Twilight Fan Fiction History of Gabriel’s Inferno

Indie romance novelist Sylvain Reynard has landed a “substantial seven-figure deal” with Penguin Group’s Berkley imprint for Gabriel’s Inferno and Gabriel’s Rapture, a series that began as Twilight fan fiction.

This book was born as a serialized Twilight fan fiction story called The University of Edward Masen (abbreviated as UOEM by readers) written under the pen name Sebastien Robichaud. The original manuscript has been removed and the site for Robichaud has been deleted.

Using the Wayback Machine and other tools, we were able to take snapshots from Reynard’s old work under that pseudonym–archiving the book’s fan fiction history (like we did for E. L. James and Fifty Shades of Grey). We’ve included excerpts from the notes below, click on the individual links to explore the pages for yourself.

Although the manuscript has been deleted, GalleyCat has obtained a copy of The University of Edward Masen. Here are the first few paragraphs, a work of Twilight fan fiction about a college professor named Edward and a graduate student named Bella Swan.

―. . . Miss Swan?

The professor‘s velvet voice laved across the seminar room to the brown eyed young woman who was seated at the back.

Lost in thought, or lost in translation, her head was down as she scribbled furiously in her notebook.

Ten pairs of eyes swung to her, to the pale face and long lashes, the small, white fingers clutching at a pen. And then ten pairs of eyes swung back to the professor, who stood perfectly still and began to scowl.

―Ahem. A modest cough at her elbow caught the woman‘s attention.

She glanced in surprise at the broad shouldered man sitting next to her. He smiled softly, and then flicked his eyes to his right, back to the professor.

She followed his gaze slowly, and then looked up through her lashes into a pair of angry, peering green eyes. She swallowed noisily.

Here is the same scene in Gabriel’s Inferno, a book about a college professor named Gabriel Emerson and a graduate student named Julia Mitchell.

“Miss Mitchell?”

…

Professor Gabriel Emerson’s voice carried across the seminar room to the attractive brown-eyed young woman who was seated at the back.

Lost in thought, or lost in translation, her head was down as she scribbled furiously in her notebook.

Ten pairs of eyes swung to her, to her pale face and long lashes, her thin white fingers clutching a pen. Then ten pairs of eyes swung back to the professor, who stood perfectly still and began to scowl. His scathing demeanor contrasted sharply with the overall symmetry of his features, his large, expressive eyes, and full mouth. He was ruggedly handsome, but in that moment bitterly severe, which rather ruined the overall pleasing effect of his appearance.

“Ahem.” A modest cough to her right caught the woman’s attention.

She glanced in surprise at the broad-shouldered man sitting next to her. He smiled and flicked his eyes to the front of the room, back to the professor.

She followed his gaze slowly, looking up into a pair of angry, peering blue eyes. She swallowed noisily.

In an interview at The Wayward Pushers blog, Robichaud explained why fan fiction was a powerful writing tool:

I used Twilight FF as an opportunity to try my hand at fiction writing. Part of the answer to this question is that UOEM is an adult retelling of Twilight, so that even if one ignored the Dantean elements, one would see that it is fairly canonical.

The interview also posted a promotional image for Robichaud’s book that made the fan fiction elements clear:

While the original website for Robichaud for no longer exists, we used the Wayback Machine to explore the archives.

In May 2010, Robichaud posted this message:

Dear Everyone,

Welcome to my website.

As you can see, information related to my story “The University of Edward Masen” is gathered here under a set of tabs to the right.

There is also the possibility of emailing me directly through the site.

I’ll be posting teasers here on Tuesdays and also keeping you updated about my posting schedule.

If you’re interested in seeing where Edward and Bella stayed in Belize (Chapter 31), see the following:

http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/central-america/belize/turtle-inn/gallery

In the future, I’ll post announcements on future writing projects, interviews, etc.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend who designed the site and made this a reality and also to jennde, who betas UOEM.

Thanks for visiting,

SR

Dear Everyone,

As this is the last chapter, I have copious notes.

Finally, Robichaud posted this message in January 2011, the last recorded page since the page for The University of Edward Masen was taken off the Internet. Gabriel’s Inferno would be released by Omnific Publishing in April 2011.

Dear Everyone,

I’ve debated for weeks whether or not to post a public response to all of the private messages, the board posts, the emails, etc., about my story. After much consideration and thanks to the urging of some dear friends and supportive readers, I’ve decided that it was necessary to clear the air.

To answer the main question I’ve received…

Yes, at one point when asked on the Twilighted forums if I’d “Pull the story like the author of ‘In the Land of Milk and Honey’ did,” my response was “No, I wouldn’t do that.” From my understanding, that author pulled the story without completing it and was never heard from again. I had no intention of treating my readers like that and I didn’t. And at that time, I never thought publishing the story was even a possibility.

After much consideration, and at the urging of my readers, I began the process of rewriting it at the same time I was completing the online version. I prepared another outline, making the changes that I thought were necessary, before querying Omnific. I didn’t remove the story until after it was completed. Then, I posted two epilogues to the story. One of which was written for a friend and one for charity, and I completed the FGB outtakes for the donors. In other words, I didn’t disappear.

In taking a risk by submitting my manuscript for publication, I was listening to the thousands of messages sent to me by readers who wanted the story to be published. So of course I didn’t expect a backlash at the publication’s announcement. In fact, the reaction of some, including those I called friends, has greatly surprised me.

Yes, I changed my mind. It was with much affection and gratitude to my readers that I wrote and completed the story, and it was the affection and encouragement that was given to me by you, the readers, that led me to this decision. While I hope to retain and enjoy the support of a community that I esteem, it seems that some have found this decision to be unforgivable. For that, I am and will always be saddened. I wrote a story about forgiveness, love and redemption for you, the readers, and I hope that since the words spoke to so many of you, others will enjoy it as well.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for the encouragement I’ve received in this community. I’ve met some of the kindest, most generous people, and for that I am truly grateful.

All the best,
SR

Editor’s Note: Anne Jamison reminds us that you can still read other work by Robichaud at FanFiction.net.