three plus one makes four
I am not sure what sent me off in this direction last night at 1am, except procrastination on my spn_holidays story, but I found Bruce Stringbean and the S Street Band singing "Born to Add", which I thought was pretty awesome. I am sad I couldn't find a clip of "Barn in the USA," but harriet_spy hooked me up with this FANTASTIC clip of Stevie Wonder doing "Superstition" on Sesame Street sometime in the '70s. SO FREAKING AWESOME, GUYS!
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Here's a nice navel-gazey writing survey gacked from mosca
Tell us which of your stories...
(1) you would show your mom if you didn't think she'd freak out.
My mom betaed for me when I started writing fanfic, so really, I could show her anything without hardcore porn in it, but I would probably choose Between You and the Giant Squid since she's a big HP fan and it's a sweet James/Lily story.
(2) is most representative of you as a writer (however you choose to define that).
This is hard for me to answer, because before SPN (or Firefly, really, which is where I started writing as much gen as het or slash) I would have simply chosen a shippy story and said, "I write romances," but I don't much, anymore, though the themes of my stories haven't really changed. I suppose I will have to pick one so for the moment - and it changes from minute to minute - I will say, The Boys of Summer (Hot Corner Rag), because I think even though it's a remix of a great story, it's SO OBVIOUSLY mine that a number of people easily pegged me as the author when it was anonymous.
(3) is your best shot at "ventriloquizing" a voice or style that you don't normally use.
Miss Winchester's Unsuitable Suitor, which is my attempt at setting the Winchesters, with always-a-girl!Sam, in a Regency romance, and to mimic the tone of those Regencies while still telling a Supernatural (genderswap hetcest AU) story.
(4) contains characterization you're proudest of.
Well, I consider good characterization one of my strong points (I'm sure everyone says that), so I'm proud of nearly everything I've written in terms of characterization. Um, so let's say, There's Never Time to Save, You're Paying By the Hour, because I really like the Sam I wrote here, and the Dean we see via Sam here.
(5) has the cleverest premise (in your opinion) or contains the cleverest ideas.
Either A Million Light Years from Home or Throwing Waffles Through Hoops in terms of wacky crossovers that shouldn't work but do (at least, imo), but for a story that's not a crossover, I would go with Give Me a Leonard Cohen Afterworld, mostly because it feels really right to me, even though it's completely not how the show did the same exact premise, and yet, in a couple of fundamental, emotional/characterization ways, it actually is.
(6) feels the most emotionally genuine to you (however you choose to define that).
again, I like to think my stories are emotionally genuine in general - it's something I strive for - but I guess the one that really strikes me when I think about it right now is 20 Hours in America.
(7) you'd give to an editor as a writing sample (pretend that porn isn't an issue).
Either The Heart Where I Have Roots or The Forces Ranged Within Us and Against Us. Both are tight and sharp and show off my prose stylings *snerk* to best advantage.
(8) you would actually reread for pleasure.
I reread lots of my stories for pleasure. For pleasure, for comfort, for a reminder that I am capable of writing a good story, when no one else is writing the stories I want to read. I mean, I love my stories and I reread them a lot. So. Um. I'll pick one I haven't mentioned yet. Probably the one I've reread the most, just for happymaking, is Straight on Till Morning. Bring Back Black + Peter Pan = happy place.
(9) contains your best sex writing.
Beggars Would Ride. All of the porn in the girl!Sam stories is pretty self-indulgent and written to hit my own kinks, but I think in Beggars, the progression of sex acts is the engine driving the story forward, so it's not just hot sex, and it's not just emotionally meaningful, but it's also structurally, thematically, and narratively relevant.
Wow, could I sound like more of a pompous, arrogant blowhard there? It's still true, though.
(10) you really want somebody to illustrate.
I'm not a very visual person, so I was beyond tickled when ileliberte did illustrate Sam and Dean as Dream and Destruction for That what you fear the most could meet you halfway, and cathybites did a fantastic version of fairy-enchanted Sirius, with a star upon his brow for The Odds of Faith in the Face of Doubt.
I think what I would really like is an illustration of the image that inspired hot ice and wondrous strange snow, of poor, flu-ridden Sirius in the infirmary watching Pomfrey and Remus walk to the Whomping Willow in the snow.
(11) has the best title.
Bwahahahahahaha. Um, I really like my titles nowadays, even though apparently a lot of people don't, so while this could change at any moment, I'm gonna go with The stars are small and ringed with our confusion. I think it's a memorable and evocative title, and it fits the story it tells perfectly.
(12) you wish more people had read.
The Hour of Escape, which is Dean/Ellen set around BUaBS, which I guess is a hard sell. Also, Follow me into the desert, as thirsty as you are, which I am still bitter about, a year later, though looking at it now, it has a lot more fb than I remember. Heh. In my head, it's kind of an unloved (by everyone but me) orphan child of my stories.
(Wow, I made it through a whole survey without mentioning five of the stories I usually list in my top ten. I am learning to diversify my answers!)
***
Well, that was a fun way to procrastinate, but I still have cookies to wrap, presents to bake, and stories to write.
***
***
Here's a nice navel-gazey writing survey gacked from mosca
Tell us which of your stories...
(1) you would show your mom if you didn't think she'd freak out.
My mom betaed for me when I started writing fanfic, so really, I could show her anything without hardcore porn in it, but I would probably choose Between You and the Giant Squid since she's a big HP fan and it's a sweet James/Lily story.
(2) is most representative of you as a writer (however you choose to define that).
This is hard for me to answer, because before SPN (or Firefly, really, which is where I started writing as much gen as het or slash) I would have simply chosen a shippy story and said, "I write romances," but I don't much, anymore, though the themes of my stories haven't really changed. I suppose I will have to pick one so for the moment - and it changes from minute to minute - I will say, The Boys of Summer (Hot Corner Rag), because I think even though it's a remix of a great story, it's SO OBVIOUSLY mine that a number of people easily pegged me as the author when it was anonymous.
(3) is your best shot at "ventriloquizing" a voice or style that you don't normally use.
Miss Winchester's Unsuitable Suitor, which is my attempt at setting the Winchesters, with always-a-girl!Sam, in a Regency romance, and to mimic the tone of those Regencies while still telling a Supernatural (genderswap hetcest AU) story.
(4) contains characterization you're proudest of.
Well, I consider good characterization one of my strong points (I'm sure everyone says that), so I'm proud of nearly everything I've written in terms of characterization. Um, so let's say, There's Never Time to Save, You're Paying By the Hour, because I really like the Sam I wrote here, and the Dean we see via Sam here.
(5) has the cleverest premise (in your opinion) or contains the cleverest ideas.
Either A Million Light Years from Home or Throwing Waffles Through Hoops in terms of wacky crossovers that shouldn't work but do (at least, imo), but for a story that's not a crossover, I would go with Give Me a Leonard Cohen Afterworld, mostly because it feels really right to me, even though it's completely not how the show did the same exact premise, and yet, in a couple of fundamental, emotional/characterization ways, it actually is.
(6) feels the most emotionally genuine to you (however you choose to define that).
again, I like to think my stories are emotionally genuine in general - it's something I strive for - but I guess the one that really strikes me when I think about it right now is 20 Hours in America.
(7) you'd give to an editor as a writing sample (pretend that porn isn't an issue).
Either The Heart Where I Have Roots or The Forces Ranged Within Us and Against Us. Both are tight and sharp and show off my prose stylings *snerk* to best advantage.
(8) you would actually reread for pleasure.
I reread lots of my stories for pleasure. For pleasure, for comfort, for a reminder that I am capable of writing a good story, when no one else is writing the stories I want to read. I mean, I love my stories and I reread them a lot. So. Um. I'll pick one I haven't mentioned yet. Probably the one I've reread the most, just for happymaking, is Straight on Till Morning. Bring Back Black + Peter Pan = happy place.
(9) contains your best sex writing.
Beggars Would Ride. All of the porn in the girl!Sam stories is pretty self-indulgent and written to hit my own kinks, but I think in Beggars, the progression of sex acts is the engine driving the story forward, so it's not just hot sex, and it's not just emotionally meaningful, but it's also structurally, thematically, and narratively relevant.
Wow, could I sound like more of a pompous, arrogant blowhard there? It's still true, though.
(10) you really want somebody to illustrate.
I'm not a very visual person, so I was beyond tickled when ileliberte did illustrate Sam and Dean as Dream and Destruction for That what you fear the most could meet you halfway, and cathybites did a fantastic version of fairy-enchanted Sirius, with a star upon his brow for The Odds of Faith in the Face of Doubt.
I think what I would really like is an illustration of the image that inspired hot ice and wondrous strange snow, of poor, flu-ridden Sirius in the infirmary watching Pomfrey and Remus walk to the Whomping Willow in the snow.
(11) has the best title.
Bwahahahahahaha. Um, I really like my titles nowadays, even though apparently a lot of people don't, so while this could change at any moment, I'm gonna go with The stars are small and ringed with our confusion. I think it's a memorable and evocative title, and it fits the story it tells perfectly.
(12) you wish more people had read.
The Hour of Escape, which is Dean/Ellen set around BUaBS, which I guess is a hard sell. Also, Follow me into the desert, as thirsty as you are, which I am still bitter about, a year later, though looking at it now, it has a lot more fb than I remember. Heh. In my head, it's kind of an unloved (by everyone but me) orphan child of my stories.
(Wow, I made it through a whole survey without mentioning five of the stories I usually list in my top ten. I am learning to diversify my answers!)
***
Well, that was a fun way to procrastinate, but I still have cookies to wrap, presents to bake, and stories to write.
***