Spotlight: MissAlex

Hello again, i've been extremely fortunate in that all the author's that i've contacted are wonderful about responding and are enthusiastic to talk to me about anything really. This post though is all about MissAlex and her amazing story Rebel Without A Cause. She's got a lot to say but you'll love it all. If you haven't read the story, what are you waiting for??

Summary from FF.net ....

"Rising 1950s movie starlet, Isabella Swan, is taking Hollywood by storm. But what happens when Bella meets Edward Cullen, a hot, young, rebel, Method actor from New York City, who is brought out to Los Angeles to star in his first film? AU/AH"

1. What did you think about Breaking Dawn?

I loved Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse but I absolutely despised Breaking Dawn. I did not like the turn of events and I found it drawn out and boring. They talked about the pending battle for hundreds of pages and yet in the end, nothing exciting actually happened. The whole "fade to black" thing during the honeymoon was just ridiculous, especially considering Meyer spared no details when describing that gory birthing scene. It was just laughable to me, quite frankly. I also felt that Bella and Edward's relationship was put on the back burner during most of Breaking Dawn (post Honeymoon) and because of that I lost interest. And don't even get me started on Renesmee. I was just disappointed overall, but there are some people out there who liked Breaking Dawn and I totally respect that.

I really think that the actors in the franchise should get paid extra for having to film the fourth movie (LOL). I truly feel sorry for them for having to participate in it. Here's hoping that Melissa Rosenberg writes a good screenplay and Bill Condon, the director, does his part to save the film from being an embarrassing abomination.

2. Favorite Twilight couple?

Definitely Bella and Edward. Sure, Bella is annoying with her "I hate gifts," "I hate prom/parties" and "I hate attention" stuff, and Edward can be a little (Okay, a lot) controlling, but I find their relationship endearing. It's extreme but that is what makes it so fun, in my opinion.

3. Which movie did you like more, Twilight or New Moon? Why?

I'd say New Moon, just because of the bigger budget. I thought Hardwicke did a dreadful job with the first film. The blue tint annoyed me and if you notice, Edward's ears were bright red throughout almost the entire thing. If he's a vamp, that wouldn't happen, LOL. Maybe I'm being too picky, but overall, I thought that the flaws overpowered the good points of the film. But I guess that's in part to the low financial support Hardwicke received from Summit because they had no idea how big of a hit they had on their hands, so perhaps I shouldn't be too harsh.

In New Moon, I thought the CGI was well done. The makeup was a lot better and the rich hue of the film and the different settings (for example, the inclusion of Italy) really made it a lot of fun.

I wasn't a Jacob fan in the books, but in the New Moon film, I felt awful for him. Poor guy. He's there for Bella the entire time she's depressed and then Edward shows up and she acts like what they shared never happened. She forgives Edward immediately and tells Jacob "it will always be him." I may be a Bella/Edward relationship fan but I really found that they came across as very selfish in the second film and my sympathy card was definitely dealt toward Jacob.

I wished New Moon had more of the Cullen family, but I suppose that will happen in the 3rd and 4th film. Eclipse is my favorite book of the series so I'm looking forward to the movie's release in June.

4. Where did the idea/inspiration for this story come from?

For me, this is a loaded question. I collect vintage 1950s Hollywood memorabilia. My main interests are 1950s James Dean, Marlon Brando and Paul Newman photographs. I also have a ton of real autographs from my dad's friend's private collection (he was a reporter out in Los Angeles and has since retired to Malibu) so my collection is very extensive, valuable, and extremely unique.

My other passion is vintage films. I adore the TV station Turner Classic Movies and my DVD collection is very large.

One of my favorite actors is Marlon Brando (think On The Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire and Guys and Dolls). I think that he is brilliant. I also like James Dean. Despite my fan fic story being called Rebel Without a Cause, I actually don't like that film. My favorite Dean film by far is East of Eden. I based DeanWard on that character.

Montgomery Clift (think A Place in the Sun) is also brilliant, Natalie Wood, Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, etc, etc. This list goes on.

My favorite director is Elia Kazan. He directed some of my most cherished films and I love including him in my story.

I adore old movies because they were so much simpler, yet I believe, more exciting.

When I write Rebel, I envision Bella and DeanWard in black and white, with the music swelling in the background, the eloquent one-liners, the fairytale romance, etc. It's quite fun having to stick to the morale of the time period and all of its restrictions, yet at the same time, allow my characters to find their own way and mature, despite all of this. It makes for some interesting moments along the way, in my opinion.

Anyway, given my interest, it was natural for me to merge the Twilight characters with Classic Hollywood . Not only that, but from what I've seen, my story's setting is completely original, especially since I integrate real classic stars into my fic and have them interact with my original characters. The possibilities are endless! I also love when my readers tell me their favorite actor or actress, director, etc was in one of my chapters.

5. Did you do any research for the story or is this all from your imagination?

Since I watch a lot of classic film and read a lot of autobiographies on various people who were around in the Golden Age of Hollywood, I have a plethora of knowledge on many aspects of the studio system, as well as tidbits on many classic stars, all of which I love to include in my story.

So most of the time, I write my chapters without doing any research. The only time I'll ever Google something is if I'm not sure if a particular product was around in 1953/1954 - something like that. Other than that, I just write based on the knowledge I already have, and the new stuff that I acquire from additional reading or new films I may watch.

As for the Rebel plot, I have no idea where that came from. I guess it emerged from my imagination, given all of the classic films I've watched and all of the 'behind the scenes' stories I've read.

Originally, my outline was 30 chapters. Now the epilogue will be chapter 75. No one is more surprised with this than me, LOL. But every one of my chapters is written with a purpose. I don't believe in fluff or drama just for the sake of fluff and drama. Everything in Rebel happens for a reason. There are no filler chapters (sometimes the purpose of a particular chapter isn't clear to the reader until later on) and I'm proud of that.

I'm always flattered when people tell me they've learned so much about Classic Hollywood from reading my story - that is truly the best compliment.

6. Who would you say supported you the most when writing?

Lauren (aka Larin20, author of Treading Water and co-author of my second story, Every October) has definitely supported me throughout this process. She is my pre-reader/person who changes my Canadian spelling to American and an all around wonderful person. We'll be meeting for the first time in June and I can't wait.

Then there are my fellow BFFFers (Best Friends of Fan Fiction, BFFF, as we named ourselves over a year ago). They include such authors as LittleLea05, EmmaleeWrites05, HopelessRomantic79, Punkfarie, the list goes on. There are so many of us and we even have our own website and Facebook page.

Anyway, those girls are amazing. We share so many laughs that we're no longer just 'fan fic friends' but true friends. They are truly wonderful.

Then, of course, there is my boyfriend, Mike. He knows nothing about Twilight, hasn't read the books or even seen the films, but he's a writer too (And he's a researcher for The History Channel - he works on their World War II documentaries) so he edits my Rebel chapters and loves teasing me about DeanWard (he jokes that he's too emo - we have fun discussing him, LOL). And overall, he gives me great suggestions, points out my weaknesses in writing by offering feedback, etc, and basically, he makes my chapters brilliant. He supports me whole-heartedly, it's wonderful.

7. Who/what inspired your characterizations of Edward and Bella in your story?

James Dean for Edward, hands down. There are many similarities.

For Bella, I think of her like a June Allyson/Doris Day type character. Basically the sweet girl-next-door.

8. What’s your favorite type of FanFic to read?

I don't really have a preference, just something with a plot that's not overrun with smut.

9. Is there any type you never read? Why?

Usually, I only stick to fics that center around Bella and Edward. I'm not against other pairings, it's just that those are the ones I tend to gravitate to without really thinking about it. But I've read a Bella/Emmett story and a Bella/Jasper story that two of my fellow BFFFers wrote and I really enjoyed them, so who's to say that I won't read more non-canon/non-BxE fics in the future? :)

10. Do you have a specific writing process?

Not at all. Lately, I haven't even been writing the story in order, LOL. I've been skipping head to later chapters, then going back and filling in the gaps. And when I write a chapter, I don't even write it from start to finish. I'll usually start somewhere in the middle, then maybe write the end, then the beginning. It all depends on what part of the chapter interests me the most and then I go from there.

11. What was the most challenging part of writing Rebel Without A Cause?

At first, it was finding Edward's 'voice." I really didn't want him to sound like Bella but with swear words, LOL - I wanted him to stand out and be unique - a refreshing change from Bella, who is very proper. Now I don't have trouble, but when I first started, I had to fix him up a bit to get him just right. Now he's my preferred POV, even though BPOV still comes a lot easier for me.

12. What character are you most proud of? Has grown the most, in your eyes?

Well, my story isn't complete yet but because I have the entire thing outlined in detail and I only have 4 more chapters left to write, I can honestly say that Bella and Edward both come a long way throughout the story. By the end, the changes in them are remarkable. Regardless if people are happy with the outcome of Rebel, I can say that I am very proud of Bella and Edward's evolution. I've taken my time to get their growth just right, both as individuals and as a couple, and hopefully that transcends to the reader and they appreciate and enjoy that.

Then, of course, there is the big Jasper mystery that everyone is dying to uncover. He does a lot of growing too. He's my favorite Rebel character, FYI, even though he's not the central focus of the story, by any means.

13. Is there any music you like to listen to when you write?

I can't listen to music at all when I'm writing. It distracts me too much. I may listen to some 1950s music before I write, to get myself into the groove, but never while I'm actually typing.

I could never read while listening to music either. I'll never be one of those authors that suggests a playlist to my readers because I want them to concentrate completely on the story, as there are a lot of minute details in each of my chapters that are important to the overall plot and I don't want anyone to miss anything.

14. Favorite author outside of fanfiction?

I read a lot of biographies and autobiographies so I don't really have a favorite author. However, I am really enjoying J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, as well as her new series, Fallen Angels - both of which I highly recommend.

Zsadist is my favorite Brother from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, in case anyone is wondering. His book (the 3rd book of the series) was my favorite, followed by Rhage's, Wrath's and Rehv's. I wasn't too keen on V's book, Butch's book or Phury's book.

15. Working on anything new, planning anything after this story, or just taking one thing at a time?

After I finished Rebel, I'm going to go back and re-edit all of the chapters. I started that story over a year ago with absolutely no writing experience (I have a Chemistry degree in University and I'm working on a Nursing degree right now as my second area of study so I'm mostly a math/science person) so I will probably find a lot of stuff I want to fix.

Eventually, I will pull Rebel from FF.net and change all the characters names and get the story bound into four books, just for my own bookshelf. My boyfriend Mike is going to help me with that. But don't worry, I will give my readers advanced warning before I take it down.

Then, of course, I also write Every October with Larin20 (I write EPOV and she writes BPOV) so I'll finish that.

16. Anything else you’d like to say about writing fanfiction or your story?

I just want to say a big thank you to all of my readers for their support and reviews. I encourage more people to share their comments with me on Rebel - that would be very much appreciated - but overall, I'm just so grateful for everyone's support, whether they speak up or not.

Also, feel free to message me and discuss your love of all things Classic Hollywood. It's a topic I'm passionate about so I welcome the conversation :) You can also follow me on Twitter: @RebelMissAlex

Thanks for the interview - it was fun!

And that folks was MissAlex. I'd like to extend another thanks to her for really putting so much thought and consideration into every question. Above and beyond, which really made it amazing. I can't wait to finish this story, and for everyone who read that it will eventually be gone, GO READ THE STORY NOW!! This isn't something you'll want to miss.

Join me again soon, for more interviews with authors :D

-Ed