New year, same old stuff

[luxken27]

The new year means getting the house in order once more. So what sorts of updates are there to be made around here?

First and foremost, I want to pimp out the communities here at LJ where I do some share of the work. Looking for some inpsiration? Look no further! Click on the banners for more information.



Eikyuu Kosai: The Mir/San Fandom Awards, which seek to honor artists and authors whose work focuses on the Mir/San pairing. We meet twice a year to award seventeen categories in art & fic, including a special set of 'Hidden Treasure' categories


Sengoku Jidai Times: The IY Fandom newsletter, of which I'm the fanfiction editor. I've got some nifty plans for the newsletter coming up, including but not limited to a complete reorganization, so if you don't watch it, you should!


Inuyasha Themes: A biweekly, word-limited fanfiction contest for any character/pairing from the Inuyasha universe


Inuyasha Quotes: A monthly fanfiction challenge, in which work of any length may be posted, in response to a set of weekly quotes


At First Tweak: A biweekly fanfiction contest centering on the Inu/Kag pairing, with alternating drabble (300-) or oneshot (300+) prompts; this community also offers two on-going, no-time-limit challenges


Miroku & Sango Fanfiction: A biweekly fanfiction contest centered on the Mir/San pairing, with prompts and word lengths ranging from drabbles (100 words) to oneshots (1000+)


Miroku x Sango Fiction & Art: The Mir/San Recommendation archive at LJ, which also occasionally hosts community challenges. This comm contains a screencap gallery as well as a summarized list of the peritnent manga chapters to aid those who wish to create fanworks for this pairing


The Anomaly: This is my comprehensive, fully-searchable archive of all the fanfic I've ever posted anywhere (with one or two exceptions). If you enjoy my work, you should join! You must be a member to view Y- and X-rated fics, but I don't require any extra hoop-jumping to get your name on the rolls. I always post my fic to LJ first, because this is where my most attentive audience tends to be :)

It's time to dust off the ol' recommendations list ~ and wouldn't you know it, the second I actually catch up on the WIPs I'm following, there is another deluge of updates? Not to mention all these fabulous MiroSanta fics...I will continue to update this list throughout the year, though - as per usual - if there's a particularly good set of updates, I'll also be pimping them out on my journal. You don't know fangirlism until you've gotten my attention, LOL!

What does 2010 hold for me? I don't tend to make resolutions because I'm horrible at keeping them, but I do have a few goals regarding my fic. My two-year fandom anniversary is coming up in March, so I'll save the retrospective for then. In the meanwhile, here's what I hope to accomplish by December 2010:

+ Finish two of my four WIPs (!) ~ Right now the most likely candidates are Fleeting (with 23/30 chapters completed) and/or Fragments (which is past the halfway mark).

I made good on my promise to update Fleeting before last year was over (just barely, but still :P) so now my plans are to work on the next installment of Fragments and dive back into the crossover behemouth Nihon Idol. Currently, Allegiance is an hiatus, but it has certainly not been forgotten.

+ Be a better reviewer ~ Reviews feed a writer's soul (or, at least, this writer's soul). I know how good it feels when someone acknowledges the hard work you've put into a piece, so I want to spread that happy feeling as much as I can. I try to review everything I read already, but I want to work on doling out more thoughtful commentary. Maybe I'll build up enough karma to have this reciprocated, haha!

+ Write more gift!fic ~ I already have a call for challenges, which I've sadly had very little success with, but I will continue to chip away at those requests, and try to participate more in exchanges or community challenges. Its fun to try to tailor your work to someone else's wishes, and a refreshing change of pace from working on WIPs or contest pieces all the time.

Comments

[piratequeen0405.livejournal.com]

I just had my two year fandom anniversary last month :) Good luck to you in accomplishing your goals. I honestly have no idea how you can juggle 4 WIPs. Must be your superior organizational skills! So you updated Fleeting? I'm at least 2 chapters behind in reading that fic. I'll play catch-up this weekend.

[luxken27]

Good luck to you in accomplishing your goals.

Thanks :) Lord knows I need all the help I can get...conservative as they appear on the surface, meeting those goals in 12 months' time is going to take a lot of work o.O

I honestly have no idea how you can juggle 4 WIPs. Must be your superior organizational skills!

I only work one or two of them at a time, that's my secret :P Allegiance is on the back burner officially, and Nihon Idol just sorta got shunted back there :-/ But the muses have plenty to chew on, so they work at their own pace. It helps that, save for Nihon Idol, the chapters don't tend to be *that* long.

So you updated Fleeting?

Yes I did! Last night, the last official update of 2009. I hope folks remember the fic is there, it's been months since I updated it :-/

[psyco_chick32]

Oh son of a-

STOP WORKING SO HARD TODAY. YOU ARE MAKING ME FEEL LIKE A FAILURE xD

(No really, I'm so freakin' jellus. Here I woke up and am working and fixed up a few pages at the IYFG but here you are updating every page/community known to fandom kind :-P and posting an amazing update and everything!! I'm gonna need you to do more than send Sesshoumaru my way occassionally... I may need to borrow your organizational skills.)

...

Can we be the same person so I can have those?

btw - your rec list link sends us back here :-P)

[luxken27]

but here you are updating every page/community known to fandom kind :-P

LOL, well, its not often I get an entire "free" day to get shit like that done. I got up at 9.30 to start work on the newsletter and my ass didn't leave my chair until 1.30. Which...was not fun, but essential. Hopefully I can just tweak my template a little as I go and just be done with that.

As for the rest - well, no rest for the weary, what with Eikyuu Kosai starting up and all. I'm in charge of sending out nomination notifications as well, but I really, really enjoy that, so its worth it :D

I may need to borrow your organizational skills

They come with a price, though - mostly, a harsh inner critic who keeps pounding into your head that no matter what you do, it's never going to be enough. Yes, even all the crap I toil away with behind the scenes, I have the snippy voice pushing me for more...

btw - your rec list link sends us back here :-P)

Fixed!

[landofthekwt.livejournal.com]

I commend you on your goals for the coming year. Fleeting is in the home stretch. I look forward to read more Fragments, Fleeting,Nihon Idol and Allegiance in the coming year. I review mostly where I write on the LJ. I think Eggplant Lady's idea for reviews is a great idea. I placed two reviews on the LJ which I normally would not have placed.

Thank you for all of your help on the comms, Sengoku Times and Eikyuu Kosai. I am actually intimidated by the efforts of several of MS writers. They write so much MS so well that it actually makes my feeble MS efforts pale in comparison.

[luxken27]

I think Eggplant Lady's idea for reviews is a great idea.

I do, too, and plan to shamelessly steal it for a time when I'm not quite so crazy-busy with everything else.

Thank you for all of your help on the comms, Sengoku Times and Eikyuu Kosai.

Its nice to know my efforts are appreciated :)

I am actually intimidated by the efforts of several of MS writers. They write so much MS so well that it actually makes my feeble MS efforts pale in comparison.

As I've grown fond of saying, writing M/S these days is like writing for the grown ups :P but don't let the resurgence of old faces intimidate you! You write the best comedy I've read in ages, and I've really loved the pieces you've submitted for mirsan_fics. I think you get these characters and are able to translate that to the page better than you think :)

[aamalie]

Jesus. You have your hand in a more pies than I actually thought - and I thought you were in a lot. It's a wonder you can make any progress on those WIPs at all.

But still. Fragments? YES PLEASE. *grabby hands*

Totally on the same page as you on the reviewing front though. When I first got into fandom years ago, I really did review everything I read (culminating in over 1000 reviews in the first year...yeah). Since then, I've gotten significantly lazy. Trying to actually change that, but I always take a while to figure out what I actually want to say, and that usually entails leaving and coming back later... You can guess how often that actually happens.

[luxken27]

Jesus. You have your hand in a more pies than I actually thought - and I thought you were in a lot. It's a wonder you can make any progress on those WIPs at all.

*sigh* I know. I took on a lot of this responsibility when I was still in school, when I had a more flexible schedule that I could stuff fandom things into. Now that I'm gone for half the day during the week, its harder to juggle everything.

But I will say, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it, so there's that ~ I've not started resenting anyone too much yet :P

I'm just glad the muses are still working, to be honest. The last half of last year was very stressful for me and it reflected in the slowdown of my output.

But still. Fragments? YES PLEASE. *grabby hands*

I'm trying! It wants to come out, so *crosses fingers* Hopefully soon!

What's more amazing is that I'm feeling any motivation at all to work on Nihon Idol. I love that fic, but man. Talk about research o.O

Totally on the same page as you on the reviewing front though

That's also me trying to turn a negative into a positive. Not gonna lie, I've been disappointed with the lack of feedback on...pretty much everything I've posted since November, but I figure I have no room to bitch if I'm not doing my best to spread some thoughtful comments around myself. I know I work too hard and put too much of myself into these stories to not give at least half that in my reviews. That means I can't read as fast as I'd like, or pass up reviewing as much as I'd like, but that's the price I pay :P Most of the stuff on my reading list is worth savoring, though, so its no great loss.

[aamalie]

Now that I'm gone for half the day during the week, its harder to juggle everything.
I feel so weird, but I think I'm the complete opposite. I'm more productive the busier I am - probably because fandom and writing is my way to decompress, and no decompression is necessary when I'm laid back and vacationing. :)

The last half of last year was very stressful for me and it reflected in the slowdown of my output.
Well, here's to hoping it gets less stressful this year! :D I quite like your output after all.

I've been disappointed with the lack of feedback on...pretty much everything I've posted since November
Part of this is probably due to the holiday rush, maybe? Some of us are more busy, others less so, and no one feels like reviewing. =P

But still, like you, everything is very worthwhile, and thus worth reviewing. So I guess I need to just get to it already.

[luxken27]

I feel so weird, but I think I'm the complete opposite. I'm more productive the busier I am - probably because fandom and writing is my way to decompress, and no decompression is necessary when I'm laid back and vacationing. :)

My mojo just was totally ruined at the end of '09 - I started my new job/moved out of my room/worked for almost two months solid without a break at work and at home and online and it just wrecked me. But generally the amount of thinking I do before actually composing chapters of my fic takes a lot of time, and when I only have pieces of that time, it takes longer for the thoughts to gather and coalesce.

Well, here's to hoping it gets less stressful this year! :D I quite like your output after all.

*crosses fingers* They have promised me at my job that things were going to pick up in a major way in the new year, so we'll see how everything shakes out. If nothing else, I'll have my weekends back! :P

Part of this is probably due to the holiday rush, maybe? Some of us are more busy, others less so, and no one feels like reviewing. =P

*shrug* I dunno. Part of my negative nelly reaction has been due to all the crap going on IRL. I know everyone's been busy, and I respect that, and it just makes me feel guilty that I've been bitching about it, even in private. I don't like to beg for reviews, and I try not to expect it, either, but sometimes...you just wonder, you know?

But still, like you, everything is very worthwhile, and thus worth reviewing. So I guess I need to just get to it already.

*shrug* You know your time and/or preferences better than I do.

[kmoaton.livejournal.com]

I am so envious of your organizational skills. Between work and school there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to do my IRL stuff much less fandom! I'm so jellous. How do you do it?

[luxken27]

I don't go to work and school, LOL? :P

Its a delicate balance, but as long as you want it bad enough, you'll find a way...or at least, that's been my experience with it :)

[kmoaton.livejournal.com]

I'm working on it, the balance, I mean. On the plus side, I'm halfway through the next chapter of Memories. All my funky feelings came out in Kagome but she need a smack in the head just like I did! :) So smackage is done and I can actually see the direction again! LOL

[luxken27]

I channelled some much-needed catharsis into Sango for the latest bit of Fragments, and man does it feel good. LOL, between Fleeting and Fragments I'm feeling a lot better these days! :D (Nothing like letting Sesshoumaru be angry *for* you, I say :P)

[luxken27]

All those communities -- I never realized! With all that on your plate, it's a wonder you have time to write at all!

*shrug* What can I say, I like to stay busy.

Wishing you a great 2010 and hopes for all kinds of writerly successes!

And the same to you, ma'am! :)