Featured Submission Q&A August 2013: Amistlemour
Greetings! My name is Carrie (aka Darkrivertempest/rivertempest) and I'm thrilled to have Amistlemour as one of the Featured Submission stories at hawthorn_vine! Profuse gratitude to all those involved in the nomination process - it came as quite a shock when I was notified of the honor, so you have my heartfelt thanks! I was provided with various questions about Amistlemour, but if you wish to know something other than the creation of the most insufferable piece of greenery, by all means... ask away!
How did you come up with the plot for this story?
When I was given the prompt of ‘mistletoe’ for my first dramione_advent piece, I think I stared at a blank Word document for about an hour before I went and started looking at images of mistletoe. But nothing really connected until I saw a plain, old-fashioned graphic that had a couple ‘kissing under the mistletoe’. I mean, that’s the general consensus - to kiss beneath the mistletoe - right? Of course, my brain slid into the gutter and I immediately thought, “Would Draco kiss Hermione underneath the mistletoe if it were placed strategically lower, say her navel area?” Oh yes… yes he would! From there the story wrote itself.
How did it develop?
I try to take a unique twist on things, so I didn’t want just any old mistletoe. That’s when I knew the Weasley twins had to be involved - who better to give Hermione one of the worst best Christmas presents she’d ever received? And of course, they would try out a prototype of their latest product on her; she makes the best Guinea pig, after all. Anything involving the twins would be bold, sassy, in-your-face, and brutally honest - thus Twiggy was born. Twiggy, for all intents and purposes, is a combination of Lumière (from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast) and Bugs Bunny - a rather snarky mixture of ‘lady’s man’ and ‘obnoxious comedian’. Though I didn’t intend for him to do so, I think he stole the show from Draco and Hermione.
Do you write as the mood strikes or on a schedule?
Definitely as the mood strikes. Doing anything by schedule makes me twitchy.
Did you outline down to every moment, or does the story lead you instead?
The story always leads me - pulling me from sleep, obsessive typing at 3 A.M., continuous researching (if the story calls for it), images of scenes played out at inopportune times (like at work). All my stories play like a movie inside my brain before they translate to the page, and they usually begin with just once ‘scene’. I’m never sure where that scene will fit (beginning, middle, end?) but the plot usually builds itself around that one image. I work very much outside the box, and outlines only narrow my view.
What is your favorite thing about this story?
I could say Twiggy, but that’s too easy. I think Hermione’s reaction to (and tolerance) of Twiggy is my favorite thing. She could be utterly depressed and set fire to the gift Fred Weasley gives her, but being the optimistic Gryffindor, she allows the manky mistletoe to keep bugging her, letting Twiggy ‘grow’ on her with his personality. For those of you who haven’t read the story, I won’t give away why her affection for Twiggy matters in the end.
Is there something about it that surprised you?
Yes, how quickly I wrote it! As soon as the idea of a Christmas-themed match-maker from Hell popped into my mind, it took only 3-4 hours to get the story fleshed out.
Was there a part that was difficult to write? If so, why?
It wasn’t so much difficult, but more that I hated to do it. Originally, there were more interactions between Hermione, Twiggy and the inhabitants of the wizarding world. Due to the required story length of the festival, I had to cut out some scenes, and when I thought to reinsert them later, it just made the story awkward.
Do you have a favorite line of dialogue from the story?
Oh, yes! It’s not so much a line, but a scene of dialogue between Hermione and Twiggy:
“You look like death warmed over.”
Startled, Hermione darted her eyes to the reflection of the floating leafy twig and berries next to her left shoulder. “You’re still here.”
The skimpy stick sidled up to her ear. “It’s just you and me, kid.”
Rolling her eyes, she batted the mistletoe away and squeezed the tube of toothpaste a little too hard, causing a large glob to cover the head of her brush. “Great,” she muttered.
“It is, isn’t it?”
Saying nothing to prompt it further, she began brushing her teeth, her mouth firmly closed over the brush.
“Is blue your favourite colour?” it asked, sounding like it was trying to make small talk.
Spitting out the foam, she narrowed her eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“I just noticed your toothbrush is blue, your décor is blue, and your mood is-”
“All right, I get it,” she groused, rinsing out her mouth. “Do you ever go away?”
“Only after you plant one on your love, true love.”
Growling in exasperation, she vowed to denude Fred Weasley of every bit of hair on his body. “I guess you’ll be around a long time then, because I don’t plan on kissing anyone just to get you to disappear.” As an afterthought, she added, “I hope you’re self-watering.”
“You shouldn’t be kissing just anyone,” the twig admonished. “And I don’t need water.”
“Whatever.” She unhooked her bra and flung it over a chair in her bedroom.
“Gazongas!”
Her eyes widened as she realised she’d just stripped in front of the plant and she slapped the mistletoe hard enough that it went flying against the wall. “Out!” she shouted, pointing towards her bedroom door with one hand and covering her chest with the other.
“What?” it whined, shaking its leafy head. “You’ve got great tits! They’re really plump and-”
Whatever it was going to say was cut short, literally, as Hermione brandished a pair of scissors and snipped off the two leaves it was using to form a mouth. She was going for the twin berries when it fled her room in terror.
Locking the door, she thumped the wood in warning. “And don’t try sneaking another peek, you manky mistletoe!”
“Prude!” she heard it shout from somewhere in her flat.
Apparently it started using other leaves to vocalize its comments and opinions. As long as it wasn’t around when she was sans clothing, she could put up with it.
“You could use a good kiss!” it yelled.
Then again, maybe not.
How did you come up with the title?
It was during one of those inopportune moments that the title slipped into my brain: washing my hair in the shower while belting out ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’. Mistletoe was a given. You’re supposed to kiss your love under the mistletoe… another word for love… amour… how to merge the two… Amistlemour.
What is one thing you want people to take away from this story?
That a sense of humor and tolerance are just as important in a relationship as physical attraction, and more often than not, those connections built on mutual admiration of another person’s personality fare far better than those made from physicality alone.
Amistlemour
How did you come up with the plot for this story?
When I was given the prompt of ‘mistletoe’ for my first dramione_advent piece, I think I stared at a blank Word document for about an hour before I went and started looking at images of mistletoe. But nothing really connected until I saw a plain, old-fashioned graphic that had a couple ‘kissing under the mistletoe’. I mean, that’s the general consensus - to kiss beneath the mistletoe - right? Of course, my brain slid into the gutter and I immediately thought, “Would Draco kiss Hermione underneath the mistletoe if it were placed strategically lower, say her navel area?” Oh yes… yes he would! From there the story wrote itself.
How did it develop?
I try to take a unique twist on things, so I didn’t want just any old mistletoe. That’s when I knew the Weasley twins had to be involved - who better to give Hermione one of the worst best Christmas presents she’d ever received? And of course, they would try out a prototype of their latest product on her; she makes the best Guinea pig, after all. Anything involving the twins would be bold, sassy, in-your-face, and brutally honest - thus Twiggy was born. Twiggy, for all intents and purposes, is a combination of Lumière (from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast) and Bugs Bunny - a rather snarky mixture of ‘lady’s man’ and ‘obnoxious comedian’. Though I didn’t intend for him to do so, I think he stole the show from Draco and Hermione.
Do you write as the mood strikes or on a schedule?
Definitely as the mood strikes. Doing anything by schedule makes me twitchy.
Did you outline down to every moment, or does the story lead you instead?
The story always leads me - pulling me from sleep, obsessive typing at 3 A.M., continuous researching (if the story calls for it), images of scenes played out at inopportune times (like at work). All my stories play like a movie inside my brain before they translate to the page, and they usually begin with just once ‘scene’. I’m never sure where that scene will fit (beginning, middle, end?) but the plot usually builds itself around that one image. I work very much outside the box, and outlines only narrow my view.
What is your favorite thing about this story?
I could say Twiggy, but that’s too easy. I think Hermione’s reaction to (and tolerance) of Twiggy is my favorite thing. She could be utterly depressed and set fire to the gift Fred Weasley gives her, but being the optimistic Gryffindor, she allows the manky mistletoe to keep bugging her, letting Twiggy ‘grow’ on her with his personality. For those of you who haven’t read the story, I won’t give away why her affection for Twiggy matters in the end.
Is there something about it that surprised you?
Yes, how quickly I wrote it! As soon as the idea of a Christmas-themed match-maker from Hell popped into my mind, it took only 3-4 hours to get the story fleshed out.
Was there a part that was difficult to write? If so, why?
It wasn’t so much difficult, but more that I hated to do it. Originally, there were more interactions between Hermione, Twiggy and the inhabitants of the wizarding world. Due to the required story length of the festival, I had to cut out some scenes, and when I thought to reinsert them later, it just made the story awkward.
Do you have a favorite line of dialogue from the story?
Oh, yes! It’s not so much a line, but a scene of dialogue between Hermione and Twiggy:
“You look like death warmed over.”
Startled, Hermione darted her eyes to the reflection of the floating leafy twig and berries next to her left shoulder. “You’re still here.”
The skimpy stick sidled up to her ear. “It’s just you and me, kid.”
Rolling her eyes, she batted the mistletoe away and squeezed the tube of toothpaste a little too hard, causing a large glob to cover the head of her brush. “Great,” she muttered.
“It is, isn’t it?”
Saying nothing to prompt it further, she began brushing her teeth, her mouth firmly closed over the brush.
“Is blue your favourite colour?” it asked, sounding like it was trying to make small talk.
Spitting out the foam, she narrowed her eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“I just noticed your toothbrush is blue, your décor is blue, and your mood is-”
“All right, I get it,” she groused, rinsing out her mouth. “Do you ever go away?”
“Only after you plant one on your love, true love.”
Growling in exasperation, she vowed to denude Fred Weasley of every bit of hair on his body. “I guess you’ll be around a long time then, because I don’t plan on kissing anyone just to get you to disappear.” As an afterthought, she added, “I hope you’re self-watering.”
“You shouldn’t be kissing just anyone,” the twig admonished. “And I don’t need water.”
“Whatever.” She unhooked her bra and flung it over a chair in her bedroom.
“Gazongas!”
Her eyes widened as she realised she’d just stripped in front of the plant and she slapped the mistletoe hard enough that it went flying against the wall. “Out!” she shouted, pointing towards her bedroom door with one hand and covering her chest with the other.
“What?” it whined, shaking its leafy head. “You’ve got great tits! They’re really plump and-”
Whatever it was going to say was cut short, literally, as Hermione brandished a pair of scissors and snipped off the two leaves it was using to form a mouth. She was going for the twin berries when it fled her room in terror.
Locking the door, she thumped the wood in warning. “And don’t try sneaking another peek, you manky mistletoe!”
“Prude!” she heard it shout from somewhere in her flat.
Apparently it started using other leaves to vocalize its comments and opinions. As long as it wasn’t around when she was sans clothing, she could put up with it.
“You could use a good kiss!” it yelled.
Then again, maybe not.
How did you come up with the title?
It was during one of those inopportune moments that the title slipped into my brain: washing my hair in the shower while belting out ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’. Mistletoe was a given. You’re supposed to kiss your love under the mistletoe… another word for love… amour… how to merge the two… Amistlemour.
What is one thing you want people to take away from this story?
That a sense of humor and tolerance are just as important in a relationship as physical attraction, and more often than not, those connections built on mutual admiration of another person’s personality fare far better than those made from physicality alone.
Amistlemour