Night on Fic Mountain 2016 Letter
General wants/don't wants: Stories don’t need to be super sappy and sugary/fluffy, but please don’t get all grim and dark. Bittersweet can work if there are hopeful tinges. I like humor, and I don't think I do a good job of writing it - sparkling snappy dialogue always works!
I generally prefer het or gen. Explicit sex can be good, romance is always in (as applicable for this challenge).
I'm a fan of AU, but prefer canon-divergence or "what-if" scenarios, rather than "all the characters are at boarding school together" types.
I am a huge fan of "seemingly unrelated group of people trapped somewhere and discover they a) have something in common and b) can't just leave" - see Clue, see And Then There Were None. Please feel free to get soap opera-ish! Half-siblings no one knew about! Illegitimate siblings you thought were just family friends! Psycho-half-siblings who want to kill you and take your life over! Convenient accidents! Crazy wills and marriages of convenience!
No dubcon/non-con, graphic violence and gore, sexual violence, cruelty to animals. No major character death that isn't canon (feel free to kill extras off).
No matter which fandom we match on, I know I'm going to love what you write! So good luck!
1. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Sybil Pulaski
I've always been drawn in my the blurb that appeared on the back of my copy of the Westing Game: "Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northrup had rented the apartment one of the problems to the wrong person."
Sydelle Pulaski, of course, was the mistake. The apartment was supposed to be rented to Sybil Pulaski, Crow's old friend. What would the book be like with Sybil instead of the attention-grabbing, crutch-using, Polish stenography-recording secretary? Feel free to drag in other nominated characters - especially if you want to have Sybil cut Grace Windsor Wexler down a notch or two, since Sybil knew Westing when he was Windkloppel.
2. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (play)
Vera Claythorne, Mrs. Owen, Philip Lombard
I asked for this during Yuletide last year - I was rereading the play version of “And Then There Were None” (it does not appear in a digital standalone, but it is in both print/Kindle of The Mousetrap and Other Stories) and thinking about how much I like it, especially Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard. The dialogue is snappy (I love the verbal clashes between Vera and the spinster Emily Brent) and it’s more fun than the book, which is depressing. So I have 2 basic thoughts on this one:
Ms. Pac-Man
Why is she in the labyrinth? Feel free to mix in some Greek myth if you like, or go for a Wreck-It Ralph type story. I don't have any real ideas on this one, other than wanting some Ms. Pac-Man fic. I was playing on an older machine (one with Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga) and thinking about it.
4. Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Any Character
So, I love the short stories about the Tuesday Night Club. Give me a story where the ladies of the club shine! Dolly Bantry can be trying to run everything and keeping her garden beautiful, Joyce Lempriere is being insightful (preferably before she marries Raymond), Jane Helier is being shrewd if not bright, and Jane Marple, of course, is sitting back with her knitting and her observations. I'm fond of The Blood-Stained Pavement, The Four Suspects, The Companion, and The Affair at the Bungalow.
DV
I generally prefer het or gen. Explicit sex can be good, romance is always in (as applicable for this challenge).
I'm a fan of AU, but prefer canon-divergence or "what-if" scenarios, rather than "all the characters are at boarding school together" types.
I am a huge fan of "seemingly unrelated group of people trapped somewhere and discover they a) have something in common and b) can't just leave" - see Clue, see And Then There Were None. Please feel free to get soap opera-ish! Half-siblings no one knew about! Illegitimate siblings you thought were just family friends! Psycho-half-siblings who want to kill you and take your life over! Convenient accidents! Crazy wills and marriages of convenience!
No dubcon/non-con, graphic violence and gore, sexual violence, cruelty to animals. No major character death that isn't canon (feel free to kill extras off).
No matter which fandom we match on, I know I'm going to love what you write! So good luck!
1. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
Sybil Pulaski
I've always been drawn in my the blurb that appeared on the back of my copy of the Westing Game: "Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northrup had rented the apartment one of the problems to the wrong person."
Sydelle Pulaski, of course, was the mistake. The apartment was supposed to be rented to Sybil Pulaski, Crow's old friend. What would the book be like with Sybil instead of the attention-grabbing, crutch-using, Polish stenography-recording secretary? Feel free to drag in other nominated characters - especially if you want to have Sybil cut Grace Windsor Wexler down a notch or two, since Sybil knew Westing when he was Windkloppel.
2. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (play)
Vera Claythorne, Mrs. Owen, Philip Lombard
I asked for this during Yuletide last year - I was rereading the play version of “And Then There Were None” (it does not appear in a digital standalone, but it is in both print/Kindle of The Mousetrap and Other Stories) and thinking about how much I like it, especially Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard. The dialogue is snappy (I love the verbal clashes between Vera and the spinster Emily Brent) and it’s more fun than the book, which is depressing. So I have 2 basic thoughts on this one:
- - Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard are “Mr and Mrs Owen”. Why are they doing it? How does that change the story? Can the Judge please die a horrible death? Something on the island, or maybe their preparation, or them getting away with it. I’m pretty wide-open here. (Love the atmosphere on the island.)
- - “Mrs. Owen” is the mastermind, not “Mr. Owen”. Vera or Emily, or someone else (not Mrs. Rogers, I think). How does it change the story? Why is she doing it? I prefer Vera and Philip to be standing at the end (maybe figuring it out? Maybe Vera/Mrs Owen lets Philip live because he’s a mistake).
Feel free to include Emily Brent and other characters as well!
Some dialogue from the play I enjoyed:
EMILY. I should have thought you might feel a little uncomfortable in that dress.
VERA. (Not taking the point) Oh, no.
EMILY. (Nastily) It’s rather tight, isn’t it?
VERA. (Good-humoured) Oh, I don’t think so.
EMILY. (Sits Left sofa; takes out grey knitting) You’ll excuse me, my dear, but you’re a young girl and you’ve got your living to earn- VERA. Yes?
EMILY. A well-bred woman doesn’t like her secretary to appear flashy. It looks, you know, as though you were trying to attract the attention of the opposite sex.
VERA. (Coming to Right Centre) And would you say I do attract them?
EMILY. That’s beside the point. A girl who deliberately sets out to get the attention of men won’t be likely to keep her job long.
VERA. (Laughing at her) Ah! Surely that depends on who she’s working for?
Ms. Pac-Man
Why is she in the labyrinth? Feel free to mix in some Greek myth if you like, or go for a Wreck-It Ralph type story. I don't have any real ideas on this one, other than wanting some Ms. Pac-Man fic. I was playing on an older machine (one with Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga) and thinking about it.
4. Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Any Character
So, I love the short stories about the Tuesday Night Club. Give me a story where the ladies of the club shine! Dolly Bantry can be trying to run everything and keeping her garden beautiful, Joyce Lempriere is being insightful (preferably before she marries Raymond), Jane Helier is being shrewd if not bright, and Jane Marple, of course, is sitting back with her knitting and her observations. I'm fond of The Blood-Stained Pavement, The Four Suspects, The Companion, and The Affair at the Bungalow.
DV