My mind and WIP

I had the bare bones of a hilarious blog post in my head last night, just as I was falling asleep. Did I write it down? No. Do I remember it this morning? No. Sigh.

My mind… honestly, I’ve lived with it for a long time now - you would think I knew it better than anyone? Wouldn’t you? I have a pen and notebook by my bedside for just such brain storm emergencies, but last night I wanted to sleep and now the idea is gone.

My problem, generally, is too many ideas and not enough time to write them all up.

I did an update on one of my fanfic stories to ask people to vote in the jbnp awards and to tell them what I am up to writing-wise. So I may as well tell you guys, too. Slight spoilers, if you haven’t read the fanfic stories.

Fanfiction:

1.            Home for Christmas.

I wrote this one shot after chatting in JBNP chat box one day about Bella's thing for older guys. Edward was 106 after all. She picks up a guy in a bar and it is not until the last line that we all work out who he really is. I think it will have to be extended - everyone says they want it extended!

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7619586/1/Ill_be_home_for_Christmas

I am planning it now. But there are a lot of things to think about. For example: why, after leaving Forks for five years, does she come back now? Are the wolf gods sending them both back? Via dream messages, if so, why now? Do they need all available wolves? What if the older generation of Quileute phased too? Who is Embry's father? What the heck is Sam/Embry/Jake going to say? Are the Volturi coming? Are the Cullens still around? Has Jake imprinted in the five year gap?

I must say, I asked readers these questions and they answered me in droves. I thought it was wonderful; they got so invested in the story that they all sent me their ideas. And some were pretty good. I kept them all and will make sure to thank them when I finish writing it.

It works for me for a few reasons. I object to Stephenie Meyer’s continuous obsession with age. Why can’t a person in their forties be a shape shifter, too? Sam changed when he was 19 or 20; way beyond puberty. Book Bella thought her world was going to end when she hit eighteen; I mean really?

Also I can fix up the awful family trees that Meyer produced. She made almost every kid on the rez an only child from a broken or single parent family. Think about it. Only the Clearwaters and the Blacks have siblings and even they don’t have both parents. I assume it was some attempt to contrast them all with the perfect Cullen ‘family’.

So yeah, I want a pack of older guys (and girls?). All rejuvenated and running around getting into trouble and weirding the younger pack out with their memories of aching knees and midnight toilet visits. And who would they imprint on? Now that could be fun. Double the packs, double the trouble?

2.            Swan’s mate for life

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8252816/1/Swans_mate_for_life

This was a femslash challenge that a friend gave me. I had never read femslash (oh wait - one, I beta’d for feebes) let alone written any. It turned out super sweet. But of course, my mind can’t leave it there.

I am messing with an idea to extend it. With Paul. Sigh. I know. *rolls eyes* He is totally my muse; it explains everything really. Lol. Not sure when I changed from the porn fairy to the poly fairy, but there you go.

I worry because a few people commented that it was so rare to see femslash and my mind wants to change it into something else. Am I betraying that? Maybe I can leave the original one shot intact and beef it up a bit for a full multi-chapter story?

The only way I could see it going is dark, complex and super angsty. If the girls actually get Paul into bed with them, what the heck would happen then? What about imprinting? If there are two wolves, there are no guarantees that they won’t imprint on someone else? What do they get out of it by complicating their previously happy relationship?

And you thought Hurt was bad? Lol
[update: 14th feb 2013. Done - ended up nearly 218k words. whoops - a real wringer of emotion]

3. Billy smut

First off, I need to say writing wheelchair sex is hard. This was a challenge from tamfan, a very involved reader of fanfic. I did want to do it for her- I have even done some research on people who provide such services (snort) for disabled people.

There truly is a need for specialist sex workers. I read a wonderful interview with the mother of a quadriplegic who organises such dates for him. She shrugged and said she already did everything else for him, so it wasn’t an issue. There are some real gems in the world.
[ done Second chances on JBNP at HERE ]

Original fiction

1.            The necklace

I was watching Torchwood, an English spinoff of Doctor Who. Totally worth it just to watch Captain Jack Harkness. Oh, and the scene in episode one of season two where he and Captain John, played by James Marsters from Spike/buffy fame, fight and then kiss and make up? Can I just say, ‘wow’.

But I digress. Mind reading. The episode was about mind reading. And of course, Edward from Twilight has such a gift.

I have often thought that it would not be a gift. We have a thousand thoughts cross our minds every day that are not ever meant to be spoken aloud. And especially not to the person you are thinking them about.

So I came up with the idea of a gypsy who has such a gift that will be passed to her granddaughter. She doesn’t want her to have it; she knows it is a curse. She imprisons the ‘gift’ in her favourite teacup. The teacup is made into a necklace. Whoever wears it has the ability to read minds.

Now, think about it. If you could read minds, what would you do?

Some people would use it for good, others for nefarious purposes. It’s human nature. So I have started writing a series of short stories; linked together by the necklace. With certain rules. If you use it for evil, the necklace is lost or stolen from you. If you use it for good, you may sell or give it away.

I was going to try to make each story fit within the seven deadly sins/seven virtues list, but I think that is too ambitious. How the heck do I write chastity or temperance?

2.            Second chances

This is an erotic one. An unhappy wife goes on a second honeymoon. Her husband ignores her during the day but at night she has a dream lover. She knows he is not entirely human, but what is he? And what do they both want? What happens when the holiday ends?

And I can let the smut muse loose.

3.            Promise

Everyone loves my Paul. I have no idea what note I have struck that resonates so well with readers, but rather than pull to publish one of my fanfic stories, I am trying to replicate that guy in an original world. He is a smart mouthed womaniser. She is his opposite; of course. Gotta follow the romance rules. Lol.

I want to make them supernatural hunters, or hunters of the supernatural. I do like writing things that are a little out of the ordinary; it’s fun, but I don’t want to make him a werewolf for obvious reasons. I also don’t want to go the instant love recipe, so I think I will go the bound together for some reason and hate each other route.

Yeah - that sounds like fun. I warn you that feebes, one of my betas, really likes this one. She convinced me to put Best Friends on fanfic and told me it would be my biggest story. I still can’t judge my own work.

4.            London.

This is another erotic romance. But this time, it is an older woman who picks up a much younger guy at a party. It was an impetuous decision and then she finds she can’t get rid of him. He won’t stay in the casual sex, toy boy box she’d prefer him to stay in. She is divorced, has kids and has her life sorted out - even if her life isn’t exactly full of the best things for her. Like a lot of mothers, she puts herself last on her list of priorities.

It also struck me that no one notices when an older guy dates a younger woman, but the other way around? Everyone has an opinion. Society and its massive double standards. Ugh.

This one is probably closest to being finished.

5.            Watchword

This is an alternate worlds, steampunkish fantasy story. A god has two children; twins, a boy and a girl. They gravitate to two different areas; he to death and war and her to life and growth. They fight like all siblings do. The god decides to set them a task, to make them work together. Together they must create one hundred worlds.

But they cannot do everything themselves, so they create a community to train, educate its replacements and to guard their worlds; The Watchers. The Watchers have Windows; one for each world. The Windows show a glimpse of the world within. But still the twins fight.

It goes very wrong. He is caught in a trap his sister has set and she realises too late, that they are linked; in trapping him, she has trapped and weakened herself.

The Watchers stumble on without guidance. But they forget. They lose their purpose. They make mistakes. The worlds suffer.

A girl exists who is everyone’s last hope.

I have written a heap on this one. Over 100k words. But somewhere, I have lost it. I have written A, B and D but C is missing. I have actually left it alone for a while in the hope that distance would allow me to see what is wrong with it. I know something is wrong, I just can’t see it. I even printed it all out in the hope that seeing the words on paper would help me to fix it.

It is, I suppose about technology and forgotten ways. Progress is not necessarily a bad thing but neither are some of the things from the past that we have forgotten.

So, that’s my list of current works in progress. It doesn’t list small scraps or ideas, just the works I am seriously writing on.

Yes, I know. Pick one and finish it.