Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on September 01, 2012, 06:38:46 AM
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Hello and Happy September and Labor Day weekend for those of you from the USA!
This month Saka has decided for us to discuss Running Up That Hill but during her month, feel free to discuss anything she has written.
If you've read it or are reading it, come on in and tell us why you think this story is great! If you have any questions, i'm sure she'd be more than willing to answer them for you!
Here's the link to the story!
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10310&warning=4
Enjoy and Happy Reading!! :)
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It's Labour Day weekend for us in Canada too! :)
Thanks for featuring me this month!
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Oh, okay! Well than Happy Labor Day to the USA peeps and Happy Labour Day to the Canadians, eh! lol
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
2) How long did it take you to write this entire 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.
4) What made you come up with the concept of this one?
5) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
6) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
7) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
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Yay Steph! I still need to read the last couple chapters you posted of this!
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Yay Steph, I love this story, but I have a couple of chapters to catch up on too!
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Thanks, guys :)
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
The ending! Haha. And (spoiler alert for those of you who aren't totally caught up yet) I was originally going to have Nick not go visit AJ at all, even when he was in transitional care and use that as a huge point of contention between him and the rest of the group, but I decided to go a different way with that. I was also very, very tempted to change history and have them go back on tour when they were originally supposed to. But I decided to keep it how it was and even though that means the story drags on for a little longer, it also keeps it true to life, which is sort of the whole point.
Oh also, I was going to have Nick run a grow-op from his house in Florida, and have Kevin go visit him and when he opens the door to Nick's place there's marijuana plants everywhere. LMAO.
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
Uh, I'll let you know when I finish it! It's going on two years, which is kind of sad considering I've written stories of the same length in a lot less time.
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
In the summer of 2001 the Backstreet Boys were on top of the world. Their Black and Blue tour was sold out and highly anticipated, but behind the scenes the group was struggling. AJ's problems were cited as the reason for the sudden halt, but what the boys begin to realize is there was much more to it than that.
Between Nick's ever growing need for attention, Kevin's tiredness with always having to look out for everyone, Brian and Leighanne starting a family, and Howie trying desperately to keep the group going, the boys begin to drift even further apart. Even though the break was meant to give them a chance to return to their tour stronger than ever, it might end up being the final nail in the coffin for The Backstreet Boys.
4) What made you come up with the concept of this one?
I had just finished writing Best of Both Worlds and wanted to try writing something new. I didn't really know what that was, but I didn't have an idea for another Nick romance story, so I thought I'd try writing something strictly about the boys. I thought of the idea of having a story that chronicled AJ's time in rehab through the views of the other boys while I was in the shower lol. I still sort of wasn't sure about it though, so I wrote out a few chapters before posting it to make sure it was something I'd stick with, since any other time I wrote something that wasn't a Nick romance story I ended up ditching it. This one has obviously taken me a lot longer to write, but I'm pretty determined to finish it.
5) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
Nick! He's so fun to write because he's such an ass and he's so screwed up. Also, Nick is my favourite BSB in real life (I know, shock! lol) so I guess it makes sense he'd be my favourite in this since I'm trying to make this as true to life as possible. His stupid antics are really the most fun to write in this. Like the scene where he has to go get his phone back from that fan's house and then Chris takes off with his car. I had a lot of fun writing that and probably wouldn't have been able to pull off something that ridiculous with any of the other guys.
6) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
Brian. He's so hard to write in this and it's because he's so deep into his relationship with Leighanne. I really dislike Leighanne, especially during this time period and back then I really did think that BSB would end because Brian would want to throw in the towel to spend more time with his family. Luckily that didn't happen, but I still imagine a lot of Brian ditching the group to be with her, which I guess makes sense but still, don't be a selfish ass when you get married. Not rocket surgery. lol. I'm sure he's much more jerkish in this story than he is in real life, though. At least I hope so!
7) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
AJ's not in it very much because he's in rehab - which is the whole point of the story. I mean he's in it a little when some of the boys go to visit him, but it's told through Nick, Howie, Kevin and Brian's POV. Not AJ's at all and the reason for that is I didn't want to write all the rehab stuff (because that could honestly be a whole story on its own) and for the purpose of this story, it wasn't really needed. AJ went to rehab and how the other boys deal with that and being on break is what this is about.
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Congrats Steph!
Haven't read this yet...but it's on my "reading" list. ;)
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Thanks Erika :)
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Yay Steph! I adore this story and how you write it, despite the fact I need to catch up LOL.
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Thanks Rose!
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You know how much I love this story! It's epically awesome! :)
Here's a question for you!
Which one of the guys do you most identify with in this story?
Did you ever consider having AJ playing a bigger role in the telling of the story?
I personally like the fact that he's kind of absent from this. I think it probably would have been too emo if you had given him more of a voice.
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Aww thanks Mare! :)
Which one of the guys do you most identify with in this story?
I don't know that I actually do identify that much with any of them, and that might be why this story is so hard for me to write! lol. I probably identify the most with Howie or Nick, just because they're the ones who seem to be the most affected by the break in the sense that they don't want the group to break-up, whereas Kevin and Brian have their newly married lives to focus on. I've definitely been in that situation where I don't want my friends-group to drift apart because everyone is moving on!
Did you ever consider having AJ playing a bigger role in the telling of the story?
I have considered it a few times - adding in his POV when they went to visit him in Arizona, but then I decided not to for consistency. I had also (very briefly) thought about possibly flipping the story to be only told from his POV once he got out of rehab, but that wouldn't have made a lot of sense, because he'd still be in the treatment facility and not knowing what was going on with the other guys. I think you're right that having his POV in there would have made the story way too emo, and it's already pretty emo! lol
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Have you thought about a companion novella to this in AJ's POV about his time in rehab? I think you'd do a good job with it.
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Thanks! I have sort of thought about it, yeah. To be honest I don't know that I'll do it, just because I'm not sure that's something I want to dig into with AJ or that I would even know how to start. I think I'd have to do a lot of research about rehab and addictions and yeah, I don't know. But it's definitely been something that's crossed my mind before.
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I think you could with the right research and such. But I get not wanting to tap into certain ideas sometimes. I actually had the thought when I started your story, but decided against it myself. But if you ever did it, it'd make a great read :).
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I do have an idea for a semi-sequel for this once it's done, but we'll see. It's hard to think of anything besides this story since it's taking me so long to churn it out! The idea of building on it any further is just daunting lol
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LOL been there!
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Wanted to say yay at me catching up cause now I can actually be active in this thread LOL.
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Doing my weekly check in!
I was hoping to see an update on the most recent page for this one miss Saka!
Which character do you find easiest to write for this one?
Have you ever considered doing an entire chapter from just one of their points of view? (besides AJ which you mentioned earlier)
How hard is it for you to find the lyrics at the beginning of each chapter?
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LOL I'm trying my best! I always make it a goal, but my workdays have been so busy lately and I find that the only way I can get chapters of this one out now is to use my lunch hours. But hopefully there will be an update soon :)
Which character do you find easiest to write for this one?
Nick, definitely! I always have a really fun time getting into his head and writing down his random thoughts. Nick at this age in real life really seemed like kind of a douche, but he's fun to play with in fiction. The only issue I have with writing Nick in this story is that I always have to read over his parts and edit the language down to use simpler words.
Have you ever considered doing an entire chapter from just one of their points of view? (besides AJ which you mentioned earlier)
Nope, never have. I knew from the beginning that I wanted every chapter to have every point of view, which has made things sort of challenging because not all the boys are always doing something interesting. That's why I really try to focus on the character aspect in this story rather than the action. Truthfully, this story doesn't have much action at all!
How hard is it for you to find the lyrics at the beginning of each chapter?
Really easy! I've got a playlist for this story full of angsty songs, and it has more than enough songs for each chapter. Sometimes the lyrics come out of that playlist, and other times I find myself adding songs to the playlist to help with a specific chapter. I do have blocks of lyrics picked out for future chapters, as well as the ones for the last chapter! It's one of my favourite parts of writing this story, actually. Getting to incorporate the music I use to write it in the beginning.
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^ It's weird but I knew you were going to say that the lyrics were your favorite thing lol
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Haha! I'm super weird with song lyrics too. Sometimes I like songs because they're catchy, but there have been a lot of times where I don't like a song, but then I find I can connect the lyrics with something I'm writing, or something that's happened in my own life and instantly it's my new favourite song lol. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that. I also can't ever disconnect songs from what I originally connected them with. I'll never be able to hear Running Up That Hill again without thinking of this story. I actually don't think I have any favourite songs that aren't connected to something for me.
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LOL That's awesome. I wish I was like that. I only connect a few songs to my life and never to a story.
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Check in time!
I hope everyone is enjoying this story!
This question is more for the readers than Steph but you're welcome to answer it too, Steph lol
Which character do you find most relatable and enjoyable to read in this story? And which character do you find the least appealing?
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That's an interesting question. Most enjoyable to read would definitely be Nick, but he also wins for least appealing because he's such a loser in this story LOL. Most relatable... maybe Howie because he's the only other one who's not married yet. It's harder to relate to Kevin and Brian whose scenes tend to center so much on married life, but I also can't really relate to Nick because his lifestyle is so different from mine. I enjoy reading his scenes, though.
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Most enjoyable definitely goes to Nick LOL. Even though he's in such a horrible place in his life, the POV is always the most entertaining. Technically though, he's probably the least appealing LOL. As for most relatable...pr obably Howie, the person trying to keep everything together and look out for Nick.
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Wow I can't believe I haven't commented here. I love RUTH (Steph knows this) and for me most relatable would be Howie, having to deal with someone's mess and worrying about that person...him not being married at this time as well. I want to give Howie a gold star for putting up with Nick's shenanigans.
As for least, I'd say Nick because he is a mess but a loveable mess. He's very entertaining to read whereas I'd like to slap Brian every chapter LOL
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Haha thanks guys. I think the only character I really don't relate to in the story is Brian, and that's probably what makes it so hard for me to write. I relate to all of the other guys in different ways - I think I probably relate to Howie the most, since he's trying so hard to hold it all together. So to me Brian is the least appealing just because I can't relate to him, making it hard for me to write him. Even though it should probably be Nick lol because he's such a douche.
That being said, Nick being such a douche makes him the most enjoyable for me to write haha.
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I think Brian has the kind of life I'd want to have, but don't have, so he's harder to relate to. He's the ideal, not the reality.
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I've not read your featured story but I wanted to pop in here and say "yay you"! I love Forever Like This and love that it is a sequel you don't have to know the original to understand what is going on. :) I am behind but I wanted to say that it rocks!
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Thanks! I really enjoyed writing that story and had a lot of fun with it. It was a challenge to make it understandable for those who haven't read the first story (which is basically everyone lol) but I sort of had to with putting it on a separate website and all that. I wasn't even going to post it at all actually, but I'm glad I did because a lot of people seem to enjoy it. :)
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Time to check in once again.
To answer my question, I think I enjoy and relate to Howie the most in this story. I feel for him and how torn he is with enjoying the break but yet seeing everyone drift. He is scared to death for Nick and cares so much but at the same time he's not really quite sure how to handle it. I think we've all been there before.
My least favorite is Brian. His parts of the chapters just seem to make me mad. LOL Actually i'm sure a lot of it has to do with his wife.
As much as I want to hate Nick in this, I can't. I know he's in crisis mode so I try to overlook the douchey behavior.
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Here's another question: What are your favorite interactions within the story?
Personally I LOVE when Nick and Howie or Nick and Kevin interact. Especially Nick and Howie in this one. You really get to see their special bond. Nick really takes Howie for granted and I do think that's how it was for him when he was younger. You do a great job with that, Saka!
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^ I also love Nick and Howie's interactions the best. The Nick/Howie relationship is so interesting to me because Howie puts up with so much shit from Nick, you can tell how much he cares about him. And Nick loves and needs Howie, too, even if he doesn't realize it at this point in his life in the story. If that's not a brotherly relationship, I don't know what is. It's fun to read a story like this that paints a pretty accurate picture of what their relationship was probably like at this point in time and then look at the two of them now. It seems like Nick and Howie have gotten a lot closer over the years and are actually good friends now.
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Aw thanks guys! I definitely love writing Nick and Howie the most. Even though Nick is a huge douche in the story, I feel like since Howie's just so mellow with him and doesn't talk down to him, Nick is warmer to him than he is with the others. I really love how Nick and Howie have become so close in recent years and I do try to reflect that they must have had a bond back then as well.
Also, if I recall correctly Howie was the only one who went to visit Nick on the set of Help Me, so I sort of used that as my inspiration for Howie being the only one Nick was really close to and worked a little backwards from that.
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You can tell Nick loved him some Howie! lol And that Howie really cares for the well being of Nick.
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Yeah, you can tell Howie has always been super supportive of Nick, no matter what he does.
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Today is the last day of the month so now's the time to get your last comments and questions in to Saka!
I really do love this story, Steph. I just hope you get back to updating it soon!
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Thanks Mare! And thanks much to everyone reading this story. I know I am really sporadic with updates but I really do appreciate people sticking with this one and how much everyone who reads it seems to enjoy it :)
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This story is amazing Saka! Just wanted to tell you that again...and that I think you secretly filmed them back then :P.