Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on June 01, 2007, 01:53:01 PM
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Hey guys!
I'm back with this month's pick. When I put up a poll about stories you'd like to see featured this one came up a few times so I thought i'd let it get the spotlight this month.
As always come in here to post your thoughts about the story as you read or if you have already read, come in and tell Kelly and the rest of us what you liked about it.
I will be coming in with questions occasionally as the Oprah of the board but if you have your own questions for Kelly, post them here, specifically about her story since I haven't read it mine will be more generic but if you want to be more story specific i'm sure Kelly would love to answer any questions you may have.
Congrats Kelly and I hope you enjoy your month!
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Yay a story I've read! lol. This one I've at least started on. So yaaaaaaaay Kelly! (who is on vacay right now lol). Anywho, I personally love Cindy's character, that alone makes the story worth a read. It's a creative idea and when I get the time, I WANT to finish it hehe.
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Aww well she'll have something to look forward to when she comes back then lol
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Yay! The first story of the month I can read while it's featured! *cheers*
Too bad it's not Whitmore Lake... Then I could have sat back and just commented. :D
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Awww!!!! Shocked, flattered and totally excited!!!!!! Yes, I'm on vacation right now and just logged in for the first time in over a week. I'll be away from home for pretty much the entire month, but I do have the internet and should be able to keep up, just not as regularly.
I did a little happy dance when I saw this post. Thank you so much! I am really proud of this one. And yes, it's a romance, but it's soooo much more than that so I hope you give it a chance. And like Mare said I am excited to answer anyone's questions and very curious to hear what you think, good and bad. I have tough skin, so please be completely honest! I can't get better if you don't tell me where I need improvement. ;)
Thanks again you guys! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
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I LOVE this story!!!! Originally, when I first read the summary months ago I wasn't going to read it, because the summary didn't catch my interest. But then one day, after many months of ignoring it, it suddenly struck my interest [don't rmeember why - could've been 'cause I realzied Honey wrote it-lol] & I decided to finally read it. And boy, am I ever glad I did! It's definitely one of THE best stories ever!!!!!!!!!! It keeps your interest right up until the very end & you're hooked & constantly wanting to read more - I once stayed up waaaay later than expected to read it. Another time, I opened up numerous Net screens & had different chapters in each one, then logged off 'cause someone needed the phone - but I still got my fix for the day! Lol. But this story IS Awesome!!!!!!!!!! I love all the characters & hate all the bad characters who deserve to be kicked all the way to Tim-Buck-Two & fed to the sharks! But, yeah, over all - I INSIST people read this story!!!! Whooot!!!!!!!!!
~1 of your #1 fans~
~Lenni~
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aww sorry about that! If I knew you wouldn't be around all month I would have given you a different one instead, but i'm glad you have internet access so this way you won't miss out on too much! :)
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Just read the first five chapters, and I like it so far!! I've always wanted to read something by Kelly, but I have to admit, I've glossed over this one a few times cause the whole anti-Mary Sue (the female character who tries so hard to NOT be a Mary Sue that she becomes just as annoying) thing doesn't really appeal to me, and that's how I expected Cindy to be. But now that I'm into it, I really like her character. She seems very real - just like what you might expect a girl with her background to turn out like.
I like your portrayal of the guys, too, especially Brian (and maybe not so much Nick, with the ass-grabbing LOL). And another thing I like is that I have no idea which one of them is going to be her "Prince Charming"! That's rare with a romance, and I like it cause it makes it unpredictable! First I was picturing Brian, cause I know you're a Brian girl, Kelly, but then it was Howie who was the sweet one she noticed at first, so then I was thinking him... but then Brian appears... but he's married... and then there's AJ, who she thinks is hot... but then she slept with Nick! And then there's Howie again the morning after, who thinks she's amazing! So now I totally don't know who she's going to fall for! LOL
You've got me intrigued, so I will definitely keep reading! :)
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You know Julie, it's interesting that you say that because I've always figured that people would assume Cindy is an anti mary sue and to be honest, in the begining, I believe she is. But the point of the story is that she struggles with being that way and the romance that falls into her life makes it impossible for her to keep being that way. That's why I love Cindy, because she's deep (I hope) This story is almost more of a "comming of age" story than anything and it's the romance that makes her go through it. I was hoping that would be the spin on this romance that would keep the readers interested. And thanks for taking the time to give it a chance! It really means a lot you guys. And Yay Dee! If you read this one I think you'll die cause it's soooooo different from Whitmore Lake. I think I worte WL in one of my manic moodes and NYACS in one of my depression swings! -lol
**squishy hugs for all of you!**
oh, and it's OK Mare. I'm just flattered that you're letting me have a month at all. And like I said, I'll still be around so all is good. ;D
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YAYAYAYAYAY *HUGS* Congratulation s Kelly!!!!!!!!!
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Hey Kelly here's my first question for you :)
I read the prologue and I love how you named your character Cinderella, I wasn't expecting that. What made you do that? Did you know from the start you were going to do that or was it an idea that popped into your head as you were writing?
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^ I love that too because normally, a character named "Cinderella" in a Bsb fic would scream Mary Sue to me, but I love her explanation for it - how she hates it and blames it on her drunken, white trash mother LOL. Cause really... who would actually name their kid that?? (Uh, no offense to anyone who's considering the name Cinderalla for their daughter... :P)
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uh, didn't you know? Cinderella is my daughter's name :P ok, not really. Yeah... that wouldn't be cool. I love the question Mare. Actually I guess I had her name picked out from the begining. I was reading Sarah's story, "Once Upon a Time" which is an AU remake of the Cinderella fairytale which happens to be my favorite story of all time. (yup, cheesy romance... are we seeing a pattern here? -lol) anyway, then I just felt like watching the movie and I decided I wanted to tell my own version of the tale. (you inspired me chica! ;)) At first I thought of making it a fantsay where she really was the real Cinderella and the boys were somehow dropped into her fairytale but ended up comming up with a much darker version. But I liked the idea of keeping all the similarities in the story, (I make more than one reference to the tale of Cinderella) so I kept the name.
I also got a big kick out of it because it is totally a BSB Mary Sue name and Cindy's practically an anti Mary Sue. I wondered if people would cringe but then I figured it was OK because of her attitude toward it and that she shortens the name to Cindy (which is a totally regular common name) so then I figured it wasn't Mary Sue-ish after all.
I also kept the name because I like the fact that it haunted her all her life. It's like the whole fairytale hanted her because she thinks her life was so drastically un fairytale-ish when in reality she's living the fairytale and just can't see it. (or se's just in complete denial.)
So yeah, lots of reasons behind the name... one of those things where I being the writer probably saw way too much into it and the readers were just kind of like "huh... cruel parents."
lol anyway, I"m glad that you liked the name and that you think it works with her because I really liked it but I'm always worried (especially when writing romance) that I'm being totally cliche and just don't realize it. I guess being self-conscious of your work is just the curse of every writer, but hearing you guys say that makes me feel a little better, so thanks!
oh, and :-* :-* :-* for all the congratulation s ladies, :-[
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Congratulation s Kelly! Finally there is a story of the month (besides my own obviously lol) that I've actually completely read, so I can sit back and comment.
Not Your Average Cinderella Story was the second story by Kelly that I read (the first being Welcome to My Heart) and the level of growth between these two stories in her writing is just amazing! WTMH was a nice cute little romance which I enjoyed, but I don't think I ever felt REALLY sucked into it. When I started NYACS at first I didn't think it was the same author! lol The overall tone of it is SOOO different which is awesome if a writer can pull that off. I feel that its in this story where things just seemed to click for Kelly.
I think it was the darker twist on Cinderella that suckered me in. Of course EVERY girls favorite fairytale is Cinderella, but if she'd done a romantic rewrite of it, I think it might not have been as effective or memorable. It was also a GREAT way of suckering me into reading a Howie fan fic (which I don't normally read) because although you knew ONE of the guys was her Prince Charming you didn't necessarily know who it was until you were already so deep into the story you'd continue reading anyway. And Leighanne as a fairy godmother type character was just too perfect. Probably one of my favorite interpretation s of Leighanne in a fan fic ever.
The only thing missing that I would of liked to see (and I told Kelly this lol) is Cindy telling Nick that they actually slept together. Just his reaction would've been priceless in my opinion LOL
But yea if you haven't read it, I highly reccomend it!
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Ah very good answer. and lol at everyone saying huh cruel parents while you put so much thought into it. That's always the way, isn't it?
Another question for you then, you mentioned that you were thinking of making this more Cinderella-ish as in the traditional sense. If that was the case what roles would you have cast for each of the guys?
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And as always, I haven't read it yet lol.. But I'll give it a shot. Congrats honey!!
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Congrats on being picked for the month of June Kelly :D i havent read this story yet, thought i'd read through what some readers of yours would say about this fic and see if any of them can push me into reading it but then i only found a lot of spoilers (like she sleeping with Nick...what! i dont want to know that now, lol) and now im curious why you named her Cinderella (i almost read your explanation to it but stopped myself, lol).
so yeah, i'm going to read it and then leave you proper reviews and come back here again :D for now, congrats again for being picked, you deserved it :D
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And as always, I haven't read it yet lol.. But I'll give it a shot. Congrats honey!!
Thanks, (to you and Mers and all the others) who have said they will give this story a shot. I love that you're willing to try. But I also understand that this story is not for everyone so I won't be offended by those who can't get very far into it. (still curious to hear why not though) Hell I'm impressed that Mare got through the prologue, not a single mention of the boys in it. :D
I just wanted to say that for those people who are scared to read it because you don't really read romance then this might be a good one to start with because there is so much other than the romance going on, and because of it's darker tone the "sappyness" is really kept to a minimal. Well at least minimal for me -lol
but really there is a lot of drama/angst in this one too and you know I couldn't write a story without throwing a little humor in there as well so you might be surprised. (Sorry Mare, I doubt even this romance would be one you can sit through-lol I think it breaks all your rules about what Mare will read. :D )
To answer the question though, origionally I was going to keep the Boys as themselves and then through some magical event or something have them thrown into Cinderella's magical kingdom where they would then have to find a way to get back home and in the mean time meet Cinderella and one of them would fall for her and essentially steal her from prince charming or something. So all the roles in Cinderella would have been the same except the BSB would have been there causig all sorts of trouble and mixing up the fairytale. I never got the idea fully developed though, and I'm not sure how that turned into the trailerpark version of the tale I ended up with. lol.
I'm glad I went the way I did though because I stepped waaayyy outside my comfort zone with this one and I can't even tell you how much I learned from doing it. And I had so much fun writing something that I wouldn't normally write that I wanted to keep trying that and now I'm working on my first action story, and it's my first delve into another fandom as well. So wish me luck with that, I'm gonna need it.
Thanks again guys!
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So, I gave it a shot, and I'm happy I did ;D
I spent all afternoon reading NYACS and I was so intrigued by the whole thing, that I forgot to do the dishes and such.. :-[ (Can I blame you when my mom blames me, honey? ;D)
Firstoff, I really really really really like the general idea of the story!
I love Cindy! She's not the typical fan fic girl one of the guys falls in love with. She's kinda edgy, has had a rough life and forgot how to feel like a lady (or in fact never has felt that way). It was refreshing to see a girl curse, unaware of her beauty, and throw punches at everyone that deserves one.
*SPOILER ALERT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE WHOLE STORY!!
DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ MY REPLY!!*
What I also loved, was the fact she punched Nick ;D (why do we like to see him get hurt so much?! :-\ ). He really deserved it, in fact I probably would have made sure he couldn't get child support anymore ;D (nah, just kidding).
I have to applaud you for the fact that you didn't make everyone be great friends with her. In most stories (including my own) everyone likes the girl that one of them falls in love with. I'm not sure why that is. Probably because it's easier to write, or because we want to maintain that 'everyone is one big happy family'-feeling. So I think it's very brave of you to keep the relationship between Cindy and Nick 'rocky'.
Another thing I liked was the fact that you portrayed Leighanne in a different way. Sure, she was sweet, nice, caring and very friendly, but with a bit of a naughty touch without getting 'nasty'. (Does that make sense?) While in other stories, she seems only shallow or just friendly and nothing else. I loved the way she yelled at Nick too, by the way.
Also, I loved 'your' Howie. I'm not sure why really, but with some fanfics (no offense to anyone!!!!!!!) I'm not finding his personality realistic. I totally didn't think that this time around. Again, not sure why. But I really really really liked 'your' Howie.
At first I thought.. "Oh no, she's gonna fall in love with Brian and that's that.. Boooooring.."
Since we didn't know Leighanne was in the picture then. But then I continued reading and found out that she was in the story. Then I thought "I sure hope she isn't gonna break up their marriage!"
And then I found out that she became great friends with both of them and I was like "Yaaaaaaaaay for friendship!" ;D So that was a great thing! And as you can see, not what I expected. And that was a GOOD thing!
There were a lot more things I liked, but I'll try to be short ;D:
- AJ cutting in when Nick and Cindy were about to kill each other
- Cindy's mom shooting Cindy's father
- The locket
- The time they went to the lake
- The fight Cindy and Danny had. Not the fact that they fought ofcourse, but it had to happen, that much was obvious.
- The fact that Cindy is kind of a tomboy
- etcetera, etcetera, etcetera ;D
So, for a question:
"Why did you choose "I'll never break your heart" to be their song?"
I'll try to come up with more questions later!
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Aww you're too cute Honey lol at least everyone knows and understands my what Mare will read rules :) And I did make it through the prologue and half of the first chapter even without the boys because Cindy was an interesting character. I haven't been able to do that with a whole lot of romances. Can I do that for an entire story? Probably not lol but you made a very strong female character in Cindy and just FYI I LOVE that original idea you had! lol very clever. You should write a companion piece to this one, one day and use that.
I'm sorry i'm not able to get into these kinds of fics at all, but i'm so glad that all the repsonses you've had have been so positive. Yay Kelly!
:D
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Howdy and i'm back with another question for you Kelly. And you have no idea but while I was typing that out, I actually sang what I wrote. lmao i'm amusing myself. Don't mind me.
Okay this is one of those questions for the people who haven't read it, or read a tiny bit of it and might be confused. Is this an alternate reality fic? I hope that doesn't seem like an idiotic question but I noticed it wasn't one of the things marked off for genres. So, are the boys THE boys or are they random boys? lol
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awww, Nijntje, I would be honored to take the blame for your dishes not being done! In fact, I would do them for you if I could. You earned major points for reading the entire story in one sitting -lol. I've only done that like twice in my life so I am totally flattered that you did that with this story. More importantly though, I'm glad you liked it. I'm always happy to have entertained.
As for the reason I chose "I'll Never Break Your Heart" to be their song? Well mostly it's just one of my favorite old school BSB songs and it's one of their better ones for a slow dance. BSB have a ton of those mid-tempo songs that are really kind of awkward to dance to because they aren't really fast, but they aren't really solw either, you know what I mean? Plus I just imagine Howie being the type that would express his feelings through song and this one seemed fitting because Cindy's had so much pain and hurt in her life that the last thing he would ever want to do is cause more of it, so the promise of "I'll never break your heart, I'll never make you cry" seemed very appropriate. But mostly I just really really like that one. ;)
And no Mare, this is not an AU. The Boys really are the boys but you don't know that for sure until really far into the story. I actully hadn't decided if it was going to be AU or not for a long time, and it could still very easily be converted into an origional fiction. I did that on purpose, so don't feel silly about asking that question because it's hard to tell.
The story of Cinderella is so common and has been done so many times that I tried really hard to tell it in a completely fresh way. I didn't want my readers to get bored from reading something they've heard told over and over again so I kept certain aspects of it very vague on purpose. I wanted to make a very predictable story somewhat unpredictable. That's also why you can't quite guess who her "prince charming" is for a long time.(Well that and because I knewI would lose a lot of readers if they knew who it was.)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SUCKERS!!! Made ya read a Howie story!!! hehe just kidding (a little) Damnit, Howie deserves as much love as Nicky!!! I actually had someone tell me that this was the first Howie story she'd ever read and that was only because she didn't realize it was a Howie story until she was so far in that she just HAD to finish.
**sits in a corner with Lore practicing my evil laugh. Muahahahaha!**
But on the bright side now she's read a Howie story that she liked ;D ok I'm rambling again. (we all know how I like to do that) sorry, I'll stop now.
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ok sorry, justone more thing before I shut up, I have a question for all the people who have read the story.
The one major criticism I've had for this story is that Nick seems really out of character. What do you all think? I know he is everyone's favorite so I'm sure I'm about to be booed offstage right now, but he's probably my least fave of the bunch. I honestly do see him as a bit of a cocky player type. Even when I've seen him in real life he's sort of come across that way to me. So I wrote him that way. I didn't necessarily mean to write him as a total ass hole (though it may have come out that way.) The way I see it, Cindy totally crushed his ego the first time they met and then held obvious resentment toward him. They are both stubborn and I can see Nick being defensive and one to hold a grudge so I thought it was OK that he had so much problems with Cindy. Even now I can't really see him geting along with Cindy if they were to meet in real life.
Anyway, very curious to hear your thoughts on the subject.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SUCKERS!!! Made ya read a Howie story!!! hehe just kidding (a little) Damnit, Howie deserves as much love as Nicky!!! I actually had someone tell me that this was the first Howie story she'd ever read and that was only because she didn't realize it was a Howie story until she was so far in that she just HAD to finish.
**sits in a corner with Lore practicing my evil laugh. Muahahahaha!**
But on the bright side now she's read a Howie story that she liked ;D ok I'm rambling again. (we all know how I like to do that) sorry, I'll stop now.
lmao aww poor Howie! One day the poor guy is going to develop a fanfic complex.
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Thanks Kelly for something to distract me from writing cuz yea I was supposed to be doing a sex scene and its turning into a tickle war instead LOL... But yea enough about my problems lol. To answer you question about Nick's character... In this story I didn't really have much of a problem with it because it just sort of worked in this case. Probably because he was such a good foil to Cindy's character because they're actually a lot more alike than they'd like to admit. Although I am a Nick fan I'm pretty accepting of him acting like a jerk in fan fics. (Hello I write Sexcapades which is the epitome of Nick being a cocky bastard lol) I see it more though as like a stereotype that is used to add humor to stories. If EVERY story portrayed Nick that same way then I'd take offense but as long as its in good fun I'm okay with it. And I know that in your other stories Nick isn't written the same way.
I feel bad though that you think Nick is really like that. Honestly though I won't lie... Anytime I've had a semi close encounter to him in real life he hasn't been overly friendly, but then again the circumstances weren't exactly the best ones. Plus I'm convinced Nick isn't fond of New York City due to a certain group of fans who pretty much stalk him when he's here and I can't exactly blame him because yea they're pretty messed up... Anyway I've heard from other people he's really nice when you catch him in a good mood. He's just moody... Which is why he's such a great character to write! lol
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aww, Mel, don'tfeel bad. -lol It's not that I think he's a jerk. I said "cocky" and "player". To me that doesnt necessarily mean a jerk (rude and grouchy and mean and all). And honestly, the man has every right to have an ego. I know I probably would if I could cause a riot in the streets-lol. I'm sure if I ever met him in a personal setting he is probably very nice, but I can totally picture him not taking too kindly to someone crushing his ego. It's that whole defensive thing. I can totally see him as a defensive person. And rightly so, people pick on him something awful. So don't get me wrong, I'm not a Nick hater. I love NICKY! I just love the others more. And yeah, he probably is one of the most interesting characters to write. I actually portray him a little differently in each of my stories because he has so many sides. I just think that maybe people don't always want to see the side of him that I chose to show in this story because they like him so much. But then... I may have gone a little darstic in this one.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SUCKERS!!! Made ya read a Howie story!!! hehe just kidding (a little) Damnit, Howie deserves as much love as Nicky!!! I actually had someone tell me that this was the first Howie story she'd ever read and that was only because she didn't realize it was a Howie story until she was so far in that she just HAD to finish.
**sits in a corner with Lore practicing my evil laugh. Muahahahaha!**
But on the bright side now she's read a Howie story that she liked ;D ok I'm rambling again. (we all know how I like to do that) sorry, I'll stop now.
Good, I blamed you, but my mom wasn't impressed :D
And yeah, I'm one of those readers who hardly ever read a fic in which Howie is the one that falls in love and such. You tricked me >:( But I kept reading cause the story is that good! ;D
The one major criticism I've had for this story is that Nick seems really out of character. What do you all think? I know he is everyone's favorite so I'm sure I'm about to be booed offstage right now, but he's probably my least fave of the bunch. I honestly do see him as a bit of a cocky player type. Even when I've seen him in real life he's sort of come across that way to me. So I wrote him that way. I didn't necessarily mean to write him as a total ass hole (though it may have come out that way.) The way I see it, Cindy totally crushed his ego the first time they met and then held obvious resentment toward him. They are both stubborn and I can see Nick being defensive and one to hold a grudge so I thought it was OK that he had so much problems with Cindy. Even now I can't really see him geting along with Cindy if they were to meet in real life.
Anyway, very curious to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Well, I have to agree with your opinion on Nick. *ducks to avoid rocks from other AC-members*
I've never met him, but I can totally envision him acting the way you wrote. Even though I think it's mostly a facade and there's a good guy underneath it all, I still think he could lose the attitude at times. I mean, during "The House of Carters" I saw a sweet kid that tried to protect his siblings, but also with one hell of an attitude. And I think that in public, he tends to be the cocky player mostly to protect himself from being hurt. But hey, that's just my opinion. ;)
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Back with three more questions, recycled ones but good ones lol
1) Was there anytime while you were writing this that you had a total plot shift or went into another direction you never planned?
2) If you could change one thing about your story, what if anything would it be?
3) Can you tell us what your favorite scene to write in this story is and maybe put up a small excerpt of it for us all to read and explain what you like most about it.
All of you who have read this and have a favorite scene should do the same.
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Yay! more questions! Aren't y'all getting tired of me yet? Well I suppose if you are then you're probably just skipping this thread so I guess it's ok to run my mouth... or... fingers I guess.
1) Was there anytime while you were writing this that you had a total plot shift or went into another direction you never planned?
surprisingly the answer to that is no. I think that's a first. Forsoe reason this one just fell into place so perfectly in the planning stage that I just whipped right through it. I never strayed and every chapter has it's specific purpose that pushes the plot along. The story is actually pretty tight which is why I think it is probably my best writing to date. Honestly, thatdoesn't usually happen. (hence "Welcome To My Heart" is like 90 something chapters. lol)
2) If you could change one thing about your story, what if anything would it be?
well there are two things. first I would try to tone down Cindy's swearing justa little.I mean she's based off of a girl I know in real life and that's actually pretty much what she sounds like, but when I read back overit I think it wouldn't hurt to have a little less (as long as it didn't change her character) and the second is that I would have liked to find a way to make Nick just a little more likeable. I still would have kept things between him and Cindy the same. I always meant for them to sort of hate each other, but since Cindy is the one telling the story and she hates him, he comes across as a bit of an ass hole. but Ciny kind of took over when I wrote this one and she simply wouldn't let me. I guess I just hoped that the readers would see that she is a bit biased and maybe a little harsh on the poor guy. I dunno.
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3) Can you tell us what your favorite scene to write in this story is and maybe put up a small excerpt of it for us all to read and explain what you like most about it.
******SPOILER ALERT******
oh man I have so many favorite scenes from this story. I think my overall favorite chapter to write was "Meet the Littrells" but I'm not really sure why. I loved the scene in the mall where she meets the guys after Leighanne's makeover. I lovedthe scene of Cindy and Howie at the lake and I loved Ciny's fight with Danny in the bar. (Actually I thought of it just today as I read Cally's fight with Sebastian in Rose's "Just Another Day. I don't hate Sebastion Rose!! I understand where he's comming from-lol)
BUT!!! My absolute favorite part of the story is the ending, the epilogue. There is a reason that Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale, best ending ever!!! so the excerpt I'm going to post is the epilogue and yes, it prettymuch gives away everything so if you are planning to read this story at all and you're not one of those totlly annoying people who goes to the book store and flips to the last page of the book to decide if you're going to read it or not, I suggest you stop reading here.... ;D
My memory of those two weeks didn’t come back all at once. It was bits and pieces here and there, most in my dreams like the doctor had said. It was never pleasant having to relive what happened to me in my nightmares, but at least I was recovering the good memories along with the bad. Eventually though, as the swelling in my brain went down and my overall physical condition returned to normal I got back every memory I’d lost. I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital, but I never spent a day of it alone. Howie stayed by my side the entire time. And as it turns out, I had a lot more visitors than I’d ever expected.
Danny and John of course came every chance they could and Danny and I were able to patch things up. He is my fucking best friend after all, and once he saw how much Howie meant to me he got over himself. He and Howie actually became quite good friends and Howie helped him and John land one of those pimp-my-car shows on TV. Now we get drunk and watch that instead of millionaire. We place bets on how many times they have to bleep their language every episode.
Then there was my mom. Imagine my fucking surprise when she showed up in my hospital room acting like a decent human being. She really opened up to me about my father though and admitted that killing him sobered her up permanently. She checked herself into rehab and has been rebuilding her life ever since. Hal visited her every day and fucking proposed when she came home. They got married in the damn bar. It was the only time in my life I was ever a fucking bridesmaid and I had to serve the drinks at the fucking reception. It was worth it though to see my mom truly happy for once in her life, and Hal was now legitimately the father he’d always been to me.
As for me? I didn’t move to Florida with Howie like you might have expected. When it came down to it I just couldn’t leave my home and all the people I’ve ever loved. So instead Howie surprised me with keys to our new fucking house when I got out of the hospital. The place is a fucking palace and yes I said it’s OUR house. The fucking city boy moved to Hanley fucking Kentucky to be with me and practically forced me to move in with him. I felt bad for uprooting him like that but he’s rich enough that we can visit his family whenever we feel like it.
I asked him about it once though and he said it was fine because Brian and Leigh were here and it was probably best to keep at least five states between me and Nick Carter. True we get along better than we did before “midnight” as we’ve all come to call the incident with my father and the perverted tow truck driver, who after his conviction will be spending the rest of his life as some guy named Bubba’s bitch, but between you and me? That cocky ass baby of the Backstreet Boys will always bug the shit out of me. Besides, Howie says the less time we spend together, the less chance there is of a repeat double dog daring match.
It’s been exactly two years now since the day this crazy story began making today my 30th birthday. And as I stand here floating in the middle of the fucking lake wearing a wedding dress so gorgeous that it could only have been picked out by my best friend and matron of honor, I find myself lost in the enchanting eyes of my very own prince charming. It’s a fucking fairy tale wedding fit for the one and only true Cinderella. I’m even wearing the glass fucking slippers to prove it. They were a gift from Brian who still refers to himself as my fairy godmother and probably always will.
So as I listen to the preacher pronounce us man and wife and Howie throws his lips on mine I find myself asking the question do fairy tales really exist? You bet your fucking ass they do!
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wow! You answered those fast lol
And I love being Oprah so as long as there are questions to be asked I shall ask away and keep your month going. :D i'm cool like that.
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oh man I have so many favorite scenes from this story. I think my overall favorite chapter to write was "Meet the Littrells" but I'm not really sure why. I loved the scene in the mall where she meets the guys after Leighanne's makeover. I lovedthe scene of Cindy and Howie at the lake and I loved Ciny's fight with Danny in the bar. (Actually I thought of it just today as I read Cally's fight with Sebastian in Rose's "Just Another Day. I don't hate Sebastion Rose!! I understand where he's comming from-lol)
LOL Kelly you're like the ONLY one who doesn't. You need to review cause I love your long reviews! Hehe.
So far my favorite part in your fic, is when Cindy knocks Nick's booty senseless the first time. That was just too funny lol.
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wow! You answered those fast lol
And I love being Oprah so as long as there are questions to be asked I shall ask away and keep your month going. :D i'm cool like that.
lol yeah, couldn't doo much today. It's been a long week. I went on vacation and then my son got sick and ended up in the ER. He's fine now though. It turned out it was a really nasty flu bug that is highly contageous so I've been lying on my but too sick to leave the couch all week and now I'm at least feeling better enough to read and write (and blab nonsense on the AC message board) but didn't really have much energy to do anything else. Got pretty bored today so the questions were exciting. I was actually so bored today that the only thing I did besides answer these questions (and read Rose's updates ;D which I shalgo update on, don't know how I forgot to do that!)was dye my hair for the first time ever in my life. I must be going crazy from fever or something. Cry some tears for me Lore cause for the first time in my life I'm not a red head right now and it's freakin me out!!!! dark brunette in case you're wondering... (don't worry it's a wash out, I'll be red again soon enough)
wow sorry, waaaaaaaaayyyy yy off track. shutting up now. I think I'll go bug Rose in her reviews section.
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Okay, favorite scene, I was up reading the rest of it hehe...and this scene definitely strikes me as a fave. Because Nick and Cindy are a LOT alike lol, though neither sees it at this point. But Leighanne's reaction to Nick is just TOO funny
“Who’s your friend Leigh?” Nick said with that same cocky tone I heard in his voice the first time we met.
“And why have we never had the pleasure of meeting her before?” AJ added turning up his charm. His efforts were less than subtle but his voice was fucking sexy. Total player. Player or not… I shrugged. I took a slow deep breath and then plastered a smile on my face as I turned around. I couldn’t let them see how nervous I was. “Hello again boys.” I greeted.
The look on their faces was worth all the hours I spent today making myself look like this. Fucking brilliant! All three of them fucking speechless! “Cindy?” Howie finally gasped.
Leighanne beamed with pride over their reactions. “What do you think?” she asked.
“Wow!” AJ said nodding his approval.
Howie took a step toward me and had I not been leaning against a railing I would have taken a step back. He took my hand in his. I wanted to pull away but I was fucking putty at his touch. He raised my hand above my head making me spin. “You look beautiful.” He said.
Oh God, what was is it with me and the fucking blushing lately? I couldn’t make myself stop. I tried my hardest not to smile as I looked down at our hands. He’d let my hand fall back to my side yet somehow managed not to let go. His fingers were barely clinging to mine and I made no effort to break us apart.
There was some kind of electricity that pulsed through by body when he touched me. It was a feeling that twisted up my insides into tight knots and made me want to explode, but in a good way. Fucking magic. Shit, could this be what I think it is? No fucking way! Love at first sight doesn’t fucking exist! Fucking fairytales aren’t real!
And just to prove my point, had this been a fairy tale, that moment would have lasted long enough for Howie to sweep me off my feet, declare his love to me and then whisk me off to some far off palace where he would make me hiss queen. As it is, the fucking cocky-ass blonde ruined our moment. “Holy shit Leighanne!” he laughed. “One day with you and she’s fucking Barbie! Look at her blush! It’s like the taming of the fucking shrew.”
What a fucking prick! That man was about to get his ass handed to him. My eyes narrowed and my fists clenched as both Howie and AJ gave him dirty looks. I was so angry that I had no words. I didn’t need words though. “Damnit Nick!” Leighanne yelled about ready to kick the shit out of the man herself.
Nick, Howie and AJ all looked at Leighanne in utter shock. Apparently such an outburst wasn’t exactly characteristic of the good natured, bubbly blonde. “Sometimes you can be such a… such a…”
Leighanne struggled to find the right words. “Jerk?” Howie supplied.
“Fucking ass hole!” she finally screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Holy shit.” AJ laughed in response to Leighanne’s statement.
Nick’s jaw dropped. I can imagine that was probably the first time she’s ever used that word. I couldn’t help the smirk on my face. Leighanne grabbed my hand and gave it a tug. “Come on Cin.” She said starting to drag me off protectively.
I followed but glanced back at the three men staring at us, completely baffled. I gave Nick a look that probably could have killed him if I’d kept it up long enough, but my eyes drifted to Howie. He watched me walk away with apologetic eyes. As I looked at him I couldn’t help but think of the butterflies that were still kind of floating around in my stomach. So much for fairytales.
I turned back around and was surprised to see tears in Leighanne’s eyes. “I’m sorry.” She said, “Nick doesn’t always think before he says things.”
“Look, don’t worry about it. I won’t lose sleep over him tonight.”
“No I do, I feel bad. He shouldn’t have said that.”
“He’s an ass.” I said, “I swear, you shouldn’t feel bad about anything. Shit Leighanne, you’ve been more kind to me than anyone in my life ever has. I’ve had such an amazing day that nothing a little prick like him could possibly say would ruin it.”
Leighanne stopped walking and looked at me with a pout. “Really?” she asked wiping the tears from her face.
“Really.” I reassured her, “Honestly, I can’t thank you enough.”
Leighanne cracked a smile and then without warning threw her arms around me in a big fucking hug. Surprised doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to react. The woman must have been losing her mind. Finally I managed a weak hug in return hoping that might get her off of me. She pulled herself away and smiled at me again. “We’re going to be great friends.” She said and then continued walking again.
I stood there for a brief second trying to figure out what the hell just happened and then walked along side her. There was an awkward silence, or at least I thought it was awkward, until Leighanne gave a slight laugh. “It did feel kind of good to yell at him though. Did you see the look on his face?” After that, Leighanne and I laughed all the way to the fucking hospital.
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;D I came into this forum about a week ago and saw a new Featured Story. So I was reading through the reviews then realised as I read a post talking about part of the story that I haven't read it yet and reading the posts were spoiling it for me so I went to read it and cracked up laughing and bit my nails at tense moments.
One thing that did make me freeze when i started reading it was that she's actually very similar to myself (personality wise) and that surprised me a little, also kinda freaked me out too lol.
Yes I'm a sucker too. I did get too far in to stop reading coz it was a howie story, and I've only read stories with Howie in them if they were group fanfics.
Great story, congrats on getting Featured story! ;)
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Aww I love how everyone is saying they were so caught up in it, that by the time they realized it was a Howie story they couldn't stop reading. To me that's the mark of great writing Kelly, so congrats!
It's hard to keep people's interests when they don't even know who they are really reading about. So here's the next question, how hard was it for you to write mainly about Howie? Or as you were writing it, did you not even know it was going to be Howie? Did I ask this already? lmao I don't think I did...but i'm too lazy to go back and check.
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Aww I love how everyone is saying they were so caught up in it, that by the time they realized it was a Howie story they couldn't stop reading. To me that's the mark of great writing Kelly, so congrats!
It's hard to keep people's interests when they don't even know who they are really reading about. So here's the next question, how hard was it for you to write mainly about Howie? Or as you were writing it, did you not even know it was going to be Howie? Did I ask this already? lmao I don't think I did...but i'm too lazy to go back and check.
awww thanks Mare, that's quite the compliment. Stop or you'll make me blush-lol
but seriously though, thank you that's very sweet.
I actually planned this one to be a Howie story from the begining because I had never written him before. Or at least not as a main character. Hence the whole intentionally not telling people who it was about right up front. People skip over Howie stories because they are Howie stories and I wanted to write a story that people would still enjoy even if he's their least favorite, but they'd never have given it a chance had they known it was going to be about him. -lol
He's actually very very hard for me to write, so I was thrilled to hear someone (can't remember who said it and am like Mare and too lazy to go back and look at the moment) say that they loved my Howie, because he's a challenge for me.
Always the soft spoken sweet charmer, his personality just doesn't make for the most interesting character. (Sorry Howie I love you to death, but Nice doesn't exactly sell.) So when writing this story I actually relied really heavily on the other guys and Leighanne. Yes it's a Howie story, but Brian and Leighanne have probably just as much face time and then you've got Nick in there causing the trouble too so there's a little bit of something for everyone in this fic. (Well except for all the Kevin lovers out there myself included :-[ sorry about that one.)
I do wish I'd have found a way to get AJ a little more involved than I did, but you can't win 'em all I gess. He actually took on Howie's usual role of being in the background. -lol (Sorry AJ, I guess I owe you your own story now too.)
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I went to read it and cracked up laughing and bit my nails at tense moments.
One thing that did make me freeze when i started reading it was that she's actually very similar to myself (personality wise) and that surprised me a little, also kinda freaked me out too lol.
Great story, congrats on getting Featured story! ;)
Yay! Thanks for reding it Moppy. Yeah, sorry about the spoilers, there's quite a few... There should just be a big old fat warning in the heading-lol I hope you didn't bite your nails too much. And LMAO at freaking you out bcause you are too much alike. You must be fun to be around. Do you like to punch people too? lol
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Kelly, if you could go back and change one thing in this story what would it be and why?
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Red writing below = warning lol
Yay! Thanks for reading it Moppy. Yeah, sorry about the spoilers, there's quite a few... There should just be a big old fat warning in the heading-lol I hope you didn't bite your nails too much. And LMAO at freaking you out bcause you are too much alike. You must be fun to be around. Do you like to punch people too? lol
;D Sadly yes if you pinch me butt and i don't want or like you to lol true story in fact!
it's ok about the spoilers, though you can use my warnigns from my siggy to use lol but if I hadn't read them I wouldn't have probably read the story (eg it was the part about Nick sleeping with her that got me LOL)
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Kelly, if you could go back and change one thing in this story what would it be and why?
I think I already answered this one somewhere. lol too lazy to go back and find the answer, so I'll recap... I'd tone down the swearing if I could, I'd find a way to give AJ a little more face time, and I'd try to fix it so that Nick doesn't come off as so much of an ass hole. (though it sounds like the people that read it as least understood where I was going with his character so I guess thats good.) haha if you want the explanations there in this thread somewhere, I'm too lazy to go look. ;D
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lol yes you did answer it already, my bad. I remembered after I posted the question.
Okay i'm trying to think of a good thinking question for you...
How about if Howie wasn't an option for Cindy to be with, who would you choose to have her Prince Charming be and why?
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I too have a question! >
If you entered NYACS into a fanfic-contest, what award do you think it would/should win? And why?
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^ oh that's a good one! lol
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^ oh that's a good one! lol
I know ;)
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lol yes you did answer it already, my bad. I remembered after I posted the question.
Okay i'm trying to think of a good thinking question for you...
How about if Howie wasn't an option for Cindy to be with, who would you choose to have her Prince Charming be and why?
ooohhh that's a tough one. Because to me Howie was always the only choice. Brian was married, therefore he was out. AJ was the type that she always went for, therefore she wouldn't have learned anything or changed the way she did, and Nick... well they are just too much alike and it would never have worked out between them. I guess if it wasn't Howie, I would have had to find a creative way to Kill off Leighanne. -lol but the story just wouldn't have been the same without Leighanne... so it just had to be Howie ;D
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that or I would have had to write Kevin in and ignore the whole Kristen aspect, and then find some way to make Kevin perfect for Cindy. But I can't really see Cindy and Kevin together either.
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I too have a question! >
If you entered NYACS into a fanfic-contest, what award do you think it would/should win? And why?
lol that is a good question too. (and one I have no idea how to answer.) I've never been involved with any fan fic awards before so I have no idea what awards there are. It's a Howie story, so I guess maybe Best Howie (I think they have that one) although I don't know that I would deserve to win anything. But being nominated would be cool.
I guess if anything I would like to be recognized for like "most improved writing" or something, but I doubt that's an award. I just think that I learned so much and improved so much as a writer from that story and that deserves recognition. (not just for me but for anyone who can improve themselves) The difference between NYACS and the one I finished before it was just HUGE and I am really proud of that.
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Oh your answer to my question leadfs me to another one and that's why did you leave Kevin completely out of the story?
And as far as fanfic awards. I have seen all kinds of categories including most improved writer lol and of course there are best Howie awards as well.
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haha I don't have a good answer as to why I left Kevin out. I'm mean? Really I only did it because I was curious to see what it would feel like without him there since the Backstreet Boys will only be the power of four now. But I don't plan to leave him out of all my stories. He's in my new one at the moment... I love Kev and I'm gonna miss him. He'll always be a Backstreet Boy to me, but I just wanted to imagine what it would be like with only four. lol preparing myself.
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^ ooh I see lol SO I guess you started writing thos one after he made his little announcement then.
It's hard thinking of leaving him out of stories *kicks Kevin*
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featured story author survey
I just thought of this and since a few months have passed since, I am posting this in every thread, so authors fll this out when you get the chance. It might help people who are searching the forum and looking for something good to read. Sorry i'm using (this story) and being so generic but like I said everyone is going to get the identical survey to fill out when their turn pops up and i'm in lazy mode lmao
thanks!
Moprah! hehe
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) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why?
5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on 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)
7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
8) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
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
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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!!!
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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.
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That's so awesome! Does this person know you wrote a story with a character based on her?
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okay as we head into our last week of June, now is the time to sum up your feelings on this fairytale.
So everyone share your love!
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Ok, I finally finished the story, and I LOVED it. I laughed out loud so many times. The language isn't really my thing, but it fit the story so... I can't wait to start reading more of your work. It was really a great story, and I'm glad to see you incorporate Howie since he seems to get left out ALOT. It was kinda sad not seeing Kevin around though. :( Oh well, such is reality.
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That's so awesome! Does this person know you wrote a story with a character based on her?
na, she and I lost contact like 7 years ago. I left Michigan a week after I graduated and have never been back since. Kind of sad, but she was an awesome friend and made for a great character.
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Ok, I finally finished the story, and I LOVED it. I laughed out loud so many times. The language isn't really my thing, but it fit the story so... I can't wait to start reading more of your work. It was really a great story, and I'm glad to see you incorporate Howie since he seems to get left out ALOT. It was kinda sad not seeing Kevin around though. :( Oh well, such is reality.
Thanks Rose. I'm glad you enjoyed it. The language is really not my thing either. Most of my other stories may have a tiny swearing here or there, but NOTHING like this one. It just kind of had to be there for this story. And all my other stuff has Kevin. I still love him. ;)
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Well, since it's the last week, I want you to know that I started reading it, Kelly. :)
Unfortunately, the language is totally not my thing... So it's getting hard for me to stomach it... Which is strange.
But I like the characters. :) They're very multi-faceted. Or Cindy at least... But I haven't gotten very far, so...
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Well, since it's the last week, I want you to know that I started reading it, Kelly. :)
Unfortunately, the language is totally not my thing... So it's getting hard for me to stomach it... Which is strange.
But I like the characters. :) They're very multi-faceted. Or Cindy at least... But I haven't gotten very far, so...
Just wait till you see Cindy with Leighanne lol ;) ;D
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Just wait till you see Cindy with Leighanne lol ;) ;D
That's assuming I can force myself to get past the language.
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Wow it's the end of the month already! I can't believe it! Summer need sto slooooow dooown lol
Anyway any lest thoughts from our author? Anything you want to add or tell us about your story? And of course an final thoughts from Kelly's readers?
:D
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Well, just that it was totally a blast being the author of the month! Thank you everyone for all your thoughts and comments!! And special thanks to Mare for choosing this story. It was a super fun story to write and so different for me that I was a little scared to attempt it. So to see it here means a lot to me! You guys are all the best and I can't wait to see who's up next!!! ps... if you're wanting more (which I know you all are! haha) read Searching For Mercy. I only have the first two chapters up but it's going to be my best story yet!
Thanks again you guys!!!! It's been fun!!!!