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Featured Story Surveys

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mare:
Here is the place where all the featured story authors fill out a quick survey to let you know what the story is about so feel free to browse what they have to say  ;D

April - Under My Skin by Mellzbellz
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6862

1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
Hmm... That NO ONE else knows? That's kind of hard...Okay i got it! The ver basic elements of the story in the past (Nick cheating on Alyssa with Katie while recording in Sweden, her getting pregnant etc) actually came from the soap opera of a plot we had going on in my BSB RP group at least six years ago. Orignally I was writing another fic based off all that, but then I gave up on it and stopped writing. Finally in Feb of 2006 when I decided to return to writing fan fics I wanted to rewrite my old story, but of course update it. Hence how I incoporated all the backstory on Alyssa and Nick.

2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
Well, I'm still working on it, but I started it in Feb 2006 and I'm trying to finish it by the end of summer *crosses fingers* Problem is I keep having to split chapters so it takes longer. So far its been like a year ad a half which is the longest I've stood by ANY story.

3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
Oh god... I'm really bad at summaries, but I'll try.

When Alyssa Martinelli has a chance encounter with her ex boyfriend and fiancee Nick Carter and they decide to remain friends, Alyssa never expects any problems to arise. All of a sudden, old feelings begin to arise and things quickly grow complicated the closer they get to each other. Only problem is that the both of them are two different people now, each wanting two very differet things. Can they make things work again between them?

Ok yea that was pretty lame, but ehh its one of those stories that you just have to read lol Its too broad for a summary.

4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?
You know its funny because when I read a fic I can say Oh ok if this was a movie I'd have this person play that character... But seriously in my own stories I really don't do that. I write my own characters as just original people, so this is a REALLY hard question for me. Obviously Nick would play himself lol. Alyssa? That's hard... Can't think of many brunette actresses the right age sadly. Maybe Jennifer Love Hewitt or Ann Hathaway or maybe Jamie Lynn Sigler? Lol I'm open for suggestions!

5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?
At times I feel like trashing it, especially when I get very busy and don't have the time to write. Then when I come back it sounds just so silly. Usually rereading the story helps me fall back in love with it or focusing on my future plans for it.

6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol)
Ok, you got me! LOL I'm Tonja in disguise lol j/k Seriously I'm a big outliner, but I mostly do it in my head (sometimes on paper) I like to work from the inside out. So first I thnk up of my main events and then link them together with smaller events. Eventually everything fits together like a puzzle and it flows pretty good from arc to arc in the story. That's how it works for me at least.

7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
Obviously both Alyssa and Nick. I myself am amazed with the chemistry the two of them have. Its so much fun writing playful coversations between the two. The dialogue just seems to flow really easy between them and I think the readers really connect. Of course I love all my characters though. I've been told that as a whole all my characters are pretty well developed, so to me they all seem like real people.

 You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
Again... This is REALLY hard because I love all my characters lol. Even my villans (which in this story I don't really have any. I think that the biggest villans in this story are the flaws that each of the main characters need to face unless you consider Stephanie and Katie villans) aren't like completely bad I feel. Stephanie is actually fun to write cuz in some ways she reminds me of my own sister (only not as slutty and messed up) and with Katie even though she's the "other woman" I tried to write her story as sympatheticall y as possible, so she wasn't just some girl at a bar that Nick slept with and got pregnant like 47567 million other stories. I think most of my readers prolly still hate her because thats what we're conditioned to do, but she's a lil different I guess if I had to pick Howie and Brian are the hardest characters for me to write personally, so that's why they are hardly in the story.

9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?

They are all in the story at some point or another. Nick obviously is the main character and the story mostly focuses on him. All the other guys make their cameos as well though. AJ at one point dated Alyssa's sister and he pops up every now and then and hangs out with Nick and Alyssa. Kevin is playing a very integral part as of right now since I'm getting into how his leaving the group may have impacted Nick. Howie and Brian like I said are the hardest to write. Howie shows up in a scene where they all go out one night clubbing when Alyssa visits Nick in LA and Brian has one conversation with Nick after Kevin announces that he and his wife are having a baby and he senses that Nick is taking it hard cuz it brings up bad memories of Katie and her baby. Got to work on getting the two of them in more... LOL

10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol

Another toughie... Typically a lot of my readers also tend to like Teri's Nothings Impossible Series (Accidentally in Love, Somewhere I Belong, Always Something) I guess in some ways they are similair (besides he fact that both our mai characters are named Alyssa LOL) Like we have I guess similair thematic elements and styles. We both try to incoporate some humor into what we write. And of course we beta each others work so that definitely has influence. So yea... If you like Teri's stories, you'll like mine only mine have a lot less sex in them LOL

mare:
May - Children Like Me by Mersey
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8302

1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
I dont think there's any huge secret that no one knows, lol. I remember confinding in Maria a lot, because it is afterall, meant to be a surprise for Mare...so I bet whatever insecurities I have about this one, I had ran it over with Maria at least, lol.

2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
Not as long as most of my multi chaptered stories tend to stretch, lol. I'm surprised myself, lol...maybe because it's a little AU and I had help with new characters to play with the boys that did it for me. I don't know, but this is one of those fics that just screamed to be written, and fast!

3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.

Ok well, this is what I wrote as summary on my own site: A chanced meeting with a stranger revealed something shocking about his life. When Nick thought he was going crazy, everything fell into place. Just who are Sam and Dean Winchester and what's this about his destiny?

4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?
hehehe...the person who plays Nick will have to be someone who is still undiscovered. A struggling actor wanting to make it big. I want my movie (ahem) to be the one that launched his career.

5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?
Nope, not this one, thankfully! phew!

6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol)
I made sure i wrote at least 3 pages a day. the story kind of play out on itself. I just know what to write next and how it's going to be done. I'm very pleased with how smooth things went for this one. I wish this is the case for all my fics.

7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
This may come as a surprise...my fav character in this story is Kevin. He's not physically in it 90% of the time, but he's a constant in my mind as i wrote  it, because I want his presence there even when he wasn't. When i write Nick's thought process, I always made sure he's always thinking of Kevin. He might not have to say it out loud every 5 minutes, but i made sure his thoughts on Kevin come across at least once in every chapter, to show just how big an influence Kevin is in Nick's life even when he wasn't there.

Cool You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
I can't say it's a least fav character, more like the least favorite to write...when Nick and/or Sam has visions of the YED and the kid. I found myself struggling to write those and in a way, it made me hate writing about the YED, lol.

9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
They're all in it, even Kevin 

10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol
Well, this IS a crossover...so if you liked this story, chances are, you'd like Starbeamz4's Monster In The Closet. It's a Brian/Baylee/Supernatural fic so far. Not sure if the other boys are going to make an appearance in the future. But so far, I'm liking Brian's thought process. It's  WIP.

mare:
June - Not Your Average Cinderella Story by Honey
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8205

1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?

Cindy is based off of a real life friend of mine who spent some time with her mom in a battered women's shelter hiding from her father until he was finally arrested for attempted murder. She is a tough case like Cindy and every bit the potty mouth, but when she lets you in she's this sweet caring person and you can't help but love her.

2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?

From the time I got the idea to the time I finished the story was just about 3 months. (I was pretty manic at the time -lol)

3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in. 

When a white trash princess meets a pop star prince her world quickly goes from bad to worse to "fucking fairytale". When the Backstreet Boys get towed into Cindy's life she gets way more than broken down BMW. She gains, a best friend, a father, an arch enemy, a prince charming, some "sexy underwear", and most importantly, freedom.

4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?

oh man that's tough. How do you cast Cindy? Obviously the Boys would be the Boys and for Danny I always pictured Shane West. I don't know why, he just seemed to fit the part. John is more of a... well Kevin actually... I guess since I didn't write him in, he could have John's part in the movie. Cindy is harder cause she's based off of someone I know in real life. I never pictured her as anyone else.

5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?

Acutally no. I loved writing every page of this story. I was a bit nervous to do it because I'd never tried anything dark before. (and this isn't really that dark -lol) But I spit it out so fast that there was never any time to think about giving up. I wish they were all like that!

6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol)

LMAO TONJA!!!  Actually I LOVE outlines! Can't write without them, but the characters always end up taking over.

7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?

That's actually a toss up between Cindy and Leighanne actually. They just complimented each other so well. Kind of like Sam and Dean Winchester, only not anywhere near as brilliant (or hot.)

Cool You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?

Actually it was Howie. Not because I don't like him cause he's actually my second fave behind Brian, but he's just so hard to write. I never knew if I was doing him justice or not. Love him but he drives me crazy because I can't ever really get into his head.

9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?

I left Kevin out because I was just curious what what the story would feel like without him. Subconsciously preparing myself for the Backstreet Four I guess. But he's in both of my current stories so, gone but not forgotten!

10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol

well if you loved this story, then I wouldn't necessarily recommend any of my others -lol because it's drastically different from anything else I've written. But! I was inspired  to write it after reading Sarah's (starbeamz2) "Once Upon A Time" It's also a wonderful  version of the Cinderella fairytale! I love it tons!   SO... If you liked Not Your Average Cinderella Story, then you might just LOVE Once Upon A Time by Starbeamz2 so go check it out!  *coughs* Sarah UPDATE!!!

mare:
July - Pandora's Box by Nicksgal

http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894

1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows? Hmmmm.... I'd say how it's going to end and what it was inspired by... But since it's not finished, that's a secret.

2) How long did it take you to write this entire story? Well, I started writing it on September 25, 2005 and I'm still writing it. I think I may have to pull an all weekender after finals and finish it up... I do have chapter forty-six almost completed... Then only four left... Aside from my revamping of course...

3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in. Ah geez... And I was really happy with how finite the summary got...

A war plagued by war and sadness.

A place of only unending darkness.

A box that held them all in chains.

A woman who would rather eat cake and worry about exams was thrust into this world of only shadows and she came upon a demon tortured beyond all reprieve. The legendary Pandora... The one who must open the box and rescue them all. But, how would the world be saved when they were thrust against their comrades and the mysterious God loomed over them?

What would they remember when the box was opened? What would they lose and gain? And how much would they suffer?

Well, there's a reason I finally settled on the summary I did.  I hate spoilers.

4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?
Hmmmmm.... Well the Boys would play themselves... and so would their adversaries... As for Minako and Renee... I don't really know. I used paintings to depict the priestesses anyway, so I don't really have a clear "celebrity image" of who they ought to be.

5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?  You had to ask this question... More times than I can count, particularly when I wanted to give up on writing all together. But, it's almost done so... I want to make it fabulous. Rewritign the beginning is really rekindling my love for it. I guess what made me continue was that in the beginning I was writing it for me... But for everyone, because of it's hidden message... And I guess in my deepest hopes, I still wanted everyone to love it just as much as I did. So, it needs to be finished for everyone to understand it liek I do.

6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol) I am Tonja and I plagarized. Kidding... It just sort of appeared in my head one day and I wrote it as I went. I've known how it would end by about half way actually, so... ironically enough I did finally write down my ideas for the end. But otherwise, it jsut kind of comes as I go. I never ouline an entire chapter though, just the basic ideas. So the dialogue and individual events is all on the spot.

7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why? It's a toss up between Nick and Renee, because they both have so many facets to them. They're interesting.

8 ) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite? God... Because I can still never figure him out fully.

9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them? Yup, all the Boys are in it.  They have to be, the stroy wouldn't work otherwise.

10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol Hmmmm.... I'd say anything by Watase-sensei. My favorite is Ayashi no Ceres ("Ceres: Celestial Legend" in America)... But PBox is probably a lot more like Fushigi Yuugi. They're comics though... So I doubt you would love them.

mare:
August - By My Side by Julie

http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8030

1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?

I was gonna say "the ending," LOL, but that's not exactly telling you something, is it?  Um... how about this:  The outline for it, which I have saved as a Word doc, is currently 22 pages long.  It's probably been even longer than that, but I've taken some stuff out that isn't relevant anymore.


2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?

I've been writing it since March 2004, and it's still going.  It's getting close to being done, though, so I'll probably finish it this year.


3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.

Critical illness tends to complicate relationships, but in Nick and Claire's case, it brought them together.  Now, in the aftermath, their growing relationship must face the challenges of everday life and the reality of their two very different lifestyles.  They say relationships based on intense experiences never work, but when theirs falls apart, it just may take a few more intense experiences to bring them back together.

(Okay, now here's my author's note:  It sounds like a romance, and it IS a romance, but there's really more to it than that.  It's not all fluff and petty couple issues.  There's a lot of drama too - hopefully the realistic type, not just melodrama for the sake of it.  So I hope no one will avoid it just because it's a romance, especially if you liked Broken.  If you know me, you know that I get bored by romance without some major drama and angst included, so expect drama and angst too LOL.)


4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?

For Nick, I have NO idea.  The best choice would be him LOL, and if not him, maybe someone like Ryan Phillippe, cause he's a good actor and does anger/angst well LOL (and he's hot!), but he might be too old.  I don't know of any younger actors that would fit the part, so I'm gonna pass on that one LOL.

For Claire, Bryce Dallas Howard because she's got the look, Scarlett Johansson because she's got the casual, cool vibe, or Rachel McAdams because she's a fantastic actress and could fit her personality too.

For Jamie, Shane West because he can play a jerk well and does a great smirk.  Joaquin Phoenix would be my second choice because he's such a great actor, and he sort of has the look.

For Laureen, I'm kinda blanking again... I dunno.  Probably an unknown that I'd discover through auditions.

For the rest of the Boys, I'm just gonna cheat and say I would want them to play themselves.    It's seriously hard to think of actors who would do them justice!  It's too weird to imagine them portrayed by anyone else LOL.


5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it?

Nope, never.  It's my baby.  Only before I actually started did I think I might never get through it because I have a horrible track record with sequels LOL, but here I am, almost done with it!  The end is in sight.  It's been pretty easy to write, for the most part.


6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol)

LMAO I always enjoy the end of this question.   I've used an outline, for the most part.  I planned out the major events of the story before I even started it, and I have stuck with all of those.  The minor stuff in between, I have kinda made up and changed along the way.  I've added subplots and characters I didn't plan originally, and some characters have become more important or less important than I intended, so in that way, the characters and the story kinda wrote itself, but there was still a lot of planning that went into the overal story arc.


7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?

Aw, it's gotta be Nick; I love Nick anyway, and I like the character he has developed into throughout Broken and this story.  He's my favorite to write about.


8 ) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?

I'm gonna group the whole Carter Clan into one and say them.  Nick's family.  I write about them as little as possible and much less than in Broken even because I can't stand writing about them LOL.  It's too hard not to exaggerate them, and yet I find them so much more fun to write about when they're crazy and dysfunctional than when they're "normal," so I've just started avoiding them altogether LOL.


9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?

Yep.  They're not in it as much as they were in Broken, but they're there.  The reason they're not in it as much is because they're not really a part of the main storyline.  They're just a subplot.  Usually their parts are just there for filler and don't move the story along much, so to force out Bsb parts that have no real point just seemed like a waste of time and pages for me, so I didn't bother.  The story's long enough as it is LOL.  But there are some good Bsb parts, so never fear.


10) If we like this story...then we'd love what story? (Could be by you or someone else) and obviously tell us why lol

"Cover Me With Dreams" by Heidi - http://www.covermewithdreams.com/cmwd.html
I read this story for the first time when I was nearing the end of Broken, and it was a HUGE inspiration to me when writing BMS.  I had already decided to write a sequel, but I drew a lot of inspiration from CMWD when it came to the romance/relationship aspect of the story, since that is not something I'd really written as the main focus of a story before (not WELL, anyway LOL).  It's a romance/drama, like BMS, and tells the story of Bsb coming together, as well as how the main couple in it came together.  It's more Backstreet-oriented than BMS and a far better story than I could ever hope to write, in my opinion.  Definitely read it!


One other thing I wanna say... in case you don't know, "By My Side" is actually a sequel to my story "Broken."  So if you haven't read Broken, I would HIGHLY recommend reading that before you tackle this one.  Otherwise you'll be missing out on some key plot points and character development.  If it's okay with Mare, I have no problem with anyone reading Broken instead of BMS this month and posting feedback on that here.  The two stories go together, so we can kinda discuss both - BMS for the people who have already read it or have read Broken and are going to read it, and Broken for those who haven't read that and want something new to read.

Here's the link to Broken: http://accidentalchaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=5354

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