where his civilizations, including our own

maidenjedi asked questions #5 & #15 about Oil, an X-Files genfic from the POV of the black oil alien, written in 2003.

5: What part was hardest to write?

I remember going through many revisions of the last few paragraphs. Knowing what note to end a story on is critical, and since this fic is so weird it wasn't easy. Some of the obvious choices for thoughts to end on wouldn't have worked. The main character as we've known it essentially ceases to exist by choosing to give up its individuality, but doesn't die. There's no concern for what happens to Krycek because in this POV humans are not very relatable. The alien doesn't end up caring much about those things. What stirs its emotions is something we don't consider a "being" but more of a process — Earth's water cycle — because the alien also exists as a process, so it feels kinship there. I considered that the heart of the story and wanted to leave the reader thinking so too, but I had a hard time putting it into words in the way I wanted, and was repeatedly told by beta readers to stop overexplaining and trust that readers would get it. As usual, they were right.

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

A lot. I had so much less experience in writing at this point that I was still improving by leaps and bounds with every attempt. I remember bardsmaid patiently explaining how less can be more — how too many details are cluttering instead of clarifying. This took time to come to grips with ("what, you mean I have to take whole sentences out? but I just wrote those!") but became key to my writing style and process.

It was also a lesson in not being too wedded to early ideas or too proud to change them. The story actually has its roots in a piece of original fiction I wrote to Keladry's offhand prompt "The Life and Times of a Cherry Coke", which explored the concept of what it would feel like to exist as a liquid. I actually submitted the story to some literary magazines that published oddball stuff and was turned down. Fortunately I was able to overcome my dented ego enough to have the thought that maybe the story didn't work, but elements of it could still be salvaged and made into something better, and eventually that grew into "Oil".

The reason "Oil" works where the Cherry Coke story didn't is that intriguing concepts and pretty descriptions alone weren't enough; they needed a compelling character and situation, and something at stake. The oilien storyline in XF met that need perfectly and gave my earlier ideas direction, and to follow that direction I had to give up my attachment to something I'd already worked on to the point of submitting it profesionally, and be willing to basically start over. We all know you're supposed to kill your darlings, but I think this marked a turning point for me in putting that advice into practice.

More to come! If you want to check out the rest of the questions or pose one of your own, the original meme post is here.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

It's been a joy to see so many people popping up and posting for the first time in a while, despite the less than optimal circumstances. I've been adding or adding back anyone whose name I recognize and/or who appears to be in fandom, and trying to comment a bit more than in the past. I'll try to be better about posting, too. Here, look: A post!

But posts about posting, while perhaps better than silence, may not be the best at holding people's interest. To get me going, would anyone like to try out this meme I saw at maidenjedi's place?

Pick a story of mine, choose a question from below, I will answer.

My stories.

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?
2: What scene did you first put down?
3: What's your favorite line of narration?
4: What's your favorite line of dialogue?
5: What part was hardest to write?
6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
7: Where did the title come from?
8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?
9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
11: What do you like best about this fic?
12: What do you like least about this fic?
13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?
14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

I wrote a thing for the daily_deviant 11th birthday comment fest:

Once (R, James Sirius/Lily Luna)
Prompt from tryslora: It'll be okay, just this once, right?


You too can fill prompts, or read fills, or whatever floats your boat!



Both members and watchers are welcome!
Click the banner to go to our birthday card!

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

What a great hp_halloween it was this year!

I got this sweet & lovely drabble from my sweet & lovely wife:

The Moon And I (PG, Luna/Hermione) by _hannelore

And I had the privilege of writing again for my friend dexstarr:

The Fall (G, Narcissa, Andromeda) [AO3]

I would encourage anyone who has some time to check out the entries if they haven't. Since they're all double drabbles it doesn't take long, and there are some real gems. Every year I'm amazed at the depth and beauty writers are able to pull off in 200 words.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

A shamefully long time ago, I received this lovely gift in the hp_halloween drabble exchange:

Carry My Soul Into The Night (PG-13, Narcissa) by flyingharmony

It's great and just what I wanted, and I'm so sorry I didn't point to it until now! Better late than never?

As for me, I wrote for reynardo:

Red Ribbon (G, Hermione & kids) [AO3]

Do read it on AO3 if you read it, since a typo somehow made its way into the LJ version. >_<

In more current news, severus_snape's annual fest starts posting on the 9th (naturally), and I've got an entry in there. And claiming has started at hp_kinkfest, which I hope to participate in, health permitting and all.

How are you all doing? I try to stay positive but life doesn't make it easy some days, does it?

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

The Salt & Pepper fest master list is up! I wrote:

But Not Narrow (PG-13, Hermione/Ron, Hugo/OMC) [AO3]
Naturally, Hermione is completely supportive when Hugo comes out of the closet. It's a bit more of a surprise when Hugo returns the favour.

I loved writing this. The prompt, from sdkshelly, was about a middle-aged Hermione figuring out that she is not straight, a concept that I was instantly drawn to. There were so many ways to go with it that I was actually a little overwhelmed at first and had a hard time settling on just one idea. But when I found the right one, the story just seemed to write itself, which is extremely atypical for my writing process, and was a pleasant change. :P

Meanwhile, I am sick as a dog, and have been for over a week. I keep thinking I'm getting better, and then it's like... nope, not even close. I can't really complain too much, because since I quit working in retail I get sick very rarely (money and people are filthy, it turns out) but I'm certainly looking forward to feeling better soon. :\

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

Now that severus_fest reveals have happened, I can say that I wrote:

Unbreakable (R, Severus/Narcissa) [AO3]
When Narcissa left Spinner's End that night, she was not in Severus's debt.

I was somewhat unsure about this fic when I submitted it (I knew where I was trying to go with it, but wasn't certain it would come across), so I have to say I was really tickled to watch folks discussing it during the anonymity period and coming up with many of the same ideas for Severus's motivations that I'd had in mind, as well as some I hadn't even thought of. Snape just wouldn't be Snape without a dozen different possible reasons for what he does, would he?

This was a fun fest to write for and there were a lot of great entries. Check them out!

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

And now that reveals have happened for all the fics I wrote in 2014, here they are!

( Harry Potter )

( Star Trek )

( The Venture Bros. )


And OMG only three days until more Venture Bros. Anyone else watch this show? I've been a fan since the first season but I feel like I might have posted about it... never?? It's one of those things where I love it almost too much to write fic. After an episode I just sit there like, welp, I sure can't write any better than that, so...

Anyway, I wrote a bit less this year than last year, but I feel good about the quality of most of it, and there were several things that I'd wanted to write for a long time but the right opportunity hadn't come up before. (Yay, I finally got to write Guinan/Ro!) I was especially proud of Two Can Keep a Secret, and apparently others liked it too because it seems it won its category in hpfanficfanpoll. Awards can only be taken seriously up to a point, since of course they are subjective, but I do thank those who took the time to nominate or vote for my story, and congratulate everyone who was in the running. :)

I think 2015 is going to be awesome. No reason really, just a feeling.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

All right, time for hp_halloween, before I get too ridiculously late with it. First off, kellychambliss and I wrote for each other, and boy was I nervous. I respect her writing a hell of a lot and I think I know her tastes fairly well, so I really wanted to get it right. I hope I did.

The Margin (G, Minerva & all the Heads of House) by me
After the children are asleep, the Heads of House have their own Samhain ritual.

And then her drabble for me! Oh man.

Chromatic (G, The Grey Lady & Luna) by kellychambliss
Every year, the Grey Lady waits for Samhain.

I can't even say how happy this made me. I've been throwing prompts about Luna and the Grey Lady into different fests for years, and in 200 words she managed to make it everything I wanted, and more complete and satisfying than some stories that are ten times the wordcount.

As usual, there were many excellent entries. Here are a few others that particularly stood out to me:

( The Dark )

( The Sexy )

( The Sweet )

( The Funny )

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

I wrote this for hp_het_taboo:

Two Can Keep a Secret (NC-17, Fred/Ginny, canon-compliant Harry/Ginny) [AO3]
Ten years after Fred's death, Ginny looks back on the secret they shared.

I want to emphasize here that that this is a story about abuse, and not a fun incest romp. Romps are good too (I've certainly written my share), I just don't want anybody to skim the headers and think this is one.

( a few comments about why I wrote this (mentions of RL abuse) )


Anyway, this is shaping up to be a busy end to 2014. I've got a daily_deviant fic to write for October and hp_halloween due on the same day, Kinky Kristmas due in November, severus_fest in December... so, yeah, probably not signing up for Yuletide this year. Treating is more fun anyway, IMO!

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/46520.html. Comment here or there.