Saturday Sit-Down with @coachlady12

Mel here and today I bring you my interview with the fabulous Coachlady1! Be sure to check out her stuff as she is an amazing author, a wonderful friend, and the funniest damn woman you could ever meet!

Let’s start off with the basics…

What’s your penname?

coachlady1 on FF.net and Twilighted & coachlady12 on Twitter

Where do you post most often?

FF ‘cause you can just post & not wait on a beta!

What’s your favorite pairing? Favorite genre?

Edward/Bella I know, I know. AH almost always

Is there a pairing or genre that you absolutely cannot stand?

 Not really. It’s not that I can’t stand something, I mean, I appreciate what anyone does with the characters & genres, but if it doesn’t pull me in right away, that’s all she wrote (so to speak) ha

What got you into the Twilight Fandom? It’s all the hot guys, wasn’t it? Don’t lie.

Hey, I won’t lie about the hot guys! A student came up to me in the spring of 2007 telling me about Twilight and how good it was. I remember going to a movie later and seeing a poster for Twilight and remembered it was the book she’d told me about. I even told her about it, but she wasn’t as ga-ga about the books anymore. Long story short, I saw Twi in Walmart during the summer & bought it and was hooked.

What do you find to be the most challenging part about writing your fics?

Probably sticking to the original plot. I’ll write out an outline, but as the story unfolds, I find myself changing things because that’s just what I’m being told to do… by whom, I have no idea *cue eerie music*

Best review you’ve ever received? Worst?

Well, sparkledamnu leaves the most awesome reviews ever! She’s so encouraging that I feel like I could build a small city with my bare hands after I read what she has to say lol And, of course, Mel is always stroking my ego, but I’m pretty sure it’s ‘cause she’s my bestie : )

Worst? I wrote a o/s and had a woman tell me my Edward was totally ridiculous & that was it. I wrote back wanting her to explain because I do like being critiqued ‘cause I want to get better, but she had nothing to back it up. After reading her FF profile, I decided she was just a haggard old bitch *shrugs*

How do you get into the zone? What’s your method for getting the creative juices flowing? Dancing around your living room in nothing but a baseball cap, weird shit like that?

 Ha, yep, dancing w/ the bball cap is it! (have you been spying on me?) Nah, I’m constantly thinking in the back of my head about the story I’m writing at the time, thinking of what should happen, etc. Then I just sit down & type it out. If it’s good, great. If not, “deleted!”

Do your friends and family in your real life know about your fanfiction alter-ego?

Oh, hell no! I’m the baby of two sisters and they’d crucify me, I think, if they knew the stuff I wrote! My 13 yo daughter and 22 yo son know, but they don’t know about the lemons. Well, they KNOW, they just don’t KNOW ha The only friends who know are the ones I’ve met through FF or Twitter & they write, too, so we could easily blackmail each other with our stories.

What do you look for in a good fanfic?

I like when the characters are real and I come to care for them. If I find myself thinking about them during the day, that’s a very good thing. Hot schmexin’ seems to help, too O-O

Tell us a bit about yourself…

Single mom, divorced twice (I married twin assholes, me thinks) and NOT going there a third time, mother of two awesomely smart and smartassed kids; I teach high school English and coached varsity basketball forever. Played basketball in college on a full scholarship, thank God, because my grandma raised me & I couldn’t have afforded it otherwise. Um, I love watching college football and basketball & chatting w/ my besties ; )

Anything you’d like to share with us? Married, single? Kids? Covert CIA agent? Alaskan crab fisherman?

Covered that up there, but forgot to mention my being a covert CIA Alaskan crab fisherman agent.

Spill! What’s your guilty pleasure? I promise not to judge you, as long as it isn’t Justin Bieber. Damn. Seriously?

You’re gonna judge me for having Bieber fever?? Hm. I guess sharing my porn stash via tumblr would be my guilty pleasure… and don’t forget the Rob porn, too!

Do you have a favorite published author? Someone that actually has printed novels with a publishing house, like Stephanie Meyer.

I really like Kresley Cole, Patricia Cornwell and Charlaine Harris.

Favorite musical artist? Anything we should definitely check out?

I think I’m stuck in the 20^th century here. Puddle of Mudd is prob the fav but I like classic rock and new rock. Would you laugh at me if I told you I just d/led “My Sharona” the other day?? But I do like The Script, Adele, Ben Harper, Ray LaMontagne, Muse & Elbow!

Time to spread the love…

Who do you drop everything for, including the urn with your great grandmother inside, and run to the computer when you get an update?

 I’m horrible about sticking with stories… I know… I think the last time I dropped grandma’s ashes was when The Plan was posting?

Do you have an author that you fangirl over? And do you squee? I do. Many times.

LOL I don’t think I’ve ever “squee’d” in my life… okay, maybe a couple times. Gosh, I’m so bad about reading FF… how hypocritical is that? I get stuck on reading novels & then w/ writing my own stuff that I don’t really take the time like I should to read FF… commence the hanging of the Coach… I guess I’m a horrible follower, too, because when MoBS was posting, I looked forward to reading it each week. I started EP and never finished. Damn. I’m just a quitter! Ack!

If you were to break someone into the Twilight Fandom, what fic would you give them to read first?

I’d probably recommend something that’s lighter at first, maybe Hydraulic Level 5? I mean, it depends on who it is. If it’s one of my more innocent friends, I wouldn’t throw MotU at them right off the bat. They’d have to build up to it LOL

Can you suggest a fic to be recommended on the blog?

Fold Your Wings by Jadalulu was the last fic I rec’d w/ a chapter, so, yeah, how about that?

And now for a bit of fun…

Give a shout out to your team!

My girls Melly, Tiff, Leslie, Mandy, Dani, Kells, Kimmy, Barbi, Zillybug, Nic, Elaine, Tracy, Traci, Jo, Gem, Annette, Jecca, Jan, Janet, Jodi, Korry, Teresa, Kiva, Pam, Sarah, Monica(I could seriously go on forever!) But these are the ladies who’ve inspired & encouraged me along the way. I know I’ve left a shit ton out, but they all know I love ‘em!

Stephanie Meyer’s Bella… Strong, independent woman and a role model for all girls, or a sniveling, whiny, spineless twit? And do you that KStew makes a good Bella? Anybody you think could’ve done it better?

 Ha! Role model? I liked Bella at first, but as the saga went along, she started really just getting on my last nerve. So wishy-washy! One second she stands up for herself, the next she caves. Ick! Well, I don’t particularly care for KStew. I won’t give my full opinion because everyone has a right to their opinion of her, so we’ll just leave it at that ‘cause I don’t wanna piss anyone off hehe I would’ve LOVED to see Ellen Page as Bella. But I think Ms. Page is way too talented and wouldn’t have been able to act in such a dull role. She would’ve added a personality to Bella which would’ve been a  no-no. Wait! I’ve said too much… *shrugs*

Ever imagine yourself in the place of a character in the fics you read? (It’s the lemons, isn’t it? Naughty naughty!)

Duh! Of course, it’s the lemons! Who wants to take the place of a dishwashing Bella or maid Bella unless there’re some promising lemons coming up ;)

Let’s say that your friends and family don’t know that you write fanfiction. You’re at the office, or the family get together, and someone mentions that they’ve be reading this fanfiction online. As you listen to them recount the details of this story, you realize with growing horror that this is your story! How do you react? 

My face turns redder than red, I break out in a cold sweat, I hold the contents of my stomach in that are climbing up into my throat, my knees start to buckle and then I say, “Oh! That’s by that Jake Baker guy… he’s so BAD!! Can you believe he writes sex scenes like that??” ♥

Thank you for participating!