The Philisophical Works of a Pseudo Author

Yeah...I hit 25k.

*headdesk*

'How strange, I really went to Italy. Did you know I'd never been farther east than Albuquerque?’ – Bella, New Moon

This story came about in one of those truly backward ways. It did not start out as a cross-country road trip with the trio of Edward, Bella and Carlisle. It started only as a ‘what if’ to the question of ‘what would have happened if Bella hadn’t ditched Jasper and Alice in Phoenix?’ The idea intrigued me. I had no notion of where it would go.

I’ll admit; I was just as shocked as the reader when Edward announced that Rosalie and Emmett had a loft in New York. From there, though, I was left with the question: how to get Bella back to Forks before Charlie threw a fit? And then she caught the flu. I didn’t really mean for that to happen. I mean, yes, I adore h/c stories and I write quite a few of them, but I swear I had no intention of landing her in a hospital in Montana. Even though you’ll probably tell me that throwing Carlisle on the plane from Phoenix was a complete set-up. It wasn’t. That’s canon, of a sort.

I took out Emmett for obvious reasons. James was lethal and leaving him to just Jasper and Alice seemed unfair. Likewise, letting Edward run off with Bella on his own seemed equally as stupid. If James caught up before anyone else, Edward would have been left to fight him on his own. [Of course, he manages that quite well in Twilight, but it never hurts to have help.]
I may have taken liberties with the car trip. Specifically the travel time between Cleveland and Chicago. It should not have taken Carlisle as long to drive that stretch as it did. Of course, to make up for it, I got them across North Dakota and most of Montana in about five seconds.

Montana just...happened. I knew they needed a delay before they hit Spokane. The rainstorm wrote itself and then obviously there had to be an accident. And then, clearly, there had to be a hospital involved, because why else would they need another 12 hours to get to Washington? What else was I supposed to do, I ask you? And then, suddenly, I had the perfect set-up for a few well-placed (and completely silly) lines about Edward and his medical degrees that I’d had rolling around in my brain for a few months. Perhaps my brain helpfully wrote a 43,000 word story just so I could use them.

I knew I wanted the story to end at Prom. I knew I had to get it there, but I didn’t want to just skip everything in between like Stephenie did. But obviously Bella needed to spend some quality time with the other Cullens too (except Rosalie) and become a true part of the family. So, yes, the shopping trip was contrived. It’s possibly the only part of this story that was done intentionally to get the plot to the next step. But it was pretty damn fun to research Seattle shopping malls and hotels. And the information is all accurate. From the mall, to the hotel, to the film that Alice and Bella see. And it’s all accurate for the spring of 2005 specifically. [Did you also know there is currently an exhibit on at the Seattle Art Gallery on the Quileute’s?]

The title was the very last thing to occur to me. For 43,000 words this story was named ‘Cross-country’ in my documents folder. I always planned on changing it, but couldn’t figure out a good name that didn’t really give the plot away. Then, out of the blue (like the whole story) I remembered that this was Twilight and that Bella had therefore never been further east than New Mexico (according to the book) and that suddenly taking a trip from Washington to Phoenix to DC to New York and then driving all the way back to Forks would be something rather significant for her. The title embodies the fact that this is new and an adventure for Bella. It implies travel and that most of the story takes place east of Albuquerque. The town in Montana, which is never named but is actually a real town called Livingston, is only about half way across the state and therefore only just west of the city of Albuquerque [Specifically, it is 3.8 degrees west]. So I fudged that one a bit; sue me.

I adored writing this story. Every second of it made me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It made my hand hurt like hell, because 35,000 words of it were done in pen rather than on the laptop. It’s so worth the carpal tunnel I will no doubt develop in a few years. [Though I can probably blame that on my doctoral thesis.] I just enjoyed writing this, and I don’t feel that way about most of my stories. I write them because I have to, not because I want to. It’s a fine distinction that many writers never get, but I know exactly how it feels. This was writing for joy, each and every word.

I hope you got as much pleasure out of reading it as I did out of writing it.

Eldanna, 2011

Thank God that's over.

Seriously, the word count this summer is getting ridiculous.

75,736

Since May 21st.

CAN I WRITE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TWILIGHT?

::deep breath:: 2,000 more words. 2,000 more words, a horse and Sunday brunch and I AM DONE WITH YOU STUPID PLOT RABBITS.

I have a kink in my back. It is the size of a penny and right behind my right shoulder blade in a place I can't possibly reach. Ever movement makes it pinch. I have tried hot and cold and stretching and cannot work it out! Mum even gave me a half assed massage and that did nothing. I am sure sleep tonight will cure it - it's not the first time it's happened to my back - but until then it's bugging the heck out of me!

Not to mention the heat, which has just left me tired and completely unable to care or do anything. It's 20* in England and I miss TEMPERATE CLIMATES.

And this chapter is just NOT WRITING PROPERLY. Stupid thing. Figures I'd get to 17,000 words and suddenly hate it all.

Didn't especially need another 25k fic, but thanks anyways muse. At least this one has chapters. Although the last chapter got a little long.

Stupid shopping.

Hey, visa came in the mail this morning! I can book flights!

OMG I'M DONE! Not only that, I've re-read it twice in the last week and all the really bad spelling and grammar errors are fixed! Not to mention things like horrific dialogue and awkward scenes!

42,841 words and 100 pages! In a month! And I sort of love the ending, which I rarely say about my stories! And I don't want to throw Jacob out the window (well, not for this)!

How awesome am I?

I should totally have signed the other one up too. But I am...not so sure about that one. I haven't written a word of it, even though I have the whole plot figured out. September might not be possible, hense the not signing up for it. But I might make the attempt, anyways. For myself.

The only thing I am missing? A good title!

40,000/25,000. Go me! Almost done too. I can't imagine the conclusion will be more than 5,000. So I won't hit that magical 50,000 mark that would make me happy. But it's not been 4 weeks, so no 'nano' anyways.

While researching for the story, and checking out the Seattle Art Gallery, I found a current exhibition on about the Quileute tribe and their legends of ancestral wolves. The blurg about the expo clearly states the reason is because of how internationally well known Twilight has made this little tribe in north-west Washington. Surprisingly, for such a small tribe, there's quite a lot of art and artefacts that exist in many US museums. They'll all been collected together for this exhibit and I really want to see it! Pity Seattle is so far away, even if I go to Cali in September. :( Also, randomly, I discovered the head chef at the Taste Restaurant in the SAG is Craig Hetherington, who is somehow related to us.

Happy Father's Day! I am taking mine out for dinner (after work) and then to a tech museum later in the month (since I have to work today).

Golf...was bad yesterday. Stupid swing! Need to get back to the range this week. Though now they are calling for rain for 3 days, which doesn't impress me at all. Water will not make my game better. I just need another day like last Tuesday.

Last week was amazing. Last week was one of the best weeks so far this year. I wrote. A lot. 25,000 words in seven days (7,000 in the first 24 hours). I didn't plan, I didn't think, I just wrote a sentence and kept on going and I still haven't stopped. [Though I have reached my minimum for September's Het Big Bang]

I can't post any of it until after the challenge is over, so after September 25th, but I can at least talk about it, right? I mean, considering the fandom, none of you are going to read this anyways, correct?

Yes, that does mean I wrote 25,000 words of a Twilight novella. It may be a novel before the end, who knows? But I don't care, because I am writing again and if Stephenie Meyer is the one I thank for that, I'll worship at her feet for the rest of my life. I never realise how miserable I am when I can't write. And how happy I am when I can. Until it happens.

I'm no longer even annoyed that it's not Doctor Who or Sanctuary, because somewhere in the last couple of months I've come to adore this fandom. Oh, there's a lot I don't like about it, only starting with the number of VERY BAD writers that exist and are probably all 12 and in love with Taylor Lautner. Bully for them; you've got to start somewhere and maybe they'll end up better if they write a few bad stories first. [Though evidence suggests that it's more than a few]. There are, however, some fantastic stories that exist for this fandom. Stories that beat out Stephenie Meyer hands down (and don't say that's easy, she did write the universe, after all). So fantastic, in fact, that I keep re-reading them!

But this story just...wrote itself. There was no hesitation for what happened next. No guess work; no playing around with words or scenes; no stopping. I just...wrote. And wrote and wrote and wrote. I'm still writing, after all. It's slowed down because three days ago I started typing what I'd written as well as continued to write. The typing is hell. This is why I don't hand write things anymore. Typing hurts. Especially typing 25,000 words.

But I love this story. I love every part of it. I love the characters I got to focus on, completely arbitarily. I love the plot. I love the little things I've been wanting to get into a story, that just fell into this one. My favourite part is the random rainstorm in Montana that lands them in a local, and very understaffed, hospital. Because, seriously? What other story could I get that IN?

I'm just having so much fun with Edward, Bella and Carlisle that I can't stop grinning, or writing.

I suppose the irony of it is, is that I started on the day the world was supposed to end. Apparently, we've been worshipping at Satan's feet since 1955, when God departed all the world's churches and Satan took over. Or something; I'm not terribly clear on the details considering every single article on the subject contradicts itself every paragraph. It may have 1988 instead. Not that I've ever been to church.

Still, I'm pretty sure I signed my own pact with the Devil yesterday and handed over my soul. But since the house in Hell has been going to waste for the last six years or so, it's probably about time it was inhabited again. At least to clean out the ashes and brimstone. It'll be nice to have my own place again.

Yes, I realise none of the above makes much sense, but considering 'I' decided to start writing a Twilight AU novel yesterday, with pen and paper, I'm not at all sure I need to be either sane today, or understandable.

I do know my hand hurts. And Bella is somewhere outside Washington DC with Edward and Carlisle, headed for Rosalie's apartment in Manhattan. I'm...really not sure why. Hopefully it will all makes sense to me when I finish. Until then, 'I'm' not the one really writing this, I think.

And I'm going to keep telling myself that.