#author spotlight: gleefulpoppet

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Author Spotlight: Gleefulpoppet Day 1

Author Spotlight: @gleefulpoppet​ 

How did you get into Glee and Glee fandom?

Crazily enough, I was having the worst day ever a couple of years ago, and I was down a rabbit hole of Ms. Mojo’s top 10 videos; I’d never seen any of them before. I watched the Top 10 TV Kisses, and when the Klaine one came on, I got the chills! I sat back and thought, “WOAH! What did I just watch? That was intense on a whole different level. Like I’ve never seen on television before.” I set out to figure out how to watch Glee and was thrilled that it had been put on Netflix. I took some vacation days I had been hoarding and binge-watched all six seasons in about ten days. That led me to watch every interview I could find on YouTube, which led me to Tumblr, which led me to fanfic.

In general, what drew you into writing (and/or creating)?

I’m an artist by trade “in real life,” so I know how imperative creativity is to our mental health (I could talk about that for hours, so I’ll just leave it there). I was always interested in writing in the back of my mind but had never thought about it seriously.

What was it about Glee that made you decide to write fanfic for it?

For the first time, I didn’t want to create art with the characters; I wanted to write about them because I was so unsatisfied with the show itself. I have a love-hate relationship with Glee like a lot of us do. The characters were brought to life in such a fantastic way I couldn’t get them out of my head. They took up residence in my mind, and I couldn’t help but think about how I would have written them. And when I ran out of fanfic to read and couldn’t find more of the kind of stories I wanted to read, I decided to write my own.

Have you been a part of other fandoms before? Have you written fanfiction pre-glee?

I’ve always been a huge fangirl, the biggest one before Glee was probably BBC Merlin. But I had never read or written fanfic before Glee.

Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

I want to try so many things. Now that I’ve started writing, it’s something I doubt I’ll ever stop. I wrote a one-shot about a vampire/werewolf combination, and I’d love to expand on that someday. I also would like to write Daddies!Klaine, but I haven’t gotten there yet. I hope to very soon.

Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Incest. I accidentally read a few chapters of a story that was not tagged correctly, and BAM, there it was. I threw my phone across the room in shock. And I can never get that scene out of my mind—I still cry thinking about it.

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

I have a list of about thirty stories I’m serious about wanting to write and then the list is about fifty more deep of just random one-lines and thoughts that “could be” a fanfic someday. 

I’d love to share! One of the things I want to do is rewrite the classic Audrey Hepburn movies with Kurt and Blaine. Maybe, Breakfast and Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday to start with. Not sure when I’ll ever get to them, but I think about it a lot. 

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Check out Gleefulpoppet’s Fics

Better Knot Bow Tie Company -  Blaine Anderson has been a Better Knot Bow Tie Company monthly subscriber for years. This summer he's taken a hiatus from Broadway to facilitate the Journey Performing Arts School's summer program in New York. What happens when a zany bow tie sets off a chain reaction of events that may change their futures forever?

Soulsongs and Seastars -  In a world where Doms and subs depend on the symbiotic relationship their pheromones provide, it can be a matter of life and death to go too long without a claim. When one of the most powerful Doms in New York comes home for some much-needed family time, he stumbles upon a scene that throws his instincts into high alert as he witnesses a sub do something he’s never seen before. Will the bravery of one man change his life forever? Kurt Hummel knows there’s only a one-in-a-million chance of finding his Soulsong, but what are the odds it could happen in a run-down mall in Lima, Ohio?

The Playhouse on the Edge of the Forest -  In the small town where Kurt lives, there is a forest of trees his home is nestled right up against. In the backyard, there is an enchanting playhouse made of bricks and wood and has genuine glass windows with metal striped awnings and flower boxes. This is the tale of his adventures in the playhouse from age 3 to 33 and how everything changed when he met the boy next door.

#author spotlight: gleefulpoppet

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Gleefulpoppet Day 4

Author Spotlight: @gleefulpoppet​​

What other Glee Fandom authors do you enjoy? Can you recommend some of your favorite fics?

I have read more fanfic than I care to admit, and I LOVE all the standards that we all go to again and again (Expectation Fails, The Sidhe, Anderson Rose, Keep My Heart Captive, Little Numbers, Is is Weird, Collide)! So I thought I’d try to find some stories that might not get as much attention that deserve it! 

Off Limits by munchkinpandas

The Handcuffing of Kurt Hummel by K8Malloy

In Every Lifetime Series by JayhawkWrites & Teddyshoney

Reflections by CoffeAddict80

Missing Pieces by SunshineOptimismAndAngels

A Place to Stay by ItsNotEasyBeingQueen

Cinnamon by MoreThanWords

Cradled So Tenderly by BlurtItAllOut

#author spotlight: gleefulpoppet

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Author Spotlight: Gleefulpoppet Day 3

Author Spotlight: @gleefulpoppet​​

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

This is going to sound obnoxious and pretentious (cringing). I’d say at least ten-twelve. I know I’ve read it at least half a dozen times before I send it to my beta reader, and then I reread it when I fix it and then again before I post on AO3. And even after it’s published, I’ve gone back and fixed things.

If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

None of my fics are even a year old, but there are some things I would change about Pressed Against the Glass. Nothing major that anyone would notice but me. I’ve learned a lot the last year, and I think I could tighten up some of the structure.

What do you look for in a beta?

Well, my beta fell out of the sky like an angel. I couldn’t find one, so I started posting Pressed Against the Glass last October without one (mind you, this is a 250k word story that I was posting one chapter a day), and JayHawkWrites messaged me on Tumblr to say she’d jump in and edit it for me. We worked on it almost as a full-time job for two weeks because every day, a new chapter was posting and one of those chapters was 18k long! She’s stuck with me since, and I am grateful she was so kind to me.

If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Oh gosh. I don’t know if I could ever do that! There are so many stories I want more of, though. The ones I can think of are actually ones that have been abandoned, does that count? The two off the top of my head that I would LOVE to read the rest of would be The Nanny by Nellie12 and Night to Night by loveheartlover.

Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I take HUGE liberties and write mostly AU. What I find interesting is taking the essential core of a character and then asking myself, “What if?” What if they had grown up in different circumstances? Or if they hadn’t been bullied, or if they met someone earlier or later? It’s taking a character you relate to on some level, putting them inside your own head, and seeing if you can figure them out in a new place or environment. For me, it’s the most fun to think about Klaine out there in a million different realities.

Talk about a review that made your day.

Big heart eyes. Every single comment makes my day. It really does. I wake up every morning with a secret hope that there’s a comment on one of my stories or even kudos. Not out of a need to feed my ego, I promise! It’s because I want to know the story lives on somewhere… That it’s not lost. It’s the feeling like all of a sudden we share this connection. A moment as author and reader where we both know the same story, and there is something about that that makes me so happy.

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I haven’t yet (thank you!). I’m not a confrontational person though, so I’d just delete it if it was mean for the sake of being mean. If they had some constructive criticism or a genuine concern or question I would reply to the best of my ability.

What advice do you have to people just starting to write?

Keep going! Dive in! Write it! There is never perfection—only progress. And, the solution and resolution are always in the doing. You are never going to get better at writing stories if you aren’t writing. Jump in; there is ALWAYS room for you!

Which fic do you most like to discuss with other people? Why?

I loved having a few pretty in-depth discussions with people about Pressed Against the Glass. It was wonderful to make some new fandom friends with that story. It was my first multi-chapter fanfic, and people were so kind! That was a fun time in my life to get messages on Tumblr about that story and what it meant to people.

What's one aspect of writing fic that gets you really excited?

That anything is possible. We’ll never run out of words or ideas. There is nothing finite about it. The connections I make as a writer to the characters I create in my head and the connection to the readers through comments. It’s beautiful synergy, and I feel blessed to be on this journey right now with my writing!

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Check out Gleefulpoppet’s Fics

A Glimpse at the Life of Anderson & Hummel [aka Verse Table of Contents] -  We're breaking the 4th wall with this one. Read all the juicy details in "A Glimpse at the Life of Anderson & Hummel," an exclusive story by Sabie Blathers for New York magazine In the Know: An Insider’s Guide to Today’s Fanfiction. It *includes* the first look at the Anderson-Hummel infamous spreadsheet.

Please Remind Me Who I Really Am -  He may feel broken, but is there light on the horizon? A glimpse at what happens to Blaine after Chapter 1 in the Pressed Against the Glass story. (You will want to read at least through Chapter 4 in the main story before reading this one-shot).

Two Pumpkins & Twenty Monkeys -  The boys decide to stay home for Halloween, but when Kurt discovers a mysterious box in the back of Blaine's closet, it turns out to be the best decision ever.

#author spotlight: gleefulpoppet

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Gleefulpoppet Day 2

Author Spotlight: @gleefulpoppet​

Share one of your strengths.

I have a vivid imagination. I can see everything happening in my mind and get frustrated when I can’t write fast enough or find the words to explain what I’m seeing. I know this is going to sound weird too, but I hear the boys talking. I simply write down what they are saying. I once heard a famous author describe that in an interview and rolled my eyes. Now I so get it.

Share one of your weaknesses.

I’m an all-or-nothing person. So once I start writing a fanfic, it’s hard for me to stop, and it does affect my “everyday life.” For example, I write when I should be sleeping and then get exhausted and don’t want to work. I’m trying to find balance. It’s almost been a year since I’ve started writing. I hope I find that perfect place soon.

Which fic has been the hardest to write?

As of writing for this interview, it hasn’t been released yet. It’s called Magic Spoken at Midnight. I wrote it for NaNoWriMo in November (2020), and at times I thought I’d never find my way through it, but it owns my whole heart, and I can’t wait to get it out there for people to read. I put it away for a few months so I could look at it with fresh eyes and fix it up this summer. I hope to release it this fall. It’s a fantasy story with dragons and magic and… Yeah. I love it.

Which fic has been the easiest to write?

I’m laughing because once again, as of writing my answers for this interview, it hasn’t been released yet, but I’m finishing up a fic that will probably be done when this is posted. It’s based on the AMAZING fan-made trailer “One More Night.” When I decided to tackle this project, I was afraid I couldn’t write High School—it’s been awhile since I was there. It’s amazing how that comes right back to you. And I’ve had so much fun with it. I’ve written almost 75k words of it in less than a month. So yeah—it flew from my brain to my fingers.

Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

I’d say a passionate-hobby-turned-obsession that turned into therapy. That is what writing is for me, therapy and just plain fun. I can’t go a day without it anymore.

Is there an episode or character or arc above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

Klaine. 100% Klaine. I love those boys, and I LOVE to write them communicating and happy and not playing games with each other. It’s my trope!

In Pressed Against the Glass, I do address the episode “Bash,” which I thought was handled very poorly in the show. That was a very healing process for me to write the boys through that process and see how they could have worked through it and the real-life repercussions. 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

When I did my first NaNoWriMo, there was a pep talk, and I loved this quote. I keep it hanging on my desk.  

Create a first draft. Or, in other words, make a glorious, beautiful, breathtaking mess. ~Charlie Jane Anders

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Write what you know. Seriously? Why? That would be like writing an autobiography with other characters. And most of us know a lot less than we think we do. No, thank you. Instead, I believe that advice should be changed to write what you feel. I try to always sit in the moment and ask myself how it would feel to experience what I’m putting my character through. Can I feel their joy? Can I feel the depth of their pain? I might not have had the same thing happen to me, but I can tap into what pain feels like. When have I experienced the same feelings? And then I write from that place.

If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Magic Spoken at Midnight. I know I said this earlier it’s not released yet, but there are Dragons! And not the scary kind; they are wise and intelligent and the guardians of the earth. If I had to pick one that has already been released at the time of writing this, I’d choose Blackbird Body Art. I think it would be an amusing movie, and I would love to see a Kurt, Blaine, and Elliot friendship on the big screen. I mean, right?

What’s your process? Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines? What are the perfect writing conditions for you?

All of the above! I’ve just run with it the last year and tried everything. Outlines don’t seem to work all the well for me, so the process I seem to use the most is what I call “Story Notes.” I have a Google Doc open at all times, even when I’m working at my “real job,” and if I have a thought for the story no matter how crazy it goes on the main bulleted list and it just keeps getting longer and longer.

Then as I work on chapters, I write the basic plot points down so I can go back and find stuff easily. Once I’ve incorporated an idea from the bulleted list, it gets cut and pasted under the chapter where I used it. It’s hard to explain, but usually, I end up with about a 20-25 page document. What is great about this is that if I need to go back and remember how old someone is or that random co-worker’s name, I can find it easily by looking at my chapter notes.

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Check out Gleefulpoppet’s Fics

Blackbird Body Art -  AU. Kurt owns one of the most sought after body art shops in all of New York. Blaine is celebrating a fresh start and wants to mark the occasion in ink. After two months of waiting for an opening and weeks of searching for the perfect design, he has an appointment at 11 AM. The only problem? New York is having what is being hailed as “The Great Deluge,” it hasn’t rained this much in recorded history.

Pressed Against The Glass -  Is it possible that the most extraordinary love story ever told starts on a chilly October morning in New York with an impromptu twirl and an elbow to a stranger’s face? Kurt wouldn’t have thought so, but when it happens, his heart stops. It’s just one touch, but is that all it takes to believe? Should he take a chance and never look back? But what happens when the stranger runs away, even though he finally feels complete and brought to life? Is it just a dream—or will he let his walls come down? Will they live with regrets or find the love that will make them feel young forever?

The First Night -  [AU] Kurt (a vampire who can mind-read with those he feels a connection to) and Blaine (a werewolf who can sense emotions through chemical releases) are married (finally!) and this is a short glimpse into 30 minutes of their wedding night.

#author spotlight: gleefulpoppet