Tea and Dragons

vr_trakowski @ 2017-06-08T22:34:00

2017-06-09T02:34:49Z

Okay, I'm calling it quits. "Quits." There you go. Moving over to Dreamwidth (again), at vr_trakowski; you can also find me at WordPress because I like it better, but I'm not posting much at either spot. I'm much more active on Tumblr but don't post a lot of original content.

I'm leaving the entries here for the nonce. If I ever take this down, I'll repost the LJ-only fic somewhere else, though they should have moved over to DW with the copying.

LJ, I loved you, but you've turned into a real weenie. 'Bye now.

vr_trakowski @ 2017-01-08T22:15:00

2017-01-09T03:15:33Z

This is very interesting! http://unuttered-questions.tumblr.com/post/155605282181/gingersnapwolves-transcthulhu-dabe-strudel

As a (white, straight) writer, I’ve found myself becoming more aware of my characters and how I create them over the years--due in no small part to Tumblr and its like (never let it be said that online activism doesn’t have an effect). And I’ve found it goes both ways for me.

For instance, I’ve got a original/non-fanfic story going where I started out with two white main characters. And when it finally dawned on me that there was no reason they had to be white, I took another look at them both.

My heroine, the focus of my story--she was easy to change. Her characterization was very fixed in my head, but I could alter her race without issue (helped along, certainly, by the fact that it’s a fantasy world and she doesn’t have to be a minority as such).

My hero--not so much. For whatever reason, my brain simply would not let me alter him. He was short, white, and blond, and the moment I tried to change that, it killed the story dead.

I have no idea why.

So I changed the heroine and her city and her culture, and probably improved the story thereby.

The same thing happened a few years ago during NaNoWriMo; I changed one character's appearance--not even his race, just his height and hair--and the story was dead in the water. It's weird. My brain is a mysterious place.

Prey

2016-05-19T03:00:47Z

Okay, to follow up yesterday's post...Prey used to be available unofficially on YouTube, but I can't find it any longer. It was never, as far as I know, released in any commercial form.

The idea was that the next step in human evolution had taken place, and that the new version was operating on the principle that no two species can occupy the same ecological niche. It starred Debra Messing, Adam Storke, Vincent Ventresca, and other people you'd probably recognize. And it's one reason I can't watch Will and Grace--too painful after seeing Ms. Messing portray a brilliant scientist.

The science was interesting; some of it was accurate, some of it wasn't, and some of it has since been disproved. As often happens with sci-fi, too, something that was done on the show later became reality--excavating graves from the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic to obtain the virus.

The writing was a little choppy, and many questions remained unanswered, but the acting was superior and the concepts were intriguing. If you want to watch it, you can find it here. I think that'll work; let me know if it doesn't.

Be warned--as I said, the show ended on the second-worst cliffhanger I've ever seen. Hence, fic.

*raises glass to Larry Drake*

vr_trakowski @ 2016-05-17T23:56:00

2016-05-18T03:56:37Z

Sixteen years ago, give or take a day or so, I posted my first fanfic.

Fandom’s really always been a part of the Internet, but in 2000 it wasn’t as organized online as it is now. Fanfiction.net existed, but it wasn’t yet the go-to source for fic; stories were mainly hosted on individual fan-run sites, and bulletin boards were the order of the day.

I’d been a fan long before I knew what fandom was, but my venture into Prey was only my second attempt at online fandom as a social thing. I’d read stories for Space: Above and Beyond and sought out factoids about the show, but I didn’t participate in the community, as such. In the Prey fandom I found a small but welcoming community willing to speculate endlessly about the universe of the show and how the plotline might be resolved (second-worst cliffhanger ending ever, I swear).

And there were writers. Not many, because even in its heyday Prey never had a huge following, but there was fic.

I’d been writing fanfic for years for my own pleasure, but for the first time I really wrote a story, or the beginning of one, rather than isolated scenes. And I took my heart in my hands, and gave it over to be posted (thank you, Joxer!).

I don’t remember, any more, exactly what I expected. I don’t think I hoped for anything more than a lukewarm response–it was my first attempt in the fandom, after all.

Sixteen years ago exactly, I got my first review. And then another, and another. And I was stunned.

They loved it.

It was alchemy. It was magic. It quite literally changed my life.

Because of the Prey fandom, I had the courage to write for U.C. Undercover, and then Firefly and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. And then I hit CSI and GSR, and never looked back.

The Prey fandom presence online faded away, as so many do, and the message board has gone the way of most such outmoded sites. But I remember. J.K., I have no idea where you are now, but yours was the first e-mail I got, and I have it still. Every so often I re-read it, to remember the thrill and the joy of knowing I got it right.

In honor of this, and to remember, I’m reposting that story. It was online for a while, but then I took it down when it was turned into a hard-copy ‘zine. Apparently the press that published is no longer active (the site’s still up, but nobody’s home?) so I doubt anyone will object. Skein is now up at AO3 and will be posted at FF.net as soon as I can get the latter to behave is finally up at FF.net argh.

If you choose to read it, and I don’t suggest you do so unless you saw the show, please be kind. I do like to think my writing’s improved over the years, and I had to seriously resist the impulse to spruce it up in places.

Thank you, Prey fandom. You showed me that my work had value; more, you proved to me that I did actually have a gift. 1.5 million words later, I am a writer.

(Also, I have a thing for emotionally damaged half-aliens and the women who save them, but we knew that already.)

vr_trakowski @ 2016-05-10T21:35:00

2016-05-11T01:35:05Z

Carnivals are liminal places.

I was going to say, except for the people who work there, but perhaps not, given their transitory nature--moving from place to place, expanding and collapsing like a night-blooming flower.

And nights are the best time for them, oh yes, when all the lights are lit and moving. They’re larger, then, the boundaries are harder to find in the shadows behind the colors.

There’s a carnival across the street right now. I can’t look at it and not feel the resonance of a thousand stories, the weight of nostalgia and breath of magic that haunts them even when they are utterly prosaic.

I’m not going to visit it. I’m the sort where the mystery is better if I just watch from a distance. And besides, it’s loud.

But I can look out my window at midnight, and see the colors wheeling against the sky, vivid and bold and beckoning and strange, and for just a little while there’s an extra fold in existence.

Good home needed...

2016-04-07T00:58:52Z

Anyone in the DC metro area in need of a fine young marmalade tomcat? He's gone from a few weeks of shrub-lurking to deciding he wants to be domestic, if it involves scritches. He'd need neutering/shots/checkup etc., as well as time to adjust, but if someone wants to come and meet him I'll catch him for you.

No photos available at this time, but he's a dark orange with white bits, and is probably not quite two years old. Loud voice when he chooses to use it, seems to like other cats fine, and is very skinny but seems otherwise healthy (I suspect he's got the usual tomcat attitude of GURLZ-before-food).

Come to that, there's a female marmalade coming up on two years herself, and a marmalade ex-kitten whose gender is not yet determined, also relatively friendly. The female is very much I'm-in-charge-here and uses her paws enough that she probably shouldn't be around small kids.

[Disclaimer: I'd take 'em all in if I could, but I have two already and NO MORE ROOM, and no car to get to the cheap spay/neuter.]

Cloning

2016-02-19T03:54:07Z

I’m thinking of porting more of my stories from FF.net to AO3--not removing them from FF.net by any means, but AO3 is more user-friendly and I’ve had people ask in the past for a way to get multi-chapter stories all at once. 54 on AO3 versus 208 (good grief!) on FF.net--I’m not counting that last Advent trainwreck because I didn’t put those on FF.net. But I don’t know as I’d move all of ‘em; some never got read as far as I know, and there’s a few I’d prefer to ignore (the first effort in any fandom can be embarrassing).

The trouble is what to choose--and how to do it. AO3 has an import feature but FF.net won’t work for it, which means I’d have to do all 40 chapters of HttM, for instance, one at a time. Now, it is a good opportunity to fix the little errors that do creep in, but it’s going to take time and fiddling, and I’m six months behind on my Website, and trying to write, and, and.

Maybe I can just do them very slowly. It’ll confuse anyone following me on AO3, though. And is it even worth it to do all that CSI stuff? As far as I know, GSR was pretty much fading by the time AO3 really got off the ground. I don’t think there’s much of a presence there.

International Fanworks Day

2016-02-17T02:26:20Z

I missed it. :P Blame a sleep hangover; three-day weekends always verstrudle* my sleep schedule. But I'm putting up a few recs anyway.

the instinct to your charm by Sorrel--Jupiter Ascending, Jupiter/Caine. A look at the movie through Caine's eyes. Not quite the usual characterization for him, and all the more delightful for it. My favorite JA fic by far, and I wish she would write the sequel she was considering, though I think she's moved on from the fandom (alas).

The Roger and Hyacinth series by Cincoflex--Harry Potter with OCs. Two new students at Hogwarts post-Harry who become friends. The HP world is so rich, and so open to in-depth exploration; it's a pity this hasn't got the attention it deserves.

The Original Naked Quidditch Match by Anya (Evilgoddss on FF.net)--Harry Potter again. This thing is legendary, and hilarious; be warned, it was written before the series was completed, and is not what I'd call safe for work or small children.

Chicago Winter by Celli--UC: Undercover, and aren't we hearking back with this! Talk about small fandoms. This is a quick, charming little piece that I think Donovan himself would have approved of.

Cardinality by Mossley--CSI: Las Vegas, GSR. Mossley is a legend among GSR fans; she seems to have withdrawn from the grid, which is too bad, but her fic lives on. Her casefiles were unmatched, and this is one of her best and still a favorite of mine. Trigger warning for lots and lots of blood, though. Heh, this story is how I knew what the docs were talking about when they put me on warfarin...

*This is probably spelled wrong, but my dad (from whom I got it) hasn't given me a spelling I can find online.

Or should I have said weathercock?

2016-02-15T03:01:28Z

So I started watching Turn. Caution: mild spoilers.

This has not been wonderful for my concentration on other tasks, but it's such a marvelous mess that I can't look away, even though history is not at all my thing. Granted, I've only watched the first season and three eps of the second so far. But given the acting and the fic potential, I'm disappointed at how little fandom I've managed to find to date.

(Disclaimer: I'm considering these characters mostly fictional; from what I can tell the personal storylines are veering far from the people's actual lives, so it's not quite as creepy as it sounds. I've started to consider it an AU version of U.S. history.)

I'm not sure why I get such a kick out of it, because most of the characters are either oblivious, batshit, or both. I'd love to line up the elder Woodhull, Anna Strong, Hewlett, and Ben, and smack them all upside the head, and to lock Simcoe and Rogers in a cage and let them cannibalize each other. Abe's got more directions than a weathervane and Mary needs to get a grip; about the only person with common sense is Caleb, and part of me wants to smack him just on general principles anyway. Abigail, and possible Akinbode, are the only other ones who really deserve to survive; even poor Baker was too honorable for his own good.

But oh, it's fun. It's fascinating to watch and occasionally very satisfying, even if I'm mentally throwing popcorn at the screen (I would have smothered Richard Woodhull years ago if he were my father). And the costume porn is terrific. There's a certain dry pleasure in watching Andre's and Arnold's doom coming for them, and in wondering if Hewlett's wig is ever gonna slip. And if anyone will ever save themselves a lot of trouble and slit Simcoe's throat.

I admit that Anna tends to drive me up a wall. She's incredibly self-centered in a very dangerous way, too quick-tempered and impulse-driven to be working as a spy. I keep thinking that her habit of changing her mind every time she wants something new is going to get them into deep trouble soon.

Simcoe makes my skin crawl, but then he's supposed to, so that's a success. It's interesting to compare him to Mr. Roukin, who out of character appears to be a perfectly nice and sweet person; apparently he's very, very good at what he does.

One wonders how Hewlett made it as far as Major; that guy is dim. And I can't help feeling sorry for King George, poor sod.

Do the digital comics still exist anywhere?

Honor Bright, Chapters 1 & 2

2015-09-12T00:34:47Z

Got the stamp of approval for my angst!fic, so I started posting. This one's mostly done so I may be able to stick to an update schedule.

Honor Bright is Jupiter Ascending, Jupiter/Caine, rated T at the moment, and of course it has a happy ending, when do I ever do anything else? Sheesh.

Chapter 1

This is not part of my Rise universe; it has a lot of similarities, but it's a different idea. I did originally plan to shove it in Rise somewhere, but decided that was too much Caine-drama for one story, given some of the other things I have in mind.

Yes, the two scientists are hat-tips. Extra bonus points if you figure out to whom, and extra extra points if you get the other Splice. *snerk*

Chapter 2

If you recognize the edible flowers, you are a reader and I salute you. *grin*

Rise, Chapters 11 & 12

2015-08-06T01:49:16Z

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Ch. 11

The wardrobe suite is, of course, taken from the concept art shown here, and many thanks to TheBadLuckTux for posting it where I could see it! Though I stole the rose-dress from the marvelous Silver Woven in My Hair.

It’s a tricky line to walk between Jupiter’s desire for luxury and a certain distaste for the incredible excess of Entitlement.

Graf OS is a hat-tip. :D Certain readers may perhaps figure it out.

I have no idea how Jupiter is charging her iPhone.

The singing jellyfish were Cincoflex’s idea!

Ch. 12

I am enjoying the evolution of the relationship between Jupiter and Stinger. I don’t want him to fall into a paternal role; for one thing, the power differential is wrong for that. But in the film he seemed to throw himself into Jupiter’s corner, if for no other reason than because Caine was there, and I do think that her determination to consider Splices people will be very attractive to most of them.

Another cliffhanger, which is bad of me to do so soon after the previous one, but again I had it in mind for a long time. Though this whole thing may be over-elaborate. I do tend to bog myself down sometimes.

Rise, Chapters 9 & 10

2015-08-04T23:26:43Z

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Ch. 9

This is where I went off an update schedule. I probably should have waited to start posting the story, but I was afraid of fandom fade, and also I have no idea how long this thing is going to be, besides “lonnnng”. It probably won’t top Halfway to the Moon, but it looks like it may pass Skein eventually.

It’s also where Jupiter really steps into her inheritance, I think, genetic as well as physical. Using that power is in a sense her point of no return.

I must have rewritten some of these scenes five or six times...

Ch. 10

The whole hair thing was a last-minute idea, really, but it struck me as fun. I don’t think Caine carries a knife in the film, at least that we can see, but it seems like something a soldier should have on hand anyway. And why throw your own when you can take your opponent’s and use that?

It’s good to get back to Captain Tsing, even if she doesn’t evolve much in these chapters. I do like her so much.

Kalique is a difficult character to write. I know how I want her to play out, but we don’t see much of her on screen so it’s tricky. More so since I’m not using her POV.

Rise, Chapters 7 & 8

2015-08-04T01:46:31Z

Wow, I'm way behind. And I will apologize now for the post-spam that's coming. If anybody's still reading this thing, I hope you like Jupiter Ascending. Rise is (now) R and is Jupiter/Caine.

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Ch. 7

I’m a little disappointed that nobody caught the ElfQuest reference.

Ch. 8

This is slightly contrived but above all I think such things should be private. And the chapter took me forever because I do not deal well with smut, even smut so vague as this. To be honest it was even more vague, but the smut fairy visited and wouldn’t shut up, so I had to write it.

I was planning the cliffhanger almost from the moment I conceived the story. *grin*

Rise, Chapter 6

2015-04-27T06:26:15Z

Now posted. I really have to start finishing my chapters earlier. This time I got bit by the smut fairy, and that always takes forever.

cincoflex did the banner. Is it not gorgeous? :D

First off, someone did already tell Jupiter about the destabilizations, but I can't remember who mentioned it--and to be fair, she probably didn't even hear it at the time. People kept dumping information on her head and she really didn't have time to process it all.

I am always hesitant to introduce named OCs. Not necessarily those like Dr. Thompson, who has a part to play, but the sort of side/background characters needed to fill things out. It's so hard to make them believable, and in this case ten (!) are more than a few. But an honor guard needs enough people to allow for time off, and so ten it is, to make a dozen with Caine and Stinger. And I have named all of them, even though they may never get named on screen, as 'twere.

I have no idea what Forthwith and Laur are spliced with.

Edsel is, by extension, Cinco's fault. :P

ETA (I forgot!): Essentials of Economic Theory As Applied to Modern Problems of Industry and Public Policy actually exists, but it was written by John Bates Clark, a neoclassical economist born in 1847. I needed a worthy title; I admit I haven't read the book.

I sometimes wonder if people find this story too slow. Let me tell you, it's gonna pick up in another couple of chapters... *evil laugh*

Rise, Chapter 4

2015-04-14T01:26:43Z

Now posted. Yes, it's to AO3 instead of my site, but I'm also posting at my site.

BTW, apparently streaming will be available on Amazon next week, on the 21st. Or so the site says.

This chapter was supposed to be a whole lot shorter. It kept going and going and going. At least I've finally gotten beyond the end of the film.

I know many people give Stinger bee’s wings, which makes sense for him. But what wings should a wolf-guy have, then? Furry? In my mind, each Skyjacker squadron has the same kind of wings, like an identifying uniform. They’re probably swappable if necessary, or maybe one can just change the feather patterning.

No, I'm not really contemplating an OT3, but I do want to acknowledge the hints in canon. :P

Rise, Chapter 2

2015-03-30T00:41:36Z

Now posted.

Yes, I’m using “sheave” as a singular. That’s what everyone seemed to do in the film. Perhaps it’s based on a sheave of pages even if they don’t use pages any longer.

I know it’s Willis Tower, but I’ve been reliably informed that no one actually calls it that--much as no one refers to Dulles as IAD (Agent Sitwell, you egg).

The soundtrack for this story is of course the film score, but also (oddly enough) Sam Dillard’s astounding Star Trek Epic Music Suite. And the Wave option on Soundrown.

(Why the Trek? I wanted to listen to it again at about the time I saw the film, but it also fits. The film score is very heavy, after a fashion, and while it fits the film very well, it’s kind of dark and martial. The Trek medley, like the original franchise, speaks to hope. And hope is what I am trying to find with this story.)

Rise, Chapter 1

2015-03-23T00:07:08Z

The muse woke up. She loves Jupiter Ascending. I'm in trouble.

Rise starts before the end of the film, and will continue on beyond it. It's PG at the moment and Jupiter/Caine, and cincoflex made the gorgeous banner, and cheered me on despite the fact that it's not her fandom.

I am making things up wholesale due to gaps in the narrative--very little is said about the legal system, title inheritance, or what exactly a Recurrence does when they get found. So we get to wing it. I also took a blind stab at Jupiter's age; she's obviously an adult, but her attitude at the beginning of the film is still fairly adolescent.

As for Kalique, did anyone else notice that almost every time she's on screen she's eating or drinking something?

Yes, I saw Jupiter Ascending--

2015-03-14T00:00:47Z

--and I am constantly trying to type it as "Jupiter Rising".

Oh, it's so much fun.

Yes, it's flawed--it leaves too many minor questions unanswered, though a sequel could clean some of them up. The fight scenes do run on a bit (a failure, I might point out, of just about any action film these days). The vilains are so completely over the top that they climb down the other side--and have fun doing it.

But the visuals are stunning, the dialogue works, there's great chemistry, and it has Sean Bean enjoying himself.

I keep hearking back to Independence Day, or 1999's The Mummy. SF/F movies that are exactly what they say they are--somewhat lighthearted adventures that are enjoyable to watch and solid enough to watch again. Improbable, perhaps, but if you want reality, why are you watching movies? :P

What I read in 2014

2015-01-02T04:59:05Z

As ever, a listing is not necessarily a recommendation.

The Adventures of Nicholas   - Helen Siiteri
Alexandria: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Unfolds   - Nick Bantock
April Gold   - Grace Livingston Hill
Astra   - Grace Livingston Hill
Away Is a Strange Place to Be   - H. M. Hoover
Babar the King   - Jean de Brunhoff
A Baby Sister for Frances   - Russell Hoban
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast   - Robin McKinley
Bedtime for Frances   - Russell Hoban
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End   - Atul Gawande
The Best Man   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Big Blue Soldier   - Grace Livingston Hill
Bone Dance   - Emma Bull
Bread and Jam for Frances   - Russell Hoban
Brentwood   - Grace Livingston Hill
Broom-Adelaide   - Barbara C. Freeman
Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team   - Audrey Vernick
Busman's Honeymoon   - Dorothy L. Sayers
By Way of the Silverthorns   - Grace Livingston Hill
Califia's Daughters   - Leigh Richards
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Castle of Hape   - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Cat Dreams   - Ursula K. Le Guin
Cat in the Manger   - Michael Foreman
Catwings   - Ursula K. Le Guin
Catwings Return   - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Challengers   - Grace Livingston Hill
Children of Morrow   - H. M. Hoover
The Christmas Bride   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Christmas Cat   - Efner Tudor Holmes
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor   - Lisa Kleypas
The Christmas We Moved to the Barn   - Cooper Edens, Alexandra Day
The Clan of the Cave Bear   - Jean M. Auel
Clemency in the Moonlight   - Barbara C. Freeman
Clouds of Witness   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Clue in the Jewel Box   - Carolyn Keene
The Clue of the Broken Locket   - Carolyn Keene
The Clue of the Velvet Mask   - Carolyn Keene
Come a Stranger   - Cynthia Voigt
Corduroy   - Don Freeman
Dangerous Spaces   - Margaret Mahy
Daphne Deane   - Grace Livingston Hill
Darkangel   - Meredith Ann Pierce
The Deadliest Game   - Diane Duane, Tom Clancy, Steve Pieczenik, Bill Mccay
The Delikon   - H. M. Hoover
Diamond Mask   - Julian May
Dicey's Song   - Cynthia Voigt
Dog   - Ellie Simmons
The Double Jinx Mystery   - Carolyn Keene
Dragonhaven   - Robin McKinley
Dream Lake   - Lisa Kleypas
The Enchanted Barn   - Grace Livingston Hill
Ethan of Athos   - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Eyes of the Beholders   - A.C. Crispin
A Fair Barbarian - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Finding of Jasper Holt   - Grace Livingston Hill
Firebird   - Kathy Tyers
Five Red Herrings   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Forgetting Room   - Nick Bantock
Found Treasure   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Gate of Ivory   - Doris Egan
A Gathering of Gargoyles   - Meredith Ann Pierce
Gaudy Night   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making   - Catherynne M. Valente
The Gold Shoe   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes   - Nick Bantock
The Graveyard Book   - Neil Gaiman
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence   - Nick Bantock
Growing Up Weightless   - John M. Ford
The Gryphon: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Is Rediscovered   - Nick Bantock
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society   - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Guilt-Edged Ivory   - Doris Egan
Have His Carcase   - Dorothy L Sayers
Have Space Suit--Will Travel   - Robert A. Heinlein
Head of the House   - Grace Livingston Hill
Homecoming   - Cynthia Voigt
Homing   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Honor Girl   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Humming Top   - Dorothy Spicer
The IDIC Epidemic   - Jean Lorrah
If Tomorrow Comes   - Sidney Sheldon
In Tune With Wedding Bells   - Grace Livingston Hill
Ishmael   - Barbara Hambly
It Made Sense at the Time: Selected Sketches by Ursula Vernon   - Ursula Vernon
Jack and Jill - Louisa May Alcott
Jane on Her Own   - Ursula K. Le Guin
Job's Niece   - Grace Livingston Hill
Kill Station   - Diane Duane, Peter Morwood
Lightning   - Dean Koontz
Lord Peter Views the Body   - Dorothy L Sayers
Lost Star   - H. M. Hoover
The Mammoth Hunters   - Jean M. Auel
The Marrow of the World -    Ruth Nichols
Mary Arden   - Grace Livingston Hill
Mindblast   - Diane Duane, Peter Morwood
Miranda   - Grace Livingston Hill
Miss Garnet's Angel   - Salley Vickers
The Morning Star   - Nick Bantock
Murder Must Advertise   - Dorothy L Sayers
The Mystery at Lilac Inn   - Carolyn Keene
Mystery Flowers   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Mystery of Mary   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Mystery of the Ivory Charm   - Carolyn Keene
Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion   - Carolyn Keene
A New Name   - Grace Livingston Hill
Nine Goblins   - T. Kingfisher
Not Under the Law   - Grace Livingston Hill
Nurses Who Led the Way   - Adele de Leeuw, Cateau de Leeuw
Omnitopia Dawn   - Diane Duane
Out of the Storm   - Grace Livingston Hill
Palimpsest   - Catherynne Valente
The Pandora Principle   - Carolyn Clowes
The Patch of Blue   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Pearl of the Soul of the World   - Meredith Ann Pierce
Pink Smog: Becoming Weetzie Bat -    Francesca Lia Block
A Pocket for Corduroy   - Don Freeman
Pretty Dead   - Francesca Lia Block
Princess   - Carolyn Lane
The Rains of Eridan   - H. M. Hoover
Rainshadow Road   - Lisa Kleypas
Re-Creations   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Rescue of Babar   - Laurent de Brunhoff
Return to Earth   - H. M. Hoover
The Ring of Fire   - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Rose Galbraith   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Runner   - Cynthia Voigt
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues   - Nick Bantock
Salaam: A Muslim American Boy's Story   - Tricia Brown
Santa Olivia   - Jacqueline Carey
The Scarlet Slipper Mystery   - Carolyn Keene
The Secret in the Old Attic   - Carolyn Keene
The Secret of Shadow Ranch   - Carolyn Keene
The Secret of the Old Clock   - Carolyn Keene
Seventeen Against the Dealer   - Cynthia Voigt
The Seventh Bride - T. Kingfisher
The Seventh Hour   - Grace Livingston Hill
The Shepherd Moon   - H. M. Hoover
Silas and Con   - A.C. Stewart
The Singing Sands   - Josephine Tey
So You Want to Be a Wizard - NME   - Diane Duane
Sons from Afar   - Cynthia Voigt
Sound of the Trumpet   - Grace Livingston Hill
Space Viking   - H. Beam Piper
Special Deliveries   - Alexandra Day, Cooper Edens
The Spellkey   - Ann Downer
Spice Box   - Grace Livingston Hill
Stitch in Snow   - Anne McCaffrey
Strong Poison   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Tale of Ginger and Pickles   - Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse   - Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Pigling Bland   - Beatrix Potter
Tea with the Black Dragon   - R.A. Macavoy
This Time of Darkness   - H. M. Hoover
Thrones, Dominations   - Dorothy L. Sayers, Jill Paton Walsh
Time of the Singing of Birds   - Grace Livingston Hill
Toad Words and Other Stories   - T. Kingfisher
Touch Not the Cat   - Mary Stewart
The Treasure in the Little Trunk   - Helen Fuller Orton
The Tryst   - Grace Livingston Hill
Twisting the Rope   - R.A. MacAvoy
Two-Bit Heroes   - Doris Egan
Uhura's Song   - Janet Kagan
Underrunners   - Margaret Mahy
Unnatural Death   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Valley of Horses   - Jean M. Auel
Vanishing Point   - Michaela Roessner
The Venetian's Wife: A Strangely Sensual Tale of a Renaissance Explorer, a Computer, and a Metamorphosis   - Nick Bantock
Wasteland   - Francesca Lia Block
Weetzie Bat   - Francesca Lia Block
The Whispering Statue   - Carolyn Keene
The White Flower   - Grace Livingston Hill
White Orchids   - Grace Livingston Hill
Whose Body?   - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Wind Blows Backward   - Mary Downing Hahn
The Winds of Mars   - H. M. Hoover
The Witch's Daughter   - Nina Bawden
The Wolf Bell   - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings   - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Year of the Lucy   - Anne McCaffrey

That's 180, better than last year but not as many as I'd like. *sigh* I don't even really have fanfic as an excuse this time.

New fic posted

2015-01-01T19:59:35Z

The muse woke up long enough to throw out a short bit of fluff. Memories of Water is Captain America/Avengers and rated G.

Not much to say except about the title, which is another exercise in "how obscure can I be without being completely impenetrable". Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne is the iconic New Year's Eve song for the U.S. (though I've never understood why that holiday needs a song) but most people never get to the third verse, which talks about paddling in the water before oceans separated the singer and their friend. I don't know what water Steve and Bucky might have played in in Brooklyn, except perhaps a fire hydrant (did they do that in the 1930s?), but oceans certainly did separate them later.

Thus.

Space Viking

2014-09-20T19:47:53Z

Let me admit, first off, that I very much enjoy H. Beam Piper's Fuzzy series. They're somewhat outdated, but they're light and fun, and I like them enough that I was horrified when Scalzi "rebooted" the first book. (Seriously, who does that?)

So, since I enjoy Piper's style, I thought I'd try another of his books.

Space Viking...doesn't work.

For one thing, it's more of a synopsis in places than a story. Great swathes of time and activity are glossed over. For another, it's much more sexist than the Fuzzy trilogy, though to be fair everything on the cover warns that the protagonist's lady is fridged right at the beginning. I nearly gave up partway through, because I couldn't bring myself to care about the protagonist at all. He throws his entire life away to avenge the death of his wife, and then halfway through the book he finds he doesn't care about vengeance any longer. I suspect that this sort of thing is much more true to life than otherwise, but as a plotline it just makes him look like a twit. More of a twit than he is already, anyway.

It's also fairly racist without coming out and saying so, and pretty vehemently anti-democracy, though again to be fair the protagonist admits that there doesn't seem to be a better system to use instead. But really, the main failure of the book is that it zips past half the story without stopping to look at it. Most of the other flaws can be blamed on the time it was written; the lack of actual storyline, as it were, is solely Piper's fault.

However, I might try another if one comes my way. Perhaps there's a medium somewhere.

Attention Prey fans!

2014-08-21T02:34:25Z

...And others, of course.

Adam Storke is back!

I haven't watched it yet, but hey, who cares? :P

Points to Wattpad...

2014-06-14T01:24:52Z

...or the plagiarist, if they grew a conscience. The copied story is gone. *whew*

Thanks to everyone who left a comment there!

Here we go again

2014-06-11T13:27:30Z

An alert, and very kind, reader has tipped me to the complete plagiarism of my Iron Man fic Mnemosyne's Lock, reposted entire on Wattpad under the atrociously spelled title of I Dont Remeber. (Wow, that hurt to type.) I have reported the repost to Wattpad, and hope that they will respond swiftly.

Please check out the "author" and see if they have done the same for any other posted stories. These folks are often serial plagiarists.

At last

2014-05-26T12:43:41Z

If anyone had asked me during my adult life if I had a quest, my answer would most likely have been "To find the soundtrack album for Highlander." I saw the movie early in my college career (not when it was released; in the school's theater on movie night) and it, along with Ladyhawke, became iconic for me in so many ways. And while I don't care about Queen much one way or another, I wanted the music--both the songs and the gorgeous instrumentals.

But despite the listing at the end of the credits, the soundtrack album was not released in the United States. It was released in the UK, but promptly became an item of unbelievable rarity, to the point where nearly every Highlander fan believes it to be a myth. I came within inches of finding it once, at a vinyl shop in England, but it was sold a day or two before I got there.

Most of the music, in one form or another, has been released in different albums--one or two instrumental packs for the movies, Queen's A Kind of Magic--but never the original stuff, not all together.

You see where I'm going with this, don't you? :P

Someone on Amazon has it. It's print on demand, and it comes in a measly cardboard sleeve; and I know everyone is rightly pissed at Amazon just now. But if, like me, you have been searching for a quarter of a century (or more)...there it is. I can even accept the inclusion of one track from the TV series (there should have been only one!).

The CD ripped to my computer just fine. And for the first time, I got to listen to all that beauty without interruption.

*happy sigh*

(...Now what do I look for?)