Writing Update
Aug. 28th, 2012 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keiramarcosThe thing is that I have a bunch of WIPs. Because I write in serial format-- I can juggle a few without feeling all that guilty about keeping readers waiting (sorry) but I do try to live a guilt-free life. Guilt takes up so much energy and often makes you feel miserable both mentally and phsyically. The problem is that I truly am spoiled for choice so I tried to inspire myself by reading my own work. Most of you can get a good idea of what's on my plate based on excerpts from Evil Author Day. I'm very close to finishing That Old Black Magic (HP - Harry/Draco). I also have a project with LadyHolder (Dangerous and Beautiful Things which is a Sherlock/Sentinel fusion) and a Star Trek/Sentinel project of my own that is fascinating to play with.
There are a few others: Beckon the Dark (next novel in the Lantean Legacy series), Valor and Honor (next novella in Ring of Fire), and of course my Halo/Sga project that I will start actively pursueing after I wrap up the SGA arc of TTB. As for my major series stuff (spoilers ahead):
Tangled Destinies (current word count: 144,526)
I read Forsaken -- that was a turning point fic for me in that series because it's leading up to the final episode in the first arc of the series. Part ten in that series which will be called "Covet" is the final installment of the first arc and it will center around Sam Kirk (his dissertion of his brother, his reported death on Tarsus, Winona's duplicity, etc etc). I thought it was important to address both Spock's brother and Jim's brother at the end of Arc 1 because in many ways both Spock and Jim were indelibly marked by the conduct of their brothers and their emotional/physical dissertation of them.
In Forsaken, we find that Sybok was vicious to Spock when they were children and as a result Spock is extremely distrustful of his half-brother to the point where he deliberately destroyed the familial bonds they shared. This lead Sybock down a very different road (from his canon one in the original series movies) where he tried to embrace the most difficult and far reaching mental discipline on Vulcan. His success or failure isn't particularily relevent to Spock at this point beyond the fact that he'll do anything to keep Sybock away from the family he's created with his parents and Jim on Earth. After I finish up Covet -- I'll start the second arc. We will skip ahead a few years-- Jim and Spock will have finished undergrad and will be preparing for their wedding ceremony on Betazed. Why will I jump ahead? Because frankly-- I'm ready to write porn for this series and I sincerely wish I hadn't made them meet when they were just sixteen. So jumping ahead until their 19 (almost 20) has so much apppeal that it isn't funny. Arc 2 will take place mostly at Star Fleet academy where we will meet more canon characters (Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, etc etc). I'm really looking forward to that.
Ties That Bind (current word count: 330,817)
When I first started writing this story it was a single novel. A novel that turned into 100,000+ words before I ever posted a single word of it on my site. In fact, it wasn't until I'd reread what I wrote for about the tenth time that it crossed my mind that my readers might like it. Truth is that there were plenty in the beginning who DIDN'T appreciate it and I'm sure there are still plenty of people who visit my site who wouldn't touch the series with someone else's severed hand. BDSM is, in its own way, more divisive than slash (or incest) is in fandom. I wrote the series for myself because frankly I was deeply enamored with Xanthe's series (I still am) and like many other writers who've read her work I was inspired to play with the themes. We exchanged a few emails regarding permissions before I posted the first novella in the Ties That Bind series and she did warn me that the work might not be received well by the fandom at large. I thought I was prepared for it. I wasn't. I mean, I really wasn't. I've received more negative feedback and blowback about Ties That Bind than all my other work combined.
A lot of people don't GET it. In fact, there are people who read it and proclaim to enjoy who don't get it. I know this because of their comments and private emails. I've had more than one person so grossly misunderstand my work that I was truly horrified by their interpretation of the material. Though, the less said about that the better, I guess. I can't make anyone get what my words mean to me and I know that everyone gets something different out of it. The series is 3 novellas from being finished. The final three installments in the SGA arc will be called: Time After Time, Broken Road, and The North Star. I have them all plotted out and while I can't promise you won't be shocked, appalled, and furious at certain points throughout the last three stories I will guarentee you a Happy Ending. I don't believe in anything else.
I'd like to take this AU into different fictional worlds eventually -- Sherlock and Criminal Minds to be specific. I don't know if I will but it all strikes my fancy. Who would I pair in those worlds -- well Sherlock should be obvious (Sherlock/John). Criminal Minds, I'm actually a Morgan/Reid shipper but if I wrote TTB for that show-- it would be Hotchner/Reid. Not to be rude about it, but suggestions for other fandoms to explore for this would not be appreciated.
Sentinels of Atlantis (current word count: 206,927)
This series was rather unintentional. I started writing it on a whim because I was inspired by Ladyholder's series The Unlikely and Unwilling. I wrote The Gathering and I posted it. The response was really positive so I thought, okay, I can work with that. Then I wrote twenty episodes over a period of six months. I hesitate to talk about this even now because I was so devastated! My harddrive had a failure and I hadn't backed up in more than a year. I lost almost all of the episodes I'd written for SOA and THREE professional projects in the moment that harddrive failed. Recovery was impossible. I spent several hundred dollars trying to recover data because of my professional work. Deadend. I was done. It was horrific. What was worse? I couldn't rewrite what I'd written for SOA. I tried to make myself do it and I was so disillusioned and bored that I had to back up and start over. I replotted the entire first season from what I had posted on my site forward.
What did this do? Well, John gained a brother he wouldn't have had otherwise (Matt) and Andrew Sheppard appeared. Some readers don't like Andy -- I had one (lol) tell me she thought the kid was creepy. Well, he IS creepy. He's meant to be. In many ways, Andy is a mirror of John. An online Sentinel at a very young age who is powerful beyond measure -- he hears things he shouldn't, is deeply connected with the psionic plane in ways that many simply don't understand and has been under the unknowing guidance of an ascended Sentinel/Guide pair since he came online. Things will get creepier on the Andy front. Just wait until you meet his Guide!
Episode 20 (The Search) will be the final episode in Season One of the series. It will be long -- easily longer than the first episode (The Gathering) of the season. We'll tie up some loose ends both on Atlantis and on Earth as we prepare for some major changes (mostly on Earth) as they gear up to face the threat of the Wraith and the Ori.
The first five episodes of Season Two are titled: The Pride, The Sacrifice, The Return, The Lifeline, and The Seige -- I'll be honest I get extremely excited just thinking about these episodes! It's going to be so action packed and fun and scary and some of you may end up sending me slightly threatening emails. Don't worry I'll make you a perfect subject line on my contact form!
Aside: I have no idea when any of that will be posted. Just FYI.
---
There are a few others: Beckon the Dark (next novel in the Lantean Legacy series), Valor and Honor (next novella in Ring of Fire), and of course my Halo/Sga project that I will start actively pursueing after I wrap up the SGA arc of TTB. As for my major series stuff (spoilers ahead):
Tangled Destinies (current word count: 144,526)
I read Forsaken -- that was a turning point fic for me in that series because it's leading up to the final episode in the first arc of the series. Part ten in that series which will be called "Covet" is the final installment of the first arc and it will center around Sam Kirk (his dissertion of his brother, his reported death on Tarsus, Winona's duplicity, etc etc). I thought it was important to address both Spock's brother and Jim's brother at the end of Arc 1 because in many ways both Spock and Jim were indelibly marked by the conduct of their brothers and their emotional/physical dissertation of them.
In Forsaken, we find that Sybok was vicious to Spock when they were children and as a result Spock is extremely distrustful of his half-brother to the point where he deliberately destroyed the familial bonds they shared. This lead Sybock down a very different road (from his canon one in the original series movies) where he tried to embrace the most difficult and far reaching mental discipline on Vulcan. His success or failure isn't particularily relevent to Spock at this point beyond the fact that he'll do anything to keep Sybock away from the family he's created with his parents and Jim on Earth. After I finish up Covet -- I'll start the second arc. We will skip ahead a few years-- Jim and Spock will have finished undergrad and will be preparing for their wedding ceremony on Betazed. Why will I jump ahead? Because frankly-- I'm ready to write porn for this series and I sincerely wish I hadn't made them meet when they were just sixteen. So jumping ahead until their 19 (almost 20) has so much apppeal that it isn't funny. Arc 2 will take place mostly at Star Fleet academy where we will meet more canon characters (Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, etc etc). I'm really looking forward to that.
Ties That Bind (current word count: 330,817)
When I first started writing this story it was a single novel. A novel that turned into 100,000+ words before I ever posted a single word of it on my site. In fact, it wasn't until I'd reread what I wrote for about the tenth time that it crossed my mind that my readers might like it. Truth is that there were plenty in the beginning who DIDN'T appreciate it and I'm sure there are still plenty of people who visit my site who wouldn't touch the series with someone else's severed hand. BDSM is, in its own way, more divisive than slash (or incest) is in fandom. I wrote the series for myself because frankly I was deeply enamored with Xanthe's series (I still am) and like many other writers who've read her work I was inspired to play with the themes. We exchanged a few emails regarding permissions before I posted the first novella in the Ties That Bind series and she did warn me that the work might not be received well by the fandom at large. I thought I was prepared for it. I wasn't. I mean, I really wasn't. I've received more negative feedback and blowback about Ties That Bind than all my other work combined.
A lot of people don't GET it. In fact, there are people who read it and proclaim to enjoy who don't get it. I know this because of their comments and private emails. I've had more than one person so grossly misunderstand my work that I was truly horrified by their interpretation of the material. Though, the less said about that the better, I guess. I can't make anyone get what my words mean to me and I know that everyone gets something different out of it. The series is 3 novellas from being finished. The final three installments in the SGA arc will be called: Time After Time, Broken Road, and The North Star. I have them all plotted out and while I can't promise you won't be shocked, appalled, and furious at certain points throughout the last three stories I will guarentee you a Happy Ending. I don't believe in anything else.
I'd like to take this AU into different fictional worlds eventually -- Sherlock and Criminal Minds to be specific. I don't know if I will but it all strikes my fancy. Who would I pair in those worlds -- well Sherlock should be obvious (Sherlock/John). Criminal Minds, I'm actually a Morgan/Reid shipper but if I wrote TTB for that show-- it would be Hotchner/Reid. Not to be rude about it, but suggestions for other fandoms to explore for this would not be appreciated.
Sentinels of Atlantis (current word count: 206,927)
This series was rather unintentional. I started writing it on a whim because I was inspired by Ladyholder's series The Unlikely and Unwilling. I wrote The Gathering and I posted it. The response was really positive so I thought, okay, I can work with that. Then I wrote twenty episodes over a period of six months. I hesitate to talk about this even now because I was so devastated! My harddrive had a failure and I hadn't backed up in more than a year. I lost almost all of the episodes I'd written for SOA and THREE professional projects in the moment that harddrive failed. Recovery was impossible. I spent several hundred dollars trying to recover data because of my professional work. Deadend. I was done. It was horrific. What was worse? I couldn't rewrite what I'd written for SOA. I tried to make myself do it and I was so disillusioned and bored that I had to back up and start over. I replotted the entire first season from what I had posted on my site forward.
What did this do? Well, John gained a brother he wouldn't have had otherwise (Matt) and Andrew Sheppard appeared. Some readers don't like Andy -- I had one (lol) tell me she thought the kid was creepy. Well, he IS creepy. He's meant to be. In many ways, Andy is a mirror of John. An online Sentinel at a very young age who is powerful beyond measure -- he hears things he shouldn't, is deeply connected with the psionic plane in ways that many simply don't understand and has been under the unknowing guidance of an ascended Sentinel/Guide pair since he came online. Things will get creepier on the Andy front. Just wait until you meet his Guide!
Episode 20 (The Search) will be the final episode in Season One of the series. It will be long -- easily longer than the first episode (The Gathering) of the season. We'll tie up some loose ends both on Atlantis and on Earth as we prepare for some major changes (mostly on Earth) as they gear up to face the threat of the Wraith and the Ori.
The first five episodes of Season Two are titled: The Pride, The Sacrifice, The Return, The Lifeline, and The Seige -- I'll be honest I get extremely excited just thinking about these episodes! It's going to be so action packed and fun and scary and some of you may end up sending me slightly threatening emails. Don't worry I'll make you a perfect subject line on my contact form!
Aside: I have no idea when any of that will be posted. Just FYI.
---
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 03:26 am (UTC)LOL.
I know you can't rush genius, so I wont be the one to ask the stupid question...
But I will say this:
TTB/Sherlock fusion <---made of pure awesome with a side of awesome sauce.
I knew there was a reason why Sherlock was in possession of a riding crop! Good choice, good choice *nods, nods*
Thank you for the update! And hope to hear from you soon, even if it's not story-related.
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Date: 2012-08-29 03:34 am (UTC)But your stories make everything seem believable and possible. Even if I have no idea about the fandom going in.
The way I see it, that is your gift, and I cherish it each time I read one of your stories for the first time or the hundredth time. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world.
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Date: 2012-08-29 03:37 am (UTC)WTF - you're just great all around. Your stories are always worth the wait!
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Date: 2012-08-29 03:43 am (UTC)Also, on the note of possibly doing a TtB world for Sherlock and Criminal Minds. Can I just say, I'm and so excited about both ideas that it's probably not even funny. Also, I'm a Hotch/Reid shipper so the fact that, even though you don't usually ship them, it would probably be that pairing is like... I don't even know how to describe my feelings on that. Just... I wish I had a time turner so I can fast forward to a time when those are complete.
And I'm so so sorry that you lost all of that hard work. That is literally a living nightmare for me, to lose all of the writing on my computer (luckily I was instructed by my super tech savvy uncle how to back up everything). I'm glad you managed to work through that in terms of SoA, but the lose of your original fiction is just extremely depressing and even though I don't know who you write under for your original fiction (which I know, or am pretty sure from things you've said in the past, you like to keep a secret from the fandom world) so I understand, I feel so bad about the loss of great Keira work in the world.
This comment turned into something way longer than I intended. I guess all that's left is good luck with all of your writing (fanfic and published) and I hope you have a great autumn (cause that's coming up, woah wow, summer went by far too fast). XD
~Flitter
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Date: 2012-08-29 03:47 am (UTC)I'm looking forward to all of these series updates. Tangled Destinies is the only Star Trek fic I've ever read. I was actually a little surprised when I rewatched the movie and remembered that Kirk isn't normally half Betazoid. SoA is the fic that brought me to your work and is probably the one I reread most. I may be one of those that don't totally *get* everything in TTB, but I love the characterizations and dynamics even when it's not my kinks. I love the world and characters in WMHB/Ring of Fire. Though I'm still not convinced Quark is not at least part alien.
Plus the Sherlock/Sentinel is my dream fusion and I loved That Old Black Magic on EAD.
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Date: 2012-08-29 04:27 am (UTC)I hurt myself at work. so I am down because of the pain and having to use a walker. but now I see the upside I will have time to reread all your stories . and look forward to Oct for new ones
thanks keep up the awesome work
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Date: 2012-08-29 04:31 am (UTC)the evil author day ages ago and i can forget them, or take them out of my mind... so i will plead thee if you can go for one of them first??
i love Sherlock and Star Trek and you like burning so you will makes me real happy!
i don't get much Atlantis but i think that you have all the right to do what you want with your stories, and you have more than one in atlantis so if they don't like the more cerebral one, they can go with other more suited with their tastes or better with other author who is more easy read!
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Date: 2012-08-29 04:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 05:41 am (UTC)*smile*
so please...MORE....and i vote for Sherlock fiction. very strongly.
*grin*
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Date: 2012-08-29 06:02 am (UTC)Writing Update
Date: 2012-08-29 06:28 am (UTC)I think you're a wonderfully gifted writer so pleeese give us another story soon.
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Date: 2012-08-29 07:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 07:47 am (UTC)I feel your pain with the loss of data. I don't write, I lack both skill and confidence however in my early pc days I lost everything and spent many a night swearing I had learnt my lesson and now have so many backups including 'out in the ether'. I mean what would I do if couldn't read your stories no matter where I am and I find myself with no Kindle on which you have your own collection name.
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Date: 2012-08-29 07:48 am (UTC)(And thank you so much for being the perfect fix for my cravings of bad!ass growly John. Guh.)
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Date: 2012-08-29 08:37 am (UTC)*one had waves*
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Date: 2012-08-29 09:27 am (UTC)I have to admit I feel like I cannot wait to see the TTB offspins. Especially Sherlock.
But I will practice patience and tea and jump onto whatever gets updated next :D
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Date: 2012-08-29 09:30 am (UTC)Standing by....
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Date: 2012-08-29 10:48 am (UTC)You realize if you start writing Sherlock in the TTB universe I'm going to have to break my vow to not add another fandom to my reading list right?
What is it with people giving you and Xanthe endless shit on her universe? Pansies who can't accept that potential 'dark' need/desire to control others within themselves I'm thinking. They need to Get Over It. It hits a nerve with those in denial because when you write it, it is REAL so scares them. Your awesome powers of the pen.
Looking forward to the additions to my 'comfort porn' stack. When I'm upset and need something to distract or comfort, your characters are some of my favorite.
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Date: 2012-08-29 11:39 am (UTC)I don't understand how anyone could not love those stories.
So happy they haven't been shelved :-D
I'll be waiting with baited breath for the next installments!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 11:52 am (UTC)I adore your Lantean Legacy and look forward to any further work in the series. I have read it a few times and love the concept and look forward to anything further you write in the series.
Touching Secrets is a lovely sweet piece and I have the podfic of that on my MP3 player on frequent rotation. Human Nature is superbly written. I have never been a fan of the Keller/McKay pairing precisely because of the whole changing Rodney to her ideal and the way she virtually gave up in the Shrine episode. You handled this splendidly.
I am once again reading The Air that Angels Breathe. I love the idea of John with his own wings and how you mutation is not an fearful thing
The Sentinels of Atlantis is one of my all time favourites and one I would recommend it to anyone (Actually if you don’t mind, could I recommend it in Stargateficrec?) I love how you have taken the Sentinel concept and made it your own and enhancing for the better than the original concept.
I in point of fact really like The Ties That Bind and I enjoy reading both yours and Xanthe’s work. The actuality that many people don’t like the works baffles me. I am a very open minded person and find no offence in any of your work what so ever. Considering that 50 Shades of Grey novel has opened the eyes of many people to the world of BDSM and the sheer number of people whom have read the book would I suppose suggest otherwise. I haven’t actually read those books and from what I have heard from other sources I think I would rather sit back and enjoy your’s and Xanthe’s work again.
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Date: 2012-08-29 12:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 12:45 pm (UTC)long answer: so happy you are still writing and plotting all three - recently I've been on a re-reading spree of all of them, so it's great to know there's more (and happy to bribe you for some Sherlock/John) to come (if you pardon the pun)
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Date: 2012-08-29 12:58 pm (UTC)Okay, very impatiently, but I know how it can be when you write several different things at once and it's always been worth the wait *g*
It helps that I tend to re-read almost everything on your site on a loop every couple of months - except the SGA het and Sherlock - while I wait for new parts... it keeps the stories fresh in my mind, for when a new part does come out (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)
With regards to TTB - I admit, at first I was... dubious. I've seen BDSM fics that are really just exercises in masochism even Rodney wouldn't enjoy and they can be so one sided and... *wrong* it makes me cringe, but I loved all your other stuff so much, I eventually gave in and it's now one of my favourite stories of anything in any fandom. I love how it's such a true partnership between John and Rodney (and the other pairings) and that Rodney is still so sarcastic and not a whimpering little idiot, just because he's submissive.
I shall eagerly await whatever you post next... and the chance to mock anyone who thinks they can or should tell you what or how to write!
no subject
Date: 2012-08-29 01:00 pm (UTC)