forget your Unified Theory of Everything

technical difficulties

2011-03-29T23:55:04Z

-Does anyone know what happened to panlexicon.com? That might be my number one favorite web site, but now my browser is telling me it's unsafe :o(

-I have been trying to update a story at fanfiction.net for like, the past week and a half. I can't get into either HP story I've posted there, but I can edit all my other stories. I emailed support twice, and they haven't gotten back to me. I don't really know what to do about it.

In other news housemate and I have written most of the proposal for our agent to send out to publishing companies. My life, I don't understand what happened to it.

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I keep doing this, but . . .

2011-02-20T07:44:14Z

Is anyone interested in helping to beta The Way Down? Harry/Draco, around 70 K, NC-17 but not very often. I have a beta, scabbyfish, who is delightful and awesome. But I would appreciate another pair of eyes, particularly someone who:

-can Brit pick
-can edit for redundancy, clarity of ideas, AKA can reassure me that large chunks of narration are not needed
-understands that Harry probably doesn't gaze at his navel nearly as often as I gaze at mine (or gaze at his, for that matter)
-is good with story shapes and themes
-is alright dealing with a story that deals with mental health
-thinks that what I've written so far is at least sorta worth your time
-can do a chapter a week or week and a half (9 chapters, 70 K words, three chapters are done, which leaves 6 chapters and 45 K)

Some very nice people offered before, when alaana_fair so kindly asked on my behalf, but that was a while ago now and I don't know if anyone is still interested? While I'm sure there are spelling and grammar issues (aren't there always) I'm more eager to get Brit picking and someone to help me trim the fat, like scabbyfish. But I'll settle for Brit picking and someone who can do a chapter a week.

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writing in context when the context is the British Empire

2011-02-12T23:39:45Z

So, I have this North and South fic. This is, of course, Victorian England. In my story, there's a character with a serious case of Orientalism. While this element is not absolutely essential to the narrative, I feel that it connects to important things about industrialization, capitalism, and class that I would like to address. Industrialization, capitalism, and class are probably not essential elements either, as it is in essence a romance, but imo the best romances deal with the ideals and worlds of the participants.

( The problem with writing stories set in a time and place in which no one thought this was a problem . . . )

Here's where the request for help comes in. I had a beta for this fic, by name of kleindog from c-19. I don't know if she is on any of the journaling sites. If so--hi! I stopped writing the story, so stopped sending her chapters. She was doing a very nice job, but I realize what I want specifically for this fic is someone who feels in tune with this issue. There isn't always a way to please everyone, or be non-offensive to everyone. But I really feel like it would be nice to bounce some of this stuff off someone.

The ideal person would be familiar with N&S, period language, the historical context, how not to be offensive, Brit-picking, SPAG, being horribly ruthless to get rid of all my redundancies and awkward language, and would be willing. But I will settle for someone who is comfortable with addressing historical context and not being offensive, even if they don't know the canon, as long as they are willing.

If you don't match that description . . . do you know where I can go to ask for such a beta? N&S is a small fandom, which makes this particularly hard, but again, I'm not even concerned with someone knowing canon, although it might be difficult for someone to be interested in the story if they're not familiar with said canon.

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I don't even know what to do with myself.

2011-02-08T05:32:01Z

I am almost done writing the filthiest thing I've ever been willing to share with people whose faces I luckily can't see. Or at least around as dirty as Girls Are Great, which at least I tried to redeem with something like coherent thought. The weird thing about Sex, Lies, and Veritaserum (yes, I'm calling it that, and no, I don't care; I love James Spader) is that there are whiffs of coherent thought, but when I look at GAG (lol, acronym) next to this, I realize that there's just something in myself that would like everything neatly laid out on a table, where people agree, "Yes, this is acceptable," and then proceed to fuck on said table. And things fall off. That's exactly what this fic is.

It's the porn I mentioned in this post; I finally managed to write it by taking out everything that made me feel icky, uncomfortable, and unhappy, and also by turning off my brain and letting everything else go wild. It's Harry/Draco; it looks fairly long (between 10K and 20K; right now it's at 12K and my guess is 17K), and I'm almost done. It's dirty and pretty mindless, though a better word might be shameless.

The problem is I find myself again in need of a beta, hopefully one who can Brit pick. I can't ask scabbyfish because it's for her! Even though I don't know what kind of porn she likes. Any takers?

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