I started reading this story last night and became instantly hooked, I love the plot and the characterization is very realistic. Great job!!!

SO I've been a naughty reader. I've read through everything posted and not left you any reviews. I do like this story very much, but sometimes (most often with the very well written stories) I have nothing really to say. They leave me thoughtful but not necessarily verbose.

I'm reviewing now mostly to tell you something I found amusing. After reading Bella's like for George Orwell's non-fiction essays (before reading any further), I thought, "I bet Bella would like Joan Didion, but not her novels so much as her essays." Imagine my amusement after reading the next paragraph. Firstly, I feel like a smarty-pants, which is quite ridiculous. Secondly, I'm very entertained that I think about a fictional character's reading taste. Mostly, though, I think it is a real compliment to your character development that I could expand upon her taste in my head and be correct about it.

Lastly, I am curious if you have experience with AA and NA. My experience, albeit secondhand, tells me they are quite different; different founders and tenants. I know more than one person who chose not to attend NA because it was fundamentally quite different from AA and they weren't comfortable with the preachings, so to speak. Just curious.

xoxo, Anna

Author's Response:

That's hilarious/fantastic! (The Joan Didion bit.)

As for my experience with AA/NA... I've had a few people ask/comment about this, and this is how I would respond: there's an old saying - "write what you know" - and I take that to heart. How Edward maintains his sobriety is (obviously) a recurring theme throughout the story, and this question about NA or AA or both will come up again.

Thanks for taking the time to review.

"They're going to lose their vaginas to frostbite," Mike observes, eyebrows raised.

I shake my head and cluck my tongue.  "Poor, poor vaginas."  Shivering and giggling, I take a drag.

- Thank you for the comedic relief. Heheheh.

 

It's true.  Washing dishes calms me.

- I feel this way about laundry, almost zenlike.

 

I loved the scene with Seth. So easy, like you said, and enjoyable.

 

Thank you for writing!

 

 

So we hear Edward's point of view. Their friendship seems strained.

And now we have Lauren. And for some reason, I think she is going to play a role in this story that is going to be painful.

Thanks for your words.

*air kisses*

JA

Interesting. Friends.

I am very intrigued.

Thanks for your words, lovely author.

*air kisses*

JA

You take us down the rabbit hole, inside Edward's pain. He has so much.

I wonder if we will come to learn how he came to live in hell.

Thanks for your incredible words.

*air kisses*

JA

Routine, routine, routine.

And then, he meets her with his ears and his eyes. He comes to know her, out of his blind routine. She is no longer invisible. He sees her. His memory will be retained. She drives a small crack into his routine.

Interesting parallels to canon here. Staring through the glass from a distance. Mouth and hair. He recalls her from memory. A breakthrough for him.

Thanks for the chapter. You have magic in your words.

*air kisses*

JA

Haha. I can't lurk. I have to say thank you. Your words are fairly incredible. Well, the way in which you take words and construct sentences that ring with feeling and meaning is truly incredible.

Slowly but surely, you paint brushstrokes of characterization.

Thank you for writing.

*air kisses*

JA

Holy crap! This is quite a story. Self destruction at 150 mph. You use powerful, haunting words as he spirals downward.

I look forward to the journey. You succeeded in pulling me into the vortex.

Thanks for writing.

*air kisses*

JA

So. I'm here on rec from Pairee and feathers_mmmm. I'm exhausted from insanity of chapter 1, but I'm digging your writing style. You can turn a phrase, sister!

Wow! I am a voracious fic reader and this probably one of the most uniw, well written stories I have read. I'm excited for the next chapter! Thank you for sharing your story with us!

I read this today after seeing it rec'd all over Twitter the last few says.  I love it, its like nothing I have come across so far.  I find your writing style very easy to read, I hope that comes across as the compliment I intended it to be.  You are able to get everything across to the reader, but you don't dive into unnecessary details, so many stories drown me in every detail about what characters are wearing, what every scrap of furniture looks like, but I love that you give me just enough to form my own movie in my head. Thanks