[Meme] Writer in the Attic

I probably should not open cans of worms, but...

Out of utter curiosity, if I was chained up in your attic, and I had to write you one story, what would you request? Or alternatively, what's something you always hoped I'd write but know is never going to happen?

(Found via askerian and joisbishmyoga)

[Meme] Zombie Apocalypse team

Found via everyone and their dog: "Go look at your blog journal. Find the last fandom-related thing you posted. The characters in that post are now your teammates in the Zombie Apocalypse. How fucked are you?"

The last fandom-related thing I posted was the latest section of "Weregild," wherein Arthur goes to visit Animators, Inc. So I have Arthur-as-an-animator (maybe necromancer; I haven't decided yet), Dom-as-a-weretiger, Mary the secretary, and Larry Kirkland (who is not named, but who enters and clears his throat at the very end of the chapter). If mentioned characters count, I also have Eames-as-a-werefox, all the staff of Animators, Inc. (minus Craig the night secretary, unless annoyed author's notes count), plus Jean-Claude, Richard (mentioned though not by name), and Phillip (though he's dead, and also not mentioned by name).

Some of these are useless civilians (like me!), but I think people who raise zombies for a living are pretty well set to cope with sending them back to their graves, you know? A master vampire and three alpha lycanthropes cannot hurt our defense strategy. And if Phillip is a zombie at the time... well, perhaps he can communicate with his crazed brethren? :-)

Also also, if annoyed author's notes count, I have Laurell K. Hamilton. She can be bait. *is petty, but unrepentant*

wherein Liz muses about hair length

Mission: Haircut is a success!

The thing that annoys me about long hair is having to take care of it. My scalp is oily enough that I need to wash my hair every day, which means I run through a lot of shampoo and conditioner and spend five to ten minutes with a blow dryer each morning.

The thing that annoys me about short hair, on the other hand, is having to get it trimmed every six weeks or so. This requires me to get to the haircutter and also to pay about twenty dollars each time (tip included), which adds up.

I think if I were paying my own electric bill, the savings from hardly using a blow dryer would combine with the savings from not buying so much shampoo and conditioner to roughly equal the cost of eight haircuts a year, but since my electric bill is figured into my monthly rent as a fixed cost, I think it is actually slightly more expensive for me to have short hair.

On the other hand, it lets me sleep in an extra ten minutes every morning, which is worth more than you might think. :-)

[Fic] "Weregild," part 11 -- Inception/Anita Blake

I was going to jump to Eames after the previous section, but it occurred to me that he wouldn't be awake yet and I don't want to get the time progression confused. Besides, I essentially left Arthur in the middle of a scene rather than at a reasonable break point. So. Arthur POV again, still at Animators, Inc. (1,400 words)

( Weregild, part 11 )

---------------------------------------------

This time the next section will definitely be Eames. :-)

"Weregild" continues to be an odd story for me as a writer, because while I do have points X, Y, and Z in mind for the ending, and sketchy notions of points H, M, Q, and T that I need to hit en route, by and large I am winging this section by section. I am writing as much to find out what happens as to find the right way to convey what happens.

Also, I keep having to stop and do things like read San Francisco neighborhood revitalization websites, or muck around with highway maps of St. Louis, or research Missouri gun laws. To a certain extent, I can ignore reality because a world where vampires, shapeshifters, psychics, witches, and all kinds of other impossibilities have always existed is going to be somewhat different from ours in the fine details, but it's always best to know what I'm contradicting before I contradict it. (I don't always do what's best -- I am, fundamentally, a lazy person -- but I try to make gestures in that direction. *grin*)