Somehow, I completely missed the John Mayer song, New Light, over the summer.  Supposedly it was released around May/June this year.  I've been in a car a lot this summer, so I'm a bit confused that I've never heard it on the radio until this week.  

I've never really been all that into John Mayer.  I've liked a couple of songs, but I've never looked for more, never purchased any of this music, and I don't really think I know that many of his songs.

However, I love this song and have been playing it over and over (I do that a lot when I find a new song I love).

So, do you guys have any songs that you love from an artist you never really gave a lot of thought to?  Any that you seemed to have missed when it was first released and loved when you finally discovered it?

I'll put the video for New Light in the comments section.  It's hysterical in its simplicity.

Hi Campers,

I figure I'll just post even without all the images!  The images make me not post a Bondfire and then weeks pass by.  So here it is. I tried to upload the ADF Bondfire image to a new site and it's not working for me.  I'll post anyway.

For those who have forgotten, the ADF Bondfire post was a semi-regular post for us to get to know each other. It used to be weekly, but if I get to biweekly or monthly, there's hope for me yet!

Here are the questions:

1. username/real name (or nickname if you don't want to reveal)

2. Tell us what you've been up to lately! (I wanted to post in September a Back to School post...so this question is sort of what did you do over your summer break?)

3. Apparently it's the 10th anniversary of the release of the Twilight movies.  I follow Jackson Rathbone on IG.  Who do you (still) follow on social media that's related to the Twi fandom? Which other celebrity or famous person would you (reluctantly) admit to following?

4. What was the first Twific you remember reading?  What's the last one you've read?

5. If you were a contestant on The Voice, who would pick as your coach? Why? (Currently coaches on the American show are: Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Blake Shelton)

6. Which book(s) do you most frequently recommend to others?

7. Fave cold/hot drink?

8. Lastly, if you are dressing up for Halloween, what is your costume?

Feel free to answer 1 or all of the questions.  All lurkers and campers are welcome to join in!

[oh my gosh, how is there not a Jackson Rathbone tage after all these years?]

Fic Dive of the Month
July, Aug, Sept 2018
Results

So many good stories on this month's list of favorites!

Congrats to all of our Faves!
THANK YOU for VOTING!
 

Constable Masen of the RCMP by shouldbecleaning
There, standing at attention in the middle of the platform, was an absolutely perfect representation of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in full red dress uniform. A man dedicated to upholding the law, selfless and humble can be quite attractive. However, this man was sheer beauty before he donned the official mantle. 

The Mountain Between Us by knicnort3
When their plane crashes on a remote Alaskan mountain, two strangers must find a way to work through their differences in order to survive the freezing temperatures and harsh terrain. B/E, AH, HEA 

Begin Again Again by pattyrose
Bella's life philosophy has shifted in the past few years since she reconnected with Edward: Life gets real, and no, you can't start the same batch over...but you can ALWAYS begin again. She likes this one. She's pretty sure this one will stick. But in the face of yet another life-altering event, can she and Edward follow this philosophy, and readjust their lives all over again?

The Whisky Distiller's WifeBy: 2carm2carm2
"She wondered how either God or the law regarded two people who didn't know the first thing about each other entering into a farce of a marriage." A tale of two people navigating life together after the global financial crisis with plenty of Scotch and a wee bit of deception. 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Nolebucgrl
Based on the Netflix movie of the same name. Bella Swan's quiet life gets turned upside down when love letters to her crushes end up in the wrong hands. 

Mysterious Graffiti by Michaelmas54
Knowing something terrible about the future but being unable to warn anyone about what's going to happen without risking your own existence is the dilemma facing Edward Cullen but he decides to take that risk because for once in his life he cares. There's a stealthy build-up to an exciting climax for our Twilight characters. Rated M for the usual reasons. 

Driving Forces by Alyscia
Bella Cullen was about to have everything she had worked toward until she lost the two most important things in her life. Vice president of the legal department in her family's business, she tries to bury her pain in work. All of that changes the day she meets a man that has obviously suffered from a serious trauma. Edward Swan is more than shy; he's scared of everything. 

Seaside Solace by Pandora's Box Is Heavy
A lonely Edward moves back to his hometown to reconnect with his family after four long years away. He never expected a little ray of sunshine- and her mother- to change his life forever. 

Michelle Obama 

Welcome to the Monday Morning Hot Guy Campfire. What better way to start your week than a hot guy?

Every Monday, I'm going to dedicate a CF to the Hot Guy of the Week.The catch? The CF can ONLY be about the current nominated guy. 

We all have different tastes in men, so please don't yuck anyone's yum.If you have a man you'd like to see crowned for the week, PM or hit me up on twitter (@ffcherry) with his name

We can’t help with the fic unless you have the details about what it is about - Batman 

So, I am rapidly approaching my ten year anniversary for when I first started writing fanfiction. I don't remember what day it was exactly, but sometime in January of 2009 was when I first started writing (this is not the same as when I started posting)

As I approach this anniversary, I wanted to talk about what inspired me to write fanfiction. 

Unlike a lot of people, I actually did read Twilight and New Moon before the movie came out or was even officially heard of. I did not, however, read Eclipse... and as we all know Breaking Dawn came out at about the same time as the first movie.

I watched the movie in the theaters and then bought the complete set of books so I had them all. But I didn't actually start reading (rereading in the case of the first two) until after Christmas, because they were my Christmas present to myself. I was finished reading them before 2009 started. Then I got obsessed and I found a ton of extras on Stephenie's website. One such extra was a one-shot from Rosalie's POV. In this one-shot, the opening started out with Meyer explaining why she wrote it and, though I don't remember the exact words, it mentioned something about it being inspired by a fanfiction comp.

After that, I started reading Fanfiction. One of the first stories I ran into was a short from Jenks POV, of all people.

For anyone curious of the story I'm referencing, that would be Priority Client by Eowyn77

This story, and a few other shorts/one-shots from a handful of authors that were canonized, but were from other characters POVs, inspired me to start writing Alice's story. My idea was to write one (very large) story that started with Alice's time in the asylum and ended somewhere post Breaking Dawn. For the record... I only got about a fourth of the way done and the portion of the story that I did write is no longer posted. But back when it was up it went by the totally equivocal title of Alice.

This was not the first story I posted. In fact, Alice was originally to be for my eyes only. The first story I ever posted was inspired by an unfinished New Moon AU. That AU was Crimson Tears by Tee2007. New Moon AUs became an obsession of mine after reading that.

That story inspired me to write one called Five Years Later (no longer posted). From that one touch, I ended up writing almost a dozen different New Moon AUs... (none of them posted any longer).

In 2015 I deleted almost everything I had posted, with the exception of a handful of one-shots and a couple of shorts.

My second real reconnection and inspiration back into writing Fanfic came from Stephenie Meyer's gender-swap Life and Death. After that I've been inspired by a few other things to try other fics and plots I never would have normally written. 

So what inspired you to start writing fanfiction? Or have you ever wanted to write fanfiction, but haven't followed through, and if so why?