Fanfic Q&A time (cloned from Tumblr)
Tagged on tumblr by @rosefyrefyre
Favorite story I’ve written and why? I have a few for different reasons:
- Agent Afloat Atlantis - writing Ziva David in this story was a very interesting experience, and I think story is one of my better efforts in terms of language and crossoverness.
- Widow Maker - not only do I love Natasha Romanoff, but the arc and plot of the story work for me in terms of pacing and direction. I think this is a good example of how it can take a writer a long time to grow into their craft, and this was pretty much written ten years after I started writing fanfic so not a bad haul.
- Inevitable - I don't think it has aged as well as others of my fics, but then I feel that way about a lot of my Anita Blake stuff. The amount of fandom support I got from everyone in my years writing Inevitable have meant more to me than I can ever describe, and it helped give me a lot of confidence - if I could pull off a Harry Potter/Anita Blake crossover like this, I can do anything.
- And Hands of Clay because of all the reasons.
Tropes I gravitate toward? Found family and crossovers.
Present or past tense? Past. Present-tense is okay for me in writing short little blurbs, but I stick with past-tense for anything big. Just my preference.
How many unfinished stories do I have? Oh, dear. Most of them I've had some long ones get away from me and then my motivation vanishes. Part of the cost of doing business in fandom I think. My big undones are Physics of the Spin, Old Soldiers, Hel's Bones, Rhapsody in Blue, Child of the Wolf... I left Dawning Light at the end of Act 1 so i'm okay with that ending. I hope I can one day get back to Old Soldiers because we're now so far off canon for that Bucky that it doesn't matter any more, and with Rhapsody in Blue I want to wrap up Peggy's story. Who knows about Hel's Bones.
Ideas in Google docs? I use Dropbox instead of Google Docs but anyway all the ideas are in my head... which is not great because then they very seldom get written down, then they are forgotten and on I go.
Best review/comment I’ve received? So many. I love when people tell me things they liked about the chapter/story, so I can go back and forth with them in comments :D
Worst review/comment? I had an epic few back on Twisting the Hellmouth - there was a guy back on there who was super critical/negative about a lot of people's stuff (not naming names because I think I spotted him on Tumblr while back and I’m not looking to revive the squabbles), and i have to say I'm glad we're now in different fandoms. But yeah I've been pretty luck with comments/reviews over the years.
Last book I’ve read? Do I read books anymore? I think it was a library book that has obviously left no impression. The last book I bought was Cold Case Vancouver - that's a good one (non-fiction). I read a lot of fanfic - currently obsessed with Owlet's Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail series.
Do I plan to publish something original? I hope so. I'm working on ideas, trying to figure out what would work for me in engaging in original fiction. I have some great plot ideas but the characters are harder to get a handle on. I think that's why I gravitate to fanfic; the characters are already there.
Biggest writing inspiration? Life experiences. The places I've been, the things I've done, and of course the people that I've known. How is that for a boring answer? But yeah I find that the more I do, the more ideas I have.
But also, too, different things work for different stories. With the Widow's Tale series, all of the stories except for Old Soldiers I wrote out longhand then typed them up. With Hands of Clay, I listen to jazz while I write. I've learned to go with what works while it works, and not stress myself out when things stop working or I need to change it up.
Fanfic stories - how many have I posted? Dear god, probably over 200 in various forms? I have 80 works up on AO3, but I have so many more on TTH and on my LJ. I haven't ported everything to AO3 yet as some fics are too short or unfinished, but also.... how do I say this.... some were written when I was very young as a writer. They have not aged as well as one might have hoped.
What am I currently working on? Hands of Clay, all the time. Working on ideas for how to finish Rhapsody in Blue and Old Soldiers. Always looking for new ideas - and since Supergirl has kiboshed my ideas for that Supergirl/Die Hard fusion, that's been pinned to the wall in case I can salvage it at some point.
What’s my username? Mhalachai, everywhere. AO3, Livejournal, Dreamwidth, TTH, and Tumblr.
Who's next? tag yourself if you want and comment here so I can see!
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