Happy belated birthday, Connie!
Well, it had been my plan to use the “empty” time in early February-during which no one on my flist who declares a birthday on her infopage actually has a birthday-to post tributes for the folks who have no birthday posted. Then I find out that Connie’s birthday was yesterday! (I cheated and attempted to back-date this entry to the 13th, in hopes that I could get it right next year . . . but apparently those entries appear in one's archive but not on the Friends' List! Well, that's one way to learn LJ's vagaries!) So happy belated birthday to Connie, a.k.a. riani1. I spent eight years of graduate school in her home state, so whenever I read her LJ posts, among other things, I am recalling typical Utah weather for that time of year.
But when I read her wonderful stories, I am definitely not thinking about the dangers of freezing pipes or dehydration (the two weather extremes I no longer worry about, here in SoCal). Connie writes in the Whedonverse and in AUs derived from it. Her work is character-rich, sensual, and wonderful whether it comes in the form of a short sketch or a long, complex tale. She's a devotee of slash, particularly Spander, although there are forays into other pairings, notably Giles/Ethan. Connie is yet another fine author I discovered at http://www.allaboutspike.com, where you can find her writing under the pen name "Two Ladies of Quality." You can find even more at her website: http://www.twoladiesofquality.com/. There are three long stories here, plus shorter works which are hidden behind the title "Alternatives"; these last and a few others can also be found by clicking on "Main Index." Myself, I always like to check out a new writer by reading a short but characteristic piece before committing to something longer. Not that one can’t just quit reading, but somehow that always makes me feel guilty . . . and worried that I might have gotten hooked if I just read a bit further. Not that this will be an issue with Connie's work, but, still . . .
A lovely, brief, tender piece, accessible to all readers, is "Left Side." Her most recent short piece, "The Neighbor," is a clever and charming outsider's view of the Scoobies. "To Every Maze a Map" takes a clear, compassionate look at the tangled emotions between Spike, Xander, and Angel during Spike's time in the basement. One of the stories I keep coming back to experience again and again is "Guilt." It’s Spander, with echoes of Angelus. It's sexy, yes, but that isn't what it’s about; I find it a wonderful story about love which isn't a love story in any conventional sense. That it is also very sensual and visual, with dead-on voices and character interaction, certainly doesn't hurt, either. And her choice of POV here is, I think, one of the things that makes it work so well. I find every single line of it exactly right; I adore it. To tempt you, here's the direct link to the actual page: http://www.twoladiesofquality.com/guilt.html. If you found this as delicious and heart-tugging as I always do, try "Steam" and its sequel "Touch" (under "Alternatives"). Then go to the "Afterwards" series. (As a Spander fan, I'd start here, where a post-NFA Spike ends up in London: http://www.twoladiesofquality.com/afterwards.html. Then go backwards to catch up on Ethan and Giles, Willow and Kennedy, and more, in the final days of BtVS.)
Then check out the two other longer series. "Career Change" and sequel "Career Advancement" feature a vamped Giles, with all the interesting internal conflicts a Watcher-turned-creature-of-the-night could experience, especially when he must turn to Spike for help as a fledge. "Nessuno" is about as AU as one can get, so I avoided it for quite some time: a huge mistake, as I realized once I began it. If you find the idea of Xander as a novice and Spike/William as a mercenary during the Renaissance a bit of a stretch, just try thinking of these characters being played in a movie by Xander and Spike (not Nick and James). I can't explain it better than that, but that's the leap of imagination that works for me. Or read it as original fiction; either way, it's an intriguing and surprisingly yet quietly endearing story.
I certainly hope that's enough to tempt folks who haven't yet had the pleasure of experiencing Connie's writing. I certainly hope she enjoyed her birthday, at least a little bit as much as I always enjoy reading her stories!
But when I read her wonderful stories, I am definitely not thinking about the dangers of freezing pipes or dehydration (the two weather extremes I no longer worry about, here in SoCal). Connie writes in the Whedonverse and in AUs derived from it. Her work is character-rich, sensual, and wonderful whether it comes in the form of a short sketch or a long, complex tale. She's a devotee of slash, particularly Spander, although there are forays into other pairings, notably Giles/Ethan. Connie is yet another fine author I discovered at http://www.allaboutspike.com, where you can find her writing under the pen name "Two Ladies of Quality." You can find even more at her website: http://www.twoladiesofquality.com/. There are three long stories here, plus shorter works which are hidden behind the title "Alternatives"; these last and a few others can also be found by clicking on "Main Index." Myself, I always like to check out a new writer by reading a short but characteristic piece before committing to something longer. Not that one can’t just quit reading, but somehow that always makes me feel guilty . . . and worried that I might have gotten hooked if I just read a bit further. Not that this will be an issue with Connie's work, but, still . . .
A lovely, brief, tender piece, accessible to all readers, is "Left Side." Her most recent short piece, "The Neighbor," is a clever and charming outsider's view of the Scoobies. "To Every Maze a Map" takes a clear, compassionate look at the tangled emotions between Spike, Xander, and Angel during Spike's time in the basement. One of the stories I keep coming back to experience again and again is "Guilt." It’s Spander, with echoes of Angelus. It's sexy, yes, but that isn't what it’s about; I find it a wonderful story about love which isn't a love story in any conventional sense. That it is also very sensual and visual, with dead-on voices and character interaction, certainly doesn't hurt, either. And her choice of POV here is, I think, one of the things that makes it work so well. I find every single line of it exactly right; I adore it. To tempt you, here's the direct link to the actual page: http://www.twoladiesofquality.com/guilt.html. If you found this as delicious and heart-tugging as I always do, try "Steam" and its sequel "Touch" (under "Alternatives"). Then go to the "Afterwards" series. (As a Spander fan, I'd start here, where a post-NFA Spike ends up in London: http://www.twoladiesofquality.com/afterwards.html. Then go backwards to catch up on Ethan and Giles, Willow and Kennedy, and more, in the final days of BtVS.)
Then check out the two other longer series. "Career Change" and sequel "Career Advancement" feature a vamped Giles, with all the interesting internal conflicts a Watcher-turned-creature-of-the-night could experience, especially when he must turn to Spike for help as a fledge. "Nessuno" is about as AU as one can get, so I avoided it for quite some time: a huge mistake, as I realized once I began it. If you find the idea of Xander as a novice and Spike/William as a mercenary during the Renaissance a bit of a stretch, just try thinking of these characters being played in a movie by Xander and Spike (not Nick and James). I can't explain it better than that, but that's the leap of imagination that works for me. Or read it as original fiction; either way, it's an intriguing and surprisingly yet quietly endearing story.
I certainly hope that's enough to tempt folks who haven't yet had the pleasure of experiencing Connie's writing. I certainly hope she enjoyed her birthday, at least a little bit as much as I always enjoy reading her stories!