yet more Yuletide writing -- by now, I think I have definitively proved that I am nuts

Wrote two more Yuletide treats. That makes six stories total. Granted, they are not all full-length (i.e., at least 1,000 words), but still. That is a lot of writing in very little time!

I also made notes for another potential New Year's Resolution fic, because again, the prompt is very interesting but I do not have the canon at hand.

Anyway, I think I will continue searching the prompts list for ideas, but I am done writing for tonight. The archive may be open soon anyway. I hope it's soon!

*crosses fingers, anticipates*

(no subject)

This is just a brief note to say that while I have been up late enough to see the archive open, I recognize that I am not quite in a sane state of mind, and I would like to approach my (two!!!) gift stories with the benefit of at least some sleep. So I will review and point them out to people tomorrow morning, probably between breakfast and the family gathering to open physical presents.

And now I am off to bed.

Yuletide 2009 'Dear Santa' letter

Dear Yuletide Writer,

I'm pretty easy to please -- so long as you write a grammatically correct story that isn't simply a long sex scene, I'll be thrilled just to get a fic in one of the fandoms I asked for. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version.

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( General Information )

Okay. On to specific fandoms.

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( The Lions of Al-Rassan )

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( The Acts of Caine )

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( Song for the Basilisk )

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( Lucifer )

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And that is that.

Christmas and Yuletide (my gift stories are THE BEST, OMG!!!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (and/or winter solstice holiday of your choice *grin*)

We had breakfast at 10am rather than 9am, since Vicky didn't want to get up at 8 to make scones. Fine by me -- I can always use an extra hour of sleep. We tried out some very nice jams made by a member of the Summit UU church -- one was blackberry with Calvados, while the other (which I liked better, honestly) was a nice, sharp gooseberry -- and then I took a shower while Mom and Vicky cleaned up the kitchen.

We opened presents at noonish. I got some things I was expecting (the framed version of the Cascadilla Creek picture I commissioned from Susan in August), some things I was not (an encyclopedia of symbols! Diana Wynne Jones's House of Many Ways! oolong tea!), and one gift that turned out to not quite work (a new winter coat), so it will be returned and I will get the cash equivalent instead on condition that I use said cash to buy clothes or other useful household products rather than entertainment, which is fair enough!

We will have turkey for dinner, probably around 5pm. Later, Susan and I plan to see The Princess and the Frog at the East Hannover theater (which, nearly a decade after it changed hands, I still call 'Sony' unless I am paying attention), while Dad, Mom, and Vicky go see A Single Man in Montclair.

Okay. That is everyday life stuff. On to Yuletide!

This year, I asked for The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Acts of Caine series by Matthew Stover, Song for the Basilisk by Patricia McKillip, and Lucifer by Mike Carey, Peter Gross, et al.

I got TWO of those requests filled!

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First we have Ankhanan Justice: Caine's second Adventure isn't the sort of thing he expected.

The story is violent and brutal and I love it to itty bitty pieces. Also, you can tell that Caine is still new at the whole Acting thing; he keeps forgetting his Soliloquy, he meets Majesty for the first time, he is still nominally working for the Monastics, and so on. But despite his inexperience, he takes no more shit than he absolutely has to, and he pays back what he is forced to swallow, with interest. In the end, justice is served, more or less, and it is wonderful.

The story contains graphic depictions of violence and a fair amount of cursing (which is true to canon and to Caine), so keep that in mind when you read it.
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Second we have To Play the Picochet: While Sirina waits, she discovers that a disdained instrument has its own story to tell her.

The writer put Sirina back in the story. That alone would be worth reading. But ze also gets McKillip's tone -- the use of ashes in the opening lines is just gorgeous -- and the feel of strangeness always lurking behind and beneath and around everyday life. And! And there is music and magic and a really nifty OC -- the duchess in whose court Sirina serves as bard. There is serious discussion of how one would go about playing a picochet and the ways it differs from more conventional stringed instruments, which is absolutely wonderful. But mostly I am just squeeful over Sirina being a mother, and a former lover, and a musician, and still caring about Caladrius and Hollis while having her own rich and interesting life.

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The archive is very slow and overloaded at the moment, so I have not read any other stories yet. I will presumably get to that within the next few days, but right now I am giddy enough over these two that I am not in a huge hurry to go exploring.

ye olde Yuletide guessing game

I wrote six stories for Yuletide this year. If you guess any of them before the author reveal, I will write you a ficlet of your choice.

Here are three hints:

1. Four stories are in fandoms that I have never written in before. (In two cases, they were not even fandoms I offered to write in.)

2. Two stories are femslash, two are het, and two include background het but are classed as gen because sex and/or romance is not the point. (This being me, even the stories that are about romance are not particularly romantic -- and there is no sex whatsoever -- but I did try.)

3. One story is complete and utter crack.