Random Update
On my last post I mentioned some sort of update, but this will have to do.
Simply (and sadly) put, the update is that there is no update.
After LM#14, I hit post-novel ennui pretty hard, and, compounding that with the stomach sickening realization that there's only one more part to go (not counting the epilogue), I haven't been able to bring myself to write anything in Merlin fandom. As castmeaway knows, I've also had a myriad of aborted story attempts at writing TW fanfic. I hit 20K, and I just... can't.
Normally, I get over the I wrote a novel, now what funk pretty quickly and dive into the next part as soon as I figure out what happens in it. Not this time. I want to blame the stupid amount of stress over the last few months -- mostly, it's work-related, but a large part of it are things out of my control -- so I will. (In case you're wondering, the Spouse and I are fine, no worries there.)
I thought things would get better if I used mating_games as a distraction -- what's a no-pressure (ok, I'm lying, there was a bit of pressure) fest if not something to get the writing juices going again? Alas, no dice. My bad habit of going well over the word count for summerpornathon the one time I signed up for it (which is going on right now, you should check it out and read all the short fics!) didn't apply this time around, because I was consistently meeting the word count for every round. 750 words, plus/minus 20 words.
If anyone knows my propensity for going well over wordcount, well, you'd know that's a bad sign.
It's only after giving recently myself permission to write a completely self-indulgent fic -- blending Teen Wolf and a role-playing game, Vampire the Masquerade (which was also a short-lived TV show, and there were also a few novels) (btw, the link goes to the VtM wiki). I'm 99% certain that no one will ever read it, because the VtM fandom? I am not even sure if it exists. And the 1%? It's because I have practically no intention of ever posting it, and the only person reading it right now is castmeaway, because she threatens to stop giving me recipes like the blueberry-zucchini bread that I made over the weekend that also has my mother wanting the recipe (she really loved it, btw. I need to remember to send it to her).
Anyway, that said, doing something completely self-indulgent also appears to mean writing an original fiction short story for submission to an anthology. After a bad start, I rewrote it in two days flat, which is a good sign, and I'm starting -- mind you, this is baby stages, and I'm in no way pushing this until it's ready -- to think about writing LM15.
Probably in the next few weeks, I will try to address all the comments and PMs that are waiting in my inbox. I'm very sorry. I've been avoiding them, I just couldn't bear it, because I feel like I am disappointing people by not picking myself up and getting my writing on, and it really doesn't help when I get a message asking when the next part is going up. If you've been waiting on a response or have given up on me, again, I am very sorry for being AWOL. There are probably a lot of comments I'm not going to answer, but believe me when I say I read everything and am grateful for all the encouragement and support everyone has been giving. I'm just a shit when it comes to answering people, that's all.
If there's one thing I know about starting LM15, it's that I'm going to need help. Most of it is going to be set in London, and despite a friend taking me through a short whirlwind tour that consisted of the Underground, a distant look (if you squint) at Big Ben and the Tower of London, and the inside of a comic book store they were desperate to visit, I am woefully unfamiliar with the city. Google Earth and my Google-Fu can only help so much, and I don't want to fuck up.
If anyone is (a) very familiar with London; (b) willing to answer (sometimes completely weird) questions; (c) capable of locating resources and/or taking photographs for description purposes; (d) willing to read out-of-context snippets to make sure I did not completely muck up a scene; and (e) can chat with me on occasion to talk about random (b)-related items, please let me know. Bear in mind that this is unlikely to happen soon. I only have a vague idea of where to begin.
I apologize for the non-update, but I hope everyone's having a wonderful summer. We seem to have lost ours, though. If you find it, can you please return it to Canada?
Simply (and sadly) put, the update is that there is no update.
After LM#14, I hit post-novel ennui pretty hard, and, compounding that with the stomach sickening realization that there's only one more part to go (not counting the epilogue), I haven't been able to bring myself to write anything in Merlin fandom. As castmeaway knows, I've also had a myriad of aborted story attempts at writing TW fanfic. I hit 20K, and I just... can't.
Normally, I get over the I wrote a novel, now what funk pretty quickly and dive into the next part as soon as I figure out what happens in it. Not this time. I want to blame the stupid amount of stress over the last few months -- mostly, it's work-related, but a large part of it are things out of my control -- so I will. (In case you're wondering, the Spouse and I are fine, no worries there.)
I thought things would get better if I used mating_games as a distraction -- what's a no-pressure (ok, I'm lying, there was a bit of pressure) fest if not something to get the writing juices going again? Alas, no dice. My bad habit of going well over the word count for summerpornathon the one time I signed up for it (which is going on right now, you should check it out and read all the short fics!) didn't apply this time around, because I was consistently meeting the word count for every round. 750 words, plus/minus 20 words.
If anyone knows my propensity for going well over wordcount, well, you'd know that's a bad sign.
It's only after giving recently myself permission to write a completely self-indulgent fic -- blending Teen Wolf and a role-playing game, Vampire the Masquerade (which was also a short-lived TV show, and there were also a few novels) (btw, the link goes to the VtM wiki). I'm 99% certain that no one will ever read it, because the VtM fandom? I am not even sure if it exists. And the 1%? It's because I have practically no intention of ever posting it, and the only person reading it right now is castmeaway, because she threatens to stop giving me recipes like the blueberry-zucchini bread that I made over the weekend that also has my mother wanting the recipe (she really loved it, btw. I need to remember to send it to her).
Anyway, that said, doing something completely self-indulgent also appears to mean writing an original fiction short story for submission to an anthology. After a bad start, I rewrote it in two days flat, which is a good sign, and I'm starting -- mind you, this is baby stages, and I'm in no way pushing this until it's ready -- to think about writing LM15.
Probably in the next few weeks, I will try to address all the comments and PMs that are waiting in my inbox. I'm very sorry. I've been avoiding them, I just couldn't bear it, because I feel like I am disappointing people by not picking myself up and getting my writing on, and it really doesn't help when I get a message asking when the next part is going up. If you've been waiting on a response or have given up on me, again, I am very sorry for being AWOL. There are probably a lot of comments I'm not going to answer, but believe me when I say I read everything and am grateful for all the encouragement and support everyone has been giving. I'm just a shit when it comes to answering people, that's all.
If there's one thing I know about starting LM15, it's that I'm going to need help. Most of it is going to be set in London, and despite a friend taking me through a short whirlwind tour that consisted of the Underground, a distant look (if you squint) at Big Ben and the Tower of London, and the inside of a comic book store they were desperate to visit, I am woefully unfamiliar with the city. Google Earth and my Google-Fu can only help so much, and I don't want to fuck up.
If anyone is (a) very familiar with London; (b) willing to answer (sometimes completely weird) questions; (c) capable of locating resources and/or taking photographs for description purposes; (d) willing to read out-of-context snippets to make sure I did not completely muck up a scene; and (e) can chat with me on occasion to talk about random (b)-related items, please let me know. Bear in mind that this is unlikely to happen soon. I only have a vague idea of where to begin.
I apologize for the non-update, but I hope everyone's having a wonderful summer. We seem to have lost ours, though. If you find it, can you please return it to Canada?