Dear Yuletide Writer 2018
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Yuletide!
First off, I'm a fan of fandom and grateful to receive something that you've created in a fandom we both enjoy.
Likes:I particularly like gen-fic, het and femslash. Anything that involves women. Boyslash in stories that give women equal time is also great. Smart characters and/or smart-asses are a real weakness. Wordplay and wit are my kryptonite and I enjoy all the crazy allusions or meta references you may want to employ. I'm a sucker for competence porn which includes domestic skills as well as professional work - if you want to write a story about baking cookies, repairing a transmission, or curing a plague, I'll be right there with the characters, soaking it all in.
You don't have to bring on sexy times but feel free to go there. I love plotty and PWP stories equally. If you like to launch AUs or delve into meta, I think they are fabulous options. Humour, angst, action: those are also fantastic.
Dislikes: I'm not keen on gore, horror and dark hurt/comfort, definitely not so much with death, torture or sadism. Please, no zombies or a lot of bodily fluids. There can be dark themes, there can loss as life goes on, but not endless bloodbaths, please? I also don't like character slams and I'm definitely not here for dissing women.
Overall, I'm delighted that you're in love with fandoms and fanworks the way that I am too. Make yourself at home and all that, k?
All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness
Characters: Any
I've
been a fan of this series of books from the get-go. Now we have a new book and a new television series: A Discovery of Witches (starring Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer) but the trilogy stands on its own if you've not seen the show which isn't airing in North America until early 2019).There are rare books and the history of science and magical time travel back to the Elizabethan era and horses. This is my catnip, people.
Insta-primer: Supernatural creatures are among humans, right in plain sight, and have been for centuries - witches, vampires, and daemons (creative & genius types) - and Diana Bishop is doing her best to deny her nature as a witch, until she touches a mysterious manuscript in the Bodleian library. That book and herself draw the interest of all sorts of creatures, intensified by her romantic relationship with the dangerous vampire, Matthew Clairmont. Nominated characters also include Matthew's mother/maker, Ysabeau, and her husband, Philippe. You'll also find on the list Miriam Shephard and Marcus Whitmore, two vampires who work with Matthew in his Oxford lab, but whose long history with the man run in very different directions, Sarah Bishop - Diana's aunt, and her partner, Emily Mather, are other witches who're fun to learn about and I haven't even touched on the daemons who're part of the storyline.
Prompts & ideas: The vampire characters all have long lives, Philippe, Ysabeau and Miriam go back to antiquity, I believe, so you could focus on a historical event for any of those characters. Miriam's pretty awesome at science - I wonder if she ever worked with Marie Curie? Or tell me about how Marcus became such a surfer type and accumulated his vast collection of slogan t-shirts? Sarah's own witchcraft training, using the Bishop grimoire, might be wonderful to explain or something of her romantic relationship with Emily. For more romance, Ysabeau and Philippe have a fascinating, if sometimes unfathomable relationship, or Miriam's heartbreaking loss might draw you in. Marcus and Phoebe offer a modern relationship which has only been touched on in last month's latest release: Time's Convert.
Diana
is a researcher - you could write about her connections to the academic world, going to conferences, publishing, teaching. Or just having the joy of working with old books! Diana can time-walk. How about she and Matthew go back to the Regency era to explore something of the time or she takes the opportunity to meet her subject of study, Elias Ashmole, by going back to the seventeenth century? Or something going in to the back stories of the Bishop house and how it started all the magical hauntings of the family?
Maybe a cross-over if you're so inclined? Whether taking up with another magical world or something more prosaic - a meeting between Diana Bishop and other interesting women - Murphy Brown, say, or Lois Lane? If you're inspired by the series, feel free to riff off of that but I'm a happy book fan and pleased as punch to see what you make of Harkness' characters in whatever way you wish.
Glamourist Histories Series - Mary Robinette Kowal
Characters: Jane Vincent, David Vincent
Things to know: Five books that riff off a conceit: what if Jane Austen's world had included magic? Jane is the plain, magically-accomplished older sister who attracts the admiration of a taciturn but skilled glamourist David Vincent. Over the course of the books they become a couple and are closely intertwined in each other's worlds. David has dark secrets from his past and a family full of betrayal and pain. The two of them are caught up in the Napoleonic Wars, travelling the continent, and beyond to the Caribbean, where a plantation and more connections unfold. Kowal is meticulous in her research - she herself made the exquisite dress that features on the cover of the last book (story on Tor.com).
Prompts galore: Are you interested in Jane's relationship with her sister, Melody? Whether before the books, when Jane is still perfecting her glamours and Melody is contemplating her entry into the social world, or beyond when Melody is married, a mother, and far more assertive. Or explore something of David's twisted family tree - his new relations from the Caribbean second families, his remaining brother and sisters from his English kin, and his mother, all pose interesting possibilities for a family vignette.
Perhaps you would like an AU? Maybe one where Jane and her husband live out their lives amidst the Blitz or struggle with the more complicated geo-politics of the twenty-first century? Combat glamourists or spy glamourists? That could be amazing. How about Jane late in life, continuing to innovate, write, and explore the world around her? Maybe they explore more about glamour in the wide, wide world - meeting up with indigenous glamourists who have travelled to the imperial centre, or conferring with Russian glamourists in their own journeys? Or a meeting with some familiar Austen characters - the Wentworths from Persuasion would likely be a good social fit with our pair. Have fun, whatever you do!
Kate and Cecelia - Caroline Stevermer & Patricia Wrede
Characters: Any
Have you read these books? I still treasure my battered first edition of Sorcery and Cecelia. It's another, maybe the original!, magical Regency world, thankyouverymuch. (Moves ahead to early Victorian times by the third book. These books have been around for a while and I'm still always charmed by the epistolary storylines unfolding between Kate and Cecelia (and their husbands, Thomas and James), as the series has progressed. Kate and Thomas form one pole in the stories with Cecelia and her husband, James, at the other. Cecelia and Thomas are both magicians, Kate and Thomas are enthusiastic investigators and supporters of the magical works of their respective partners.
Some story ideas: While the epistolary element is wonderful in the books, you could break out of that vein to bring Cecelia and Kate face to face. Maybe this time they're writing back to Thomas and James about their adventure while the men are stuck in London, managing political obligations that keep them pinned in the capital? Possibly there is a house party where we have a magical mystery to investigate (husbands optional!)? Or possibly a mysterious package delivered to one or the other family that brings peril or powerful problems to manage? Maybe there is a(nother) threat to the royal family that only their intrepid mix of magic and mayhem can solve - you could follow up on the connections that were made during the third book and see how a certain royal princess remembers her helpful subjects years later?
Feel free to venture far afield - you can try an AU in Roman Britain, perhaps, or during the Civil War (which apparently had quite the magical element to it, as we read about in The Mislaid Magician. Perhaps you would venture a cross-over? How about with Temeraire and the dragon corps? I could see Kate and/or James as a dragon captain and how about working magic into the warfare with Thomas or Cecelia as equally impressive battle mages, all there to help defeat Napoleon once and for all! Whatever your interest is, I'll be pleased as punch with the results.
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Characters: Elinor Dashwood (S&S 1995), Margaret Dashwood (S&S 1995)
I adore this movie and the ways in which Emma Thompson expanded on the very skimpy sisterly story of eldest and youngest that the novel provides. Elinor is the epitome of capability and cleverness and Margaret is so energetic, passionate, and full of possibilities. Margaret is young enough to be swayed towards one sister's model or the other. The Dashwood sisters are the heart of the story but the entire cast is amazing - feel free to incorporate any characters that you'd like from the movie because I'm certain to appreciate that.
Where to go? Obviously, piracy is our only option. No, it's not the only option, but it is a fun thread from the film adaptation. Maybe a grown-up Margaret goes to see and seeks out her adventure, writing Elinor letters from her pirate ship (real or imaginary) and brandishing a sword or wielding a pen while she challenges convention? Or we could have a study of Margaret, on the verge of adulthood, visiting the rectory where Elinor keeps house and thinking about her perspectives on maps and adventures while helping Elinor in the garden or wrapping holiday gifts for the servants.
Maybe you're interested in exploring the changes that come to the women's lives with the end of the film?
How about a story that's set between Elinor's wedding to Edward and Marianne's to the colonel where Margaret deals with the reality of her sisters' departures from the cozy cottage home? There's the happy anticipation of a grand celebration and the sad worries about how her life will feel so limited in the cottage with their mother. Maybe all three of the sisters, keeping in touch over the years - you could have an epistolary turn or maybe some artifacts that Margaret preserves to bring back memories of their bonds? What about Margaret's own wedding day?
Note: I don't like breaking up the happy endings of the film, so keep Elinor/Edward and Marianne/Brandon humming along nicely, please!
Looking forward to seeing what our Yuletide brings! X-posted from Dreamwidth. (
comments there.)
First off, I'm a fan of fandom and grateful to receive something that you've created in a fandom we both enjoy.
Likes:I particularly like gen-fic, het and femslash. Anything that involves women. Boyslash in stories that give women equal time is also great. Smart characters and/or smart-asses are a real weakness. Wordplay and wit are my kryptonite and I enjoy all the crazy allusions or meta references you may want to employ. I'm a sucker for competence porn which includes domestic skills as well as professional work - if you want to write a story about baking cookies, repairing a transmission, or curing a plague, I'll be right there with the characters, soaking it all in.
You don't have to bring on sexy times but feel free to go there. I love plotty and PWP stories equally. If you like to launch AUs or delve into meta, I think they are fabulous options. Humour, angst, action: those are also fantastic.
Dislikes: I'm not keen on gore, horror and dark hurt/comfort, definitely not so much with death, torture or sadism. Please, no zombies or a lot of bodily fluids. There can be dark themes, there can loss as life goes on, but not endless bloodbaths, please? I also don't like character slams and I'm definitely not here for dissing women.
Overall, I'm delighted that you're in love with fandoms and fanworks the way that I am too. Make yourself at home and all that, k?
All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness
Characters: Any
I've
been a fan of this series of books from the get-go. Now we have a new book and a new television series: A Discovery of Witches (starring Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer) but the trilogy stands on its own if you've not seen the show which isn't airing in North America until early 2019).There are rare books and the history of science and magical time travel back to the Elizabethan era and horses. This is my catnip, people.
Insta-primer: Supernatural creatures are among humans, right in plain sight, and have been for centuries - witches, vampires, and daemons (creative & genius types) - and Diana Bishop is doing her best to deny her nature as a witch, until she touches a mysterious manuscript in the Bodleian library. That book and herself draw the interest of all sorts of creatures, intensified by her romantic relationship with the dangerous vampire, Matthew Clairmont. Nominated characters also include Matthew's mother/maker, Ysabeau, and her husband, Philippe. You'll also find on the list Miriam Shephard and Marcus Whitmore, two vampires who work with Matthew in his Oxford lab, but whose long history with the man run in very different directions, Sarah Bishop - Diana's aunt, and her partner, Emily Mather, are other witches who're fun to learn about and I haven't even touched on the daemons who're part of the storyline.
Prompts & ideas: The vampire characters all have long lives, Philippe, Ysabeau and Miriam go back to antiquity, I believe, so you could focus on a historical event for any of those characters. Miriam's pretty awesome at science - I wonder if she ever worked with Marie Curie? Or tell me about how Marcus became such a surfer type and accumulated his vast collection of slogan t-shirts? Sarah's own witchcraft training, using the Bishop grimoire, might be wonderful to explain or something of her romantic relationship with Emily. For more romance, Ysabeau and Philippe have a fascinating, if sometimes unfathomable relationship, or Miriam's heartbreaking loss might draw you in. Marcus and Phoebe offer a modern relationship which has only been touched on in last month's latest release: Time's Convert.
Diana
is a researcher - you could write about her connections to the academic world, going to conferences, publishing, teaching. Or just having the joy of working with old books! Diana can time-walk. How about she and Matthew go back to the Regency era to explore something of the time or she takes the opportunity to meet her subject of study, Elias Ashmole, by going back to the seventeenth century? Or something going in to the back stories of the Bishop house and how it started all the magical hauntings of the family?
Maybe a cross-over if you're so inclined? Whether taking up with another magical world or something more prosaic - a meeting between Diana Bishop and other interesting women - Murphy Brown, say, or Lois Lane? If you're inspired by the series, feel free to riff off of that but I'm a happy book fan and pleased as punch to see what you make of Harkness' characters in whatever way you wish.
Glamourist Histories Series - Mary Robinette Kowal
Characters: Jane Vincent, David Vincent
Things to know: Five books that riff off a conceit: what if Jane Austen's world had included magic? Jane is the plain, magically-accomplished older sister who attracts the admiration of a taciturn but skilled glamourist David Vincent. Over the course of the books they become a couple and are closely intertwined in each other's worlds. David has dark secrets from his past and a family full of betrayal and pain. The two of them are caught up in the Napoleonic Wars, travelling the continent, and beyond to the Caribbean, where a plantation and more connections unfold. Kowal is meticulous in her research - she herself made the exquisite dress that features on the cover of the last book (story on Tor.com).
Prompts galore: Are you interested in Jane's relationship with her sister, Melody? Whether before the books, when Jane is still perfecting her glamours and Melody is contemplating her entry into the social world, or beyond when Melody is married, a mother, and far more assertive. Or explore something of David's twisted family tree - his new relations from the Caribbean second families, his remaining brother and sisters from his English kin, and his mother, all pose interesting possibilities for a family vignette.
Perhaps you would like an AU? Maybe one where Jane and her husband live out their lives amidst the Blitz or struggle with the more complicated geo-politics of the twenty-first century? Combat glamourists or spy glamourists? That could be amazing. How about Jane late in life, continuing to innovate, write, and explore the world around her? Maybe they explore more about glamour in the wide, wide world - meeting up with indigenous glamourists who have travelled to the imperial centre, or conferring with Russian glamourists in their own journeys? Or a meeting with some familiar Austen characters - the Wentworths from Persuasion would likely be a good social fit with our pair. Have fun, whatever you do!
Kate and Cecelia - Caroline Stevermer & Patricia Wrede
Characters: Any
Have you read these books? I still treasure my battered first edition of Sorcery and Cecelia. It's another, maybe the original!, magical Regency world, thankyouverymuch. (Moves ahead to early Victorian times by the third book. These books have been around for a while and I'm still always charmed by the epistolary storylines unfolding between Kate and Cecelia (and their husbands, Thomas and James), as the series has progressed. Kate and Thomas form one pole in the stories with Cecelia and her husband, James, at the other. Cecelia and Thomas are both magicians, Kate and Thomas are enthusiastic investigators and supporters of the magical works of their respective partners.
Some story ideas: While the epistolary element is wonderful in the books, you could break out of that vein to bring Cecelia and Kate face to face. Maybe this time they're writing back to Thomas and James about their adventure while the men are stuck in London, managing political obligations that keep them pinned in the capital? Possibly there is a house party where we have a magical mystery to investigate (husbands optional!)? Or possibly a mysterious package delivered to one or the other family that brings peril or powerful problems to manage? Maybe there is a(nother) threat to the royal family that only their intrepid mix of magic and mayhem can solve - you could follow up on the connections that were made during the third book and see how a certain royal princess remembers her helpful subjects years later?
Feel free to venture far afield - you can try an AU in Roman Britain, perhaps, or during the Civil War (which apparently had quite the magical element to it, as we read about in The Mislaid Magician. Perhaps you would venture a cross-over? How about with Temeraire and the dragon corps? I could see Kate and/or James as a dragon captain and how about working magic into the warfare with Thomas or Cecelia as equally impressive battle mages, all there to help defeat Napoleon once and for all! Whatever your interest is, I'll be pleased as punch with the results.
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Characters: Elinor Dashwood (S&S 1995), Margaret Dashwood (S&S 1995)
I adore this movie and the ways in which Emma Thompson expanded on the very skimpy sisterly story of eldest and youngest that the novel provides. Elinor is the epitome of capability and cleverness and Margaret is so energetic, passionate, and full of possibilities. Margaret is young enough to be swayed towards one sister's model or the other. The Dashwood sisters are the heart of the story but the entire cast is amazing - feel free to incorporate any characters that you'd like from the movie because I'm certain to appreciate that.
Where to go? Obviously, piracy is our only option. No, it's not the only option, but it is a fun thread from the film adaptation. Maybe a grown-up Margaret goes to see and seeks out her adventure, writing Elinor letters from her pirate ship (real or imaginary) and brandishing a sword or wielding a pen while she challenges convention? Or we could have a study of Margaret, on the verge of adulthood, visiting the rectory where Elinor keeps house and thinking about her perspectives on maps and adventures while helping Elinor in the garden or wrapping holiday gifts for the servants.
Maybe you're interested in exploring the changes that come to the women's lives with the end of the film?
How about a story that's set between Elinor's wedding to Edward and Marianne's to the colonel where Margaret deals with the reality of her sisters' departures from the cozy cottage home? There's the happy anticipation of a grand celebration and the sad worries about how her life will feel so limited in the cottage with their mother. Maybe all three of the sisters, keeping in touch over the years - you could have an epistolary turn or maybe some artifacts that Margaret preserves to bring back memories of their bonds? What about Margaret's own wedding day?
Note: I don't like breaking up the happy endings of the film, so keep Elinor/Edward and Marianne/Brandon humming along nicely, please!
Looking forward to seeing what our Yuletide brings! X-posted from Dreamwidth. (
comments there.)