RogueBelle

Okay, I know this probably makes me a bitch, but I am so not on-board with Amazon’s new “Kindle Worlds” licensed-and-paying fanfic thing.

This probably sounds weird, right? I mean, I love fanfic. I write fanfic. I champion fanfic as worthwhile writing and a worthwhile use of time and effort. I champion fanfic as wonderful practice for young writers who need a training ground where they can get feedback and improve their skills. And, I would love for more content creators to do what Lucas did with Star Wars and open their worlds up to exploration by established authors — to license other professionals to play in those worlds that have so much room in them.

Except I’m pretty sure Amazon’s model could kill all of that.

Because what it’s going to do is legitimize plenty of people who just flat-out shouldn’t be legitimized as professional writers. People who do not have the talent or the discipline. (Frankly, online publishing in general has already done a lot of that, and it’s something that I resent in a really unlovely way). It’s not going to mean more worthy writers getting attention. It’s going to mean more money going to hacks like E L James.

I think there still needs to be a bit of a crowbar there between writing informally, for fun and pleasure and the amusement of your friends, and writing formally, professionally, as a career. I think this will not only dilute the field of writers who deserve attention, it’s also going to be a detriment to the field of fanfiction by making it… just something it shouldn’t be. Fanfiction should be experimental, explorative, done for the joy and the experience, not commercial.

This is, of course, only my opinion and no one is obligated to share it, but I’m really not going to be swayed from it, either.

There is really no way to overstate the importance that Star Wars has in my life.

I was eleven years old in 1997, when the original trilogy got re-released in theatres in Special Edition format. Mom took me to see the first one, and I remember sitting there as the end credits rolled, absolutely gobsmacked. I had been utterly transported for two hours, immersed in this other universe that was so big, that had so much in it, but still had so much room to play in.

That was really the start of me and fandom — it helped that I was getting involved with the internet at just about the same time — finding forums and chat rooms and realising that fanfic was a thing, that I, too, could play in this amazing universe. But more than that, I so clearly remember that that moment, there, in the theatre, was the moment I realised that storytelling was what I wanted to do with my life.

I had been a storyteller for as long as I could remember. My dollhouse had an epic saga all its own, and I was always the one coming up with the schemes when my friends played make-believe. But it had never really occurred to me before then to make a career out of it.

And I’m not there yet. I’m trying. Have been trying for a good long while now. It has been The Dream, and despite the fact that I have a super cool job that I like very much, it is still what I want to do with my life.

It would be really, really cool if I could manage it before the 40th anniversary — which would be 20 years since my own introduction to it.

Okay.

Let’s go. :D

:)

Got a super-nice, super-detailed comment on A Husband for Your Turn (on LJ, no less!), which even picked up on the Shakespearean themes.

I really wasn’t expecting this fic to get much attention, for all that I laboured on it, because the fandom on LJ is pretty much dead, and the inundation on AO3 is so complete that it’s hard to get noticed at all, but that one comment made me feel really, really good.

Oh, man, I might actually finish this Bella/Rodolphus proposal fic that I’ve been working on for literally like five years now (not even kidding). It is so weird and so fun to watch characters who are not comfortable with tender emotions and definitely not comfortable expressing them having to negotiate them anyway, and the challenge for me the writer is not to lose sight of who they are inside of that. These are cruel, vicious, tempestuous people who would rather die than expose vulnerabilities, and they see admitting preference for each other as a vulnerability, because if you admit that to someone then you give that person incredible power to hurt you, but this is one moment when they are just going to fucking have to if this is ever going to work.

It is tormenting them, and I love it. :D

Title: The Door Opens
Fandom: HP
Characters: Bellatrix, Lucius, Lord Voldemort
Rating: PG
Word Count: 573
Summary: A meeting which will shape the future for the brightest-burning star of the House of Black.
Notes: Another old one, written for Lumos back in the day. The challenge was to write a story focusing on one character without ever mentioning that character’s name. I’d forgotten how much I liked this one.
Snippet:

Lucius had never treated me so well in his life. You’d think he had been trying to arouse my suspicions. There wasn’t a trace of irony in his bow, and his face was so utterly without hint of a sneer that I almost didn’t recognise him. He put me on his elbow — acting more the gentleman than he is, and treating me more the lady than I know he thinks I am — and told me my presence was requested upstairs.

And refused to say more.

I find Malfoy Manor an unforgivably cold place. The unmelting ice sculptures, the crystal chandeliers, white and silver everywhere… It does not speak to me of warmth, or passion, and it discomfits me to be surrounded by so much sterility. It is a very Malfoy sort of thing, and I…

Well, I am not a Malfoy.

dduane:

From the comments on the ask box: “I just came across this reply to that one writer pie chart; I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on it!”

…Around here, it mostly looks like the above. :)

(via eccecorinna)

thegoddamazon:

rematiration:

hiddlesfiddleswithme:

phoeberpc:

Surnames are just as important as given names. So, I compiled a list of the websites I use to find my surnames.

• English Surnames
• Dutch Surnames
• Spanish Surnames
• Scottish Surnames
• German Surnames
• Italian Surnames
• Irish Surnames
• French Surnames
• Scandinavian Surnames
• Welsh Surnames
• Jewish Surnames
• Surnames By Ethnicity
• Most Common Surnames in the USA
• Most Common Surnames in Great Britan
• Most Common Surnames in Asia

to check out later.

Wow…

(Source: hearmeroarplay, via hairlikethat)

Goal: 14666

Achieved: 12527

So, chipping away at my deficit. Over 1500 words today, despite my busy schedule and despite not really starting till after 10pm. Could be worse.

Goal: 13334

Achieved: 11009

Still behind, but gaining ground on what I lost over my long weekend. We’ll see what I can manage, since my next nine days are going to be truly ridiculous with work and rehearsals - but I should still have most of my evenings. Or late-evenings

Found an interesting character thing to play with today, so, that’s nice.

Take sheltered, pampered, innocent daughter of the aristocracy.

Set her up to be a perfect porcelain doll, wrapped comfortably in her privilege, unaware of experiences other than her own gilt-painted lifestyle, Spoiled Sweet, nice but blissfully ignorant, her head full of fluff and fripperies.

Give her a middle-class actress who runs a political salon for a best friend.

Have her ask said middle-class actress to explain social unrest to her, because it genuinely troubles her not only that said unrest exists, but that her position in life keeps her ignorant of its causes.