Tag: meme thing

For the get to know your author meme! 4, 11, 23, and 24 because I’m indecisive

Tumblr just ate all my answers, so I’ll try to recreate them all here, but also wahhh.

4) favorite character you’ve written  Don’t make me chose between my babies!!  No seriously,  right now I’m having a tin of fun with my various versions of bamf!Q surprising the hell out of Bond, but I am always in love with my characters… otherwise, I couldn’t let them in my head so long.  And since I initiated each “break up” by ending their stories, they are all basically old lovers that I had great relationships with, who were all important to me and helped shape me, so I really can’t choose.  Edward and Carlisle changed the most over the arc of their stories, so part of me wants to say them, but really, if that were true, wouldn’t I still be writing them?  So no.  Can’t choose.  Sorry.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

I’ve been writing mysteries for 00q, and it’s forced me to plot more before I start.  I’ve always been one to know major inflection points in stories, but for the most part just let the characters lead me around.  But with mysteries, I really need to know what is happening so I can plant the clues early.  I need to know the details of what happens, even if the characters and readers don’t.  I still like to let some details emerge organically as I write, but I’ve had to get a bit tighter with my outlines.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

Well, places I’ve been often creep into my stories.  A Bleary, Hopeful Universe was completely informed by my experiences as a parent of a young infant and someone who’s worked through issues in a marriage, but neither of those experiences is particularly obscure. 

This may be tmi, I will say that I’ve seen a lot of criticism online lately about women not being able to write gay sex realistically and I would just like to remind those critics that men are not the only ones who can write anal sex from a place of experience.  That is all.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

I’ve answered this one already, but here it is again, with a few additions:

OMG so many times.  My first long fic, as I’ve said in another answer, was for Twilight, and featured Carlisle and Edward circa 1918 through about 1930 (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254265/1/Prelude-in-C). Edward is a pianist, and I love piano music, but the music basically became another character in the story, charting Edward’s progress as a character, his emotions, his ability to think beyond his own needs… it was all shown through the music.  I became a complete expert on Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Litz, the jazz of the 20s and 30s.  Back when I was posting, I had a playlist for readers to enjoy, but that’s all long defunct.  If I were ever to drag it over to AO3, it would be in part to link all that music and some historic photos I used as inspiration, since the archive deals with that so much better than ffnet ever did.

More recently, for the last 00qRBB, I wrote Stained Glass, which involved researching stained glass windows all over the world and making them part of the set of the story.  That was good fun, and at least a few readers chased the links and saw the windows along with Bond.

Thanks so much for the asks @solarmorrigan !!

For the author meme: 9, 10, 12/13, 20, 21 :)??

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

I tend to get inspired by visuals.  I’m more likely to fill an art prompt or picture prompt than a word prompt, though I think I’m getting better.  I also enjoy filling in the spaces so often left in canon… how did this character get that way, what happened during these missing weeks between scenes, etc.  I occasionally write short aus, but I’m much more tempted with tweaking the canon.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

Generally alone, sometimes in silence, but often music can help me set the moot, especially if the characters are in particularly emotional places.

12) your weaknesses as an author  I think it’s hard to know one’s own weaknesses, but I can think of a few.  I don’t think I’m particularly good at (or at least have sort of gotten away from) describing scenes and creating moods.  I think it’s easy to assume in fanfic that the reader already knows a place, so there’s no need to describe it, but that’s not always the case, and while we should avoid describing the canon and boring our readers, sometimes it’s nice to remind them or show them what’s different in this version.  I fear that if I ever write anything original, where this is actually important, I’ll have forgotten how to do it.

13) your strengths as an author

I think I generally do a good job with dialogue, though it often takes a few times through (i.e., first I just write the back and forth, then I go back and add in looks, pauses, characters doing something in the environment to help show their headspace, which makes dialogue much more bearable to read and allows you to get rid of a bunch of tags and adverbs.

As an aside, I once wrote an entire story in texts, and it was really hard NOT to have those character movements.  I had to rely on “…” to show a character struggling for words or otherwise being delayed in responding… those ellipses had to do so much work.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

OMG so many times.  My first long fic, as I’ve said in another answer, was for Twilight, and featured Carlisle and Edward circa 1918 through about 1930 (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254265/1/Prelude-in-C).  Edward is a pianist, and I love piano music, but the music basically became another character in the story, charting Edward’s progress as a character, his emotions, his ability to think beyond his own needs… it was all shown through the music.  I became a complete expert on Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Litz, the jazz of the 20s and 30s.  Back when I was posting, I had a playlist for readers to enjoy, but that’s all long defunct.

More recently, for the last 00qRBB, I wrote Stained Glass, which involved researching stained glass windows all over the world and making them part of the set of the story.  That was good fun, and at least a few readers chased the links and saw the windows along with Bond.

Thanks so much for the asks @platypushko!

25

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

Well, you know this bit, but it was still the first thing that came to mind that won’t give away an ending to a fic (slightly abridged:

“How are you feeling, 007?” She takes his chart from the end of the bed and looks it over.

“I’m still stiff and sore, but nothing that requires constant medical attention, I think. I’d really apprecia—”

“Dr. Hasanain agrees,” the nurse interrupts, replacing the chart and folding her arms across her chest.

“She… she does?” An incredulous hope starts to build in his chest.

“Yes. You’re to be released, but only into someone’s care. You’re still too close to your concussion to be completely alone.” And the hope sinks, bitterly. Alec is back out on mission, and Bond has a reputation of being an insufferable patient. Well earned, at that.

As resignation sets in, the door opens again to reveal Q pushing a wheelchair, the athletic bag from James’ locker draped across his shoulder.

“Pip pip, Bond. Let’s beat the traffic, shall we?”

“You’re releasing me?” he asks as Q dumps the bag on his lap.

“I had to beat off the other volunteers with a stick,” Q claims.

“Really?”

“No.”

The nurse looks wickedly amused, but Bond doesn’t even care. “I’ll go get his medications, Quartermaster,” she says. “And I’d keep that stick around, just in case.”

Thanks for the ask @midrashic !

For the author asks – 1, 5, 21

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

I have roughly 30k words written for the ending of Home (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5071703/1/Home), a fantastic spirk story that was abandoned before it was finished.  It’s so good, it really deserves an ending, and I probably have 3 scenes left to finish it, and have even found a beta to help me… but I keep putting off finishing and posting it.  I tell myself it’s because I’m working on other projects, but I suspect I’m also nervous about trying to end someone else’s beloved fic, even if they seem long gone and disinterested.

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

Frankly, Pinto.  I’m not generally a fan of RPF and to this day have never been tempted by any other rp pairing.   Now that I’m not in its throes, I sort of tilt my head at it.  Then I see an old interview of the two of them and I’m all “oh right…now I remember.”

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

My first long fanfic (back in 2010?) was for Twilight and featured Carlisle and Edward circa 1918.  It was 1) in first person (because the source material was) and 2) much more descriptive and flowery in its language, because both characters seemed to demand it, both of which feel strange now.  When I look back on it now, some of it feels sort of stilted, but I also wonder if I’ve lost something in dedicating myself to characters who seem to prefer snarky dialogue to long introspective paragraphs.  Maybe I’ll find more balance at some point.

Thanks for the asks @captainkatieb !

First Line Meme

Rules: list the first lines of your last ten published stories. if there are any patterns yourself, and see if anyone else notices any! tag up to ten friends!

I was tagged by @00qpidsarrow and @svengooliecat …  thank you both!

Here they are in reverse order, from most recent to oldest…

  1. It becomes clear fairly soon that Q is going to take a while with his… preparations. — Understanding Bond(age)
  2. James enters the cavernous theater, expecting to find Sophia, the Royal Opera Foundations’ director and his acquaintance these twenty years, or her counterpart for the Ballet Foundation, Charles. — The Dancer
  3. The first time it happens, he’s been back about two months. — Bond’s Break-ins
  4. “That’s lovely! Right there,” Q says, shutter clicking away rapid fire. —  “Where do you want me?”
  5. LLAP: Hey man, congrats on the new role. — Because there’s no backspace in real life…
  6. “My story’s somewhat boring, I’m afraid,” 007 says, anteing up.  — Poker Night
  7. The sound of the gunshot ricochets off the stone walls of the ancient dining hall until it fades to a thin, airless silence. — rescat
  8. “Q, are you sure this is all on the up and up?”  — Bond of Love
  9. “You know, 007, I’m quite jealous at the moment.”  —  Stained Glass
  10. Q hears the soft click of the door and looks up even as he continues to type. — phantom 

So, the first thing that I notice is that 9 out of my last 10 stories are 00q, so it seems my transition to that fandom is more or less complete.  I’m surprised that more of the stories don’t start with dialog, because I have a view of myself that I always start stories with dialog.  Clearly, that’s not the case., About half of these were written for Fest, and actually, “Where do you want me” may be my first ever AU.  Yeah…Pretty sure that’s right.

I’ll tag @a-forger-and-a-point-man , @beaubete , @boffin1710 , @commodorecliche , @dhampir72 , @elisa-pie , @greglet , @jaimistoryteller , @loves-pie, @opalescentgold, @semperama , @seepunkrun, @suedescripture , @trekbedtimestories , and  @zjofierose

First Lines Meme

First Lines Meme

I was tagged by @lookthatway.  Thank you!  Sorry it took me a few days to find the time, but work is making me nuts.  I did one of these a long time ago, but it will be interesting to look again.  This are basically all 00q except 5 and 10.  All of these are on AO3… I’m not including short headcanons and such I only wrote on Tumblr. 

Rules: List the first lines of your last 10 published stories. 👀 if there are any patterns yourself, or have other people say what they notice. Tag up to 10 friends!

  1. James enters the cavernous theater, expecting to find Sophia, the Royal Opera Foundations’ director and his acquaintance these twenty years, or her counterpart for the Ballet Foundation, Charles.
  2. The first time it happens, he’s been back about two months.
  3. “That’s lovely! Right there,” Q says, shutter clicking away rapid fire.
  4. “My story’s somewhat boring, I’m afraid,” 007 says, anteing up.
  5. LLAP: Hey man, congrats on the new role.
  6. The sound of the gunshot ricochets off the stone walls of the ancient dining hall until it fades to a thin, airless silence.
  7. “Q, are you sure this is all on the up and up?”
  8. “You know, 007, I’m quite jealous at the moment.”
  9. Q hears the soft click of the door and looks up even as he continues to type.
  10. “What about the Pack-and-Play?”

In terms of patterns… even though more than half of these start with dialogue (or texting), I honestly thought that percentage would be higher, because I really like starting stories with conversations.  You can also see my transition from Pinto to 00q (interrupted by PintodeMayo, of course)  It would be interesting to see if I systematically treat the two fandoms differently, but there’s not enough data here for that analysis, I think.  Anyone is welcome to add patterns they notice in the comments.

I’ll tag @seepunkrun @zjofierose @a-forger-and-a-point-man @beaubete @boffin1710 @beginte @elisa-pie @loves-pie @jaimistoryteller and @rabidchild67 (trying to get people I don’t *think* have been tagged yet, but if you want to do it and follow me, consider yourself tagged, and mention me when you do it so I can see your answers, please!

Meme Thing

Thanks for the tag klinfield!

1) Last movie you watched : Star Wars the Force Awakens

2) the last song you listened to: Summer Mourning by Duncan Sheik

3) Last show you watched: The Man in the High Castle.  I am now tragically current and awaiting the new season.  Sigh.

4) Last book you read: “Animal Dreams” by Barbara Kingsolver

5)
The last thing you ate: Grilled herbed chicken and gyoza.

6) If you could be anywhere right now,
where would you be? Yosemite.  The answer to this question is almost always Yosemite.

7) if you
could pick a decade to travel back to, when would it be? Hmmm.  1900s or 1910′s, when horse drawn carriages were being replaced by cars and the world was rapidly changing.

8) If you won a
million dollars, what would you spend it on first? Hmm.  I think that would be plenty to retire on, so I’d probably put in something that would pay me an annuity to live on and then quit my job and volunteer for an agency that was restoring wetlands around the bay.  Or I’d remodel the upstairs of the house and keep working.  This is assuming of course, that my kids don’t need anything.

9) What fictional character
would you like to hang out with for a day? Elizabeth Bennett, reboot Spock, Remus Lupin.

10) What is the last fandom you joined? Pinto.  It’s been a while, too.

Tagging @semper-ama, @blushingkate, @hopeforyouyet, @elisa-pie, and @loves-pie

That meme thing.

Rules: tag 20 people you want to get to know better and fill out the questions so they know some stuff about you!

I was tagged by semper-ama.

Name: E

Nickname: Ato

Star sign: Pisces, though I think astrology is utter crap

Gender: Female

Height: 5′4″

Sexual orientation: Het

Romantic orientation: effectively het

Favorite color: blue green

Time right now: 6:29 pm

Hours of sleep: 5-6 weeknights, 7-8 weekends

Lucky number(s): crap

Last thing I googled: hmmm. Seal Beach NWR

Number of blankets I sleep under: 2 (comforter and sheet)

Favorite fictional character: Spock, Sherlock, Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett, Jim Kirk, John Watson, Aragorn (le sigh),  Codi Noline, Faramir,

Favorite celebrities:
Zachary Quinto, Chris
Pine, Duncan Sheik (he counts, he’s won a Tony and two Grammys), Uncle George Takei

Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice

Favorite bands/artists: Zero7, Jamie Cullum, Duncan Sheik, Seal, Thievery Corporation, Elbow, Sonos, Jonatha Brooke, Chopin

Dream trip: I actually traveled quite a bit before kids, so for places I haven’t been, Middle Earth New Zealand

Dream job: retired so I can write.  But actually, my job isn’t that bad, other than stress.  I just whine a lot.

What am I wearing at the moment: “trouser” jeans, blue and white shirt, sweater jacket thing, ankle boots.  Work clothes.

um… I’ll tag mightymads, blushingkate, cannedebonbon, elisa-pie, geiszlerandgaila, hopeforyouyet, itreallyisthelittlethings, keep-calm-and-ks, llongwayfromhome, loves-pie, mikasoze, nixsducky, rycolfan, shards-of-divinity, silent-bridge. trekbedtimestories, talewii, wintry-mix and all the rest of you too.