Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on December 31, 2010, 11:29:04 PM
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With 2011 comes a new working of the featured story. This time, I'm picking an author and they will choose which story they would like to discuss. That means that to be picked, you have to be active on the forum, otherwise I will have no contact with you.
We start the year off with Pengi and a story that many of you fell in love with this summer. It was all everyone was talking about on Twitter and the fanfic related message boards. Her story Something Beautiful touched everyone that read it and it ended up winning a Felix for Best Drama and Best Team/Couple
Pengi also was runner up as Best author. Congrats to her!!
Hannah will be here this entire month to answer your questions and comment on various chapters etc...
Hope you enjoy the story:
Something Beautiful
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10154
There are 63 chapters to Something Beautiful so if you are reading it or re-reading let's say this first week we should tackle
Chapters 1 - 15.
If you'd like to comment on the first 15 chapters or have questions for Hannah about those first 15 chapters, post them this week!
I will be back later with a few questions for Hannah.
Happy New Year!! and enjoy!!
:)
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So what are some of your thoughts about the first fifteen chapters of this story?
Hannah: My focus during the first 15 chapters was to set up the story and get the readers attached to the characters in specific ways. I wanted the readers to know Nick and Brian had a secret and that Amanda wanted to know what it was.
The hardest part of the beginning was trying to weave the reactions and conversations about the secret into the story without giving away what the secret was just yet. That had to come directly from Brian himself in a later chapter or it would've lost it's punch. It was really tempting a couple times to reveal it a different way, so I struggled with staying focused on keeping it a secret until that magic time when Brian could reveal it himself.
When I started this story, I knew everything about the storyline except the stops they were going to make on their trip. I thought those up as I went along to each stop. I guess Nick didn't want to tell ME all the stops, either, he kept them a secret until it was time to get the characters there! LOL
When you wrote Amanda, did you intend oon her being a villian or did you always have other intentions for her?
Hannah: Amanda was ALWAYS going to turn out the way she did. She wasn't intended to be a villain at any point - even when she technically WAS being the villain. Amanda's identity as a reporter was only her motivation for being with the Boys until a certain point. Like anyone who really watches and gets to know these Boys, Amanda quickly fell for them and lost vision for her story. Amanda's position was a hard one to be in when you really break her apart and analyze her (which the more you get to know her the more you'll see her rock-and-a-hard-place position).
She fell for Brian first. The whole thing in the last couple chapters here with Piper and the eagle were key elements that made her feel for Brian faster than she felt for Nick. The relationship with Nick was developing from the very start of the story, she's always felt something for him but she didn't realize it until - well, she hasn't yet as of now. Of course now she's only just realizing it with Brian.
I think the reason she realized it faster with Brian was because Brian was more aware of her struggling - though he didn't know what the struggle was. Nick's perception of it was clouded by his concern for Brian, so he was less aware of something bothering Amanda than he normally would've been. Brian also had that personality in this story that drew people to him emotionally. He drew Amanda - the "real" Amanda - out of the persona of Pop Stuff Online reporter to being just Amanda.
But I knew from Day One where Amanda's character stood and what she was going to do with herself throughout the story.
What gave you the inspiration for this story?
Hannah: The story was a long time developing in my mind. It initially was inspired by a journal entry I wrote in January of 2008, when my mom was in the hospital just before she died of Leukemia.
I was very close to her and I was so scared of losing her, I was trying to predict my reactions or to plan a way to escape it. My plan was to drive to visit my friend in Texas. I'd decided if my mom died I was going to get in my car and drive and drive and drive. Driving always made me feel better.
When she actually died, I didn't follow through with my plan, and - well, I wished I had. So instead of doing it, I wrote about it. I wrote stories about driving to escape that. And slowly over the course of time the stories developed and morphed their way into being a road trip like the one Nick planned for the purpose that the Boys had for going, and I'd been playing with the idea of a paparazzi in disguise being a love interest in a fan fic story for a LONG time... and voila. The plot was born.
Why did you chose Brian and Nick as the main guys?
I chose Nick and Brian because they've always been my favorites. But also because they're close in real life. In my perception -and IDK if this is real or not, but from what I've seen in interviews and concerts and meet and greets and everything- the Boys kind of pair off naturally. Nick and Brian, AJ and Howie. Kevin was kind of the dad overlording the whole thing.
But Nick and Brian go together - they always have, that's why they're Frick and Frack, right? So when it came time to write this story, I knew Brian had to be the main character just because of the storyline itself. It wouldn't have worked as well with any other combination of the Boys...
Eventually I may write a similar story about other combinations of the Boys, but this story was an exploration of a relationship, and Brian and Nick's relationship has always been endeared by fans.
Plus imagine being Amanda in this situation? Holy HEATWAVE Batman! Surrounded by sexysexy boys! OMG!! Just saying.
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Aww, I LOVE "Something Beautiful," Hannah, and it was interesting to read your answers to Mare's questions. I'm so sorry about your mom. I'm sure she would be proud if she knew the impact she had on inspiring you to write this story, even though it's a sad one.
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Awwww this story Hannah, was the first in a long time to make me cry. And that says something. I adored this story, and while the inspiration was sad, the product of it was beautiful. :)
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Awe, thanks you guys. It means a lot that you enjoyed the story (even the tears, Rose!! LOL). It's my favorite story that I've written on AC, that's why I chose it as my featured story.
I'm planning on adapting it to be an original fiction.
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It would be great as an original fiction!
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Congrats Hannah! This one has always been on my to-read list, I've heard nothing but really great things about it. :)
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I absolutely loved this story! Not many stories make me cry, but this one did. It was a real rollercoaster of a story and so beautifully written. It would be great as original fiction too. Sorry to hear about your Mum though, that must've been tough :(
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Seriously, this story reminded me why I love fanfic so much. It brought me back to the days of waiting desperately for updates on the stories I was reading. Luckily, you never kept me waiting long, with your multiple updates a day and how fast you churned this one out LOL. The last story I found myself checking several times a day to see if it had been updated was Swollen Issues II, and that was back in like 2003. I read a lot of great, new stories in 2010, but in terms of addicting, Something Beautiful takes the cake! It's the perfect story for me, though... Frick 'n' Frack, tearjerker drama, but with lots of comic relief, a little mystery/intrigue, and a bit of romance. If I had to give a recipe for the perfect fanfic in my world, that would probably be it.
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Losing my mom was really hard, but like they say - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I feel like her death really motivated me to get moving to do the things I wanted/needed to do in MY life that I just wasn't doing when I was in the "comfort zone" before. Like writing and going to college and many other things.
The original fiction version of Something Beautiful is something I've been kicking around for awhile now. I might post it as I write it, if anyone's interested in checking it out. The thing is, I'd want to keep the name Nick for the main character - the character that is written as Brian in the story, so it might get a little confusing for those that've already read the story. LOL The character Nick (not Nick Carter, but my original fiction character Nick) is one that's been in my heart for a very, very long time, waiting for his story to be written... It was really rough writing Something Beautiful and using that character type but saying "BRIAN" every time!! In fact, I bet if a couple beta-readers combed the story, they'd find a couple flub ups where I wrote the wrong name! LOL
I'm so very glad that so many people enjoyed the story. It was really exciting to write it and to experience the reaction that people had to it. I love the reviews I've gotten for the story and everyone's comments. It means a lot to me! Thank you so much.
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This week let's read chapters 16 - 30.
Don't forget to post your questions and comments as you read along. :O)
Some more questions for you Hannah!
Because the story is taken from such a personal place, was there ever a time when you felt like it was too difficult to write? How important was it for you to finish this story and did you get some kind of sense of closure?
Set up this set of chapters for us, where they difficult to write? What was your favorite chapter out of this set and why? What about your favorite moment or scene?
Do any of the characters resemble your mom in any way?
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Because the story is taken from such a personal place, was there ever a time when you felt like it was too difficult to write? How important was it for you to finish this story and did you get some kind of sense of closure?
I think the hardest part was writing the scene in the hospital when Amanda went to see Brian. There was a lot of that cut out, which I included in the companion story There's Us. That scene was hard because I had a similar one with my mom, where she was talking about wanting to go home instead of being in the hospital - when she went home, she ended up catching strep throat and that's what ended up being what killed her. I think something similar happened here, with Brian, but I never really put that much detail into what caused it to happen, just that it happened. I think I left that detail out because it was too personal/too difficult. This whole story is kind of what I wish I'd done with my Mom - helping her see all the things she wanted to see before she died.
Additionally, there was a scene that I cut out of the story that I'd written - mainly because it didn't really fit in with the rest of their adventures and because it was too hard to write it - where they went on a plane to Alaska. When they lost the rig, that was originally why- because they'd dropped it off and flown between those two stops. I ended up not doing that because like I said it didn't really fit with the rest of their adventures, and also because it was my mom's dream to see Alaska before she died. So it was just too hard writing about it, since she didn't end up getting to see it.
I was going to put Piper's eagle into the Alaskan scene as well, had it been included, rather than at the Grand Canyon.
Set up this set of chapters for us, where they difficult to write? What was your favorite chapter out of this set and why? What about your favorite moment or scene?
Let's see... hmm... Well, my favorite things about these chapters were definitely Nick's grilled pancakes (Chapter 18) and Brian finally telling Amanda what was going on (Chapter 20).
This is one of my favorite bits of any of my stories:
Nick frowned, waving a spatula at Brian and standing by the grill, "It seemed like a good idea," he defended himself.
"What seemed like a good idea?" Amanda asked, inching toward Nick and the grill.
Brian held up a box of Bisquick.
"Oh Nick," Amanda said, peering into the grill, where a pile of pale goo was smoldering on the briquettes below the grate. "You didn't."
Nick's cheeks burned as Brian bust out in more laughing, dropping into one of the patio chairs and putting his head down to his knees. "It would've been cool if it'd worked," he said, his voice sounding deflated.
I just can SO picture Nick trying it and the look on his face in this scene. LOL.... It's so something I would do, too. I suck at cooking.
The way Brian tells Amanda was very carefully planned out, too. I couldn't just have him blurt it out, it had to be drawn out - yet he had to volunteer it, and she couldn't have suspected it. Brian, don't forget, was the one that Amanda "fell for" first, he was the one she'd opened up to and trusted and become closest to. His revelation was devastating. It also is what pushed her even more into depending on Nick. It was a key scene, probably the hinge of the entire story.
Do any of the characters resemble your mom in any way?
Brian's character in many ways was written to resemble my mom - his faith through the suffering and his bravery reflected hers 100% of the way. My mom was very strong the entire time she was in the hospital undergoing the treatment. If she'd had the chance, I know she would've had as much fun on an adventure like this as he did.
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Thanks for all the honestly in your answers Hannah.
I know one of the hardest decisions for someone is whether or not to die at home or in the hospital one of my best friend's had that same dilemma with her husband and the same kind of thing happened to him as well. He caught an infection at home and died.
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I loved the pancakes on the grill scene too, Hannah LOL. That was hilarious and such a clueless Nick thing to do.
I remember when you first started the story, I could guess what the secret was, but I wasn't sure at first if it was Brian or Nick who was sick. It seemed like it was Brian, but then there was that scene where Amanda went to Nick's apartment and saw the bottles of pills in his medicine cabinet that made me think for awhile it might be him. I just wanted to say I'm glad you made it Brian because I think he fits that role in the story a lot better. Because of his faith, I could see him reacting that way and just wanting to live out the rest of his life doing all the things he wants to do, knowing that when it's over, he'll be in a better place. I think you did such a great job writing his character. And Nick, wanting to deny it and avoid it and fight it all while showing Brian the time of his life, really fit, too. The characterizati on was perfect.
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Yeah, Nick's character definitely wouldn't have worked as the one who was ill. I did actually plant the medicine in that scene purposely, just in case anyone had caught on early what the secret might have been. I tried to leave everything very ambiguous about who the secret was about - Nick or Brian - throughout the entire first 20 chapters so that it would still be somewhat of a surprise when the secret did actually come out. Like when AJ, Howie and Kevin are talking after Kevin finds out that Frick & Frack left, I used a lot of male pronouns to keep anyone from knowing which of the two they were more worried about, etc.
Nick's character in this story very much reflected my role in the time spent with my mom. I very much denied anything was happening or that she could die. Even the day she DID die, I was still denying that it could happen -- as Nick was doing in the story. I wrote Nick's reactions from my own experience, I think that's why his responses were so realistic and so truly capable of being deep-seeded in denial - because I really was myself.
Amanda, I suppose, is the only character that wasn't particlarly based on anyone in my real life. She was entirely fictional, and perhaps that's why I had such a hard time developing her character in a way that everyone could like. It seems like a lot of readers didn't particularly like Amanda.
I will say though that in the original fiction version, I was planning on having the character that wolud be replacing Nick's character be the one that is dying. The OF would work differently than Something Beautiful did, though, to accomodate the change. The FF had to work this way because of the Boys' personalities, and... well, I dunno, the story just kind of came from some place other than where most stories come from. Something Beautiful certainly morphed itself out of my finger tips and took on a life of its own.. in every way.
I can't believe even now how much reaction it's gotten! Craaaaazy.
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Thanks for all the honestly in your answers Hannah.
I know one of the hardest decisions for someone is whether or not to die at home or in the hospital one of my best friend's had that same dilemma with her husband and the same kind of thing happened to him as well. He caught an infection at home and died.
I'm sorry :( That's awful. It's a terrible experience, and an extremely hard choice to make. I mean a part of you says that the treatments might help...they could do it, and the other part just wants to be able to live and breathe and experience as long as possible. It's an impossible choice, and one that must be respected once the person in question has made it... so many make the mistake of thinking it's up to everyone to choose together, but the bottom line is only the person going through it should choose...
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Hannah, one of my favorite things about this story was how beautifully Brian and Nick's relationship is portrayed. I love that you used Brian to be sick, as that's actually rarer than Nick being sick, and with this story it wouldn't have fit anyone else. I just love the journey they take and the fact they basically ran off to do it, because they knew if they told anyone, they would try and stop them.
As for Amanda, I actually like her. She frustrated me all to hell, I hated her for a bit, got mad at her... but that's what makes her such a great character. She's real. I HATE female characters in most BSB fanfics, because they're very one dimensional most of the time. What I liked about Amanda is she had her flaws, her mistakes, but she was very much human. You'd see her soft side, the reason why she was the way she was. And personally, she was very necessary to the story, the "outside" view into the final journey of Frick and Frack, so to speak.
Again, the relationships is the best part of the story for me, I just feel you did an amazing job with it. :)
Okay, done rambling now lol.
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Hannah, one of my favorite things about this story was how beautifully Brian and Nick's relationship is portrayed. I love that you used Brian to be sick, as that's actually rarer than Nick being sick, and with this story it wouldn't have fit anyone else. I just love the journey they take and the fact they basically ran off to do it, because they knew if they told anyone, they would try and stop them.
As for Amanda, I actually like her. She frustrated me all to hell, I hated her for a bit, got mad at her... but that's what makes her such a great character. She's real. I HATE female characters in most BSB fanfics, because they're very one dimensional most of the time. What I liked about Amanda is she had her flaws, her mistakes, but she was very much human. You'd see her soft side, the reason why she was the way she was. And personally, she was very necessary to the story, the "outside" view into the final journey of Frick and Frack, so to speak.
Again, the relationships is the best part of the story for me, I just feel you did an amazing job with it. :)
Okay, done rambling now lol.
awww ty!! ...The relationship between Nick & Brian was what the whole story was about. Amanda's relationship with Nick and Brian and even Brian's illness itself were all substories to the duo themselves. Nick and Brian are so frequently portrayed as Frick and Frack and just accepted as such but its rare when you see someone actually define the relationship.. . like how far are they willing to go for eachother, how much are they willing to put on the line... who they are together, etc... that was what I was trying to acheive with Something Beautiful. The whole purpose was to put the Frick & Frack dynamic under a microscope. Everything else rotated arond that orbit.
Amanda's outside view does shed a different light on the story, which, as you pointed out, is why she needed to be there. I could've written the story with just Nick and Brian going alone, but it called for a third character to make the story work right.
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awww ty!! ...The relationship between Nick & Brian was what the whole story was about. Amanda's relationship with Nick and Brian and even Brian's illness itself were all substories to the duo themselves. Nick and Brian are so frequently portrayed as Frick and Frack and just accepted as such but its rare when you see someone actually define the relationship.. . like how far are they willing to go for eachother, how much are they willing to put on the line... who they are together, etc... that was what I was trying to acheive with Something Beautiful. The whole purpose was to put the Frick & Frack dynamic under a microscope. Everything else rotated arond that orbit.
Amanda's outside view does shed a different light on the story, which, as you pointed out, is why she needed to be there. I could've written the story with just Nick and Brian going alone, but it called for a third character to make the story work right.
Exactly, I know I try to really show what makes the Boys relationships what they are, but the way you did it was just absolutely amazing. :)
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Exactly, I know I try to really show what makes the Boys relationships what they are, but the way you did it was just absolutely amazing. :)
Again, TY :)
I plan, at some point, to do something similar with the famed AJ/Nick/Kevin relationship as well. I'm just not sure how to go about it quite yet, though I do have some plans and rough storyline ideas. ;)
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Again, TY :)
I plan, at some point, to do something similar with the famed AJ/Nick/Kevin relationship as well. I'm just not sure how to go about it quite yet, though I do have some plans and rough storyline ideas. ;)
I love love LOVE writing the Nick/Kevin bond. :). There's so much to really explore there.
You know what I wanna see someone write? The Howie/Nick bond. I would say after Nick/Brian, Howie and Nick are pretty darn close these days. There's a really solid bromance there that no one really explores LOL. On the cruise Nick said Howie was his favorite Backstreet Boy lmao.
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I love love LOVE writing the Nick/Kevin bond. :). There's so much to really explore there.
You know what I wanna see someone write? The Howie/Nick bond. I would say after Nick/Brian, Howie and Nick are pretty darn close these days. There's a really solid bromance there that no one really explores LOL. On the cruise Nick said Howie was his favorite Backstreet Boy lmao.
Maybe that's what I need to do to in order to find my Howie voice. LOL ... I am definitely one of the ones that sends him to the bathroom and leaves him there.
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Maybe that's what I need to do to in order to find my Howie voice. LOL ... I am definitely one of the ones that sends him to the bathroom and leaves him there.
LMAO I don't leave him in the bathroom. I leave him on a tour bus LOL. Howie's voice is just hard. But hey, that could be your next story with Jen? lol
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LMAO I don't leave him in the bathroom. I leave him on a tour bus LOL. Howie's voice is just hard. But hey, that could be your next story with Jen? lol
The thing is I have the storyline for a Howie/Nick bromance, but I haven't gotten around to figuring out how the freaktart to write Howie's voice.
I'll figure it out and get the story out eventually.... and it'll be cool when I do, I hope. LOL
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Hey everyone! Here we are in the middle of the month already. Seems like everyone is enjoying Something Beautiful.
Let's continue to read chapters 31 - 45 this week and here are some more questions for you, Hannah.
Can you let us know what were some of the highlights from this series of chapters for you? Did these particular chapters come fast?
Is there anything in the story that you wish you hadn't included or if you had the chance you'd change?
You are someone who is able to write a lot in a very short amount of time. I remember how quickly you churned this story out. Did you have most of it written before you started to post it or did you post it as it came to you?
Which of your stories are you the most proud of and why?
You seem to write a lot from personal experience, can you tell us some of your other stories that are from things you have personally gone through?
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Can you let us know what were some of the highlights from this series of chapters for you? Did these particular chapters come fast?
I think the most important parts of these particular chapters are the resolution between Brian and Amanda during the jump (Ch. 35) and the fight when Nick finds out (Ch.42). Nick's anger in Chapter 42 - although it was incredibly hard to write - was really important in order to make Amanda a redeemable character. Nick's words had to punish her, and that was really hard to create because he was so sweet and loving to her all the time that when he exploded it was very hard to create that kind of venom. His anger had to portray the betrayal and hurt he felt in that moment... and we've all heard about the famed Carter Temper...
These chapters came relatively fast, if I recall correctly. Then again most of the story did come pretty fast... I tried not to rush it, but the story just naturally came that way.
Is there anything in the story that you wish you hadn't included or if you had the chance you'd change?
If I had it to do over again, I would have made them take a few more stops along the way to Brian's, and I would've done the scene where Amanda kisses Brian a little bit differently also.
You are someone who is able to write a lot in a very short amount of time. I remember how quickly you churned this story out. Did you have most of it written before you started to post it or did you post it as it came to you?
I was posting as fast as I was writing. I always post as fast as I write. Most of the time I actually write the story in the form on the page to post here on AC. My creative juices flow most rapidly there, as opposed to in a Word document. I don't know why, but it's proven success. Hmm, maybe I should try writing essays on there... Just kidding.
But next time I'm stuck I may just give it a go. ;)
Which of your stories are you the most proud of and why?
This one's storyline has been a long time coming and I'm proud of that. Fix I'm proud of because of the length - I checked it out the other day and it's over 700 type-written pages long! DAMN! And I had a lot of readers for that one also. This one still remains the one I am most proud of though. Something Beautiful - for the win!
You seem to write a lot from personal experience, can you tell us some of your other stories that are from things you have personally gone through?
The unfinished story In The Broken Places is going to have a lot from personal experience included in it from when I spent two weeks in Africa. I have videos and pictures I took that I'm planning to incorporate into the story. Honestly, other than that and the aforementioned similarities between me and the events in Something Beautiful, my other stories are based purely on imagination or speculation.
Well, except for Fear of Flying. Because yes, I did actually get attacked by a rapist sheep-giraffe once...
Am I kidding? (dramatic music) ...Nobody knows. ;)
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Hi, Hannah! I read your story for the first time for FSotM, and I was really touched by the real-life inspiration for Something Beautiful. I'm sorry to hear about your mother, but I think it's wonderful that you were able turn your experiences into such a moving story.
I liked the comment you made here in the thread about Amanda "falling" first for Brian and then for Nick. Her drunken actions in the night club kind of made more sense for me after finding that out.
I'm really curious--have you ever tried sky diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting, hot air ballooning, burro riding, anything that the characters did in the story? If not, how did you do research for those parts of the story? Was it hard to get that information? (If you say that you got all your info first hand, then that's taking research to a whole new level! :P)
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This is the last week of January already. So now it's time to finish up Something Beautiful by reading chapters 46 to the end.
Hannah was it hard to let this story go?
Overall what were some of your favorite scenes and why?
What was the hardest chapter/scene for you to write?
Were the dramatic parts easiest for you or were the funny parts easier?
What's the one thing you hope that your readers have taken away from this story?
And for the readers:
Tell Hannah what your favorite chapter/scene was and why
Who was your favorite character?
Were you able to relate to the characters in the story and which one did you find most similar to yourself?
Thanks for letting us discuss this story Hannah!
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Hey! Thanks for reading my story! I'm really glad you enojyed it. :)
I haven't done any of the "extreme" adventures that they did in the story. The way I went about researching the adventures was I originally typed into Google "100 Things to Do Before You Die" and I searched through a couple blog-type websites that came up with lists that people had made, trying to get good ideas. The next thing I did, once I had a list of about 20 ideas of really popular, yet somewhat unique, goals, I weighed them against what were things that didn't seem like stuff Nick and Brian would do unless it really was a last-ditch go at it, you know? Like sky diving. They've outright said they'd never sky dive. Maybe they would if this was the case, you know? Just to say they've done it.
Once I had narrowed it down, I started researching where in the country the best of each of those things were located. The Grand Canyon was obviously a good first step because they were travelling from LA to GA. So the rest had to fall in logical driving patterns across the US from there.
New Mexico is famous for their hot air balloons, and I have been to hot air balloon rallies, etc, to see how they're (basically) run. I researched landing sites and durations of rides, etc, to make sure it sounded factual. Then I used my imagination and pictures that I'd googled to create the ride itself.
FYI: Champagne is a typical thing to have on hot air balloon rides. Who knew?
The White Water Rafting was something that I'd envisioned prior to beginning. I was originally going to do a whole story about the Boys as a group going on a camping trip and experiencing white water rafting together. However, the story never panned out. So I'd done a lot of research on rafting in Colorado - where the original story was set. It just seemed right to send them all northward from there. The research I'd done on the rafting was to find out if they offered bungee jumping/rafting packages anywhere, where they held those sorts of things, and what the itineraries looked like. I watched a couple informational vacation videos to see what the guides were like, and what the rivers sorta seemed like.
The sky diving is something that I personally have always wanted to do and plan to do sometime within the next few years. I wanted some place that had a lot of view, a wide open plains type area. I tapped into Google, "Best places to skydive" and found the answer in -of all places- Nebraska. I'd never even considered sending the Boys to Nebraska, but hey what the hell right? So I started researching Nebraska. I was going to have them do something else in the area, just to add to the duration of the story, but guess what? Nebraska's a pretty boring state, so I couldn't find anything. Hence, the stop was an in-and-out. I attributed that to Brian's desire to visit his family.
I didn't do much work on Kentucky because that was just a matter of imagining Brian's family's house and stuff. That was pure imagination, I have no clue what the Littrell house is like and I certainly don't know if it's anywhere near where Kevin grew up. That's just something I always imagine when they talk about Kentucky. LOL
The stop at the aquarium in Chatanooga was inspired by a scene in the movie The Last Kiss, where the guy brings the girl scuba diving at the aquarium. But let's face it - this is TOTALLY something Nick would make a special stop for!! Again, it was mostly imagined, except I did research to try to find a HUGE aquarium between Kentucky and Atlanta. I almost sent them to the aquarium in Virginia, but it would've been out of step with Nick's plans for heading up the East Coast (before he knew what was going to happen in Atlanta)... So I found Chatanooga and it turns out that aquarium's actually bigger than the Virginia Beach one, which I cannot imagine by the way. LOL
I hope that answers your question? It was just a matter of finding out about the activity, then Google-Google-Google and looking up real places that offered the service, researching like I was going to go visit it. :)
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Was it hard to let this story go?
In a way, yes. I mean I'm still working on the accompanying story in Theres's Us, which sort of goes to a couple months later while Nick's in the process of mourning and reviewing the experiences that he and Brian shared. I plan to rework that story a little bit in the next coming months and get it up to par with the rest of Something Beautiful. I want to express the relationship in bytes of pre-story mixed with samples of Brian's "journal" from the trip depicted in this story... So yes, it was very hard to let go of the story. In a way it was a therapy for me to write the story, and coming to the end of it I felt like something was being left behind that I had wanted to cling to. I originally wasn't going to make Brian die before the end of the story... but... in retrospect, I'm glad that I did, because of he hadn't have died it would've left an open ending, it would've kept the story - and therefore my story - active. There would've been no closure. It was really important for the story to end the way it did...but it made it hard to let go. I suppose, like Nick in There's Us, it takes releasing it... letting the memory go.. laying to rest everything past.
Overall what were some of your favorite scenes and why?
One of my favorite scenes is Nick and Amanda's kiss in Kentucky in the rain. I just loved the visual it provoked in my mind, and it was a key time for them.
Another of my favorite scenes was Brian and Amanda's fight in the plane just before the jump. Their argument, like the plane, had reached high altitudes and there was only one way for them to go. They went together. It was the seal of a pact. I just like the way the whole thing came out and I enjoyed writing it immensely.
Also the part with Brian trying to cross the bridge over the gorge. That whole sequence makes me laugh and smile because it was based loosely on an experience I had at a gorge in Vermont with my mom (I was definitely Nick, egging her on; she was definitely Brian, refusing to go).
What was the hardest chapter/scene for you to write?
Hands down, Nick's fight with Amanda was the hardest to write because I wanted him to forgive her. I wanted it to be a non-issue. I wanted to keep the trio together, to make it all magically okay for them. Like Amanda, I had prayed that he would understand and react differently than he did. But Nick has a temper, he's very hotheaded, and he insisted on reacting like he did. I'm glad he did, right down to his hooker reference, because it had to be done. Amanda's heart had to be broken to redeem her, and he had to be the one to do it. Even though it killed like hell to do it.
Brian's reaction to the fight was hard too. He loved Amanda, also (not romantically obviously, like a sister), and he respected her and he'd already forgiven her. He, too, wanted so bad for Nick to forgive her... Brian, too, knew that Nick needed Amanda. That's how she ended up coming along to begin with, remember? Because Brian knew whoever went on the trip with them had to be there for Nick in the end when he was gone. Seeing Amanda go was like seeing the security he'd worked so hard to create for Nick... but he couldn't side with her, either, couldn't stand up for her. What she'd done was wrong. All he could do was stand by.
The whole scene was damn near impossible. LOL
Were the dramatic parts easiest for you or were the funny parts easier?
I've always been better at drama. Look at any of my storylines - well, except the Fear of Flying one - and you'll see at its core a dramatic value. Even when I was a child, my Barbies didn't have tea parties... They were dealing with serial killer teddy bears and earthquakes and accidents where Ken drove down the basement stairs. It's just a part of me. Drama comes naturally. That said the funny parts usually come naturally, too. It's just I write and rewrite the scenes usually in fear that the funny stuff sounds too set up or too forced. The stuff that's hardest for me though? Filler.... mundane events, basic conversations, etc. Most relationships in my stories are already in progress because I just don't write "hey how are you?" type scenes very well. I don't handle those situations well in real life, and I don't know how to make my characters handle them. Consequently, I skip'em. LOL
What's the one thing you hope that your readers have taken away from this story?
There's a lot to be learned in Something Beautiful. I hope that in the rush of the story and the drama of the characters and even the identity of the characters the lessons didn't get lost. Death is not something to be afraid of. Death should not make us curl up and wait. Death and the thought of it should spin us into action, send us off to experience, to feel, see, do and LIVE. Like Brian said several times in the story, he didn't want to live dying - he wanted to die living. That's not a philosophy that we need to adhere to only when we get terrible news. I mean just think if Brian and Nick had gone on one of these adventures before he was dying, they could've experienced so much more..... Furthermore, death isn't the end of a person. When we lose someone, they're not gone forever. Their spirit lives on in our hearts. And that's the purpose of the follow up that I'm still working on, There's Us. Just because we cannot see a person, touch a person, hear, feel, etc, they are not gone. Nick's experience dealing with Brian's illness was a journey and an experience as much as Brian's was. Brian was learning bravery and appreciation, while Nick was learning how to let go - as symbolized in the balloon on the banner/"cover" for the story. Never put off saying to a loved one what you could say right now... Never forget to look each person that you cherish in the eyes and tell them how much they mean to you. It is vitally important because every moment - every instance that you spend around them, each moment of contact, each breath passed - could be the moment that you miss the opportunity too see your something beautiful.
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Something I just thought to add too, which is kind of a random side note... The things they experienced and did, when I was making my list of ideas for them had to include a few things:
1. They had to be things that I've never HEARD of the Boys ACTUALLY doing before. I wanted the story to feel authentic in the "first time for everyone here" feeling. The only exception is the scuba diving in Chattanooga, which obviously Nick's scuba dived before. However, he was so damn excited about it, that it kind of negated the need for it to be a completely new experience for him.
2. It had to be something that invoked beauty. The point of the trip was for Brian to find something beautiful - therefore everything Nick planned had to include a breathtaking new way of viewing the world. The Grand Canyon they'd been to. The bottom of the Grand Canyon? At sunset? Not so much. The hot air balloon ride provided an ariel view without being in a "plane" persay. It afforded a closer over-head view with more detail. The Rockies with their snow caps from the lodge, the river's whitecaps, the gorge upside down (or from on the bridge)... all things that granted opportunity to see the world. Nebraska's plains allowed a view of the sphere of the earth, of great distances, of color patterns like a patchwork quilt, etc. And even the aquarium allowed an view of beautiful underwater life. It was imperative that everything they do render beautiful mental images like these... Why? Because if they hadn't seen the most beautiful things on earth, the punch at the end of Brian choosing his friendship with Nick as the most beautiful thing he'd seen wouldn't have been as powerful.
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Wow, it sounds like you put a lot of brainwork into the different stops on their trip!
Tell Hannah what your favorite chapter/scene was and why
I really liked when they stayed at the Colorado lodge, from the pancakes on the grill to Amanda falling in love with Nick to Nick tearing up the police officer's ticket books. That part of the story just had a lot of memorable bits.
Who was your favorite character?
Probably Brian's mom, she was just so sweet!
Were you able to relate to the characters in the story and which one did you find most similar to yourself?
I could definitely relate to Amanda and her reluctance to tell Nick the truth. I know that whenever I have something I need to 'fess up to, it just weighs on me, and I dread telling the truth to whomever the other person is, so I just keep putting it off. Amanda's behavior felt very believable and real to me.
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There is only one day of January left so now's the time to get your final thoughts in on Something Beautiful by Pengi! And I just wanted to say a thank you to Hannah for sharing her very personal thoughts and stories with the board.
:)