Today's guest is Jmolly. For those who have enjoyed "I Hunger for Your Touch," or the other 23 stories by this amazing author, there's a big announcement: Jmolly's posting a new story, "Make Haste My Beloved". Let's discuss it with her.
Raum: You're posting a sequel for "I Hunger for Your Touch." Your new story's title is "Make Haste My Beloved." Would you like to tell us more about it?
Jmolly: In the story, you will see Edward become a leader and a father, and you will see Bella become his equal, as she gets through her pregnancy, gives birth, and turns from a hybrid into a fully-fledged vampire. Their lives will be exceedingly full. They both now function as young adults, not adolescents. However, they are planning to prank Emmett and Rosalie in retaliation for years of teasing Edward and giving him TMI, by pretending to be (in Ed’s words) ‘extroverted sexual deviants’.
There are college obligations and hijinks, Edward’s fledgling coven of rescued hybrid mothers and babies in the Amazon to look after, trouble from the villain, Caius, old emotional baggage to drop, impending parenthood and the birth of the baby. One of those elements alone would be enough for a human to deal with, and this young couple must learn to cope with an overwhelming amount of ‘busy’.
My stories are very detailed. For example, this one will likely have characters speaking Italian, Ticuna, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and French, and take place in four countries. My native language is English, but I also speak and write French, and I learned to write Ticuna. Camilla10 helps me with any Italian past its pleasantries, and Sarahalliwell gives me the Portuguese. This story costs me an average of 100 hours per month in research, drafting and revising. It owns me. Luckily for me, there’s likely to be more humour in this one than in “I Hunger”. I’m looking forward to that immensely.
R: Who is your favorite character in the saga and why?
J: Edward. I suppose that’s because I can relate to his values. Apart from his pessimism, my personality works much the same way. I’m 43. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house as a child, while my mother went to work. My Poppa was born in 1892, and my Grammie in 1902. They were Victorian. Manners and gentility were very important to them, as was modesty. I can see them when I look at Edward. I can hear them in his slang. Edward is such a paradox. He is partly a classy, elderly gentleman, and partly an emo, hot-blooded (cold-venomed) teen. I find that a fun thing with which to work. But in addition, there is something incredibly pure and selfless about him that is very beautiful, and he’s so self-deprecating that he can’t even see it.
Truthfully, when I first read “Twilight”, I wasn’t that taken with it. My daughter (ahem) coaxed me to see the movie, and when Pattinson came onscreen, with his stunning ability to convey emotion using only his eyes, I almost instantly fell in love with Edward. After watching the movie, the book came alive for me, and I’ve been addicted ever since.
R: In your story, you often use biblical references. For example, in "Make Haste My Beloved," you use a passage from the “Song of Solomon”. Would you like to tell us more about this choice?
J: Faith is a constant, underlying element of my stories. Living in faith, not preaching it. As a Christian, it struck me immediately that a vampire who tried to keep ‘That Last Commandment’ and feared for the soul of his human mate, denying his base instincts in order to preserve his morals, was a person who must have formerly been a devout Judeo-Christian, who endlessly mourned his (perceived) separation from God. It broke my heart.
The first story I wrote was ‘Redemption’, in which Edward (holding his newborn daughter) finally accepts that he is not beyond God’s reach, that God still loves him, and that he can live in a state of grace. An HEA for Edward was my main objective in starting to write, and to me, the character would never be happy while not belonging to God.
My choice of the “Song of Solomon” -which every person on the planet ought to read for its beauty alone, incidentally- is complicated. What else is new! The verses pertaining to the story are very key. I don’t want to give the plot away, but I’ll say that the title refers to both Bella and Renesmee, and that the important elements include venom, burning, survival and endurance, jealousy, anger, devotion, love, commitment, enthusiasm and joy.
R: Would you describe the relationship you established with your readers?
J: I love them. Up until some real life setbacks this year, I answered every review, and I am now trying to get back to that. A thoughtful review costs someone time, and I pay them for that. I’m grateful when a reviewer pays me for my time. In two years I’ve had perhaps five reviews that upset me, and only one could be called a flame. My readers seem to be a kind, intelligent, wonderful bunch.
I have some extremely young readers, and I have a reader who is 88. I have mothers (and fathers) who read with their daughters. A lot of men read me (and admit to it -lol). I have readers of all faiths, nationalities and persuasions, and I adore communicating with them through pm’s. I let them know some stuff about me, and often they let me into their lives. Yes, I really care. Many readers have become friends who know my real identity. Some of my best real-life friends began as readers who reviewed me on here. I met one in Toronto last year, and plan to go to Boston next year to meet another. And you bet I’m coming to Italy one day to meet two special friends. After that? England, to see my pals there. Will I make it to New Zealand and Australia? Oh, man, I need to win the lottery! Lol. Or actually finish my independent novel and get it published. Soon (that’s what my husband says).
My relationship with my readers is based on affection, respect, acceptance, kindness and trust. Yeah, I love my readers.
R: Would you like to describe your writing process? How did it change during the time you have spent in this fandom?
J: Hah, a very good question… The biggest change is probably that (beginning with “I Hunger”) I keep chapter notes and backstory. Continuity is a bear but it’s essential to good writing. The other change is that I have learned how to write longer pieces, and how to pace them. This entire universe, which presently has a timeline from 1640 to 2070, lives only inside my head. I’m indebted to Room340C, who has many times looked up a reference for me in one of the older fics. I never outline, and rarely do I write chapters and let them sit unposted. My writing process, let’s see… These little people are crowded inside my skull and my brain has not exploded. Yet. I know all their stories from conception ‘til death. One of their experiences speaks to me, and I say, ‘suppose this happened’, and suddenly there’s an idea for a book.
I know how it ends before I start writing it. That’s vital. I know the key points in the story, too. Next, I go on Youtube and listen to a whole lot of music. I spend hours picking out playlists. I have playlists for stories that might not be written five years from now. I brainstorm for a title, check by ‘Searching’ that nobody else has used it, and often decide how I’m going to name chapters. Then I pick a sentence out of the air: a pertinent sentence with movement and sometimes emotion, and that becomes the first sentence of the book. If I need research I try to find all my sources before I begin each chapter. I write quickly (typing 90 wpm) while listening to my playlist, and on a good evening I can get 5-6 pages in four hours. Smaller stories have one or two scenes per chapter, and big stories have three to five. Rarely, if ever, has a chapter covered more than 24 hours in a timeline. I write every day. I’m miserable if I don’t. My kids (aged 16, 13, 11 and 8) support my writing, and so does my husband.
Thank you, Jmolly!
In this interview, Jmolly mentioned her story "Redemption." I enjoyed it very, very much. Here's a blinkie for it.
If you read these fanfics, please don't forget to tell the author that "Raum sent you" and say "Ciao!" from me! Thanks!
