lacym3: Where are you from?

mommybrook: Do I have to answer that specifically?

L3: You don't have to. You can just say you're from Indiana.

MB: Okay, I'm from Indiana, then. I don't trust people.

L3: It's okay. People never give towns, they only give states.

L3: Tell us your latest news.

MB: I was just nominated for an award. My first award.

L3: Oh yeah?

MB: Yes.

L3: Which one?

MB: Something Hopelessly Romantics or something like that.

L3: Oh yeah, the Hopeless Romantics awards.

MB: Yeah, I was nominated... hold on, I'm looking... they sent me a message... where are you, you little shit?... oh, there it is. It was the Best Romance.

L3:Cool.

MB: Yeah, it was my first nomination for a story ever.

L3: That's awesome. It's an awesome feeling.

MB: It was. It was so exciting. Because I know who nominated me. She DM'ed me and told me, and I was still in bed and I picked my phone up and read the text with the message and I was in bed doing my own little happy dance. I mean, it was like 4 am and I'm never up in the morning unless I have to work. Now I feel kind of stupid, but I don't care, because I've never had that before. When I started writing my ultimate goal was to reach a thousand reviews, and that was it.

L3: And you reached that a while ago.

MB: I did.

L3: I was at your house when you reached that goal. That was last... May?

L3: Why did you begin writing fanfiction?

MB: That's a loaded question, actually. I started writing fanfiction as a way to write my own story, because even though it's a vampire world, the Bella in my story is a lot like me. She's the same age, she has two children, she's divorced... and the reason I started writing is because it was right after my grandfather passed away, and in the story Charlie is dying. It was a way to sort of deal with the pain that I was going through.

When I started reading fanfiction it was because I didn't like the way things had been left in the story, but when I started writing it it was to sort of relieve things that were going on in my own life. And that was the only reason that I really wanted to write was because of that, because I'd never written anything before that.

L3: When did you first consider writing your own fic?

MB: I don't have any idea. Good lord. It was well over a year ago.

L3: It was longer than that.

MB: Yeah, it's been a long time.

L3: Do you have a specific writing style?

MB: I don't think so. I've always tried writing in first person... Give me an example of a writing style.

L3: First person, third person? Do you like to switch up points-of-view? Do you always stick to one?

MB: No. I kind of like to switch around a little bit. I guess a lot of times I tend to write happily-ever-after kind of stories. I guess everything I write more or less is going to be centered around fluff. In my world I don't want things to be sad, I don't want bad- I want happy, and so I won't write... That's why when I started writing Charlie as being sick, he was originally going to die, and I could not do it. I love Charlie. He's one of my top five favorite characters, I just could not do it. It had already been written that he was incurable, so I made the decision that he was going to become a vampire. Which is something, in a normal story, is something I never would have done. I would never, first of all, think that Charlie would want to become a vampire. In cannon world I just don't think that that's something that he would ever want.

The way I had written the story was that Bella and Jacob's kids will become shape-shifters, and they'll live forever with Bella and Jacob and everybody, and Charlie wanted to stay with them. They were kind of the apples of his eyes, he loves his grandkids. So I kind of wrote it that way because I couldn't do it, I just couldn't kill him.

L3: I love Charlie.

MB: I know.

L3: What’s your favorite genre?

MB: I really love a good comedy.

L3: Comedy's always good.

L3: How did you come up with your title?

MB: It is a Queen song, Somebody to Love.

L3: Oh nice. I love Queen.

MB: Me too. It fits the beginning of the story and the song, if you find out about the song, it makes me cry because of the story of Freddie Mercury and how he basically hid his whole life. I thought it was pretty fitting for the story.

L3: What fanfic authors do you drop everything to read?

MB: Hmm... let's see. Now that you actually ask me, my brain goes pffffft.

L3: ((laughs))

MB: Um.. Oracle Vas, she writes Conversations with my Killer.

L3: She's really good.

MB: Hmm... SweetT129. The problem with this question is that I don't read as much as I used to. And most of the people that I used to read, don't write as much.

OhmyCarlisle. She writes a Carlisle/Esme that I drop everything for.

((We have a conversation here that's been edited out so mommybrook isn't hunted down and slaughtered. You're welcome, Ethel.))

L3: What draws you to Jasper as a fic subject?

MB: It's his power. There's just something about that power that he has. I kind of relate to it, while I don't have that power, I still, in my own life, I feel things that other people don't feel. And it's that vulnerable side of him. I don't think that enough people explore that side of him.

L3: Yeah, it's always Jasper the badass.

MB: Which is still good, but I was surprised when I was nominated for that award. A romantics award. That's just how I see him.

L3: That's how I see him, too. He left Maria's army for a reason, so he wouldn't have to be that hard ass all the time.

L3: What books or fanfic have most influenced your writing?

MB: An Imperfect Love by mistyhaze. That's my all time favorite. If you can get into a world where there's vampires and shape-shifters then you can go further into it. I just like the whole.. to me it seemed like... she saw that everyone was essentially writing the same thing she decided that she was going to take it one step further, and completely change everything. That was the story that made me fall in love with Jasper.

L3: What are you reading now (fanfic or “real”)?

MB: I'm not really reading any fanfic other than updates. I'm re-reading the last Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows.

L3: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

MB: I guess that I don't really pay attention enough to notice. I probably should.

L3: What are your current projects?

MB: I am trying to finish Somebody to Love. There's only like three chapters left, and one of them is sitting with my beta. It's an outtake instead of an actual chapter because I was trying to get myself back into the swing of writing. It's 5,000 words of porn, basically.

L3: Nice.

MB: It seemed to work. But that's what I'm working on. Somebody to Love won't be finished then, there'll be a sequel to it, because Somebody to Love will finish on a huge cliffhanger.

L3: Do people outside of the fandom know about your writing? If so, who?

MB: ((laughs)) yeah. My Mom found my writing.

L3: ….

MB: She was like “I want to read your writing!” and I was like “Uh, no.” And she was like “Why not?” and I was like “Because I don't want you to!” She was like “But, I'm so proud of you! I didn't even know you wrote, and it's probably excellent...” and she just went on. And I was like, “but Mom, I really don't want you to read it.” And she said, “Is it... adult?”

((raucous laughter))

MB: And I was like, “... Yes.” Then she was like, “Well, I still want to read it.”

L3: Oh god.

MB: I told her she wouldn't understand it because you haven't read the books. So she was like “Well, I'll read the books then!” And I was like “God, Mom, no!”

L3: Give up! Just give up!

MB: So I have no idea if she has read it. I do know that one day I opened my emails, and I had a Story Alert, so I opened the email and there was my Mom's screen name. So I called her and I was like “Mom. Tell me you're not reading my story.” And she was like “I found it!” I thought I would die.

L3: I think I would die.

MB: But I never heard anything after that.

L3: She probably backed away slowwwwly.

MB: My sister knows about it, too. She hasn't read Twilight, but she's watched the movies with me. She's really not into it too much. She knows the story line because I told her about it, and she thinks it's kind of cool. She just doesn't get why I like Jasper so much. She doesn't find the sex appeal in him.

L3: Is she Team Edward?

MB: No she's actually Team Jacob.

L3: I guess it's... forgivable then.

MB: Well, I think that if she actually read the books she wouldn't be either, but the way the movie portrayed it, she's Team Jacob.

L3: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

MB: Yeah, sometimes I... the whole story is basically right in my head, but getting the words out is hard for me sometimes. Like I said, this is the first time I've ever written anything. I'm a huge perfectionist and if something doesn't come out in just the right way, I'll just delete it and start over again. So when it takes me forever, it's because I'm trying so hard to get it exactly the way I want it. I hate that it takes me so long to update, but I would rather put out something that I'm proud of than something that I'm not just because everyone's excited about another chapter.

L3: What are your top five fics?

MB: An Imperfect Love; SweetT129's Basking in the Light of Our Love; When Darkness Turns to Light; The Bookshop by hopelessromantic79 -

L3: She has one called 'Carlisle's Harem'... I've got it bookmarked it for later...

MB: -Finding Relief- that was one I would fall over my computer to read.

L3: What do you do to overcome writer’s block?

MB: Read a book.

L3: Which of the Twilight Saga books is your favorite? Least favorite?

MB: My favorite is Eclipse, of course.

L3: Least favorite?

MB: New Moon. It was just so... ick. Plus it had so much Jacob in it...

L3: You are so anti-Jacob it's silly.

MB: Me?

L3: Yes, you!

MB: I don't like him!

L3: I love Jacob! He's so adorable! I just want to pinch his cheeks and rub his belly.

MB: I like him. I don't like him trying to force himself on Bella.

L3: Well, the boy was desperate.

MB: And that's exactly what bothers me. He's two years younger than her, he doesn't understand things, he doesn't understand that she's not in love with him. He get's her so confused, I mean, she doesn't want him to kill himself... it's just.. urg.

L3: Do you write or read any other fandoms?

MB: Not... yet.

L3: I've been trying to break you into the Harry Potter fandom.

MB: I know, I still need to write it. I still have got to write it. I'm trying.

L3: I will not give up. I will not admit defeat.

MB: No, I will write it. It's just hard. I've never written a threesome before.

L3: ((squeaky fangirl voice)) It's gonna be so good. ((Clears throat)) Okay...

L3: Is there any genre or pairing that you don’t read?

MB: Urm... I will not read Bella with any of the Volturi masters. Because that's just weird. Some people are into that, it's their thing.

L3: I love me some Aro/Bella.

MB: See, and that's okay. But, if I'm going to read it, I would prefer to read it without Bella. I would rather read it with Sulpicia, or whatever.

L3: What about genre's?

MB: I really don't to the horror. I know.. I hang my head in shame.

L3: ((cackles))

MB: I would really rather sleep at night.

L3: You must not read a whole lot of my stuff, then.

MB: It all comes to my email! I look at it and say “Awe.. Lacy's writing!”

L3: Do you have any plot bunnies begging to be written? Can you share?

MB: I have ideas for a Carlisle and Esme story, but I'm not sharing what.

L3: Tell us about any other hobbies you have, other than writing.

MB: Does reading count?

L3: Reading does count. Reading's a hobby.

MB: Cooking?

L3: Cooking's a hobby. Although I don't know if cooking can be a hobby for you, since it's your, you know, career. Even though that's not what you're doing right now. I'm confused.

MB: It used to be a hobby for me. I don't' know. I'm never good with that kind of question, because I don't have a lot of hobbies.

L3: You have two kids. You don't have time for hobbies. I understand completely.

L3: Okay, any final parting comments?

MB: Uhhhhh.. can that be my final comment?

L3: It sure can! That question where things always get interesting.

MB: What was your last one?

L3: Well, see, the last one was Tara, and her parting comment was... are you ready for it? Danka Shoen.

((Inexplicable laughter. We get it. Don't feel bad, no one else except for luvmesomejasper, SweetT129 and trampvamp gets it either.)

MB: Oh! You have to make mine “Schmansgina!”

((Apologies to Brook if I mangled the spelling of her parting comment. Huge thanks to her for sitting down with me. Everyone who reads this interview should now proceed to her twitter (@mommybrook) and do various inappropriate things.))

Next weeks interviewee: luvmesomejasper

Until then, catch you on the flipside.