TATS December Author's Interview with lilabut
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Festive Kwanzaa! Whatever holiday you celebrate, hope these winter months are warm and fun! We did not include an Author’s Interview last month, but make up for it this December with one of our favorite author’s - lilabut! I didn’t realize that she has such an extensive list of fics under her belt of Twilight stories - she has been a very busy writer the last few years. And that is to our benefit.
Because theair_thesun has been acting a little strangely lately, and posting has been a *ahem* challenge. I am going to post this directly to my journal and leave you with the link to that. So without further delay, let’s cut to the interview!
How did you come up with your screen name, lilabut ?
It is basically a shortened version of a screen name I used (still use) on a German Harry Potter site. It’s lilac butterfly there, and when I got my livejournal account, that one was already taken so I tried to find a shorter version. It doesn’t have any deep or profound meaning behind it, though. I just have a thing for butterflies.
How did you become involved writing fanfic?
I first heard of fanfiction on the Harry Potter website I talked about above. My friend and I were both curious what it was and started reading some stories on the site, and we both eventually started writing a little.
Could you list your fanfic’s?
As far as FF.net tells me, that is a 50+ list, so I guess that would be a little bit long.
Note: 58 total, to be exact. A link to lilabut’s FFnet page is at the bottom of this interview.
The Question: Why Jacob? And specifically why Jacob/Bella?
I really fell for Jacob while reading the books. I didn’t like him much at the beginning, but he grew on me so much during New Moon. In the end, he is the main reason I ship Jacob and Bella. Around him, Bella is a better person, he brings out the best in her. Their relationship is so natural and human, and such a lovely contrast to the supernatural world they are both thrown into.
The fact that they are so doomed makes them so interesting (no matter how unhealthy that is for me). Jacob gives and Bella takes, she lets him fix her and then completely destroys him, sucking all the happiness and sunshine out of him. They are on such unequal grounds from the moment Bella shows up at his house in New Moon. It is all so sad and heartbreaking, more believable and interesting.
Ever ship either character with anyone else?
Not really, no. Writing the Jacob/OC one shot Kaleidoscope Eyes after finishing Catch the Falling Sky was an exception.
Favorite wolf besides Jacob? Why?
Leah is the most interesting one to me, although I don’t particularly like her. She (along with Rosalie) could have been explored so much more in the books, it’s a shame, really.
Least favorite wolf. Why?
Paul. I just don’t like him at all, and I can’t even say why. I don’t like a lot of people for no good reason.
Your top 3 fic rec’s.
These are in no order (I couldn’t ever pick my favorite)
We Could Steal Time by theidiotgirl: I have only read this story twice. It’s just so beautiful, I find it literally painful to read.
Somewhere I Have Never Traveled by ophelietta: This is basically the saddest Jacob and Bella story I’ve ever read, and it’s so damn beautiful. Also, it inspired a couple of my own stories. I read it pretty early after joining LJ.
Wonderful Life by theidiotgirl: I found this an incredibly inspiring story, although it broke my heart.
Favorite book from the saga? Favorite movie of the saga?
My favorite book is Eclipse, because I found it was the only book where I actually thought something is happening. And up until this day, I like to believe it is the ending of the story.
My favorite movie is New Moon. While I think Twilight was the “best” movie, I just enjoyed New Moon the most, because I can cherish the adorable scenes between Jacob and Bella and just forget about the rest.
What was your first Twilight based fanfic? What inspired the concept?
A Last Goodbye, which I wrote pretty much right after finishing Breaking Dawn. I was just way too frustrated with the way things were “wrapped up” in the book and I needed some answers. Back then, I wasn’t brave enough to actually change the story, though. It is merely a scene between Jacob and Bella where they make peace before Jacob gets married to Renesmee.
Which of your own stories is your favorite?
It’s between Songs from Different Times and Doors Closing Slowly.
I am very proud of Songs from Different Times, because I feel like it is the best story I’ve written, the fact that I actually finished it, and that it gave me the chance to include many little ideas I had over the years but never found the right way to write.
Doors Closing Slowly was the most emotional writing experience, and it’s the one story that is most important to me. Also, it was the only time I ever cried while writing.
Are you working on anything right now?
I’m currently writing Little Truths, another drabble series, which is basically a re-write of Twilight and parts of New Moon with a twist at the beginning that changes things quite a bit. I’m not quite sure how long it’s going to be, the drabble format can be so deceiving.
Also, in the last few months, I’ve started writing for other things apart from Twilight, and I have some ideas twirling in my head for different things. They may or may not be written soon.
Imprinting. Yay or nay?
No. I won’t even start. The whole thing is an insult.
Is there a Jacob/Bella story you’ve wanted to write, but haven’t gotten around to it?
I’ve always wanted to write a proper Jacob/Bella road trip fic, even though there are so many out there already. I enjoy reading them so much, but I don’t feel confident enough to write one myself. Yes, I’ve written some stories where Bella and Jacob travel somewhere, but never a proper road trip fic. I just feel that my knowledge of the States isn’t quite advanced enough to manage a story like that. So, I guess it’ll never be written.
Tell us a little about your writing process. (How much time? How many drafts? Any personal quirks?
I’m not a complicated writer, I usually have an idea, sit down, and write for hours until I’m finished. Or I write little bits, like one drabble at a time, one chapter at a time. I don’t usually make drafts or outlines at all, occasionally I write down some lines of a dialogue I want to use later on.
When I have a good day, I write about 1500-2000 in an hour. So, a lot of my stories really were one shots, even some of the multi chapters.
I need music to write, without it I just can’t function. It helps so much to get into the right mood, and it can be so inspiring.
What I can’t stand is when someone is reading what I’m writing while I’m writing it. I always feel very naked. No one gets to read it until I decide it’s ready to be read.
What elements do you look for in a good fanfic to read?
I don’t actually read that much, I have to admit. By now, there aren’t too many really new concepts, so what I really want to see is just those little moments between Jacob and Bella that made them who they were.
Have you seen Breaking Dawn yet? Thoughts?
No, I haven’t and I’m not planning to. I’ve seen the wedding, wedding night, birth scene and Bella’s transformation on Tumblr. That was all I wanted to / felt like I should see. I don’t want to see anything else.
Some personal questions:
Do you have a favorite author (non fanfic)?
As I already said, I don’t read much at all. I don’t believe I’ve ever read two books by the same author unless it was a series.
Favorite book?
Atonement by Ian McEwan. I read it shortly before the movie came out, and not only is it beautifully written, but it’s also the most tragic, sad, hopeless and utterly heartbreaking story I’ve ever heard. The ending was such a punch in the guts.
Favorite movie?
That would be a tie between Shawshank Redemption, Memento and Into the Wild. They are all genius and inspiring and amazingly done movies. Although Lord of the Rings has a very special place of its own.
What do you do in your free time?
I’m a very boring person, I don’t really do anything. Except writing, making videos and wasting my time on the laptop. My social life is barely existing, and I couldn’t care less. I do love movies, though, and I’m starting to force myself into some work out.
Have you written any original stories you’d like to get published?
I’ve never written an original story, no. But it’s definitely something that is constantly on my mind. Someday I will. Just not now.
Favorite food?
I am told I eat like a pig, so this is a hard question to answer. Tomato soup with mozzarella. I could literally eat that every single day of my life. Or any kind of pasta.
Any guilty pleasures?
I love horribly directed, acted and staged disaster movies, I listen to Taylor Swift in the car (only ever in my car when I’m on my own), and recently, the little girl has infected me with her obsession for Peppa Pig.
Favorite ship of all time?
Ron and Hermione. Growing up with them definitely gave them a special place in my heart that no other ship will ever have. But they rest in a peaceful corner of my mind now. They got their happy ending and their story is over. Which is comforting, that once in my life I ship someone who gets a decent ending.
Jacob and Bella are the ones who stick with me the longest. I just can’t seem to let them go. There are too many unanswered questions. Their story was never really over, in a very sad way.
You mentioned your very first fic - I hunted it down on FFnet and read it. It was heartbreaking, as usual. You said you had just read Breaking Dawn, and I'm assuming that you believed at the time, that Jacob's imprinting on Nessie was for the best? Bella and Jacob seemed resigned to it, although they also seem to share and acknowledge a special bond for the mutually agreed happy future they would have had together. So my question is - did you think the Jake/Nessie imprinting was for the best, then and now?
I never believed or believe that Jacob imprinting on Nessie is for the best, quite the opposite, actually. It's not just wrong, it's also ridiculous. But at the time, I wasn't feeling confident enough to actually write what I thought about the imprint. It was my first Twilight fic, and, what made it even harder and me even more insecure, the first time I wrote a fic in English. So, I believe Bella and Jacob seem so resigned, because I was at the time. Eventually, with Songs from Different Times, I found my way to express the angsty side of the imprint, how I see it. But as you can see, it took me over 2 years to actually find the courage to sit down and write that.
In your new fic, Little Truths, you went all the way back to the beginning and started all over again. What possessed you at this point in the game to go back and rewrite the story? And do you intend to go all the way to the bitter end of the saga with it?
I actually never before had the desire to go back and re-write the whole story. And I never would have done it in normal chapter-form. But the drabbles give you so much more freedom for little things and moments, and not big bulks of chapters. The idea for the story came when I was making a video and used some of the scenes from Twilight (which I don't do very often cause it's so hard to get rid of the blue), and I watched the truck scene again and thought: wait... what if they 'clicked' earlier than they did in the actual story? And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much it would actually change. As for how long it will go: the differences from the actual storyline means that most of the things that happen in the books won't happen in the story. Therefor, there's no reason to go as far as where the books end. I know where I want to end it, but I don't want to spoil that. Mid-New-Moon-ish, I guess. We'll see where the story goes.
Catch the Falling Sky was so heartbreaking. It's hard to think of Jacob being happy with anyone but Bella. Why do you think that is? And did you know going in that Olivia would make you want to change the ship in your story from Jacob and Bella to Jacob and Olivia? I know you gave Olivia/Jacob their own HEA one-shot, Kaleidoscope Eyes ?
I honestly don't know why it pains me so much to think of Jacob with someone else. I want him to be happy, and in 80% of the cases Bella just doesn't make him happy. I guess I feel a lot like him about him. He wants Bella. And I want him to have that, no matter how much the angst-scale rises. As for Olivia: she was never even supposed to play a part as big as she eventually did. I wrote her as a date for Jacob, as a distraction, really. But I realized how right she was for him, and that there was no real reason for him not to be with her. But when I started the story, I intended for it to be a happy ending for Jake and Bella, so there was no way Olivia could stay. But I felt sorry for her, and her and Jake together were so right, that I just had to write that one shot. And also, a few of the readers, (especially Melly) were really rooting for Olivia. I felt I owed them (and Olivia) that one shot.
You seem to have a few fics with daddyjake! What draws you to write these?
Such a lame answer to say it's just downright adorable. But it is, there's no way of denying that. And also, it represents what his character always stood for (until Breaking Fail happened): life.
Let's thank lilabut for making our season a little brighter! If you have any questions or comments for lilabut, leave them below.
Follow this link to the list of lilabut’s many stories here.