Happy December, everyone! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! And we can't wait to see all your SADvent contributions! We're off to a great start already!

Our December SOTM interviews are great! Enjoy.

First up, we have our Author of the Month: Maxine Eden

Tell us how you got into Buffy the show and Buffy fanfic.

Well, you might’ve heard me talking about it on discord, but to keep things light, Buffy as a show was there for me at a very hard time in my life. The show really became an escape for me but also showed me how much of a strong person I could be and how I really had to go on through all of it. I had to keep showing up every day for myself. I had originally watched the show in entirety (along with Angel) probably 3-4 times at other periods in my life so I feel like it definitely came back around when I needed it the most. As for fanfic, well, I knew as I was watching early on reruns of Buffy how much I loved her and Spike. And while I searched other sites, I couldn’t quite find the niche I was wanting until I posted on Reddit and got directed to the Spuffy sites and here I am with no sign of leaving ever. 

Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Everywhere? My gatekeeper Sammi listens to me talk about how this inspired me or that inspired me and how I could turn this idea into Spuffy. Most of my fics are inspired by music though. I love to hear a great song and attribute it to Spike and Buffy in whatever scenario the idea fountain in my brain seems to want to churn out. 

Who is your favorite character to write and why?

I would have to say Buffy. I really feel a lot of similar parallels to how the character was written within my own life and I’ve always loved a badass female lead with a girly side.

Which story of yours are you most proud of and which was the hardest to write?

I think the fic I am most proud of is Cherry On Top which is my first piece of Spuffy fanfic that I wrote. If I hadn’t written that one, I never would’ve written all the other fics I’ve published. The hardest one would probably be a tie between The Boyfriend Swap and Unravelling. One features Buffy/Other which was hard to write even with Spuffy being endgame and Unravelling was hard to write too because of how the characters progressed and what happens to Buffy in that fic. I really had to get into a certain mindset to be able to convey the emotions I wanted to in the latter. 

As a writer, what would you have changed on the show and why?

More Spuffy time? A happy ending for them? No Spike dying on the Hellmouth? They are all great for rewrites but my biggest issue is Buffy always listening to her friends and being scared of their judgement towards her especially when she saves their butts all the time!

We are right there with you on the happy ending for Spuffy, Maxine Eden! Thank goodness we have fanfic! Thank you for your answers! You are outstanding! We are so happy to have you here with us.

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Next up, we have Passion4Spike as our Commenter of the Month: 

Tell us how you got into Buffy the show and Buffy fanfic.

I came to be a BtVS fan after the series had ended in a kind of backwards way: I enjoyed DB in Bones and Christian Kane in Leverage, found them both on ANGEL and I actually watched the entire Angel series before I ever watched any BtVS.  Needless to say, I was on team Angel when I did finally watch Buffy, but that all changed when Spike showed up; he's clearly the OTP for Buffy!

What motivates you to leave comments?

As a writer, I appreciate comments soooo much, so I always try to leave comments for other writers to let them know all the blood, sweat, and tears they put into their writing is worth it!

Do you also write or are you strictly a reader?

I also write. After reading for a long time, I tried my hand at it and fell in love with creating worlds for Spuffy to be happy (and sad and then happy again) in.

Were you a lurker before you started leaving comments or did you comment right away?

I started leaving comments pretty early on because I was so thrilled with the happy endings I was finding, which was clearly missing from the show! It touched my soul so hard, I had to let the writers know that they healed my broken Spuffy heart.

How important is it to receive a reply from the writer when you leave a comment?

I really like having interaction with the writers, but I also understand that writers can get overwhelmed with comments and can't always reply. I do like getting replies, though, because I've made some incredibly great friends that started from comments/replies and evolved into chats and in person meetings. I treasure these life-long connections! 

Personal note:

Thank you so much for the Commentor of the Month honor! I can't tell you how much it means to me. I also want to say, if anyone doesn't know, the reason my story 'Love Lives Here' has stalled is that I lost my home to flooding from Hurricane Helene and have been in survival/recovery mode the last couple of months. I do plan to get back to it and finish it as soon as I have some brain space and emotional bandwidth to spare. 

Passion4Spike, I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say that we absolutely miss your updates, but completely understand. And we all wish you the very best as you rebuild your life. We're here if you need us. We adore you! You're incredible. <3

And that's a wrap, SAD. Have a wonderful December! Stay safe, stay hydrated, and make good choices. ;) 

Happiest of Holidays to you all,
Chelle, Dusty, GetItDone, and Grief Counseling