Mind Vomit by the ikss

fic list

Settle in, kids. It's gonna be a long one.

The other day, I sent an email to The Holder of the Fic List (the Fic List being, for those of you who don’t know, a list of Twilight fanfiction stories which have been downloaded from the net and saved in pdf form. Copies of these fics are therefore available even if the fics have been or eventually will be pulled from the ‘net). I assume there is more than one holder of such a list and database of fics, but this is the only one I know about and it has been talked about a lot lately.

Before I launch into what will inevitably be a long-winded explanation of my feelings about downloading copies of people’s work and possibly distributing it, let me say first that I perused this fic list a few weeks ago and was delighted to find a couple of fics that I never got the chance to read, Poughkeepsie, being one of them. If I promise MrsTheKing that I will buy three copies of her book should she ever publish, do you think I’d be excused for reading this, even though she pulled it moons ago?

Anyway, so as I was perusing the list I saw that my own fic, The Cocky and The Cougar is listed. This seems odd to me, since my fic is still readily available online and I have no plans to pull it, but whatever. I honestly didn’t and do not care. Plus, based on some emails I’ve received over the past few months, I think some people are confused. They know I’m working on original work on the hope of publishing and in light of how many people have been pulling fics to publish them with Omnific or TWCS, well, they put two and two together and assume that’s what I’m doing. So maybe that’s why it was downloaded—a preemptive strike, as it were. Except that I’m not pulling the story. Cocky/Cougar is a work of Twilight fanficton and will never be pulled for publishing. My own personal feeling is that converting one’s fanfic into an “original” piece of fiction and publishing it is, at the very least, immoral and it borders on illegal. I just don’t think it’s right and I gotta tell you that I feel kind of shitty saying this in public because there are people that I am friendly with who are doing just that. 

originals, in swedish, with subtitles in english

Last night, the old man and I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which I keep wanting to call "The Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo". I assume that, in my version, Edward Norton* would pop up as an FBI agent) - the original film, in Swedish, with subtitles in English. LOVED it.

Noomi Rapace, who plays the girl in question, is really great in this film. I warn you - there are a couple of scenes in the first half of the film that are hard to take. This girl has led a harsh life, to be certain, and we see a bit of it on screen. What is etched on Noomi's face in those scenes, however, in contrast to her wide, curious eyes in later ones, is something fairly remarkable to witness. I also really liked Michael Nyqvist in the lead role of Mikael Blomkvist. I found him charming and sweet and even sexy. The relationship they develop makes perfect sense and my chest gets a little happy ache even reflecting back on it and little ways he would smile when he looked at her.

The mystery was sufficiently interesting and surprising. Easy enough to follow without being easily figured out (I hate it when I solve the mystery before the characters do). Of course, now when I read the book I will know what happens, but I am going to read it anyway.

We're watching the sequel tonight. I may well have found my latest obsession.

I am interested to see how American filmmakers fuck this film up when they make their version next year.

how twitter relates to red velvet poop

I sent a tweet the other day, in which I said that since I joined Twitter a few months ago I find that I have little to blog about. I love my blog and have been keeping one form or another of online blog or journal since 2001 so this epiphany saddened me. But it is true. Of course, there is also the little fact that I didn’t pay my bill at typepad for a few months, but the fact remains that I now tend to boil down what would formerly have been a blog entry several paragraphs long into 140 characters.

Case in point: Let’s take a look at what I have tweeted so far today, Thursday, November 5. It is 12:19pm as I begin writing this.

iksswrites ikss

I woke up with such a hunger this morning.

4 hours ago

Quickly followed by...

iksswrites ikss

I also need some food...

4 hours ago 

Admittedly, I might not have made an entire blog entry about the fact that I was hungry. But long time readers of this blog know that I’ve been known to write about far less interesting subjects.

OK, then 3 hours ago, I tweeted that The Cullen Campaign by @belladona1472 has updated. I really enjoy that story and it is conceivable that I could write in this blog about how much I like it, because it is intelligent and witty and sexy and plays out in front of a backdrop of politics, which you all know just gives me wood all on its own. It does have a large audience already, though, so I doubt it needs me to speak on its behalf. I will say this: This is the fic that beat out The Cocky and The Cougar for Best Car Fuck in the Golden Lemon Awards. The fact that it is still one of my all-time favorite fics, in spite of my justifiably bruised ego and hurt feelings in relation to that award, is a testament to how good it is. 

There are a few other fics I am thinking about writing recommendations for: All that Jazz by javamomma0921, Pressed for Time by twanza and Chele681 and Tangled Up in Blue by TxBirdie. For now, suffice it to say that I adore these stories and these (along with TCC) are probably my favorite works in progress right now. You can read their summaries and click links at the sidebar to the right, there. --->

red velvet heaven

As I lick the last bit of vanilla frosting from my fingertips, it comes to mind that perhaps baking cupcakes last night was not the smartest thing I've ever done.

And they're red velvet cupcakes. Eating them leaves my tongue red, so I can't even front and pretend I'm not eating them.

what's up with that writer chick?

Yes. Apparently, I am still alive.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I had a small issue with Typepad. Something about not paying the bill...

Being unemployed has it's drawbacks.

But now I'm back. Much has happened in the months since you've heard from me, of course. I will use this entry to discuss my writing and will be back later to dish on that whatnots and happenings because they so deserve their own entry. 

The Cocky and The Cougar has been completed. My original work, The Previous Fall, sadly has not been completed. My workshop with Fictionista, however, has.

Now that The C&C is finished, I am working on The Cocky Speaks (which is written from Edward's POV). Chapter two is in the hands of my extremely-busy beta and should be posted shortly. I am also working on Charlie's Story. This is the story of Charlie, natch (and Renee), specifically the Charlie we were introduced to in Chapter 4 of Cocky/Cougar. Chapter 2 of this story is pending.

I am also in the process of posting The Cocky and The Cougar at The Writer's Coffee Shop (TWCS), for those those didn't catch it on ffn or Twilighted. Plus, I may well decide to pull my stuff from Twilighted (I consider it pretty much daily) and since it is actually too smutty for ffn and could conceivably get pulled at any time for violating their Terms of Service, I felt it wise to post somewhere else where the smut is allowed and I don't have to deal with Twilighted's aggravating validation process.

Some of you may recall my talking about How to Write a Love Song. I started working on this at the same time I started writing Cocky/Cougar, but stopped once C&C (along with Previous Fall) took over my life. I always intended to get back to it and assumed it was going to be a work of Twilight Fanfic. Well ... (very) long story short, after five chapters, I have decided that this is not Twific material. It needs to be an original piece of fiction. So that is what I am making it.

my ass is for sale (for charity, of course)

In March 2007, Stacie Holeman, known as truelovepooh in fandom and on LJ, was diagnosed with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Because she had just started a new job, she was within the 90-day enrollment period for her new medical insurance. As a result, Stacie joined the ranks of millions of uninsured Americans.

Two years and several surgeries later, Stacie has over $240,000 in accumulated medical bills and is struggling to continue treatment. Basic elements of her cancer protocol, such as radiation treatments, medication, and hospitalization, are either limited or completely unavailable to her without up-front cash payment. The fight for her life is literally dependent upon her ability to pay cash for medical care.

My ass is up for auction in support of Stacie and I'll basically write anything you desire. For a price, of course. Click the banner for details and place your bids March 26-29.

happy st pat's day

scott glenn haunts me

So I decide that tonight is the perfect night for a chick-flick. As such, I put in the DVD of Nights in Rodanthe which I recently borrowed from my parents because I no longer watch television.

I honestly have to keep repeating that because I can scarcely believe it, yet.

So I'm watching the opening credits, when whose name should appear on screen?

Feckin' Scott Glenn!

Now, we all know my feelings about Scott Glenn. I swear, I almost hit the stop button and decided to watch Paul Newman in Slapshot, instead, discarding the notion of chick-flick night entirely.

Let's just pray his part, much like his talent, is small.

the cocky and the cougar ~ chapter 23 teaser

 

Chapter 23 Teaser!

He looked at me, intently. “Please don’t be a girl and take this the wrong way, but you look tired, Bella. Are you sleeping?”

“Well, I am a girl and so I wish you hadn’t noticed, but I know I do.” I shrugged. “I slept okay, I guess. You know… I’ve just got a lot on my mind, I guess.”

He reached over and again ran his hand along my thigh. His eyes were filled with soft concern.

“Well, that’s one way to take my mind off of things.” I smiled. Edward chuckled and sat a little straighter in his chair.

"What's in the bag?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

I grinned as I moved toward the chair on the opposite side of his desk, and the large gift bag I’d set there. "Well, I know you're leaving town tomorrow morning, so I brought you a little something for the road.”

I'll give you an extra teaser if you can guess what her present is.

artsy fartsy shenanigans

I have been terribly remiss in not dicussing some artsy-fartsy things members of my family are involved in right now. Apparently, I have transitioned from being The Cool Aunt to The Crazy Aunt and am now just The Bad Aunt.

First off, Chistopher Sweeney is starring in a production of Bug, by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tracy Letts.

BUG
February 26 - March 20th
Thursday - Saturday at 8:00PM
Sunday at 2:00PM

USVAA
10858 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, California 90230
310-559-2116
[email protected]

$20 General Admission
$12 Students and Seniors
FREE for VETERANS
FREE PARKING

Dr.Niece and I will be in attendance this Thursday night and if that's not incentive for you to come out to Culver City, it should be.

　

Brilliant artist Jared Schorr has a few things going on. First is just one piece in a huge group show, Curiouser and Curiouser: Inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It opened February 27th but is still running. In fact, you can go see his piece there (along with lots of other fun Alice-inspired pieces) and then jog upstairs to see the two-man show he is involved in:

The Untold Want. It opens March 13th at 7:00 pm.

Both are at Gallery Nucleus – 201 E. Main Street in Alhambra.

I will be at the opening on Saturday night. Come out and say howdy!!!

One last bit of fun – Jared’s got a cool wallet for sale by Poketo. It’s a fun little thing you should take a look at. I, like all of the cool kids, have one. It's adorable.  They did a cool interview with him too. In the words of his wife: "It’s so very Jared."