Hi! Good morning, afternoon or evening, depending on where and when you are. Glad you stopped by.

I really have no business writing stories. Among other things, I’m a waitress, babysitter, big sister, research lab assistant, and biology major, hoping to one day become a researcher, doctor, teacher or something else related to life sciences. I’m also an endorphin junkie; I’m almost as addicted to running as I am to books. If it was possible to run long-distance races for a living without being as good as an Olympic athlete, I probably would. I'm not a health freak, just an addict. Once upon a time I wanted to be a novelist, but now I realize I would REALLY hate having to sit still long enough to write anything worth reading. Plus, I’m nowhere near that talented.

So what am I doing on this website? Good question. I'm still pretty surprised I ended up here actually. I have always been an avid reader. I love all kinds of literature, and I've developed a habit of reading like mad when I'm on break from school, you know, when the words 'free time' actually mean something to me. It's a fun way to indulge my poor, neglected right brain before I have to go back and devote all my mental energy to organic chemistry and calculus. I think there's still some small part of me that wants to be a novelist too.

I’m kind of a late-comer to the Twilight series. I’d never heard of the books or Stephanie Meyer until I saw a preview for the movie back in June. Hmmm, I thought, that looks interesting. I actually read Host first, loved it, and then read the entire Twilight series in less than two weeks. I tried pacing myself to make the books last longer. I failed. I wanted more, and started reading stuff on Ramblings and Thoughts. Then, lo and behold, stories of my own started forming in my head and they wouldn't shut up until I let them out. I didn't even mean to write very much, but what started out as a single scene grew like bamboo as soon as I gave it a little attention. Here's what I've ended up with so far:

A Climate I Enjoy: What does Alice see in Jasper? Written from Jasper's POV after the infamous birthday party.

This is actually the last (and my personal favorite) chapter of Climate Change, but it can stand on its own as a one-shot. I'm being sneaky here and hoping that people who wouldn't read all of Climate Change might read this shorter scene.

Climate Change: Jasper describes himself as “undeniably a nightmare, a monster of the grisliest kind.” How did he end up with Alice and the rest of the Cullens? What was he like before he met them?

Carlisle’s probably my favorite character, but a look inside Jasper’s head was just too fascinating to pass up. I like characters who are a blurry mixture of good and bad… I think most people are that way. I also love stories about redemption and transformation, stories that show no one is so lost they can’t be found. (Think Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Sydney Carton in Tale of Two Cities, Anikan Skywalker in Star Wars, etc.) At the same time, I like Jasper's story because it's not like he woke up one day (metaphorically speaking) and was a totally changed man, er, vampire. It's an uphill struggle, and some days are better than others. This is mainly a character study. If you're looking for suspense and a gripping plot, this isn't it. If you want to explore a couple of Meyer's awesome characters, you've come to the right place. There is also plenty of fluff once Alice shows up.

Career Advice: What vegetarian vampire in his right mind would want to work in a hospital? Bella's not the only one who's ever had some questions for Carlisle...

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the only fanfic ever to be written from the POV of Rachel Black, Jacob's older sister. (Scratch that. Now that Rachel sort of showed up in Breaking Dawn, let me say I wouldn't be surprised if this was the first story written from her POV.) If you’ve read this fic as well as my bio, it’s probably not too hard to see that I mostly wrote this story for myself, although I’d be thrilled if someone else gets something out of it too. I kept wishing I could have a good long conversation with Carlisle, but, of course, he’s a fictional character so it wasn’t going to happen. Or was it? Maybe there was someone else in Meyer-verse who needed to ask the same questions that I did. Rachel was perfect. (Did I mention we even have the same first name?) Even though she started out as just my mouthpiece, she took on a life of her own the more I revised it. And the other cool thing is, it was only when I actually started typing out the conversation that I could 'hear' how Carlisle might respond to all of our questions.

Frightening: Jasper isn't one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. What was really going through his head during the fighting demonstration with Alice?

I'm not infatuated with Jasper, really! If I had to pick a favorite it would be Carlisle, even though I do seem to spend most of my time writing from Jasper's POV. He's an interesting character, and I like to explore his strengths and weaknesses, limitations and priorities. I do like him, not because I admire everything about him, but because I feel like I kind of understand him and can relate to him. Anyway, this story resulted from a conversation with the talented (and incredibly nice) Angeliss. I mentioned that I thought Jasper's little fighting demo with Alice was mainly about convincing himself, not Bella, that she'd be fine. Angeliss said I should write it, so I did. I guess I was trying to explain some of Jasper's behavior in Eclipse (the way I interpret it at least) but not necessarily justify it. Jasper would try to save the people he loves at the expense of innocent people he doesn't know. That's not admirable, but it's not despicable either.

All my stuff is canon compatible. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of very good AU out there. Some of my favorite stories are AU. If everyone is reasonably in character, I don't have a problem with it. I'm just not a fan of the AU fics might as well say, "The following is based on characters and events in the actual book. Only the names, places, personalities, sexual orientations and events have been changed." Sorry, but I think if you want to change everything and everyone beyond recognition, you should just write your own universe and leave Stephanie's alone.

If you're curious about my taste and/or looking for something good to read...

Favorite books (in no particular order): Twilight series, Host, Harry Potter, Speak, Catalyst, The Little Prince, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Kite Runner, Thousand Splendid Suns, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Princess Bride, Pendragon series, Orson Scott Card’s stuff, The Giver, Animorphs, A Wrinkle in Time and the rest of Madeleine L'Engle's books, Secret Life of Bees, Rebecca, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Much Ado about Nothing, Tale of Two Cities, Christmas Carol, Their Eyes were Watching God, all of C.S. Lewis’s stuff (fiction and nonfiction), Heart of Darkness, Time Traveler's Wife, Wuthering Heights, To Kill a Mockingbird, Stardust, Holes, Phantom Tollbooth, Feeling Sorry for Celia, Abhorsen series, His Dark Materials series, Frankenstein, Mahabharata, Outsiders, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Holly Black’s stuff, Unicorn Chronicles, Bridge to Terabethia, Neverending Story, The Green Mile, Strange Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Series of Unfortunate Events, The Robe, Lloyd Alexander’s stuff, Matilda, Boy, Number the Stars, Hiding Place, Wicked, Lovely Bones, Tuck Everlasting, Da Vinci Code, My Sister's Keeper, A Northern Light… yeesh, is anybody still reading this list?

Hmm, anything else? Ah yes, my penname. 'Tis a direct homage to the amazing Douglas Adams.

“The Babel fish is small, yellow and leechlike, and probably the oddest thing in the known universe,” according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which, by the way, is probably the most hilarious book in the known universe. If you haven't read it, do so now. Douglas Adams rocks.

But about me. While I wouldn’t say I’m the oddest thing in the universe, more than one of my friends has said I’m the weirdest person they know. My siblings tell me this at least twice a day. (Case in point: I don't like pizza. Or cheese. I know, that's just not natural, right?) I’ve had 19 years to get used to my oddness, though, so it no longer bothers me when people point it out. Babel fish can also help you understand all kinds of different people, which, I think, is what most storytellers do, whether it's intentional or not. In case you’re wondering, no, I am not small, yellow or leechlike.

And 42, of course, is the answer to life, the universe and everything. If you want to know why, you really should read those books.