December 2023

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
242526272829 30
31      

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
cat_77: taken w/1953 Pony (drinks (old school))
Monday, December 30th, 2019 11:10 am
Posting here just to get this out despite knowing pretty much no one still reads anything I put here.

I finished my story. As in my Story. The one that’s been in my head for literally 20 years, but out on hold while I did pesky things like feed my family and work for a living. Roughly 80K words for the first in what is a series in my own head. So many changes made throughout this time, both in my writing style and in issues like internalized misogyny and representation, but one thing remains: I fucking love my characters.

It’s because I love them so much that I’m afraid to go any further with this. Even if I knew how to submit to a publisher, to hear them say they hate it or even just hate one of my faves would kill me a little inside. It’s not perfect, it’s not for everyone, but it’s what I was capable of doing mixed with what I originally wanted.

Then there’s another fear. What if I go through the whole painful process to get it out into the world, and the world hates it? People who have read or heard tidbits about it tend to like it, but what if they are the exception and not the norm? What if it’s mocked or flogged or, as what happened to so many of my stories when I first started writing, what if someone steals large swaths of it and rubs it in my face when their version is successful and I fail?

Yes, these are a lot of what-if’s, but this is how my mind works. Over the past 20 years, I think I’ve grown as a writer, but I’ve also grown as a person with a fuck ton of anxiety. My mind tends to go to every possibility of failure and plan for it, even when I know it’s holding me back. I don’t know how to sell my work, or myself, enough to wave a flag and get people’s attention to give it a shot. I never have and it’s an uncomfortable concept to me. That said, it’s a necessity if I’m even going to try to get this sucker out there and I don’t know if that’s something I can do.

Anyway, I have rambled. Home during a day off with a snowstorm blowing outside and my kid curled up on the couch with all the pets, my mind needed to get at least some of this out. Thank you if you have read any of this at all.
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Sunday, January 24th, 2016 11:15 am
It might not seem like it right now with the distinct lack of posting, but I really am actually writing. I've got two long fics I'm poking at that are nowhere near done yet, so it'll be a while still.

So, here's the issue: both fics focus on the same characters and I've reached that almost-obsession stage about said characters. I think I need a break? Like, a little distraction so that I can come back to them with the excited "what are they going to do next?" and not just "oh, hey, you guys again..."

Which leads me to: Prompt me? Please?

List two characters and a one to two word prompt. No promises for epic-length results, but you'll get something short and sweet in the very least.

Check out my tags for a list of fandoms I usually write in. I'll also toss in The 100, The Originals, and Galavant though were slightly behind on The Originals right now.

Hit me? Pretty please?
cat_77: Smiling Vala (glee!)
Wednesday, July 15th, 2015 09:14 pm
I wrote something! Technically three somethings! After writing practically nothing for months and barely even feeling like editing existing pieces!

One is like 90% done.

One is like 70% done.

One just needs the final re-read through and possibly a better title. That one finishes off the Respiration series that I totally thought I had already posted but apparently hadn't even written yet. Sorry?

So, yeah, kinda happy. Apparently it's the correct type of stress at work as I'm actually being productive. :)
Tags:
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Sunday, June 21st, 2015 12:54 pm
I was wondering when this would come out again and was trying to keep an eye out for it, but totally missed it until I went back through my feed this weekend.

It's time for [community profile] hc_bingo again!

I know some people have qualms about it and whatnot, but I have found it to be a wonderful way of breaking through writer's block by offering prompts that you can take literally, or turn on their head.

Anyway, my card is beneath the cut )
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Sunday, May 24th, 2015 11:04 pm
I have a fic of roughly 32K that I'm getting ready to post. When I write, I tend not to break up into individual chapter, but might put a break in to denote time has passed. One or two of these combined might equal a suitable chapter length. I think.

So, preference question:
Do you prefer to read fic divied up into individual chapters, or one big chunk to process all at once?

I usually choose the chunk at once, but have to admit that there's a downside to reading it on mobile when it refreshes for whatever reason. My partner says she strongly dislikes the all at once for precisely that reason.
Tags:
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Thursday, April 30th, 2015 09:09 pm
So I had hoped to have this fic I've been poking at finished prior to AOU coming out. Not sure why I set that as a deadline when CATWS had already Jossed it, but whatever.

I didn't quite make it? Work and home stress and everything else just all piled up at once. So I'm on the epilogue and then have the editing process to go. But considering how little I've actually written lately, and that this thing is 30K already, that totes counts, right?
Tags:
cat_77: (Hands - Freya & Merlin)
Monday, December 29th, 2014 03:45 pm
Giant coding post of coding time...

Managed to complete a Border Bingo, which was my goal this time out. Go me?

Fandoms: Agents of SHIELD, Avengers (MCU), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Outlander, Orphan Black, Stargate: SG-1
H/C: accidents, asphyxiation, burns, caught in a robbery, difficult/unexplained pregnancy, disappearing, estrangement, headaches/migraines, insomnia, loss of home/shelter, magical trouble, rape/non-con, wings, witch hunt, unexpected consequences of planned soul bonding, unconsciousness

Fills Below the Cut )

Card Below the Cut )
cat_77: old tree in winter (snow tree)
Monday, December 8th, 2014 07:57 pm
Yuletide fic is almost done! Like at least 80% as of today. It would have been more, but I got one of those annoying cluster headaches that wouldn't go away so...

Once I wrap that one up and post it for the reveal, I can work on finishing up the drafts for [community profile] hc_bingo - all but two of what I want to post are at least in "almost finished/polished" draft format, so there's that. Just not fully liking one other, and honestly haven't started on the one that I was so excited to get the prompt for because, really, that's how I roll... *headdesk*

So, yeah... That's me on the writing front? If I could just write at work at lunch instead of playing Bejeweled the entire time, maybe I'd actually be done with these challenges and back to trying to finish my huge long fic that no one will read. :)
cat_77: (mordred hates you)
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014 06:44 pm
I was going to post a fic I finished about a character I like that was both semi-dramatic and fit a prompt.

Instead, I wrote a fic about a character I don't like that doesn't quite apologize for him so much as try to understand his thoughts that also fits a different prompt.

Can I just go back to writing the accidental soulmates pseudo-porn now?
Tags:
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Tuesday, May 20th, 2014 08:39 pm
Poking at some WIPs that have been sitting for a while, but my heart's not really in it. Out of nowhere, I really want to work both on my original stuff again, and a couple of WIPs that I have forgotten about for literally years because they are trapped on my dead laptop and/or on a thumb drive that I'm not sure our server will take.

Laptop was Windows-based and has a key stuck in a way we cannot get fixed. It reads as jammed, but we removed it and can't find any actual noticeable issue, even as it still registers as stuck. Partner was trying, and couldn't get it and everything keeps shorting out because you seriously cannot get anything but error messages out of anything. She set it aside, and now we're not sure where the power cable is, so even if I take it in, I'm not sure I could turn it on. Not to mention I am now spoiled with the battery life of my iPad versus the two hours that sucker could hold a charge.

Thumb drives should, in theory work, save for two things: The first is that they are formatted to Windows and we only have Macs now save for the dead laptop. The last time my partner tried one (which thankfully only had one thing on it), it tried to erase and reformat the thing. The second thing is that I am terrified of using a computer at like a library or something and getting a virus and losing everything.

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on this? Or a smack upside the head for being technologically inept when computers should totally be able to read a fricken word doc on any platform?
cat_77: (feedback)
Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 07:46 pm
Okay, so there's this thing. I love feedback, adore it, get super excited every time I see someone has commented on something I have written.

And then I have no idea how to respond.

Thanks, thank you, and variations there of are appropriate, but don't seem like enough. Especially when someone leaves awesomely long commentary on what they liked and why. And then I wonder how to respond. And then I debate it. And debate it. And then I fail to respond at all.

Um, sorry?

Please know that if I do not immediately respond to feedback and kudos and comments and the like that it's not because I am an ass. I just kinda sorta don't know what to say. And then fail to say anything useful at all.

Crossposting to Tumblr too because, really, I suck at this and need to own up to it.
cat_77: old tree w/color (tree)
Friday, November 15th, 2013 06:11 am
I am (once again) behind on answering comments, both on the journals and on AO3. I hope to play catch up this weekend? Maybe? For now, though, I have to pry myself out of bed and off to work.

Thank you everyone who has taken the time to read!
cat_77: SHIELD logo (SHIELD)
Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013 06:01 pm
So [personal profile] wolfie74 and I have been watching Agents of SHIELD and she wants a fic wherein Skye is secretly Tony Stark's daughter and yes, I have been debating writing that one, but it's just not there yet.

I've been on an odd kick of pairings lately (it started with intense Fringe!feels, especially Redverse!feels) and now have delved a bit into Steve/Darcy as snarky friends if not more.

On the way home tonight, I had a thought. This thought may, of course, change. As of right now though, I want fic wherein Darcy is secretly a Buchanan. As in Bucky. As in Bucky's little sister is Darcy's grandma. As in all the awkwardness when this is revealed and they are getting ready to re-integrate the Winter Soldier and he discovers, as either Clint or Tony will so eloquently put it, that Steve "has been tapping that for months." Queue Steve with a black eye, Darcy with attitude towards her pseudo-great-uncle, and no one saying a word.

Yes/no?
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Sunday, September 15th, 2013 04:34 pm
I have reached the point where I am stalling re-editing two stories because of that whole "fear of posting" thing I still have mixed with the "almost done with others but don't know how I want to finish them" thing I also have.
cat_77: taken w/1953 Pony (drinks (old school))
Wednesday, August 28th, 2013 06:08 am
It's perfectly logical to add a character from Fandom A to a fic about Fandom B, right? Even though said character played a relatively minor role in the fandom and the character's fate is ambiguous as to whether or not said character survived, right?

Not even sure if I'm going to make this an actual crossover, or if I just want her there in the background. Though she may be called a Mary Sue if she knows even half of what she did in the original canon and people don't recognize her for who she is.
cat_77: baby dragon! (Aithusa)
Thursday, August 1st, 2013 05:48 am
So one of the squares on my [community profile] hc_bingo card is "attacked by a creature." I've been hemming and hawing over this one for a few weeks, not sure what I want to write.

I had an idea, and then had a different one a few days ago, and then had a different one this morning. I possibly should not have had caffeine so close to bed time last night because, while my ADD took care if it and put me to sleep, I had an odd story idea that led to another one that lead to another one.

So, ideas, in order from a few weeks ago to now:
1) A look at how Natasha and Bruce learned to become friends, how she came to not just accept the monster within him, but both the monster and her learned to trust each other.

2) Standard Avengers Creature of the Week arrives via portals. They kick ass and take no names.

3) Merlin vs monster, the knights and Arthur along for a ride.

4) Screw the usual and have Thor travel back in time to fight mythological monsters with Xena and Gabrielle.

5) Play around with a Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters stories in which Hansel gets attacked, Gretel kicks ass, and has to figure out this magic thing to heal him.

#5 is what led to two other H&G related ideas for non-bingo fics, both of which crossover with Avengers, or at least Hawkeye, because it amuses me greatly. Yes, one involves Mina leaving a little gift, and the others involves time travel of a sort.

Now I can't decide, again, what to write - or at least what to write first. Yeah, I know, I should totally finish the other ones I'm writing first but if I don't at least jot notes I'll forget these and my notes tend to become actual complete sentences and plot and...

Um, fun with ADD?

I'd ask if anyone had a preference, but am beginning to think LJ and DW are the eerily quiet of the dying lately, so... If anyone actually reads this and has an opinion, let me know?
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Sunday, July 28th, 2013 10:10 am
*looks at past few stories posted*

I really need to post something where Clint is not beat up physically and/or emotionally. Before I post the next few where Clint is beat up physically and/or emotionally.
Tags:
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Saturday, April 6th, 2013 11:29 am
Have spent the past week reading epically long fics instead of writing. Have also spent the past week with a headache randomly peaking into a migraine that I blame on the weather/season change, so being able to pick something up and set it down again and have someone else keep track of the plot was nice.

For proof there is stuff in the works, however, doing the WIP meme thing:
List just the working titles, current word count(approximate is fine), and (if you want) a brief description.

Mind Games - 7,700 words - Natasha and Clint get hit by an AIM experiment gone wrong, with interesting consequences (telepathy/empathy fic).

Periphery - 6,000 words - Someone goes after Clint's past and, needless to say, he goes after them.

Breathing Excercises - 2,000 words - Sequel to Breath Again.

Purple Converse - 21,000 words - Obligatory kid fic that is eating my brain.

SGA_Merlin - 9,000 words - Crossover fic originally promised to [personal profile] emeraldteal years ago, lost, and found again.


Ta-da? Or something?
cat_77: MN (MN)
Friday, February 1st, 2013 08:56 pm
We're in the midst of MN winter which means the following: days upon days of the base temp (not including windchill) being between -5 and -15 degrees (F), windchills of -35 to -45 degrees (F), weather fluctuations setting off migraines, an office space that cannot keep warm to save its sorry little soul, and the obligatory sinus/ear infection.

But, hey, we also randomly get snow (just not like we did two years ago where it was piled higher than the cars) and ready made excuses to drink as much hot chocolate as we can, with or without augmentation of the alcoholic kind, so there is an up side.

I have been writing, for really, but nothing is ready yet. One story is just barely begun with like less than 2K, one is almost done (75% maybe?) with 9K, and one is taking over my life with 16K and probably not even halfway completed, which usually means no one will read it but, whatever, I'm having fun writing it. Would like to clean up a huge Sherlock one I wrote a while back, but doubt I will get around to it anytime soon. Maybe I should do one of those WIP memes?

I currently have no plans to participate in the awesome [livejournal.com profile] halfamoon this year, but highly recommend anyone and everyone go check it out. 14 days devoted to awesome female characters of awesomeness - what's not to like?

Anyway, that's sort of a status update for now: writing fic, reading fic (some very wonderful stuff I should probably make a recs post about sometime), work, family, and being sucked into the black hole that is Tumblr. [For anyone interested, I am waitingtodance over there. I had a grand idea for a theme and such at one point, but now it's pretty much moved on to "ooh, pretty!" territory.]

So, yeah, that's life?
Tags:
cat_77: Quill and Ink (Writing)
Saturday, January 26th, 2013 11:33 pm
Ever had like three stories that you were actively writing and they are all so despairingly different from each other and you work on one and want to take a break and know you should work on one of the others so you actually finish something but there is no way you can bring yourself from Mindset A to Mindset B or C without like a serious break or brainwash in between?

Yeah, so, um, that's kinda where I am right now. Well, mixed with RL stress, but it still pretty much sums it up.