2009 Fic Roundup
Because it cannot be said enough, my beta readers are the bestest. I am a whiny brat some days, but for some reason they put up with me anyway. Plus they are very, very smart. :)
And now I will talk about me a lot (so that I can come back to this next year and wonder what on earth I was thinking).
2009 fic list, by fandom
Stargate-verse
On the Horizon. 2/2009. Gen; Sam & Vala; Teen; ~900 words. It was one of those times when alien civilization looked more like something from Earth than Earth probably ever had.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. 2/2009. Sam/Jack; All Ages; ~1800 words. "So I've been thinking about it," he says. "The establishment's clearly not set up to handle this situation. Nobody even brought me a casserole."
The Principle of Cause and Effect. 2/2009. Sam/Jack; Adult; ~700 words. After the couple of days she'd had, she wanted nothing more than to lie there and breathe and think about nothing at all.
Just Your Average Everyday and Fairly Crack-y Sequel. 3/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~600 and ~400 words. Jack's not sure letting Carter take the lead was a really good idea.
Intermittent Communications. 4/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~1000 words. "Carter, I've turned into a prune," he said, holding up a hand to demonstrate. "And I smell like lavender."
Not So Unexpected After All. 4/2009. Sam/Jack; Adult; ~1100 words. This isn't really how he'd thought it would happen.
A Good Retreat. 5/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~1800 words. It really shouldn't bother him, Jack told himself. Major generals in the USAF, retired or otherwise, weren't intimidated by mere colonels - even the hot, world-saving genius variety - and definitely not by sergeants of any stripe.
Shine Tomorrow. 7/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~650 words. Sometimes Jonah feels like he shouldn't be watching her.
Ahoy! It's the Dread Pirate Jack, and his Trusty Band of ... Grumpy People. 7/2009. Gen; Sam & Jack; Teen; ~350 words. Seriously, if she'd wanted to be in the Navy ....
Dimensionless Quantities. 8/2009. Sam/Jack; Adult; ~1800 words. After all these years, it's simply a matter of course. Like the diagnostic she's currently executing, like mortal peril, like coming home at the end of the day - everything about this situation ought to be a matter of course by now.
The Fine Art of Diplomacy. 10/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~3800 words. Sometimes the best laid plans get ... sidetracked.
Five Promotions Paul Davis Never Got. 11/2009. Gen; Paul Davis; All Ages; ~1100 words. See title.
When the Stars Come Home. 11/2009. Sam/Jack; Mature; ~1100 words. It's a familiar feeling, but so distant, unpracticed, like a memory.
Just Like Breathing. 11/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~700 words. The only explanation was oxygen deprivation. This was a small room. They must have used it all up, gotten giddy, and proceeded to abandon all common sense.
NCIS
The Coffee Break Case. 11/2009. Abby/McGee; Teen; ~2200. McGee, Abby, and a pot of really bad coffee. It all adds up to nothing but trouble.
Star Trek 2009
Think on Nothing Better 6/2009. Uhura/Spock; All Ages; ~2700 words. There has always been something about Nyota that Spock cannot quite define.
Introspective rambling:
My favorite story this year (of my own): It *ought* to be Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. I love the idea of that one a whole lot, anyway. But it isn't, because the style and structure of the story meant I had to sit on my hands to keep from over-writing it. So now every time I read it I think 'OMG, this needs more words! Why does this not have more words?!?' Even though intellectually (and thanks to a-loquita, who is clever and knows to tell me when to stop messing with things) I know it really doesn't.
I am very fond of the last section of Five Promotions Paul Davis Never Got, because Rosemary Davis unexpectedly has this whole personality and life story in my head. And I am really pleased with When the Stars Come Home.
My best story this year: Maybe When the Stars Come Home. It's *so* tiny, but I think all the pieces are in the right places. But I also think this is the sort of question where it depends on who you are. *shrugs*
Most fun story: The Coffee Break Case. At the end of it I wanted to go write McGee-POV first-person detective novels. I won't inflict that on the universe, but I now totally think that his internal narrator sounds like an old-school private eye.
Sexiest story: Not So Unexpected After All. And it is weird to me that I had to actually go look at four different stories in order to answer this question! Hahaha.
Hardest story to write: The Fine Art of Diplomacy. I drove my betas nuts with this, because first I changed what story I was writing halfway through, and then the first draft was so shallow I just wanted to cry, and then when I fixed that I so completely overcorrected that I had to be told repeatedly (but very, very kindly) that no, I really, really had to take those two sections out of the fic no matter how much I liked them because they absolutely did not fit. It was a hair-pulling sort of experience. Thank goodness for wonderful, patient beta readers.
Easiest story to write: Just Like Breathing. Does that count, since it's only 700 words? Actually, I am sure it does because one of the other <1000 word fics on this list didn't get finished till seven months after I started it. *g*
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Less, and also, most of what I wrote is really short, and this list contains none of the longer WIPs that I thought I would surely finish at least one of. I did plan/outline/write/repeat quite a bit on those, and I hope they will be done someday, although at the rate I'm going I think it's possible no one will be around to read them if they ever are!
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I wrote a lot for particular people this year, between birthdays and prompts and that timestamp meme that I sort of still haven't finished (oops). I don't know if that's a risk, but it was a different way of thinking about things. I do *like* writing the fic that some person in particular will hopefully really like.
I did write in two new fandoms, and I posted fic-rated-for-grownups without actually dying from embarrassment, so I must have learned something in there somewhere.
Do you have any goals for the New Year? I am still working on finishing one of these things that has a plot. Maybe this year. *nods*
And because I am lame and did not ever actually post to say it, thank you to everyone who voted for my fics in the fan awards. I was totally blown away to have won one.
Before 2009
2008 Fic Roundup
And now I will talk about me a lot (so that I can come back to this next year and wonder what on earth I was thinking).
2009 fic list, by fandom
Stargate-verse
On the Horizon. 2/2009. Gen; Sam & Vala; Teen; ~900 words. It was one of those times when alien civilization looked more like something from Earth than Earth probably ever had.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. 2/2009. Sam/Jack; All Ages; ~1800 words. "So I've been thinking about it," he says. "The establishment's clearly not set up to handle this situation. Nobody even brought me a casserole."
The Principle of Cause and Effect. 2/2009. Sam/Jack; Adult; ~700 words. After the couple of days she'd had, she wanted nothing more than to lie there and breathe and think about nothing at all.
Just Your Average Everyday and Fairly Crack-y Sequel. 3/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~600 and ~400 words. Jack's not sure letting Carter take the lead was a really good idea.
Intermittent Communications. 4/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~1000 words. "Carter, I've turned into a prune," he said, holding up a hand to demonstrate. "And I smell like lavender."
Not So Unexpected After All. 4/2009. Sam/Jack; Adult; ~1100 words. This isn't really how he'd thought it would happen.
A Good Retreat. 5/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~1800 words. It really shouldn't bother him, Jack told himself. Major generals in the USAF, retired or otherwise, weren't intimidated by mere colonels - even the hot, world-saving genius variety - and definitely not by sergeants of any stripe.
Shine Tomorrow. 7/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~650 words. Sometimes Jonah feels like he shouldn't be watching her.
Ahoy! It's the Dread Pirate Jack, and his Trusty Band of ... Grumpy People. 7/2009. Gen; Sam & Jack; Teen; ~350 words. Seriously, if she'd wanted to be in the Navy ....
Dimensionless Quantities. 8/2009. Sam/Jack; Adult; ~1800 words. After all these years, it's simply a matter of course. Like the diagnostic she's currently executing, like mortal peril, like coming home at the end of the day - everything about this situation ought to be a matter of course by now.
The Fine Art of Diplomacy. 10/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~3800 words. Sometimes the best laid plans get ... sidetracked.
Five Promotions Paul Davis Never Got. 11/2009. Gen; Paul Davis; All Ages; ~1100 words. See title.
When the Stars Come Home. 11/2009. Sam/Jack; Mature; ~1100 words. It's a familiar feeling, but so distant, unpracticed, like a memory.
Just Like Breathing. 11/2009. Sam/Jack; Teen; ~700 words. The only explanation was oxygen deprivation. This was a small room. They must have used it all up, gotten giddy, and proceeded to abandon all common sense.
NCIS
The Coffee Break Case. 11/2009. Abby/McGee; Teen; ~2200. McGee, Abby, and a pot of really bad coffee. It all adds up to nothing but trouble.
Star Trek 2009
Think on Nothing Better 6/2009. Uhura/Spock; All Ages; ~2700 words. There has always been something about Nyota that Spock cannot quite define.
Introspective rambling:
My favorite story this year (of my own): It *ought* to be Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. I love the idea of that one a whole lot, anyway. But it isn't, because the style and structure of the story meant I had to sit on my hands to keep from over-writing it. So now every time I read it I think 'OMG, this needs more words! Why does this not have more words?!?' Even though intellectually (and thanks to a-loquita, who is clever and knows to tell me when to stop messing with things) I know it really doesn't.
I am very fond of the last section of Five Promotions Paul Davis Never Got, because Rosemary Davis unexpectedly has this whole personality and life story in my head. And I am really pleased with When the Stars Come Home.
My best story this year: Maybe When the Stars Come Home. It's *so* tiny, but I think all the pieces are in the right places. But I also think this is the sort of question where it depends on who you are. *shrugs*
Most fun story: The Coffee Break Case. At the end of it I wanted to go write McGee-POV first-person detective novels. I won't inflict that on the universe, but I now totally think that his internal narrator sounds like an old-school private eye.
Sexiest story: Not So Unexpected After All. And it is weird to me that I had to actually go look at four different stories in order to answer this question! Hahaha.
Hardest story to write: The Fine Art of Diplomacy. I drove my betas nuts with this, because first I changed what story I was writing halfway through, and then the first draft was so shallow I just wanted to cry, and then when I fixed that I so completely overcorrected that I had to be told repeatedly (but very, very kindly) that no, I really, really had to take those two sections out of the fic no matter how much I liked them because they absolutely did not fit. It was a hair-pulling sort of experience. Thank goodness for wonderful, patient beta readers.
Easiest story to write: Just Like Breathing. Does that count, since it's only 700 words? Actually, I am sure it does because one of the other <1000 word fics on this list didn't get finished till seven months after I started it. *g*
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Less, and also, most of what I wrote is really short, and this list contains none of the longer WIPs that I thought I would surely finish at least one of. I did plan/outline/write/repeat quite a bit on those, and I hope they will be done someday, although at the rate I'm going I think it's possible no one will be around to read them if they ever are!
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I wrote a lot for particular people this year, between birthdays and prompts and that timestamp meme that I sort of still haven't finished (oops). I don't know if that's a risk, but it was a different way of thinking about things. I do *like* writing the fic that some person in particular will hopefully really like.
I did write in two new fandoms, and I posted fic-rated-for-grownups without actually dying from embarrassment, so I must have learned something in there somewhere.
Do you have any goals for the New Year? I am still working on finishing one of these things that has a plot. Maybe this year. *nods*
And because I am lame and did not ever actually post to say it, thank you to everyone who voted for my fics in the fan awards. I was totally blown away to have won one.
Before 2009
2008 Fic Roundup