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[RokofAges75]

I went with American Idol just because it's the most popular show like that, where he could happen to watch and see her on it.  I was a little nervous about that decision because Idol is such a polarizing show; people seem to either love it or hate it, and I didn't want the haters to get the wrong idea.  Idol really has very little to do with the story; it's just a plot device in the beginning.  She gets voted off in the first chapter, so it's just mentioned after that.

I knew Cary had to be a fan before she met Nick because otherwise, she would never agree to what he was asking her to do.  Nick is actually really manipulative in this story, but it's only because he's so charming that he gets away with it.  She had to have that fan's admiration of him in order to cloud her better judgment and get her to just go with it LOL.

[Sakabelle]

I have to say that I love how you weave in the real world events. It makes everything seem that much more realistic, and it's something I try really hard to do with my stories as well. You seem to do it so effortlessly! I also really like when you occasionally will link up youtube videos at the end. It's like a fun little bonus after having read the chapter. I think you only did this once or twice, but I really liked that.

Did you ever toy with the idea of the rest of the guys finding out accidentally instead of Nick telling them about his illness himself? There were a few scenes where I was holding my breath thinking that they would find out. One in particular, with AJ coming into their hotel room comes to mind.

[RokofAges75]

Thanks, Steph!  I love how you do that with your stories, too, especially Running Up That Hill.  I will read AUs, but I really prefer stories that are based in Backstreet reality, so I try to do that as a writer, too.

Glad you liked the YouTube videos at the end LOL.  I just did that so people could get a visual (or audio) of what I was trying to describe in the scene, in case they hadn't seen/heard it.  It makes more sense that way, cause trying to describe how someone sings something is tough!

I did toy with the idea of them finding out accidentally, but I decided that Nick needed to tell them himself in this one.  In Broken, they found out accidentally - well, Brian did, which led to the other guys finding out - so I wanted to do it differently this time.  I felt like it would be better for Nick if he had to make the tough, but right choice to come clean himself.  Granted, he waited a helluva long time to do it LOL, and he had to hit his breaking point before he did, but still, it was his choice.  I did put those few close calls in there to keep you guys guessing and make it clear how hard and risky it is to keep a secret like that from people you're so close to.

[FrickingKaos]

I loved how you put little things in there too like the youtube videos and stuff. Everything was very accurate and I love the Michael McDonald stuff cause it was at my show that he did that. I wasn't at the soundcheck but it was fun to see it mentioned. I also liked Cary's backstory with her mom, what inspired that?

[RokofAges75]

Thanks!  I don't remember exactly what sparked the story of Cary's mom, but it came fairly early on in the planning process, because I figured out so many other things from that.  I think it was when I was trying to figure out what she did for a living and why.  I knew she had to be some kind of medical professional; I went with a nurse practitioner because it's kind of in between a nurse and a doctor - she'd have more knowledge and skills than a nurse, without as many responsibiliti es as a doctor.  I think it was during the research process for that that I thought of having her work in a nursing home, and then I started thinking about why she would choose that, since I think it takes a special type of person to do that kind of work.  That was when I came up with the whole story of how her mom died when she was little, so her grandparents helped raise her, and she spent so much time with them, even after they moved into a nursing home themselves, that she enjoys being around the elderly.  To have her mom have died of cancer just felt like coming full circle; it gave her a deeper connection with Nick and even more of a reason to want to help him, but it also makes it harder and more tragic for her, to see him go through that when she's already lost someone she loved to the same thing.  I love tragic, so it worked out perfectly LOL.

[mare]

okay gang, time to start reading the next set of chapters 27 - 50

I'm loving everyone's questions so keep them coming!

[Purpura Lipstick]

congrats on the story of the month. I am way behind. I'll get caught up. LOL
I'll think of some questions later but most of mine have been asked/answered already.

[RokofAges75]

Thanks, Lore!

[mare]

Who did you model Cary's musical style after? Why folk pop instead of bubblegum/dance pop?

The sexual tension between Nick and Cary was clear through the whole tour. With them pretending to be a couple anyway, why didn't they ever give in to it?

Where did the idea for the caffeine overdose come from?

How hard was it to write the tour wrap up and Nick and Cary parting ways? 
 
 
 

[RokofAges75]

I modeled Cary a little after Zooey Deschanel, who, in addition to the look I was going over, also has that old-fashioned kind of singing voice that I like.  I thought that was more interesting and fitting of the "old soul" kind of personality I wanted her to have than bubblegum pop - plus, I really didn't want this to seem like another late 90s Mary Sue teenybopper fanfic, which the first few chapters already seem like LOL (though hopefully more well-written).

I think there's a certain awkwardness to Nick and Cary's relationship.  It has so many dimensions - there's the fan/celebrity relationship, the "nurse/patient" relationship, and then the friends/more than friends? situation.  All of that makes it complicated.  Cary was taken with Nick from the moment she met him and has had a crush on him the whole story, but with her more reserved personality and also her professionalis m, I knew she would never act on it.  If anything was going to happen between them, Nick had to make the first move.  I think he would have sooner, had he not been in the position of being sick and being taken care of by her.  That made it more awkward for him, too.  He basically took advantage of her in every other way LOL, but not in that way; I guess that would have been crossing a line for him.

The caffeine overdose... I don't really remember, although I'm sure it had something to do with my many late nights drinking mass quantities of Code Red Mountain Dew LOL.  I think I'd just shown Nick drinking Red Bull to keep himself energized in a few scenes and thought that, on top of everything else his body was going through, if he kept doing that, it couldn't be good.  Then I found this fun website!  http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine  It would take 214.86 cans of Code Red to kill me.


Writing the end of the tour really wasn't hard at all because I knew they would be back together before long.  I was happy to see the tour end so I could move on to the next phase of the story.  I'll be honest; even though I knew the bulk of this story was going to be on tour, I usually hate writing performance scenes LOL, so I was dreading that aspect of the tour and was glad when it was over.

Thanks for the questions, Mare!

[kevmylove]

Congrats Julie!!!

Curtain Call is an awesome story!! Unfortunately, I didn't get very far with it, but I loved the way you portrayed Nick and his pain. It felt so real to me. One of these days I will catch up and read it all. 

[RokofAges75]

Thanks Erika!   I'm glad you liked what you read of it, and hopefully you'll get a chance to read further at some point.

[mare]

Well, believe it or not we're coming down to the home stretch for April, so let's conclude Curtain Call by reading chapters 51 - the current one posted.

As always feel free to post your questions and comments to Julie right here!

The first question that comes to mind for me Julie is, what made you decided to include Kevin in this? And how did you come up with the idea of the boat scene when Nick reveals his cancer to Kevin.

[RokofAges75]

I definitely wanted to include Kevin; to me, he'll always be a Backstreet Boy, and I couldn't imagine Nick going through something like this without Kevin being involved, once the other guys found out.  It just took awhile to get him in the story, since he wasn't on tour with them.  *kicks Kevin*

I don't know why, but I just had this image of Nick and Kevin grilling steaks together when Nick told him, in the most off-handed way possible.  I was going between either Nick inviting Kevin over for dinner or inviting himself to Kevin's place, but then I liked the boat idea better.

[RokofAges75]

I did manage to update at least once during my featured month, so you can read up through Chapter 62 now. LOL  Hopefully I'll be able to get at least one more chapter up before the end of the month.