I think it's fair to say that, as far as RL is concerned, this has not been my year. Mould in the back porch was tracked to a leak in next door's roof (we're semi-detached), not that the owner wants to hear about it. Also I spent an inordinate amount of time waiting around for repairmen who didn't come when they said they would. I'm glad to say that on the fannish side things have been better. If I haven't done all the things I wished, that's partly because of the whole RL business but also because I'm easily sidetracked. However, it's fair to say that joining ushobrwi was a good idea: that little bit of feedback and encouragement really does help, especially when I'm not writing to deadline.

I took belated part in the Snowflake Challenge back in January—though, as I came in quite late, I had catching up to do. Certainly not all the challenges were completed. However, looking at those posts, I realize that I started 2024 with the intention to follow up on the previous year's resolution to work on the follow-up to "Trial by Jury". Sadly, I had got sidetracked in 2023 by the need to revise and repost my website. This past year, too, it got sidetracked.

In February, I posted about the Biggles series. Yes, silly name: I think that's actually the point. He's also no more than average height, slim, rather delicate-looking (barring a firm chin), with small girlish hands. And an ace pilot and daring hero: as I say, I'm pretty sure the author was making a quiet point about readers' preconceptions. I'd heard of the series when studying children's literature in the 80s and 90s, even bought a few; but I'm pretty sure I'd never actually cracked them. By about March, I'd read almost all of them—and there are a lot!—except for a few short stories. My first post was fairly general; then I made a more analytical post, "Biggles series: Publication History of the Early Biggles Books ". Yes, I intended to write a series of follow-ups. No, I didn't. (So ... a New Year's Resolution for 2025?)

I got sidetracked from the Biggles essays by rereading some books I'd bought back in the '90s on POWs in World War II. Having revived my old interest, I then began updating myself with books on the same subject that have been published more recently. From a fannish perspective, this has at least resulted in a treat that I wrote in the Trick or Treat exchange: set in Stalag Luft III (where the Great Escape took place), "Events Transpired looks at one day in the lives of POWs sharing a room from the perspective of one of them whose lover is inexplicably late for lunch that day. So now, of course, I have a lot of ideas about their lives. Perhaps another New Year's Resolution for the coming year? If, that is, I don't get sidetracked again.


Gifts I Received:

I did fewer exchanges than usual, partly because of the RL stuff in the summer. I decided to skip Candy Hearts but did the new Worldbuilding Exchange again, and took part in FK Fic Fest (which, strictly speaking, is not an exchange any more), all in the spring. After taking the summer off, I did Trick or Treat and Yuletide, both of which I've done for quite a while now. All told, I received five gifts.

Two of these were Original Works based on a variety of superhero-related prompts: yellowmagicalgirl's short, wry "Send All Those Villains After Me (Play the Toughest Hand, Hold the Longest Stand)", and ishipallthings's "every hurt of yours", which packs in a lot of tantalizing worldbuilding.

The others were all canon-based fanworks, but only one was in a fandom I regularly request, cricketdust's "Peace and Quiet", a charming Arrowverse story about Mick Rory's career as romance writer "Rebecca Silver". Living aboard a timeship packed with sundry teammates does not make it any easier to find time to write. (What fanwriter can't sympathize?)

Since my sister introduced me to The Big Bang Theory, I've requested it a few times, and this time received a ficlet about Howard and Raj: missy's A Dish is a tasty treat set during a couple's therapy session.

I've loved Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett's Astreiant series ever since I read the second book. (Yes, I soon managed to get the first: the others had not yet been written.) It is quite a rare fandom, with only 28 stories on AO3; and I reckon myself very lucky to have received kindkit's "Puppets". It's just exactly what I hoped for! Lots of lovely worldbuilding, and some nice interaction between Nico and Philip.

A very nice haul of gifts! A good year indeed.


Stories I Wrote:

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I started this year with the intention of working on expanding "Trial by Jury", the oversized Original Work that I'd done for the ficinabox exchange in 2022. Well, it didn't work out that way. Even though I'd begun with ideas for various scenes dancing through my head like the sugar plums in "The Night Before Christmas", I delayed to write a ficlet for the new Candy Hearts Exchange (replacement for Chocolate Box) and then worked on a story for the Worldbuilding Exchange. At that point my website suddenly disappeared—and so did the next six months or so.

Investigating the loss of the site led me to the sad conclusion that Stephanie Kellerman must have died. Steph offered FK fandom webspace when GeoCities went down in 2009 and Nancy Taylor suggested saving as many of the old fan sites as possible, especially the archives, faction sites, hubs, and war sites. Steph had not only hosted my own particular site, but many others as well, in the Forever Knight Website Archive. Clearly, when she died, her family had no idea of contacting the mailing list—may, indeed, have been unaware of her fan activities.

I not only wanted to still have (and in time add to) my own site, but also felt a sense of responsibility to preserve the Archive for the sake of the fandom. So I decided to get a new webhost, which entailed registering a new URL, http://www.foreverknight.ca. In preparation, I updated my site. Some pages had been written long ago when I first learned how to write webpages; and I wanted to improve them. I also went through all the episodes of my virtual season, FK4. Back in the '90s, I wrote them in WordPerfect and had to zip them to save space. Unzipped and in Microsoft Word is certainly how people would expect to read them today. After that was all uploaded, I then did a lot of revision for the Forever Knight Website Archive. The job's not quite finished yet; but most of it has been done.

All this meant that—apart from doing FK Fic Fest (which I certainly wasn't going to miss!)—I did pretty well no fic writing until the fall. At that point, in rapid succession, I signed up for Trick or Treat, Fic in a Box, and Yuletide.


Gifts I Received:

Like last year, I received nine gifts in the various exchanges I did. Some of these were in fandoms I regularly request, others were Original Works based on a variety of superhero-related prompts.

In the Candy Hearts Exchange, myhaus_spaeter wrote me "On the side of human decency" based on Mary Renault's The Charioteer. It's futurefic set in the immediate postwar period, with Laurie just on his way home after a stint as a simultaneous interpreter at the Nuremberg trials. The job's been hard on him, as one might expect, and phone calls with Ralph have been a solace; but it is conversation with Sandy that proves most helpful in coping with the experience.

Much later in the year, thepersiancat gave me a story in the same fandom for Trick or Treat. "Sniffing Immortality" is a short cute story about Laurie's housemaster taking umbrage at an unauthorized Halloween celebration at the school.

In the Worldbuilding Exchange, I was given a "A New Normal", based on The Flash TV series. The point of view is unusual: that of David Singh, a senior police office in the Central City Police Departtment, who is contemplating the changes that have been brought to the job by the appearance of metahumans. A very interesting perspective, and a story that I'm very pleased to have received, for I have requested a story along these lines more than once before.

Then, in Yuletide, I got an unexpected New Tricks gift from greenet—unexpected, because this is a very rare fandom indeed. "Street lights" is a charming story, and very much "in character" with great banter around the office as the detectives mull over long-past cases that still bother them.

As for Original Works, I asked for them in three different exchanges, always with a variety of superhero related prompts; and, like last year, I got no fewer than five of them! They are: in Candy Hearts, slumber's "how to account for his rise to the top"; in Trick or Treat, elosiancandidate901's "Old Habits"; and in Fic in a Box, inarduisfidelis's Just a Cliche (But is That So Bad?)", dontstopmenow's How the Warlock Takes His Coffee", and mcbangle's Searching for the unknown crumb". A charming collection, and much appreciated. While I enjoy fanfic about canon superheroes, there are so many other possible scenarios and relationships to explore.


Stories I Wrote:

Here's what I wrote in 2023. Posting has been a bit delayed because my sister came to Toronto over Christmas and New Year; so it's only in the last week or so that I've had time to make the webpages for my Yulefic.

( Read more... )

In some ways, this has been another frustrating year; but it ended well. From spring to summer, RL was hair-tearingly slow as various house repairs were pending ... pending ... pending. However, come October, the contractor got his act together and all have now been done. Fannishly speaking, some exchanges that I've done in the past were either ended, or ending, or had no prompts that interested me. On the other hand, I completed two more installments in the M*A*S*H series I've been writing about Hawkeye's first year home after the end of the Korean War; completed an unfinished Sime~Gen story that's been lingering for more than ten years (and the first part of another that's waited just as long); and wrote my first Original Work, which came in at a mere 38K.

Of course, I also got only partly through the story I'd been writing for FK Fic Fest, and had to quickly substitute something much shorter, and didn't get any more written on the Arrowverse series about Leonard Snart's childhood. Also, the Original Work decided, even before the anon period was up, that it wanted a sequel; and then, over Christmas, informed me that there had to be a third part as well. (It clearly has ambitions.) Some of this may augur well for 2023, of course.

This year, in some of the gift exchanges I did, I asked for Original Works with a variety of superhero related prompts; and, of the nine stories I got this year, no fewer than five fit that description! I may have my favourites; but I'm not saying. I can assure you, quite truthfully, that there were no duds.

Anyway, here's what I wrote in 2022. Since I've been spending Christmas with Flo, I haven't made any webpages for my Yulefic; so those links will have to come later, when I get home.

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This has been another depressing year. COVID, of course; but I've also had health problems—nothing serious, but joints can be quite uncomfortable when they decide to be. It's also not been a very productive year, fannishly speaking. Of course, compared with the flurry of ficlets in 2020, this year's output would pretty well have to be fewer in number. However, though most of the stories have been a more typical length, I've definitely not written as many as usual.

On the whole, I'd have to say the highlight of the year has been the gifts I received. Four for Trick or Treat! All of them delightful. Two for Yuletide, including a New Tricks Brian/Esther fic that I've been requesting in various exchanges for quite a while: utterly in character, everyone's voice spot on. Seriously, people have been generous and talented; and I appreciated the lot.

Add in Flo's Christmas visit, and it's fair to say the year did end well. :)

Anyway, here's what I wrote in 2021:

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To say that 2020 was a horrible year is to state the obvious. It started okay: I came home from visiting my sister for Christmas, and signed up for Chocolate Box and the Worldbuilding Exchange. Then the pandemic hit; and we all went into lockdown. Just going to do basic grocery shopping left one with the feeling one was taking one's life into one's hands: outside was a place of peril. In theory, all that spare time could have afforded me the opportunity to do some major writing. Perhaps it should have! In practice, though, my focus was sadly diffuse. It was hard to think of anything but the news.

To try to take my mind off the world going to hell in a handbasket, I decided to make myself keep busy by writing a lot of ficlets. Every couple of days, I'd try to think of some character(s) I'd not yet written about and devise a tiny premise. All are Forever Knight, for which I require little or no canon review. Thus passed April and May, with the sequence broken only by my writing a shortish story for fkficfest. The result is an absurd number of little fic. To myself, I think of them as my COVID Collection. A ghastly name, I know; so, in the list below, I've just labelled them "CC".

By the summer I'd pretty well written myself out of small plot bunnies. In any case, life had mysteriously settled into a horrid sort of routine. (It's astonishing how a pandemic can become a new normal.) So in July I decided to change things up by doing the sunshine_challenge, for which—given the theme the mods chose—I wrote most of my posts about colours. After that, I signed up for fearbuddies. Though I'd been quite unable to tackle a backlog of unwritten stories earlier in the year, Fear Buddies enabled me to make a stab at finishing a series of Arrowverse stories about the childhood of Leonard Snart that I'd started for Worldbuilding in 2019. Twice a week I sent updates to my partner: the idea was not that they'd read them, but that the little deadlines would enable me to keep writing. Though I didn't finish the series, I did write two more installments—each of them substantially longer than the earlier ones had beem.

By the fall, my fannish life had pretty well returned to normal. In other words, I did Trick or Treat and Yuletide, and wrote multiple fic for both. And, if Christmas was sadly solitary, I did at least manage to get my tree decorated. I've a lot of balls and bells to put on it; so that's an achievement in itself. Alas, the original plans for my sister to visit me couldn't possibly come off in the circumstances. Next year, I hope.

So here's what I wrote this past year:

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Running a little late, but I've been doing this annually so....

Most of last year's fic was, once again, written for gift exchanges. As I was a bit "written out" after Yuletide, I felt it better to take a short break at the beginning of 2019. Then I signed up for the Worldbuilding Exchange, followed by the new Wayback Exchange (for which I wrote a pinch hit), Not Prime Time, FK Fic Fest (of course!), Remix Revival, the Exchange at Fic Corner, Trick or Treat, and Yuletide. For the last of these, I wrote six stories—though one of these was both short and late, and went into the Madness collection.

Having said all this, I honestly feel that in some ways my biggest accomplishment has been finally putting Filezilla on the old laptop I've been using. I have thus been able to upload to my website. As I suspect pretty well everyone who reads my fic does so on AO3, this probably seems trivial. However, I do like designing pages for the stories I write; and it has been frustrating having them waiting around on the computer with no way to put them up. So those links are included below along with the AO3 ones.

( The list: )

When I did this last year, I wrote, "All in all, an adequate but not very exciting showing. I'm reasonably pleased with what I wrote; but I had a hard time getting fingertips to keyboard."

This year I wrote the same number of stories as last year, i.e. fourteen. A number of these were fairly short, including all five of my Yuletide fic. On the other hand, I did quite a long story for the Worldbuilding Exchange; and I think that my FK Fic Fest story, which touched on things that recalled the months after my mother died, turned out well—though some passages took a fair bit out of me.

Sadly, only two stories were Forever Knight, largely because I was the only person requesting it in most exchanges—even Yuletide this year, for which it's always been a hardy perennial. Similarly, I only wrote two stories based on Mary Renault's The Charioteer: the Renault Exchange didn't run again this year; and it's another fandom not much requested, except for Yuletide. On the other hand, this year I wrote several stories for the CW Arrowverse series, particularly The Flash. I've watched those shows since they started, but really only got into them—especially Flash and Legends—a little over a year ago. In addition, I wrote the usual miscellany of odds and ends, some of which are in fandoms that I've never written in before and likely never will again. Yuletide, in particular, always generates a few intriguing rarelit prompts, not to mention weird nonce fandoms. (I mean, battle snails?!!!.) I had fun with those little Yulefic.

Unfortunately, I have to admit the last part of what I wrote last year remains unchanged. Actually getting down to write was sometimes quite difficult. All of the stories were written for gift exchanges: the deadline was very helpful in, eventually, getting my fingertips dancing over the keyboard. Having someone else depending on me to write for them drives me to duty. Fortunately, once I do actually get down to writing, things generally come more easily. It's the getting started....

So doing gift exchanges gets me writing. On the other hand, there's a negative side: one's energy is taken up with writing to other people's prompts. I have a backlog of plot bunnies; and some of them would need fairly long stories to do them justice. Yes: I have a touch of writer's block. Some of that—though only some of that—comes from prompts that I find it hard to come up with an idea for, which in turn leads me to find RL reasons to do anything else but start writing. That I have finally had bookshelves installed in my mother's old bedroom and been shifting boxes round and unpacking means that there's always something else I can justify doing.

At any rate, last year I did Chocolate Box, the Worldbuilding Exchange, Exchange at Fic Corner, Everywoman, Trick or Treat, and Yuletide, as well as picking up a pinch hit for the new Multifandom Trope Fest. Plus, of course, FK Fic Fest: it's now my only fandom-specific exchange. This suggests that I should maybe sign up for fewer gift exchanges, and instead look for treats and pinch hits. Inspiration + deadline may result in less procrastination. For example, the long story I did for the Worldbuilding Exchange was actually an idea that I'd been working out for several months before I signed up. Obviously, I was fortunate in its matching my recipient's wishes. However, if I pick and choose prompts related to stories I already want to write, perhaps I'll be able to get more plot bunnies winkled out of the warren.

Mind you, I do still have an absurd amount sorting and unpacking yet to do around here. Moving in with my mother started five years ago; and she died three years ago. This seems a never-ending process. Then again, I've had two households' worth of goods to reduce to one. It's maybe not so surprising that it takes time.

The last few months have been complicated by the demise of my PC. As a result, I'm using my mother's old laptop. Eventually, of course, I need to buy a new computer; but, as I have other calls on my resources, I'm putting it off for now. As I still haven't put Filezilla on the laptop, I haven't made webpages for the stories written recently. So those stories have only one link.

( The list: )

I did this last year, so....

I only wrote one story more than I did in 2016, fourteen in all. Mostly, they were a fairly average sort of length, plus a couple of ficlets. Sadly, I was not inspired to write any longer fic. (I'm a bit disappointed in myself.)

Most of the stories were written for gift exchanges; and, not for the first time, I got matched with Flo a couple of times. This is fine if I've deliberately angled for it in order to write her a pet fandom-of-the-rarest. Otherwise, it's a nuisance: there's more of a challenge (and more fun) in writing for anyone else.

Sadly, two exchanges I've done in the past, Rarewomen and My Old Fandom, didn't run last year, and seem likely not to do so in the future either. However, I did the new Worldbuilding Exchange, Exchange at Fic Corner, Everywoman, Trick or Treat, and Yuletide. Plus, of course, FK Fic Fest (which has its own special place in my heart!) for the however-manyeth time. In addition, it occurred to me—not for the first time—that the very abrupt ending of Dick Francis's Flying Finish, which I was rereading, left quite a large number of dangling questions. As the Be the First Challenge was just shy of reveals, I had time to dash off a hasty postscript.

All in all, an adequate but not very exciting showing. I'm reasonably pleased with what I wrote; but I had a hard time getting fingertips to keyboard.

( The list: )

I've never done this before; but each year I see friends do it and think I should too, so....

• "Heat in the Kitchen" (website, AO3)
  
  • Forever Knight, 744 words, 25 March

  Not written as a gift for anyone, just a seasonal idea that occurred to me. Posted first to FKFIC-L, which needs more love from all FK fans.



• "A Letter from Abroad" (website, AO3)
  
  • The Charioteer, 1197 words, 14 May, written for fawatson in the Renault Exchange (renaultx)


• "Jean at the Witching Hour" (website, AO3)
  
  • Janet Sandison's Jean Robertson series, 13,886 words, 18 June, written for fawatson in myoldfandom


• "Festival of Festivals" (website, AO3)
  
  • Forever Knight, 2830 words, 25 September, written for brightknightie in fkficfest


• "To , or Not to ," (website, AO3)
  
  • Oxford Comma Example Sentences, 176 words, 7 October, written for baniszew as a New Year's Resolution, i.e. a belated gift to a prompt from the 2015 Yuletide exchange.


• "Star of the Waning Summer" (website, AO3)
  
  • Mary Renault's The Mask of Apollo, words, 724 words, 17 October, written for fawatson in the Trick or Treat Exchange (trickortreatex)


• "The Children of Closti the Clam" (website, AO3)
  
  • Diana Wynne Jones's Dalemark Quartet, 2446 words, 25 October, written for betony in Trick or Treat


• "Command the Signs" (website, AO3)
  
  • Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, 1528 words, 31 October, written for blueteak in Trick or Treat


• "Back in the Saddle" (website, AO3)
  
  • Dick Francis's 10^lb Penalty, 1865 words, 7 November, written for serenade in Trick or Treat


• "A Correspondence between Gentlemen" (website, AO3)
  
  • The Charioteer, 3072 words, 2 December, written for elsa in Yuletide


• "The Rape of the Book" (website, AO3)
  
  • Georgette Heyer's Venetia, 6350 words, 20 December, written for morganmuffle in Yuletide


• "Whisper" (website, AO3)
  
  • Forever, 3510 words, 23 December, written for argylepiratewd in Yuletide


• "The Father, the Son, and the Unholy Ghost" (website, AO3)
  
  • Forever Knight, 3561 words, 24 December, written for astolat in Yuletide

Thirteen stories. I've no idea what it all adds up to in terms of word count. What's clear is that, early in the year, I wrote relatively little compared to the fall/winter. Not surprising, I suppose. In both Trick or Treat and Yuletide I wrote treats in fandoms that are new to me (as far as writing is concerned, that is). Very enticing prompts!