Five Fic thingie ...
gileswench tagged me to do the Five Fics thing ...
I've really struggled with trying to decide which fics I'm going to pick. Because, really, some of my favourite pieces haven't yet seen the light of digital publication - like the Known Kingdoms novel, starring my female Paladin and her four foot tall cat companion. Or the tale in my AU QL universe, where Samwise leaps back to 16th century italy ...
And since I've writen so much over the years (too many to count - both the years and the tales) it gets really, really hard to choose. But I've tried. I might change my mind tomorrow, but here's where it is today. Three lists, because I've explored a lot of universes in my time. Mixed a few up along the way, too ...
My first pick is Ghosts in the Machine (original Battlestar Galcatica) which goes way back. Still, I think, one of the most lyrical peices I've written. Inspired partly by memories of reading Sam Delany's Babel 17, but also drawing on a fair bit of research into aura theories (among other things.) It brings a minor character centre stage, and creates an intricate relationship between two men, five non-coporal entities and a Battlestar. It's not slash, although ... well, you have to read it to figure out what it is, really. It's part one of a trilogy of tales, the latter two of which I haven't got round to posting yet, although I must. The trilogy was written before slash really registered on my radar, and long before mpreg became a cliche; there's probably other stuff like this out there somewhere, but if so, I haven't fallen over it yet ...
The Fire of the White Fountain (Tales of the Gold Monkey) Pocket universes in folds of Space. Dinosaurs. 1930's heroes with guns. 1930's heroes with guns fighting dinosaurs. Fiesty heroines, A one eyed dog. The fountain of youth, and a tale of jealousy and revenge. What's not to like? *g* I love this stuff - echoes of Edgar Rice Burroughs,saturday morning serials and cliffhangers, Indiana Jones, the appeal of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs - and I get to play with it all. And create my own language, which made sense when I wrote it - just don't ask me to translate now!
Distorted Reflection (Quantum Leap) My first QL story - in which I managed to make the ending of 'Mirror Image' make some kind of sense, brought Edward St John back as Sam's Observer and introduced Admiral Albert Calvicci to the Project. For the first time. I also found a sensible use for the whole QL project idea, which could have made a whole new series in itself! (And gave me some ideas for a far future fic that I vaguely have in note form, but haven't done anything else with. Yet ...)
Anything for Love (Quantum Leap/QL AU) A story written for a friend, and which inspired a whole universe of its own. I don't write slash much - but I did write this, and the twelve other stories set in the alternative universe (I have have notes for a least three more somewhere ...) I like it because I got to play with the change one thing idea and work out how everything else around it also had to change to make it work. And then dropped the cannon Sam into the middle of it to see how he coped. Which he did. Admirably. Its a story about love, and the depth of friendship, and about faith and trust, and all those sorts of things. Which I think is what most of my stuff is generally about, anyway ...
Lost Souls in the Hunting Ground. (Quantum Leap) Okay, so I couldn't leave this one out. It's my QL vampire story, written before Buffy came to the screen, and employ a few (very few) nods to White Wolf's ' Vampire: the Masquerade.' It's dark, and it's angsty (boy, is it angsty!) - and for bits of it I'm back to those 1930's adventure tales, although this time we're in Vietnam, with all the implications that has for at least one of my heroes. It was nearly submitted for consideration as one of the pro QL books that were being produced at the time, although my editor and I decided the pro book editor would never buy it. So we published it ourselves instead. I'm still very proud of this one.
Onto my Hercules: the Legendary Journey's work, which let me go play in the wonderful sandbox that is mythic Greece ...
The Old Woman, the Otterkin, and the Eagles Child. I don't often write tales this long over a single weekend, but I did with this one. It's narrator started talking to me late one week, and by the beginning of the next one I had this to show - the story of the folk, a hardy, northern tribe surviving in harsh conditions, an old woman, and the discovery she makes on the beach one day. It's first person, which is never easy to write, it's got a very particular voice to it, and it provides a decidedly unusual view of the life of a demi-god and his best friend. I may have to go back to re-visit the folk one day ...
Bound by His Brother's Heart. The sacrifice of the sacred king - retold HtLJ style. And, yes, I am borrowing Rupert Graves and Golden Bough, and all those romantic notions - but I'm also saying something about sacrifce itself, about the sacred nature of friendship, the cycles and life and death, and the qualities of mythic resonance that echo throughout every hero's journey. My Pagan heart was very happy about me writing this - and still is.
The Race. Sometimes I write comedy. This is one of my better attempts at it. It's also a fun pastiche, and something I would have loved the HtLJ team to take a crack at. One of the things I love about the series is that there are moments like this which are cannon - and although the Widow Twankey isn't actually mentioned during The Race, I'm sure she was occupying a front seat somewhere on the course.
On Ice This is a science fiction story. A tribute to some very classic SF in fact, since it has echoes of Asimov and others of his ilk. But it's also very much a Hercules story, and bringing the two together was a fascinating challenge. The dystopian future depicted here is, perhaps, a little cliched, but there are reasons for that, as the story slowly reveals. I like this piece for all sorts of reasons, not least because it allowed me to mix science and mythology together and keep them mixed, which gave me a wonderful set of toys to play with.
Heaven Must be missing an Angel The last season of Hercules annoyed me - because if you're going to bring someone back from Heaven, you ought to give them some issues to deal with. I didn't saddle Iolaus with the kind of problems Buffy had on her return from the grave. I gave him a whole set of different problems, and in doing so created a whole new perspective on both our heroes and the world they lived in. I also created the opportunity for (what I had thought was) an unlikely crossover, but we'll get back to that in a moment. Lots of people liked this tale, and I got a lot of positive feedback on it. I also had great fun doing the supporting artwork. Iolaus looks so good with Angel wings ...
And that last tale leads me to my Buffy work - and the start of my opus in progress A Long Sea Crossing I make no apologies for putting something I haven't finished in this list - because it will be true of more than one of my BTVS choices. There's something about the Buffyverse which encourages AU's and on-going series - at least in my head, which probably says something about me, although I'm not sure what. LSC was partially inspired by a suggestion that my Angel Iolaus help Buffy out of her post heaven funk - and partially by reading a report about some very nasty real life events which should never be allowed to happen again, but which probably will, because there are some very twisted people living in this world of ours. Inspiration aside, the LSC universe has allowed me to explore some interesting issues, involved me in some fascinating research, and (I think) write some pretty good prose. I am still working on the next bit. Honest!
As for my other Buffy stuff ... There's In Each Generation First of the ‘Once More with Demons’ series - a far flung future vision of what a world with Watchers and Slayers in it might look like centuries from now. That's me playing with canon, and mixing mythology and science fiction again. Space Opera on this occasion. It's great fun to do, it's great fun to write, and (I hope!) great fun to read. There's at least another tale I want to tell from this universe, but I haven't got round to it yet.
Out of Africa is just a good, solid, piece of story telling. At least I think so. The arrival of a very ancient vampire threatens Buffy's world and gives both of her Watchers some uncomfortable experiences. The mythology in this is mine, although the Egyptian magic is based on a mix of Hollywood monster movies and some real texts I have in my collection. And yes, I do have an occult collection, although I doubt mine is as extensive as Giles' is ...
Then there's All Mimsy were the Borogroves which was a response to a challenge, and which let me play with some decidedly off-the wall magic - and explain the events of the final season while I did it. Mimsy is probably the only tale I've every written which has one of my own cats in it. So far.
And finally, I want to mention The ‘Watcher Who’ series, which arose from a chance remark and took on a life of its own thereafter. I'm having fun with this (and I need to get back to it, because there's more to tell). I am occasionally a little worried about just how well the 'Watchers are really TimeLords' idea fits into the Buffy canon - but that does make the writing easier, because all I have to do is give things a little nudge and they line up, nice and easy.
So those are mine - and you got fifteen instead of five, but hopefully that means there's something in there for folk to enjoy ...