This may be of interest to some of you. Indian Country Today: an article about filming Twilight-related documentaries on the Quileute.

"Quileute Tribe embraces 'Twilight'"

Ah, tourism -- a knife that cuts both ways (says the Florida native). OTOH, it's great for the economy of a little tribe like that. OTOH, you've gotta be careful to keep people from tramping all over the place without knowing what they're doing (or caring) and destroying the natural environment.

Another, same source, an interview on things native-relatied:

"Alex Meraz and Kiowa Gordon" (video)

It'll take you five seconds. Maybe. If you have a slow computer. (I type this with my lovely rescue kitty on my lap ...)

Click for Pets

For the straight guys on my list and any bi or lesbian women who'd like to comment ... From the three images under the cut, please choose the dress/pantsuit you think is sexiest. No, I'm not shopping for me. Ha. Trust me, I'd look absurd in any of these.

For the record, the young lady wearing this would definitely fill out the top (in fact the dress is being chosen because she will nicely fill out the top). ;> But she is, otherwise, built like a normal person, not a model. (ETA: A couple folks asked about height/legs ... she's about 5'4", with normal-proportion legs, not long or short. She is also NOT a rail, but all three of these are cut at the waist in a way that doesn't require being stick-thin. Also, please assume she won't be wearing an absurd push-up bra that flattens her boobs like in A. Her physical coloring is dark: black hair and eyes, tan skin.)

Not asking the straight women/gay men because I'm looking for a hormonal response here. LOL! And yeah, I know the straight men and lesbian/bi women may have a slightly different gaze, but I'm not over-analyzing. Gut reaction gentlemen/ladies.

( POLL on sexy dresses )

I was asked to participate and/or advertise for the twilight_santa holiday gift-exchange, so I am duly advertising! As some of you have, er, noticed, I seem to be having trouble getting my own in-progress fanfic finished, so I won't be asking for anything or writing, but I'm sure some of YOU may be interested in doing so. :):):)

Yes, I haven't been around much, but we went to see the TransSiberian Orchestra this afternoon and They Were Awesome. Almost 3 hours. Had new material from their new album (Night Castle). Wow. I will definitely be buying it.

This is one show that is actually worth the cost of tickets. We were on the floor, row 16, almost dead in the middle.

For all those wondering where the HELL the next chapter of Dulce is ... I haven't forgotten it, I promise. Don't throw rotten eggs. :-D

Movie I'm most looking forward to ... Sherlock Holmes! Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. + Rachel McAdams (who will always be Katie Bell in my head, ha). Yeah, New Moon and Rob, but but come on! Law AND Downey?! *be still my heart*

Btw, does anybody know what it's going to be rated? I looked and can't find it. I'm assuming PG-13 or R, and probably the former, but hard to be sure.

Icon says all. I am hunkered down, hiding from my inbox. Ha.

Most amusing comment I've heard in a while about Tebow. (Paraphased): "Trying to tackle Tim Tebow is like trying to tackle a moving refrigerator." Heh.

Changed my journal layout for fall. Going with a non-fandom-related theme here for a change. Ha. serendipity_50 did the lovely banner, and the new default icon is the Braschi Dionysos-Antinoos from the Vatican. (I've actually had it a long time, so it's not really new.)

I have been very out of it lately. Lots of stacked up mail and comments. I'm not ignoring anybody, just a bit buried.

Also, hugs to anybody in the N. Georgia/North/South Carolina area dealing with the floods.

No, I'm not dead, although it may seem like it. ha. Lots of stuff going on.

But I just had to share. This is why I love my child.

We came home this evening, and he's all into this new book series called Warriors, so he's wanting to eat his dinner then go hide in his room and read for the rest of the evening. I said I needed to eat my dinner, watch the news, then go and mow the lawn.

He replies, "And Mom, you have to work on your book too."

Ha.

Pretty Manflesh! This looked like good, silly fun so I gave it a whirl. I think I might, actually, rate a little higher on the "exotic" than they said, but that has to do with what they were showing for options, I think.

Your result for The What type of MAN turns you on Test...

Classic scorcher

You scored 65% masculine, 82% athletic, 27% exotic, and 56% refined!

Take The What type of MAN turns you on Test at HelloQuizzy

Most of y'all already know I'll take EITHER Jimmy Marsen or Rob Pattinson, but besides them, below are some other gentlemen who definitely float my boat. I like high cheekbones. :-) (Gosh, just look at Jimmy's! His could cut glass!) Slightly slanted eyes rate high too -- and dark hair. All these gentlemen are brunets or at most, dirty blond (Rob).  Eta: I forget to add, slight cleft chins rule. :-)




(One is a model, but the others are actors Eric Schweig (when young and thin), Nathaniel Arcand, and of course, classic DENZEL.)

There is a new hurricane in the Atlantic. It's named "Fred."

How can I take a hurricane named "Fred" seriously? (No offense to the ghost of Fred Weasley.) There's just something intrinsically non-threatening about the name "Fred." Prepare for Hurricane Fred! It sounds like a joke. (And I grew up in Florida, so I have a healthy respect for hurricanes.)

Now, watch -- it will turn into a monster or something just to spite me (even if it isn't forecast to). *knocks on wood*

Any of you ever worked at one of those middle-aisle kiosks in a mall? What do you do when you need to go to the bathroom during a shift if you're working alone? I often see only one person sitting at them, and all those things on open display. So what do you do if you need to make a bathroom run? Are you allowed to at all? Or if there's an emergency (e.g., you've got a sudden nosebleed or something)? Is there a procedure for leaving the kiosk?

It's up finally. Lots of pictures in this one. :-)

Dulce et decorum est: main page with all previous chapters.

"Royal Festival Hall" (direct chapter link)


My especial thanks to my betas this time around. Lots of little details about the hall, election night, etc. to wade through, and my apologies if I screwed something up between the original and renovated version.

I have received chapter 14 back from Muridae. Yayness! Problem is that now I have all the commitments. I have to teach tomorrow and I have to go to a thesis defense Friday afternoon.. I will *try* to get it edited tonight, and maybe post late tomorrow (after class), but I really don't know as I am WAY behind on reading the thesis.

Timing here sucks, I know. BUT I wanted people to know I have it, I'm working on it and it WILL be up by this weekend at the latest!

Muridae dropped me a note last night saying the chapter is about half done. She's been very busy, but as noted before, it is finished, it's just in need of that last look-through, and it's a crucial look-through, too, given the amount of very British-specific information in this chapter. I'm sure I'm making her pull her hair out. LOL!

I haven't done a writing meta in a while; I've promised one on POV to Smellyia, but have yet to finish it. I wrote the bit below first for Katie, then for Rennaise, but I figured it might be worth sharing more widely (neatened up a bit). If it's useful to TLYDF, feel free to snag or link.

Plotting: Some Nuts and Bolts to Make it Less Painful


Over the years, plotting is something that I have, of necessity, studied. When writers begin, they often have some natural areas of ability and others that ... aren't. Dialogue and characterization came easy to me. Plotting (and pacing) required work. But it made me more deliberate at the process. In fanfic, probably the most intricately plotted novel I've done was Grail for X-Men, which had two interwoven plots (the Legacy Virus and the Phoenix Saga). By the time it's finished, Aorist Subjunctive may rival it in terms of complication, but I have yet to prove whether I can pull it off. It's got more 'moving parts,' so to speak (more things to keep track of, and thus, more things that can potentially go very, very wrong).

Yet I've found I really enjoy plotting. Even with novels that don't have lots of juggling, it's still immensely satisfying to bring a story to a conclusion and make it wrap correctly ... although even after all these years (I've been writing since 11), I STILL get nervous as I approach the end of a novel because I just don't know if it's all going to hang together or fly apart. Will the threads tuck in neatly (at least the ones that need to), or did I fuck up and leave some that dangle hopelessly? Despite it's popularity, I've never been satisfied with the way Climb the Wind wrapped. By contrast, Finding Himself actually wrapped better than I feared it would, even if I wouldn't say it was anywhere near as complicated as Grail. A novelist has to learn to be pretty ruthless about her or his own work in order assess what worked and what went astray.

No matter how long one's been writing, an author can STILL botch a plot. Yes, practice makes (more) perfect, but it doesn't necessarily make one flawless.

Nonetheless, as I've noted before, plotting tends to make a lot of fanfic writers unduly NERVOUS. Not all. A few seem to be naturals at it, but far more new fiction authors have trouble with plot (whether in fanfic or profic). So if plot gives you fits, well ... you're far from alone. I think it gives MOST of us fits. Below are some tricks I've learned over the years that have helped me . . .


( 10 Concrete Hints to Better Plotting )

No, really. I'm not kidding. Some company made one. It's TOO funny not to share ...

Naughty Link

This had me laughing hysterically. It SPARKLES in the sunlight. (!!!) Sense of humor or taking the obsession a little too far?

Obviously not work-safe.

ETA: Somebody (who knows him well, not some fan) should get Rob Pattinson one of these, just for the giggle factor (on his part). The guy seems like he has a good sense of humor.

Btw, for those wondering, Muridae had a very busy week and bad allergies. So Chapter 14 will go up as soon as she's up to it and I get it back from her. This chapter is REALLY critical to have the Britpick on. :-) But it's essentially ready to go. I'm reading a master's thesis and getting syllabi ready for class in the meantime. So not a lot of time for writing, but that should settle down after September 1st or so.

First, a Big Thanks to everybody who completed the poll! Including those who explained things in comments (which I didn't necessarily reply to, due to my inability to get online for a lot of my trip). And no need for anybody to apologize for preferences, gusy [sic], as preferences is exactly what I was interested in finding out (and one reason for making it anonymous). More on this in a bit.

I am back. I am ... really screwed up on my hours. Vegas was loads of fun. npkedit and I walked our legs off. I think we averaged between 11 and 14 miles a day, and I saw (or at least walked around) about 13 different hotels/casinos from very ritzy to ... not so much. But it was FUN, my sore feet notwithstanding. I had an excellent tour guide. :-) I also wound up about $5 ahead in gambling, but keep in mind that I gambled all of $29. Real high roller here. Ha. So I didn't actually LOSE anything.

Anyway, the flight BACK was hellacious. Out of 5 planes with United, 3 had mechanical problems ... all on the return -- and keep in mind I was only SUPPOSED to have 2 planes. One got canceled entirely for engine failure, one got delayed for a fuel leak, and the last had electrical problems. I wound up overnighting in Denver in the F-ing weirdest hotel (the Aloft ... I was not impressed), and getting little sleep. I slept TOO much upon returning and now, my day is night and night is day. So I'm typing this at 7:30am my time, not because I'm up this early on Sunday, but because I never got to BED. I'm not sleepy yet, but I'm too tired to think or do anything actually productive. Fun, fun. (That I am naturally nocturnal doesn't help in the least.)

Back to the poll. More of you are still interested in Dulce than I expected, actually. I'd feared that, after a year, I didn't have a lot of readers left, but well over half of you who took the poll (close to 70%) are reading it either primarily or at least secondarily. Aorist also had a hefty number of people still interested in it at 62-63% of those who took the poll. Slightly more are more interested in Dulce than Aorist, but it's a difference, all told, of only about 5%, and only 23% are committed entirely to only one or the other (15% to Dulce, 8% to Aorist).

So basically a little over 3/4s (77%) are still reading at least one of the two big HP storylines, and given that 13% never read HP or don't read it anymore, that's not bad. I figured I'd have lost more of you. *grin*

Similarly, of potential future projects, the bulk of people are interested in more of Cedric, either with Hermione or Harry, and another 35% wouldn't mind seeing him on Serenity. BUT ... and here things get downright funny ... when forced to chose a MOST and a LEAST ... only 13% chose Cedric on Serenity as a "most" want to see, while 32% said it was their least favorite choice (the largest percentage of any of the five options).

At first glance, that makes no sense, but what it actually tells me is that outside more HP, an HP/Firefly crossover interests the most people, BUT it's the first choice of very few and the last choice of quite a number. E.g., most people wouldn't hate it, but also mostly wouldn't choose it. :-) Probably the least interesting option all around to readers was more historical Twilight. I find this amusing because pre-Twilight "historical" fanfiction isn't very popular in the fandom either ... and I think it's a shame, since it interests ME more than a lot of what's getting written.

All of which only proves I'm weird, I guess. And also proves why I don't fit that fandom very well. What interests me most as a writer isn't what the fans want to read, and what interests me as a reader isn't really what most people are writing. *grin* But then, I'm more of an SF/F person than a Romance person anyway, which explains a lot. Romance is fine, but without plot, complex characterization, and the supernatural, it loses me. :-)

Even if ... you're no longer reading my fiction, or not reading current projects, please take just a sec for this. It's not long!

In fact, there are optional responses just FOR people no longer reading, or not reading what I'm doing now. If you're no longer reading, you'll have all of 2 questions to answer (and maybe just 1). :-)

This was born from an off-the-cuff comment for that "What I should write" meme. It's been a while since I did a poll about stories; I used to do them more often. This is an ANONYMOUS poll, so please be honest. It's also NOT on LJ, so you don't have to be a member of LJ to participate (unlike the LJ polls).

This poll is a lot more specific than the completely open-ended meme was. *grin* After coming back to both writing fanfic after almost a year away, I'm curious about who's interested in what.

TAKE THE POLL

Thanks, gusy (sic).

I am leavin' on a jet plane in the morning for 4 days and 3 nights in Las Vegas with my lovely, long-time (9 years!) fanfic editor, Naomi npkedit. I will probably have computer access, but not a lot of time. We intend to walk a lot, see shows, hit tacky tourist shops and talk till we have no voices.

Chapter 14 of Dulce is half edited, and all of it is off to muridae_x for Brit picking. serendipity_50 has the second half for editing and I'm taking it with me for Naomi (assuming we even open the file, ha), too. So don't expect it before next weekend, at the earliest, but it IS done. It took about a week longer due to having trouble finding information about the setting that dated back far enough.

For those who asked, the Charlie plot will be resolved in this next chapter. Action picks up a bit through the end. There are 2-3 chapters after that before Book 6 is finished. :-) Then I'll start work on book 5 of Aorist Subjunctive.

(I'll be cross-posting this to minisinoo_fic ... which reminds me, if you're here but primiarily interested in the fiction, not everything else in my LJ, I won't be insulted in the least if you drop this LJ and friend the writing journal instead.)