ariadnes_string

Woo-hoo! The super-early Yuletide reveal miraculously coincided with the only 15 hours I have free from family obligations the whole holiday season!

Thus I was able to read my lovely gifts in peace. They were:

Ar Haner Nos yn Glir y Daeth (Upon the Midnight Clear) (1920 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Y Gwyll | Hinterland
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tom Mathias & Mared Rhys
Characters: Tom Mathias, Mared Rhys, Siân Owens
Additional Tags: Yuletide, Ghosts, References to Welsh Mythology
Summary:

A seemingly open and shut case results in Mathias and Mared hanging about the castle ruins late one night - and they find they're not alone...

First of all, I can't believe someone wrote me Hinterland fic--that seemed like such a long shot to ask for. But they did, and it's fabulous--very atmospheric, a hint of the supernatural, and just the right prickly, protective relationship between Tom and Mared.

Ancillary Ghost (2229 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Seivarden Vendaai
Summary:

Seivarden as honored guest, and the importance of tea.

Takes place after Ancillary Sword (spoilers).

Thank you very much to my betas, who will be credited after reveals.

I can't say too much about this without spoiling Ancillary Sword for those of you who haven't read it, BUT, if you were intrigued by the ending of the novel, and love Seivarden, as I was and do, this is an amazing fic! The author gets the tone of the books just right, and seamlessly builds onto the world-building, as it were. I loved the sense of the ancientness of the Radch (and its fragility).

I haven't read much else, but if, by some chance, you love the radio program Bleak Expectations as much as we do in my house, you should know that there's a brilliant fic in the archive this year.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmassy or non-Christmassy day!

(my December meme is morphing into a January meme, but I'll get to it all, I promise!)

thirdbird asked me “what was the most difficult fanfic you've written? Which one are you most proud of and why?”

And since I’ve been trying to wrangle my Yuletide assignments this week, it seems a good time to answer it.

The short answer is: whatever fic I’m writing at the moment seems the most difficult fic I’ve ever written! And then, if they are really too difficult, I don’t write them at all, because I am a writing wuss.

The only-slightly-longer answer is: any fic over about 3,500 words is the most difficult fic I’ve ever written. Maybe 5,000. Almost without exception, the fics I’ve written that are longer than that, I’ve stalled out after about 5-6k, and taken months or years to come up with a second half. I suck at plot. Even the last fic I wrote over 5k, which literally took it’s whole plot from A Study in Pink, so I didn’t have to come up with anything, was really hard to write. I don’t know why I ever embark on such ventures, except that sometimes it seems like the only way to fulfill an assignment or prompt. Or maybe I think I’ll learn something as I go along—but I think my brain just doesn’t work that way. Sometimes they come out okay, despite the difficulties, but I hardly ever re-read them. I’ve been wanting to write a sequel to “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” and failing because: plot.

So I guess it makes sense that the fics I’m proudest of are short! I like the fics I’ve managed to write that allow my own intense feelings about characters, and the characters’ intense feelings about each other, to shine through. Often, I feel like I get distracted by descriptive or figurative language, and that mutes the emotion in a story—or, the emotion is muted by my aforementioned difficulties with plot—so when I can get those things to combine, I’m happy. Often, these fics are the first stories I write in a fandom, since I guess the emotions are new and bright then—this is true of two stories I’m proud of: The Khyber Knife (John/Sherlock, R) (which just happened, so I’m amazed, more than proud); and A wind that passeth Away and cometh not again (Homeland), which I worked a lot harder on, and thus correspondingly prouder.

But sometimes I get a bit more into a fandom before I write something I like. For example, Four Kisses, which is a Southland fic, (Cooper/Sherman, R), and which was the third and last story I wrote in that fandom. I’m proud of it for a bunch of reasons: I think it’s in character, though the characters were hard for me to write—I certainly never thought I’d plausibly get them into a pairing; it has a 4X structure, but it still manages to have something of a plot; moreover, it has a “first time” plot, which is something I’m not very good at imagining; it’s not a particularly dark or gritty fic, but it has enough of an edge to it to make me happy—a lot of its emotional intensity is not connected to the romance; it has some nice images, but the story doesn’t get bogged down in them. And when I read it, it reminds of how much I loved the first few seasons of the show. It’s not one of my most read or best-liked stories, but it makes me happy.

destina asked me for my seven favorite non-fiction books, which was a great question, though it turned out to be hard narrowing it down! I’m sure not sure these are my seven absolute favorites—I’ll probably remember something the minute I post this—but these are the seven(non-work) books I remember loving right now (many of them pretty recent).

For a long time the only kind of non-fiction book I really liked was biography and autobiography. I remember reading those “biographies for little kids” of people like Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur when I was really young. I still primarily enjoy books that have the story of a person or people at the center. That means I’m drawn to memoir, personal essays and biography, although with the caveat that I like those genres when they look outward and say something about history, culture or science. Conversely, I usually dislike books that purport to be about something else—history, culture or science—and end up telling us more about the writer than they do about the subject (though not always: I did like Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks).

So, in rough order of publication.

1. The Autobiography of Malcom X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley (1965).

( Read more... )

2. My Own Country, by Abraham Verghese (1994).

( Read more... )

3. Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande.

( Read more... )

4. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard (2006).

( Read more... )

5. The Good Soldiers, by David Finkel. (2009).

( Read more... )

6. Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest>, by Wade Davis (2011).

( Read more... )

7. Men We Reaped: A Memoir, by Jessmyn Ward (2013).

( Read more... )

Books that almost made the list: Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain; Retribution: The Battle for Japan 1944-1945, by Max Hastings (2007); The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death in Order, by Joan Wickersham (2008); and Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec (1994)

So there you go: war, race and medicine. My obsessions, let me show them to you.

I'd love to hear what your favorites are, too!

Finally getting this baby started!

twasadark asked me to talk about podcasts, and I am delighted to do so!

If, like me, you like to listen to things—and/or have more time to listen to things than you do to sit down and read—podcasts are awesome. Also, the seemingly DIY, anyone-can-make-one, aspect is very appealing. I’ve linked to the podcasts’ own websites below, but I mostly access them through itunes on my phone, and I kind of love the way you can search the itunes app for a writer you’re interested in, and it will throw up podcast episodes of said writer reading or being interviewed.

Here are some that I listen to regularly, with apologies in advance because they are mostly about books.

But to get the obvious out of the way first: like the rest of the podcast-listening world, I’m addicted to Serial. I eat it up like cake—I find the presentation ridiculously compelling. I also find myself surprisingly interested in all the furor/speculation around it, focusing on Sarah Koenig as a character herself and her construction of the narrative. I don’t read Reddit or any of the blogs about the case, but I do listen to the Slate Serial Spoilers podcast, which often brings in some interesting guests.

I also listen to Welcome to Night Vale, though I have to say my enjoyment of it varies. My kids like it, though, so following it gives us something fun to talk about. I’m not sure I’d carry on with it on my own.

Podcasts about books:

My favorite podcast for readings is the one put out by The Free Library of Philadelphia. The episodes are pretty much unadorned broadcasts of their great, varied, series of readers—from Ann Rice, to Walter Isaacson, to David Mitchell. I like getting a taste of a book I might want to read, or hearing an author answer questions about one I have read.

I also like the podcast from the New York Times Book Review. It is mostly interviews with authors whose books are reviewed in the weekly supplement, but it also has “publishing news” and “bestseller news” features. Like the similar podcast from The New YorkerThe New Yorker Out Loud, which interviews the authors of their long essays, it’s clearly designed to lure you behind the paywall to read more, but there’s no obligation. I already get The New Yorker, and often the interviews on the podcast do get me to read the essays in question.

Others I’ve listened to once or twice, and would again if they featured an author I was interested in: Slate’s Audio Book Club, All Write Already, Book Fight.

Other stuff.

Over the summer, I was listening to Kumail Nanjiani’s The X-Files Files. I loved The X-Files while it was on, but was completely unaware of fandom at that point in my life, so I was enjoying his simultaneous history of the show, its fandom and the television industry. He never has exactly my take on the show, but he’s infectiously enthusiastic about it, and he has good guests. I only stopped listening because I couldn’t keep up with re-watching two episodes a week so as to listen to him discuss them. I’d like to go back to it, though—he’s had some great guests on recently: Darrin Morgan, etc.

The BBC has a bunch of podcasts, always, and I’ve just been listening to their broadcast of Atul Gawande’s Reith Lectures on the Future of Medicine. He’s a fascinating speaker, of course, and the lectures seem to have drawn a lot of other prominent doctors, so the questions he gets asked are interesting, too.

What do you guys listen to? What am I missing?

(and I have room for some more questions, if you want to drop one in the comments)

Happy Halloween! It’s been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted.

On the 19th, I ran my second half-marathon. I trained much harder this year and…finished a whopping 5 minutes faster. A fast runner, I am not. But I felt good about it, and had fun—it was a beautiful day in my hometown, I saw friends cheering along the way, and, heck, anytime I run any distance at all, I’m surprised. (Me: Well, no matter what happens, I enjoyed the training; R: Enjoyed? You loved the training!; Me: Yeah, I did.)

Then last weekend, we went to Colorado to see Son #1. CO was as gorgeous as ever, and son #1 seems to be doing well, better than last year, which is excellent, but a bit bittersweet, since I miss him a lot. (The boys and I had the most fun going to this old-fashioned pinball arcade , “Where it’s always 1978.” Along with the pinball, they had ping pong, pool, and, best of all, a giant Connect Four set and a giant Jenga set. Still, the traveling, and seeing friends and family so intensely is…intense.

And thinking about Yuletide. Assignments went out yesterday, and while mine isn’t all that exciting, it doesn’t look that difficult, either. I also snagged one of the initial pinch hits, from a fandom I’d been eyeing anyway. I need to spend some time reviewing the sources for both, though.

What I’m Reading

Nothing in print right now, but I’m listening to The Fever, by Megan Abbott, because I read this great review article about it, and the library had an audiobook copy. It’s compelling, but a little…garish? hyperbolic? The subject can’t help but hover on the edge of the ridiculous, and this book sometimes teeters over. Plus, high school has clearly gotten worse since I was a teenager. The level of sexual shame is WAY higher than it was in the 80s—but maybe that’s just the book? The social media frenzy is well done, though.

I’m also listening to, but have gotten distracted from, the fourth Twelve Houses book, Reader and Raelynx

What I Just Finished

Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie. ( Read more... )

Euphoria, by Lily King (audiobook). ( Read more... )

Dark Moon Defender, Sharon Shinn (audiobook). As enjoyable as the first two!

What I’m Reading Next

I’m trying to find time to start Sarah Waters’ The Paying Guests, and I’m curious about Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings, which I have out from the library. But my parents are visiting this weekend, so who knows.

TV:

So, is anyone else watching Kingdom, the Direct TV show about MMA fighters, starring Frank Grillo as Alvey Kulina? ( Read more... )

And then there’s Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons on Peaky Blinders S2, doing one of his cardiganed thug turns as a Jewish breadmaking gangster (do the baggy clothes, slump and facial hair muffle his charisma, or do they just amplify it?). I’m a week behind, but so far I’ve been really enjoying watching the show get its Godfather on, even introducing a Michael Corleone character—Polly’s long lost son, who’s entering the criminal life with a kind of steely watchfulness that would make Al Pacino proud.

I’m a week behind with Homeland, too. I’m enjoying it okay, though Carrie is the worst, most unbelievable Station Chief, ever. She’s a great agent—but leadership skills? People management? Not so much.

Happy Halloween, folks! Have a great time if you’re participating!

Dear Yuletide Author:

First of all, thank you so much for writing a story for me! Any fic with these characters will make me happy, so please just write what seems fun and interesting to you! I saw this phrase in someone’s letter last year, and it perfectly expressed my feelings: If you come to a place where you think you can either write a good story or make me happy, write a good story. ( and if that’s your phrase—thank you!).

If it’s helpful, here are some things about my general preferences:

( general preferences )

Requests, in alphabetical order

( Himalayan Mountain Climber RPF )

( The Honourable Woman )

( Imperial Radch )

( Rivers of London )

( Y Gwyll | Hinterland )

Here's the fic I wrote for

crossovering. It was hard as hell to write, and I'm not sure it was worth it. But I've now posted more Sherlock fic to AO3 than SPN fic, so there's that.

A Study in Madder (6974 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock (TV), Merlin (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Greg Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes, Anthea (Sherlock), Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin), Uther Pendragon (Merlin)
Additional Tags: Episode: s01e01 A Study in Pink, but in Camelot
Summary:

When John Watson returned to Camelot after a long absence, he made three vows.

The first of these, to turn his face from violence, he broke almost immediately. Mere days after re-entering the kingdom, he found himself standing once more over a dead body.

Hi! I have been lurking for weeks (months?), partly because I decided to finish my fic for this crossover exchange, instead of sensibly defaulting, and it ate up all the time I could reasonably devote to fandom (and wasn't really worth the effort, either). Anyway! The archive opened last night, and if you enjoy crossovers, you should check it out .

I received two lovely, really different, fics:

Rediscovery (3017 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Supernatural, X-Men (Movieverse)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, John Winchester, Bobby Singer, Impala
Additional Tags: mention of suicidal thoughts, Mutant!Dean
Series: Part 1 of Sentience and its Uses
Summary:

She'd always known that her human was special. After all, Baby knew him best. It just took the others a little while to figure it out.

I haven't had much to do with SPN fandom for a while, but I'm always so glad to read about Dean--and this story makes his mutant abilities make so much sense.

Diagnosis: Murder (231 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: House M.D., Hannibal (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Greg House, James Wilson (House M.D.), Hannibal Lecter
Additional Tags: crossovering treat
Summary:

Food and conversation.

I adored this snippet of (im)polite conversation, and wanted it to go on forever!

More soon about other stuff--hope you're all doing well!

On the way back from our weekend trip to NYC, I got tagged for the

come_at_once twenty-four hour porn challenge, with the prompt, "don't you touch that." It was a little touch-and-go to meet the time limit, but I posted this this morning:

Five Times Holmes told Watson not to Touch (and one time he begged him to) (1283 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Additional Tags: Sex Pollen, Established Relationship
Summary:

What it says on the tin.

First of all, thank you so much for writing a story for me! Any crossover in the fandoms I’ve requested would make me happy, so please just write what seems fun and interesting to you!

If it’s helpful, here are some things I like:

( optional prompts )

Have fun!!

Still away, but wanted to post the remixes I did this year.

Turn Me Off, Turn Me Over, Turn Me Upside Down (the Right Above It Remix) (1941 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Additional Tags: First Time, Sleepy Sex
Summary:

Sherlock had the most absurd desire to come to John clean.

This was my main assignment, and I struggled with it a bit, but I think mostly because the only time I write John/Sherlock these days is for remix. I loved the original story, especially the porny parts, and so I didn't want to try and redo those at all. The fic turned out better than I feared, though. Totally identifiable as mine because of the dissociation, I thought--it seems to be the only way I can write Sherlock in this pairing.

Everybody Needs a Friend Sometimes (the Have a Banana remix) (2233 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Cabin Pressure
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Martin Crieff, Douglas Richardson, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, Arthur Shappey
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort
Summary:

Everyone at MJN helps out when Martin takes ill.

This was a pinch-hit and I jumped on the chance to remix some Cabin Pressure fic. Lothiriel84's lovely Pneumonia!Martin ficlet was absolute, shameless,id catnip to me, needless to say, and this was a blast to write. Those of you who know me will not be surprised to hear that writing Douglas POV was the best part.

Trip has gone better than I expected, but still looking forward to being home late tonight.

The Remix Redux 11: The Eleventh Hour archive went live last night! You can find the main collection here, and the Remix Madness collection here. I love this challenge for its mix of fandoms--you never know what people will pull up to work on.

I was excited to get two of my stories remixed, one as part of the main challenge, one as part of the madness:

Cracks in a Heart of Stone (the Alex Remix) (1675 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Alex Hunter, Peter Burke, Mozzie (White Collar)
Additional Tags: Action/Adventure, Human Trafficking
Summary:

Alex believes in surviving and taking care of herself, but sometimes she just can't avoid being drawn in.

This is a remix of a sick!Neal story I wrote in 2011, and it gives Alex's POV on the proceedings. I'm thrilled, because I love Alex, and I stuck her in the story with the vague sense that she fit the role she had to play best, but without fleshing out her motivation or actions. This fic does all of that, while giving an excellent, tough, slightly jaded, but still engaged Alex voice.

Flipped Switch (3114 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/Mary Morstan
Characters: Mary Morstan, Sherlock Holmes
Additional Tags: Fuck Or Die, Imprisonment, Dubious Consent, Drugged Sex, Gun play

This is a remix of a Sherlock/Mary fuck-or-die fic I wrote just a few months ago, and I'm tickled to death someone remixed it, with its odd pairing and off-putting scenario. I wrote the fic for a 24-hour turnaround challenge, and in consequence it lacks a lot of detail. The remix fixes all that, plus provides Mary's POV on things. The characterization of Mary, as a badass, brilliant operative, is fantastic, and the dub-con is very hot (if you like that kind of thing, which I do).

So, yeah, go read them!

I also wrote two fics for the challenge, one my assignment and one a pinch-hit. Both are, I think, immediately obvious as mine if you're thinking about it. If anyone is reading in the collection and has a (correct) guess about them, I will write you something fannish of your choosing after the reveals (fic, meta, recs, playlist, etc.). Hint: both are in fandoms I've written in before.

Huh. AO3 tells me I've posted five fics so far this month. This can only mean one thing: I have been avoiding work!

Anyway, for the record, for

purimgifts this year, I wrote two Sleepy Hollow fics (my first in the fandom) and one Sherlock fic. The rules of the exchange are that the stories need to be under 1,000 words, and, in honor of the holiday, must concern either 1)a Jewish character, 2) a female character, or 3) characters defeating an Evil Vizier. I like it best when I get matched so that I can write about Jewish characters, but I enjoy writing about ladies, too, as I did this year.

Household Pests (945 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sherlock (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Mary Morstan, John Watson
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1
Summary:

On Tuesday, there were three.

No Wilderness with You (970 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ichabod Crane & Abbie Mills
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Grooming, Hair Brushing
Summary:

Ichabod gets ectoplasm in his hair. Abbie helps him get it out.

Passages (343 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Abbie Mills & Jenny Mills
Additional Tags: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Character Study
Summary:

Sometimes Jenny dreams she’s on a ship.

This year, I received a fascinating XMFC story, In Which Meir Kahane Gave Magneto a Bloody Nose (with parts 2 and 3). Two of my favorite things about XMFC are its exploration of Erik's uneasy relationship to his Jewish identity/heritage, and the way it maps mutant politics onto other issues of the twentieth century: this story does both!

nb: my other two March fics are a Rivers of London story and another Sherlock story, this one Sherlock/Mary.

I am off for work travel tomorrow, and won't really be back until 3/30. See y'all next month!

No books and TV post today because I was a) finishing this b) picking my son up 3 hours early from school due to a snow non-events and 3) I've totally failed to watch either Hannibal 2x01 or True Detective 1x07.

Title: In the Depths
Fandom: Sherlock
Pairing: Sherlock/Mary
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: fuck-or-die, dub-con, gunplay, sex while drugged.
Word count: 1633
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit

nb: written for the

come_at_once challenge, which is one of those tag team challenges where you write porn in 24 hours based on a prompt. My prompt was "rough."
nb: if the mods allow, I'll use this for the "fuck-or-die" square on my

trope_bingo card, too.

In the Depths

I've spent hours on this when I should've been doing other things--not sure why, or if it merited the attention. I meant it to be a little less silly and a little more shippy, but there you go. Posting it in journals only for now, to meet the challenge deadline; I need to britpick some of the idiom before I post to AO3.

Title: Swim Until You Can't See Land
Fandom: Rivers of London
Rating: G
Characters: Thomas Nightingale, Dr. Walid (pre-series)
Spoilers: none for the novels
Warnings: discussion of suicide
Word count: ~4.2K
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit

nb: This was written for the

hc_bingo February amnesty challenge. The challenge was to write one fic using three prompts and a wildcard. My prompts were: hypothermia, hallucinations, loss of identity and (as the wild card), PTSD. Note that loss of identity here is more like losing one identity and gaining a new one.
nb: also using it for the "bed-sharing" square on my

trope_bingo card.
nb: title from the Frightened Rabbit song of the same name. Scottish band in honor of Dr. Walid.

Summary: It always amused Abdul that he, who so disdained flowery language, could begin the story of his greatest friendship with the phrase, “it was a dark and stormy night.”

( Swim Until You Can't See Land )

One more ficlet for Porn Battle XV

Title: Wash My Sins Away
Fandom: True Detective
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Rust Cohle/Marty Hart
Spoilers/Warnings: I imagined this taking place in/around 1x03, but there are only minor spoilers for the episode.
Word count: 821
Disclaimer: not mine, no profit
nb: prompt words were "impulse" and "booze"
nb: also using this for the "In Vino Veritas/drunk!fic" square on my

trope_bingo card.

Summary: How Rust has even found him, slumped against the front wheel bed of his car in the pullout of some nameless road, overlooking some nameless canal, he can’t imagine. It doesn’t seem real. Maybe it isn’t real.

Wash My Sins Away (on AO3)

Dear Purimgifts Author:

First of all, thank you so much for writing a story for me! Any fic in these fandoms would make me happy, so please just write what seems fun and interesting to you!

If it’s helpful, here are some things I like:

( optional prompts )

Most importantly, though, have fun, and know that I really appreciate the time and energy you’re taking to do this!

Last year, I recommended more non-fiction than fiction; this year things seem to have tilted the other way.

The most remarkable thing about this year was that I (unexpectedly) listened to 18 of the 21 Aubrey-Maturin books. They gave me huge amounts of pleasure and got me through some hard times (and some long runs). For the record, my favorites were HMS Surprise and Desolation Island, though the best scene belongs to The Far Side of the World. I also liked The Commodore a lot, but I ran out of steam with The 100 Days. Maybe in 2014!

Six novels I’d recommend if you wanted something well-written and absorbing to read:

Atkinson, Life After Life: A life lived over and over again in the first half of the twentieth century. It sounds like a confusing concept, but the book is very clear and unfussy, and the period details are great.

Garey, Too Bright to Hear, to Loud to See: About a man descending into the vortex of his own mental illness. Again, it sounds maudlin and upsetting, but the writing is dry and clear, and makes an unsympathetic character very compelling.

Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: About Chechnya: a post-apocalyptic landscape that really existed. Again—this seems to be my theme this year—a situation that could be melodramatic and maudlin is instead described with dry, careful detail and real humanity. This one is the only book on the list that made me cry.

Meyer, The Son: Three generations of a cutthroat Texas family. The voices are amazing, though the scenarios are brutal. It’s an interesting book for being obsessed with masculinity and sodden with testosterone, but not misogynistic. The female characters are complicated and put up with no bullshit.

Wein, Code Name Verity: A spy and a pilot. Women acting heroically. Epic girl friendship.

Wilson, Alif the Unseen: Science fiction that takes place during the Arab spring. What the Neuromancer books would have been like if they’d drawn on Islam rather than Caribbean folklore, and with hugely sympathetic portrayals of religious women.

(if I were expanding the list to novels I think are very good and worth reading, I’d include The Woman Upstairs, which I actually think is a more thoughtful and honest novel than Life After Life, but it’s too upsetting/provocative to recommend for enjoyment)

Non-Fiction
Fink, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital. A page-turner, but I found it really upsetting, for reasons I describe here and here.

Finkel, Thank You For Your Service: The sequel, as it were, to The Good Soldiers. Again, compelling but really upsetting. As much about class in the US and the inadequacy of mental health care as it is about PTSD. The chapters on military suicide are chilling. (more here)

Guwande, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science: A classic in the field. Every essay stays with you.

Hastings, Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-1945: Hastings is a great (though opinionated) writer. Illuminating chapters about arenas I knew nothing about, like Manchuria.

Small, Stitches: A graphic memoir, also on medical themes. I don’t usually read graphic novels, etc, but this one was really powerful.

The full list
nb: most of these I liked—I don’t tend to finish things that I don’t like or that don’t hold my attention.
nb: an * indicates that I listened to the audiobook.
nb: I haven't done this as tidily as I did last year, sorry!

Fiction:
( Read more... )

Non-Fiction:
( Read more... )

Hope 'bout y'all? Favorites of 2013?

Happy New Year everybody! I'm going to try to post a few roundup things, then get back to business as usual.

My answers to this are very much like last year, except that the numbers are even smaller. Am I phasing out of writing fic? It seems possible.

Total number of completed stories: 21. That’s counting the Sherlock/Lestrade WIP I finally finished this year.

Total Word Count: 58,273. This counts the WIP, and is still about half of last year’s.

Fandom Breakdown: 16, 7 of them for the first time (counting 3 that only appear in xovers).

( list )

Overall Thoughts: That's...pretty scattered, even for me. Things seemed to interest me enough to write one little thing, and then I was over whatever it was and moving on. I had fun writing some of the things I wrote, and like some of them, but nothing blew my mind or anyone else’s.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?: About the same. Given that I went months without writing anything, I’m surprised I wrote the even number of stories I did.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?: I’m surprised that I adored Hannibal as much as I did—serial killers are so much not my thing, usually—and surprised that I dared to write something for it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?: I don’t think I did. Hmmm. Maybe that’s what I need: risks. I am thinking of signing up for trope bingo, in the hopes that it would force me to write different kinds of stories,and maybe have fun doing so. But I feel so strapped for time when it comes to fic writing that I’m reluctant to sign up for anything.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?: For fanfic writing, not really. Yuletide left me with some ideas for stories, but I don’t know that I’ll have time to write them. I like to post a story for my birthday in April, so hopefully I’ll do that. I have hopes of being inspired by XMDoFP. Yuletide again, and maybe Remix, if it comes back to life. I have serious goals for work writing, however, and those really need to come first.

From my past year of writing, what was...

My best story of this year: Um...Well, I was pleased that I finally completed Five Times Sherlock and Lestrade Danced without Touching, and one time they did, and I was pretty happy with the way it came out. Other stories I liked: I liked the emotional texture I got into my Lewis summer challenge story, Happy Families; I thought my work-around for Thursday/Morse worked well in my Endeavour story, Born to Live Without You; and I thought I got the knife!play to work well in character in my Homeland Carrie/Quinn PWP, My Tongue Upon Your Scars.

( more answers )

In conclusion: A huge thank you to everyone who beta’d for me, or brainstormed ideas or offered encouragement or commented or put up with my obsessions and ever more obscure fandoms and above all read stuff—-much love to you all!

Merry Christmas to everyone who's celebrating it!

I am not, but I will spare you my rant about being a Jew in the South, because right at the moment, it's working to my advantage, and I am enjoying a very peaceful, very silent, morning alone with my dog and my Yuletide gifts!

I got two this year, both in the Raven Cycle (The Raven Boys) fandom, and both are fabulous, though they are very different.

I was surprised at the number of fics posted for these books (10)--more than any of the other fandoms I requested put together, actually. This makes me happy, since I didn't realize so many other people out there liked the books. They certainly make for good fic!

I am rec'ing both of these hard!

Ronan Wakes Up (5179 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Richard Gansey III/Ronan Lynch
Characters: Richard Gansey III, Ronan Lynch, Adam Parrish, Noah Czerny
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Dreams, Ronan's Dreams, Mint Leaves
Summary:

Ronan dreams. Gansey is in the forest.

This is the h/c fic my id was craving (sick!Gansey), but the writer gives it the edge the books also have, tinged with desire and the dangers of magic and magical power. It's Ronan's POV, and his feelings for Gansey (not just desire) ring very true.

The Sword and the Shield (4721 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Richard Gansey III, Ronan Lynch
Additional Tags: Bloodplay, Dom/sub, Knifeplay, Painplay, spoilers for The Dream Thieves
Summary:

A king is only as good as the sword in his knight's hand. A knight's sword is only as good as the devotion in his heart. See notes for warnings.

And this one is the Ronan/Gansey fic my id was also craving. I know not everyone wants to start their Christmas morning with some strong blood!play and knife!play, but I sure as heck did, and this made me very, very happy (it's super hot). I don't mean to sound flip, though, because what really makes the fic work is the intensity of emotion between the two guys: if trust is your kink, this fic is for you; it'll turn your heart inside out. Beautifully written, too.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the fics posted for the fandom!

Wishing you all a lovely day, whatever you're doing. I have no greater ambitions than making myself go for a run in the cold, and making a pie in time to go to my friends' for dinner later.

Oh, and posting about other stuff--I am so behind.

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