dragonbat2006

So, unsurprisingly, stuff has happened in the last two years.

( Me Update Under Cut )

I guess those are the high points. I'll try to post more often, but no promises.

No real excuses beyond just not feeling like posting. I've felt like writing fic. And listening to music. And playing Cinderella Story on Facebook. And watch a feral cat grow into a cuddle-muffin around me (I strongly suspect he had people at some point and ended up on the street afterwards. He's got one docked ear—sign of being trapped-neutered-and-released in the past, so I know he's not a housecat that gets to go outside. And let anyone else come into the yard and he'll bolt.)

But I'm on day 2 of antibiotics for cellulitus and Yuletide is coming. The neighbor just came to put up our sukkah today, and I'm dusting off the journal.

a2zmom gave me the letter F so...

Something I hate: Flying off the handle over stupid little things when I'm stressed.

Something I love: Fanfic

Somewhere I've been: Freeport, Me. Good shopping there.

Somewhere I'd like to go: Florence, Italy

A film I like: Finnian's Rainbow

A book I like: Feeling Sorry for Celia

If you'd like a letter, comment below!

Congratulations!

"Changed For Good" has been chosen for publication in Chicago Literati's TV issue. Please forward us your headshot and a brief third person bio to feature at the foot of your story.

Cheers,

The Editors
Chicago Literati
chicagoliterati.com

Chicago Literati is doing a feature on old TV shows and put out a call for fanfic, fanart, essays, etc. I sent in my one TV fanfic (Facts of Life fandom) and... they're printing it!

Squeeeeeee!

It started last July when we got back from Killarney. The day we left, my parents came in from Montreal. They have a key to our house and that was the only time they could come in. (I kid that we're the hotel and my sister with her two adorable kids under the age of three are the entertainment.) So we went Sunday to Tuesday. They came Sunday to Thursday. And when we get back, Dad smiles at me and says, "you're feeding a cat, right?"

Well, the truth was, I wasn't and I told him as much. He was surprised. "I saw a skinny hungry cat passing through the backyard," he said. Yeah. Toronto has a feral cat problem. I'd seen them too from time to time. But I wasn't feeding them.

Well, a couple of days later, I was looking out my window and... yeah. Thin, scruffy, hungry, hunted... went I went grocery shopping, I picked up a can of tuna in water for him/her.

A few hours later, I look out on the patio and there's a cat eating it. And when I look out a bit later... the cat is lying down, staring at the empty can. If I'd had a pic to caption, it would have said "Did that really just happen?"

For about a week, I bought more tuna. Then I found out that

1. Tuna, even if it's water-packed, isn't great for cats. (Something about the salt content.


2. Catfood... even the premium 85% animal protein kind... costs less than a can of tuna a day.

I picked up a food-water combo dish at a dollar store and started buying the premium food. I just figured that, without knowing where else the cat was eating, if I was the sole steady source of nourishment, then I wasn't going to put out something that listed corn or soy as the first ingredient.

Well... that was early July.

I now have a shelter in my back yard from a cat rescue (Hubby doesn't want pets in the house and I'm not positive that a feral would adjust anyway).

I also have metal food and water bowls instead of the plastic 2-in-1 I bought. It seems that when the water in the dish freezes overnight and you tap it on the concrete patio to dislodge the solid ice...

And I've got five regular visitors.

1. Simone. Long-haired tortie who, initially, seemed to be warming up to me. (I'd get in the habit of putting down the food and then moving to sit on a patio chair on the lawn. Simone would come into the yard, even if I was there, which was more than the others would). She's now gotten more standoffish. But if the food dish is empty, she will look up at my window. And if I'm in it, she we stare at me. As if to say, "Don't just stand there, Useless. Fill it. I'm hungry!"



2. Snake. Grey-and-white. Has a bad leg and slithers a bit when s/he walks. Will slow-blink me from the neighbor's yard. Sometimes stays in mine when I go to feed them, but at the far fence. Periodically stays in the shelter.



3. Soot. Solid charcoal grey. Might have some Russian Blue in them. Very laid back and easy-going for a feral. By which I mean that when I come into the yard, if he's lying on the cushioned patio chair near the water faucet (opposite end of the patio), he'll lift his head, slow-blink, and then just lie back down and watch. Now, if I need to fill the water at the faucet, he'll bolt but... this is Toronto and it's winter. I've been refilling a plastic bottle indoors and pouring that into the water dish. Pipes freeze. He's making very good use of the shelter.



4. Ol Punk. Longhaired ginger tabby. Friendliest of the five. Runs up to me when I come into the yard. Lets me pet him. I start filling the bowl and he's got his head in it before I can even add the dental treats. Rubs against me. Hasn't started purring yet, but I think it'll happen. Of course, when Hubby came into the back yard to tell me something, he streaked out in mid-pet.



5. Cayenne. Red-and-white tabby about half the size of the others. I believe they're an adult, but probably was a kitten not long ago. Trades on cutes to get by. The only one who isn't afraid to move on the food dish while another cat is there. (Will approach while I'm there, but stays a few feet away until I leave.)

Oh and the shelter? Rubbermaid container, insulated with Styrofoam, lined with straw. When I got it, the first couple of days, I strewed some kibble in front of it, as well as what I put in the food dishes. (The shelter is as far from the patio as possible; I was worried that if it was on the patio, I might be getting too close to them when I went to feed them.) Two days later, I go out to feed them and I discover a single piece of straw laid down precisely in front of the food dish. No wind. No other straw in the yard anywhere. Somehow, I think that one of them was trying to tell me that they'd found it and I could stop putting the food there now...

Winter's starting to get brutal. The shelter is supposed to sleep three. Two are using it. (Snake and Soot.) Meanwhile... I think they're getting to like me.

As I've mentioned before, I volunteer write and edit for Self Publisher! Magazine. My official title has just been upgraded from copy editor to (drumroll, please)...

Managing Editor

Go me!!!!

Killarney Village and Killarney Provincial Park, here we come!

Camera at the ready. Clothes packed. Food packed. Ereader packed. Printout of novel, so I can jot down notes where changes need to be made... packed in bag that comes in the front seat with me!

Back on Tuesday!

My two little nephews aged 26 months and 20 months just got into my father's pills. Thank G-d they didn't eat any. And I'd just pushed the 26-month old out of the computer room because I'm trying to get some editing done. I closed the door behind him to keep him out. My parents hadn't closed their bedroom door.

And my sisters and brothers-in-law all thought someone else was watching those two while they were eating/working/looking after the seven-year-old and the six-month-old.

They're okay. Thank G-d. But for a few minutes there...

I can sort of see where the inspiration is coming from. I have a number of OCs who sort of invade every fandom I've loved since I was about 10. And with every fandom, they've grown and changed and fleshed out and become less Sue-ish. Or, at least, I've become aware of when they're upstaging the characters too much. They were Dryads and Naiads when I was into CoN and the D&D cartoon. I played them in AD&D and GURPS and they grew more 3D. I tried writing about them in my teens and there are probably a bunch of old handwritten drafts of various incarnations and settings (present-day, SF, Fantasy... I may have tried some sort of frontier/Little House thing too, but I don't honestly recall and that one was short-lived). Madeleine L'Engle's time quartet helped me name Brandon and Bronwen. Jill Percival/Perkal was a homage to CoN's Jill Pole (although the character certainly changed. I invented her when I was 12!)

They made it into the first fanfic I posted at ff.net and its unfinished sequel. And then I stopped. I didn't need to tell their stories in the Bat-verse. I had Bat characters to work with! Some scenes I'd pictured happening between Bruce and Callie or Callie and Bron ended up playing out just as well between Bruce and Leslie or Bruce and Alfred.

The thing is, I've been playing in a new fandom. And I've been sort of smiling and nodding knowingly as Natalie reaches out to Matt Murdock and starts rhapsodizing over the joy of leaping from building to building when the real me gets nervous about eight feet up. It's fun to let my OCs explore, even if I'm not ready to unleash them.

But something's different this time.

I think it started when I had Matt bring Foggy over to their HQ and one of the team's support personnel casually heads into the gym and starts working out. She's not a costumed hero. Has no intention of becoming one. BUT she is damned if she's going to willingly slip into the 'frequent hostage role'. And while Daredevil and Psion Force go out on patrol, the "backstage crew" spend their time researching leads, inventorying medical supplies, and yes, training. Because the heroes have enough to worry about without having their friends and families targeted.

And that's it. Write a novel that isn't about the costumed hero. Because we've seen and read it all a million times. There ARE fresh approaches to be found but all of mine start with "and their parents got killed and they had supermetamutant powers yadda yadda yadda..." So I guess at this point, it's not in me to write a fresh new superhero that will truly stand out from the others. But is is in me to write about the Foggy Nelsons and the Leslie Thompkinses and the Jim Gordons. Not the sidekicks. The normal, non-costumed people, make that ONE normal non-costumed fifteen-year-old girl named Kerry who is so bloody sick of getting kidnapped, helping her (perhaps not-so) heroic best friend cram for tests while doing group projects herself because the [PNS]HBF was too busy saving the universe to get her part done in time, getting kidnapped again, lying to cover for her [PNS]HBF, getting kidnapped again(!), etc etc. Until she finds out that there is a place where she can go to learn how to fight back and not be a victim, how to be a friend without being an enabler. And if my OCs show up as the "older" generation, the [PNS]HBF's parents and some of the instructors at this "Hogwarts for Muggle friends of Wizards," well... stranger things have happened.

I'm going to post stuff as I write it, but this is still pretty rough. Some of my lj-friends found me through add_a_writer. Here's where I can use some gentle concrit. Eventually, I may post to some non-fanfic comms, but not yet. Still too rough.

I'm not giving up fanfic either. I can't. I'm still in the middle of an epic AU and I don't want to leave Batman hanging! But I'm going to see where this goes too.

Self Publisher Association

Dear Ellen,

Thank you for your accreditation request to Fan Expo Canada™ 2013. We are pleased to invite you to cover this exciting event on August 22-25, 2013 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Self Publisher Association has been accredited to Fan Expo Canada™ 2013 on the following days:

Thursday, August 22
Friday, August 23
Sunday, August 25

*Please note that due to space restrictions we are not able to accommodate your request for Saturday, August 24.

Here's the thing: Boss requested a pass for all 4 days, but I wouldn't be attending on Saturday anyway. Sabbath issues. So... not really calling this miraculous so much as "even if I'd wanted to go on Saturday, I couldn't."

Will be writing article on the indie experience at Fan Expo. Will also be having a great old time in artist alley! Can't wait!