Progress report/end-of-year report
First, the little progress report.
Practicing Liars- My main concern with this story is that it doesn’t drag on too long. Luckily, I think the major turning points have been reached, and after this I’ll be able to build on them instead of still working on the basics.
Ceremonies of Strife- Just started, but I’m planning this to be about 50 chapters, so longer than Soldier’s Welcome. We’ll see, though. I have more happening, but I also don’t have to deal anymore with the “preslash” label and artificially hold things off from happening between Draco and Harry, so certain aspects of the fic should be able to happen faster. Maybe it won’t be 50 chapters after all.
“Virgin Revelry”- My newest long one-shot; it’s 8000 words long already, and going well. Harry thinks Malfoy is creepy, Malfoy thinks Harry is hot, and there is the problem of how Harry can both stay a virgin (which he made a vow to do in a magical ritual so that Voldemort would vanish from the world) and not stay a virgin (which he has to do because otherwise his enemies will use him as a virgin sacrifice to bring Voldemort back). It’s fun.
Sympathy for the Predators- We have got politics! We have got Lucius being more sensitive than Harry gave him credit for! We have got Harry being fascinating! I like this story partially because it gives me a chance to try a different style, and it’s a slower pace (I write 1000 words a day, as opposed to the 4000 on my main projects). The fourth chapter, “Wolf,” is 6000 words right now.
“The Mark of the Fox”- This will be a long single one-shot, like “Another Country” (though hopefully not the same length). The idea attacked me in my dreams the other night, and it was so clear and powerful I began writing it the next day, at the rate, also, of 1000 words a day. So far, it is 5000 words. In this story, Harry’s made a horrible mistake in his latest Auror case, and has been sent away for a vacation, and also to get him away from the bad press currently surrounding him. Unfortunately for him, certain people in the Ministry have arranged to send him to Fox Valley, a “resort” where Draco Malfoy, head of a group of people he’s marked in the way that Voldemort did, though with foxes instead of snakes, drains a bit of his guests’ magic and uses it to make Fox Valley, and his other projects, ever more attractive, as well as to addict the guests into returning. He has a nice little self-sustaining criminal empire that way. Yes, Draco in this fic is pretty much selfish and bad to the bone.
Harry, trained investigator that he is, notices certain things immediately when he arrives-such as that the woman who “greets” him, one of Draco’s Marked ones, is obviously a trained fighter, and that there are weird magical lenses in the house he’s given. So he sets out to unravel things.
This story is action/adventure and most definitely preslash; Draco is criminal scum (and proud of it) and Harry, jaded and self-doubting though he might be, is still on the side of the law. It will have at least one sequel, “Wolf in the Making,” and maybe more than that. I like this universe.
“A Healing Grace”- A short fic for duchessa’s prompt of “unexpected talent.” I can’t tell you about it because it would spoil the whole thing. This should be ready for posting in a few days.
I am sticking this here so I don’t forget it.
“The House That Lovers Built”-Another long one-shot. Harry is chasing a criminal he’s spent a year trying to capture through his hideout when there’s a magical explosion. Harry wakes up in a house that, while well-provisioned, has no way out, and which he thinks was probably his enemy’s secret bolthole.
Oh, and Draco Malfoy is trapped there with him, and claims to have no memory of how he got there, of who Harry is, or of anything since his very early childhood. And the house is doing weird things, such as vanishing Harry’s bed but not Draco’s, and not letting him open the cupboards with food in them unless Draco is also touching the handle.
Harry is going to be very upset when he figures out what is going on.
I’ve written 46 complete stories this year (I’m not counting Practicing Liars, Sympathy for the Predators, or Ceremonies of Strife, since they’re still in progress).
+32 one-shots (Mongoose; The Tapestry of Loss; He Will Find Beauty; War Leaves No Survivors; Reclamation; There Are Things Worse Than Harry Shagging Malfoy (or, The One Time Hermione Granger Was Wrong); Fallen Idols; A Memory of Light; Said the Tortoise to the Hare; Loved I Not Honor More; Draco the Cowardly Lion; Changeling; Of Dubious Value; He Dreams of Fire; Leader of Men; Hammered Gold; Three Times Harry Potter Prevented Draco Malfoy From Getting Revenge and One Time He Didn’t; A Very Walpurgis Night’s Madness; And a Moment of Rest; A Sound Like Serpents Singing; How We Missed the Weasley Family Reunion, by Scorpius Malfoy, Aged 10 ½; Cornucopia; Worth the Suffering; Bastardy/Opportunity; A Harp, A Shadow, the Wind; Difficulties of Being; Working Relationship; Persephone’s Folly; Another Country; A Second Sun; Eurydice’s Answer; and a fest fic that I can’t give the title of yet). All are H/D only except “Eurydice’s Answer,” which is Snarry, and “Difficulties of Being,” which is mainly AS/S.
+5 chaptered novellas (Siege Mentality; Viper; Company Manners; Rejoicing in Their Strength; Eyes That Can See in the Dark). Two of those, the last two and Viper, are part of series, and all three are creature!fic.
+9 novel-length stories (For Their Unconquerable Souls (though this one was begun in 2008); Providence; Inter Vivos; Universal Chaos; Incandescence; The Long-Desired; Their Phoenix; Corybantes; Soldier’s Welcome.). All of these are H/D except Their Phoenix, which is a threesome, Harry/Draco/Snape.
And on to the fic resolutions I want to make for 2010!
1) More action/adventure stories. This is a genre I’ve been getting into lately, partially because the Running to Paradise Trilogy includes more action because of the Auror component, and I’d like to continue it. One thing I struggle with sometimes is what kind of connective tissue to weave into the plot, the “filler” between those great and dramatic moments when one character stabs another or kisses them or confesses their love or falls over a cliff-what makes those moments stand out and be worth something. That is one thing that an action/adventure plot would have in spades. And it makes for good, tight, plotty one-shots, which I want to write more of.
2) Better depictions of Ron and Hermione. Part of the reason I leave them out so often is that I seriously do not get the chemistry between them and feel that I write it badly. If they’re not in a romance, then I need to include information about why they broke up. Sadly, I cannot solve this with, “They have no chemistry, the end.” But showing them in their friendship with Harry is something I ought to be able to do by this time. So I’ve been making an effort lately to move them more into the fics and give them scenes where they’re important to the plot, to show that Harry doesn’t leave them behind just because he develops relationships with other people. We’ll see if this continues.
3) Write either Aurea Mediocritas or Intoxicate the Sun. I want to do this; both of these novel ideas really interest me. Unfortunately, I think I would feel far too weary to write them in tandem with something as long and complex as the Running to Paradise Trilogy. But once I finish Practicing Liars, I’m going to see about it. And give myself some time to plan, which is key. Both of these will need outlines, and if I actually make them beforehand, instead of allowing myself to be hurried into a new novel-length story, then it will pay off in the end.
4) Write some horror fics so I can use some of my nightmares. They have been terrible lately, and the only good thing about it is that they give me this collection of grotesque images that I can then exile into dark fics and inflict on the rest of you.
5) Try to find some balance between Harry and Draco. Last year, I resolved to try and write more Draco-centric fics. I did a few of those. But now, to my amusement, I am receiving comments complaining that I take Draco’s perspective too much and obviously empathize with him more. (For the record, Harry is my favorite character, and I feel like I write too many fics lavishing attention on him! Which just goes to show that two people are never going to have exactly the same opinion about a story). But trying to make them equally important to a fic is the kind of challenge that I would like.
6) Write more birthday fics. I stopped for a while, and even stopped posting happy birthday wishes, because I wanted to offer fics but was overwhelmed by the number of them I hadn’t finished. (Some would have required detailed research that I did not have the time for, but still!) So I think what I will do is definitely wish people Happy Birthday but warn them that it might be a while before I can post a fic if they want one, or ask them for more than one prompt so I can pick a less complicated one.
7) Write another Harry/Draco/Snape threesome. I have an idea that is sleeping in the back of my mind right now, and needs more development before it stops being an embryo.
8) Write a story where the kinks shown are mine, and write it unabashed. I’ve come close a few times and then sheared off because I’m embarrassed about getting too deep into my own fantasies. (Some of them are extremely self-indulgent). But there is one that I just about never see anywhere else: the character who has problems with being touched and has to slowly learn to recover with the help of another person. The only way I am ever going to get a fic with this kink, obviously, is to write it myself.
Happy 2010 to everyone!
Practicing Liars- My main concern with this story is that it doesn’t drag on too long. Luckily, I think the major turning points have been reached, and after this I’ll be able to build on them instead of still working on the basics.
Ceremonies of Strife- Just started, but I’m planning this to be about 50 chapters, so longer than Soldier’s Welcome. We’ll see, though. I have more happening, but I also don’t have to deal anymore with the “preslash” label and artificially hold things off from happening between Draco and Harry, so certain aspects of the fic should be able to happen faster. Maybe it won’t be 50 chapters after all.
“Virgin Revelry”- My newest long one-shot; it’s 8000 words long already, and going well. Harry thinks Malfoy is creepy, Malfoy thinks Harry is hot, and there is the problem of how Harry can both stay a virgin (which he made a vow to do in a magical ritual so that Voldemort would vanish from the world) and not stay a virgin (which he has to do because otherwise his enemies will use him as a virgin sacrifice to bring Voldemort back). It’s fun.
Sympathy for the Predators- We have got politics! We have got Lucius being more sensitive than Harry gave him credit for! We have got Harry being fascinating! I like this story partially because it gives me a chance to try a different style, and it’s a slower pace (I write 1000 words a day, as opposed to the 4000 on my main projects). The fourth chapter, “Wolf,” is 6000 words right now.
“The Mark of the Fox”- This will be a long single one-shot, like “Another Country” (though hopefully not the same length). The idea attacked me in my dreams the other night, and it was so clear and powerful I began writing it the next day, at the rate, also, of 1000 words a day. So far, it is 5000 words. In this story, Harry’s made a horrible mistake in his latest Auror case, and has been sent away for a vacation, and also to get him away from the bad press currently surrounding him. Unfortunately for him, certain people in the Ministry have arranged to send him to Fox Valley, a “resort” where Draco Malfoy, head of a group of people he’s marked in the way that Voldemort did, though with foxes instead of snakes, drains a bit of his guests’ magic and uses it to make Fox Valley, and his other projects, ever more attractive, as well as to addict the guests into returning. He has a nice little self-sustaining criminal empire that way. Yes, Draco in this fic is pretty much selfish and bad to the bone.
Harry, trained investigator that he is, notices certain things immediately when he arrives-such as that the woman who “greets” him, one of Draco’s Marked ones, is obviously a trained fighter, and that there are weird magical lenses in the house he’s given. So he sets out to unravel things.
This story is action/adventure and most definitely preslash; Draco is criminal scum (and proud of it) and Harry, jaded and self-doubting though he might be, is still on the side of the law. It will have at least one sequel, “Wolf in the Making,” and maybe more than that. I like this universe.
“A Healing Grace”- A short fic for duchessa’s prompt of “unexpected talent.” I can’t tell you about it because it would spoil the whole thing. This should be ready for posting in a few days.
I am sticking this here so I don’t forget it.
“The House That Lovers Built”-Another long one-shot. Harry is chasing a criminal he’s spent a year trying to capture through his hideout when there’s a magical explosion. Harry wakes up in a house that, while well-provisioned, has no way out, and which he thinks was probably his enemy’s secret bolthole.
Oh, and Draco Malfoy is trapped there with him, and claims to have no memory of how he got there, of who Harry is, or of anything since his very early childhood. And the house is doing weird things, such as vanishing Harry’s bed but not Draco’s, and not letting him open the cupboards with food in them unless Draco is also touching the handle.
Harry is going to be very upset when he figures out what is going on.
I’ve written 46 complete stories this year (I’m not counting Practicing Liars, Sympathy for the Predators, or Ceremonies of Strife, since they’re still in progress).
+32 one-shots (Mongoose; The Tapestry of Loss; He Will Find Beauty; War Leaves No Survivors; Reclamation; There Are Things Worse Than Harry Shagging Malfoy (or, The One Time Hermione Granger Was Wrong); Fallen Idols; A Memory of Light; Said the Tortoise to the Hare; Loved I Not Honor More; Draco the Cowardly Lion; Changeling; Of Dubious Value; He Dreams of Fire; Leader of Men; Hammered Gold; Three Times Harry Potter Prevented Draco Malfoy From Getting Revenge and One Time He Didn’t; A Very Walpurgis Night’s Madness; And a Moment of Rest; A Sound Like Serpents Singing; How We Missed the Weasley Family Reunion, by Scorpius Malfoy, Aged 10 ½; Cornucopia; Worth the Suffering; Bastardy/Opportunity; A Harp, A Shadow, the Wind; Difficulties of Being; Working Relationship; Persephone’s Folly; Another Country; A Second Sun; Eurydice’s Answer; and a fest fic that I can’t give the title of yet). All are H/D only except “Eurydice’s Answer,” which is Snarry, and “Difficulties of Being,” which is mainly AS/S.
+5 chaptered novellas (Siege Mentality; Viper; Company Manners; Rejoicing in Their Strength; Eyes That Can See in the Dark). Two of those, the last two and Viper, are part of series, and all three are creature!fic.
+9 novel-length stories (For Their Unconquerable Souls (though this one was begun in 2008); Providence; Inter Vivos; Universal Chaos; Incandescence; The Long-Desired; Their Phoenix; Corybantes; Soldier’s Welcome.). All of these are H/D except Their Phoenix, which is a threesome, Harry/Draco/Snape.
And on to the fic resolutions I want to make for 2010!
1) More action/adventure stories. This is a genre I’ve been getting into lately, partially because the Running to Paradise Trilogy includes more action because of the Auror component, and I’d like to continue it. One thing I struggle with sometimes is what kind of connective tissue to weave into the plot, the “filler” between those great and dramatic moments when one character stabs another or kisses them or confesses their love or falls over a cliff-what makes those moments stand out and be worth something. That is one thing that an action/adventure plot would have in spades. And it makes for good, tight, plotty one-shots, which I want to write more of.
2) Better depictions of Ron and Hermione. Part of the reason I leave them out so often is that I seriously do not get the chemistry between them and feel that I write it badly. If they’re not in a romance, then I need to include information about why they broke up. Sadly, I cannot solve this with, “They have no chemistry, the end.” But showing them in their friendship with Harry is something I ought to be able to do by this time. So I’ve been making an effort lately to move them more into the fics and give them scenes where they’re important to the plot, to show that Harry doesn’t leave them behind just because he develops relationships with other people. We’ll see if this continues.
3) Write either Aurea Mediocritas or Intoxicate the Sun. I want to do this; both of these novel ideas really interest me. Unfortunately, I think I would feel far too weary to write them in tandem with something as long and complex as the Running to Paradise Trilogy. But once I finish Practicing Liars, I’m going to see about it. And give myself some time to plan, which is key. Both of these will need outlines, and if I actually make them beforehand, instead of allowing myself to be hurried into a new novel-length story, then it will pay off in the end.
4) Write some horror fics so I can use some of my nightmares. They have been terrible lately, and the only good thing about it is that they give me this collection of grotesque images that I can then exile into dark fics and inflict on the rest of you.
5) Try to find some balance between Harry and Draco. Last year, I resolved to try and write more Draco-centric fics. I did a few of those. But now, to my amusement, I am receiving comments complaining that I take Draco’s perspective too much and obviously empathize with him more. (For the record, Harry is my favorite character, and I feel like I write too many fics lavishing attention on him! Which just goes to show that two people are never going to have exactly the same opinion about a story). But trying to make them equally important to a fic is the kind of challenge that I would like.
6) Write more birthday fics. I stopped for a while, and even stopped posting happy birthday wishes, because I wanted to offer fics but was overwhelmed by the number of them I hadn’t finished. (Some would have required detailed research that I did not have the time for, but still!) So I think what I will do is definitely wish people Happy Birthday but warn them that it might be a while before I can post a fic if they want one, or ask them for more than one prompt so I can pick a less complicated one.
7) Write another Harry/Draco/Snape threesome. I have an idea that is sleeping in the back of my mind right now, and needs more development before it stops being an embryo.
8) Write a story where the kinks shown are mine, and write it unabashed. I’ve come close a few times and then sheared off because I’m embarrassed about getting too deep into my own fantasies. (Some of them are extremely self-indulgent). But there is one that I just about never see anywhere else: the character who has problems with being touched and has to slowly learn to recover with the help of another person. The only way I am ever going to get a fic with this kink, obviously, is to write it myself.
Happy 2010 to everyone!