All is Translation, and All of Us Lost in it

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Becky's Dreamwidth!

I didn't post for a while because I didn't know what I was going to be doing with this journal. I'm not moving - I love LJ too much for that - but I've always wanted a place where I could backup all the important writing. Properly organize it and such. Because there are few things I love more than properly organizing my writing files.

So here's a little list of the general categories and projects that will be showing up here. Links will go here once I am caught up on the backlog.

(Under construction while I get everything up to date)

( Projects and attempts at summaries under the cut. )

Right! I'll probably start the reposting soon. Sorry in advance for the post-flooding. If you have any questions about any of these projects, feel free to ask!

Iiiit's the Yuletide reveal! Which means that today I not only get to find out who my authors were (I see you there, lacunarity), but I get to reveal what my own fic was.

This year, I wrote Amateur Genealogy for one of my favorite TV shows, Justified.

This was a really tough one for me to write. The show is so well-written, and the Raylan-Tim-Rachel dynamic is my favorite ever, so I had a lot to live up to. I loved what season two did with the theme of family, and I was really struck by the showrunner's comment in an interview that they had to drive a wedge between Raylan and his 'marshal family' in order to resolve some of the issues with his family in Harlan, so I really wanted to write a little coda for the marshals.

The thing I really love about their relationship is that it's very unique for a crime drama. It takes the badass, gunslinging protagonist and shows how he has to function within this environment, unlike on other shows where the crime fighter has all of his quirks excused because he's so brilliant. Rachel and Tim have treated Raylan as their equal from the start: he gets saddled with an unpleasant informant in season one because he's 'the new guy,' and it's clear that he's expected to pick up coffee and file paperwork like everyone else.

And then in season two, regardless of what's going on in Art and Raylan's relationship, they all have each other's backs. Rachel and Tim each get an episode where Raylan is acting as a support system for them, and later in the season, they do whatever they can for him, even if he's not the type to come to them with his problems. I really wanted to play around with that dynamic, and how Rachel and Tim react to everything that happened at the end of season two. I'm sure it'll get Jossed, but a girl can dream.

I wasn't really expecting the reception I got, and I'm really glad people liked the fic! It seems everyone is as big a fan of Rachel as I am, which makes me happy. I played around with a couple different POVs, but hers was my favorite: I think her family situation gives her a different perspective, and I love that she's fairly warm with her coworkers even though she's not really a warm person in general. That, and she's just so cool. Hello there, raging girlcrush.

In any case, I had a great time, and I hope my recipient had as much fun reading it!

And for posterity's sake, here's everything from previous Yuletides:

( List with links )

2010:
The Lonely Traveler for Mushishi anime/manga


And now to enjoy the last few days of my vacation. It'll be nice to get back to work on the book, even if I don't feel the same about the day job. I'll be finished soon, so if anyone is up for another round of the Original Fic prompt trees, maybe I'll start up another one?

Hey there, Yuletide Santa!

So basically? You're awesome. I've got quite the mixed bag of fandoms this year, and being familiar with any one of them means you have pretty fantastic taste. Second of all, my only hard and fast rule for Yuletide: no pressure! I'm a very easy person to write for. There are lots of things I like, and I want you to have fun with this. ♥ You can choose to disregard this letter and go your own way if that's what's easiest for you. But if you're the type who does better with more direction, here are some general things I enjoy in fic:

- Hard-won happy endings! Conflict and intrigue is awesome, but I generally prefer things to end on an upbeat note.

- I am all for characters who love sex and own their sexuality, but I tend to skim sex scenes

- Favorite things in fic: strong group dynamics, interesting power balances in relationships, a good mystery, an air of creepiness, plotty fics that spotlight characterization, banter, and humor.

- Least favorite things: non-con, excessive angsting, character death, casual treatment of -isms, and romantic relationships trumping friendship/family. Also, love triangles. Shudder.

And here are some notes on the specific fandoms:


The Monstrumologist - Rick Yancey

I am in love with these books, and I love Will Henry the most. I'm an assistant myself, so I feel his pain, but mostly I love his complexity and layers and flaws. I love that he serves different roles with different people, and I'm especially interested in his messily codependent relationship with Pellinore. Sometimes they're good for each other and sometimes they're very much not, but either way, I find it all weirdly heartwarming.

I am not picky, though, so as long as you feature Will, I'll be all over it. His relationship with Malachi in the first book was awesome, and I love Von Helrung, Lilly, and all the other characters, so you can go in whatever direction you like!

And if that direction happens to include some near-future-fic in which older-Will and Pellinore kick ass together, you will hear no complaining from me.


Tumbling

All the characters in this drama are adorable, but Tsuchiya in particular is my favorite. I love when the tiny, sweet, innocent characters are the ones with the backbone of steel, and in general, Kiyama was the one to bring that side out most of the time. I would love a fic that explored that dynamic: where Kiyama may be the older, tougher one, but Tsuchiya is the one who got Kiyama into tumbling and yelled at the team when they didn't notice he was struggling. And although I ship them like burning, gen is totally fine.


Natsume Yuujinchou

As I said in my optional details, Japanese folklore is awesome, and the way it's approached in the show is equally awesome, but my favorite chapters are the ones dealing with Natsume and how he navigates his new relationships with Tanuma, Taki, Natori, and the Fujiwaras. I particularly love how protective Tanuma and Taki are of Natsume, and how they want to understand him better but never pressure him into telling them anything.


Prince of Persia 2008

... so I basically just want another game, but that's a bit of a tall order, so let's just go with 'anything would be awesome.' The Prince and Elika are one of my favorite twosomes, so whether you want to write them post-epilogue or at an interlude during the game itself, I will love it. I could also go for some backstory on The Corrupted if you wanted to mix it up a bit.


Thank you for reading my letter, Yuletide Santa! I look forward to reading your fic! ♥

Thing 1: The Persona 4 anime

So yes, I was concerned when they announced Souji's name would be Narukami Yuu, which is basically the most ridiculous name ever. But then this anime turned out to be incredibly entertaining and fun, SO I TAKE IT ALL BACK. ♥ The game music? All the shout-outs? BLASE DEADPAN SNARKER SOUJI/YUU WHO JUST CARES SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYONE? Was there any way I was supposed to resist this? Also, the way they're doing the True Selves gives me Legitimate Feelings every time. I LOVE THIS.

Also, apparently I was way more used to Jonny Yong Bosch as Adachi than I thought.


Thing 2: Tumbling

glass_icarus and I, being awesome, often watch things together and turn on the snark. Those things, by nature, tend to be a little bit cracktastic. So when she suggested a J-drama about a high school all-male rhythmic gymnastics team, I assumed it would be full of crack, as well.

AND THEN I HAD ALL THE FEELINGS. AT THE SAME TIME. ALL OF THEM.

I will be writing up a proper flail post on this later, and probably requesting it for Yuletide as well. For now I will point you to this awesome rec post. You will laugh! You will cry! You will ship everyone and their (awesome) mother! YOU WILL FEEL ALL THE FEELINGS, TOO.


Thing 3: The fact that every other movie coming out lately seems to be a Victorian ghost movie

ONE OF THEM HAS DANRAD

AND THE OTHER ONE HAS AN AWESOME LADY GHOST HUNTER

I love everything.


What's making you happy lately? ♥

Ack! So sorry, guys - I forgot to crosspost. The Sixth Original Fiction Drabble-thon is underway!

Do come play with us, and bring your friends!

Okay, in lieu of actually writing (fail) I want to revive this meme to prove to everyone that "I hate female characters because they're written badly" is NOT AN EXCUSE. I feel like this isn't even a representative sample! I had to make myself stop!

( 100 Female Characters I Freaking Love )

Okay that's 110 and I have to stop.

YOU SEE NOW?

LADIES ARE AWESOME.

So while I spend my lazy Sunday watching TV and waiting for beta comments on my edited MS, I wanted to share some essential links for any of you looking to go on the agent hunt in the future. Some of these links heavily skew towards YA information, but they're extremely useful anyway:

Generally Useful Sites:
Agent Query - Search for agents by genre.
Absolute Write Bewares, Background Checks and Recommendations - Whatever agency you're looking at, it has a thread here.
Query Tracker - Looking into agent response times and submission guidelines, and make a spreadsheet of your own submissions.
Preditors and Editors - A listing of agents and agencies that keeps track of spam artists.
Literary Rambles - This blog has "Agent Spotlights" on several different kidlit-representing agents. It's awesome because they include as much info as possible, including specific likes and dislikes.
Publishers Marketplace - One stop shopping for all industry information. Sign up for the Publishers Lunch newsletter!

Agent Blogs:
Kristin Nelson's Blog - Extremely informative and helpful. The best part of this blog is that she posts and analyzes her clients' original queries.
Nathan Brandsford's Blog - Though he's no longer an agent, he still has great publishing industry info.
Mary Kole's Blog - Great information on the slush pile, the manuscript review process, and lots of beginners' writing mistakes.
Janet Reid's Blog - Hilarious and informative all at once.
Miss Snark - The blog may be defunct now, but the archives are well worth a read.
The Rejectionist - A (now former) agent's assistant ruminates on books, writing, reading, etc. Totally hilarious.

Query Help:
Query Shark - Janet Reid critiques queries! And she doesn't hesitate to point out when something works for her, either.
Writing A Killer Query - Elana Johnson's workshop is one of the best and most thorough. She breaks query down into five separate parts and walks you through all of them.
Query Letter Hell - If you are very brave and really need help cracking that query, this is the equivalent of query letter boot camp. You need an account at Absolute Write to access this forum.

Some Top Agents/Agencies Who Represent YA:
Writers House
Andrea Brown Lit
Curtis Brown Lit
Fine Print Lit
Dystel and Goderich
Nelson Agency
Maass Agency
Harvey Klinger Agency
And that's just a few to get you started.

I hope this is a good start! ♥

So I am sitting around watching the Oscar pre-show after a fairly low-key weekend. I mainly took time off from writing (though I still wrote a couple scenes) because for the latest time in this story, I think, I'm at a pretty natural stopping place. Or, rather, once I finish this chapter I probably won't really stop until I reach the end, so this is my only chance!

Holy crap, you guys, I can't believe that I'm going to be querying a novel again by late May/early June. I go back and forth on how confident I am every day. Sometimes it's like "I really hope I make it happen this time!" and other times it's like "YEAH, GO AHEAD AND TRY, YOU'LL BE AN INSPIRATION TO HACKS EVERYWHERE." It's more often the former than the latter, at least. Either way, I'm really excited to get started on the editing. I've got a lot of tweaking to do!

Speaking of publishing, I've been devouring books left and right lately! I've been bringing in books to work for when I can grab a quiet moment - I think I'll bring Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet tomorrow so I can finally finish it. I think I'm going to start bookblogging on my tumblr so I can have a record of all my reading in 2011. I still have plenty to get through on my bookshelf, so I can use those to somehow distract myself from all the awesome sequels I'm waiting on later this year. And aren't we getting a new DWJ book at some point? UGH. ALL THESE GREAT UNPUBLISHED BOOKS NEED TO COME TO MEEEE.

Also, randomly, all this Red Carpet footage makes me want to go shopping. Judging by the state of my closet, that is the worst idea ever. Maybe I'll see if anything ready for Salvation Army first.

Yosh, I will now turn my full attention to the broadcast. Got any Oscar predictions, guys?

So as usual, I make no promises - but since it's Valentine's Day, I want to give it a try!

Give me a pairing, original or fannish, and I'll write a little drabble for them.

Sorry, new people! I got distracted by writings. That happens a lot.

Anyway, this post is to welcome Yuletide folks and other new people to this journal! My name is Becky, and I'm happy to have you here. ♥ If you'd like to ask a question about me or tell me a little about yourself, feel free to do so in the comments!