In between writing I've been reading for fests I'm participating in, waiting for my stories to post, trying not to hatch conspiracy theories about correlations between quality of fic and when it gets posted. Which is something that used to just flit across my mind when my self-doubt is on high alert, but now as I find myself starting a fest of my own, how do mods choose the order they post stories and art?

Instead of freaking out about things I can't control, I've been loving on what's been going on at radish_love so far...So, here's some recs. What I like particularly is that this pairing can really go anywhere, friendship, romantic, smut... it's all been represented so far.

( Three Fics and Art Recs Under Here )


And, completely unrelated in every way...

Bob Saget Fun Fact of the Day: Do you know Bob Saget narrates How I Met Your Mother? It's true. He's the one telling the story of How Ted Met His Children's Mother. I never put it together because A) I just assumed it was the actor who played Ted doing the voice-over and B) I have a hard time not recognizing the voice without the goofy face... until I talked to him on the phone last week...asfjas;fjk SO OBVIOUS LIKE IMMEDIATELY!

Nano Distraction: One

Thanks bemoan1000! I don't think I've laughed at all today until this!

While in Maine, I did some of that lovely soul-searching, creative non-fiction whatnot (with pics!) and finally got to posting it at tamela_j. If you want to see some beautifulness and reflect on the why and how of telling stories, by all means...go here.

Also, I'm sure you all know it's Banned Books Month and I'm plugging along, reading as much as I can! I found this quote though and thought I'd share it. Librarians ROCK!

"And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."

— Kurt Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country)

Wrock and Read Project

Tears of the Phoenix Anthologies and Wizard Wrockers are joining together to kick it Dumbledore’s Army-style, using the power of music, words and art to prove once again that Harry Potter fans can use their talents to help improve the world.

( Details under here )

I know this is smackdab in the middle of the fest season...but in HP, when isn't it a fest season? If we waited until it was over, then we'd have to wait forever...'cause then comes Valentine fests, Ginger fests, spring fests...and yeah...you get the idea. But hopefully enough of us can try and juggle a few stories at once, or maybe you have a story you've already written, why not see if any of the prompts can be bent to your will. :)

And I know there are some of you who don't want to write original stuff, don't want to put yourself out there, believe me, I get it. But if you could help in a different way, if you could help get the word out? I want as much of HP fandom as possible to be involved. If you could just pimp us a bit? That would be awesome! Just send anyone you know who might be interested either here, or to phoenixtearsorg.

Thanks everyone!!

Things I want to accomplish this three day weekend:

1. Write--
Original fic from prompts at Wrock and Read
Drabbley thing
radish_love
severusbigbang

2. Read--
Finish "The Story Sisters"
Finish "The Pretties"
Finish "House and Philosophy
Read and beta this pretty sweet Ron/Pansy for TQP

3. Relax

4. See Nature and Whatnot

5. Drink--alot

Things you should do if you're looking for ideas:

1. Write from prompts at Wrock and Read *November deadline. All proceeds from book goes to "Kids Need to Read"* Just Saying...

2. Read-- Submission at smut4flowers which begins tonight sometime with smutty fics in honor of simons_flower and it being her birthday today. She would have been 38. <333

Read-- about Banned Books over at lena3's journal.

3. Relax
4. Do something fun and inspiring and whatnot
5. Drink--alot

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

So, cluegirl who've I've never meet online or IRL and don't really know at all was doing a fundraiser for a friend of hers. For a small donation you could ask her one question and she would give that question a tarot, or pendulum reading. I used to do this all the time when I hung out with Witchy Writers (I miss my witchy writers!:( ) So, I asked:

Well this year be the year to try again to get my novel published?

And this was what her pendulum and cards said:

The pendulum was pretty clear on this one.
I asked "Will 2009 be the year to try and get your novel published" the answer was "yes."
Then I asked "Will you sell it in 2009?" and again, the answer was "yes."

The cards provide a bit more insight on details and tactical approach. You got the Two of Wands, reversed. Pay close attention to the mechanical details of the work -- spelling, grammar, and suchlike. Also, revisit the manuscript one last time for how it feels to you -- however, do not let yourself give in to any urge to tear it apart and rewrite! You're going over it to choose your market, NOT to talk yourself out of submitting it. Keep that internal 'it's all crap' censor muffled, please, and try to have faith in your work. Whatever else happens, do NOT stall yourself right out of submitting it at all please. That is not going to help anyone at all out. Take your time to make sure it's right before you send it out, but don't get in your own way once you've done that.


Good luck!

Which is awesome but also sort of creepy as that is TOTALLY what I usually do!

And then, as if that wasn't enough happy news...this was my horoscope:

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I expect that you will soon stumble upon a key secret to your next masterpiece. And I'll be surprised if you don't discover a healing agent that will be effective in correcting an old mistake. In fact, Aries, I prophesy that in the coming week, you will have a sense that you're doing the smart thing at least 90 percent of the time. Sorry: I'm afraid to say that I have no sad, bad, or mad news to deliver. If you're the type of person who thrives on cynicism, your immediate future may be pretty boring. If you're on the fence about whether life is a gorgeous feast or a chaotic mess, your ability to deal with outbreaks of goodness will be supremely tested.

Yeah, so, I'll probably be boring you all with whining, and updates and possibly squee about that process.

akfjas;fjasjfghas;

I'm sort of excited to re-read this monster!

I'M BACK!

Exhausted (red-eye flights suck ass!) so I'll just do a quick shout out! I missed you all! Unless you were in San Francisco, then I MISS YOU ALL!

I will have funny stories and pics later, but now...

If you were at Az, and are anything like me (and apparently perosha ) forgot everyone you meet and had deep, meaningful conversations about all things HP with, then go to her AZKATRAZ FRIENDING MEME and look around.

Colting's lawyer's argued the copyright laws didn't apply because "60 Years Later" was a critical parody that, in fact, transformed Salinger's original.

Jeeesh, and I thought SVA's lawyers had balls! TRANSFORMS!?!?!

Judge Bans "sequel" to 'Catcher in the Rye'

I will have more fun stories and whatnot later, but first, while I have but a minute to post. Please go to this site and sign this petition to help stop "drive Thru Mastectomies."

Thanks!

...but probably no one will!

Srsly though, I don't think I've ever gotten a gift fic that hasn't been some sort of awesome....but this? THIS?!?!?! It's everything I asked for--voyeurism! Infidelity!! and a million things I didn't BUT TOTALLY WANTED ANYWAY!! Jealous reversal!?!?! OMG! HOT! To have Snape be the one whose moved on and Lily be the one who realizes she'd made a mistake by dismissing him!

It's Snape/Lily LIKE I'VE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE!!

For Real For Now

*happy, happy sigh*

Having read all seven Harry Potter books, dare I say, repeatedly, I have had a somehwat meh view and understanding of Seamus Finnigan and an even less stellar opinion of Pansy Parkinson. So, never have I seeked out stories where these characters even make a cameo, let alone dominate the storyline.

Then trubbleclef wrote the hysterical "Death at The Manor, by Alasdair Head" for bestmates xmas exchange and in it was this side pairing of Pansy/Seamus that was really, really entertaining and all sorts of wonderful. I loved it!

So, when she told me she had asked for Pansy/Seamus for wizard_love I just thought, well, that's one less story I'll have to read! :) But it was for Trubble...so of course I had to read it...

OMG!!

It is STUNNING! Not only is this the best Seamus I've read (which, admittedly isn't saying much as I've said, he's not a character I've seeked out) but this author's Pansy? WOW! Just amazingly broken and nuanced and so on the cusp or BECOMING a character with real depth and growth...soooo well done.

 
Closer (Pansy Parkinson/Seamus Finnigan, NC-17)

Summary: For five years she’d avoided anyone familiar, anyone who could possibly link her to her past and the things she done, the things she regretted, and now she was standing in the doorway of a Guildhall pub, staring into the eyes of the one person who knew her deepest and darkest secret. The one who could ruin her should she piss him off enough. The only person ever to crack that hard core and make her feel alive. But was it enough to stop her from running?

Just finished reading a story that fuckin' broke me.

There is a reason I sometimes avoid Remus/Sirius--a number of them actually...but the Remus/Sirius writers love of canon compliance and the freakin' foreshadowing is one of the main reasons...so I was prepared for a bit of heartache when I saw that despite a weird premise He That Believeth in Me followed canon completely, but I wasn't expecting to love, love, LOVE the premise of this story so much...when I got to this interaction...I just LOST IT... 

"Sirius," he whispered. "I'm not your consolation."

"What?"

"I'm not your consolation for the life you wanted, and I'm not your salvation from what you've done."

Sirius understood. "No," he said. "No. You're not." He reached up and cupped Remus's cheek. "I'll find my own consolation, and Harry is my salvation. You... you are my grace."

You see, Sirius leaves Hogwarts with a desire to be a priest...wha!?!?!?!  Sounds ridiculous? It's so not!

I for one have never before read a HP fanfic story that has to do with faith, with beliefs and with the struggle of loving a God that could allow bad things to happen to good people. In that way it reminded me of one of my favorite books of all time--Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" and as Sirius struggles with his belief, he reminded me of my favorite literary character of all time--Emilio Sandoz from "The Sparrow" who is--according to the book "The sole survivor of the Jesuit mission to Rhakhat," who struggles with his beliefs when horrible, horrible things happen to him on another planet. And I don't even like Sci-fi!! Not really...

Seriously, take it from me, sometimes the most absurd premises deliver these amazing stories that make you truly think. So while this is a rec for a great Remus/Sirius story, it is also a rec for "The Sparrow" because it is phenomanal and I want everyone to read it so that we  can discuss!
 

Okay, it's time to pay the piper a bit here. redsnake05 has bet me I won't be able to tell which fic she wrote for hp_yule_balls and I think I will. Now though, she's written a pinch hit, so I can guess on what the first one was she wrote. So, here's your chance to get in on the fun.

Poll #1320545 What Did Redsnake05 Write
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

I think one of these is Redsnake05's fic for HP Yule Balls. Which do you think?

If you think it's something else, what?

Want another guess? Sure...

Oh, but before you bet, here are some pros and cons and whatnot to consider...

( Some research to consider before choosing... )

Now--here's the exciting part! The first five people that guess right she says she will write you a ficlet based on your interests and you can also give her three pairings--and if you know her, you know she has lots of fandoms and bandoms to choose from!

OMG!OMG!OMG!
God Bless America!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is it weird that I miss Colbert being on the Daily Show?


Oh yeah! It wouldn't be a celebration without a martini!!

I call this my "Bamatini"

One part Vanilla Vodka
One part Chocolate Licquer
One part Coconut Rum (Aloha)
One part Hazelnut Licquer (we're all nuts!)
One part milk (does a body good!!)

Hey everyone--

Just a reminder...

Deadline for written entries for Tears of the Phoenix's Wrock and Read is November 1st. Holy crow, time flies!

If you think you're going to need an extension, please, please let us know before November 1st, so we can get a sense of what we will have to work with.

Artists still have until December 1st.

If you need anything from us, again, please, please let us know.

Here's hoping we get to put out another amazing work!!

Thanks everyone!

see Sarah Palin pictures


Is it over yet?