misadventures in time and space

I've managed to haul myself over the 40K line. Mostly by writing two things at once - the other day I woke from a rather... interesting dreams and now I'm working on TRtS and an erotic romance with the working title of "A Thousand Words".

Rather inspired - I've written 4K on it in the last couple of days. I'm not too sure about the start of chapter two, but I'm going to plug on and see what happens.

In the world of fanfic... I've not much to report. Things have gone oddly quiet, which either means my current MCs are louder than Crais (and who knew that was possible?) or he's sulking due to a lack of attention. There is a third opion in that I'm suffering the ripples of the fantasy/reality crash. That was always going to make things a little weird.

He'll come back. He always does. Usually at the most inopportune time (which is usually around 3am). In the meantime, I have Corin and Raf to play with *g*

Okay I'm not American, but I don't think there's anything wrong with being a little grateful for the good things in life. Right?

I'm thankful for...

...a loving husband, and the fourteen years we've had together so far.

...having five healthy kids that are [mostly] well-behaved.

...getting the chance to make up with my parents and that my relationship with them is better than ever.

...my new oven.

...the wonderful people on Terra Firma for stepping into the gap and funding my LA trip.

...being able to meet the very awesome Lani Tupu.

It takes a lot to get me to buy show tie-in books. I usually avoid them on account of shoddy writing and crappy characterisation.

So why this one? Well for starters I've read reviews. Secondly I know that the writer, Keith R.A DeCandido is a Farscape fan and actually knows the characters he's writing. Thirdly, Keith and I actually email each other on occasion and I have a story he wrote for the Farscape magazine because he sent it to me.

So when I found HoC on eBay the other day, I decided to grab it.

And so far it's not making me pull faces or go "Whut?" Nor has it been pitched across the room cos of bad characterisation (unlike one of the SGA books I had). It is missing a little something, but that's just me and my particular predilection *smirks*

LaniButt.



Taken at the LA con, as Lani was signing a poster (obviously). It pays to a) hang around the vendor's table and b) have a camera on you at all times *g*

I was going to stick to one for a while, but-- *waves hand vaguely*

This one... this one will be around for a while. Quite a considerable one, I should think. The pictures are mine, taken at the Farscape LA convention.

The photo ops still make me smile *g*

Don't go looking for reviews of the other three - I don't own them yet. I have been waiting for this comic specifically... and it was worth the wait.

Crais, in the panels where he talks, is absolutely spot on and God could I hear him *blisses out* But it's the fact there are parts where he's just sat there, absorbing. That is just so him. Those quiet moments where you know there is so much going on in his head and you find yourself holding on to the nearest solid object.

Very, very happy to see that, because it's so utterly in character. As is the fact he knows poor D'Argo doesn't stand a chance but he's going to flunk the party line just because. More evidence (as if I needed it) that he never fully accepted the Peacekeepers. Promoting him to captain showed a stunning lack of foresight. Who thought that was a good idea?

Defiant little git. God, I love him *giggles*

And we have backstory! Okay, not much, but the "rural planet" actually has a name. S'not as pretty as the one I came up with, but you can't have everything I guess *smirks*

Prybella, for the record. I'll make the appropriate changes and use my name in my own novel. Win win. Huzzah.

krad I love you. Now tell BOOM! to agree to a miniseries!

I need to find a way to delete rep comments over at AW. I currently have the following gem(!) on my profile page, and it makes me spazz every time I read it. In reference to my personal text, which reads "Property of Bialar Crais":

Isn't it MYLAR Crais? I was almost positive. Either way, sweet avvie.

I suppose I should forgive her for being 17, but seriously? She's asking me if I have Crais' name right. What. The. Hell.

No! I'm not sure! Crap have I been writing him wrong for TEN YEARS?! Noooooooo, I don't have two year's worth of fanfic awards that says the latter. Or an article with ScapeCast. Shit, what's MY name again? Because I'm as likely to get that wrong.

*screams into a pillow*

*takes several deep breaths*

I will point out that I did PM her with the gentle note that as a fan since the beginning of the show, I was fairly confident that I had his name right. I was good. I was polite. I deserve a fricking medal.

In no particular order:

Attack the girls' room - this will probably consist of bursts throughout the day
Write 2.5K of TRtS
Slap muse into shape over the SC fic
Wait for the post
Food shopping

I finally hit 25K yesterday, but then I got rat arsed and didn't think to post about it here. Plus I was busy chatting to the girls on AW's Erotica thread...

So yes. 25K. I forget offhand how much of To Recover the Satellites I had written before November, but I reckon it's a good 10-15K. There is at least 25K still to write,m probably more. Ballpark figure? 80K.

I want to finish this WIP so badly. Need to stay focused and not get distracted by New Shiny Ideas. My aim is to have the first draft by the end of December.

I should, Royal Mail willing, get D'Argo's Trial #4 today (I can't type D'Argo without hearing Gigi saying "Dee-ahh-ar-go" now. God love her).

krad might be interested to know I also bought House of Cards, since it was there and I had some spare cash. That is some measure of how much I trust your writing Keith, because I don't tend to buy tie-in books on account of them usually sucking. Having said that, I still have Brotherly Love around somewhere (I so need to read that again. Just because).

Being a Crais fan has never been easy (I suspect this goes for any fan that likes a character beyond Crichton and/or Aeryn) but it seems to be getting harder. Possibly because I've collected most things that were available. I have a figure in my Watched bit. Okay, I know I said I wouldn't, but the opening offer is £10 so what the hell.

I have half a mind to see if I can source a programme for References to Salador Dali, even if the artwork was shitty. I understand Lani's not wanting to be associated with said shitty artwork (perfectionist ftw!) but clearly there's a part of "insane frelling fangirl" that he doesn't quite get. I think I was very good in not yelling "BUT I DON'T CARE - JUST GIVE ME THE GODDAMN PROGRAMME ALREADY!", although I think I might have pouted at him. Maybe.

Anyway. There was also a print of Talyn that I may have bought. I do love Talyn; he's such a pretty ship. I swear half my attraction to Crais comes from the fact he has the sexiest ride on the show *g*

This idea was mentioned on a writing forum I frequent. The idea is to post reviews that give me warm fuzzies so the next time my Inner Editor decides to call me out over my writing, I can tell it to feck off.

Clothes Maketh the Man (ScapeCast article):
Really enjoyed the Crais clothes article. Was amazed by Helen's eye for detail and her lining up his clothes with his emotional changes. I'll have to rewatch more carefully from now on! ~ Amme Leep

i really enjoyed Helen Buckley's article on Crais and the clothes he wore throughout the series...i know it's been said 100 times already about how after listening to articles like these it only makes us appreciate the episodes of FS all that much more... but it's true...now i defiantly will be examining Crais all that much more...even down to his gloves ~ Sue


Birth Day:
Sweet, and poignant and - with hindsight - so full of foreboding. I loved the little details that made the atmosphere so vivid and real: one can almost smell the night air, feel the chill in the wind ~ Nymeria

You describe things so beautifully. Everything is so tangible in this story ~ Miklo


The Art of War:
I could picture the entire piece, you write Crais very well. Nice to see this insight on his relationship with Talyn ~ Oleg

I am not normally a fan of Crais fics, but this was exceptionally good ~ Sunfixer

I like the way you manage to write Crais with just enough emotion to make me feel empathy for him without changing him into someone I don't recognise at all. Makes his character so much more engaging but keeping his edge ~ Deb

If one puts the comic title (ie DARGOS TRIAL rather than FARSCAPE) and searches the entire site rather than the comic section... one can eventually find the right issue.

But of course.

Perhaps I should have asked the BOOM! guys about international distribution.

I cannot find a single damn copy of Farscape. Any of them. Yes, Amazon UK has the hardbacks but I don't want the hardback. I want #4 of D'Argo's Trial. I refuse to pay $15 to have the damn thing delivered from BOOM!. That's bloody ridiculous.

I didn't think it was going to be this hard. I thought Forbidden Planet would have them. I thought wrong (at least, Manchester's outlet doesn't, which is what counts here).

Gah! I just want to buy a comic! Why so difficult?!

Feck it all. There is a four issue set on eBay, closing day in four days' time. Seems like that's the only way of getting the comic any time soon

*sighs and heads back to eBay*

Well I am hugely behind because of the trip to LA. My deficit is around 12K. I need to write double the required 1,667 a day in order to catch up.

I'm not doing terribly well at that.

Having said that, I'm not giving up. I want to finish this novel, one way or another.

"The origin of one of Farscape’s most fascinating characters concludes! D’Argo faces a Peacekeeper court for a crime he didn’t commit…the murder of his wife! In the middle of such injustice D’Argo’s life becomes even stranger when his only hope for freedom is Bialar Crais!"¹

*snorts, cackles and dies*

And John thought that Rygel being one's advocate was bad! Can we spell "frelled" girls and boys? Why, so we can...

Poor D'Argo. I almost feel sorry for him (too busy rubbing my hands in glee at the prospect of getting Crais being a git though).




¹ IgnoringCorrecting the ickle typo on BOOM!'s website......

Friday, just after I'd bought Compression from EC and was browsing the box of prints (please note I'd been stood there all of five minutes...)

Lani: [singing] It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Me: [hard look] No, it bloody isn't. S'too early.


Then later, I gave him the conbook.

Lani: Oh this is lovely!
Me: Thank you
Lani: Can I open it?
Me: Um, yeah. That's kind of the point...


Oh, and I also called him a chicken when he returned from crashing Ben's SG panel (he'd asked about "hypothermia buddies" on SG but not Farscape). What? If you didn't know my natural setting is snark, then where the hell have you been?

(We did actually manage non-snarky conversations as well...)

Meh, I can't believe it's a week from the convention already. Where the hell did that go? *sighs* Although I've not hit a depressive trough, the fact that my meeting Lani is history does give me something of a sad. I think what gets me more is knowing the memories will fade. Stupid brain.

In other news... I've been trying to write, and failing. I'm 10K behind with NaNo, the SciFiBigBang fic is all but non-existant, and my attempt to make a start on the next ScapeCast article ended with me watching Mind the Baby (fun, but hardly productive).

I know I'm still exhausted from the con and that I have a bad cold, so I'm trying to cut myself a little slack, but I am feeling rather overwhelmed. I'm wondering whether to call time on NaNo and ease the pressure. On the other hand, I badly want to get TRtS out of my head and down on paper.

I need to plot it out. I need to know what happens beyond the first scenes. The NaNo pep talk was about the middle of the story, about how it's often unknown territory and yes, that's exactly how it is for me. So I'm skirting around it and avoiding stepping out.

The only problem with that is that if I don't venture into the unknown, I ain't ever going to reachc the other side.

( Friday )

( Saturday )

There's a reason I can't stop grinning like a loon *g*

I'm tired, aching from the plane ride, not liking the much colder British weather but home safe and sound. I have had a very good time.

I hereby make the following announcement:

LANI TUPU IS MADE OF WIN!

Absolutely adorable and so very nice, and I have the most gorgeous photo op to share once I've sorted myself out. It was an utter honour to meet him, and watch his reactions to the various bits and pieces I handed over.

And yes, I gave him his birthday present. He was greatly amused, lol.

More when I am more with it *g*