorite parts – The Christmas Meet Up, the entire time surrounding Christmas, the Review Hearing with Gale…I could honestly go on and on! OH!!!! I also really really love the friendship between Rye and Katniss.

Characters

·         The easiest character to write for TPI was probably Peeta.

·         The hardest character to write was probably Gale. I didn’t want to write him as being obviously in love with Katniss (ie. no way she could miss it)…I wanted it to be in the background. I am not sure I achieved this, but it is what it is now lol.

·         In this fic I loved anytime I got to write Finnick and Johanna. I loved the addition of them to the story and how they interacted with Peeta and Katniss.

·         All major characters in this fic are not OC’s, but I did choose my own names for Mrs. Everdeen and Mr. and Mrs. Mellark.

Random

·         I was completely shocked by the response this story got. It was only the second Everlark fic I have ever written (the first one I wrote was a one shot (smut)) and it was extremely well received by THG fandom. Honestly, it still blows me away how much people loved this fic.

·         There were comments from readers that I struggled not to take personally as it was more of a comment on the character’s personality and not on my writing or storytelling abilities. I was extremely grateful for the numerous amount of comments with kind words.

·         I am currently writing the sequel to TPI!!! I am really really excited to share this fic with you guys, but I am struggling to write a title, so until that comes you have to wait lol.

·         Also, I have shared the visuals that I used as inspiration for this fic before and they can be found here. 

[everlarkrealornot]

Wow!!

My dudes! I have loved reading through your self interviews! Thank you to everyone who participated and who reblogged the posts - I have more reading material🙂

If you haven't checked it out, the tag is everlarkselfinterview. Also, if you haven't and you want to, feel free to answer some questions and post it anytime!!

[lovely-tothe-bone]

14 interviews total, check them out

#everlarkselfinterview

Just a reminder to check out that tag today. So far I've seen at least two, @everlarkrealornot and @mtk4fun . There's a whole day left to throw one together if you want to participate. If you need help finding the post with suggestion questions, ask!

[creamytinydays]

I’ve written mine - can’t wait to see the interviews!

Everlark Fic Writers Self Interview Sample Questions

Hey peeps! I wanted to give you some ideas of questions you can ask yourself for next Friday (Nov. 15th)! Please don't feel like you have to use all of these or even any of these. Remember to use the tag everlarkselfinterview when you post so everyone can see!

(Sorry these are pics and not text you can copy - I made the mistake of writing this in a new app and I didn't realize it wouldn't let me copy the entire document)