AshBax

Interviewer: Nani Leonardo

February 2020

The Fifty Shades trilogy took the world by storm out of nowhere. How did you first hear about it and what were your first impressions?

Honestly, I bought the first book because of the hype but I got busy and shelved it. It was actually a girlfriend of mine, who was really excited about the upcoming first film, that demanded I read because she knew I would love them. So I started reading and couldn't put them down. I was expecting a hot sex book, but it was the characters and the story to drew me in. Christian fascinated me. He's not just this billionaire sex god, (which is great too!), he's a complex broken creature with a huge heart behind all the walls he's put up. So much of him is a mystery. I felt there was a lot more story to be told.

Fifty Shades originally started off as Twilight fanfiction. What made you decide to write your own FS FF?

I couldn't not write it. That's the absolute truth. So many ideas were in my head that I had to get them down on paper. He became my muse of sorts. I had never written fanfiction before, but I had read some, so I sort of knew the world. And I had a history of writing, especially screenwriting. I love erotica as well. I was so excited with the idea of taking this wildly popular character and story and twisting the universe into something unexpected and authentic. In the original trilogy, Christian leaves a lot untold to the readers. I wanted to get into his brain and play.

In the original series, Christian Grey is portrayed as a cold person with a wall built around him to protect his feelings. Your version is quite the opposite. He's insecure and somewhat neurotic (almost to the point of sheer lunacy). Why did you choose to go in this direction of using comedy in your stories?

I can't explain it, but I always saw the comedy there. I come from a dark comedy writing background so that probably helped point me in that direction. To me, the situations were ripe for it. He's such an intense and foreboding character that I felt the comedy softened him. He does a lot of things that Ana gets mad at and says are stalkerish or controlling. I think it's dangerously easy to take his character and make him so over the top intense. My thought process was trying to take his out of control intensity and harness it with humor. I thought, how interesting it would be to see how this cool, masterfully controlled character is actually totally unhinged and vulnerable and lovable and crazy inside. I don't think he had that funny side alive in him until he met Ana and she drove him completely bonkers. It surprises him, and everyone around him, how actually lovably insane he is. He never had anything or anyone he loved before, so this is all new. His whole world flipped and every piece of the puzzle he constructed for himself was thrown in the air in the Ana hurricane.

Certain things from the book just popped out to me that had to be comically written. For instance, Taylor buying the red lipstick for Ana to use on Christian's chest. That was a beautiful moment for Ana and Christian, but I just thought how funny it would be to see the conversation and planning that went on between Christian and Taylor over this. Christian asking him to buy red lipstick alone is funny to me. We also know so little about Taylor that it's fun exploring him too. I like that he's this tough military guy but he's picked out 50 shades of red at the Neiman's cosmetics counter. Pun was definitely intended there.

Also, Christian had never been on a date in his life. How would he plan for it? How would it look? So I have him consult some young guy on YouTube, who annoys him yet who he tries to copy. Of course he'd want everything perfect which meant he'd go overboard, but it all comes from a place of genuine goodness and love.

By the time the kids come along he's lost all of that coldness and it's replaced entirely with the intense crazy lovable side. He is so intense on doing everything right for his family. He so fiercely loves them it borders on insanity, but it's a wonderful thing. His greatest fear is that he'll fail them. But he never does. Quite the opposite.

Many readers have considered your stories to be the funniest in a fandom that many don't find humorous. In fact, your supporting characters could have stories of their own. Would you ever consider writing a spinoff for one of them? Your Jason Taylor has Batman origins written all over him…..

I love that people love the funny I wrote for these characters! It really means so much to me that I could take an otherwise dark, serious story, and add the comedy and lightness and people like it. I really try and develop all the characters to have unique personalities and quirks. I felt in the original books a lot of the lesser characters all sounded kind of alike. Like Welch for example. I couldn't really differentiate between him or Barney or any of those guys. So I tried to make him another big personality character that exasperates Christian but that he desperately needs. Everyone exasperates Christian and I love that about him.

Taylor is the ultimate Alfred from Batman! That's totally the relationship I think of with them. That or Marcy and Peppermint Patty. Except Taylor has an affinity for auto parts, silk pajamas and wooden apples from the Pottery Barn. And he's the bat who never sleeps. I like that he's so odd and mysterious and even in the stories with the kids years later he hasn't figured him all out. There is nothing Taylor won't do for Christian, and it's genuinely because he loves him like family. A spin off story through his eyes would be fun to write. How he sees Christian. I feel like Taylor in many ways is the calm to Christian's storm. He's this faithful anchor who never loses his cool. And they're just so much fun to write as a bromance.

A spin-off story I think needs to be written is Father of the Bride. I don't know if Christian could actually survive that. But he already has the flower guy, matrimonial coordinator and an obsession with planning over the top weddings.

As a writer, what is your thought process when writing your version of these characters? Are you the type of writer who writes without a plan or do you plan everything out through outlines and research?

Two fun facts about me is that I never use an outline and I primarily write my stories on my phone, typing with my right thumb. I plan out generally where I want the story to go, but I really just feel it out in the moment. The dialogue is the most fun for me, especially the funny stuff. It has a real rhythm to it that I like. As an actress, I actually act out a lot of it to see if it feels right and funny. To see if the rhythm is right. I get a lot of weird looks if I forget and do this at a Starbucks.

The FS FF community is very diverse with its readers and writers. What have you learned from writing FF and being involved in a community that most folks brush off as 'mommy porn'?

The community has been so wonderful to me. An open minded, fun, thoughtful group of mainly women who are so supportive of each other. Sure there are trolls out there, but the community itself is incredible.

These books have done so much for women and their sexuality. Women were opening up their minds and trying new things. It took society by storm. Reading, women got more comfortable with what they wanted sexually and wanted to try. Of course, the majority of critics out there are male and dismiss it all as Mommy Porn. It made me angry but then I thought, so what if it is. What's wrong with women getting sexual enjoyment out of them. And why is women's version of "porn" less than men's. It's men judging how women should enjoy themselves.

Being in a community that so embraces new ideas, exploring taboos and creativity on all levels is such a wonderful thing. All writers should have such a support system. I can't say enough how thankful I am to you guys.

Are there any FF stories that you would recommend to your fellow readers?

Christi Whitson is so thoughtful and well written on all of her stories. QB Tyler is fantastic. There are so many good ones out there. So many really talented writers. It's amazing to get a platform like this to show their talents, when in the past people might not be able to. I love that we can write such different kinds of stories and yet appreciate all of them and all of the shades of Christian that have sparked the need for us to write.