Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => Featured Story of the Month => Topic started by: mare on May 31, 2011, 08:45:18 PM
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Hello and happy June! A few hours early!
This month we are featuring FYO by Delphinacarter aka Tracy. It's a suspense, action story which at the time when it was posting was very rare to come by.
Let's start out by reading chapters 1 - 7 this week.
I'm sure Tracy will be more than happy to answer any questions or comments you may have.
Here is the link to the story:
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10232&warning=4
Enjoy and as always, happy reading! :)
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YAY so excited to hear everybody's comments and questions. This was such a different direction I went with my writing...I am so honored to be featured! Thanks everybody!
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Well done Tracy! Really enjoyed this story.
What made you decide to go with this kind of story? Is the character Valerie based on anyone you know?
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Thank you Steph! Valerie isn't based on anybody I know personally.... I had the idea for her character locked up in the back of my head for quite a few years. Her character was more tame when I first came up with Figured You Out. In my original draft she was a normal girl, just obsessed with Nick. When I decided to post the story I changed her and made her more sinister and crazy...she reminds me of some fans I see online...stori es I hear about crazy fans. Valerie just came easy for me to write.
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As for the concept of this story...it was always in the back of my mind. The original name was The Perfect Fan. Valerie was always my psycho. I normally write romantic comedy and humor...so this story was very challenging. I watched CSI and some crime shows to get ideas...I wanted to do a mystery/suspense because at the time there weren't many on AC.
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I think it's great that you challenged yourself.
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I think it definitely was a challenge. Before this story I wrote romantic comedy/drama and a few science fiction ones. This was also my first non Alternate Universe story I wrote...I had a lot of fun with it.
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Congrats on being featured, Tracy! I really liked this story. Was there a reason you decided to set it closer to the present instead of back in the day when BSB were more popular?
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In the original draft I had written, this was set back in 1999...I had Kevin in the story as well. When I thought about posting it I rewrote everything and took him out, added Lauren. It seemed like it would be scarier for this to happen to Nick now...you would think that older fans would be mature...but as Valerie shows...a lot of them are not.
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Great questions guys!
Did you map out the entire story before you wrote it or did you go with the flow?
What made you decide to make Nick the central character?
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Here are some basic questions for you to answer :)
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
4) What made you decide on the name for the female lead?
5) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
6) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
7) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
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When I wrote this it kind of just flowed. I never planned anything out except for the main concept of the story.
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I decided to make Nick the main character because for me he has the craziest fans so it would be believable...p lus the fact that telling a fan "I love you" seems like something he would do.
1) Tell us one thing about your story that no one else knows?
Kristen was not even in the story originally. I decided to put her in for a reason, and if you haven't read this story yet you will know why.
2) How long did it take you to write this entire story?
A few months. I never write ahead of time, I only write chapters when I post them.
3) Give us a summary different from the one you have posted on AC, with a few more spoilers to make people tune in.
I actually can't think of a better one than I have, but if I do I will post it
4) What made you decide on the name for the female lead?
I picked it out of a name book actually.
5) Who was your favorite character in this story and why?
I would have to say AJ, he adds an element of comedy...he made me laugh a lot while writing.
6) You had to know this was coming, who was your least favorite?
Probably Kristen. I wish I developed her a bit more.
7) Are all the boys in this one? If not why did you choose to exclude them?
Kevin is not in this because of the time period this is set in.
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I agree that Nick fans seem crazier than the rest!
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Yes exactly. I see girls behaving like a pack of wolves when it comes to Nick. It is scary...and I wanted to kind of emulate that with Valerie...a fan that just went too far.
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Great questions everybody, thank you!
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I've had a busy last few days, so I'm finally getting a chance to chime in on this thread. I loved FYO, Tracy; it was a fun read because, to me, it had the feel of the old-school suspense fanfics I used to read in the early 2000s. I miss those kinds of stories; there just aren't enough good suspense stories being written these days, which was why your story was so refreshing.
I agree with those who said that Nick fans always seem the craziest. It's not totally far-fetched to imagine one of them, the Nayeli type, going a step further and trying something like this to get close to Nick.
All the questions I was going to ask have been asked already, so I can't think of anything right now, but when I do, I'll be back!
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Thank you Julie! I agree there are not enough good suspense stories. I wanted to try something completely different and I was so surprised how well this one turned out. It really helped me with my writing abilities....a nd I was impressed with how many people felt the same way I did about suspense. It was a lot of fun to write this story.
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Great questions and comments everyone!
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It's time to start reading the next set of chapters so let's read chapters 8 - 14 this week!
Everyone has asked a lot of the same questions I was going to ask lol but here's one for you.
What made you decide to add the element of comedy to the story? Some of the moments with just AJ and Brian?
And why did you decide to not include Howie when the guys went searching for Nick?
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I knew Howie would be important a bit later on in the story so I kind of just saved him for then. I thought some comic relief would be good to break up the drama a bit and I enjoy AJ and Brian together, they just seemed like they would look for Nick. AJ is stubborn whereas Brian is the more practical and level headed one.
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Hello!
Time to read chapters 15 - 21 :)
Did you ever intend to kill Nick in this one?
How hard was it to write the torture scenes?
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At one point I actually was going to have Nick die. It had been planned but I changed it last minute. Torture seemed better for me to write as I never write death scenes. The torture part was not hard to write but the ideas were
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Uh I was really enjoying this story but I kind of fell off the face of the earth so I need to get back into reading it. I will finish/catch up!
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Sounds like a plan :) glad you enjoyed what you did read, this story was my favorite one I have written so far.
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Howdy! :) Tis me again and you know what that means? Time to read the next set of chapters so let's read chapters 22 - 26 this week..
Also, don't forget if you have any questions or comments about the story to let Tracy know! I know she'd be more than happy to respond.
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Its been kinda quiet here lately...and since the month is almost over...thank you to everyone who read the story and I hope you enjoyed ity. Thanks for featuring me as well, I am honored!
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Okay, June is almost over and so is this story :( It's tiime to finish it up with reading chapters 27 - 30.
Tracy, what was your favorite chapter to write?
Did you have a favorite moment in the story?
What about the chapter you found most difficult?
How was it for you to write outside of your familiar genre and would you ever consider writing another suspense?
For the readers
What was your favorite part of the story?
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I'd say my favourite part of the story was the build up to Nick being captured, and seeing just how far Valerie was going to go.
I can't really think of any other questions to ask you Tracy, but I enjoyed reading :)
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My favourite part was when Nick came home and discovered what had happened to Lauren. I know that sounds bad, but the build up to that part was really awesome and the scene just felt so creepy and sad. It sort of felt like one of those old school horror movies at that part. I loved it!
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^ I liked that part too! My favorite chapters were while Nick was being held captive. Seeing Valerie's true level of psycho and wondering what she'd do next and how far the torture would go was interesting. I felt so sorry for Nick!
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Let's see....my favorite chapter to write was the one where Nick discovered Lauren's body at her house. I do like her...but it just added to the psycho factor that she would go so far as to killing his girlfriend to get to him. I loved writing the chapter where kristen was revealed as part of the plan, because nobody saw it coming. It was fun to see the reactions.
As for my favorite moment in the story....proba bly the scene with Nick and Lucy/Valerie making out...Nick hallucinates Brian..I loved that and the McDonald's chapter.
The most difficult to write was probably the boys playing detectives and the ending....I wanted to have a satisfying ending and not leave it open at all. I never planned to make a sequel, which is why Valerie and Kristen both die.
It was super difficult for me to write something that wasn't a eomantic comedy...sever al times I became frustrated with myself because I was so nervous...but writing this boosted my confidence a lot as a writer.
As for another suspense, I have an idea for one but its not well formed. I am working on my new story....When I Grow Up...which is an homage to 13 going on 30.
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I think my favorite moment in the story was when the boys actually came and rescued Nick. I also enjoyed the sluething part of it with Brian and AJ. LOL Some cute moments in there to cut through some tense ones.
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I enjoyed the AJ and Brian sluething as well! I thought that balanced out the drama quite nicely.
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I loved Brian and AJ playing detectives too, I enjoyed writing them putting the clues together along with Howie's help.