Back at the end of October, brightknightie shared a a 33-question "AO3/fic" meme that was shortly thereafter done by pj1228 as well. I said at the time that I'd do it once my ficinabox story was written and the collection opened.

Well, I got the full two-week extension and used the week's delay needed for late pinch hits, and still only got the final revisions done just as the collection opened at midnight last Saturday. In fact, I've tweaked since then (though mostly just typos and SPaG, of course). At this point, though, I've read my own gifts and commented on them, replied to comments on the two stories that I wrote, and started looking at the collection. All of which means that, finally, I have time to do the meme.


1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?
It's just my name, glommed together with no space between.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback?
Apparently there are 17 comment threads on each of the following:
- "Exit Stage Left, a Wounded Warrior: The Lost Chapters of The Charioteer", which is a two-chapter postscript to Mary Renault's The Charioteer
- "In Which Pooh Hunts for the Meaning of Christmas" - the first in a two-part Winnie-the-Pooh series
- "In Which Pooh and His Friends Celebrate Christmas" - the second part of that series

3. What is your ao3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?
I don't have an AO3 icon. My LJ/DW icon is the cover of the 1973 reprint of the 1953 edition of Mary Renault's The Charioteer. The design is the same as the first edition, except for the text on the back, which isn't part of my icon.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?
I'm always impressed by brightknightie's comments as moderator of fkficfest. On the whole, I think FK fandom has a good comment tradition. In my (limited) experience, I'd say rarelit fans tend to leave good comments, too.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?
I keep going back to reread merriman's "Donation". It's a bit sentimental, I suppose; but I find it nice to snuggle with.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?
I'm currently subscribed to 106 stories. A couple of years ago I pruned the list, taking out WIPs that had been completed; and I probably need to do it again. Quite a few of the stories I'm subscribed to have (almost certainly) been abandoned; but hope springs eternal.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?
For FK, I often just ignore LK. In Arrowverse, I'm slowly working towards an AU/futurefic in which Leonard Snart is rescued from the Oculus explosion. I guess there's a theme there: I do think killing off characters is a pretty fake way for authors to contrive "deep significance", especially on TV shows. And especially when I like the character!

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total?
Nineteen subscriptions and 349 bookmarks.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it?
Not that I can think of.

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.
I'd like to be better at writing/finishing stories outside gift exchanges. Nowadays, I do seem to need those deadlines to keep me writing.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?
I mostly write gen. However, that's not to say I've never written about people who are in relationships: it's part of life; and a lot of characters are canonically coupled up. My focus in such stories is going to be characterization, though: I don't write smut.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?
I think it's 246. I did two stories for ficinabox; but the anon period is still going on, and I think that means they don't appear in my stats yet.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing programme?
I'm not sure what this means. Are you asking me how many unfinished stories I have that aren't posted yet? If so, then I'm not sure: maybe a half a dozen or so. Mostly, nowadays, I don't start stories unless it's for a gift exchange—in which case they get finished, since they have to be posted. As a result, I have a warren of plot bunnies that have never been started.

Oh, there are also a few things that were finished many years ago; but they were typed (on a real typewriter, I mean) and hence have never been posted anywhere.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?
Keep them in my head.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?
In a manner of speaking. In 2019, my sister (fawatson) wrote "Secrets and Lies" and asked me to beta it. For lack of time, she wound up sort of scrambling the thing together and, instead of using the post-posting week to polish it, added a humongously long final chapter. The joke is that, had she posted that as a separate treat, I wouldn't have been inspired to ask her if I could rewrite her fic. She agreed; and, to cut a long story short, I hashed the bits apart, reorganized them, tweaked a bit, and doubled the length with new material. The result, "A Winchester Always", is fannishly counted as "mine" since I wrote it in the context of remixrevival. However, on my website, I credit it as co-authored.

16. How did you discover AO3?
I'm not sure. I joined in July 2011. Probably someone in the old maryrenaultfics community said they were crossposting their fic there.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?
I think, in the tiny world that FK fandom is today, my stories are fairly popular. They seem to be well regarded in Charioteer fandom, too. Sadly, my association with maryrenaultfics (which died in flames) has led to a degree of notoriety in places like fail_fandomanon where, for years, they mistakenly thought my sister and I were the moderators.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?
No.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?
No. Not if you mean a fan writer.

My fannish leanings began many years ago. I'd say it was my love of Andre Norton's books that led to a lot of long-running self-insert stories when I was in junior high. However, these were never written. They were the sort of thing you use to wile away time when walking down the street or lying in bed. I never had the patience to actually write anything at that age.

The first fanfic I wrote was based on the original Star Trek series; and I was in my thirties by then. In so far as I was "inspired to write", it was by the knowledge that there were other people out there who wrote fanfic. However, I'd never read any except in published collections. I didn't get in fandom per se until 2004, when I went on line.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?
Read a lot. And not just fanfic.
Write a lot. And reread what you write: everything needs to be polished.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?
A bit of both. For short fic, I generally have the whole thing in mind before I start. For longer stories, I know the ending; but some of the plotting may be done on the fly. Nowadays, I usually start at the beginning and forge on to the end. For really long stories, bits may be written out of order simply because they're so vivid they're getting between me and the things that haven't been worked out yet. Mostly such bits get inserted along the way.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?
What do you mean by a bad comment? Someone being rude? Not usually. And I think it's idiotic to feed the trolls.

I have, once or twice, had someone point out a canon error or Britpick me. In that case, I check to see if they're right; and, if so, I figure out how to fix the problem. Usually, all it takes is a lightning band-aid. And I thank them: those aren't bad comments; they're bloody helpful! I try to research things; but, if I've missed something that's obvious, I certainly want to put it right.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc.)
Detailing action scenes is difficult. Fight scenes particularly: the last time I got in a fight was when I was about ten or eleven. (My parents had guests over; and the son, who was about my age, was picking on my little sister, who's five years younger.) Certainly, in elementary school, kids sometimes got in fights; and there'd be a general pile-on, and I'd get involved. I mean, I'd dither round the edges, since I'm not keen on fighting; but there comes a point when you have to pitch in, since all your friends are in there. In my very limited experience, it's like jumping into a swimming pool: okay once you're in.

But that sort of thing didn't continue beyond Grade Five; and I was nine then. I've never taken self-defence classes, or anything like that. So I find fight scenes pretty hard to choreograph.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?
I'm signed up for Yuletide; but I haven't started yet. I just did two stories for ficinabox; and, as the exchange has a 10K minimum (which can be broken up over multiple stories) and only opened last weekend, there's a lot to read.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?
This year, I did knock off a little trickortreatex story while working. I'd wondered if I'd have to default since the ficinabox story I was doing was proving a bit ambitious. However, I woke up one morning with a teeny tiny idea writing itself in my head; and, for Trick or Treat, a teeny tiny idea is really all that's needed. I went downstairs and wrote it before breakfast.

In general, though, it depends on whether the next gift exchange I want to do overlaps with the one I'm currently doing. And that normally would just involve taking time out for nominations, signing up, and maybe minor brainstorming (as I did with Yuletide this year). I don't usually write multiple stories at the same time.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?
No.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?
I hope so. Certainly, if you compare my writing now with the stories I told myself as a kid, then the answer has to be yes!

28. What is your favourite story that you’ve written?
I'm particularly likely to go back and reread the stories that required a lot of research or worldbuilding or got deeply into character exploration.

29. What is your least favourite story that you’ve written?
Some years back, an FK fan posted to the fic list a story that I gather she hoped would inspire another War. In it, she wrote an attack on the Vaqueras' headquarters—the sort of thing that did actually prompt some of the early Wars. Not realizing that she hadn't cleared it with the Vaqueras, I responded with another ficlet. The Vaqs were not amused. Of course, I apologized; but I've never put that story up anywhere.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?
I really hope I'll have finished a few of the plot bunnies I have. Some have lingered in the warren for years.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?
Dialogue.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?
Putting pen to paper. Or nowadays, fingertips to keyboard.

33. Why do you write?
The stories bug me till I do. Some of them are very insistent. One of the fic I just did for ficinabox definitely had its own ideas on how much time I should devote to it. All I could do was go along for the ride.