A Distraction at the Bus Stop

Just a few odds and ends that are making me happy at the moment.

You may recall that I took part in Flash Fiction Month on DeviantArt in July—limping a bit in the second half and especially towards the end, but I did get through the whole thing. And I recently found out I’ve won the prize for the first week challenge stories, which was a nice surprise. All four winners get a mug with this splendid design on it—created by one of the regular participants in FFM, joe-wright.

acdholmesfest is back from its hiatus, though now on DW, and I’ve signed up. As well as all the old faces, I’m very pleased to see promising newcomer sanguinity has thrown her hat into the ring too. (:P) It’s a great fest and I’m looking forward to the fics and art that come out of it.

A very minor thing but a big deal for me: in July someone bookmarked my Dear Ladies/Pirates of Penzance crossover fic. Looking at the other fandoms they’ve bookmarked, I think it’s the ships (as in boats) aspect of my fic they’re mainly interested in. But it’s just so exciting to have someone that I don’t know at all take an interest in one of my Dear Ladies fics. They have a relatively small number of bookmarks so they’re not just bookmarking everything in sight, and they’ve marked the bookmark as a rec, so I’m assuming they have read my fic and enjoyed it, rather than just marked it for later. It’s such a minor thing that the fic has gained another reader but I’m thrilled about it.

At sanguinity's suggestion, I put together an index for the Round 5 discussion posts on sherlock60, and rachelindeed very kindly offered to promote it on her Tumblr. And to my great delight it worked—people have taken an interest! Her splendid post is now up to 151 notes—of which 53 are reblogs. It's very pleasing to see what has come out of smallhobbit's excellent new idea for discussion posts, all those months ago.

Though smallhobbit and I have stepped back a bit from modding now, sherlock60 is still very much alive of course. alafaye has taken over for Round 6, and posted an introduction on both LJ and DW yesterday asking for ideas and preferences for the new round.

I have to say stopping leading the rounds is a weight taken off my shoulders in both the positive and negative senses. It’s odd giving up a responsibility that I’ve had for such a significant amount of time, and I feel a bit untethered. But giving up having to do all that work, and losing that stress of having to hit a deadline every week and constantly having the comm in the back of my mind, has led to an immediate increase in ideas for other things. I feel more positive about writing in general and about holmes_minor in particular.

Round 5's final Sunday happened to coincide with my birthday. On Mrs. Hudson’s poetry page I got a poem from Mrs. P. and a limerick from gardnerhill. Over on AO3 I got a 221B from smallhobbit starring Mouselet and the gang, and featuring the Ferret’s singing. And the Ferret’s singing also featured prominently in my wonderful present from Okapi. A new chapter of From the Pen of Inky Quill entitled One Scene and Two Songs from “The Importance of Being Ferret”. If I could just quote the summary: Based on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and the songs “If you want a receipt for that popular mystery” and “So go to him/And say to him” from the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Patience and specifically this Hinge & Bracket interpretation of the last. How well my friends know me... And I also get a mention in the scene, in a way that made laugh out loud with glee.

In short, I feel very lucky to have such lovely fandom friends ^^

I'm currently taking part in Flash Fiction Month over on DeviantArt, writing and posting a story of 55 to 1,000 words each day of July.

Here are links to the next batch if anyone's interested in taking a look:


Relaxing Clover attempts to relax at the Halcyon Spa. It's harder than she expected.

Tired After a cursed sleep of a hundred years, Princess Briar Rose does not wake up refreshed.

Grimm Times in the West A short Fairy Tale/Western crossover - told in reverse.

Word Play All the words in a play's script go on strike.

Stuffed My attempt at a psychological thriller. But though you can take the girl out of the comedy, it appears you can't take all the comedy out of the girl...

Victorian Humour An elderly pun looks back on his Victorian heyday.

Kids That Go Bump in the Night A collaboration written with the excellent writer ilyilaice. A kind of... non-film-noir film noir story - with two ten-year-old girl detectives.

The Hero's Return, Part Two Albert Braithwaite's cousin Robert comes to stay.


Or you can find all my stories so far grouped together here.


Author's Pick: Tired!

holmestice has come to a close, so I thought I'd just do a few recs. And looking at the fics I've picked, they all seem to have as their underlying theme an examination of friendship.

First of all, there's my own gift fic Five Times Kincaid Encountered a Dog with Disastrous Consequences to All and Sundry, and One Time It Went Slightly Better Than Expected, Do Wipe That Smug Smile Off Your Face, Watson by language_escapes. This is set in the Without a Clue 'verse, and contrasts how that 'Holmes' (Reginald Kincaid - the actor Watson hires to play the part of Holmes) feels about dogs, with the canon Holmes' more positive feelings. Which is done by rewriting the canon adventures that feature dogs with Kincaid as Holmes instead. And it's both hilarious and rather touching - because in the end the fic is really about the friendship that lies underneath Kincaid and Watson's awkward relationship.

( Musings on Without a Clue itself )

Two Shoes for a Hat by rachelindeed: This is Rachel writing in a new ‘verse for her - Ritchie ‘verse in fact. An inspired and very, very funny look at Holmes and Watson’s first meeting(s), with a wonderfully original Stamford. It’s quintessentially Rachel in that the fic appeals equally to heart and head, and is full of fresh ideas. Before reveals, I did manage to guess which was Rachel’s fic (it appears to be an innate ability. Bit of a specific superpower but a pleasing one to have nonetheless ^^) and it was partly the unknowing enthusiasm of my own comment that reassured me I had made the right choice ^_^

The Question by trobadora: I perhaps wouldn’t have expected to enjoy this fic - I prefer to keep away from Moriarty and Reichenbach as much as possible. But this is such an impressive and moving meditation on the power of friendship. And the writer is evenhanded about Moriarty - though this is a fic that examines his positive aspects, the writer never ignores the fact he is a terrible man. At the end of it all, I was left feeling some sympathy for Moriarty - which is something I had definitely never expected.

Nostoi by sanguinity: This is set in the New Russian Holmes ‘verse, and is a crossover with ACD’s The Lost World. Firstly, it’s a marvellous adventure involving Holmes and Watson trying to get the last European pterodactyl back home to South America. But it’s much more than that - it’s a deeply moving look at the renewal of Holmes and Watson’s friendship after Reichenbach.

The Case of the Six Marmalades: This one is also by sanguinity, and is set in the Whitehead Holmes ‘verse. Charming, lighthearted, captures the characters so well and is so funny ^__^ Holmes likes Watson so much he wants him to share in his pleasures, but then he goes too far…


( Read more... )