ttsmiscellany

A few weeks ago, my muse (who is either completely insane or on drugs) presented me with the idea of what would happen if Stephanie was a child and Ranger and/or Joe found her. In other words, rather than a romantic relationship with her, they had a familial/paternal relationship with her.

Like I said - insane or drugs.

So, I slipped that and a few other ideas into a "Choose your own adventure" type setting (it's not done, so it's not posted) and figured that was the end of it.

Now there's a challenge about going to school and sure enough my muse is popping up with suggestions about "Well, if little Stephanie is with Ranger, how would her first day be? And if she was with Joe?"

After watching about five minutes of the horrendous job Ohio State is doing against OU, my muse was pretty much forgotten and was finally quiet.

Then... Not so much.

What did I get hit with? The conversation with my muse went like this:

Muse: What if Little Stephanie blew up the bus on the way to school
Me: Diesel fuel burns. It doesn't explode.
Muse: Well, what if there was some other reason it exploded like a bomb planted on the bus to take Stephanie out?
Me: Shut UP!

So, now I'm seeking escape, but it's far too painful a punishment to watch any more of the Ohio State game.

I think I'm going to take my knitting and wait for the UCONN game to come on. *sigh*

Some days I wonder about myself.

Mostly, though, I don't bother. I'm more of a go with the flow and take what comes your way type girl. Or, at least I like to delude myself I am. And what is a world without delusion? :-D

I just finished my month-long challenge and am still reeling not only from the number of rewards I had to post (9!), but also from the sheer number of words I typed on that story in the past two months. It's done now, though, and I did actually have barely enough energy to fly down to the family reunion this past weekend. (It was a blast!)

And! The airplane ride and time in the terminal allowed me the time I needed to get my next reward story moved along fairly nicely.

What reward story you ask? Isn't June over with? What are you thinking?!? (Oh, wait, that last question will come in a minute)

Since it's summer and it's slow, there's been a little bit of difficulty in finding people to fill in for the Weekly Wednesday challenge at PerfectlyPlum. So, I stepped in and volunteered to fill the void for this week - July 9. Yes, I am aware that it's only a little more than a week since my previous challenge and people are most likely sick and tired of reading my rewards, but, I have a few stories sitting around that just needed a little bit to finish and I have several WIPS lying around as well. So... This week I"ll be rewarding with "Technicolor Nightmare". The rewards are going to be way, way, way shorter than they were in June, but people don't need to write nearly as much for one.

I've got the challenge prompts all set and am just waiting for tomorrow night to set it all up.

The down side is that I can't check my emails from work anymore since they're now monitoring us VERY closely, so I won't be able to "instantly" reward. I'll add a note in about that, though.

Of course, there's also the 100_Prompts challenge I need to finish. I think I only have about 30 words left, so I should get moving on that and see what I can do about finishing up.

I also need to update my website and archive some stories from PP to PPV. And I have two quotes to use for the friendship collection if I ever get around to it.

Hmm... I think maybe I need to make a list of my wips & writing commitments.
1) 100_Prompts challenge - 31 prompts left, but 5 of those are writer's choice. Now if only I could figure out what's meant by "Needful things"
2) Technicolor Nightmare - need to finish for 7/9 challenge
3) Robin Hood AU
4) Right Turn From Reality (only about 3 chapters left, maybe 4)
5) Secrets of the Burg (many requests for more)
6) Kidnapped - Stephanie kidnaps Ranger
7) Immortal 12 - Plum/Highlander xover
8) Plum Sentinel - Part 1 is done, need to finish part 2 and maybe a part 3
9) Memories - been sitting around way too long
10) Two more Friendship collection stories
11) The Truth Comes Out - needs polishing
12) Take A Chance - actually I may leave this as a challenge piece to do along with my Young Carlos stories.

Hmm... not quite as bad as I thought, but enough to keep things ineresting.

I do need to update my links and my website, though.

But for now, I'm off to write some more "Technicolor Nightmare" so I can have at least 3 rewards finished for Wednesday.

So, I"ve been trying to slog through RTFR chapter 4 without much success - especially since my laptop died on me and I lost everything on it until I my new one comes in, at which point I will beg, plead, curse, cry and do anything else necessary to get it to boot up one last time so I can transfer information from my old hard drive to the new one - including chapter 4 (I was about 1/2 way through both Ranger and Stephanie's).

But, that will get done. I want to get at least 1 of the 2 parts posted this weekend and the other the following weekend. Then I have to get at least books 5, 6, and 7 done for June. I don't think it's a secret, but I have the month-long challenge for that month. I know what my scenario is going to be and I'll be offering RTFR for the reward (those three books give me 6 rewards since each book results in 2 chapters. Hopefully that will also serve as motivation to push through "Four To Score"

As horrible as it is to say, "Four To Score" is a remarkably uninspiring book with regard to "Right Turn From Reality". I think "High Five" might give me a little bit more of a push.

On another note, with my re-read of the first 4 books, I can't help but wonder how much of Stephanie & Joe getting together was Stephanie and how much was Joe.

He certainly never discourages her, aside from one conversation in a coffee shop where he tells her that he would never be in a relationship with "someone like her" because she deserves more than he can give. (I can't remember the exact wording, but I remember thinking it was a remarkably honest comment on what he could give). But I can't help but wonder how much of his behavior was designed to draw her in. There are times it seems very much like it's Stephanie doing the pursuing and other times it seems like Joe is trying to draw her in. I've actually found it a very interesting relationship, watching how they dance around each other. It's a much more subtle seduction than Ranger and Stephanie.

Anyway, aside from my Plum musings, I've been reading a bit of "Pride And Prejudice" fanfiction as well recently. I've enjoyed quite a bit of it and have a half-formed idea for a story. It's been quite a while since I've written in anything other than modern English, but Regency Era English isn't too far off. I'll just probably miss out on a lot of idioms and, I'm sure, be completely off with regard to social and legal customs of the time, still, I try not to ignore plot bunnies when they rear their little fuzzy heads. If you ignore plot bunnies, they either all go away and refuse to talk to you, or come back as huge, convoluted, mutated plot monsters who will not be ignored. (hmm... sort of like Lady Catherine...)

Anyway, I'll have to see if I do write it. I'm certainly not looking for any more fandoms or writing commitments right now. I have more than enough to keep me busy for now. :-)

I've only got 35 more words left on my 100_Prompts challenge table. Five of them are "Writer's Choice" so I can do what I want with them. (yea!)

The one that will take me the longest to complete, though, is 001. Immortal. The reason is, I'm using Immortal Twelve as the response for it and I'm only about 1/3 to 1/2 way done with it. I still have a long way to go. *sigh* Hopefully I'll get all of it done in the next few months.

On one of the boards/mailing lists I'm on, there's a "Writer's Workshop" that is posted weekly. I haven't really had time to read and apply what's being discussed, but feel I should. It's good information - or at least what I've skimmed of it has been. It also makes me aware of how little I pay attention to my writing.

That may sound strange, but with fanfiction, I mostly am just trying to get the idea/story down on paper/electrons so that I can move on to the next idea that's brewing in my head. If I actually paid attention to my writing, though, not only would it be of a higher quality it would be more consistent rather than one story being great and another... well... not so great.

It's something to think of. Maybe I'll have to make some time to look into it and practice what's being posted - after I catch up on the rest of the stories I need to read. *sigh* Not enough time in the day sometimes...

Musing: In going back and re-reading the early Plum books, I have found it interesting that Joe didn't put a whole lot of effort into pursuing Stephanie. She seemed to do more pursuing of him.
In fact, in book two or three, he goes into detail about why he *wouldn't* have a relationship with her. It made good sense.
It's also pretty evident that, despite what happens in later books, at least in these earlier books, it was intended that Stephanie and Joe would end up together. Kind of a depressing thought to the Babe in me, but there you have it.
Of course, some days, and those days are becoming more frequent withe each book, I don't want her to end up with either guy. Whether because she deserves better or they do, I can't say for sure. I kind of waver on that point. Still I don't think any of the three characters as they are now are remotely ready for a "grown-up" relationship. But, that could just be
crankiness from being back at work. :-)

Writing Updates: "Realigning Destiny" is finished! Just needs to be typed up and posted.
"Right Turn From Reality 4" needs to get finished, but I'm afraid the book just wasn't inspiring for this story. With help from Sam, I at least have the scenes for reference/reflection. Still, I hope 5 will be better. Besides, what's with the 6 month gap between 3 and 4? 3 was in January and 4 in July?