Send up a signal; I'll throw you the line

[taste_is_sweet]

Today I am feeling discouraged in the writing and lonely in the heart, so after going over my FList to do some connecting out in the ether (always good to do if you're lonely), I thought I'd invite some of you guys over here to chat. Or at least the somewhat vaguer LJ equivalent.

So, would you like a sympathetic eye? Someone to bounce ideas off of? Something you'd like to rave or rant about? Mi comments son sus comments. Or you are welcome to email me at simple.carbohydrates AT gmail DOT comm.

Please don't feel obliged, though. I know almost everyone is at work and busy anyway. But you know, if you'd like to drop a comment, I'll be here. :)

Comments

[kessie.livejournal.com]

Feeling stuck in the mire right now, in terms of writing. I know I just need a good week back in the routine, but argh. Annoying!

After I've the books I'm currently revising done, I'm torn between a YA fantasy set in Ireland concerning vengeful gods, lesbians, and swords, or a YA quirky contempory romance like Anna and the French Kiss, only with lesbians. I wish you could just imagine books into being, without all the writing and revising to get to the finished product. :P

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean. This was meant to be my first week back into the routine, but so far it hasn't felt great.

Both those books sound really cool, but I personally would prefer the YA fantasty. But I've never gone for contemporary romance of any stripe, so I'm probably the worst person to ask.

Damn it, I was going to ask you if you'd heard of Bold Strokes Books, which was the first e-Publisher I'd found that not only specialized in F/F books but did YA as well. But their URL keeps going to a search page. Hopefully it's just temporary server trouble. Anyway, if you're interested and they're still there, try boldstrokes.com. :)

[rinkafic.livejournal.com]

Awwww. *hugs*

You need to read a feel good fic! Or porn. Or some feel good porn.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the kind thought. :D

I hate to admit it, but I'd prefer angst to porn, at least with a happy ending. :)

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

I'm almost off to bed so I won't be online tonight much longer, but you can tell me all about... whatever you want to tell me, and even if I'm sleeping at the time I promise to nod along and agree at all the crucial points. And then answer properly tomorrow, once my eyes are open all the way.

Or you can just snag the last meme I posted and do one with a fave or random SGA character. Reminding myself I have things in common with other people (wow, and not even just in my mind! :-D ) helps when I'm feeling down, so it might help as well? I dunno, it's the best I got, sorry. Obviously I should be in bed and not still typing. *hugs*

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you. I hope you're sleeping well!

I don't have anything to tell, really. Just wasn't feeling the love today. I did manage to get a bit of editing done so I do feel better, thank you.

I was interested in your meme, but I'm familiar with so few characters...

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

That wasn't a night I'd brag about -- feeling like I didn't go to sleep at all but realizing that the sun is starting to rise a random interval later isn't very restful and doesn't feel like real sleep, le sigh -- but at least it's a new day, so I'm up and at 'em! *g*

I'm glad you're feeling better! *hugs*

Well, you could do one for, say, John Sheppard, if you wanted. Or Elizabeth. Only if you think you'd have fun with it, though.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Coffee is my friend!

Thank you very much for the good wishes! I don't think I'll do your meme, but I'll go check out your journal to see what you wrote. :)

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

I was about to gush on your icon and got hit by such a crack plot bunny, OMG (see, I just signed up for a H50 bigbang that needs to be 40K with no idea upfront, and I'm looking for inspiration everywhere), and now I CANNOT UNSEE A WALL-E FUSION. (hopefully it will pass)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

There was a SGA-Wall-E fusion complete with illustrations awhile back, but I'm afraid I've forgotten who wrote it. It was awesome, though. :)

I personally have no problem with a Wall-E fusion myself, though I'll assume that the plot would be a little more action / adventure and less environmental angst.

I'm glad you like the icon. Wall-E makes me cry every single time I see it. Crazy little robot.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Oh! And if you're interested in inspiration or brainstorming help, I love to do stuff like that. And I've been reading a lot of H50 fic and I've watched a few episodes. :)

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

ohh, thanks for the offer, that's awesome! I really have to put all my effort on the atlantisbigbang first because the deadline is coming sooner, but eventually I'll need to brainstorm about H50 =D (my primary idea at the moment is making it a 3 way crossover with SGA and Iron Man - that I have already going on -, complete with the bug-like replicators from SG1. How is this even my life?)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I can easily see how Stark Enterprises might get tangled up with stargates and replicators. :)

(I thought that you were only allowed SGA/SG-1 crossovers for the Big Bangs, though? Not that I didn't break that rule once myself....)

I've had a H50/SGA sci-fi (as opposed to crime solving) crossover idea in my head for about a month now that I would dearly, dearly love to see on the page but I'm not sure I'll ever have time to write. If you're ready for the H50 BB and still need ideas, I would be happy to share it with you. Though if I'm very lucky I'll have been able to start writing it.

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

I already have 2 stories where I mixed up SGA and Iron Man, it's my fun place when it comes with crossovers... Tony is so much fun to play with :)

You should try your H50/SGA idea! though I agree, time to write is often a problem. *sigh*

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Oh man--Sometimes I have to hang on to my willpower by the skin of my teeth, in order to keep writing original fic which may or may not be accepted by anyone (mostly may not at the moment) rather than leap into the fanfic. But I'll feel better when I get something else finished. :)

Maybe someone will want an H50/SGA crossover for SGA_Santa and I'll get paired with them. Heh.

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

I do think I read that, the SGA one. I can totally imagine it, too.

and yes, it's a beautiful movie, chokes me up too ♥

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I can't remember who did it! It had really cute hand-drawn pictures and was about John the EVE-esque battle robot who had spent thousands of (really boring) years protecting a stargate, and IIRC Rodney was a Wall-E type maintenance bot. And there was angst and electrical damage and robots in lurve. :)

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

I know... I can't remember either. and in H50 it would be st-EVE and maintenance robot Dann-E ;) - and of course trying to come up with original plot/ideas -

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Those names are astonishingly perfect. :D

StEVE's a BAMF security 'bot of some type who...uh... O_O

(Oh yes, here comes the crack) Who isn't able to stop his human creator being killed by some bad guy and goes AWOL to track the bad guy down, only to (naturally) run into Dann-E while he's hunting for him?

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

I know, right? the names just fit

and wow, that's an excellent idea. eeeep. I might have to do that, though maybe not in a 40K bigbang. or maybe yes. I AM SO CONFLICTED.

though the other idea (with the SGA/Iron Man crossover) is actually for the H50 bigbang, not atlantisbigbang who do limit to crossovers with SG1é that one is all SGA based :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I'm sure you said that and I totally, totally missed it.

John and Steve would be so damn happy in those suits. :D

I'm sorry to have conflicted you, therefore! And I don't think you need any other ideas. Oops? :)

[kisahawklin]

I'm 98% sure it was danceswithgary. <3 both of you, and the H50/WALL-E fusion. :D

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

OMG, IT IS!! (http://danceswithgary.livejournal.com/371469.html), thank you! it was driving me nuts!

and HA! don't encourage me in that madness. please. It's so tempting. But it will have to wait after mcshep_match and atlantisbigbang, though. ;)

you know, I've been trying to gather the guts to ask you to be friends for a while and now I just see you write Losers fic on top and I can't resist anymore... what do you think?

[kisahawklin]

What? We're not friends? I admit, I'm terrible at checking LJ (I really do spend most of my time over on DW), but I thought I friended you during match last year! D:

Yeah, of course!

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

I know! travesty! *adds you back* (excellent!)

I do have a DW, (http://lou.dreamwidth.org/profile)lou (http://lou.dreamwidth.org/), but I'll admit on being pretty bad at checking my circle there. I could do more of an effort, though!

[kisahawklin]

Excellent, I have friended you both places (I'm kate over there). :D

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

\o/ You found it! Thank you! I'm reading it now. :D

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

You're right! Fantastic, thank you!

You know, I thought it was danceswithgary! But I'd remembered it as being hand-drawn, which she doesn't normally do so I figured I had to be wrong. (Shows you how good her illustrations were that I thought she'd drew them!)

I'm going to enjoy reading that again. :D Thanks for finding them!

[kisahawklin]

You're very welcome! :D

[kisahawklin]

Though you were replying to gottalovev and she did go to the trouble of finding the link, so I should... probably not take credit. /o\

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

LOL. I'll go thank her, but you did point out the person who wrote it! :D

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Hey--love you too, baby! :D

[iadorespike]

I'm sort of useless in the writing/bouncing ideas/etc department, but I am happy to offer *hugs*. :)

How was Canada?

*snuggles you*

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Canada was great, thank you. :D

You offer great hugs! And greatly appreciated ones! ::snuggles back::

[ariadnes-string.livejournal.com]

Sympathies! I've been having a bad writing week, too--between driving the boys hither and yon and the other demands of summer life I feel like all my time is carved into tiny chunks. And when I do sit down to write--and I'm just trying to do the tiniest of fills for the meme--it's like pulling teeth--one of those weeks when you think about how awesome and effortless everyone else's writing is, while yours...sigh

Hope your day got better!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It did--I was able to salvage a couple of important edits to two chapters out of it, and I hope pray think the result makes more sense re: the emotional arc of the two young and somewhat dense lovers in the story. I think. ::sigh::

But hey! I'm on to chapter eight! Again! (I started it then realized I needed to restart it. Plot how I love yooooou....)

::cough:: Anyway, I really appreciate your sympathy. I have to admit that my life is so very un-busy most of the time that the pitiful amount I've managed this week feels especially pathetic. Considering all you have to do, the fact that you can manage to stab down words at all is pretty freaking awesome.

(Speaking of--did you get my PM about that original idea of yours?)

[ariadnes-string.livejournal.com]

Well, getting stuff done doesn't have much relation to having too many things to do, if you know what I mean...

But it does apparently affect one's ability to keep track of messages--do you mean your PM from June 7? *runs back to re-read*

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

...I think so? About your novel? The thing with the thing and the woman and the guy and the magazine?

ETA: That yes, I do know what you mean, and I appreciate what you're saying. :D But all the same, I still think that it's way more of a big deal when you don't have loads of time and still manage to write!

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

This is a toughie. I hear what you're saying about writing fanfic vs original fic. (In fact, I'm dragging my feet about writing either right now to respond to this--oh LJ, what a lovely time sink you are!)

The thing with fanfic is that most of the worldbuilding is done. Your audience is coming into it already in love with the characters. They are predisposed to like them, and hey! There's a forum in place for instantaneous feedback! *You* love the characters as well--you know them as well as you do your own family--perhaps even better!

Contrast that with writing OF. Original fiction is *hard* You have to world-build from the ground up. You are struggling to learn your own characters--they may or may not reveal themselves to you. You have to shut out fanfic because that easy, natural, *beloved* voice speaks louder than the new voice you're trying to hear. The sandbox is bigger. People don't always like your stories and they are more willing to be openly disparaging about them. And the feedback! You're lucky if you get a tenth of what you get from posting a fanfic story!

I struggle with this daily. Sometimes though, writing fanfic is like cleansing the palette between OF stories. If you look at it as a writing *exercise*, then you can justify it. ;-)

This past week I've been avoiding finishing a cheer-me-up fanfic story for a friend of a friend. I have no idea why I am struggling to write--normally it is a joy. I'm worried about the story and the recipient as a result. I have another (big) story on a deadline that I need to start and the reality is, I should be writing OF *right now*.

Bottom line for me is that sometimes you just need to sit down and write.. Stop worrying if it is good or bad and tell the story you want to tell. I leave you with John Sheppard for motivational support here. :-)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean about the fanfic versus original fic stuff. Fanfic can be so very much easier. :)

I'm glad that you're back to writing normally being a joy again, though it sounds like your week has been pretty bad writing-wise too. I hope we both can find our feet again soon!

[shinyslasher.livejournal.com]

*huggles*

I'm stuck in my writing, but I signed up for kink_bingo and a few challenges in hopes of breaking the evol writing block. All my flist friends are accomplished writers, some published, so sometimes I don't even wanna bother with trying. But then I remember how much fun it is and yeah, it's worth a try :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

It's always worth a try. :) It's just hard to remember that sometimes, I know. I know...

I've been enjoying your stuff a lot on hawaii5_0slash, by the way. :D I'll look forward to your kink_bingo stories. ;->

[kisahawklin]

Late to the party, and nothing much to say (the only thing that's going right for me right now is the writing), but: ♥!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetheart. :D And hey, it's fantastic about the writing!