Story Master List
Jan. 1st, 2020 12:10 amStories are listed Alphabetically.
( Info For the New Readers )
( Story Master List 2006-2013 )
Artwork Archive
( Info For the New Readers )
( Story Master List 2006-2013 )
Artwork Archive
Character Master List
Jan. 1st, 2020 12:05 amMaster List of all Kitty's Major & Secondary characters
( Updated Mar 19, '12 )
( Updated Mar 19, '12 )
Updates? Updates.
Mar. 15th, 2015 03:41 pmSo In the Hours of Darkness has gone through two edits and is now in the hands of the final editor which I forgot the title of (copy editor?) the one who goes through and makes sure you haven't misplaced any punctuation or done anything exceptionally stupid with words and such. The little finishing touches.
Have not gotten first edits back for the other one yet, which is understandable given that my editor moved to a different state on short notice and is in charge of a massive anthology and other things that keep her super busy, but I'm still like a little wiggly puppy waiting for someone to throw the ball plz.
Plus, I could really use the kick in the pants slash motivation. ^^;;
I have a third story which is complete but I have to wait on submitting that one until I write the one that comes before it because otherwise they'll be all out of order and that kind of thing drives me bonkers. Plus, there are little bits that will need to be tweaked to the sequel once I finally get the prequel written. >.>; Oy vey.
I've been going round and round with some emotional issues (Thanks, Dad, really could have lived without that bit of genetics) so have not gotten much of anything useful done. Maderr threw a couple of shinies at me as a cheer up present and I did a little beta on them along the way so that made me feel at least somewhat useful. ^_^
(Also, DUDE, you guys have no idea what kind of epic awesome is upcoming. Seriously. Omg. Edge-of-your-seat nail-biting epic-squeeage sort of stuff. IT IS GLORIOUS.)
Okay, enough wallowing in end-of-story withdrawal. Maybe I can muster up enough oomph to tackle the Gremlins. Wish me luck.
Have not gotten first edits back for the other one yet, which is understandable given that my editor moved to a different state on short notice and is in charge of a massive anthology and other things that keep her super busy, but I'm still like a little wiggly puppy waiting for someone to throw the ball plz.
Plus, I could really use the kick in the pants slash motivation. ^^;;
I have a third story which is complete but I have to wait on submitting that one until I write the one that comes before it because otherwise they'll be all out of order and that kind of thing drives me bonkers. Plus, there are little bits that will need to be tweaked to the sequel once I finally get the prequel written. >.>; Oy vey.
I've been going round and round with some emotional issues (Thanks, Dad, really could have lived without that bit of genetics) so have not gotten much of anything useful done. Maderr threw a couple of shinies at me as a cheer up present and I did a little beta on them along the way so that made me feel at least somewhat useful. ^_^
(Also, DUDE, you guys have no idea what kind of epic awesome is upcoming. Seriously. Omg. Edge-of-your-seat nail-biting epic-squeeage sort of stuff. IT IS GLORIOUS.)
Okay, enough wallowing in end-of-story withdrawal. Maybe I can muster up enough oomph to tackle the Gremlins. Wish me luck.
Accepted for Publication
Jan. 4th, 2015 12:04 pmSo, late last night I got word from Rykaine that LT3 accepted both of my stories for publication.
The long story is the story of Jeremey Jasper, now titled For Promise Yet Unbroken. Some longtime readers may remember this as the story casually referred to as "Space Cowboys."
The short story is the prequel to Promise, about Charlie Colcord, titled In the Hours of Darkness. This one has been doubled in length since its original release owing to the fact that I really only covered one side of the issue when it was first posted and to be fair to both characters I needed to fill in the other one's side of things. I think it does more justice to them now.
There may at some point in the future be a third story, owing to the fact that I'm quite fond of a side character who makes an appearance in Jeremey's story, but the idea is nebulous at best and a long way off at any rate.
In the meantime, I should probably go do something useful with myself.
The long story is the story of Jeremey Jasper, now titled For Promise Yet Unbroken. Some longtime readers may remember this as the story casually referred to as "Space Cowboys."
The short story is the prequel to Promise, about Charlie Colcord, titled In the Hours of Darkness. This one has been doubled in length since its original release owing to the fact that I really only covered one side of the issue when it was first posted and to be fair to both characters I needed to fill in the other one's side of things. I think it does more justice to them now.
There may at some point in the future be a third story, owing to the fact that I'm quite fond of a side character who makes an appearance in Jeremey's story, but the idea is nebulous at best and a long way off at any rate.
In the meantime, I should probably go do something useful with myself.
A Gift of Love
Dec. 23rd, 2014 06:45 pmMerry Christmas, everyone! I come bearing a gift: 5,100 words of Christmas crackfic.
This is a story I started five years ago on a lark. I dug it out again a few days ago because I needed something fluffy and pointless to work on as I just lost my grandmother and have been unable to focus on anything complicated.
So, here's something cute, fluffy, and actually completed on-time for the holiday. Even for my friends on the other side of the world who are a whole day in the future. <3
Not explicit. PG-13 at worst.
Oh, and this story is for Sini, though it's a good bet that no one but her will understand why. :3
( A Gift of Love )
This is a story I started five years ago on a lark. I dug it out again a few days ago because I needed something fluffy and pointless to work on as I just lost my grandmother and have been unable to focus on anything complicated.
So, here's something cute, fluffy, and actually completed on-time for the holiday. Even for my friends on the other side of the world who are a whole day in the future. <3
Not explicit. PG-13 at worst.
Oh, and this story is for Sini, though it's a good bet that no one but her will understand why. :3
( A Gift of Love )
Writing Update
Nov. 27th, 2014 04:08 pmSo, I revised and expanded the prequel to the long story I was working on, bringing it in at just over 10k. It was sent off to my betas on the 24th, though I've only heard back from one of them so far. That's making me wonderfully jittery. :/
I had been attempting to work on a superheroes story but it was fighting me, so I figured that since sci-fi had been working for me so well before I may as well stick with that. Dusted off another sci-fi story and have been plunking along at it for the last couple of days. So far I've added 2k to it, which means it's currently sitting at 10k words with an unknown amount left to go. I'm guessing it will clock at 15-20k in the end, but considering I still haven't figured out how to wrap this story it could possibly get away from me again. >.>;
I don't have nearly as good of a grasp on this one as I did on the last two, so I will definitely be needing a detailed beta at some point to tell me where I've screwed up.
Took a slight break from writing today to work on Mom's xmas present. She wanted art, which I haven't done in years. Since I stopped writing, more or less. So that's been aggravating. It's not like they have beta readers for artwork. x_x It's turning out okay, but nowhere near the level I used to work at. Meh.
I need more tea. And to remember to take the bloody St. John's Wort to help with the depression that keeps trying to drag me under. -__- Thank you, dad, for that lovely bit of genetics. :P
Happy Turkey Day, for those who celebrate. And please boycott all those asshole companies who make their people work on Thanksgiving. It's rude, not only to their employees but also to the families of those employees who would really like to have their loved ones home with them.
I had been attempting to work on a superheroes story but it was fighting me, so I figured that since sci-fi had been working for me so well before I may as well stick with that. Dusted off another sci-fi story and have been plunking along at it for the last couple of days. So far I've added 2k to it, which means it's currently sitting at 10k words with an unknown amount left to go. I'm guessing it will clock at 15-20k in the end, but considering I still haven't figured out how to wrap this story it could possibly get away from me again. >.>;
I don't have nearly as good of a grasp on this one as I did on the last two, so I will definitely be needing a detailed beta at some point to tell me where I've screwed up.
Took a slight break from writing today to work on Mom's xmas present. She wanted art, which I haven't done in years. Since I stopped writing, more or less. So that's been aggravating. It's not like they have beta readers for artwork. x_x It's turning out okay, but nowhere near the level I used to work at. Meh.
I need more tea. And to remember to take the bloody St. John's Wort to help with the depression that keeps trying to drag me under. -__- Thank you, dad, for that lovely bit of genetics. :P
Happy Turkey Day, for those who celebrate. And please boycott all those asshole companies who make their people work on Thanksgiving. It's rude, not only to their employees but also to the families of those employees who would really like to have their loved ones home with them.
Story Complete
Nov. 5th, 2014 09:39 pmAt 57,000 words, the story is officially complete and in the hands of my betas. @_@
There's nothing quite like jumping in headfirst to something ridiculously long and complicated when you haven't written a word in years. One part of me is amazed that I stuck with it while another part keeps reminding me that "tenacious" is the polite way of saying "completely stubborn and pig-headed" and I really shouldn't be surprised. :3
I met my 500 word minimum every single day, squeaking by with 10 minutes to spare before midnight on one or two occasions. That's probably a huge part of why I was able to finish. Sheer stubborn determination not to fail my self-set challenge no matter how tempting.
I don't know what happens next. After my betas get back to me I'll read through the entire thing for the billionth time to see if anything still needs to be tweaked and then... I don't know. I'd like to submit it to LT3 but I'm finding it hard to ignore that little voice in my head that keeps insisting I'll never be good enough. I am and always have been my own worst enemy.
On the other hand, this is Rykaine's story and always has been. I can't imagine doing anything else with it. So... yeah. We'll see.
There's nothing quite like jumping in headfirst to something ridiculously long and complicated when you haven't written a word in years. One part of me is amazed that I stuck with it while another part keeps reminding me that "tenacious" is the polite way of saying "completely stubborn and pig-headed" and I really shouldn't be surprised. :3
I met my 500 word minimum every single day, squeaking by with 10 minutes to spare before midnight on one or two occasions. That's probably a huge part of why I was able to finish. Sheer stubborn determination not to fail my self-set challenge no matter how tempting.
I don't know what happens next. After my betas get back to me I'll read through the entire thing for the billionth time to see if anything still needs to be tweaked and then... I don't know. I'd like to submit it to LT3 but I'm finding it hard to ignore that little voice in my head that keeps insisting I'll never be good enough. I am and always have been my own worst enemy.
On the other hand, this is Rykaine's story and always has been. I can't imagine doing anything else with it. So... yeah. We'll see.
Word count update
Nov. 2nd, 2014 04:08 pmStory has surpassed 52,000 words.
It does seem to finally be winding down, however, so the light at the end of the tunnel is within sight at long last. I sure hope my readers enjoy it because I never want to look at it again. -__-
Also, it is easier to write through cramps than it is to write through a headache, just FYI.
It does seem to finally be winding down, however, so the light at the end of the tunnel is within sight at long last. I sure hope my readers enjoy it because I never want to look at it again. -__-
Also, it is easier to write through cramps than it is to write through a headache, just FYI.
That point
Oct. 19th, 2014 01:51 pmI am starting to get to that point where I'm hating how long this story is. I've always written shorter stories, mostly due to lack of attention span. This one is so complicated that it needs to be a long story, which I understand, but it's still frustrating to write and write and write and feel like I've gotten nowhere.
I know that's not true, I can look back and see the little steps that we've taken to get from there to here, but still. I find myself asking "Is it over yet?" and then realizing that, no, I still have a long way to go. *sigh*
Maybe it will get better once I finally get to introduce Sam. That, at least, I am looking forward to. Sam is epic. And may be my favorite side character even though she hasn't even been introduced yet. :3
I know that's not true, I can look back and see the little steps that we've taken to get from there to here, but still. I find myself asking "Is it over yet?" and then realizing that, no, I still have a long way to go. *sigh*
Maybe it will get better once I finally get to introduce Sam. That, at least, I am looking forward to. Sam is epic. And may be my favorite side character even though she hasn't even been introduced yet. :3
Writing that is not mine
Oct. 19th, 2014 01:37 pmMy friend ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amatsubu is challenging herself to write every day and she's posting her writing bits to LJ. Thus far, she has two linked drabbles telling the beginnings of a story.
Go read them and tell her to write more because I want to know what happens next! ^____^
amatsubu is challenging herself to write every day and she's posting her writing bits to LJ. Thus far, she has two linked drabbles telling the beginnings of a story.Go read them and tell her to write more because I want to know what happens next! ^____^
Word Record Broken
Oct. 14th, 2014 10:01 pmAs of right now, story has reached 35,700 words.
Previously, the longest story I had ever written was Courting the Ice Princess at 35,600 words.
This story is still not anywhere near complete.
x_x
Previously, the longest story I had ever written was Courting the Ice Princess at 35,600 words.
This story is still not anywhere near complete.
x_x
Because it's been on my mind lately, and because as a crackerjack white girl I feel ill equipped to properly grasp the concept, I'm throwing this out there to see what everyone else thinks.
How do you think cultural/racial identity will change in the future?
In 100 years? 500? 5,000?
Will we all blend together? Will we maintain our distance? Will some blend while others create pockets of 'pure' culture?
It seems that as humanity has traveled the globe, often it has seen an element of another culture that appealed to it and adopted that element or elements. That would suggest a blending. Yet in recent times it feels as though we are drawing walls between peoples and rigidly clinging to 'our' stereotypical characteristics. Maybe these things go in cycles. Maybe they don't. Maybe we'll form new traditions that embrace all peoples and not just one sect of people.
Me, I'm optimistic. I subscribe to the Star Trek view of the future.
I'm hoping for a universe where women can be captains and blacks can be engineers and aliens can be just another part of the crew and no one bats an eye at a person's beliefs and traditions. Like naked Betazoid weddings. Or violent Klingon courtship rituals.
That's me. What about you?
How do you think cultural/racial identity will change in the future?
In 100 years? 500? 5,000?
Will we all blend together? Will we maintain our distance? Will some blend while others create pockets of 'pure' culture?
It seems that as humanity has traveled the globe, often it has seen an element of another culture that appealed to it and adopted that element or elements. That would suggest a blending. Yet in recent times it feels as though we are drawing walls between peoples and rigidly clinging to 'our' stereotypical characteristics. Maybe these things go in cycles. Maybe they don't. Maybe we'll form new traditions that embrace all peoples and not just one sect of people.
Me, I'm optimistic. I subscribe to the Star Trek view of the future.
I'm hoping for a universe where women can be captains and blacks can be engineers and aliens can be just another part of the crew and no one bats an eye at a person's beliefs and traditions. Like naked Betazoid weddings. Or violent Klingon courtship rituals.
That's me. What about you?
Writing Update
Oct. 11th, 2014 07:45 pmMy daily wordcount goal is low (500 words) but that means I actually have a chance of sticking with it instead of giving up. I've been able to reach or exceed my goal every day this week, so while I may be nickel and dimeing it to death, at least it's progress. :)
Overall story is currently sitting at 32,000 words with quite a few more to go. I have no idea what this thing will clock in at come the end since my story notes are very sparse for these sections and I'm having to flesh out huge chunks of everything as I go along, but hopefully it will be enjoyable.
I've heard back from one of my two pre-readers and the verdict is favorable, so that's always a good thing.
I did go back and edit in a few small physical descriptions for a couple of minor characters after I read an article that seriously pissed me off. I tend to prefer to let the characters personalities speak for them and let my readers develop an image of the character that suits each reader but I just... Grr. So I went back and made someone black and someone brown and lo and behold I think I changed six words and it didn't impact the story at all! Imagine that! Bastard.
I also wound up writing an entire additional character into one scene who wasn't originally planned but I felt I didn't have enough women in my story and there was no reason not to have a woman in that part of the story. Plus, it helped me fill in a huge chunk of the culture that I was seriously vague on before. I have a much better feel for that society now. ^_^
I do, however, need to go write now, because I spent a large chunk of my day baking delicious things and am not allowed to go to bed until I reach my daily word goal. :3
Wish me luck!
Overall story is currently sitting at 32,000 words with quite a few more to go. I have no idea what this thing will clock in at come the end since my story notes are very sparse for these sections and I'm having to flesh out huge chunks of everything as I go along, but hopefully it will be enjoyable.
I've heard back from one of my two pre-readers and the verdict is favorable, so that's always a good thing.
I did go back and edit in a few small physical descriptions for a couple of minor characters after I read an article that seriously pissed me off. I tend to prefer to let the characters personalities speak for them and let my readers develop an image of the character that suits each reader but I just... Grr. So I went back and made someone black and someone brown and lo and behold I think I changed six words and it didn't impact the story at all! Imagine that! Bastard.
I also wound up writing an entire additional character into one scene who wasn't originally planned but I felt I didn't have enough women in my story and there was no reason not to have a woman in that part of the story. Plus, it helped me fill in a huge chunk of the culture that I was seriously vague on before. I have a much better feel for that society now. ^_^
I do, however, need to go write now, because I spent a large chunk of my day baking delicious things and am not allowed to go to bed until I reach my daily word goal. :3
Wish me luck!
For those who are still remotely interested, I seem to have started writing again. I've written 8,500 words since Saturday, so, yes. There was a story which kept bugging me, so maybe I'll actually manage to finish the bloody thing this time.
Mechante - Yes, that story.
Daily wordcount and random commentary to be found on Twitter.
Mechante - Yes, that story.
Daily wordcount and random commentary to be found on Twitter.
Stuff for Sale
Jun. 2nd, 2014 09:43 pmTime to spring clean. Stuff that hasn't been touched in years needs to go.
Anime, Manga, Artbooks, etc
I haven't figured out pricing yet on some of the artbooks. LMK if you're interested.
My Little Pony & Fashion Star Fillies
Make me an offer. I don't expect much from these. Fashion Star Fillies are worth a bit more, so $10-$15ish except Chantilly who's rare and so $20 on her.
I think there is another box of manga out in the garage to look at as well. x_x
Anime, Manga, Artbooks, etc
I haven't figured out pricing yet on some of the artbooks. LMK if you're interested.
My Little Pony & Fashion Star Fillies
Make me an offer. I don't expect much from these. Fashion Star Fillies are worth a bit more, so $10-$15ish except Chantilly who's rare and so $20 on her.
I think there is another box of manga out in the garage to look at as well. x_x
Hello World
Dec. 31st, 2013 11:24 pmI do rather wonder sometimes if anyone even bothers to look at LiveJournal any more. It seems as though it's gone silent. I hardly ever see anything come up on my Friends page these days. :(
Survived Christmas, and our epic freak snowstorm that shut down western Oregon for an entire week because Oregonians are pussies and never learned how to drive in snow. They seriously put chains on to drive across town and I'm perfectly fine in my normal tires. I left my studded tires in Idaho when I moved because I knew I'd never need them.
Mikey got me Star Trek pajamas and bathrobe for Christmas. *happy geek* And Mom got me my favorite season of Doctor Who on DVD. (Donna!!!) I've been marathoning Classic Doctor Who for a while now and Four is now vying with Ten for the title of Favorite Doctor. I love his slow grins. They are epic. And he has such awesome Companions. There's Sarah Jane of course, and Leela after my little violent heart, and the epic sass that is Romana I. I haven't gotten to Romana II yet. :3
Leading up to Christmas I went on an epic baking spree. Fortunately Mikey's on the job to eat them for me otherwise what would I do with them all? My first batch didn't even survive the weekend.
We had four Christmas trees this year, because. There was the full-size one, of course, then the 3ft doll-size one, and my lovely color-change fiber optic one, and this year I dug the white ceramic one with the light-up blue birds out of the garage and set it up too. Pretty.
Thanksgiving was had at my friends Martin and Katrina's home because they always invite me and they have the best food despite being gluten and lactose intolerant (her) and diabetic (him). And their family is insane. Mikey, of course, had to work, because Walmart sucks. :P
Sort of missed Halloween entirely, due to my job moving me to a different position at the warehouse where it's not well heated (55F on a good day) so there wasn't much point to dressing up and then covering it all in layers and layers of insulation. I typically wear a flannel shirt, fleece-lined jacket, and long down jacket at the same time. Plus two pairs of socks and genuine 80s legwarmers. I also have three space heaters at my workstation. The guys, while they have decided that I look like an eskimo, are very laid-back and good natured about my issues with the cold.
For the record, when ThinkGeek says "one size fits most" what they mean is "one size fits most men." :P
I have now managed to make it to midnight Mountain time, where my mom's at. Wonder if I'll make it to midnight Pacific time. Mikey and I celebrated by Eastern time because he has to work tomorrow. I repeat, Walmart sucks. I'm tired, though. It's been a long time since the days when I could hang out with friends so long that when we decided to go out for dinner we discovered we were just in time for the early bird special at Denny's.
Happy New Year, all. May you find happiness in the year to come.
Survived Christmas, and our epic freak snowstorm that shut down western Oregon for an entire week because Oregonians are pussies and never learned how to drive in snow. They seriously put chains on to drive across town and I'm perfectly fine in my normal tires. I left my studded tires in Idaho when I moved because I knew I'd never need them.
Mikey got me Star Trek pajamas and bathrobe for Christmas. *happy geek* And Mom got me my favorite season of Doctor Who on DVD. (Donna!!!) I've been marathoning Classic Doctor Who for a while now and Four is now vying with Ten for the title of Favorite Doctor. I love his slow grins. They are epic. And he has such awesome Companions. There's Sarah Jane of course, and Leela after my little violent heart, and the epic sass that is Romana I. I haven't gotten to Romana II yet. :3
Leading up to Christmas I went on an epic baking spree. Fortunately Mikey's on the job to eat them for me otherwise what would I do with them all? My first batch didn't even survive the weekend.
We had four Christmas trees this year, because. There was the full-size one, of course, then the 3ft doll-size one, and my lovely color-change fiber optic one, and this year I dug the white ceramic one with the light-up blue birds out of the garage and set it up too. Pretty.
Thanksgiving was had at my friends Martin and Katrina's home because they always invite me and they have the best food despite being gluten and lactose intolerant (her) and diabetic (him). And their family is insane. Mikey, of course, had to work, because Walmart sucks. :P
Sort of missed Halloween entirely, due to my job moving me to a different position at the warehouse where it's not well heated (55F on a good day) so there wasn't much point to dressing up and then covering it all in layers and layers of insulation. I typically wear a flannel shirt, fleece-lined jacket, and long down jacket at the same time. Plus two pairs of socks and genuine 80s legwarmers. I also have three space heaters at my workstation. The guys, while they have decided that I look like an eskimo, are very laid-back and good natured about my issues with the cold.
For the record, when ThinkGeek says "one size fits most" what they mean is "one size fits most men." :P
I have now managed to make it to midnight Mountain time, where my mom's at. Wonder if I'll make it to midnight Pacific time. Mikey and I celebrated by Eastern time because he has to work tomorrow. I repeat, Walmart sucks. I'm tired, though. It's been a long time since the days when I could hang out with friends so long that when we decided to go out for dinner we discovered we were just in time for the early bird special at Denny's.
Happy New Year, all. May you find happiness in the year to come.
(no subject)
Nov. 22nd, 2013 06:37 pmWould anyone be willing to send a birthday card or postcard to a gal in Poland? She's feeling rather down and so her sister, who is a friend, is looking for people to send birthday greetings to cheer her up.
Her birthday is December 8.
If you're up for dropping a card in the mail, send me an email (tygati at darkkingdom dot com) and I'll give you the address. :)
Thank you! <3
Her birthday is December 8.
If you're up for dropping a card in the mail, send me an email (tygati at darkkingdom dot com) and I'll give you the address. :)
Thank you! <3
Indubitably
Oct. 5th, 2013 07:11 pmDictionary.com's word of the day is indubitable. This made me giggle like a four year old because I learned that word from baby Apricot in the movie Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City ^__^
One thing I forgot to include in my GRNW recap post was my nail polish!
( September's theme was rainbows... )
The last one, obviously, is the beginning of October. ;)
I am planning candycorn at some point, and a pumpkin-y thing, and whatever else inspiration strikes with.
I could have sworn I had a lot more I wanted to say, but now I can't remember any of it. :/ Next time.
Oh, there is this: LT3 Bookshelf ^__^ Slowly, slowly, it grows.
One thing I forgot to include in my GRNW recap post was my nail polish!
( September's theme was rainbows... )
The last one, obviously, is the beginning of October. ;)
I am planning candycorn at some point, and a pumpkin-y thing, and whatever else inspiration strikes with.
I could have sworn I had a lot more I wanted to say, but now I can't remember any of it. :/ Next time.
Oh, there is this: LT3 Bookshelf ^__^ Slowly, slowly, it grows.
Sequel story - Arch-Enemy: Game Over
Sep. 21st, 2013 02:45 pmI can't believe I'm doing this. This is so not my usual thing, but I wrote it, and more importantly I finished it, so there is that.
This is something I wrote entirely for myself, because I wanted to, so that may explain a few things. The most important thing that needs explaining is that this story is Het. It's a sequel to this random little thing I wrote back in 2007 called Arch-Enemy. I guess the characters just struck a chord with me because I just needed to, well, finish their story.
So I did. And this is it. You will probably want to read Arch-Enemy first or else very little will make sense, especially the ending.
(Look Talya! Straight characters! Aren't you proud of me? ^^;;)
Aaaanyway, story.
( Arch-Enemy: Game Over )
This is something I wrote entirely for myself, because I wanted to, so that may explain a few things. The most important thing that needs explaining is that this story is Het. It's a sequel to this random little thing I wrote back in 2007 called Arch-Enemy. I guess the characters just struck a chord with me because I just needed to, well, finish their story.
So I did. And this is it. You will probably want to read Arch-Enemy first or else very little will make sense, especially the ending.
(Look Talya! Straight characters! Aren't you proud of me? ^^;;)
Aaaanyway, story.
( Arch-Enemy: Game Over )
Gay Romance Northwest -- Seattle
Sep. 15th, 2013 08:57 pmI have been to Seattle and returned! \o/
It was a good trip, for the most part. I left straight from work on Friday afternoon and right off the bat hit traffic-due-to-accident in Albany. Then I got to Portland and hit traffic-due-to-wtfever, which was made worse by the fact that I needed to get gas having started out with only half a tank. Ugh. Hate. Then there was the drive up Washington which I swear to god no matter what state I travel to it's always Washington that has the worst drivers. Period. And then top if off with Seattle traffic.
So, I was 30 mins late to the reading, which means I missedmaderr's reading, which was sadface but I still got to give her Tiny Chris so yay? Also, his butt looks way better than his frontside, imho. ;)
Then I gave Maderr, Rykaine, and Nikery a ride to the Monaco to do drinks with Talya because I about had a heart attack when they were talking about $80 cab rides. x_x Dear gods, is it really that bad these days? Yeesh. Clearly I have not ridden in a cab since I was 18.
After dropping the LT3 ladies off (downtown Seattle parking and I will forever be enemies) I backtracked south a bit to meet Australians-in-Canadaflamebyrd and hubby theducks at our hotel. <3 I love hanging out with them so much. They're both bigger geeks than I am, so I actually feel like I fit right in rather than being the weird one all the time. At one point in the car theducks semi-randomly started singing the Animaniacs' State Capitols song. Followed shortly by the Animaniacs Nations of the World song. It was awesome.
Saturday, after dragging ourselves out of bed, we visited the "Japanese dollar store" nearby and I got snacks! Then we lefttheducks to his own devices and flamebyrd and I went off to the conference. Remarkably, we made it not only on time, but a little early!
I hadn't been expecting to pay any attention to the panels at all, since I was only really going to see people, but they were actually quite entertaining. I think the first panel was my favorite. All the speakers were very personable, but I really liked Anne Tenino's sense of humor.
During one of the breaks I was talking with Elyse Night after I got Nikery and Rykaine to point out LT3 authors in attendance and she shocked the heck out of me by actually knowing who I was! @_@ That was... really kind of an eye-opener for me. After I got over all of the blood in my body rushing to my face (she made me sign her kindle! @_@!!) I more or less tuned out the rest of the conference because my muse came back with a vengeance and I was busy scribbling down half-illegible plot points in a notebook because my tiny laptop's battery doesn't last very long.
After the conference everyone hiked over to the hotel Monaco for the Happy Hour event, which was extremely chaotic and was freaking me out until I decided I was just going to hide behindmaderr's chair for the duration. flamebyrd, being of similar social stability, joined me. A little bit later we also acquired Elyse Night and Maderr was a very good sport about being our mighty protector. ;)
The chaos settled down a bit when they started doing a bunch of readings by the authors of various books, but I think that might have actually been worse because a number of them for some unknown reason decided to read sex scenes out of their books!! @_@ Omg, sex scenes should never ever be read aloud. It was awful. I wish I could remember Maderr's comment, because it was priceless.
Once the torture was finally over, a group of about ten of us went to Benihara's (SP? Talya, help?) for dinner after a brief stop in Talya's room for waiting-for-reservations. It was... interesting. Think Mongolian BBQ, only way more theatrical and upscale. I've been told I looked either hypnotized or like I was going to crawl under the table. ^^; I really don't get out much, and I have never been to a restaurant like that before. The first part of it was really loud, so I could only really hear the people on my end of the table (Flamebyrd, me, Elyse, Piper?, and Rykaine) but when it started getting late and the other patrons started clearing out I could do more than mime things at Talya and Amanda from across the table. :)
Then we dispersed, and the LT3 crew had to go sleep to catch a really f-ing early flight Sunday morning, but Talya's and my crews decided to meet up for brunch since we were all driving back and didn't have to meet insane airline schedules. (Flamebyrd and TheDucks +/- 3.5hr drive, Talya & Amanda +/- 4hr drive, Me +/- 5hr drive) After we got briefly lost in downtown Seattle (accidentally found Uwajimaya!) we met Talya and Amanda and breakfast was had. It was very pretty. Every time I eat somewhere with Talya the food is always artistic, I swear. It was also delicious. I don't get to have eggs benedict very often because I fail at making hollandaise sauce and can never manage to leave the house early enough to have someone else make it for me. :3
Then we all parted ways and took off for our respective places of residence. Traffic heading home was smooth sailing, happily, and I spent the entire five hours trying to work out the plot points I got stuck on the previous night. I got past the first two, still working on how to get around the third. >.>;
Aaand since the whole point of going to Seattle was to finally meet the LT3 crew in person, I am going to do book recs because... because everyone should buy these. Yes.
I am incredibly picky. I blame Maderr, because I automatically expect that everyone should write as well as she does, and they never do. Still, occasionally something comes through that I can forgive its minor flaws in the face of a really good story. Piper by Leona Carver is one of those. I usually love and dread sci-fi releases because it is my favorite genre and very few people ever get it right. This book, I forgot about dinner and stayed up well past my bedtime in order to finish. I'd say that's a pretty good indicator. :)
Then there is Talya Firedancer's Signal to Noise, which I recently got the honor of being the pre-reader for the sequel to. <3 <3 I don't think I can adequately express my love for this book, or this author, but I have been following her work since the late 90s. She was good then; she's utterly amazing now. And she writes really, really f-ing good sci-fi. When the sequel is finally released I will be driving back up to Salem so she can autograph it for me. ^__^ (Yes, I am planning this at least a year in advance. Yes, it is that good.)
If you actually made it to the end of this, congrats. ^^; I'm going to go see if I can work out my plot point so I can start writing. <3
It was a good trip, for the most part. I left straight from work on Friday afternoon and right off the bat hit traffic-due-to-accident in Albany. Then I got to Portland and hit traffic-due-to-wtfever, which was made worse by the fact that I needed to get gas having started out with only half a tank. Ugh. Hate. Then there was the drive up Washington which I swear to god no matter what state I travel to it's always Washington that has the worst drivers. Period. And then top if off with Seattle traffic.
So, I was 30 mins late to the reading, which means I missed
maderr's reading, which was sadface but I still got to give her Tiny Chris so yay? Also, his butt looks way better than his frontside, imho. ;) Then I gave Maderr, Rykaine, and Nikery a ride to the Monaco to do drinks with Talya because I about had a heart attack when they were talking about $80 cab rides. x_x Dear gods, is it really that bad these days? Yeesh. Clearly I have not ridden in a cab since I was 18.
After dropping the LT3 ladies off (downtown Seattle parking and I will forever be enemies) I backtracked south a bit to meet Australians-in-Canada
flamebyrd and hubby theducks at our hotel. <3 I love hanging out with them so much. They're both bigger geeks than I am, so I actually feel like I fit right in rather than being the weird one all the time. At one point in the car theducks semi-randomly started singing the Animaniacs' State Capitols song. Followed shortly by the Animaniacs Nations of the World song. It was awesome.Saturday, after dragging ourselves out of bed, we visited the "Japanese dollar store" nearby and I got snacks! Then we left
theducks to his own devices and flamebyrd and I went off to the conference. Remarkably, we made it not only on time, but a little early! I hadn't been expecting to pay any attention to the panels at all, since I was only really going to see people, but they were actually quite entertaining. I think the first panel was my favorite. All the speakers were very personable, but I really liked Anne Tenino's sense of humor.
During one of the breaks I was talking with Elyse Night after I got Nikery and Rykaine to point out LT3 authors in attendance and she shocked the heck out of me by actually knowing who I was! @_@ That was... really kind of an eye-opener for me. After I got over all of the blood in my body rushing to my face (she made me sign her kindle! @_@!!) I more or less tuned out the rest of the conference because my muse came back with a vengeance and I was busy scribbling down half-illegible plot points in a notebook because my tiny laptop's battery doesn't last very long.
After the conference everyone hiked over to the hotel Monaco for the Happy Hour event, which was extremely chaotic and was freaking me out until I decided I was just going to hide behind
maderr's chair for the duration. flamebyrd, being of similar social stability, joined me. A little bit later we also acquired Elyse Night and Maderr was a very good sport about being our mighty protector. ;) The chaos settled down a bit when they started doing a bunch of readings by the authors of various books, but I think that might have actually been worse because a number of them for some unknown reason decided to read sex scenes out of their books!! @_@ Omg, sex scenes should never ever be read aloud. It was awful. I wish I could remember Maderr's comment, because it was priceless.
Once the torture was finally over, a group of about ten of us went to Benihara's (SP? Talya, help?) for dinner after a brief stop in Talya's room for waiting-for-reservations. It was... interesting. Think Mongolian BBQ, only way more theatrical and upscale. I've been told I looked either hypnotized or like I was going to crawl under the table. ^^; I really don't get out much, and I have never been to a restaurant like that before. The first part of it was really loud, so I could only really hear the people on my end of the table (Flamebyrd, me, Elyse, Piper?, and Rykaine) but when it started getting late and the other patrons started clearing out I could do more than mime things at Talya and Amanda from across the table. :)
Then we dispersed, and the LT3 crew had to go sleep to catch a really f-ing early flight Sunday morning, but Talya's and my crews decided to meet up for brunch since we were all driving back and didn't have to meet insane airline schedules. (Flamebyrd and TheDucks +/- 3.5hr drive, Talya & Amanda +/- 4hr drive, Me +/- 5hr drive) After we got briefly lost in downtown Seattle (accidentally found Uwajimaya!) we met Talya and Amanda and breakfast was had. It was very pretty. Every time I eat somewhere with Talya the food is always artistic, I swear. It was also delicious. I don't get to have eggs benedict very often because I fail at making hollandaise sauce and can never manage to leave the house early enough to have someone else make it for me. :3
Then we all parted ways and took off for our respective places of residence. Traffic heading home was smooth sailing, happily, and I spent the entire five hours trying to work out the plot points I got stuck on the previous night. I got past the first two, still working on how to get around the third. >.>;
Aaand since the whole point of going to Seattle was to finally meet the LT3 crew in person, I am going to do book recs because... because everyone should buy these. Yes.
I am incredibly picky. I blame Maderr, because I automatically expect that everyone should write as well as she does, and they never do. Still, occasionally something comes through that I can forgive its minor flaws in the face of a really good story. Piper by Leona Carver is one of those. I usually love and dread sci-fi releases because it is my favorite genre and very few people ever get it right. This book, I forgot about dinner and stayed up well past my bedtime in order to finish. I'd say that's a pretty good indicator. :)
Then there is Talya Firedancer's Signal to Noise, which I recently got the honor of being the pre-reader for the sequel to. <3 <3 I don't think I can adequately express my love for this book, or this author, but I have been following her work since the late 90s. She was good then; she's utterly amazing now. And she writes really, really f-ing good sci-fi. When the sequel is finally released I will be driving back up to Salem so she can autograph it for me. ^__^ (Yes, I am planning this at least a year in advance. Yes, it is that good.)
If you actually made it to the end of this, congrats. ^^; I'm going to go see if I can work out my plot point so I can start writing. <3
