(no subject)
One more bit of Pros-related news:
brenk posted her new fic, Towels, today and it is utterly ... amazing (yes, I beta'd it, but that has nothing to do with anything, except that I was lucky enough to get an early read). Bren does Bodie and Doyle as well as anyone I've read - the voices are just perfect - and she manages to achieve that balance that so many authors don't between guy-ness and feeling - she keeps the guys really guys while still conveying true depth of feeling between them. The relationship stuff is wonderful - a wee bit of angst but an utterly satisfying conclusion - plus - and it's always a big plus for me! - her smut is blistering.
And if you haven't already, her other big slash piece, Matters in Hand, is among my all time favorite Pros fics. One of these days I'll take the time to write a more thorough and well-thought-out squee about that fic which, in the tradition of Aristide and Bone, manages to be thoroughly smutty and yet so much more than just smut (which, in my opinion, is what makes smut great). On crack_van back in January I wrote this about How Ray Got His Groove Back:
While [the story] is highly smutty, it's also so much more than "just" smut. The relationship and character development are amazing, the voices staggeringly good, the dialogue witty and perfectly in character. It's funny but not farcical, sweet and tender but not sappy. Fraser's and Ray's confusion and fear and hope, and the deep underlying affection they have for each other, are so poignantly and touchingly portrayed, it makes your heart just quiver. The sex scenes are quite explicit, but they're always incredibly sexy and never crude (except when they're supposed to be ...). And the sex is integral to the story; through it we see, and come to understand, the characters and their relationship, their motivations and thoughts and deepest feelings.
Bren's style is a bit different, but I could have written the same words about Matters in Hand, substituting Bodie and Doyle for Fraser and Ray (and slightly modifying the dialogue comment, since Matters in Hand is written in a "reported speech" style, without dialogue - which in the hands of a lesser author might have been a disaster, but which she executes brilliantly).
Bren has also written a large number of gen Pros fics. I haven't read all of these yet - and those of you who know me know my very strong ... errr... preference, yeah, that's it! ... for slash, but those I have read manage to perfectly capture Bodie's and Doyle's voices and to convey the depth of their attachment, even if not in a slashy sense, and I've enjoyed them immensely.
I just adore this woman. May she continue to write Pros for a very long time! ::crosses fingers::
brenk posted her new fic, Towels, today and it is utterly ... amazing (yes, I beta'd it, but that has nothing to do with anything, except that I was lucky enough to get an early read). Bren does Bodie and Doyle as well as anyone I've read - the voices are just perfect - and she manages to achieve that balance that so many authors don't between guy-ness and feeling - she keeps the guys really guys while still conveying true depth of feeling between them. The relationship stuff is wonderful - a wee bit of angst but an utterly satisfying conclusion - plus - and it's always a big plus for me! - her smut is blistering.
And if you haven't already, her other big slash piece, Matters in Hand, is among my all time favorite Pros fics. One of these days I'll take the time to write a more thorough and well-thought-out squee about that fic which, in the tradition of Aristide and Bone, manages to be thoroughly smutty and yet so much more than just smut (which, in my opinion, is what makes smut great). On crack_van back in January I wrote this about How Ray Got His Groove Back:
While [the story] is highly smutty, it's also so much more than "just" smut. The relationship and character development are amazing, the voices staggeringly good, the dialogue witty and perfectly in character. It's funny but not farcical, sweet and tender but not sappy. Fraser's and Ray's confusion and fear and hope, and the deep underlying affection they have for each other, are so poignantly and touchingly portrayed, it makes your heart just quiver. The sex scenes are quite explicit, but they're always incredibly sexy and never crude (except when they're supposed to be ...). And the sex is integral to the story; through it we see, and come to understand, the characters and their relationship, their motivations and thoughts and deepest feelings.
Bren's style is a bit different, but I could have written the same words about Matters in Hand, substituting Bodie and Doyle for Fraser and Ray (and slightly modifying the dialogue comment, since Matters in Hand is written in a "reported speech" style, without dialogue - which in the hands of a lesser author might have been a disaster, but which she executes brilliantly).
Bren has also written a large number of gen Pros fics. I haven't read all of these yet - and those of you who know me know my very strong ... errr... preference, yeah, that's it! ... for slash, but those I have read manage to perfectly capture Bodie's and Doyle's voices and to convey the depth of their attachment, even if not in a slashy sense, and I've enjoyed them immensely.
I just adore this woman. May she continue to write Pros for a very long time! ::crosses fingers::