THE SPOTLIGHT'S
ON...
Rosie4299
What's
in a writer? Only Rosie4299 can say for herself, and the
result of asking her such a question is chock full of both gushings and
strict mannerisms that bely an author with a deep appreciation
for the writing process: both the loving and careful study
of characters, as well as an intellectual ground that spans a
mile in every direction, and keeps all grammar well in check.
Perfectionist? Or is she just plain good?
"I always, always, ALWAYS use a beta," stresses Katherine, the
author, often called "K" for short. "If there was one, and
only one piece of advice that I could give to other writers, it
would be that. Find a beta, preferably one that is a
better writer than you are. Or at least on par with you.
Don’t just pick a friend, because they’ll just say it’s great
and pass it along to an unsuspecting public. Get someone
you trust, someone you know will question what you’ve written.
Because if they are asking the question, you can bet your bottom
dollar that the readers will."
Known for supreme quality in her use of the English language,
Katherine's very first foray into the world of writing
Gilmore Girls earned her a nod at the
Proud and Prejudiced Awards. These awards don't mind
boasting of prestige, and certainly K's work is worthy of that.
Though it took her longer to realize the talent bursting within
her -- at least a little while longer.
"I was so nervous when I wrote my first piece," she admits.
"I almost took it down about three seconds after I posted it.
Then, when I later was nominated for [an award], I practically
fell over in shock. I loved my story, but I didn’t know
that other writers that I admired and respected loved it too."
Loved it they did, and have ever since. After gathering a
bundle of 90 reviews for
I Was Called Mary Once, an idea of what the
future might bring, Katherine went on to capture more readers
tightly in her spell with the steamy perfection of her Trory romances.
She expands the relationship from what we saw on the show and
writes her Tristan with the perfect blend of cockiness and suave
melt-in-your-mouth dreaminess to convince us all that she knows
him inside and out. And that he's meant for Rory,
arguments need not apply.
“Plus, the great thing about Tristan is that he can be molded
into anything that I want," reveals the author, whose real
life crushes include swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Blaine
Wilson. "I
keep my Tristans all generally the same, but each one is a
little different. I like that I have the option to twist
and bend him to my will at any time. I am so hoping that
he’ll randomly be on that bus full of reporters, or he’ll be an
intern at Obama’s office, or something, anything, and we’ll have
our chemistry back.”
Chemistry we lost when Tristan was so quickly taken from us has
frustrated viewers but spurred writers to fanfiction.
Katherine's helped keep the beauty alive of what might have been in
our dreaming Trory heads.
"Rory’s long brown hair was blowing lightly against [Tristan's]
neck," Katherine writes in
The Power of Guilt, a oneshot that hypothesizes at the bite
of Lorelai's bark when her loving daughter dares to forget a
special occasion. "Tristan couldn’t contain the smirk that
slowly spread across his face. Even after two years, he
couldn’t believe that she was his."
Readers witness the tender love Katherine creates between
Tristan and Rory, which brings so many of them to their knees.
"I must say, I just loved this to pieces," one reader gushes at
the before-mentioned oneshot. "The Trory relationship, as
always with you, was dead on, and yummy! You do all the
characters such good justice."
If truer words were ever spoken, they took place in one of
Katherine's stories. The attention to detail she pays
to every segue produces stunning results. She knows every
character, she's studied them for years, and it shows.
Take Paris, for instance, the girl so many love to hate, and so
few dare to embody in story. "Paris is not the type of
person who has a bubbly ‘Hiya’ kind of greeting," Katherine
instructs, and just the way she puts that out there begs to be
asked for more. "She’s way too formal for that.
She’ll say ‘Hey’ when she’s distracted or not interested, but
when she actually takes time out of her day to greet someone,
she says ‘Hello.’ I know I sound a little batty, or like
some obsessed superfan, which I am, but I try to make everything
as in character as possible. And the way people speak, the words
they use, are just as important as their personality traits."
Certainly this same philosophy can be applied to reviews.
In today's internet age, it's very easy to hide behind anonymity
and punch forth a tasteless remark. Just as with each new
story Katherine unveils our expectations of quality grow, so too
do hers, when it comes to the feedback which we supply her.
"I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t love coming home from
work and finding an inbox full of reviews. But honestly,
the more I write, the more I’d rather have a few reviews that
show that the reader actually read it, understood it, and can
express some sort of emotion about it. I tend to put my
heart and soul into my stories, and if I write 4,000 words, have
the characters go to hell and back, and all someone can come up
with is ‘great’, I get a little frustrated."
However cookie-cutter story reviews may be, it's clear that
there shouldn't be much frustration if Katherine chooses to
shoot for a writing career. She has been blessed with many
reviews throughout her fanfiction days, so much of them singing
her praises in great Hallelujia tones. In no way desiring
to deny us her undeniable talent, she’s a writer we’ll hopefully
see more of in the future, as we all strive to keep the
Gilmore fandom alive. It all comes down to the bottom
line for Katherine, being this: “I adore creating worlds and making up new
people to inhabit them.”
Whether fleshing out TV characters or creating ones in universes
of her own, Katherine’s an author whose stories reach far and
wide and often earn instant popularity. Qualities she owns may
easily carry her to published work, fame, and perhaps even
further beyond. The girl may be
Shooting for Silver, but there’s no doubt in the mind that
she’s
Going For the Gold.
FIVE QUICK
QUESTIONS...
One line of your work, to define you as a writer?
Rosie4299: "Wow. That is a question and a half.
I don’t know if this defines me, but it definitely was one of my
favorite lines that I’ve ever put into a fic. It’s in my
story
The Last, during Chapter Four. Rory calls Lorelai for
advice, and Lorelai answers the phone, 'Gilmore Crematorium, you
choke ‘em, we smoke ‘em!' I love that it cut the tenseness
of the chapter up to that point, and well, it never fails to
make me laugh. Plus, Lorelai would totally put that on her
answering machine."
What happens to the feedback you receive?
Rosie4299: "I save the truly special ones in a file in
my email account. I pull them out on a rainy day when I
need to remember why I started the story in the first place."
Can you name a story by another author that made you wish you
had written it?
Rosie4299: "4
am by abc79_de. I love Ames more than the average
reader, because I have the honor and privilege to call her my
friend, but when I read this story, every single thing about it
made my insides scream, I wish I wrote that, I wish I wrote
that! It’s definitely one of my favorite stories by her by far,
because it’s so raw and so real and so… just everything, and she
kills off a major character in a tragic and awful way, and yet,
I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s an amazing piece of
work."
A scraplet of the most memorable feedback you've ever
received?
Rosie4299: From a reviewer named missouragirl,
“You know what I was thinking as I read this chapter? 'Oh,
my gosh, this lady rocks!' And by 'this lady' I was not
referring to any of the colorful female characters peopling your
tale (although they certainly rock as well). No, I was
referring to you, a wonderfully talented author whom I can't
believe I'm just now discovering. Not that this is the
first chapter where I thought about the awesomeness (that is a
word, I think) of this author, but after every chapter, I was
thinking, 'Well, she can't top that,' only to find out that you
can until it culminated in this chapter that had me nearly
falling out of seat from laughter. After I read your
angsty chapters, I was thinking I couldn't cry any more, but
then I read this last chapter and I found myself laughing so
hard I literally got tears in my eyes..."
Quick! Before you can think about it, hash out a
hurried crack!fic idea.
Rosie4299: "Can I tell you the plot of the crack!fic
that I’m currently writing instead? Basically, I inserted
[my friends] the Ickle gals in at Yale, paired myself off with
Finn, (Because he’s so hot and exotic, and dammit, it’s my story
and I can!) and can be found ticking off the reasons why Rory
and Logan aren’t a match made in heaven, a la the book ‘He’s
Just Not that Into You.’ Not crack!fic-ey enough for you?
Well, I’m using the book to convince Logan that Rory’s not into
him. So I’m using a women’s self help book to help a man
with his love life. Oh, and there’s karaoke. Just in case
it wasn’t crazy enough."
ROSIE4299
RECOMMENDS...
Best of her work.
The Last .
The Sands in Our Hourglass .
Chemistry 201 .
What's in a name? .
Eyes of Envy
Best work of others.
4 am, by abc79_de .
Ripped For Her Pleasure, by Kaybee .
The Winter Ritual, by April1
Surviving New Years, by Problem Child1 .
Off To The Meat Market We Go, by Season4.5
Favorite
Fanfiction Resources.
Merriam-Webster
Online - It's the merriam webster dictionary online, and
really, there is nothing better out there, dictionary wise.
Plus it has the thesaurus, so you can find words that mean the
same thing and spice up your writing.
Babel Fish Translation - If you ever need to translate
something into another language, look no further, this one is
really great.
GilmoreFan.com - As far as GG sites go, this one is the
very, very best. It has clips, summaries, quotes,
character profiles, and a ton of other random things that can
help out any writer.
Australian Slang Dictionary - I know not everyone writes
Finn, but if you ever do, and you want to include some real
Aussie slang, this is a great reference.
TWIZ TV Gilmore Girls Transcripts - If you ever need to
get a scene exactly right for a flash back, or to reinterpret
something, this is the place to go for accurate GG transcripts.
WHERE, OH
WHERE...
You can find
Rosie4299 in all her vivacious glory on her
LiveJournal or her blog titled
The Finn-atic. Her many stories can be found on her
fanfiction.net profile. She is also an e-panel member at
Proud and Prejudiced, and a member of The Ickle Gals who
run the LiveJournal community
Build-a-Fic.
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