Author Interview with EsmeMomCullen, author of Miracles and Mischief, winner of the TwiFicDataBase's Fornicatin' Father's Day Contest
What gave you the idea for this story? Did you have the story idea before you entered the contest or was the contest part of your inspiration?
Last September a drabble of a conversation between Esme and this mysterious being, who has become Khalida, popped into my mind. I wrote it down immediately. I always thought would make a good prologue for a multi-chapter fic. That piece is called If I Had One Wish. I just recently published it on my tumblr. You’ll also find the incredible banner FrozenSoldier created for Miracles and Mischief at the bottom of that post!
Every once in a while I would think about If I Had One Wish and how I could expand it, but there just hasn’t been time. When I heard about the Fornicatin’ Father’s Day contest I immediately thought about how I could take the basis of that idea and create a story for the contest.
The ending author's note to the story mentions that you might be continuing this one-shot. Any plans for that now?
I’m a full time corporate professional with a long Southern California commute so I’m often not home, which makes it tough to find time to write. I’m starting to shape it now. I was struggling with how I was going to transition it from a one shot to a multi-chapter fic, but I believe I have solved that issue. It will continue under the Miracles and Mischief title. The next chapter will take us back to the beginning of the story when the Cullen’s go to South America and meet Maysun, Chisisi, and Khalida for the first time. The story will transition back and forth between Carlisle and Esme’s POV. If things go as planned, you should be seeing the first new chapter within the next few weeks.
What did you find the hardest about writing this story? Or the easiest?
Writing the sex is always a struggle for me. I always want it to be sexy, not boring, and not repetitive of another moment that I already published. When people tell me that they love my “lemons” I’m always in disbelief for a moment, but I’m thrilled that people enjoy intimate Carlisle and Esme.
The easiest part was writing Carlisle’s worship of Esme as the mother of his child and his excitement over becoming a father. His reaction just came naturally because he adores her so much.
What do you like most about writing? Least? (Whether it's fan or original fiction.)
I love the creativity and escapism that fanfiction writing allows me. I write a lot in my job, but it’s very business focused materials. This allows me to use my writing talents in another way.
What I like least is the amount of time it takes! It is a hobby for me, but there are times when the idea is in my head and I wish I could just transfer it to paper without the laborious action of typing it all.
Tell us about your other work. Is it all canon or AU? Do you have a favorite pairing? Do you find canon/AU harder to write than AH, or vice versa?
My favorite pairing is Carlisle and Esme and most of my work to date has been Carlisle/Esme. My major body of work is The Esme Chronicles. I’m currently working on the second part of what will be a trilogy. It kills me how little we learn about Esme from the books. All we learn about her past is that she had a baby that died, she jumped off a cliff to her death, and Carlisle changed her. As I often say, for all we know from the books she could have been a knocked up prostitute! Sadly, we learn from the Correspondence with Stephenie Meyer on Twilight Lexicon (and now in The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide), that she had a very unhappy and abusive marriage. I fell in love with Carlisle in Twilight and I wanted to know more about the woman that won Carlisle’s heart after centuries alone. If Stephenie wasn’t going to tell it, then I was going to. I used everything we knew from the books and the Correspondence as the basis of the story and then went from there.
The first story is The Esme Chronicles: The Human Years, which begins in Esme’s childhood and tells her story up through when she opens her eyes for the first time as a vampire. The story I’m currently working on is The Esme Chronicles: The Vampire Years, which picks up where The Human Years left off and will eventually take us up to when they decide to move to Forks. The third part will be The Twilight Years, which will start with the Cullen’s arrival in Forks and go through post-Breaking Dawn. It’s completely canon work. I try to show that Esme is a strong, smart and independent woman. In the Saga we only see her as just “Edward’s mom” through Bella’s eyes. We never know that she ran away from her abusive husband, abandoning any familiar relationships, and took a job as a schoolteacher while she was pregnant, to protect her child. This is one strong woman and again there has to be something very special about her to win Carlisle’s heart.
I now have two canon/AU stories under my belt. C’mon, Mama Bear takes place during Breaking Dawn. In a moment of need, Emmett and Esme have a little one-time only romp to relieve their tension. The other canon/AU is of course Miracles and Mischief.
This year I started writing letters from characters to mark holidays and occasions. For Mother’s Day, Edward wrote a letter to Esme, and on August 13th Esme wrote a wedding day letter to her son. There was also a Father’s Day letter from Carlisle to Edward. It’s just been a nice way of remembering the character’s feelings for each other and their response to the events.
There are also two canon one shots on my story list. The Rocky Horror Cullen Halloween Show, which is just a fun piece where the Cullen’s Halloween costume theme ends up being The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The second is Just the Way You Are, which was inspired by the Bruno Mars song. In this story, Carlisle hears the song for the first time and feels like it was written about his wife. When he arrives home, he and Esme have the house to themselves and they take advantage of it. Just the Way Your Are won the Avant Garde Award for Best One-Shot.
I could never write AH unless it’s a pre-vampire story such as The Human Years. Even if I write AU, I still believe in keeping the characters canon. To me being a vampire is essential to their characters. It defines them as characters. If it’s 2011 and Carlisle’s a human then to me it’s not Carlisle Cullen. I know a lot of people disagree with me, but that’s my opinion.
What are some of your favorite Twilight fanfiction stories? Can you share with us a sentence or two about why you like them in particular?
I don’t read a lot of fanfiction for a couple reasons. First, I barely have time to write so when I do get a free moment I tend to focus on working on my own stories. Two, I don’t want someone else’s idea to get in my head. I tend to avoid reading fanfiction canon stories so they don't influence what I have planned for The Esme Chronicles. I have bookmarked many stories that I look forward to reading when I'm done writing.
When I first started writing what’s now known as The Esme Chronicles, there were not many Carlisle/Esme writers. There’s still more Carlisle/Bella than Carlisle/Esme stories, but the community has grown.
Many Carlisle/Esme authors and readers are familiar with Elise Shaw’s work, which unfortunately is no longer on fanfiction.net. I only read Carlisle and Esme: The Deleted Scenes, which is a look at some of the intimate moments of their life together. She has a beautiful way with words and storytelling that has impressed and gained the admiration of many Carlisle and Esme fans.
Empty Nest by SassyGeminiMom is a wonderful Carlisle/Esme one shot. For the first time in two years, Carlisle and Esme have the house to themselves and they need to make up for some lost time. What I love about this story is that Esme is confidant, sexy and blows Carlisle’s mind. She is the self-assured Esme that I always imagine.
A Light in the Darkness by SweetT129 is an AU story where Edward, Esme, Leah, Paul and Jacob do not survived the newborn battle in Eclipse. It becomes a Carlisle/Bella love story, which I would usually be against, but the author takes care of the characters that have been lost with such love and respect that I adore this story. It’s also not teenaged Bella suddenly hooking up with Dr. Cullen. The relationship happens over time and Bella matures to Carlisle’s level. If there has to be a story where Carlisle isn’t with Esme, this is how it should be done.
If Love Be Love is an ongoing series of one shots by my friend and TEC beta, MelissaMargaret. It’s a series of Carlisle/Esme intimate moments and I may be particularly partial because the first one was dedicated to me, but they are lovely stories.
Anything you want to add?
There are other places you can find me in the Twilight fandom. I’m a staff writer for HisGoldenEyes.com. I’m on staff of The Avant Garde Awards, which specifically recognizes newer fanfiction writers. You can always find me on twitter at @ohmycarlisle and my tumblr. If you want to talk to The Esme Chronicles’ Esme, you can tweet her @_esme_cullen and I just started a tumblr called “Ask Esme Cullen”. The “Ask Esme” tumblr was inspired by the “Ask Carlisle Cullen” tumblr, which is run by the author of Ithaca is Gorges, giselle-lx.
Thank you to my betas on the Miracles and Mischief one shot, MarchHare5 and Batgirl8968. Thank you to MelissaMargaret for giving the thumbs up to If I Had One Wish last September! Thank you to sweetishbubble and December.LeNoir for their ongoing love and support.
Thank you to everyone who has read an Esme Mom Cullen story! I know Esme isn’t the most popular character, but I’ve been amazed by readers’ responses to my work. It has a tendency to make people see Esme in a different light and realize that she’s not just “Edward’s emotional mother.” There’s so much more to her character. Keep spreading the Esme and Carlisle love!
