Fic Talk > Featured Story of the Month
Featured story of the month for August 2007 - By My Side by Julie
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: MellzBellz on August 08, 2007, 11:37:37 AM ---Congratulations Julie! You know I've said it to you a millon times but Broken and By My Side are clearly like two of the most brillant fan fics I've ever read. I'm not usually on for Nick with cancer stories, but this really suckered me in, probably because of the realistic aspect you tried to keep up. I have to admit I was VERY wary beginning Broken especially since the story starts out with Nick dating a stripper who cheated on him with Justin Timberlake but once the story REALLY gets rolling I forgot all about that.
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Thanks, Mel! ;D Honestly, I HATE the beginning of Broken - if there's anything I could change about it, it would be that. But I'm too lazy, and I like to preserve stories in their original form - the only thing I like about the sucky beginning is that it's proof of how much BETTER the story (and my writing) gets as it goes on. It did do what I wanted it to do, though, which was to set up the story slowly and make the readers think it was going to be totally different than how it turned out to be. I was afraid of scaring people off with another "cancer story" because it'd been done before, and like you, a lot of people aren't into that. I'm really glad you gave it a try and got into it though! ;D
--- Quote from: MellzBellz on August 08, 2007, 11:37:37 AM ---I particulary love BMS though cuz it really is MY kind of story. Like you Julie, I do like to read romance, but complicated romances. Not where everything falls into place perfectly. I love the added drama and angst, so BMS just blew me away. There were so many great issues between Nick and Claire that you tackled (Claire being the first girl he was intimate with after losing his leg, their completely different lifestyles, their ongoing health problems even after battling cancer etc) I also LOVED LOVED LOVED the whole complication of the Nick/Laureen/ Claire/ Jamie plot. In a way you REALLY want Nick to get back with Claire, but I also liked him w/ Laureen too and yea it was just done really well. The only one I had no sympathy for was Jamie of course, but only cuz he's such a jerk.
I highly reccomend BMS to anyone who loves angsty drama-romances. This story has been a HUGE inspiration to me and actually has given me a lot of awesome ieas for my sequel to UMS that have got me really excited to begin writing it!
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Any compliment from a romance writer on this story means a lot to me because I don't really see myself as a "romance writer." Many of my stories since the very beginning have contained romance, but never really as the MAIN storyline. My older stories always contained a lot of drama, but usually it was drama outside the relationship. BMS is one of the first "complicated romances" I've written, and it was a challenge because I'm not used to focusing on the relationship and its problems so much, so it's really flattering when another romance writer likes it!
I remember when I first started writing this story, I was afraid I wasn't going to have enough material to write about. I had a basic sequence of events, but I was afraid of running out of filler material. But as I started writing, the subplots you mentioned - the emotional issues and complications and so on - came into play and became subplots of their own. In that way, the story kind of wrote itself. It wasn't until I got into that that I could say 100% that it was a good idea to chop off NIck's leg LOL, because look at all the bonus issues it gave me in this story! All of the insecurity/emotional stuff would not have really been an issue in this story without that, so I think it's added a lot.
I'm so flattered that it has inspired you - that's awesome!! ;D
--- Quote from: MellzBellz on August 08, 2007, 11:37:37 AM ---Oh yea... Side note. I used to love Lurlene McDaniels books LOl. Funny fact, but there's actually one where the girl gets diabetes (I don't remember the title) but she's a ballet dancer and her name is Rachel. Amyway she has a crush on this guy in school and guess what his name is? Dun dun dun.... Nick Carter!!! LOL How funny is that?
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Oh wow!! I actually haven't read that one! I've read almost all of her older books (and own most of them), but I know she's written some new ones since I kinda stopped buying them. I did order one of her newer ones last year and read it, but it didn't do anything for me. I'll always love the ones I grew up reading, but I think she's too formulaic for me to really get into a new one anymore. Her books still inspire me a ton though. I still pull them off the shelves and read parts when I need inspiration or information for stuff I'm writing - like Broken and BMS. If I ever write a "real" book, I think I need to include her in my thank-yous because she's been the biggest influence on my writing!
RokofAges75:
I know several people on the board have read this story already, and some probably have no interest in reading it at all, but is anyone actually checking it out for the first time? Or reading Broken for the first time? If so, what are your thoughts so far? Good, bad, anything? :)
shrinkingviolet:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on August 09, 2007, 09:49:22 PM ---I know several people on the board have read this story already, and some probably have no interest in reading it at all, but is anyone actually checking it out for the first time? Or reading Broken for the first time? If so, what are your thoughts so far? Good, bad, anything? :)
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Well... I had never read Broken before, so when I saw BMS was a sequel, I decided to read Broken first. And when I saw how many chapters there were, I literally groaned. But, I persevered, and read it through completely last night/this morning (who needs sleep?). I was amazed at how quickly I was drawn in, and the characters were really true to me. I loved how Nick changed bit by bit, and not overnight like I've read in other fics. And Claire! God, words can't describe how much I love her.
I've downloaded the copy of BMS to read while I'm offline tomorrow/this weekend, and I'll be back with thoughts on that later. (I print out a few chapters at a time to read in bed and...other places *blush*)
mare:
Well I loved Broken, but you already know this! lol
I thought it was great storytelling with a very original plot. And I know a cancer story doesn't always fall under original, but the idea of amputation does.
Plus you had the female in the story also have cancer but it wasn't the typical 'poor dying girl so everyone pity me' plot going on. I admit I was afriad of that. That suddenly the focus would be on her and not Nick where all the boys are "Oh my God is Claire okay?" lol that is always so unbelievable to me in fics like the boys would really all sit and mull over a random girl's illness for chapters at a time. Even a girlfriend.
I admit I loved the group moments the most. My favorite all time scene is with Nick and Brian on the beach. Moments like that define Broken to me.
I haven't read it in a looong time but it's still very memorable and for me who can't remember a thing, that says a lot. (watch there is no beach scene with Brian and Nick lmao)
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: shrinkingviolet on August 09, 2007, 10:07:31 PM ---Well... I had never read Broken before, so when I saw BMS was a sequel, I decided to read Broken first. And when I saw how many chapters there were, I literally groaned. But, I persevered, and read it through completely last night/this morning (who needs sleep?). I was amazed at how quickly I was drawn in, and the characters were really true to me. I loved how Nick changed bit by bit, and not overnight like I've read in other fics. And Claire! God, words can't describe how much I love her.
I've downloaded the copy of BMS to read while I'm offline tomorrow/this weekend, and I'll be back with thoughts on that later. (I print out a few chapters at a time to read in bed and...other places *blush*)
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Wow, thank you!! Thanks for reading it, and thanks for the comments! I'm really glad you liked Broken! I don't blame you one bit for groaning at the number of chapters LOL, but thank you for giving it a chance and perservering! LOL I guess that's the perk of a long story, is that it allows for the characters to develop slowly and change in a realistic way, over the course of time, not just in a couple of chapters LOL. Writing a story that gradually was something new for me - before Broken, I had never written a story that even came close to being that long. I was shocked myself at how long it turned out to be. I was never a very good character writer either, and I'm still working on that, but I'm getting better - anyway, it means a lot to me that you liked Claire's character, because that was one thing I challenged myself to do with that story - write a good, believable, likeable female character LOL.
I hope you're liking BMS so far LOL - thanks again for reading! ;D
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