Get To Know ciaobella27

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When I’m not going by the name ciaobella27, people call me Tracy. I live just north of Boston with my husband and two boys. I write fan fic and it’s a really big secret.

I used to be an avid reader. I used to like all different genres. I had opinions that I’d share during book club meetings. I used to be normal. Now, I’m not.

Let me take you back to 2008, when Entertainment Weekly ran a horrible cover story on the making of Twilight. Rob was covered in atrocious white make-up, Kristen looked weird. I didn’t really pay much attention to either of them. The article, however, piqued my interest, because I'd always been a fan of vampire books. I mentioned the book to my sister, who decided to buy it and read it during her vacation the following week. I figured I'd borrow it from her at some point if she thought it was any good. A week later, my sister called me from an airport in Mexico, frantically searching through airport bookstores for New Moon. She went on and on about how I didn’t understand how beautiful Edward was and that the book was life-altering. At the time, I laughed because I thought she was drunk. I now find that conversation really ironic.

In the end, she vowed to drop the book off at my house as soon as she got back, and made me promise to start reading it right away. I agreed to read after I finished my book club selection, but really felt that she needed to get out more.

By the end of the following week, I read all four books.

After finishing Breaking Dawn, like many readers, I went looking for something more. I found the Lexicon by way of Stephenie Meyer’s site and read my first fic. I was stunned because I had no idea fan fiction existed. I also had no idea that there was a legion of Edwards having sex with their respective Bellas. So in September of 2008, I stopped reading book club selections, and started reading about the Edwards that wanted to sex their Bellas up. I still believe that this was a good choice.

Now, I can’t go on and on about how I started reading fan fic without recommending some. I read a ridiculous amount of fic. Despite the *cough* drama in Living Backwards right now, I can’t handle heavy-duty angst. I believe that Edward’s penis should never be allowed within a fifty foot radius of anyone other than Bella…ever. If your Edward’s penis violates this rule, I will run away from your fic crying.

There are certain types of angst that I am willing to withstand. That brings me to my recommendations. My favorite completed fic is Tropic of Virgo by in.a.blue.bathrobe. The plot is simple, but the words blue.bathrobe uses to tell her story are beautiful and poetic. You fall in love with Spark and Pretty Boy. I can tell you the exact moment that I became a wussperv, and it is all blue.bathrobe’s fault. I’ve read stories with far more conflict, but I think it was because I loved her characters so much that I was practically curled up in a fetal position when the heartfail began. I really love Tropic of Virgo, even though it broke me. Read it and you’ll understand why.

The current fics that I rush to read are With Teeth by TalulaBlue and Bella Swan: Zombie Killer by Kristen Nicole. Two very different stories, but they both make me equally happy. Like blue.bathrobe, the words TalulaBlue uses strike such a chord with me. The way an author tells a story is just as important as the story itself and TalulaBlue gets that. Her words are so pretty – rich and descriptive. I know the heartfail is imminent, but I can’t look away.

There just isn’t any way for me to tell you how amazing Bella Swan: Zombie Killer is. Kristen Nicole manages to be unbelievably funny, while writing about a world filled with death and gore. There are zombies, so there is gore, but it’s funny gore. Except when it’s not. At any rate, read it. Best Rosalie in the fandom.

So in a nutshell, I used to be an avid reader, now I don’t read anything unless the main character’s name is Bella. I used to like all different genres, now I consider Domward a genre. I used to have opinions that I’d share during book club meetings. Now I only go to book club to drink their cheap wine. I used to be normal. Honestly.

Now, sadly, I’m not.