Happy belated birthday, zandra x!
Well, it’s been one of those weeks where I’ve come home from work with just enough energy to read fiction but not enough coherence to write about it, so, while I had hopes that at least one of the week’s birthday greetings would be on time, it was not to happen. However-the three-day weekend begins! So, after a decent night’s sleep and no 5:30 AM alarm, I think I can now actually try to do justice to yesterday’s birthday person, zandra_x.
In the interests of full disclosure, I need to say up front that I have the privilege of being a beta for zandra_x for some of her longer works. What is meant by that is that I offer her some of my limitless supply of commas and catch the extremely rare typo. I don’t have anything to do with the actual creation of her clever, insightful stories, but I do get to see them before most other folks and to offer early praise for them. So thanks, zandra_x, for the honor of enjoying these “sneak previews”! And, yes, this position is indeed evidence of some bias on my part; after spending my workweek reading far too much mediocre writing, I’d only (selfishly) volunteer for such a position because I know that I'm going to get to enjoy quality writing-it is always such a great treat to see her address pop up on my email.
Today, we return to the Whedonverse. First, let me say that zandra_x is a multi-talented individual. I’ll talk about her longer fiction in a minute, but she is also a prolific icon-maker and a crafter of delightfully crisp and effective drabbles. I don’t have much visual arts talent myself, but for anyone who is thinking of exploring icon-making, she’s got a number of informative items under “how to” in her Memories about that, here: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=zandra_x&keyword=how-to&filter=all. And for the rest of us . . . they are just plain enjoyable to peek at.
But, much I always enjoy looking at her icons, I’m a words-person myself, so it’s the word-pictures she creates through her drabbles which truly fascinate me. You can find these in her Memories under “Drabble,” “Misc Drabble,” and “Summer of Spike” (did I miss any?). To my mind, writing a drabble requires some of the same gifts as writing poetry: the ability to pick the precise moment, often apparently random or meaningless, and then to distill the exactly right words to capture what is truly significant about it. Her collection of drabbles do this very well. They capture little scenes around the edges of what was on the screen or fill in background that was hinted about or which suddenly adds another layer to something we saw. She’s featured most of the characters at one point or another, but I particularly enjoy the way that she has fleshed out characters like Justine and Ethan, who have so much promise but got so little air time. She also has a real talent for the elliptical view-showing us a familiar character from an unfamiliar POV, or leaving us uncertain until the final line as to who the subject might be. This is never gimmicky; it’s always intriguing and effective. Usually I try to provide a link to a sample work as a point of entry, but-having reread them all from most recent back-I can’t choose just one out of these wonderful bits of the larger mosaic. However, I heartily recommend that exercise, done all at once or doled out like pieces of dark chocolate, one at a time; here’s the page where the greatest concentration is to be found, for bookmarking if you decide to treat yourself to them slowly: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=zandra_x&keyword=Drabble&filter=all. But don’t miss those at the other locations I’ve noted!
And then there is her longer fiction. These can be found in her Memories under “my stories,” here: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=zandra_x&keyword=my+stories&filter=all. It’s even harder to pick one of these to recommend first, especially since I feel a completely unwarranted proprietary affection for all of them. You can read these in any order, and they are each a good length for single-sitting reads. That said . . .
A good possible starting point might be the short pieces she wrote as a “Happy Birthday” to Anthony Stewart Head, particularly the two involving cigars. You’ll get a good sense of her humor and her writing style, as well as her insight into character.
“Roman Diversions” is a delightful tale of Dawn in Rome meeting up with that ever-creative Ethan. I enjoy the fact that her Ethan is most definitely the Trickster-very much like Coyote in Native American tales. He interferes with best-laid plans and introduces a note of uncertainty; sometimes the results are benign, sometimes not, but he’s both cause and explanation of the parts of life we can’t always control. You can’t put Coyote-or Ethan-into a neat little box, and that’s what I love about her complex depiction of him. Plus, she understands his charm (and he wouldn’t be nearly so successful in creating Chaos without it).
“California Dreaming” is a lovely slice-of-life featuring Cordelia and Doyle on the Day That Angel Undid. The what-might-have been here is realistic and just poignant enough. The character voices, as usual, are excellent.
“When Ethan Met Tucker” uses a chance encounter to contrast with unobtrusive cleverness the speaking styles and thought processes of these two and to offer insights into growing up and growing old(er); as usual, she’s managed to link it logically into the larger storyline while developing something uniquely her own.
“Sadder and Wiser Girls” features an encounter between Anya and Illyria, which might just be the start of a beautiful-or at least mutually advantageous-friendship. This story demonstrates some of my favorite things about zandra_x’s style: dry, wry, often deadpan, with voices that work just right, and with the emotion going on off-stage, in the reader’s mind. What I mean by that is that she never over-writes; her style can be deceptively distanced, but one can’t help filling in what isn’t being said. This takes real talent.
Another story which has this impact is “Before,” describing Giles’ visit home for his mother’s funeral. It would be terribly easy to overdo the backstory and hand-wringing here; instead, in perfect Giles-voice (internal and external), she sketches out a rich emotional background and leads us to imagine the rest.
“Five Movies Faith Never Saw” uses this familiar format to provide thoughtful insights into Faith’s relationships with others in her life, with tantalizing glimpses of what might have been, had just a few things gone differently.
The Ethan short piece for Theatrical Muse is yet another perfectly envisioned little outtake; Ethan on the road having a cuppa, from the waitress’s perspective. A fine vignette, and excellent development of a non-series character. (She excels at “show, don’t tell,” and we see that here.)
I wouldn’t say that “Mr. Gordo’s Story” is entirely typical of her work, but I will say that it is a relief to have a story told from the perspective of a stuffed animal which actually has an internal logic and a distinctive and non-Disneyish voice!
One of the unexpected benefits of doing these birthday tributes is that I sometimes encounter a story I’ve missed, an addition to a journal I haven’t noticed, or something else I’ve overlooked. Since I’ve just been having her (main) LJ pop up on my Friends page, I’d been keeping up pretty well on icons, drabbles, and current fiction. But when I actually visited her site, I found some interesting links over to the right, and they hook one into some additional LJs, set up specifically for fiction dealing with particular characters. I’m going to be keeping my eye on them from now on, too, just to be sure I don’t miss anything! Again, what is so engaging here: her insight into character and her accurate, distinctive voices. Here are the sites:
http://giles-watching.livejournal.com/
I adore her Giles; she captures his complexities and his tone, his ability to see himself clearly and also those persistent blind spots of his.
http://belovedchaos.livejournal.com/
I don’t know if anyone else could have made me so fond of Ethan, Puritan that I am. Perhaps it’s his honesty about himself-and perhaps it’s a sneaking little desire to toss aside order and responsibility, lurking in each of our inner-Giles.
http://itsallfiction.livejournal.com/profile
Justine Cooper was well if briefly played on “Angel”-so much anger, so much strength. I really appreciate the way these short pieces bring us into her world, since we saw her mainly from the outside on the series.
I think you’ll appreciate and enjoy zandra_x’s many talents as much as I do. When I think of her work, I always think of champagne: dry, light, but with more of an impact than you initially notice. It’s been, as ever, delightful to read her work this past week, and to discover yet more that I hadn’t realized was out there was definitely a gift to me! So happy (belated) birthday and many, many thanks, zandra_x!
(And now, off to do my taxes-which I have never, ever, ever done this late before . . . However, we in the Southland are just now receiving the rainstorms which she’s had up in Northern California, which makes it a good day to stay inside, at least.)
In the interests of full disclosure, I need to say up front that I have the privilege of being a beta for zandra_x for some of her longer works. What is meant by that is that I offer her some of my limitless supply of commas and catch the extremely rare typo. I don’t have anything to do with the actual creation of her clever, insightful stories, but I do get to see them before most other folks and to offer early praise for them. So thanks, zandra_x, for the honor of enjoying these “sneak previews”! And, yes, this position is indeed evidence of some bias on my part; after spending my workweek reading far too much mediocre writing, I’d only (selfishly) volunteer for such a position because I know that I'm going to get to enjoy quality writing-it is always such a great treat to see her address pop up on my email.
Today, we return to the Whedonverse. First, let me say that zandra_x is a multi-talented individual. I’ll talk about her longer fiction in a minute, but she is also a prolific icon-maker and a crafter of delightfully crisp and effective drabbles. I don’t have much visual arts talent myself, but for anyone who is thinking of exploring icon-making, she’s got a number of informative items under “how to” in her Memories about that, here: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=zandra_x&keyword=how-to&filter=all. And for the rest of us . . . they are just plain enjoyable to peek at.
But, much I always enjoy looking at her icons, I’m a words-person myself, so it’s the word-pictures she creates through her drabbles which truly fascinate me. You can find these in her Memories under “Drabble,” “Misc Drabble,” and “Summer of Spike” (did I miss any?). To my mind, writing a drabble requires some of the same gifts as writing poetry: the ability to pick the precise moment, often apparently random or meaningless, and then to distill the exactly right words to capture what is truly significant about it. Her collection of drabbles do this very well. They capture little scenes around the edges of what was on the screen or fill in background that was hinted about or which suddenly adds another layer to something we saw. She’s featured most of the characters at one point or another, but I particularly enjoy the way that she has fleshed out characters like Justine and Ethan, who have so much promise but got so little air time. She also has a real talent for the elliptical view-showing us a familiar character from an unfamiliar POV, or leaving us uncertain until the final line as to who the subject might be. This is never gimmicky; it’s always intriguing and effective. Usually I try to provide a link to a sample work as a point of entry, but-having reread them all from most recent back-I can’t choose just one out of these wonderful bits of the larger mosaic. However, I heartily recommend that exercise, done all at once or doled out like pieces of dark chocolate, one at a time; here’s the page where the greatest concentration is to be found, for bookmarking if you decide to treat yourself to them slowly: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=zandra_x&keyword=Drabble&filter=all. But don’t miss those at the other locations I’ve noted!
And then there is her longer fiction. These can be found in her Memories under “my stories,” here: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=zandra_x&keyword=my+stories&filter=all. It’s even harder to pick one of these to recommend first, especially since I feel a completely unwarranted proprietary affection for all of them. You can read these in any order, and they are each a good length for single-sitting reads. That said . . .
A good possible starting point might be the short pieces she wrote as a “Happy Birthday” to Anthony Stewart Head, particularly the two involving cigars. You’ll get a good sense of her humor and her writing style, as well as her insight into character.
“Roman Diversions” is a delightful tale of Dawn in Rome meeting up with that ever-creative Ethan. I enjoy the fact that her Ethan is most definitely the Trickster-very much like Coyote in Native American tales. He interferes with best-laid plans and introduces a note of uncertainty; sometimes the results are benign, sometimes not, but he’s both cause and explanation of the parts of life we can’t always control. You can’t put Coyote-or Ethan-into a neat little box, and that’s what I love about her complex depiction of him. Plus, she understands his charm (and he wouldn’t be nearly so successful in creating Chaos without it).
“California Dreaming” is a lovely slice-of-life featuring Cordelia and Doyle on the Day That Angel Undid. The what-might-have been here is realistic and just poignant enough. The character voices, as usual, are excellent.
“When Ethan Met Tucker” uses a chance encounter to contrast with unobtrusive cleverness the speaking styles and thought processes of these two and to offer insights into growing up and growing old(er); as usual, she’s managed to link it logically into the larger storyline while developing something uniquely her own.
“Sadder and Wiser Girls” features an encounter between Anya and Illyria, which might just be the start of a beautiful-or at least mutually advantageous-friendship. This story demonstrates some of my favorite things about zandra_x’s style: dry, wry, often deadpan, with voices that work just right, and with the emotion going on off-stage, in the reader’s mind. What I mean by that is that she never over-writes; her style can be deceptively distanced, but one can’t help filling in what isn’t being said. This takes real talent.
Another story which has this impact is “Before,” describing Giles’ visit home for his mother’s funeral. It would be terribly easy to overdo the backstory and hand-wringing here; instead, in perfect Giles-voice (internal and external), she sketches out a rich emotional background and leads us to imagine the rest.
“Five Movies Faith Never Saw” uses this familiar format to provide thoughtful insights into Faith’s relationships with others in her life, with tantalizing glimpses of what might have been, had just a few things gone differently.
The Ethan short piece for Theatrical Muse is yet another perfectly envisioned little outtake; Ethan on the road having a cuppa, from the waitress’s perspective. A fine vignette, and excellent development of a non-series character. (She excels at “show, don’t tell,” and we see that here.)
I wouldn’t say that “Mr. Gordo’s Story” is entirely typical of her work, but I will say that it is a relief to have a story told from the perspective of a stuffed animal which actually has an internal logic and a distinctive and non-Disneyish voice!
One of the unexpected benefits of doing these birthday tributes is that I sometimes encounter a story I’ve missed, an addition to a journal I haven’t noticed, or something else I’ve overlooked. Since I’ve just been having her (main) LJ pop up on my Friends page, I’d been keeping up pretty well on icons, drabbles, and current fiction. But when I actually visited her site, I found some interesting links over to the right, and they hook one into some additional LJs, set up specifically for fiction dealing with particular characters. I’m going to be keeping my eye on them from now on, too, just to be sure I don’t miss anything! Again, what is so engaging here: her insight into character and her accurate, distinctive voices. Here are the sites:
http://giles-watching.livejournal.com/
I adore her Giles; she captures his complexities and his tone, his ability to see himself clearly and also those persistent blind spots of his.
http://belovedchaos.livejournal.com/
I don’t know if anyone else could have made me so fond of Ethan, Puritan that I am. Perhaps it’s his honesty about himself-and perhaps it’s a sneaking little desire to toss aside order and responsibility, lurking in each of our inner-Giles.
http://itsallfiction.livejournal.com/profile
Justine Cooper was well if briefly played on “Angel”-so much anger, so much strength. I really appreciate the way these short pieces bring us into her world, since we saw her mainly from the outside on the series.
I think you’ll appreciate and enjoy zandra_x’s many talents as much as I do. When I think of her work, I always think of champagne: dry, light, but with more of an impact than you initially notice. It’s been, as ever, delightful to read her work this past week, and to discover yet more that I hadn’t realized was out there was definitely a gift to me! So happy (belated) birthday and many, many thanks, zandra_x!
(And now, off to do my taxes-which I have never, ever, ever done this late before . . . However, we in the Southland are just now receiving the rainstorms which she’s had up in Northern California, which makes it a good day to stay inside, at least.)