Twilight and Jane Eyre

Even though I've been wrapped up in teaching my fan fiction class and writing Pinned but Fluttering, I have had a few story ideas floating around.


I've written parts of some, and others remain stuck on a Post-It in my writing journal. 


But my first non-Twilight fan fic idea came to me the other night. Lately I've been reading some pretty darn angsty fan fics with Edward in some rather sad and anxiety-provoking situations (like The Blessing and the Curse by The Black Arrow, The Diva Diaries by KivaRaven, An Angry Man by katinki, etc.), I thought about his literary predecessors, including another angst-ridden Edward: Edward Fairfax Rochester. 


So I'm seriously considering expanding my Twilight fan fiction repertoire with a one-shot of Edward Rochester awaking to find Jane gone on the day after their almost-wedding. 


I can almost place a Robert Pattinson, aged by 15 years, in the role of this Edward, one equally haunted by his past sins and tied to a dark mystery in which he drags a young, innocent girl into because of the depth of his love. Only Edward Cullen leaves his Bella while Jane leaves Rochester...but both for what they believe is the "right" reason.


Jane and Bella, and their stories, definitely parallel each other. Both raised in unusual circumstances, Jane an orphan and Bella parenting her own parents, Jane and Bella are rather strong-minded in some ways, yet their teenaged romanticism colors their world greatly. They're young, innocent, trusting girls who are drawn to dark, angsty men who conceal dangerous secrets and checquered pasts. After a climatic event in the story line, a separation ensues during which both women discover another possible love interest, Jane with St. John Rivers and Bella with Jacob Black. Both women's lives are in danger because of this relationship as Jane could easily die on the missionary fields of India where St. John intends for her to join him while Bella learns to love a werewolf. 


Supernatural forces (Jane hearing Rochester call for her, and Bella learning of Alice's vision of Edward's suicide attempt with the Volturi) bring the couples back together, Jane to a blinded and contrite Rochester, Bella to a contrite and apologetic Edward. Choices must be made regarding which love interest the women will choose, and of course they choose their angsty guys, marry them, and live happily ever after, children and all. 


And the two Edwards are so similar. They both possess sinful pasts that they are reluctant to share with their innocent teenaged loves, and both have a deep-seated self-hatred based on those pasts and on their perceived danger to their women. Once restored to their loves, both are appropriate contrite although Rochester has truly changed during the separation from Jane while Edward Cullen changed more before the separation. 


Both men are loners to an extent, have past romantic interests in Blanche Ingram and Tanya in Denali, neither truly worthy of the angsty guys, who inspire jealousy in their teenaged loves. Both men are altered greatly by the introduction of these pure, idealistic women who look past the ugliness in the men's lives (Rochester's physical ugliness and the ugliness of who Edward is as a vampire) and love them not only despite the men's flaws but perhaps because of them.  


As many parallels exist between Jane Eyre and the Twilight Saga, it seems a natural place to go, fan fiction-wise, to write from Rochester's POV when he discovers Jane gone, the pearls and other valuables left behind, and "right to prevail." Angst will heavily color Edward Rochester's thoughts as he realizes that Jane, friendless in their world, has left with nothing. 


So let's see if I can clear the time to write this one-shot soon, shall we? And yes, I hope to keep writing the Twilight stories I've started or jotted down the basic plot ideas in my notebook. So keep your eyes peeled....


On another quick note, on Wattpad Pinned but Fluttering passed 700,000 reads this week, and Evening Star passed 650,000 reads; in addition, my vote count for all of my works on Wattpad has passed 8000! So thank you to my wonderful readers--you are the reason I write and keep writing!!


With love and thanks,
~Cassandra :)  

Fan Fiction Class and Flash Fiction

Well, I'm a week and a half into the Fan Fiction class I'm teaching online at Brave Writer. I have ten students (all females), about half of whom are experienced fan fiction readers and/or writers. 

During our first week, we explored what fan fiction is, defined some terms, reviewed story elements and literary analysis, and discussed what the students wanted to get out of the class. I also dug up ten one shots from various fandoms, and they had to choose and analyze three of them. I chose stories from Harry Potter and Twilight, of course, plus Teen Wolf, The Avengers (two from here). I also included some more "classic" fandoms for the more conservative home schooled kids such as Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Sherlock Holmes. I asked students for rec's of course, and I also put up a post where they can rec some of their favorite completed stories.

The challenge in teaching this class, of course, is in balancing the two very different worlds of fan fiction and home schooling. Many, if not most, home schooled students are Christians, and while Brave Writer is a non-sectarian business, we still need to be sensitive to our clients. Yet we also have non-Christian students as well. The student age range is 12-17, so we have to be careful of what we post. 

Along with the owner's input, we wrote Guidelines for Posting Fiction that we hope will aid parents in protecting their younger kids yet will also allow for whatever expression of creativity students wish to explore. The Guidelines explain the Fiction Ratings categories (those used on FanFiction.net) of K, K+, T, M, and MA, plus the MPAA ratings used for movies (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17), then request that only K-T and G-PG-13 stories (written by students or as rec's) be posted in the classroom, with T, PG, and PG-13 stories being uploaded at attachments with a warning so that young readers don't accidentally read something they shouldn't. 

Stories rated M/MA or R/NC-17 will be e-mailed to me, and I'll offer feedback via e-mail. 

One student (age 15!) e-mailed me to ask about posting slash story recs; I had to tell her that it wasn't appropriate for our classroom with such young students, but that she could e-mail me the link and I would be happy to discuss the story with her. Teaching fan fiction definitely produces a challenging balancing act. 

Today students are submitting their first stories: flash fan fiction. Their assignment: write a fan fiction story of 300-1000 words, and we'll all read and comment on them. I'm thinking that I'll do the assignment, too, and thus provide Jacob with a voice before we find out what happens to him. 

This week we're also discussing the elements that the students reported struggling with the most: plotting, character development, effective dialogue, and judicious descriptions. In addition, I've also posted on writer's block and finishing a long WIP. 

They'll be starting their two longer stories soon; they may write two one-shots or two chapters for a new story, or two chapters for a current WIP. I think it'll be fun, and I'm looking forward to reading their stories submitted today. :) 

So that's what's been going on with me. I'll be writing the second half of the wolf/vamp battle from either Carlisle's or Edward's POV (possibly both) for Sunday, but I may sneak in that flash fiction from Jacob's POV before then. 

Happy Reading!

~Cassandra  :)    

Teaching a Fan Fiction Class This Summer!

Starting today, July 9, I am teaching the first Fan Fiction Class at Brave Writer! I have taught online courses on this site for over ten years, and I've designed and written several classes, this one among them. I am thrilled to have ten students so far which is pretty nice for a first-time offering of a class. This class is designed for students ages 12-18 and we'll be examining how fan fiction stories work and then apply those principles to the writing of one-shots or chapters of a new or continuing story. 


I still have some spaces left, if anyone is interested. Brave Writer caters to home schooling families, but some families use Brave Writer to supplement their kids' private or public school offerings. This four-week class is worth .25 high school credits for home schooled students. 


Here is the link to this class if you'd like more information: Brave Writer Fan Fiction Class. 


And here is the basic outline of the class:

Tentative Class Schedule: 

Week One: Discussion of definition of fan fiction and which authors have requested their works to not be the subject of this genre. Examination of fan fiction story examples. Free writing exercise to determine topic/work of fan fiction to be written.

Week Two: Character study exercise to aid in developing already established characters. Plot exercise/assignment to study the elements of plot in preparation for plotting the story. Discussion and writing of a plot outline for the story.

Week Three: Writing of first draft of fan fiction story.

Week Four: Peer evaluation of first drafts of fan fiction stories. Revision and editing of first drafts. Posting (and possible online publication, with parental permission) of final fan fiction stories.

Since we have so many experienced fan fiction writers in the class so far, we may be tweaking this schedule and deal more with writing and offering feedback on multiple chapters. We'll see how it goes. 

If you are interested yourself or have or know of a child who is interested in taking the class, please click on the link above and register immediately as today is the first day!

In other news, I should be posting the next chapter of Pinned but Fluttering in the next day or so; it will be my longest PbF chapter to date and is an outtake of the battle in Chapter 38 from Carlisle's POV. I will be writing another outtake to continue where Carlisle's leaves off, either from Carlisle's or Edward's POV, most likely the latter. 

So I shall "see" you soon! 

Warmly,

Cassandra :) 

Excerpt from New Story

On Monday morning, I responded to a reader who asked if I would be writing a sequel to Evening Star, my first book-length fan fic. I told her that I wouldn't, but that my plan was to write several short stories from all four books, written from Edward's point of view. 


As I wrote the reply, an idea flashed through my mind along with the opening words to this new story. I sat down at my laptop and started typing, writing several pages of this story. I hope to work on this story this week during my vacation; we'll see how quickly I can finish it. 


The first title I gave the story was "Death and Life," but I've changed it now to "Resurrected." Here is a short excerpt for you; I hope you enjoy it!

But it couldn't be true.

Bella would never do...that.

She had promised. I remembered how dead her eyes looked when she had promised.

Perhaps Bella took great satisfaction in breaking her promises; god knows I broke all of the promises I had made to her...or had been on the cusp of doing so for months. 

I didn't know where I was walking. The streets were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with humans who shoved against my frozen body, but I didn't care. My eyes must have been black with thirst since I hadn't been able to feed in months, yet not one human scent tempted me despite their proximity.

Only when I thought back later to this scene did I realize that the people walking toward me were frightened by my blank stare, my eyes dead and black within a perfect white face. More than one thought I was the angel of death.

And really, I was.

The angel of my own death.

Because I knew exactly what I was going to do.

After all, the plan had been made long ago—a year ago when pursuing Bella through the shimmering streets of Phoenix to save her from James. I knew then what I knew now. 

I can not live in a world in which Isabella Marie Swan does not exist.

As I walked, I crushed the vibrating cell phone in my hand, tossing it into the nearest trash receptacle.

I didn't care who was calling.

They weren't going to stop me.

I will be posting the finished story on both Wattpad.com and FanFiction.net as soon as I complete it. I'm really excited about this short story; I just love writing from Edward's POV. He is such a fascinating character with so many intriguing facets.


Thanks for reading!! And I'll be posting the new chapter of Pinned but Fluttering tonight as well; Chapter 38 has turned out to be a pivotal chapter, and I hope that you all like it!! 


PS Sorry for the weird font sizes within the excerpt; Blogger is being a pain tonight! 


Take care, my friends~
~Cassandra :) 

Lotsa Stuff!!

Didn't you all LURVE the new Breaking Dawn Part II teaser trailer?? I declare, November cannot come too soon!! 


I'm also pleased to note that Evening Star passed 600,000 reads and Pinned but Fluttering 500,000 reads on Wattpad.com earlier this month!! Cool, eh? I just posted Chapter 37 of Pinned but Fluttering yesterday, and I hope to get the next chapter up very soon--Sunday or Monday. I hate leaving my readers dangling from a nasty cliffie, especially when I've rather developed a habit of doing so. But then, I haven't categorized this story on Wattpad as a "Thriller" for nothing...and in the Thriller category on Wattpad, Pinned but Fluttering is ranked #1! Yay!! 


But the BEST NEWS: I'M FREE!!!! Yes, I'm done homeschooling until late August, and I'm off work until July 1. I start a new position at the same company I've taught online classes with for the past decade, so I'm taking this week and next week to REST!!! And to write.... 


I have a couple of ideas for one-shots/short stories, plus I have that weird EPOV story I started over a year ago that I'd like to work on. (I posted the beginning of it earlier on my blog; here's the link if you're interested: "Two New One-Shots" ) It could actually tease out to a full-length fic, so I don't want to cut it too short. I'm still pondering that one.... 


I hope that this summer will be productive--a chance to really spread my wings and FLY with my writing!! I do want to eventually write some original fiction which would be really cool (and which my husband is encouraging me to do as it can actually make some $$). I am very much looking forward to the four-week fan fiction writing class I'll be teaching to students ages 13-18 on Brave Writer starting July 9. But I'll post more on that later.... :) 


So this summer will involve work and teaching for Brave Writer, but no homeschooling, no co-op teaching or grading, and probably little if any online grading. So out of my four jobs, I'll only have one going... ...which should give me plenty of time to WRITE!!!! As far as reading, I've been rather obsessed with the complete works of the following writers on FanFiction.net:


katinki
pattyrose
LadyGwynedd
ladylibre 


The latter only has one story, but it's terrific; the other three have loads of excellent stories to read, so do an author search on FanFiction.net to locate and enjoy their wonderful work!! 


Okay, it's nearly one in the morning and I'm driving up to Riverside and back tomorrow, so I'd better get to bed (where I am rereading AEGiggle's "The Wisdom Seekers," the only Twilight/Harry Potter crossover series I've found worth reading). 


 See you soon! 


~Cassandra :)

Back at the Keyboard Again....

Yes, my essays are all graded and returned, and my co-op class grades are all computed and distributed. Such a relief!! So despite the fact that I still have two weeks of homeschooling and two weeks of the online Shakespeare workshop class I'm teaching, the vast majority of my work is done for the school year. 


Which means...I'll have time to write!!! Yay!!!


So you can expect weekly Pinned but Fluttering chapters again, plus a few one-shots popping up here and there. I have jotted down some new ideas and can't wait to write them out. And of course they'll all be written in EPOV. Naturally.  


I do start part-time work for the website where I teach online courses in July, so I won't have a completely relaxed summer, plus I'll be teaching an online class in writing fan fiction for students ages 13-18 starting July 9 and going for four weeks. Here's the link if you're interested: Brave Writer Fan Fiction Class. Registration for this class opens Monday, June 4. The class is expensive, but for $50/week, you'll get a lot of hand-holding and feedback as we discuss trends in the fan fiction genre and produce a one-shot with a great deal of feedback from me and other students in the class. 


I've been reading some incredible fan fics lately, too. Check out the sidebar to see the list of fan fics I've read this year, plus the list of my favorite completed fics.  Enjoy!!! 


I was absolutely enthralled by pattyrose's It Will Be As If I'd Never Existed. Incredible story of the Cullens' reappearance in Bella's life nearly five years after Edward left Bella. Check out the lists for some other excellent fics. 


Okay, I'm going to get to writing today, but I wanted to give you all a little update. Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy-busy time; your reward is on its way with Chapter 35 of Pinned but Fluttering this weekend!! 


Take care, my friends,
Cassandra