Lemming

[adelynne]

I am actually writing that story. About 3000 words into it, and yet, no smut. It's so rare that the urge to write fanfic strikes, I just couldn't let it pass by.

In the meanwhile, a meme, courtesy of lareinenoire: Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile" and I will respond by asking you five questions that satisfy my curiosity. Update your journal

Comments

[lareinenoire]

I was particularly curious about the balance between writing and dissertating, because I'd run into that myself over the past three years -- my writing slowed to a crawl because all my energy was focused on the dissertation. Now, I'm at a bit of a loose end because job applications simply aren't as interesting as my dissertation, but I still haven't quite managed to drum up the same energy for writing that I had before.

(Sidenote about consulting: my dad did his PhD in Engineering at MIT and is now a consultant; he told me he picked up his doctoral dissertation a few months ago and couldn't understand a word of it.)

Lastly, I would love to be a fly on the wall for any conversation between Edmond and Athos, but why do I have the sinking feeling Athos would take exception to some of Edmond's methods and the whole thing would devolve into some form of barfight?

[lareinenoire]

Also, resistance is futile. ;)

[adelynne]

1. Would you ever pursue more research into Dumas following your MS? Did you change your topic toward what would work for the department you were applying to, or because your interests changed?

2. What is your ideal job at this point?

3. Tying into the above, how much thought have you given to the family/work balance of what you do/will do?

4. You do enjoy "emphasizin ur wimmenz" historically. Have you ever considered writing Dumas (for example) fic where you take a female player from a story where she isn't the main focus and telling it from her perspective? (Queen Margot, I think, is excluded for being a title character and POV narrator.) What are the challenges inherent in that?

5. What is your favorite aspect of the Arthur myth/work?

[adelynne]

I think after a while, you really just need to zero in on research to get anywhere with it. Everything else fades. Afterward, you're so burned out that you need recovery time.

I remember the feeling of finishing undergrad - though it wasn't research as much as all my final projects - and being so burned out that I couldn't imagine writing anything for months. It wasn't until I read Tithe and A Great and Terrible Beauty in the same week that my brain jump-started again.

You need to give yourself time, and not feel too bad that it's taking that long.

Sidenote about consulting: my dad did his PhD in Engineering at MIT and is now a consultant; he told me he picked up his doctoral dissertation a few months ago and couldn't understand a word of it.It was particularly bad in this case because the person in question ranted at me about how you should be thrilled to run a gel, so cool is science. (I recognize that is babble to most people - a gel is something very mundane and basic, and quite uninteresting unless it's your first time

[toshieri]

Resistance is futile, also, I won't get to this for a few days because my parents are in town for Thanksgiving.

[adelynne]

1. What one aspect draws you to anime/manga most?

2. What happened to Purgatory?

3. What would be your ideal vacation?

4. What is a guilty pleasure you would never normally admit to liking in public - a song by someone you don't like or a romance novel you'd normally hide under the mattress - that you've really enjoyed?

5. What is your deepest regret to date?

[hamsterwoman]

Ooh, interesting answer on the first! Interesting because I've resigned myself to finding Arthuriana the most boring of all popular fantasy settings and tropes for reasons very similar to yours (when surprise!Arthur et al showed up in Fionavar I went from mostly indulgent eye-rolling to outright WTFing) -- but the sort of setting in character you describe there actually sounds interesting to me. I should remember not to pass on those books should I encounter them just because they're Arthuriana.

A fascinating discussion over dinner at a nice, French tavern is more my style.

Hee! And very much agreed with your outcome and reasons for it, too.

I forget, have you been back to Kiev since emigrating? (None of us have, yet. Mostly, I think, it's because all the people we "left behind" are now in Israel or in the US. But I do want to go back and visit the place, and show it to my kids -- when they're old enough to appreciate and remember it, ideally, which should be soon.)

Also, resistance is futile :)

[adelynne]

You should definitely, definitely read The Winter Prince. And I don't just say that so that my fic can have a bigger audience.

My sister and brother-in-law have gone back and taken my niece, but I haven't gone yet. I keep waiting on my parents, since I really want to go back with them and my husband. It'd make the visit more meaningful, I think.

[adelynne]

1. Why hamsters/rodents?

2. What one thing is it the hardest, but most important to you, to teach your children?

3. How did you come to marry a person one year younger than your parents? How awkward was it when you were dating?

4. What aspect of A Song of Ice & Fire - the world, characters, etc. - do you find most annoying? (And how long he's taking to write the books doesn't count.)

5. What is one item that you would splurge on for yourself no matter the cost?

[adelynne]

Damn. I had two or three written and I had to close the window. :( Yours are hard to write!

1. I'm curious about your decision to take your husbands' last names. Was it a discussion? Did you ever think of keeping your own?

2. If you couldn't do library science for a living, what would you want to be doing?

3. What is/was an influential book you read growing up that affected how you see the world?

4. What is a place you want to go see in the next five years? Why?

5. As we're big on Arthurian stuff in this meme - why (originally) grailquestion? What made you change it?