Part 5 is up now. I needed to do it now, as I'll probably be busy later this evening. :-)

5. A Broken-Down Mustang

And now I can't even get online at my dad's. Joy. But I went to Panera and uploaded that latest section. Can't view my own webpage here (snerk), but I assume it's correctly added. Somebody let me know if there's a problem.

4. When Priam Visited Achilles

(What, you thought I could write a story that didn't reference Homer?)

Cowboys & Indians part III (Centering the Periphery) is up.

I do (obviously) have internet access, but I don't have a lot of online time. So I may be missing things. Also, I'm not sure if part 4 tomorrow will be up late or early.

Pretty much just got in (20 minutes ago) from the airport; am exhausted. Checked mail.

I also posted Part II of Cowboys and Indians. Don't say I don't love y'all. Ha. I'm going to BED now; I'll post it to comms and such tomorrow morning, and part III will be up tomorrow too. I think.

Meet my version of Leah. :-)

All right -- in an effort NOT to make the same mistake I made with Chronicles last year, which I held back until it was too close to the release of Deathly Hallows and a bunch of people fled the web to avoid spoilers *grin* ... I'm starting the posting of this NOW. I'll be posting about one chapter/scene a day.

I'm also going to be on vacation at my father's, where I DO have web access, but it's not as reliable as it is here. I also won't have as much time. So I'll be posting and replying to comments, but it may take longer. Also, Chapter 12 of Dulce is with Muridae, but it likely won't be up until next weekend at the earliest. I've also started again on Past Present, and chapter 7 is done already. :-) There will be at least 10 chapters, and maybe 12.

Cowboys & Indians
(click to access the first chapter)

Summary: Lessons on the road in a journey through time. Existentialism, a Texas pow-wow, a '67 Mustang, a bar brawl, Pocahontas, and Jack Kerouac. Sometimes, family is chosen, even if they're not who we expect.

Characters: Jasper Hale/Whitlock, Leah and Seth Clearwater, Edward Cullen; regular canon pairings assumed.
Warning: Gratuitous reading lists, random philosophy, and a little bad language. Oh, and an implied minor spoiler from Breaking Dawn's first chapter. I don't consider it significant, but some people are pickier than I am.
Notes: This is not a romance. It's about friendship and family. We don't come from nowhere. See end for rest. And serendipity_50 made the pretty cover. :-)

I found this on ithiliana's LJ, and I'm reposting the link here because I thought it very clever and well worth a read, although (as the writer herself says) the people who REALLY need to read it, likely won't. I also found it terribly funny because I know (or rather, have met) Saunders and I can SO see him reacting just as described, unfortunately ... I've never even considered submitting to Helix because of him, although it's not a bad (or wasn't a bad) ejournal. (Glimmer Train is better, imo, if you're looking for an ejournal and it isn't SF-limited.)

Do Not Tease Nor Feed the Fans

This morning, I delivered the last scene of Chapter 12 to Naomi. She's got a full week, so probably won't get it back to me for a few days, then it still needs to go to Muridae, but it's done, and it will bring me to a logical close (although it may not feel like it exactly) for a story arc.

This afternoon, I opened Chapter 7 of Past Present and started on that. I plan to finish the draft of Past Present before writing more on Dulce. It's hard to guess what I've got left to do on that, in terms of word length, but I'm guessing it's about half-finished, maybe slightly more than half?

But I thought I'd give a quick update on where I am. That new Twilight story will be out at some point too. So it's been a bit of stretch since the last post, but I've got a couple of things in the pipe. :-)

I so called it. Before round one, I said Morneau would take the home run derby and he did, although to be fair, I had NO idea Josh Hamilton would get that hot streak (my second pick was actually Sizemore), but I called Morneau because he's a steady hitter. But it was a bit of a "tortoise vs. hare" match-up. By the time Hamilton came up for third round, he was worn out and past his peak. Of course, Morneau really was too, but it was interesting to see it play out. So Hamilton leaves with a new record (and a new fan in my son), and Morneau leaves with the trophy (and I won a quarter in a bet, ha). ;> Slow and steady wins the race ... But Hamilton was still something to watch. Unbelievable first round.

ETA: I am done now with chapter 12 of Dulce. I want to read over the final scene one more time tomorrow before sending it to Naomi, but she's already got the first two scenes. Ron fans will like this one, I think.

I've been buried, and have kidlet this weekend. I'm having a hard time getting my Flist read. Man. Plus that 16K-word story turned into 17,5K ... so yes, it's an official (if very short) novella, called (amusingly) Cowboys and Indians. I'm pretty much done with it finally and am sending it off to Silly Bella, who has bravey girded her loins and agreed to read the sucker. I don't want to overload Naomi, so she can read chapter 12 of Dulce. I'll finish that next. It's actually mostly done; I just got side-tracked by this damn thing.

I do not need a new fandom, I do not need a new fandom ... I swear, this'll be the last thing I write in this before the last book comes out (and we'll see if I write anything after that).

But I think I'm in love with Jasper. *grin*

16,000+ words of a story I didn't intend to write, and which kept me from both editing RL articles AND writing anything else I was supposed to be writing. I hate stories that hijack me. Well, sometimes. Writing the end made me cry (not in a bad way; it's not tragic) -- which I hope is a good sign. Although maybe not. The last story writing whose ending made me cry was Beauty, Shining in Company, which didn't get oodles of response. Although the reasons for that are probably logistical more than anything. Many of YOU aren't Twilight fans -- nor do I necessarily blame you -- and a lot of Twilight fans aren't interested in pre-Twilight, slashy stories with Edward and an OMC. ha. (That's more observation than whining, mind. *grin*)

Also? This may be the most native story I've written for fandom since "After the 49s".


( For fun, the prologue (short as it is) )

Peers in briefly, out from under the workload ...

I got some writing done over the holiday weekend; about 2/3s (or more) on a draft for the next chapter of DULCE. Then my brain was hijacked by another story. I really hate that. You're writing along, minding your own business, when POW, a character swoops in, grabs your brain by the throat, and takes off with it. *grin*

Anyway, we'll see. Don't want to say too much right now as it all may flop/collapse.

In other news, after polling around, it looks as if there might be some interest in a "fact check" comm specifically for Twilight, so I created one, but decided not to "advertize" it until after the holiday weekend was over. It's called twifacts_check, and it will need people who can answer questions, not just pose them. *grin* Given the likely details needed for Twilight, people with medical knowledge, with knowledge of history for this century, and some civil war history, people who know car mechanics/types, antiques and restoration, baseball and baseball history ... general knowledge is also very welcome, but those are some "specialist" things that might be a little more likely to pop up.

First, Finding Himself has been completely restored. All chapters are now back up.

Second: a new chapter of Dulce et decorum est! And it's even looong, to make up for your wait. ;> Oh, and a little reminder ... this novel IS adult. *snerk*

"Theories" (direct link)
Harry and Cedric discuss Draco, and Tom Riddle. Scrimgeour has a special assignment for Cedric, and Cedric takes Hermione to Scrimgeour's New Year's Eve party.

Please note the lovely new C/Hr manip. :-) serendipity_50 made it. If you need to remind yourself what happened in 10 ("The Slug Club"), the link to the novel's main page:

Dulce et decorum est

And because there are seem to be several new folk on my LJ since the last time this novel was updated ... Summary: In a time of war, how does a crippled man feel when he's the one left behind? There are battles fought with fire and magic, and battles fought in the hearts of men. (parallel canon)

Sequel to: Finding Himself ... (Summary: 'The boy who almost died' has to figure out what it means that he didn't. Harry's tulmultous fifth year at Hogwarts is Cedric's seventh and final. Bound together by a shared trauma survived, both boys fall under Ministry suspicion and fire, and both undergo a 'deconstruction' of sorts in the face of that crisis. Who is Cedric Diggory? He must find himself amid rumors of war, the awkwardness of falling in love, and a crippling personal tragedy. (parallel canon)

Just a little head's up. Those inclined/able to stay up might find a little surprise here later tonight. A certain chapter ...

rhetoretician tagged me. I'm not tagging anybody else (just because I habitually don't), but anyone who'd like to do the meme may:

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz & those who are tagged cannot refuse. (Oh bosh! Of course they can refuse! Who thinks up these stupid rules? --Rhetoritician, and I agree.) These people must state who they were tagged by & cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

N.B. I must be in a bad mood today, although I don't especially feel like it, but yeah -- for a couple of these, I had to refrain from launching into a pointless and mostly tangential rant. Ha. (And no, I'm not PMSing.)

( MEME )

NOW I'm going to go and finish uploaded Finding Himself.

I am SOOO not ready for this next week to start! I feel like all I got accomplished this weekend was cleaning up from the storm and some yardwork in addition, and at least the first part of that was NOT planned, but left me so exhausted I could neither edit for RL things nor write. While having the child home actually helped in some ways, as always, he leaves me tired. He's old enough now that he won't go to sleep until at least 10, and that's optimistic. (Yes, he's my son all right...) We never eat the same things, so I'm feeding him, then waiting to feed myself after he's in bed, and too tired even for that! Tonight dinner consisted of a left-over biscuit (that kidlet didn't eat) + half a hamburger (that kidlet didn't eat) + cottage cheese. And wine. Ha. I need the wine by this point.

At least I've been losing a little weight of late. The broken ankle from two years ago finally healed enough that this spring/summer I was able to take up my regular walking again and I'm FINALLY getting rid of the pounds I put on since breaking it (and which I didn't need in the first place). Try being unable to walk for more than 10-15 minutes and see how that cuts into ANY exercise. *snort* I still can't go up stairs well -- probably never will again. Between the ankle and bad left knee, stairs KILL me. But I can walk, so I'm feeling less broken-down-at-40 than I felt last year. *snort*

I have decided that being into sports as a teen and young adult is not necessarily good for the old body. LOL! All the damage my cartilage took in high school and college is coming home to roost. Isn't there a country song that says, "I'm too young to feel this damn old"? But it is amazing what a little consistent exercise will do for you. At least I still have a constitution like a horse. Ha.

Anyway, I'm extremely glad next week is a short week with the (U.S.) holiday, and that at least one of the deadlines I had has been met. I've still got Too Much Editing to do, but now I can return to Other People's Articles instead of my own. And next weekend, I get to help burn things! I am not a pyro ... except for the 4th. I love fireworks.

All right, I believe all the dead images in An Accidental Interception of Fate and Climb the Wind have been fixed.

I have been extremely swamped this past week, but did get that done. Also, the first 10 chapters of Finding Himself are now back up. I'm going to try to do about 10 of those a day, so give me about 4 days. :-) Once it's back, all the HP stories will be up. Then I'll work on X-Men, with Special, then Grail first on the list.

Just thought I'd give a quick update. I spent most of my morning asleep and most of the afternoon out chopping up branches and sawing through limbs. LOVELY storm yesterday. 80-90 mile-an-hour winds. No, I'm not kidding. No tornados (or so the weather service is saying) because there was no rotation, but man, that's hurricane-force winds. I lost limbs. But I faired pretty well. 60-year-old (healthy) trees were ripped right out of the ground, roots and all, or snapped off at trunks. 8}

I still haven't been writing, in over a week. Not blocked, just lack time. I apologize. The last chapter of Dulce that I completed IS with the Brit picker; she's had a busy week too, but hopefully it will be back soonish. But then, yeah, there's just not anything new to send out at the moment. Hopefully I'll have a little more time for writing next week. One of the deadlines has been met, and if the storms will pass us by for a while, I won't have to spend free time out in the yard, cleaning up.

I did a mix. (whoo! Min joins the Twenty-first Century and makes mixes!)

But I mention that I did a mix because it's made up of songs by native artists. I actually did it for Twilight, sorta in thanks for the folks who offer music mixes on comms that I've benefited from.

But as the downloads appear to be unlimited, for those of you who like to try out new music -- knock yourself out!

FULL CIRCLE: a Native Sampler

The "cover art" is horribly simple, but I like simple, and there's only one image because, dammit, I'm a writer, not a graphic artist. But I do give explanations about each of the songs/artists. Artists included: Ulali, Robbie Robertson, Joanne Shenandoah, Bill Miller, Keith Secola, Robert Mirabal, Joy Harjo, Susan Aglukark, Buddy Red Bow, Chester Knight, Joseph Fire Crow, and even old XIT!

Enjoy, folks.

I've not been posting because I've been buried editing an article for a deadline, and it's not even for MY collection. Argh! So yeah, nothing really much done on the website either, except to fix broken image links.

Because I just got TWO letters this evening about this old story, and I'd forgotten how much fun it was ... for giggles, I'm reposting it. This is for all you older fangirls (in any fandom!) who're closer to forty than to twenty and have hair growing where it never grew before.

(It's possible to read this without having any more knowledge of X-Men than having seen the first movie.)

BITCH
Minisinoo

Summary: Jean overhears some private thoughts. A turn-around (tongue-in-cheek) on Bitch!Jean, with gratuitous abuse of Bananarama. c. 1300 words
Warning: Aside from language, none.

( Bitch )

I found an unexpected cache of image files matched to novels/stories that I'd constructed about 4 years ago, and that included images for a number of the series stories + Climb the Wind + Accidental Interception of Fate. There are also image files for Heyoka in there, but I haven't yet done those. THIS is why I wanted to see if I might get lucky and the old site would come up. Because?

All stories on the X-Men series page except How the Leopard Changed her Spots are now uploaded. That means "Micky Blue Eyes/Body Memory," all stories in "The Man Behind Red Shades," the X-Files Crossover, and also the Harry Potter Crossover (the latter was actually up last night). Also, all the X-Men short stories are now back up. One (the X-Axis-based story co-written with Stef) is missing some images, but I'm hoping to get that resolved in a day or two, but yeah.

Also, you can now access Climb the Wind and An Accidental Interception of Fate! But ... I really need to finish some work on that annoying paper, so if somebody would be kind enough to go and flip through the chapters to be sure all the images are working, I'd appreciate it. Since this was a mass image transfer from files stored some years ago, it's entirely possible that one or two got changed or added, and are therefore no longer working. I can then fix it quickly. (Just put story chapter name in the comments and I'll find it.) Except for that one short story, however, outside these novels all OTHER images seem to be working/should be working.

That's a BIG chunk of the X-Men stuff that I didn't expect to have done already, plus as noted, I think I've got all the images for Heyoka and at least some of those for Special. That does mean, ironically, that I seem to be going backwards, but I figured folks would rather have the stories now if they can be uploaded quickly than wait for days while I reconstructed the images to Finding Himself and Grail from the big files. *grin* Naturally, it's the two longest ones that don't have these old collections for them. :p Also, the comicverse files appear to be a mixed back, so you won't find those back for a while yet, either.

For these stories that are now uploaded, all LINKS should also work. Let me know if one doesn't. I DID change the link to The Room With a Computer, so if you had that bookmarked, you will need to RE-bookmark it. Otherwise, I think all the old links should still be unchanged.

Ladies and gentlemen ...

WE'RE BACK.

After a hiatus that ran over 3 weeks, The Medicine Wheel has returned like a phoenix! (Albeit in a somewhat limited capacity.) The hosting has been successfully transferred; now it only remains for it to fully propagate/resolve across the net. That could take upwards of a few days. It was on-again/off-again after midnight last night, but this morning, at least on my part of the net, it's back. You might have the odd experience I did last night of getting in, only to lose it again, then gain it again, then lose it again. Ha. Give it a few hours in that case and try again.

The MEDICINE WHEEL

What's back?
--Most major pages like the profile, FAQ, diary entries and both the X-Men and Cedric rec pages (the X-Men links are not).
--Stories already up: All of Twilight, All of HP except Finding Himself. By the end of the day, I will probably have up the X-Men short fiction, too. (ETA: And it's now up; a couple of images missing, but I'm working on it.)
(If some kind soul with some free time this morning wants to go through all the chapters of all the stories in Aorist Subjunctive to be sure the images are all working, I'd appreciate it. I checked most of the others last night or first thing morning, but didn't get to that one. If one is "broken," just tell me the chapter and image and I'll fix it.)

(For those of you waiting to access Lelia Burke's "The Early Years" series again, that's also all back up ... including that one last story.)