(forgot to log in, of course, then saw myself commenting as anon)
Hi Jadey, great to hear from you! And I hope all is well with you and yours.
Everything is reasonably all right on my side, thanks. I moved laterally into another company within the group about a year ago - same salary, relatively more work, but the work is more fun and means more short trips within Europe, which I like (but sadly, not the UK; I have not been back since mid-2012). My mother had to have hip replacement surgery last October and is still, relatively speaking, recovering, though it is a net improvement compared to a year ago; the relative upside is that I finally convinced her to move over to Rome, but it will take a year or two to get things organised.
I am very glad to hear that you are getting into Black Sails! I must say it took until season 2 for the show to really hook me (then again, I watched the first two seasons in an overnight binge about a year ago), mostly because, and it is no spoiler to you by now, of being pissed off at Max screwing anything with a pulse and *really* exceeding my mental quota of an acceptable amout of female nudity in a show (male nudity, of course, is another matter ; ) ) ...but trust me, the show's writing quality goes up in season 2 and, it you take the big picture aspects, it gets more interesting again in season 3. I confess I envy you the chance to watch it all for the first time, and would *love* to chat about it when you have seen it. Here in Italy they might show it but the guys I regularly talk to have not heard of it :/
Put very plainly, Vane is Gisborne with a better brain (but wearing the same tight leather pants, mind you :P) and with a total disregard for authority that means that he would never tolerate being bossed about by a dick like Vasey. Eleanor, on the other hand, is a mega bitch who makes Lady Marian look tame and innocuous... but then your mileage may vary, and if so, I'd love to talk that over too :)
I'd love for you to read my latest fic-and-a-bit and to hear what you thought. I really should not beg or especially blackmail, but this is likely the last time I was tempted into fic writing - it took a "perfect storm" of (1) a guy who blew my brain, (2) the "good bad boy / heartless woman" combo that I find irresistible, and (3) an underlying plot that is the closest setting-wise and period-wise to my never-to-be-written original fic (on the upside, I was finally able to use my pirate book collection for meaningful plot research :) ) - much as it would be fun to find more stuff of this kind, the likelihhod is not exactly high. That said, writing it was a month of incredible exhilarating fun that will be a great memory; and it is kind of sweet to have come full circle with this one finally doing what I never did with the old original fic idea.
What are you writing these days? Have you fully switched to writing original fic? Where do you post, Dreamwidth or elsewhere (and do you have links?) Either way, drop me a line here or on Yahoo - and remember to let me know what you thought of the show :)
Glad that you and the family are OK. The boys are sure all grown up now, compared to when I first met you online!
Do you know the dates for your trip yet? I will be away on August 13-21 but should be here before and after those dates, and if our respective plans allow, I might be able to go up to meet you in northern Italy, either Milan or Venice or Verona (or Innsbruck for that matter, though it is more of a question mark), especially if you are at any of these places over a weekend (August 6-7 or Aug 27-28). If you are going to Milan for more than a day, I'd very much recommend a day trip to Varenna on Lake Como, an hour's train ride from central Milan. It will be relatively busy in August, but it is simply too beautiful not to drop by.
I know what you mean about Eleanor; do not remember precisely what she did in ep VI but by the time she kicked Vane out of his own ship in ep III over a matter where his intentions were better than she imagined, without even trying to let him explain, I wanted to smash her head in. In reality her behavior does veer between bona fide bitchiness and an apparently earnest need to do the right thing and/or survive in a cutthroat world by what means she has available, and at various times in seasons 1 and 2 my opinion fluctuated between one and the other; but in the final tally the bitchiness won out.
As for the show in general, I am glad you are giving it a chance beyond season 1. I certainly noticed a quality leap between seasons 1 and 2, and again between seasons 2 and 3. Season 1 has its highlights (or highlight character in my case :) ) but IMO the treasure hunt took up too much of the plot, Vane's slave camp trip took him away from the swing of things for too long, and I was annoyed beyond words at fucking Max (literally, too :P ) - she is not a bad sort as a character, but I still am no fan; that said, I have to admit that she is less grating in later seasons. As for season 2, if you like Rupert Penry Jones (I am afraid I don't), you are in for a treat.
I seem to find that fic writing, unfortunately, is not an indefinite pastime, so I know what you mean about seemingly having exhausted the options. I wonder if it is because we both tend to be relatively picky about the shows or fictional universes we like and so tend(ed) to give it our best, so that it is harder to get excited by other/new stuff and to invent fresh plots. I love writing so much that I find it sad, and yet cannot do anything about it - I've always had fairly short favourite book/TV show/etc shortlists and cannot write in a dozen fandoms as some others do; and your Robin Hood stories are such an epic masterpiece that I can see how embarking on another writing experience like that may be a challenge. By multichapter Robin Hood fics, do you mean Choice and Endgame, or have you written others since (and if yes, where are they found?)
In my case with Jeopardy and Prize, I had a pretty self-contained plot that took about 45K words between the two stories, which is why I was able to type it up in a month. Talking about historical detail, I was hugely helped by a very detailed real account (Captain Charles Johnson's book published in 1724) where I was able to borrow significant plot twists from the real Charles Vane's life, down to dialogue lines - at times I felt I should list him as co-author :) If you get to the point of reading Jeopardy, you will see the extracts from Johnson's book that I re-typed after the relevant chapters (alternatively I can send you the stuff with all the notes in Word).
I read your short stories on FictionPress and started reading the drabbles; it never fails to impress me how much you manage to convey while using words sparingly, without delving into stylistic flourishes - it is very elegant writing, and the short story/drabble format really shows it off. I loved the surprise twists at the end of some of the drabbles, too! I wonder if there can be a way to string these, or similar mini-stories, along an overarching framework/plot, however loose, e.g. by using a common observer/narrator, so as to bring them together into a longer book that could be published - assuming that you would consider it.
Hi Jadey, great to hear from you! And I hope all is well with you and yours.
Everything is reasonably all right on my side, thanks. I moved laterally into another company within the group about a year ago - same salary, relatively more work, but the work is more fun and means more short trips within Europe, which I like (but sadly, not the UK; I have not been back since mid-2012). My mother had to have hip replacement surgery last October and is still, relatively speaking, recovering, though it is a net improvement compared to a year ago; the relative upside is that I finally convinced her to move over to Rome, but it will take a year or two to get things organised.
I am very glad to hear that you are getting into Black Sails! I must say it took until season 2 for the show to really hook me (then again, I watched the first two seasons in an overnight binge about a year ago), mostly because, and it is no spoiler to you by now, of being pissed off at Max screwing anything with a pulse and *really* exceeding my mental quota of an acceptable amout of female nudity in a show (male nudity, of course, is another matter ; ) ) ...but trust me, the show's writing quality goes up in season 2 and, it you take the big picture aspects, it gets more interesting again in season 3. I confess I envy you the chance to watch it all for the first time, and would *love* to chat about it when you have seen it. Here in Italy they might show it but the guys I regularly talk to have not heard of it :/
Put very plainly, Vane is Gisborne with a better brain (but wearing the same tight leather pants, mind you :P) and with a total disregard for authority that means that he would never tolerate being bossed about by a dick like Vasey. Eleanor, on the other hand, is a mega bitch who makes Lady Marian look tame and innocuous... but then your mileage may vary, and if so, I'd love to talk that over too :)
I'd love for you to read my latest fic-and-a-bit and to hear what you thought. I really should not beg or especially blackmail, but this is likely the last time I was tempted into fic writing - it took a "perfect storm" of (1) a guy who blew my brain, (2) the "good bad boy / heartless woman" combo that I find irresistible, and (3) an underlying plot that is the closest setting-wise and period-wise to my never-to-be-written original fic (on the upside, I was finally able to use my pirate book collection for meaningful plot research :) ) - much as it would be fun to find more stuff of this kind, the likelihhod is not exactly high. That said, writing it was a month of incredible exhilarating fun that will be a great memory; and it is kind of sweet to have come full circle with this one finally doing what I never did with the old original fic idea.
What are you writing these days? Have you fully switched to writing original fic? Where do you post, Dreamwidth or elsewhere (and do you have links?) Either way, drop me a line here or on Yahoo - and remember to let me know what you thought of the show :)
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Do you know the dates for your trip yet? I will be away on August 13-21 but should be here before and after those dates, and if our respective plans allow, I might be able to go up to meet you in northern Italy, either Milan or Venice or Verona (or Innsbruck for that matter, though it is more of a question mark), especially if you are at any of these places over a weekend (August 6-7 or Aug 27-28). If you are going to Milan for more than a day, I'd very much recommend a day trip to Varenna on Lake Como, an hour's train ride from central Milan. It will be relatively busy in August, but it is simply too beautiful not to drop by.
I know what you mean about Eleanor; do not remember precisely what she did in ep VI but by the time she kicked Vane out of his own ship in ep III over a matter where his intentions were better than she imagined, without even trying to let him explain, I wanted to smash her head in. In reality her behavior does veer between bona fide bitchiness and an apparently earnest need to do the right thing and/or survive in a cutthroat world by what means she has available, and at various times in seasons 1 and 2 my opinion fluctuated between one and the other; but in the final tally the bitchiness won out.
As for the show in general, I am glad you are giving it a chance beyond season 1. I certainly noticed a quality leap between seasons 1 and 2, and again between seasons 2 and 3. Season 1 has its highlights (or highlight character in my case :) ) but IMO the treasure hunt took up too much of the plot, Vane's slave camp trip took him away from the swing of things for too long, and I was annoyed beyond words at fucking Max (literally, too :P ) - she is not a bad sort as a character, but I still am no fan; that said, I have to admit that she is less grating in later seasons. As for season 2, if you like Rupert Penry Jones (I am afraid I don't), you are in for a treat.
I seem to find that fic writing, unfortunately, is not an indefinite pastime, so I know what you mean about seemingly having exhausted the options. I wonder if it is because we both tend to be relatively picky about the shows or fictional universes we like and so tend(ed) to give it our best, so that it is harder to get excited by other/new stuff and to invent fresh plots. I love writing so much that I find it sad, and yet cannot do anything about it - I've always had fairly short favourite book/TV show/etc shortlists and cannot write in a dozen fandoms as some others do; and your Robin Hood stories are such an epic masterpiece that I can see how embarking on another writing experience like that may be a challenge. By multichapter Robin Hood fics, do you mean Choice and Endgame, or have you written others since (and if yes, where are they found?)
In my case with Jeopardy and Prize, I had a pretty self-contained plot that took about 45K words between the two stories, which is why I was able to type it up in a month. Talking about historical detail, I was hugely helped by a very detailed real account (Captain Charles Johnson's book published in 1724) where I was able to borrow significant plot twists from the real Charles Vane's life, down to dialogue lines - at times I felt I should list him as co-author :) If you get to the point of reading Jeopardy, you will see the extracts from Johnson's book that I re-typed after the relevant chapters (alternatively I can send you the stuff with all the notes in Word).
I read your short stories on FictionPress and started reading the drabbles; it never fails to impress me how much you manage to convey while using words sparingly, without delving into stylistic flourishes - it is very elegant writing, and the short story/drabble format really shows it off. I loved the surprise twists at the end of some of the drabbles, too! I wonder if there can be a way to string these, or similar mini-stories, along an overarching framework/plot, however loose, e.g. by using a common observer/narrator, so as to bring them together into a longer book that could be published - assuming that you would consider it.
Reply
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