Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on October 01, 2007, 01:49:51 PM
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Hello!
First to clear up some confusion, there are currently three featured stories posted on AC but the only one I chose is this one therefore this is the one we will end up discussing. So for now, just ignore the other two and if you are the author of one of them I apologize I think there was a mix up. Let's blame the Mets shall we? lol *kicks Phillies*
Anywho...
I decided to pick a suspense story that I haven't read yet for this month and when I read snippets from this story way back at the beginning of the summer I was intrigued and knew from the start this one was going to be featured.
I'm looking forward to commenting on it as I read and to see what your motivations were when writing it Julilly.
So as always I will be your Oprah and I hope you enjoy!
Here's the link to the story...
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=8126
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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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Yay Julilly! Congrats on having your oh-so-wonderful story be the featured story for October!
P.S. Mare, my Phillies didn't like it when you kicked them LOL Play nice ;)
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Yay Julilly! Congrats on having your oh-so-wonderful story be the featured story for October!
P.S. Mare, my Phillies didn't like it when you kicked them LOL Play nice ;)
They'll have to deal lol
*punches the Phillies Phanatic* lol
Do you know how hard it is to be a Mets fan in PA right now? Good gravy!
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Aww, Mare *gives you consolation cookies* My history prof's dealing with the same thing. It was his birthday yesterday and he was upset because the Mets lost and the Phillies won...I'll admit that I've never been a Phillies fan mostly because, all my life, they've been pretty bad, but I guess it's their turn to gloat a bit...
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Oh dear... it's me. This is kind of a shock to be honest, now I'm going to feel pressured to like update or something.. :)
Thank you though Mare, it's a pleasure to be thought of!
Well, I better get to those questions!
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congrats Julilly! I have to say you've been on my authors to read list for a while. I'm excited to get started!
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I find surveys so difficult, so this took some time and dedication, this is for all of you! lol
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows? For any literature buffs out there I'm sure you noticed that the title is a quote from Hamlet. Brian's character seems to be somewhat crazy to those on the outside, but in reality is actually seeing a lot more of life than the rest of us, much like I believe Hamlet did. "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw."
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story? It's not quite finished yet! Well, let me rephrase, it's not quite typed out yet. This idea actually developed fairly quickly for me, and it was only a few days before I had the entire thing mapped.
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in. What makes a real friend? Is it someone who would lie, cheat, and steal for you? Someone who would die for you? Or is it someone who would put their life on the line for you even after you had passed? Brian thought he was crazy, no, he knew he was crazy. It had been a year since Nick was murdered yet he could hear him, see him, sense him everywhere. He had to be crazy because no one could see the dead, there was no such thing as ghosts. He had to continue his quest to find Nick's murderer, trying to open himself up to the possibility that he may need a little spiritual assistance.
4) If you could cast this story as a movie who would play the main roles and why? These are hard! I suppose that if I was casting a movie based on H&H I would have Jonathan Rhys Meyers play the character of Nick. The reason for this being that because Nick does not have a corporal body he has to express himself through what is written on his face, and what comes out of his mouth rather than being physical. Brian would be played by John Cusack, because it would have to be an actor who has both an aggressive, and emotional side. Valerie would be played by Jessica Alba. She is a character who is strong, and independant and also has a side to her that no one might expect, or see coming, a secret that she carries with her only slightly hidden behind the exterior.
5) Have you ever thought of giving up on the story and if you did what made you continue to work on it? I've never thought about giving up on the story. I haven't been as dedicated as I would like to be, and I have found it increasingly more difficult to find the words to say to make a good chapter but I've always wanted to finish it, it's a goal to see the last chapter finished.
6) What was your writing process? (Outline, make it up as you go along, the characters wrote it, I am Tonja and plagerized lol) My writing process is fairly straight forward. I have a notebook. As I think of ideas I write them down to look back at later, to brainstorm off of. Once I pick one that is decent I develop it because sometimes you can get a great idea that maybe won't last long enough to really be entertaining, so I find the beginning/middle/end and make sure I would know how I would work out any plot holes. Then I break it down by chapter, and know what is going to happen roughly in each chapter, just so I don't stray and get myself confused. Then comes sitting at the computer and typing it up (the most difficult stage, I have to say), and finally there's editing/spell check, and posting to the site. From time to time I will write a couple of chapters before I post anything just so I don't get people's hopes up then take forever to write again. lol.
7) Who was your favorite character in this story and why? I love Brian in this story. Even though I find that Nick is complex, and is more of the centre of attention throughout the whole thing there's just something about Brian that I just love. He goes through so many stages of emotions, from hating Nick, to hating himself, to loving Nick again and his passion for his friend draws me to him. He puts Nick whose life is already over before his own just because he loves him.
8 ) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite? Toni... honestly I didn't really know what to do with her. I had written her in as a character but hadn't really done much to develop her so once I had to write as her (which no one has seen yet :)) I found her to be very lacklustre.
9) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them? They are IN it, but they don't all play a very big role. I didn't want this to be a "team" type story because well, it would have been very messy. Since the majority of the fic is spent with people sneaking around, trying to find out information, and being very much a private eye it would have been awfully difficult to have to find things for all 5 boys and extras to do. Plus I found that it might be kind of unbelievable that out of everyone in the world it was those 4 people who could see Nick. It seemed more likely in my little universe that there would only be a select few.
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 Hmm, well to be honest I don't read a whole lot of suspense fanfic... but I read a LOT of suspense fiction. So if I had to tell you what book you might like if you liked this I would tell you to go to the library and take out "The Righteous Men" by Sam Bourne, it's a terrific suspense novel... BUT if I were telling you what fic you would enjoy I would say Shadow Woods by Mare (http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=5902 (http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=5902)) and that's not just because I'm sucking up :) It's a thousand times more funny than anything I could ever conjure up, but at the same time you're on the edge of your seat needing to click that next button and find out what's coming around the next bend.
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congrats Julilly! I have to say you've been on my authors to read list for a while. I'm excited to get started!
Thank you! It's crazy to find out that people either read, or are planning to read my stuff lol
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Yay Julilly! Congrats on having your oh-so-wonderful story be the featured story for October!
I think everyone is trying to give me a big ego lol it's easily inflated, I'll warn you :P
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Aww thanks for the Shadow Woods mention! I didn't know you read that one! lol I'm always amazed when people mention SW. It tickles me hehe
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Aww thanks for the Shadow Woods mention! I didn't know you read that one! lol I'm always amazed when people mention SW. It tickles me hehe
I like to think outside the box so I like it when other authors do too! lol I don't think there's much of yours I haven't read to be honest... way back to Mel's Tree days!
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Congrats! I have read some chapters, but I'll start over again!
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Woo hoo! I love this story. It's really interesting and creative. the real sad part is just that Nick is already dead lol.
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Woo hoo! I love this story. It's really interesting and creative. the real sad part is just that Nick is already dead lol.
I couldn't possibly write a fic where all the characters are normal lol
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I think my favorite part of this story so far is the fact that Nick is dead and the idea that the friendship he and Nick have is so deep that it surpasses death to the point that Nick appears to only Brian, who is then super-compelled to find the murderer. Plus, their conversations made me chuckle, even though it should be sad that Nick's dead LOL
Can you please, pretty please update? ;D
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Congrats Julilly! I actually haven't read this one, so I'm going to have to try to squeeze it in this month sometime.
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i'm going to read the first chapter tonight and i'm excited about it! :)
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Yay, just got done with the first chapter and here are a few of my thoughts.
First of all, I love how you started the story with the guys at the beach celebrating Nick's life. I have to give you props for making Leighanne likable, something you know by reading my stuff, I have a hard time doing lol
Her thoughts about Nick and Baylee were very cute and real. I could see her saying those things.
lmao I also loved the 'I am having a Coke' line by AJ in the middle of Brian's meltdown. It's so AJ! Great job!!
I already knew it was Nick who was dead but if I didn't I would have been guessing between Nick and Kevin. You did a great job at leaving everyone hanging until the very end and also throwing in there the fact that it was a murder.
Now i'm sad to know this story isn't finished so you better get a move on woman!! l thought it was for some reason.
Okay so after reading chapter one here is my first Oprah question to you!
What made you decide on killing Nick for this story? And at any point did you consider any other combination? Like AJ and Brian or Kevin and Howie?
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Woot, Oprah question time!
To be honest I only ever thought of Nick being my killed-off character. First I knew that of course it would be harder for the guys to lose him since he's the youngest. I also knew that my Nick would have a bit of innocence and be a bit naive, but would be willing to accept the way things were. I think if I had made it Kevin or AJ, even Howie he wouldn't have suited the personality, he would have been more of a go-getter, probably more determined than Brian (or whomever). The character I had in my head was hesistant, and a bit unsure, and that was more like Nick to me.
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Just to let everyone know... I have already started the new chapter, so I've at least started to make the effort lol
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Congratulations! *throws confetti*
I may read this.... I'll have to sit down and test it at some point. :)
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Ok, I just read the first chapter too and ditto on AJ's coke comment! I also loved the part where he "politely" told Brian to get over it. I think that's totally necessary in a lot of cases and I'm sure that in a group of that many, at least one of them would be thinking that. It makes sense to me that AJ would be the one to say it. I also love how you've written Brian here. I can tell he's really going to go through a lot in this story and I'm excited to see all the turns this story will take.
You started of with a very emotional bang and I love that. That's not easy to do a lot of times because we haven;t had the time to become invested in the story or the characters yet, but somehow you used the emotion to make us invested in both. It was like you forced us to feel the emotion in the situation. Brilliant!
Seeing that there are only 12 chapters was kind of a bittersweet feeling for me lol. Sad because I'll probably get through all 12 of them fairly quickly and then be left waiting for that update you mentioned in the previous post (good for you btw) and at the same time I was relieved because I know I'll have the time to catch up this month and hopefully get to that super awesome, freaking hard challenge Mare posted.
Congrats on story of the month hun! I'm really looking forward to the rest of this fic!
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^ oh yes! I forgot to mention that Line where AJ tells Brian to get over it. I agree, that's important and once again I think it fit AJ the most to say it.
I love when people discuss things as they read :)
And I am purposely going to go nice and slow knowing there are only twelve chapters. I guess my next question, one i'm afriad to ask, is how many more are left to go? In other words, how far from done are we? lol
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I have just begun writing the kickstart to the climax actually. I've never really been one to draw things out and have really long fics, all of mine are fairly short, I think this one will probably be the longest. There are 10 chapters left! :) So I'm barely halfway through.
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AHHH!! lol I guess Anal Mare will have to go into action with the bugging you to update thing then!
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You never know, it might help! lol
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Excellent, then chapter 13 is due by the end of next week! lol
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Excellent, then chapter 13 is due by the end of next week! lol
Yes Miss Mare! lol
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lol
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Okay i'm really trying to pace myself here but while I have the time I thought i'd read chapter two. First of all I just automatically get the warm and fuzzies whenever Kevin's thoughts come into play. Especially about Nick. It was so great seeing how the events of that day unfolded as told from his eyes. And OMG after reading how they found Nick how could anyone possibly say he wasn't murdered? That was disturbing! lol
I loved this:
“Dude, I am so totally dead! I almost had you honestly believing I was still alive! Even after a year without any practice, I’ve totally still got it!”
lmao that's so Nick.
Okay next Oprah question :)
Did you already know who killed him and how this was all goign to play out before you started or does it kind of happen as you write it? Have you changed your mind at all as this story has been going on?
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Did you already know who killed him and how this was all goign to play out before you started or does it kind of happen as you write it? Have you changed your mind at all as this story has been going on?
I did already know who killed him, the details of how he died, and how everyone fits into place. The only thing I didn't have planned out was the names. In my outline whenever the murderer is described it says "guy" which I guess gives away that it was a guy, but that's not a very significant spoiler :P
PS - I'm 800 words into my homework, Mare :)
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Good girl!
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chapter three part one:
lol yes since you only have 12 done and i'm tyring to pace myself I only read the first hald of chapter three. I have to say you set a great comedic tone at the start of this one. I love Nick's personality in this, still the same old Nick except for him being dead.
I love how confused he is by just showing up randomly on the beach and is searching for answers from his best friend.
LMAO at the barking dog as well.
just wanted to pop in and say all that. I'll try to be back with some Oprah type questions soon :)
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I'm sitting at work writing on chapter 13 when I should be doing... ya know.. work lol
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^ lol yay!! I won't tell your boss, I promise. ;)
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You're in luck because he is on Thanksgiving vacation until Wednesday! lol
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yay to you updating and just in case you mised it, I gave you another due date of October 15th :) lol
okay now reading part two of chapter 3...
I love hos the second half starts with Nick reading all about his own death and the fact that Brian kept all the articles. You can tell how tormented Brian really is by the death of his friend and lmao I SO knew that Ghostbusters was going to be there!
Aww I can only imagine what the fans would do if something like this happened. The way they try to butt into all things BSB single related I thnink you hit the nail on the head with the fact that they would have the police going in ten thousand different directions.
Great job! I love how original this storyline is so far! I can't wait to see what happens with AJ. I have a feeling it's going to be funny.
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Yay, I just read chapter 2 and again thoroughly enjoyed myself. I left you a review and think I wil just wait to talk about this one until I'm caught up because I wouldn't want to spoil it for everyone. Just know that even though I'm only 2 chapters in, I'm really enjoying htis one and you all might want to give it a chance if you haven't already. Awesome job so far Julilly! I knew there was a reason I have been meaning to check out your fics. ;D
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ok, so I know I said I was going to wait until I finished before I talked about this story again, but I can't because I'm totally falling in love with it and now feel the need to gossip about it with you and Mare and anybody else who may be reading along!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Julilly's sense of humor! Just read chapter three and I have to tell you, I love Nick's attitude about the whole being dead thing. He's so carefree and sort of naive about it all. It's sort of a big deal and he's just having fun making jokes and messing with Brian. And LMAO at Brian getting a kick out of the dog barking at him!
I like that you've chosen to keep Nick's character lighthearted because the story's subject matter has the potential to be all doom and gloom but I think this story will be so much better for not going that route. Hopefully it will keep if from getting too depressing.
OH! And seriously awesome use of dialog in this story as well! Don't want to forget to mention that. I love me some good dialog. (if only I could write me some good dialog, I'd be set. ;))
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oh yeah, and that crack about Nick touching Brian? SOOOOOO funny! And SOOOOO Nick!
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Honey, thank you so much! I'm really glad you're enjoying it. I have kind of a dry sense of humour and quite often people don't really get it so I'm always worried about mimicking that in my fics, but I guess it worked out alright lol
It does get a little bit more serious, but I try to go back to it being light as much as possible. The next chapter you will read (4) is a little darker.
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Okay I finally checked this story out and I'm impressed! I love it! And I have a question for ya Julilly. (Don't know if this was already asked) How'd you come up witht the name of the story?
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Okay I finally checked this story out and I'm impressed! I love it! And I have a question for ya Julilly. (Don't know if this was already asked) How'd you come up witht the name of the story?
Thanks, I'm glad you like it. As for the title the question was part of Mare's initial questionnare but I certainly don't mind retelling!! :)
It's part of a quote from Hamlet. "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." What it's saying is that sometimes although he may seem crazy, he isn't, and that's how I went into this thinking of Brian. If he told anyone what was going on they would all think he was crazy even though he was telling the truth.
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My thoughts on chapter 4 part one lol
First of all, what another clever idea you had with the library of memories. You have quite the creative mind! And I love your descriptions in the first part of this chapter. I wish there really was a place to put all your bad memories. Hide them away from the world. Wouldn't that be awesome? And I was able to see the bright light when Flora opened the door.
I agree with Kelly, your portayal of a fun loving Nick is a welcome sight in what could be a very dark story but at the same time, I really think you did need a chapter like this one to describe his anguish at being dead.
Great job! And you do rock at dialogue!
:)
How did you come up with the idea for the library of memories?
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My thoughts on chapter 4 part one lol
First of all, what another clever idea you had with the library of memories. You have quite the creative mind! And I love your descriptions in the first part of this chapter. I wish there really was a place to put all your bad memories. Hide them away from the world. Wouldn't that be awesome? And I was able to see the bright light when Flora opened the door.
I agree with Kelly, your portayal of a fun loving Nick is a welcome sight in what could be a very dark story but at the same time, I really think you did need a chapter like this one to describe his anguish at being dead.
Great job! And you do rock at dialogue!
:)
How did you come up with the idea for the library of memories?
I gotta stop reading your posts, or I gotta get a chapter ahead of you or something!!!
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lmao sorry! I just feel like it makes more sense to discuss it here then leave reviews on AC.
We need spoiler boxes in here. lol
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How did you come up with the idea for the library of memories?
It took me a while to be honest lol I knew that I wanted Nick to be drawing a blank when it came to everything that happened. I like to think that people who die in a bad way won't have to remember it even in the afterlife if there is such a thing, because such terrible things happen to people. So then my challenge was deciding if he should get the memories back, and how. So then I thought 'what if there was a place where they took all the bad memories for safe keeping, and if you could then get them back if you really wanted them?' and the library was born.
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What a great idea! lol you is a genius! :)
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Thanks, I'm glad you like it. As for the title the question was part of Mare's initial questionnare but I certainly don't mind retelling!! :)
It's part of a quote from Hamlet. "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." What it's saying is that sometimes although he may seem crazy, he isn't, and that's how I went into this thinking of Brian. If he told anyone what was going on they would all think he was crazy even though he was telling the truth.
Oh lol I should have totally recognized that Hamlet's my favorite play! And that's awesome, I like when stories have that complexity to them
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What a great idea! lol you is a genius! :)
Yes, yes I am a genius. Glad you noticed. 8)
Ok, enough of my jackassery... I have news for you. So I had been thinking about my deadline for chapter 14, and what I was going to do with it then I decided that since I have the flu I would rather be asleep so I went to bed lol Yeah, good story eh? There's more. So I went to bed at like 10, then at 12 I wake up because I had a stroke of brilliance and had thought of a really funny line for a scene in chapter 14, rather than hope I remember it I decided to write it down and grabbed my notebook. Well, here I am at 12:45 with the entire chapter written on paper lol As soon as I wrote one thing it all just started pouring out of me and before I knew it the whole chapter was done! So, if I have time tomorrow I will type it up, edit it, and will so definitely meet my deadline.
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:o wow! maybe Mare should start crackin the whip over all our heads! lol. That kind of inspiration doesn't come easy.
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WOW!! That's excellent!! You get two gold stars for that one! and I wil gladly give everyone deadlines if that will help! lol
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So when's my next due date? lol
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LOL how many more chapters do you have to go?
The answer to that will let me figure out how much time I can give you between dates but let's say for now your next chapter is still due by the 15th. :)
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on a side note, while i'm giving everyone else due dates my poor stories have been sidelined for centuries now although I am almost done with a new 13th Step chapter. Maybe you should give me a due date. lol
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kelly cover your eyes!
My thoughts on chapter 4 part two: Wow!
It was horrible knowing that he was going to die but even still, there was a small grain of hope that maybe he would escape. Great and morbid description of how being suffocated must feel. Poor Nick and of course once again it's the chicks fault! And knowing that now i'm annoyed she didn't come forward and tell anyone. lol
okay you can look now lol :)
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on a side note, while i'm giving everyone else due dates my poor stories have been sidelined for centuries now although I am almost done with a new 13th Step chapter. Maybe you should give me a due date. lol
On the 15th when I put out my next chapter, you too should put out yours! The 15th for everyone! lol
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LOL woot!
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kelly cover your eyes!
My thoughts on chapter 4 part two: Wow!
It was horrible knowing that he was going to die but even still, there was a small grain of hope that maybe he would escape. Great and morbid description of how being suffocated must feel. Poor Nick and of course once again it's the chicks fault! And knowing that now i'm annoyed she didn't come forward and tell anyone. lol
okay you can look now lol :)
You really are pacing yourself! :) I'm glad you're enjoying it though. You haven't even really got to the meat of the story yet, so I hope that you are still as pleased as you move on through the chapters.
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I'm happy to see I can pick up the pace now since you are rocking your deadlines. lol I just didn't want to come to the end of what you had written because then I would have really started to bug you!
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kelly cover your eyes!
My thoughts on chapter 4 part two: Wow!
It was horrible knowing that he was going to die but even still, there was a small grain of hope that maybe he would escape. Great and morbid description of how being suffocated must feel. Poor Nick and of course once again it's the chicks fault! And knowing that now i'm annoyed she didn't come forward and tell anyone. lol
okay you can look now lol :)
I totally skipped over this post until after I read the chapter, thnaks Mare. And ditto on the description of suffocation. Very disturbing. But good for it to be there. You're right. This chapter was a lot more dark and intense but I think it was good for the story. We have to keep in mind the seriousness of the situation or the story will lose it's impact. If its all spits and giggles the entire time then we wouldn't really care if Nick ever finds out who killed him or not. I think youy've found a very good balance here because while it's not all cute and joking around, its not really depressing either. It's intense and I liked that.
And LMAO Mare, I think you're starting to rub off on me because as I was reading this chapter I was starting to think of ways to make Toni suffer. So not cool of her to just be let off the hook after like two days and the other guys have no idea of what really happened. If I was Nick I'd soooooooo haunt her ass!
Once again julilly, I'm lovin it! And this is kind of fun, reading along with you Mare. Anybody else want to jump in on the conversation?
Also, a question for you julilly, what was the inspiration behind the plot for this story. I mean I know I don't have much details yet but it's like this whole crime investigation and bad guys and lists and stuff, like a spy movie or a CSI episode... How'd you come up with the idea?
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Well you have to keep in mind that I have a sick and twisted imagination lol I've done a couple crime related fics, Stokholm Syndrome about a kidnapping and Monopoly about a bank robbery (which is currently not up on AC for revisions) so I have those kinds of thoughts. I knew I wanted to do something mob related, and remembered an episode from like 1995 of one of my favourite shows - Due South. (Dunno if you've seen/heard of it) One of the episodes has a mobster chasing a girl because she acquired a matchbook from a random lady that had a hit list written inside. So I started with that concept, modified it to my own liking, then thought how else I could make it interesting and the whole Nick-being-dead plotline was born. I've read a few "XX bsb is a ghost" stories and a lot of them were pretty darn corny (a la casper) so I thought I would definitely make fun of that a little bit, and make it more serious.
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Once again julilly, I'm lovin it! And this is kind of fun, reading along with you Mare. Anybody else want to jump in on the conversation?
Rose is reading it aswell, but she is waaay ahead of you guys lol
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Rose is reading it aswell, but she is waaay ahead of you guys lol
LOL which is why you're getting reviews, so I don't totally spoil it for them by saying it all in here.
You should beat your deadline again ;D :D
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You should beat your deadline again ;D :D
Oh I'm trying lol This deadline is a lot shorter than the last!
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Turns out i'm going to meet mine :) I just finished my chapter! Whee!! lol
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Spoiler alert!!
Just finished chapter 5 and it was a great one. I don't blame Nick for being angry at Brian. I loved the line about the wife and kid. And of course I had to lol about Nick and Brian having a spat while AJ is there. Too funny. I can't wait to see what's in the matchbook.
And I agree Kelly, it's fun to read and discuss a story and even though you're a little a head of us Rose you can still join in since you a;ready read what we are talking about.
It seems though when I read and review i'm not as strong on my generic Oprah questions lol so i'll have to come up with a few more of those as well.
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Spoiler alert!!
My thoughts on chapter 6 then I shall post separately with some Oprah questions for you Julillymallill y
First of all I agree with Nick, what an incredible McJerk Brian was in the first half of the chapter. Good lord, what an ass lol But I loved the conversation they had about the list. I always love it when the BSB in stories like this one, take on the role of detective.
Okay Brian redeemed himself by tell Nick he loves him. Good boy Brian. and aww I want Nick to describe what his heaven is like. I'm hoping we'll get to see it at some point.
lmao I loved the ending of this chapter and all the talk of rattling chains.
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some Oprah questions for you lol
1. Have you stuck to the original plot of this story or have you changed things as you have gone along?
2. Have any or your reviews influenced your decisions while writing this one?
3. Are you considering a sequel?
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Spoiler alert!!
My thoughts on chapter 6 then I shall post separately with some Oprah questions for you Julillymallill y
First of all I agree with Nick, what an incredible McJerk Brian was in the first half of the chapter. Good lord, what an ass lol But I loved the conversation they had about the list. I always love it when the BSB in stories like this one, take on the role of detective.
Okay Brian redeemed himself by tell Nick he loves him. Good boy Brian. and aww I want Nick to describe what his heaven is like. I'm hoping we'll get to see it at some point.
lmao I loved the ending of this chapter and all the talk of rattling chains.
Coming to you live from my death bed (the black death that is!), tis me! Ok, back to biznaz.
I really wanted Brian to be comfortable enough with Nick to be smug. And really, McDonalds jokes are always ever present in my life, so I took the opportunity to add Mc to almost McEverything.
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some Oprah questions for you lol
1. Have you stuck to the original plot of this story or have you changed things as you have gone along?
2. Have any or your reviews influenced your decisions while writing this one?
3. Are you considering a sequel?
1. I have changed the plot slightly. I had a couple chapters that I cut out completely and replaced them with something else, thus bringing things in a bit of a different direction. It was nothing really drastic though. Otherwise, unless it's pre-planned I don't change things as I write. I find that's how I end up with plot holes, when I just make things up as I go along.
2. I know people will hate me for saying this but I don't really let reviews influence me at all. I think of it this way, if one person left a review saying "Oh I hate that, don't do this..." and I went and changed it, I would then not only be moving maybe in a direction that I don't want to be, but also I could ruin it for the 5 other people who didn't agree with the original review. I will keep things in mind, as I'm going along, like maybe someone pointed out that I had an inconsistency or something, but I don't really let them change the story.
3. A sequel? Hmm. Probably not. To be honest I sat here for a couple seconds and thought about it and I don't really know what I would make it about. It's not really a 'to be continued...'
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MORE SPOILERS!
I liked chapter five a lot. We got to get a feel for how the rest of the story might feel as they take on the role of detectives. And I LOVED how Nick and Brian were having this conversation with AJ right there. That was a really cool moment.
I also liked their fight. I thought it was completely realistic. I can see both men's point of view. Yeah in a way it's selfish of Brian not to want to help Nick after he took the time to show up and got back all his bad memories just to help the man. But at the same time, Brian can't just think about himself. He has a wife and kid to take care of so he can't just go around putting himslef or them in danger. I think you wrote that nicely because they were angry at each other, but it wasn't this over the top dramatic fight. (I myself am often guilty of that. :P)
then LMAO at chapter 6 I think I'm going to be saying McJerk for like the next week. Brian was such a punk. And yay when Nick knocked his food on the floor I just kept picturing Dean from Supernatural saying "I full on Swayzed that mother." And then of course started singing Unchained Melodies. <--- thanks for that by the way.
I get excited when they talk about the list too because it's good to see that this story has a real plot to go along with the drama of Brian and Nick stuff. Not that I didn't expect it too, but that happens sometimes so it's always good to see that something will be driving a story.
Well done, bravo. It's kind of sad to think that one more chapter and I'll be half way to caught up. Though, there have been two updates since the begining of the month, so I must congratulate you on that. ;D
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Ok, so chapter 7!!!
Valerie. I liked her, and I'm totally intrigued by her. Loved the face to forehead comment, but I'm as disturbed as Nick as to why she could see and hear him. I loved how he tried to warn her and when the guy showed up and couldn't see him Nick just shrugged. For some reason I could totally picture that whole scene as I read it. Oh, and her asking if Nick was a good ginger, I got a kick out of that as well.
Seriously, I don't know if I've said this or not yet, but I love the twist you've put on this story. The boys playing detective is always fun, but having Nick solve his own murder was quite original. Nick as a ghost is just amusing as heck to me. I bet (if he weren't upset about being dead and all) that Nick would really have some fun with the whole haunting people and such.
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Ok, so chapter 7!!!
Valerie. I liked her, and I'm totally intrigued by her. Loved the face to forehead comment, but I'm as disturbed as Nick as to why she could see and hear him. I loved how he tried to warn her and when the guy showed up and couldn't see him Nick just shrugged. For some reason I could totally picture that whole scene as I read it. Oh, and her asking if Nick was a good ginger, I got a kick out of that as well.
Seriously, I don't know if I've said this or not yet, but I love the twist you've put on this story. The boys playing detective is always fun, but having Nick solve his own murder was quite original. Nick as a ghost is just amusing as heck to me. I bet (if he weren't upset about being dead and all) that Nick would really have some fun with the whole haunting people and such.
Valerie will really throw you for a loop as you read on. She's important that's for sure!
I think that Nick would probably have a lot of fun haunting people too lol I think he would probably have too much fun! I know I would!
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ahh I haven't read this one yet lol
I'm going to do that right now!
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Good you can't let her get too far ahead of you! lol
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okay done lol
This chapter reminded me a lot of the show Ghost Whisperer. I think I might like this Valerie person. lol
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okay done lol
I think I might like this Valerie person. lol
thats twice today Mare has made me gasp in surprise!
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thats twice today Mare has made me gasp in surprise!
I know! Mare likes a female character lol
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okay done lol
This chapter reminded me a lot of the show Ghost Whisperer. I think I might like this Valerie person. lol
OMG you actually like a female character? :o
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you know this may come as a surprise to you guys but I actually have several female characters in my own stories :o lol
I don't have a problem with females as long as they have a purpose other than being in love with one of the guys. This one in particular seems to have a purpose. Now if she suddenly gets all I heart Nick but he's dead than i'll have to poke Julilly with my anti romace poking stick! lol
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^LMAO Aren't you all I heart Nick?
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Well yeah but that's different. I can be all I heart Nick because in case you missed it, i'm the queen of fanfiction :)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/bitybella/cute%20smileys/smileypoke.gif)
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Well yeah but that's different. I can be all I heart Nick because in case you missed it, i'm the queen of fanfiction :)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y245/bitybella/cute%20smileys/smileypoke.gif)
um yeah... I didn't miss that.
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you know this may come as a surprise to you guys but I actually have several female characters in my own stories :o lol
I don't have a problem with females as long as they have a purpose other than being in love with one of the guys. This one in particular seems to have a purpose. Now if she suddenly gets all I heart Nick but he's dead than i'll have to poke Julilly with my anti romace poking stick! lol
Yeah the big twist is that Valerie is a necropheliac! Look out Mare! lol
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Yeah the big twist is that Valerie is a necropheliac! Look out Mare! lol
So I should be on the lookout at the local graveyard? :D
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So I should be on the lookout at the local graveyard? :D
Absolutely! Don't hang out around people with shovels!
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Absolutely! Don't hang out around people with shovels!
Well, I don't hang out around graveyards anyway... So I'll just inform the night watchman. :D
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um yeah... I didn't miss that.
good
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good
YOU BROKE ME! lol
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lol yes I did, but now you're fixed
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lol yes I did, but now you're fixed
Aaah, there we go!
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lol it's because of that damn shirt key again!
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lmao you're pink
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Spoiler alert!
Chapter 8
LMAO I loved the comedy in this one! And I totally see why you had to bring Valerie into the story. My favorite part was when she asked if Nick ever is quiet and Brian's answer to that. Gotta also love the Nick jabs at Leighanne and the Abbott and Costello reference.
I hope you'll be ready to make your next deadline because i'm getting closer to chapter 14!!
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Spoiler alert!
Chapter 8
LMAO I loved the comedy in this one! And I totally see why you had to bring Valerie into the story. My favorite part was when she asked if Nick ever is quiet and Brian's answer to that. Gotta also love the Nick jabs at Leighanne and the Abbott and Costello reference.
I hope you'll be ready to make your next deadline because i'm getting closer to chapter 14!!
I'm reeeaaally trying!! I have until midnight tonight lol
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Spoiler alert!
Chapter 8
LMAO I loved the comedy in this one! And I totally see why you had to bring Valerie into the story. My favorite part was when she asked if Nick ever is quiet and Brian's answer to that. Gotta also love the Nick jabs at Leighanne and the Abbott and Costello reference.
I hope you'll be ready to make your next deadline because i'm getting closer to chapter 14!!
haha yeah that was a great line, but I think my favorite was that whole bit about Brian having to kill himself if he had to explain how he loved Leighanne and Nick differently again. Nick's response almost made me fall out of my chair. :D But yeah, Valerie's cool and I can only imagine having to watch Brian and Nick in action. I'll bet it's entertaining.
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Wooot.. I finally (re)read the whole thing tonight..
14 chapters in a row..
That only happens when I really really like a story, so feel good about yourself and your writing ;)
I really love this story.
It is a very serious subject, but you manage to have me laughing out loud, and still be on the edge of my seat.
In a lot of stories, I think authors don't manage to mix humor with horror/suspense/drama and not turn the story into a comedy or something.
So you really did a good job on that!
I love the Ghost-hommage by the way! Great movie which always makes me cry.
Now, maybe you already answered this question (I haven't read the whole thread yet because I didn't want to read any spoilers if they were there)..
But why did you decide to add a Valerie and not a 'Steve' to this story?
In other words, why choose a female to help Brian and Nick instead of a man?
And how did you come up with the title? < Never mind, I've skimmed the whole thread by now and already know the answer lol..
I love the "I only have a Coke" line by AJ by the way. It's such a 'dry' comment, as we say over here.
So for another question:
(And I'll make it a 'ciphered' one, for everyone who hasn't read the latest chapter yet)
- The thing Nick can do in the latest chapter, did you already have that planned out as well?
And why did you decide to make it go great from the start instead of him having difficulty doing it?
It is a great idea by the way! A bit macabre maybe, but still a great idea.
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Wooot.. I finally (re)read the whole thing tonight..
14 chapters in a row..
That only happens when I really really like a story, so feel good about yourself and your writing ;)
I really love this story.
It is a very serious subject, but you manage to have me laughing out loud, and still be on the edge of my seat.
In a lot of stories, I think authors don't manage to mix humor with horror/suspense/drama and not turn the story into a comedy or something.
So you really did a good job on that!
I love the Ghost-hommage by the way! Great movie which always makes me cry.
Now, maybe you already answered this question (I haven't read the whole thread yet because I didn't want to read any spoilers if they were there)..
But why did you decide to add a Valerie and not a 'Steve' to this story?
In other words, why choose a female to help Brian and Nick instead of a man?
And how did you come up with the title? < Never mind, I've skimmed the whole thread by now and already know the answer lol..
I love the "I only have a Coke" line by AJ by the way. It's such a 'dry' comment, as we say over here.
So for another question:
(And I'll make it a 'ciphered' one, for everyone who hasn't read the latest chapter yet)
- The thing Nick can do in the latest chapter, did you already have that planned out as well?
And why did you decide to make it go great from the start instead of him having difficulty doing it?
It is a great idea by the way! A bit macabre maybe, but still a great idea.
I'm glad you liked it enough to (re)read the whole thing!! I missed my deadline for chapter 15, so hopefully I'll get it out this weekend.
Now, onto your ciphered question. Right from the very planning stages I had wanted Nick to do that. That's why certain things happened earlier in the story. I didn't want him to have a hard time because... and this will sound weird... I felt like it should be second nature. We have all of these things that as people we just know how to do, and despite how complex they may be we think they're simple every day tasks. I wanted him to have gained a different set of "second nature" type things since he doesn't do the regular ones anymore. So I felt that what he did was something more like 1+1=2 rather than complex algebra.
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Oh no!! You're missing your deadline!
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Oh no!! You're missing your deadline!
I completely missed it. I'm gonna try to finish it today for 10% off.
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I hope so!!
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Thanks for answering my question, Julilly! But what about the other one? ;)
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But why did you decide to add a Valerie and not a 'Steve' to this story?
In other words, why choose a female to help Brian and Nick instead of a man?
I'm sorry, I completely left this question out of my last answer period! lol
To put it simply... Valerie is not a Steve because I felt that the interaction between the characters might not be as free if it were another guy. I could see both the characters being hesistant to trust another guy, whereas a female seems far more approachable, and trustworthy. Plus, Nick wouldn't be able to make crude jokes around a guy lol
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Sounds pretty logical to me.. thanks julilly!
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Spoiler Alert!!
Chapter 8...
Okay well I was going to go on strike until you managed to post chapter 15 but since your month is coming to an end I figured i'd be nice.
LMAO at the panties thing. I can so see Nick saying that. Now in my mind up until now I pictured Valerie as an older woman. I'm not sure why I did but like 50-ish or so. This one she seemed a lot younger so now i've confused myself.
You did a great job with Valerie's back story about her dad. I am feeling maybe the two things are connected in some way. Of course me would have liked him to go and try to spook Howie instead of hang with the chick but at least she's not an annoying chick. lol
Now I hope to see chapter 15 by the Thursday!
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Spoiler Alert!!
Chapter 8...
Okay well I was going to go on strike until you managed to post chapter 15 but since your month is coming to an end I figured i'd be nice.
LMAO at the panties thing. I can so see Nick saying that. Now in my mind up until now I pictured Valerie as an older woman. I'm not sure why I did but like 50-ish or so. This one she seemed a lot younger so now i've confused myself.
You did a great job with Valerie's back story about her dad. I am feeling maybe the two things are connected in some way. Of course me would have liked him to go and try to spook Howie instead of hang with the chick but at least she's not an annoying chick. lol
Now I hope to see chapter 15 by the Thursday!
Well, she's not really young, but not very old either. In my mind anyway she is probably 30's.
And I will only say... I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't important later :)
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Oh look! An update!
:)
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Excellent! The next chapter is due Friday the 2nd! :)
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SPoiler Alert!
Chapter ten was awesome! :)
I loved the whole black outfit and the beret and when I had just said out loud He can change clothes? You also mentioned it in the story which made me laugh.
When you described Toni I was surprised because I was expecting another Paris. You did a great job with the description. You have throughout this entire story. I also liked that you made Nick fearful to go over and hear what Toni had to say because it shows how hard this is on him as well. I know I want to kick her! lol YAY!!!
And congrats on writing another chapter!
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SPoiler Alert!
Chapter ten was awesome! :)
I loved the whole black outfit and the beret and when I had just said out loud He can change clothes? You also mentioned it in the story which made me laugh.
When you described Toni I was surprised because I was expecting another Paris. You did a great job with the description. You have throughout this entire story. I also liked that you made Nick fearful to go over and hear what Toni had to say because it shows how hard this is on him as well. I know I want to kick her! lol YAY!!!
And congrats on writing another chapter!
agh, I forgot to post my thoughts on the last couple of chapters over here. Ditto on everything you just said and I forgot to mention in the review I left that the I also loved how Nick was afraid to go near Toni. That was an interesting mix of emotion there. And I loved that Toni said she saw him talking to himself in the street because every time Brian has a conversation with Nick in public, that's exactly what I think to myself. That Brian doesn't really try very hard not to look completely nuts. lol If I were him I would have a hard time saying a word to Nick if I weren't completely alone with him. (but then, that wouldn't be a very interesting story)
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LOL I should leave you reviews too Julilly. Sorry about that. Once your month is done i'll be doing that instead of posting in here.
And yes the part about Brian talking to himself, that always runs through my mind as well. Oh I also loved the bit about him not dressing up in girls' underwear lmao.
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LOL I should leave you reviews too Julilly. Sorry about that. Once your month is done i'll be doing that instead of posting in here.
And yes the part about Brian talking to himself, that always runs through my mind as well. Oh I also loved the bit about him not dressing up in girls' underwear lmao.
When I'm writing those parts I love imagining Brian talking to himself lol I made a point of making Nick pull him at one point because I thought it would be funny to see someone suddenly get yanked seemingly from nowhere
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LOL I would have enjoyed witnessing something like that.
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Spoiler for chapter 11
Good informational chapter. We learned a lot of stuff from this one.
I'm always interested to know how people come up with the codes and plans for things like that so how did you come up with the idea of what the dates and abbreviations meant?
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Julilly!!! I hadn't read this story since before you started updating again, but I just re-read the whole thing plus the new chapters and am now just WHOA. in a state of WHOA. I LOVE it! I can sort of see what's going to happen, but what Nick is up to now is just...OMG Genius! You are a genius! WRITE MORE. I'll join Mare now and demand that you meet your next deadline.
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As we draw closer to the end of the month just wanted to say i've really enjoyed reading this story as the month went along. I don't get many opportunities to do that and lord knows when it will happen again, but you have an awesome story here and I hope you continue to work on it regularly until it's done!!
Now's the time for final thoughts of this one, if anyone wants to jump in and say anything or ask any questions.
Julilly if there's something you want to tell us about the story, that would work as well. :) Any funny stories or blooper type things that happened along the way?
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*sigh* I am all caught up now and sad that I have to wait for updates.
SO, what can I say about this story? *sings like weezy on Dragontales* LOOOOOOVE IT!
I think this was an excellent pick for feature of the month. It's really a very unique story line (which that in itself makes it worth the read) but It's also very well written! Julilly has obviously planned out all the details very well and is brilliant at dialogue. The mix of emotions in this story is great because it's funny and smart and yet you feel for Nick and what he's going through. Nick and Brian are excellent together. (though I must give the real Nick and Brian partial credit for that I suppose) But Valerie (the dreaded female) is great too and you know its true because even MARE admitted to liking her. lol. I know the month is over, but if you haven't taken the time to read this one yet, I'd say definitely make sure you get to it at some point!!!! It's worth it. Yay Julilly!!! Congrats hun, you earned it!
oh, and one last thing before I go..... UPDATE!!! ;D
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As we draw closer to the end of the month just wanted to say i've really enjoyed reading this story as the month went along. I don't get many opportunities to do that and lord knows when it will happen again, but you have an awesome story here and I hope you continue to work on it regularly until it's done!!
Now's the time for final thoughts of this one, if anyone wants to jump in and say anything or ask any questions.
Julilly if there's something you want to tell us about the story, that would work as well. :) Any funny stories or blooper type things that happened along the way?
Phew. A whole month of me coming to an end! Sad, really.
First I need to thank Mare immensely for choosing this story for this month. I know, it wasn't finished, but I'm glad it got the opportunity. I was kind of surprised actually since I thought I had the list of featured stories from my favourite online store - Mare's-anal-lists-and-things.com but you threw me for a loop! Thanks!
A big thank you also to honey, Rose, Sarah, Nijntje, Teri, and ANYONE else who not only commented and asked brilliant questions in the thread, but also left me feedback on AC. Much appreciated! And Sarah, thanks for telling me I'm a genius because it helped my severely inflated ego get bigger! :)
So, you want bloopers? Hmm. I don't know if there is any per se... though I did once post an entire chapter without noticing that I had written Brain instead of Brian so once I did I raced back to AC and changed them all.
This has been one of my favourite fics. I've written a quite a few before it (and by a few I mean a lot - I just don't have them all posted because pre-2003 they all suck imo lol) but I've never been as meticulous as I am with this one. I'm proud of how H&H has turned out because I didn't really know how it would be recieved when I first started it.
I definitely plan on finishing this one in the next couple of months (hopefully I didn't just jinx myself) so I better be seeing people over on my shameless plugs thread giving me deadlines and bugging me mercilessly for updates! lol
Now, I'm wrapping this oscar-worthy acceptance speech up so that I can go work on a certain chapter... :)
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LOL aww you're very welcome and yes you do have the Mare's anal list of random things and I did end up moving you up because I knew i'd be able to read this month and I also knew I wanted to read yours so yeah, it was for purely selfish reasons.