Confessions of a Twilight Fanfic Author...

Me: Hi. My name is Jessica and I was a Twilight Fanfiction writer.

Group: Hi, Jessica!

Leader: I know that there’s a lot of hoopla right now surrounding one book (I’m not mentioning the name because this post isn’t about that, it’s about me) and its origins in the Twilight Fanfiction. I understand that you too started this way and are confused about why there is so much talk about it?

Me: *nods*

Leader: Well why don’t you tell us how you became involved in all of this…

Me: Ummmm…okay. *looks at floor and kicks imaginary rock with toe of shoe*
I had it bad. REALLY bad. When I finally broke down and read Stephenie Meyer’s trilogy (because Breaking Dawn hadn’t come out yet – and let’s face it, I try not to remember it anyway), I couldn’t get enough. I read all three of them 5 times…in a row. Once I would finish Eclipse I would pick Twilight back up and read it.

Then one day I stumbled on this thing called FANFICTION!! I had never heard of anything like it. I would spend hours on the fanfiction website reading only canon (true to the story with vampires and werewolves and all). It was during this time that I had a little thought – what did Edward and Bella do when no one was trying to kill them? So I sat down and wrote a short little three or four page story about the day after the prom where the couple just hangs out.

Leader: Was that your “gateway” story?

Me: It was. From the few good comments that I received from just that little story I was inspired. And then I found a phenomenon that developed in Twilight fanfiction – ALL HUMAN.

Leader: What? I mean isn’t the whole idea of Twilight that there are vampires and werewolves?

Me: Well, yes, originally that was. BUT, with Twilight fanfiction it developed into people writing original stories where Edward was a doctor or a teacher or a college student and Bella was a nurse or the single parent of a student, or a co-ed…the possibilities were endless!

Group: *murmurs erupt*
- I read one where he was a total bad boy, swearing and smoking and drinking!
- I read one where he was a pastor in a church!
- I read one where he was a cop!

Me: Yes! There were all of those. The stories lines were original and often times though the character’s names were used, they didn’t even have the same personalities that made them Edward and Bella (or in my case Emmett and Rose). I fell in love, not with the character of Emmett as Stephenie Meyer wrote him, but with the actor who played him, Kellan Lutz. I wrote A LOT of Emmett fanfiction. One of my favorites is actually a Twilight/Weird Science crossover where Emmett is created by Alice and Bella. That was pure fun!

It was from this new ALL HUMAN vein that my first long, serialized story came. I wrote a story called Passion Fish with a good friend and it was so much fun. We got lots of praise for the story, and that only drove us on. We posted the last chapter at the beginning of June in 2008.

Once Passion Fish was over, I felt the need to write some more. I wanted to see Kellan Lutz as a Navy SEAL because I had felt that hard chest and could see in my head what it would look like with a tight black t-shirt stretched over it and tucked into a pair of camo pants…who wouldn’t want to see that?? So I conceived Indivisible. It was a story about a new love put through a test and the need to trust and communicate…and it still is.

Leader: So you wrote a Twilight Fanfiction about a Navy SEAL? No vampires?

Me: Nope, not a one.

Leader: No werewolves?

Me: None.

Leader: But it had Edward and Bella and the rest of the Twilight characters in it right? And it took place in Forks, Washington?

Me: Ummmm…well first, no. Indivisible was always set in San Diego. It’s a SEAL story, so San Diego was the place to be. And, as far as the characters go – they had the same names as the Twilight characters, but that was pretty much where the similarities ended. My SEAL had blond hair and blue eyes…always! Because in my head he was Kellan Lutz and not Emmett Cullen.

Leader: I don’t understand. Why write this story that you wanted to tell as Twilight Fanfiction? Why not just write it as “original”?

Me: I did write it as “original”. Everything about my story from plot to the character development is original. But, fanfiction allowed me to get criticism and comments and praise that helped me to develop the story and better my writing. It is a place that allows a new writer to understand so much more about the whole process of writing. If I go back and read the first things that I wrote, I am all over the place, from tense to time discrepancies to punctuation.

I learned to write through Twilight fanfiction.

I appreciate so much having had that venue to learn from. I met some amazing people and read some amazing stories - stories that deserve to be seen and read by more than just the Twilight fanfiction community.

Leader: But you then pulled the story down before finishing it right. So you could make sure people would buy it?

Me: No. My stories were published to the end and were up for about a year. My publishing was more because I loved my story and wanted to share it with others who didn’t know about Twilight fanfiction. Of course as a writer I also had the “pie in the sky” dream that someday Kellan would actually BE Gideon on the big screen…I mean that’s the Holy Grail of writing. Oh, or winning a Pulitzer Prize, I guess – but I’d rather see Kellan as a Navy SEAL!

Leader: So, you just did a find and replace, and took out all the Twilight names and then put a cover on it? That kind of seems like cheating…

Me: *laughs* Man, I WISH it had been that easy! I spent weeks rewriting every chapter because in fanfiction the POV readers want is in first person from every character’s view, so I had a lot of information that was repeated, just from a different character’s point of view. I went through my story which was somewhere upwards of 200,000 words and edited a lot out myself in changing it over to a Limited Third Person Point of View. I lost a lot of scenes that I truly loved, but I knew were unnecessary. I submitted a manuscript at around 170,000 words. I was pretty proud of myself. And then the editors got a hold of it…

Editing Indivisible was one of the hardest things I have ever done. My poor editor, God love her. I would fight tooth and nail with her over every little thing. Opening up a chapter and seeing ALL THE RED…I would instantly close it and cry. Of course my husband would say, “Well isn’t that her job?” I hate when he’s right!

I can’t imagine not having such a great team working for me. In the end, Indivisible was around 127,000 words. That’s probably close to half of what was originally posted as fanfiction.
And it is a story that I am so very proud of. I know I would never have gotten the final product that I did without the FABULOUS women who edited it!

Leader: Are you still writing fanfiction then?

Me: No. I have moved on from writing fanfiction because I now have enough confidence in my writing to just write. I am working on two new stories (one’s erotic…don’t tell anyone( *blushes* I am writing a SWAT story that is where the free download you can get at Omnific called Big Guns came from. And yes, my hero is a bad ass, moody, man in a uniform – who looks like Kellan Lutz in my head.

Leader: Thank you so much Jessica for sharing with us your Twilight Fanfiction roots. Let me ask one more question before we continue with our meeting… aren’t you a little embarrassed that you wrote fanfiction?

Me: HELL NO!! I have never been embarrassed by it. I am proud of Indivisible and the story that I told and the characters that I created. I love that people will Tweet that they have been crying all afternoon because they are reading Indivisible! I DID THAT!! No matter where it started – I wrote those words, I created that plot, I made people fall in love with Gideon and Charlie…it’s ALL ME!

And I'm on the Blog Bounce today!!

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So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!! I apologize sincerely for being absent for so long…life really happened! November and December always get away from me easily.

But, on this wonderful holiday I wanted to share something with you all that one of my friends posted on Facebook recently. I read this and it brought tears to my eyes and I knew that I needed to post this here for all of you.

T’WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY! COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I WEPT FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND! AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

--WRITTEN BY A MARINE

So this holiday as you sit down with your family and those people in your life who are important to you, remember those who have and are serving our country and that they may not be as lucky as we are.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

The Missing Holiday

I was at the grocery store the day after Halloween and it was already CHRISTMAS!!

REALLY??

Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person, but is it just me or did we skip a holiday in there somewhere? Last time I checked my calendar, we still had Thanksgiving?




Now, I am not a fan of turkey, but I love sitting around a table with my family at Thanksgiving and just being part of all of the love and thanks that we can give for so many blessings we have in our lives. I love for my kids to get time with their aunt and uncles. I love watching my husband getting to eat his favorite meal (I am a horrible cook and would NEVER attempt to cook a full turkey dinner). When did all of those things get pushed aside for shopping and Santa Claus?

So, instead of plotting the shopping route for Black Friday that maybe we slow down a little and enjoy the holiday for what it was meant to be...a day to give thanks.

Okay, I'll come of my soap box now and get on with the blog hop. Before I do that, I want to tell you that in honor of Veteran's Day, the ebook of Indivisible is on sale right now for 99 cents! So if you haven't had a chance to read it yet, now is the time to do it!!

Let's BOUNCE!!




Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.

So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Adventures in Sacramento

Happy Thursday!! I know that I missed last week’s blog post but I have a great excuse…I was on vacation again.

I’ve mentioned before that my kids have a strange school schedule because they are on year round school. They are currently out of school and I thought that it would be fun to jump in the car and drive over 600 miles to visit my sister in-law in Sacramento.

Now, I grew up in Southern California and my kids have been to visit family in that part of the state many times. In fact, they thought that California was all about Los Angeles. But, I also went to college in northern California and wanted them to see the other half of the state.

So, we hopped in the minivan and headed west!

Twelve hours later we arrived at my sister in-law’s cute little cottage in Sacramento (yes, I said twelve hours in a car with two kids!). It was already late evening and after getting lost on the crazy freeways of the city, I was ready for bed. Unfortunately, the kids weren’t! They were excited to see their aunt and uncles (my brother in-law also lives there so it was a “two birds” kind of thing) and so I later fell onto the Aero bed exhausted!

The first day of our vacation, I was lucky enough to meet with a friend for lunch while my sister in-law took the kids to the zoo. I do love a good zoo, and my kids have been to several different ones throughout the country, and they were pretty impressed with Sacramento’s zoo. The one thing I heard the most about? The Giant Anteater! Who knew that it would be so fascinating…to hear them talk about it, I’m disappointed that I missed it.


Our northern adventure took us to my alma mater, Chico State University the next day. I wanted my kids to see what a beautiful campus it was and to have a sense of where their parents went to school. After spending over $100 at the student union on alumni gear, and grabbing lunch at Madison Bear Garden (one of the best burgers around!), all my kids wanted to know was when they could go to Target. I guess my past wasn’t all that interesting to a 7 and 8 year old.

One of the best days we had was on the third day when we went to explore Old Sacramento. We headed down in the morning with my sister in-law and the kids immediately loved the old west feel of the area. It’s set up like a town you would see in a Clint Eastwood movie with the wooden planked walkways and hitching posts. There are a variety of stores to explore with everything from kites to toys to Christmas decorations. We, of course, spent a good amount of time in one of the candy stores and walked out with a bag full of delicious salt water taffy in flavors like red licorice and raspberry lemonade – YUM!

Along with the fun of shopping, there is the Delta King riverboat to explore, as well as five different museums ranging from military museum to a railroad museum. We ran out of time to visit the California State Railroad Museum, unfortunately, because I was later informed by a friend that it is the best railroad museum in the country, and considering that I have one of those sons that knew the name of every engine from Thomas the Train, I think he would have enjoyed it immensely. We were able to get a few pictures on the train cars on display in the old depot. All in all…a really great day for the kids and myself (and I may have been inspired to write a period story set in the old west…)!

Oh, and later that day we went to one of the city parks in Sacramento that was FABULOUS!! There were two different play sets; one for little ones and one for the bigger kids. The bigger kids’ one was interactive and had some great kinetic aspects to it. The park was clean and well kept and we stayed until it got dark and I had to drag them away.

Our final day in Sacramento was spent with my sister in-law and her boyfriend at a local pumpkin patch and corn maze. With my history of getting lost in the myriad of freeways in Sacramento I let the kids lead the way in the corn maze and they did a great job. And what trip to the pumpkin patch would be complete without bringing home yet another pumpkin so we hauled two more pumpkins back across the country with us!

After another full day in the car, we finally made it home and like the best part of a good vacation…crawled into my own bed.

So that’s my excuse as to why I didn’t post last week…

Now on to the BOUNCE!!



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If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.

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Exciting Events!

Thursday mean Blog Bounce!!

I have a few amazing things that I want to tell you all before I get to the Bounce!

On Friday I found that I got an AMAZING review for Indivisible on Sizzling Hot Book Reviews! There I was, minding my own business with my girlfriends and kids at the local bounce place (You know where they have all the blow up things that kids jump on and try to climb in their socks but slide and get some weird rug burn thing on their cheek – not that that’s ever happened…), when I got a notice on my phone that I had an email. I opened the email and it was a Google alert that Indivisible had been reviewed by Sizzling Hot Book Reviews.

Now, I get all butterflyee (just made that word up – feel free to use it in everyday conversation!) when I see that I have reviews. So, I wasn’t completely sure I wanted to click on that link and check out the review…but I just couldn’t NOT so I did. I’m so glad that I did! They gave me “Three Hearts” and said some wonderful things about the book that I want to print and paste on my office walls as inspiration! My favorite part was this:

Jessica McQuinn skillfully pulls readers into the conflicting emotions of an entire family-the traumatized wife, the far-away husband, the inadequate younger brother, the over-nurturing mother. McQuinn lets readers see their strengths and their vulnerabilities-everything that makes them human. And all the while, she deftly weaves in entertaining interactions so readers get to know and adore the characters' lighter sides, even as the story ventures into dark territory. Indivisible is an unforgettable story of the power of love and the importance of trust.

There were more wonderful things about Indivisible too so you need to go and read the review!

The other really good thing that happened to me this last week was that I had my first signing and reading! We have an independent bookstore here that does a “Local Author Showcase” every quarter, and I was lucky enough to be part of the most recent one.

I have to say that it was a very surreal feeling to be sitting up at the table with three other authors in front of a room full of strangers. However, nerve-racking would be the word for when the time came for me to actually read from Indivisible! I am not an “in front of people” kind of person, so my voice cracked and I made some silly jokes (I’m a bit sarcastic and I don’t know how that went over with the audience?), but I love the excerpt I read and I think that it was a perfect representation of Indivisible. I read the part where Gideon and Charlie are driving to take Gideon to the base before he leaves…so sad and funny and loving…have I mentioned how much I LOVE Gideon??

So if you want to check out a bit of information about the event, you can find it at The King’s English Blog. It was great fun and I met several awesome people and other authors! (And then my girlfriends all went out and had dessert afterwards so that was awesome as well!)

Still working on my reviews of the books I’ve read recently, but life is still happening!

Now onto the bounce!

Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.

So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Life Actually Happened!

Okay, I know that I have been slacking...and I have felt horrible about it. But really and truly life just happened all around me and I couldn't catch up! (And now it seems that I am catching a yucky cold which has made me less than excited and just wanting to curl up under the covers today!)

It seems that since the kids started back to school, my life has just been chocka block full! I think it's quite unfair! I mean when the kids go back to school, that's supposed to be my time to write and have a quiet house. BUT - then I work in the kids' classes and work at the bookfair. Plus throw in my contracting work that I do, my regular upkeep of my house, homework, and all the sports and other activities I run my kids to, and book club...and I am ready for a vacation!

I promise to catch up and do my reviews of my Book Club books in the next week (done with Tina Fey's Bossy Pants and reading Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay so I will have two in the next week!). I had planned on giving you my review of the VERY FUNNY Bossy Pants today, but this cold has me ready for bed...

I did want to remind you all that I will be having a signing and reading as part of the Local Authors Event at King's English in Salt Lake City on Monday October 10 at 7pm! I'm so excited! I hope that anyone in the SLC area will be able to stop by and say hi!

On to the Blog Bounce!



Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.

So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Blog Bouncing!

Welcome to Thursday!!

I know that I'm a little late today, but life has been happening! It's been one of those weeks when I look around and realize that I'm drowning!!

I've been writing!! So YAY!! Working on my SWAT boys (if you haven't read my story in Omnific's Summer Lovin' Anthology - Heat Wave, there's still time to get it. And all profits go to Save the Tatas!). I think that Gideon might have some competition with Brody. He's quite yummy. I'll have to look for what I see in my head when I write him...hmmmmmm...oh sorry! Drifted off there!

Kiki at Madame D's Boudoir has a new interview up that she did with me! She's doing a giveaway of an ebook, so head over and check it out!! There are some great questions that made me really think.



And just because I love to look at him






Time to BOUNCE!



Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.

If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.

So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!