Marie Brennan's Blog, page 216
December 14, 2011
an update to the Clockwork Phoenix e-book
I should have procrastinated just a bit longer before posting this. ;-) If you can't or don't want to go the Kindle route, you can now buy the Clockwork Phoenix e-book from Weightless Books, in epub or mobi formats, at the same price.
Yuletide fic is a go! Now where is it going . . . .?
I've finally started on my Yuletide fic -- started properly, I mean, and not just the fifty words I slapped down a few days ago because I felt like I really ought to have made more progress by now. Found the right tone for the story today, and at least some of the right format; I say "some of" because this is a decidedly odd story, from a decidedly odd source, and it remains to be seen whether the approach I'm taking will sustain the thousand-word minimum for Yuletide. Possibly not, in which case I'll need to find something else to slide into the break-points that have been appearing along the way. But I'm not yet sure what that should be.
Structure is so often the kicker, ain't it? I've started a treat, too, because I got mugged by an idea for something else, and that one mostly needs me to figure out what beats have to happen, in what order. Now that my subconscious has chewed on my assignment enough to start swallowing some of it (ew -- not the best metaphor ever), the treat is going on the back-burner, but I think both of them are going to turn out very well, in very different ways.
Structure is so often the kicker, ain't it? I've started a treat, too, because I got mugged by an idea for something else, and that one mostly needs me to figure out what beats have to happen, in what order. Now that my subconscious has chewed on my assignment enough to start swallowing some of it (ew -- not the best metaphor ever), the treat is going on the back-burner, but I think both of them are going to turn out very well, in very different ways.
December 13, 2011
Clockwork Phoenix is now an ebook!
Mike Allen (
![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380985649i/3683640.gif)
time_shark
) has done yeoman work, converting the first volume of the
Clockwork Phoenix
anthology series to ebook format. This is, you may recall, the home of "A Mask of Flesh," which I keep wanting to call "one of my Mesoamerican fantasy stories" until I remember that I haven't actually gotten any of the other ones in shape to submit anywhere, let alone publish.
The rest of the series (CP, not those stories -- though maybe them, too) will follow in time, but for now you can get the first volume on the Kindle. If you prefer pixels to dead trees, head on over and take a look!
time_shark
) has done yeoman work, converting the first volume of the
Clockwork Phoenix
anthology series to ebook format. This is, you may recall, the home of "A Mask of Flesh," which I keep wanting to call "one of my Mesoamerican fantasy stories" until I remember that I haven't actually gotten any of the other ones in shape to submit anywhere, let alone publish.The rest of the series (CP, not those stories -- though maybe them, too) will follow in time, but for now you can get the first volume on the Kindle. If you prefer pixels to dead trees, head on over and take a look!
December 12, 2011
Books read, November 2011
Rather late, I know. I blame, uh, monkeys!
A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan. Yes, again. I was editing. I probably read the book more than twice, if you actually tracked it, but I'm only counting straight-through readings, of which there were two. But they still don't really count for these purposes.
House of Many Ways, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Dark Lord of Derkholm, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin. I loved this book as a kid, and when I saw it cropping up in the list of Yuletide requests, I felt the need to revisit it. I'm glad to say this did not suffer a visit from the Suck Fairy while I was away. In face, reading it as an adult, I'm startled by how progressive it is, in ways I never noticed as a kid. This was written in 1978, and one of the central characters is a highly-placed black female judge. It also deals interestingly with the Chinese family in the building, from Doug's track competitions to the evolution of Mr. Hoo's restaurant to Madame Hoo's desire to go back to China. Plus there's Turtle and Flora teaming up to play the stock market -- I could go on. (And it's a Newbery Medal winner that ISN'T all about "life sucks and then your dog dies!" Wonders will never cease!)
For those who may not already know and love it, The Westing Game is about a rich man, Sam Westing, who dies and sets up a weird competition for his possible heirs, all of whom have been maneuvered into living in the same apartment building. Westing claims in his will that he was murdered, and challenges them to find the guilty party. It's an odd mystery, built around the occupants of Sunset Towers:
I love that quote, and always have.
Anyway, it was interesting to re-read the book when I remembered only tiny fragments of the story. That meant I had pre-existing suspicions regarding the characters, and was looking for evidence to back it up -- which is there, for the most part, if not so obviously as to make this the sort of mystery where an alert reader (who has the benefit of an omniscient pov) ought to figure it out for themselves before the characters do. Regardless, it makes for good fun.
Year of the Griffin, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
In the Land of Invented Languages, Arika Okrent. A nonfiction book on the history of conlanging, which is to say, constructing languages. It goes back much further than I realized: arguably the first conlang we have documentation for was designed by Hildegard von Bingen, in the twelfth century! Certainly it got rolling as a thing in the Renaissance, and has gone through a series of waves since, each one with its own particular motivation and approach. It's fascinating to see the effect (or non-effect) of each one: John Wilkins accidentally designing a thesaurus instead of a language, Ludwik Zamenhof creating a new linguistic culture rather than transcending existing ones, Charles Bliss inventing something that could have been great for children with cerebral palsy and similar disabilities, but shooting himself so determinedly in the foot that it never really took off the way it could have.
Okrent intersperses this with personal accounts of her experiences with Klingon-speakers and Esperantists in the present day. She strikes what is for me the appropriate (and difficult) balance between being just personal enough to engage, without making this Arika Okrent's Adventures in Conlang Culture: the focus is mostly on the topic, but I walk away with an understanding of why it fascinates her, and what she brings to the table in her discussion of it. She isn't judgmental of, say, the Klingon guys, but she also isn't Not Judgmental in a way that suggests it's oh-so-generous of her not to be. It might be fair to say she thinks they're crazy, but also understands a) why that kind of craziness appeals and b) that it's no weirder than some other, more mainstream obsessions. Anyway, this makes an interesting pairing with The Language Construction Kit; it says very little about the mechanics of language construction, but a great deal about the various philosophical approaches behind the endeavour, and the pitfalls of each one. Very much recommended, if you're into that sort of thing.
I've already made it through four books for December, so it's fair to expect the next list will be longer. (Still heavy on Diana Wynne Jones, though. At my current pace, I have a few more months of that project to go, and then I'll be able to read more broadly again.)
A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan. Yes, again. I was editing. I probably read the book more than twice, if you actually tracked it, but I'm only counting straight-through readings, of which there were two. But they still don't really count for these purposes.
House of Many Ways, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Dark Lord of Derkholm, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin. I loved this book as a kid, and when I saw it cropping up in the list of Yuletide requests, I felt the need to revisit it. I'm glad to say this did not suffer a visit from the Suck Fairy while I was away. In face, reading it as an adult, I'm startled by how progressive it is, in ways I never noticed as a kid. This was written in 1978, and one of the central characters is a highly-placed black female judge. It also deals interestingly with the Chinese family in the building, from Doug's track competitions to the evolution of Mr. Hoo's restaurant to Madame Hoo's desire to go back to China. Plus there's Turtle and Flora teaming up to play the stock market -- I could go on. (And it's a Newbery Medal winner that ISN'T all about "life sucks and then your dog dies!" Wonders will never cease!)
For those who may not already know and love it, The Westing Game is about a rich man, Sam Westing, who dies and sets up a weird competition for his possible heirs, all of whom have been maneuvered into living in the same apartment building. Westing claims in his will that he was murdered, and challenges them to find the guilty party. It's an odd mystery, built around the occupants of Sunset Towers:
Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A dressmaker, a secretary, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. An, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. Barney Northrup had rented one of the apartments to the wrong person.
I love that quote, and always have.
Anyway, it was interesting to re-read the book when I remembered only tiny fragments of the story. That meant I had pre-existing suspicions regarding the characters, and was looking for evidence to back it up -- which is there, for the most part, if not so obviously as to make this the sort of mystery where an alert reader (who has the benefit of an omniscient pov) ought to figure it out for themselves before the characters do. Regardless, it makes for good fun.
Year of the Griffin, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
In the Land of Invented Languages, Arika Okrent. A nonfiction book on the history of conlanging, which is to say, constructing languages. It goes back much further than I realized: arguably the first conlang we have documentation for was designed by Hildegard von Bingen, in the twelfth century! Certainly it got rolling as a thing in the Renaissance, and has gone through a series of waves since, each one with its own particular motivation and approach. It's fascinating to see the effect (or non-effect) of each one: John Wilkins accidentally designing a thesaurus instead of a language, Ludwik Zamenhof creating a new linguistic culture rather than transcending existing ones, Charles Bliss inventing something that could have been great for children with cerebral palsy and similar disabilities, but shooting himself so determinedly in the foot that it never really took off the way it could have.
Okrent intersperses this with personal accounts of her experiences with Klingon-speakers and Esperantists in the present day. She strikes what is for me the appropriate (and difficult) balance between being just personal enough to engage, without making this Arika Okrent's Adventures in Conlang Culture: the focus is mostly on the topic, but I walk away with an understanding of why it fascinates her, and what she brings to the table in her discussion of it. She isn't judgmental of, say, the Klingon guys, but she also isn't Not Judgmental in a way that suggests it's oh-so-generous of her not to be. It might be fair to say she thinks they're crazy, but also understands a) why that kind of craziness appeals and b) that it's no weirder than some other, more mainstream obsessions. Anyway, this makes an interesting pairing with The Language Construction Kit; it says very little about the mechanics of language construction, but a great deal about the various philosophical approaches behind the endeavour, and the pitfalls of each one. Very much recommended, if you're into that sort of thing.
I've already made it through four books for December, so it's fair to expect the next list will be longer. (Still heavy on Diana Wynne Jones, though. At my current pace, I have a few more months of that project to go, and then I'll be able to read more broadly again.)
December 9, 2011
The travel map of my family
I mentioned a while ago the travel opportunities I've been fortunate enough to have. It made me curious about the rest of my family, too, so when my parents were here for Thanksgiving, I sat down with them, my brother, and my sister-in-law, and made up several maps. Check below the cut to see where we've gone.
Edit: hang on; the maps aren't loading for some reason. Let me see if I can fix that.
First, the map for myself and
kniedzw
:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
<looks at map> Man, I need to go to more geographically large countries. You can't even see some of the places I've been, there.
Now, my brother and his wife:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
See? It's amazing, what a visual difference Russia and China make.
And now, my parents, who kind of have a head start on us:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
My father has traveled a lot for work, which explains a lot of that, from two directions: either he went to a country for business purposes, or (after a while) he racked up enough frequent flier miles doing so that he and my mother were able to get tickets to new places.
Finally, the combined map:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
Which is mostly just my parents' map, with a few additions (India, Laos, Vietnam, Spain, Costa Rica, Mongolia -- maybe a couple of others). I find it funny that none of us have been to Mississippi; it's the only state we've collectively missed. And obviously we are seriously lacking when it comes to the southern hemisphere. But all in all, it's a pretty respectable spread.
Edit: hang on; the maps aren't loading for some reason. Let me see if I can fix that.
First, the map for myself and
kniedzw
:Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
<looks at map> Man, I need to go to more geographically large countries. You can't even see some of the places I've been, there.
Now, my brother and his wife:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
See? It's amazing, what a visual difference Russia and China make.
And now, my parents, who kind of have a head start on us:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
My father has traveled a lot for work, which explains a lot of that, from two directions: either he went to a country for business purposes, or (after a while) he racked up enough frequent flier miles doing so that he and my mother were able to get tickets to new places.
Finally, the combined map:
Create your own travel map - TravBuddy
Which is mostly just my parents' map, with a few additions (India, Laos, Vietnam, Spain, Costa Rica, Mongolia -- maybe a couple of others). I find it funny that none of us have been to Mississippi; it's the only state we've collectively missed. And obviously we are seriously lacking when it comes to the southern hemisphere. But all in all, it's a pretty respectable spread.
December 7, 2011
The DWJ Project: Year of the Griffin
This is the third book in the "Fantasyland" set, following on Dark Lord of Derkholm, about eight years after the end of that book. It is less closely linked to Tough Guide to Fantasyland, though; the tours are done, and the world is sorting itself back into some kind of order, when Derk's youngest griffin daughter Elda goes off to wizard college.
As I said before, I'm a sucker for the younger generation finding out just what they're capable of. As a result, I really like Year of the Griffin, just for watching the protagonists deal with each other's problems -- Claudia's jinx, the assassins after Felim, the dwarven rebellion that sent Ruskin, and so on. It's amazing what you can do with a card catalogue and a bit of intellectual curiosity . . . .
I kind of want to kick Corkoran in the head for being so obsessed with his moonshot, even if I totally believe in that dynamic, academically speaking -- the professor who's more concerned with his pet project than with teaching. Wehrmacht I want to kick even more, for sheer incompetence. But they aren't generally malevolent (not like Mr. Chesney in Dark Lord), and I'm not expected to sympathize with them as protagonists, so I can deal with that impulse. I quite Elda and Lukin and Olga and Claudia and Felim and Ruskin, and that's the part that matters.
As I said before, I'm a sucker for the younger generation finding out just what they're capable of. As a result, I really like Year of the Griffin, just for watching the protagonists deal with each other's problems -- Claudia's jinx, the assassins after Felim, the dwarven rebellion that sent Ruskin, and so on. It's amazing what you can do with a card catalogue and a bit of intellectual curiosity . . . .
I kind of want to kick Corkoran in the head for being so obsessed with his moonshot, even if I totally believe in that dynamic, academically speaking -- the professor who's more concerned with his pet project than with teaching. Wehrmacht I want to kick even more, for sheer incompetence. But they aren't generally malevolent (not like Mr. Chesney in Dark Lord), and I'm not expected to sympathize with them as protagonists, so I can deal with that impulse. I quite Elda and Lukin and Olga and Claudia and Felim and Ruskin, and that's the part that matters.
The DWJ Project: Dark Lord of Derkholm
I've fallen behind on these, I'm afraid -- the posting more than the reading. So, without further ado:
Dark Lord of Derkholm is the playing-out of the ideas treated encyclopedically in Tough Guide to Fantasyland . Derk and his family live in a fantasy world that has, for the last forty years or so, been playing host to Tours from another dimension, sending them hither and yon across the landscape in quest of clues to overthrow the Dark Lord. But the Tours are bankrupting their world; they're sacking cities, trampling crops, laying waste to the countryside, and forcing everybody to fulfill the expectations (read: conform to the stereotypes) of these otherworldly visitors. The people in charge of setting things up for the Tours want to bring them to an end once and for all, so they appoint a wizard named Derk to play the role of this year's Dark Lord, and his untrained, fourteen-year-old son Blade to be the Wizard Guide for the final Tour.
This is a fairly sprawling book. At 517 pages in my (mass-market) edition, it may well be her longest; I think only A Sudden Wild Magic comes close to challenging that. Dark Lord reminds me of that one a bit, just in terms of narrative scope. There's a lot of stuff going on in here, as Querida, the High Chancellor of the wizard's college, tries to manipulate things into going badly enough to end the Tours, and Derk and Blade (along with the rest of their family) run themselves to the point of ragged and beyond trying to do their jobs right.
I think my favorite stuff in here involves Derk's family. There are so many neglected and abused children in her books, it's refreshing to get something like this or the Montanas in The Magicians of Caprona, where there are a lot of people who may squabble, but ultimately love each other quite a lot. I did want to smack Derk sometimes; his tendency to retreat from unpleasant things into fantasies of new creatures reminded me a bit of Erg in "Four Grannies," though he had much better reason for it. But I like his kids a lot, both the human ones and the griffins.
I suppose I should put the rest of this behind a cut.
I also wanted to smack Derk and Mara both, since I didn't remember what Querida had done there; I thought that either Derk was screwing things up by not talking to Mara, or that the estrangement was something Querida and Mara had engineered together. I'm much happier knowing that Querida did it on her own . . . for values of "happy" that make me want to kick her instead. I'm ticked at her in general for the approach she took to the entire situation, dumping all this stress on the family without telling them why. The Oracles didn't say ignorance was necessary, did they? Okay, you can make an argument that it's better if the people dealing directly with Mr. Chesney aren't in on the plan, but gawd this kind of dynamic drives me crazy. I am the sort of person who will move heaven and earth to try and make a thing happen, if you've given me responsibility for it, and if I find out later that you always intended me to fail? I will not be a happy camper.
I much prefer the stuff that focuses on the kids, at least until the point where Blade has to pick up his tour group. I'm a sucker for seeing the younger generation find out just what they're capable of -- which is, I think, part of why the bit with his tour group is less fun for me; Blade more just gets his head handed to him during that stage, and that makes me cringe in sympathy. I think another part of it, though, is that the tour-group section feels rushed. It might have been interesting to see the story handled in three main strands, one for Derk, one for Blade, and one for the rest of the kids trying to keep it all together. As it stands, though, it feels like the logistics of setting up things for the tours ate so much word-count that the rest of the tale got packed in at the end.
But I do love the way Derk's family is a family, regardless of species differences. They don't all get along, but they band together regardless when it's needed. They also have their individual strengths and weaknesses, without it feeling like Jones tailored them into a tidy set. I also liked the touches about how the world isn't really like Mr. Chesney wants it to look for the tours, from the female wizards to the "slave" girls in the harem.
I went through most of the novel assuming -- just based on defaults, and the way these books are poking fun at the genre of quest fantasy -- that the Tours were coming from our world. It was a bit startling at the end to realize that isn't the case. I seem to remember a reference to "credits," though I can't find it now, which makes the other world sound more science-fictional. Regardless, the whole magic-mining thing, or rather the use to which the earth is put, is a clear departure. I would have liked to know more about that end of things, fleshing out the Ledburys and the Pooles and so on.
On the whole, while I enjoy this one, I like Year of the Griffin a bit more. Look for that post soon.
Dark Lord of Derkholm is the playing-out of the ideas treated encyclopedically in Tough Guide to Fantasyland . Derk and his family live in a fantasy world that has, for the last forty years or so, been playing host to Tours from another dimension, sending them hither and yon across the landscape in quest of clues to overthrow the Dark Lord. But the Tours are bankrupting their world; they're sacking cities, trampling crops, laying waste to the countryside, and forcing everybody to fulfill the expectations (read: conform to the stereotypes) of these otherworldly visitors. The people in charge of setting things up for the Tours want to bring them to an end once and for all, so they appoint a wizard named Derk to play the role of this year's Dark Lord, and his untrained, fourteen-year-old son Blade to be the Wizard Guide for the final Tour.
This is a fairly sprawling book. At 517 pages in my (mass-market) edition, it may well be her longest; I think only A Sudden Wild Magic comes close to challenging that. Dark Lord reminds me of that one a bit, just in terms of narrative scope. There's a lot of stuff going on in here, as Querida, the High Chancellor of the wizard's college, tries to manipulate things into going badly enough to end the Tours, and Derk and Blade (along with the rest of their family) run themselves to the point of ragged and beyond trying to do their jobs right.
I think my favorite stuff in here involves Derk's family. There are so many neglected and abused children in her books, it's refreshing to get something like this or the Montanas in The Magicians of Caprona, where there are a lot of people who may squabble, but ultimately love each other quite a lot. I did want to smack Derk sometimes; his tendency to retreat from unpleasant things into fantasies of new creatures reminded me a bit of Erg in "Four Grannies," though he had much better reason for it. But I like his kids a lot, both the human ones and the griffins.
I suppose I should put the rest of this behind a cut.
I also wanted to smack Derk and Mara both, since I didn't remember what Querida had done there; I thought that either Derk was screwing things up by not talking to Mara, or that the estrangement was something Querida and Mara had engineered together. I'm much happier knowing that Querida did it on her own . . . for values of "happy" that make me want to kick her instead. I'm ticked at her in general for the approach she took to the entire situation, dumping all this stress on the family without telling them why. The Oracles didn't say ignorance was necessary, did they? Okay, you can make an argument that it's better if the people dealing directly with Mr. Chesney aren't in on the plan, but gawd this kind of dynamic drives me crazy. I am the sort of person who will move heaven and earth to try and make a thing happen, if you've given me responsibility for it, and if I find out later that you always intended me to fail? I will not be a happy camper.
I much prefer the stuff that focuses on the kids, at least until the point where Blade has to pick up his tour group. I'm a sucker for seeing the younger generation find out just what they're capable of -- which is, I think, part of why the bit with his tour group is less fun for me; Blade more just gets his head handed to him during that stage, and that makes me cringe in sympathy. I think another part of it, though, is that the tour-group section feels rushed. It might have been interesting to see the story handled in three main strands, one for Derk, one for Blade, and one for the rest of the kids trying to keep it all together. As it stands, though, it feels like the logistics of setting up things for the tours ate so much word-count that the rest of the tale got packed in at the end.
But I do love the way Derk's family is a family, regardless of species differences. They don't all get along, but they band together regardless when it's needed. They also have their individual strengths and weaknesses, without it feeling like Jones tailored them into a tidy set. I also liked the touches about how the world isn't really like Mr. Chesney wants it to look for the tours, from the female wizards to the "slave" girls in the harem.
I went through most of the novel assuming -- just based on defaults, and the way these books are poking fun at the genre of quest fantasy -- that the Tours were coming from our world. It was a bit startling at the end to realize that isn't the case. I seem to remember a reference to "credits," though I can't find it now, which makes the other world sound more science-fictional. Regardless, the whole magic-mining thing, or rather the use to which the earth is put, is a clear departure. I would have liked to know more about that end of things, fleshing out the Ledburys and the Pooles and so on.
On the whole, while I enjoy this one, I like Year of the Griffin a bit more. Look for that post soon.
"The Aurors" signup closes tomorrow
Tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. EST, I think, though to be honest it actually closes whenever I get around to editing the settings, so it'll probably be some time after that. Anyway, you have another thirty hours or so to sign up.
Don't remember what I'm talking about? Here's the blurb:
You have until January 8th to write your story, so don't worry if Yuletide or other holiday obligations are breathing down your neck. And if you need an AO3 invite, just let me know; I have several.
Don't remember what I'm talking about? Here's the blurb:
Are you fan of cop dramas on TV? Is Mad-Eye Moody one of your favorite Harry Potter characters? Ever wish the series had chucked Quidditch in favor of more Defense Against the Dark Arts?
Then you would like The Aurors, the TV show that, alas, never existed. Except here, in fanfic form! This is a prompt meme inspired by that fan "trailer," for readers and writers who would love to see a grittier, more adult Harry Potter, focused on the men and women (and possibly some non-humans, too) who defend both the wizarding and Muggle worlds against evil magic.
You have until January 8th to write your story, so don't worry if Yuletide or other holiday obligations are breathing down your neck. And if you need an AO3 invite, just let me know; I have several.
December 5, 2011
holy crow
It feels a bit mean to say this, considering. And it's really unexpected, too, given that I've bounced off every other book of his I've previously tried to read.
But you know what?
I'm glad Sanderson is writing the end of the Wheel of Time.
As in, glad it's him and not Jordan.
More later. After I've finished the book. Now if you'll pardon me, I'm dying to see what happens next.
But you know what?
I'm glad Sanderson is writing the end of the Wheel of Time.
As in, glad it's him and not Jordan.
More later. After I've finished the book. Now if you'll pardon me, I'm dying to see what happens next.
December 1, 2011
The Aurors is happening!
No, not the TV show; the fic thing I mentioned before. If you were interested in participating -- and btw, we've scheduled it so as not to land entirely atop Yuletide -- details are inside the cut.
![[info]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380921443i/3272792.gif)
starlady38
and I decided to run this as a prompt meme, rather than a gift exchange, because it's more flexible for all involved. What does that mean? Well, a gift exchange requires one-to-one matching, where we make sure everybody gets assigned a recipient, and a different writer is assigned to them, and then we have to worry about people defaulting. A prompt meme is more like communal brainstorming: your signup consists of prompts for potential stories, and then people "claim" those prompts (i.e. write fills for them). You can sign up without writing stories; you can write stories without signing up; you can write multiple stories if you want to, and multiple stories can be written to the same prompt. The end result is fic for everybody.
(One thing will be like a gift exchange, though: the stories won't be revealed until they're all in, and they'll be anonymous at first; the authors will be revealed later.)
We're running this on the AO3, so you do need an account to participate. However, if you don't have one, give us the e-mail address you want it attached to, and we'll send you an invite.
The page for the collection is here (with further details if you need them), and the signup form is in the left sidebar. You can also see other prompts that have been submitted, and click "Claim" for the one(s) you might like to write. Signups will remain open for a week, closing at 8 p.m. EST on December 8th; you can claim things at any time, but the deadline for the actual stories is 8 p.m. on January 8th (i.e. after the Yuletide rush). Authors will be revealed a week later.
Any questions, just let me know! And feel free to link this (or the collection page, which is probably more useful) anywhere you think people might be interested.
starlady38
and I decided to run this as a prompt meme, rather than a gift exchange, because it's more flexible for all involved. What does that mean? Well, a gift exchange requires one-to-one matching, where we make sure everybody gets assigned a recipient, and a different writer is assigned to them, and then we have to worry about people defaulting. A prompt meme is more like communal brainstorming: your signup consists of prompts for potential stories, and then people "claim" those prompts (i.e. write fills for them). You can sign up without writing stories; you can write stories without signing up; you can write multiple stories if you want to, and multiple stories can be written to the same prompt. The end result is fic for everybody.(One thing will be like a gift exchange, though: the stories won't be revealed until they're all in, and they'll be anonymous at first; the authors will be revealed later.)
We're running this on the AO3, so you do need an account to participate. However, if you don't have one, give us the e-mail address you want it attached to, and we'll send you an invite.
The page for the collection is here (with further details if you need them), and the signup form is in the left sidebar. You can also see other prompts that have been submitted, and click "Claim" for the one(s) you might like to write. Signups will remain open for a week, closing at 8 p.m. EST on December 8th; you can claim things at any time, but the deadline for the actual stories is 8 p.m. on January 8th (i.e. after the Yuletide rush). Authors will be revealed a week later.
Any questions, just let me know! And feel free to link this (or the collection page, which is probably more useful) anywhere you think people might be interested.
