some thoughts on yuletide and the new year

So yesterday was the big reveal for yuletide! Now I can properly thank familyarchives for my wonderful story that totally made my day complete! It was excellent and I greatly appreciate it.

As for the two stories that I wrote, I hope they were enjoyed by their recipients as I did my best in two fandoms that, while familiar with, I had never written in before. I was a bit nervous, especially with the Dead Like Me story, about nailing the character's personalities.

The Dead Like Me one ended up very differently than I had originally intended. It became much more bittersweet than I had considered, but my characters tend to do that sort of thing to me. They usually lead me to a very different resolution than originally planned. So while I know that my story was somewhat depressing, I completely blame Georgia for that. It couldn't be helped by the time I reached the end.

The Day After Tomorrow story was much more straightforward and easy to write once I got myself started. I simply wanted to take a look at things from Sam's POV (to include the Sam/Laura that the recipient requested) about where things were heading, those feelings that had to remain buried in order to survive the crisis that he could now allow out. Thankfully this story wrote itself - especially since it was a pinch-hit and I didn't want to keep the person waiting forever for her story.

I'll be posting the stories soon - just need a few minutes that aren't interrupted by visiting friends and family...this vacation did provide me with a few days to myself, but mostly I've been busy with other sorts of things. Ack.

Also in yuletide, I've been looking over the Unfilled requests for the New Years Resolution 2005 to see if there are any I can complete at some point. I do believe that will be a possibility once I'm caught up on other writing things - fandom and regular.

**

Despite how utterly mundane 2004 was for me, how depressing at points with the election and the Tsunami right at the end, I would like to say that I'm incredibly grateful for all the new fandom friends I've made via this livejournal. It's been an experience, one that I have enjoyed.

Anyway, here's to hoping 2005 is filled with nothing but wonderful things. I don't make resolutions. It doesn't work for me and it's just not my cup of tea. But I've decided to set a few fandom-related goals.

1. Finish at least two of the WIPs that are outstanding and get some chapters produced now that my ficathon plate is almost empty! And this does include Trouble in My Head, y'all, so those worried about more of it - don't. It's a coming!

1B - Also for WIPS...no more starting new ones! At least not until the others are done! And even then, no posting until almost the entire story is done because I take very long between updates.

2. Try not to sign up for so many ficathons. It's addictive and insanely fun, but it also makes for a very crazy TommyGirl with no time for other writing.

3. Leave more feedback for other authors. I always try to leave feedback, but sometimes I say to myself, "Self, you need to mull this one over" and never come back. As an author, I know how much I adore feedback, so I want to get much better at that. And if I could come up with things better than, "Great story" every now and then...that would be wonderful.

4. Try to read more of the amazing fiction produced on my friends list. Time is always a difficult thing to come by for me, but I think I can afford a few extra minutes a day to enjoy a story and let the author know about it.

5. Answer my own feedback more promptly. I'm terrible about it. I read every single piece and love it dearly, but sometimes it takes me a great deal of time to get back to people.

6. Make myself available on AIM more often to talk with friends. As Steph has been known to say, she often thinks I'm dead.

**

Okay, I'll be posting stories, but otherwise, I'm off the for the day.

Ciao.

Moving Forward - Day After Tomorrow fiction

Title: Moving Forward
Fandom: Day After Tomorrow
Characters: Sam/Laura
Archive: It'll be at yuletide and my website. Ask otherwise.
A/N: Thanks to sdlucly for reading it over and helping me out. She rocks! This was written as a pinch-hit for the yuletide challenge for paranoidkitten. Feedback always appreciated.

( Three weeks after the glacial storm took out most of the Northern Hemisphere, Sam Hall was surprised not only to find himself glistening under the early afternoon sun, but to have a grin plastered on his face. )

Reaper's First Christmas - Dead Like Me fiction

Title: Reaper's First Christmas
Fandom: Dead Like Me
Characters: Georgia POV, with guest appearances by all the reapers
Archive: It'll be at yuletide and my website. Ask otherwise.
A/N: This was the main story I wrote for yuletide requested by littlesammy. It was a hard story to write, but I did my best to bring the snark like Georgia would. It does get a tad depressing at the end, but hopefully it works for the story. Much love to plumsnickety, iamtheenemy, sdlucly, and opmk for all the beta help with this story, making sure that characters were right on target and grammar wasn't atrocious. Feedback always appreciated!

( I’ve never been very fond of Christmas... )