Arrant Nonsense

...still tweaking the first three paragraphs of this thing.

And the fourth one too, because some sort of description of not!Tony would be apropos here, and his hair misbehaving before a black-tie fundraiser, and not!Pepper finally giving up on it, is too cute of a mental image to not have on the page.

In other news, I think I've made the decision not to go to writercon this year. I'll miss seeing my LJ peeps, but there's more than one factor at work here. The main one being that I can really only afford one out-of-town Con per year, and so I have to be careful about where it is and bang for buck. Alas.

writercon 2009 is a go. It's in Minneapolis, July 30-August 2.

I have...really mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, I've been to both previous WriterCons and had a tremendous time. I love meeting my fannish peers and getting all meta with stuff and talking about writing.

On the other hand.

Something like this will run me, conservatively, about a thousand dollars. That's a thousand dollars I could spend going to Mile Hi Con or ArmadilloCon or some other pro Con.

I've written one fanfic in the last, oh, two years. Count 'em, Jim, one. And I'm not planning on writing any more. My focus has entirely shifted to original fiction.

Fandom has splintered and scattered somewhat since 2004 and 2006. Honestly, the only fanfic I'm reading anymore is Iron Man and KKBB. I can't remember the last time I read anything in Buffy, Angel, or Firefly. I barely skim the newsletters anymore.

So...yeah. Now, if there's going to be a pro track, I'd definitely be interested in that, and in fact would be more than happy to be on panels about making the transition, finding markets, etc. But if that's not a factor, well, then...

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

OMG, WriterCon! I met so many fantastic people! The panels were teh awesome! The Muse has been sparked, although what came out on the plane home is not happy fic at all and will probably have people screaming for my head on a platter. Which, you know, I'm okay with, because that means I did what I set out to do. *evil laughter*

I did a fifteen-minute ficlet during the "Writing Ensemble" panel that I will post as soon as I transcribe it. The challenge was to write Cordy, Xander, Willow, Buffy, Oz, and Giles into a fic involving an argument over a cursed football. I haven't done a word count on it or anything, but it's short, because...fifteen minutes.

I drank more booze over WriterCon weekend than I have in the last twenty years. The aforementioned (previous post) back spasms were actually mitigated by alcohol, but I did manage to limit myself to just two or three drinks a night over several hours--and also managed to avoid a visit from the Oh God of Hangovers, which made me happy. Also, I had a Seabreeze for "research" purposes, and now I know why Lorne likes them so much. They are teh yum.

I think I found a kindred spirit in aadler_. Those of us on the conservative end of the political spectrum often feel marginalized among our fellow writers, who tend to be a rather liberal lot; and Alix and I bonded over the fact that we both literally found ourselves biting our tongues in order to not cause wank. I really would have loved to talk with him more--but I probably monopolized him enough.

shaddyr kept the hospitality suite jumping. The panels were kept on time and organized very well, and I learned quite a bit, although I would have liked to have been able to clone myself a few times. Choosing between the "pro" tracks vs the "craft" tracks was difficult; however, since I'm not sure I'm ready to go pro just yet ("Illegal Beagles" being a notable exception), I did the craft track. I especially took a LOT of notes during the "Why we love the bad boys" panel on effective villains. Now I know what I need for my original novel to give it that extra punch.

kurakami is adorable and fun and has a GREAT smile. *waves* Now I must read some of your writing... And, really. I would have loved to see you in a kilt.

( In which I am gobsmacked )

The Atlanta Zoo is quite nice, and I got some great pix that I will be uploading, um, sometime. PANDAS!

And I actually came back with about $200 left over. *flails* Decisions, decisions. "Farscape" DVDs, a Oaxacan carving, those little clay animal thingies I like for the front room and can't find online ANYWHERE... Hubby and I are going to Park City when he's done working for the week to look for more decorative stuff. Also, my local comic store got a Spike TPB, Spike vs Dracula #4, and the Angel Spotlight: Doyle comic in. If the Spike TPB has the comic I missed in it ("Old Times"), I may just buy that and pass the other ones I already have on to other people. However, I just looked on eBay, and someone's got "Old Times" up right now with a 99-cent starting bid; it ends in 7 hours. *puts on watch list*

Well. I've got tons of stuff to do, books due at the library, yadda yadda yadda. Suffice to say that I had a great time and can't wait to do it again.

*is ded*

Sleep? We don't need no steenking sleep! Yeah.

I think I'm finally done with the crit for the Writers Salon. At least, as done as I'm going to get. Grammar Panel? Um...yeah. That's next.

I have discovered that Jim Beam goes well with Diet Mountain Dew. Not that I normally drink booze at all, but I found out last night that the ibuprofen isn't doing a very good job on my back pain...but alcohol managed to. *deadpan* Yay.

My flight out of SLC was delayed because our plane coming in from Chicago was delayed because of weather. This meant that rather than getting into Atlanta at 5, I didn't get in until 9:30ish. Yay. And that meant, in turn, that registration was closed by the time jerib_78 and I got to the hotel, so I got to get up early to go get registered.

Have met many on my flist, including shaddyr, sunnyd_lite, kats_meow, aadler_, appomattoxco, mommanerd, and irfikos. Have yet to see kallysten, inlovewithnight, hurry_sundown, or honorh.

And am now toddling off to socialize some more.

The random_urges fic-o-doom has a finis at the end of it. I just need a title and a last-minute edit, and to format it into chapters (because, dude...7000 words). Go, me!

Da Boy requested "The Incredibles" tonight, and I was only too happy to oblige. OMG I LOVE THIS MOVIE.

In writercon news, I went to the bank and got some usable money, so that's taken care of. And another fic came in for the Writer's Salon...so I have to go to Wally World and pick up another folder for it. I still haven't critted the other four. *wibbles* I also need to pack, but that shouldn't really take long, because I'm a very light packer.

And why did no one tell me that Alan Dean Foster had written a trilogy of books wherein a guy gets kidnaped by aliens so they can sell him as a pet because he's a "cute" alien himself? And there's a talking dog! DUDES!

Also, I just finished jimbutcher's first "Codex Alera" book, and it was made of awesome. OMG I love that man. As a writer, of course.

WriterCon in two days. *flails*

ETA: LICORICE ALTOIDS. *flails some more* Someone check my pulse; I think I just died and went to Heaven...

Yeah, this fic? Is *not* going to end in any sort of shippy way. It's apparently not going to have any sort of shippy middle either. And I'm pretty much becoming resigned to that. So, now, I can't decide whether I suck because the story doesn't really get these two characters "together" as such...or because I've pretty much decided to stop trying. Or possibly a combination. Yay.

Between this thing and needing to read and critique the stories for the writercon Writers' Salon, I'm starting to feel panicky and a bit overwhelmed.

Also, I think I may have PMS. I hate my body.

Then there's the fact that we're out of lots of important food, including caffeinated goodness, so I need to go grocery shopping today. I've got a $5 coupon for CafePress that expires tomorrow, and I want the Plot Bunny with Fangs messenger bag, so I also need to go to the bank and make a deposit. I have a book and two DVDs due at the library tomorrow. I haven't finished the book yet, although I've only got 70 pages left (out of 500).

In good eBay news, I got my Fray TPB on Saturday, so I'll have it to read at the airport/on the plane. In not-so-good eBay news, I still haven't heard word one from my seller on the Angel comics that have yet to make an appearance. I'll give him until close of business today, and then file for my refund from Paypal. And again, I say, Yay.

So, I'm seriously considering writing that thing I mentioned yesterday. A vampire and a mechanic walk into a bar...

Argh.

The Ren Faire was very neat, although a lot smaller than I figured it would be. Cedar City is the home of the Tony-Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival, so we thought it would be this huge thing. And it had the requisite people in costume and all that fun stuff...but I'm not sure the 7-hour round trip was worth it, you know?

That being said, I went against all common sense and went ahead and bought a slave bracelet. And it's purty, and it was only $8, and I'm wearing it now, and it's not at all annoying. I had to take out a couple of links in the chain that goes from the ring to the first jewel, because it was sort of flopping around on my hand, and once I swapped it from my ring finger to my middle finger, it quit flopping around even more and is staying put where it belongs. So, yes. Wearing it to the cocktail party. And possibly my brother's wedding.

Also, I did the art for AAAA, got it printed out, and got the fic itself hole-punched and put in the binder. Go, me.
( cut to spare the flist because it's big )

So, that's done. The final pins still need names on the backs, but they're glued and stuff. Once I do laundry tomorrow, I'll get my final packing done. So, yes, progress is being made...

Including on the fic front. I think I may be on my final scene for the random_urges fic. And I hope that my recipient isn't too disappointed, because, dude. Not even any smoochies in this thing. I may have to gin up a PWP, or a fade-to-black, or something, as a separate fic, and you all know that characters having sex is totally not my thing at all, but...argh. This is what happens when you write fic for someone whose stories you absolutely love. You get scared of disappointing them. *sigh* But I'm knocking on 5800 words for this thing, and it has to end sometime.

In other news, I'm beginning to develop a deep and abiding hate on for my back. The herniated disk is picking one hell of a time to start pitching a fit, yo. *growls*

Oh, my biggest freaking heck. *flails*

• pack
  
• download, print, and crit fics for Writer's Salon
  
• cover art for AAAA--I also need to go back to Office Depot and get another cardstock thing so I'll have something to print it out on.
  
• turn the change in the anteater into something I can actually use
  
• pins are glued; all I need to do is put people's names on the backs of them so we'll know whose are whose. Also, figure out what I want to use as a donation jar for the pins and pack it.
  
• decide just how much cash I want to bring, as opposed to how much I want to put in the checking account and use the debit card
  
• figure out exactly what I'm going to say on the Grammar Panel
  
• I have fic due the Wednesday before. I need to finish it.
  

We're going to a Ren Faire in Cedar City tomorrow. WriterCon is sneaking up on us VERY quickly...

*flails some more*

Well, since speakr2customrs seems to have been the only one with a strong opinion as to which fic I should submit to the Writer's Salon, I took his advice and sent off "Confusing Conclusions." Which I hate the title of, BTW.

NOW ... I have to figure out which fic I'm taking for the WriterCon Library. Everyone loves the BeagleFic, but at the same time, I think everyone's READ it. "Blooming Cactus" (the first Jayne/Zoe thing) is already up at Chrislee's site. So those two are out.

Could do the DamnFic. Or the Was-Supposed-To-Be-a-Threesome-But-Wasn't. Or the entire ColdComfortVerse. Or either of the crossovers. The Wes/Lilah? Maybe "Cerberus" with all its alternates... "Solid State" or "Soulless Evil Things" would be good...

Decisions, decisions. Argh. Is there such a thing as being too prolific?

In other news, I just found out that "A Scanner Darkly" won't open in SLC until NEXT week. Which is fine. The lovely and effulgent jerib_78 and I have made tentative plans to see it in Atlanta, since neither of us is going to the smut panels Friday night.

Well, the Hubby's home at last, and I am tired, so I will bid you all a fond goodnight.

I'll probably edit this post tomorrow with linkage, but all the above fic can be found on my FFN profile.

So, I'm participating in the writercon Writer's Salon, which is basically a concrit workshop. Which means I need to submit a fic for it. Something under 2500 words.

Therein lies my dilemma. Most of my stuff (especially my recent stuff) is either over that...or way under it. I don't really feel like getting crit for a flashfic. Some of the stuff that would be suitable (such as "Hair Fetish") is part of a series and doesn't really make sense as a standalone.

So. Here are the ones that work:
A Whisper to the Living - Wash/Zoe angst, post-BDM.
Nature's Special Effects - Africander, wherein he meets a living, breathing dinosaur. This one has no dialogue whatsoever, which is unusual for me.
RiverDance - post-BDM, Jayne's worried about Mal firing him, so he takes matters into his own hands.
Virtuoso - pre-Firefly. Zoe starts thawing towards Wash.
Noble Souls, Rising from Disaster - Spike, Angel, Illyria, and Connor have a post-NFA sort-of-celebration.
Confusing Conclusions - Wes and Spike have a drunken conversation about Illyria and Spike offers to take her for the night. Then Spike and Illyria have a talk. Good Lord, that sounds boring... I suck at summaries.
Perplexing Sentiments - Spike and Illyria. He's ambushed and badly injured; she helps him the only way she can. Features my cast-iron kink. Yay?

Anyone got any strong opinions? I have to turn the thing in by Thursday night.

In other news, we now have two end tables and a coffee table in the front living room. I pulled out the red-rock stuff we bought in Moab, and it looks shiny. Still need a window treatment, a lamp or two, and to put the wall things up. I should take pix. Need a pic of my new echidna too. Maybe tomorrow.

I also want a couple of little clay figurines to put on the mini-tables. I know what they look like, but not what that style of clay-work is called. I thought it was "Pima Clay," but googling reveals nothing. And I thought it was Indian art, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, it's this intricate stuff where the different colors are actually individual colors of clay, not painted, and they're just beautiful. I've seen cats, coyotes, lizards, snakes, owls, rams, and bison done in this manner. I just wish I could find them online so I could show you guys.

My comics still have not arrived. I've emailed the seller twice now, with no reply. I will give him until Monday, and then take it up with eBay. He's already left me positive feedback. *sigh* It's always something.

Writing? Well. I've catalogued Jayne's injuries in the Jayne/Zoe H/C ... thing I've been writing in fits and starts. *eyeshift* What's that they say about us hurting the characters we love? Um, yeah. *is guilty of that in spades* I have no idea where that one is going, or the random_urges fic either.

So, again, I say, blargh.