Dear Yuletide Santa
This is my first year participating in the Yuletide rare fandom writing exchange, and hell yes, I'm nervous! So, dear Yuletide Santa, please forgive me if I provide too much information in my quest to make your job easier - I'm very good at that.
My four requested fandoms are:
1) Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (James Asher/Simon Ysidro)
My Yuletide prompt: "Don Simon and James Asher went out on the proverbial limb for each other more than once during the course of the book, even knowing the other was a danger to their continued well-being if he were allowed to "live". I would love a story that focuses on the odd friendship between these two. Perhaps a story that delves deeper into their relationship either during the canon of the first book or afterwards. A situation where one of them has to "save" the other is another possibility. However, if you have any other story idea with the main focus on Don Simon and James Asher, indulge yourself! Feel free to use any of the others as secondary characters. Gen or slash is fine, although given the vampires' nature, I realize slash is extremely difficult here!"
If you're not familiar with the book (and my prompt for the fandom you did volunteer for scared you off), then this is not a hard book to obtain. Neither is it exceedingly long. It does have a sequel (Traveling with the Dead), but I didn't care for the sequel as much as the first book, so feel free to ignore it (like I tend to do, lol!) if it makes your job easier. Again, if you're not familiar with the book, it's a vampire mystery story set in London around the turn of the century with a set of very intriguing characters.
My favorites, as mentioned above, are Don Simon Ysidro and James Asher, but all of the ancillary characters are interesting in their own right, so again, feel free to include any others you like. I don't normally like the female characters, but Lydia Asher is particularly well rounded, and I have to admit, an excellent match for James.
2) The Guns of Navarone, by Alistair MacLean (Keith Mallory/Andrea Stavros/Dusty Miller)
My Yuletide prompt: "I love everything about this series, so I'm easy to please here. Give me an adventure story with Mallory being injured/captured, and the other two having to save him, perhaps against his own orders. Or maybe an interlude during one of their rare "quiet times" where they're not under immediate danger of death or capture. Or a story told from an "outsider" who is viewing their complicated relationships from a different angle. This is a fandom I would truly love anything you give me, so feel free to follow a completely different path. Gen or slash is fine. No death stories please."
I much prefer the book canon to the movie canon for this prompt. My two favorite characters are Mallory and Andrea; therefore, as much as I enjoyed the movie (and Gregory Peck as Mallory - yum!), I just couldn't get my mind around Mallory and Andrea as enemies. It boggled my minuscule brain when I first saw the movie, let me tell you! I'm primarily a slash writer myself (as noted below), but gen is absolutely fine for this prompt.
I'm a big fan of Alistair MacLean and have read everything he wrote at least once, but this series is a particular favorite of mine. The two follow-up stories by Sam Llewellyn were okay but just didn't have the same "feel" as MacLean's original two books. Can't explain it more than that, but I did find the revelation of Mallory's severe claustrophobia to be fascinating. Makes you wonder what kind of event (traumatic or otherwise) brought that phobia on, doesn't it?
3) Dick Francis - Sid Halley series (Sid Halley/Charles Roland)
My Yuletide prompt: "I find the relationship between Sid and his father-in-law fascinating. One suggestion would be a story set soon after they first met, or how their relationship has evolved over time. Or a story where the Admiral knowingly puts Sid in danger (for a good cause, of course), and he sees firsthand the consequences of his maneuvering. However, any story featuring these two would be met with open arms, so if you have your own idea, feel free to surprise me. Use whichever secondary characters you like but no death stories and no strong focus on the het relationships please."
I've been reading Dick Francis books ever since I was in high school (a long, long time ago!), but Sid Halley will always be my favorite. I was ecstatic when I found they were doing a TV series on the character way back when ("The Racing Game", I believe it was called), but while Mike Gwilym is a perfectly fine actor, he just didn't come across as the Sid Halley I had always pictured in my head. Of course, I haven't watched these again since they came out in 1980, so my take on the series may be completely different now. (Making a mental note to add the DVD's to the Netflix queue!)
You can certainly try a slash pairing if you'd prefer, but this is one set of characters I've never slashed, even in my head, lol! Of course, I'd thought the same way about Miles Vorkosigan and Gregor Vorbarra until E.E Beck and Sahiya convinced me otherwise in their absolutely marvelous Vorkosigan slash fanfic, A Deeper Season. So, by all means, if you're a slash writer and feel the need to write them as a slash pairing, you can certainly try to convince me! Otherwise, gen would be perfectly fine.
4) Hogan's Heroes (Robert Hogan)
My Yuletide prompt: "I love Colonel Hogan, but he can be insufferably arrogant at times, albeit for good reason, lol! I would love a story where Hogan meets his intellectual and scheming match on the German side, and for once, doesn't come out on top. This can be straight comedy as in the series, but I would prefer at least a little angst in this if you can arrange it. You'll probably have to come up with an OC, but if you can manage it with one of the canon characters, more power to ya! Gen or slash is perfectly fine. No death stories and no het, please."
This show is absolutely timeless, and the entire cast did a marvelous job with their respective roles. My favorite characters among the heroes are Hogan, Kinch and Newkirk, but feel free to use any (or none) in your story. You may get as dark as you'd like with this prompt, short of an actual deathfic. And yes, I know it was a comedy, but so was M*A*S*H, and they covered some fairly intense topics in their run. I tend to write angsty myself, but again, a straight comedic "episode" as in the series would also be avidly welcomed, so please don't feel too strangled here.
As for personal information you may (or may not) want to know: As you can see, I haven't updated this LJ in over two years (Real Life has been - and continues to be - a real trial), but I've been writing in various fandoms since 1999, including The Phantom Menace, Pirates of the Caribbean, Starsky & Hutch, Horatio Hornblower (A&E series), Guns of Navarone and the original Star Wars. You can find some of my older stories here:
My stories on WWoMB
If you're a gen writer and are cringing at the number of slash stories I've written, don't despair! I do have a gen Star Wars novel here, Between Flight and Longing and I read far more gen stories than I write. I've also discovered as I've gotten older that it's the relationships between the characters that are far more interesting to me than the actual sex scenes (and to tell you the truth, I tend to just skim through those anymore!), so a good gen story is just as fine with me as a slash story in many fandoms. In short, when I say in my prompt "gen or slash is fine", I mean exactly that, lol!
And yes, I know I mention in almost every prompt that I don't want a deathfic but have actually written one myself ("An Element of Blank"). I can't help being a hypocrite here, so you'll just have to accept this as a "Do as I say, not as I do" type of situation, lol! "An Element of Blank" was my first fanfic, I was depressed as all get out when I wrote it, and I've never felt the urge to repeat the experiment. (Though I do still tend to abuse characters quite a bit when I write them!)
If you prefer to write slash, I'm not much into kink or threesomes, but I do enjoy a well written BDSM story occasionally. However, as I mentioned above, I tend to prefer the "how they got there" aspect of slash rather than a detailed sex scene. Guess that's why I especially enjoy the first time stories. In other words, "fade to black" is quite acceptable if you're not comfortable writing sex scenes. (However, do feel free to indulge in hot man sex if that's what you'd like to write - I'm certainly game for that as well. I just don't write them well myself). I'm not much into PWP's though - I prefer to have at least a little plot with my porn.
For gen stories, I enjoy world-building and well plotted stories, but I realize you can only fit so much plot in 1000 words, lol! I tend to write very dark myself, but I would prefer to have at least a reasonably happy ending when all is said and done. Light, "feel good" stories would be just as welcomed. In other words, go for what works best for you.
As for myself, I'm fast approaching 50 years old, and I'm currently owned by three demanding cats. I have a 40-acre farm in central Virginia, USA, and work as a medical transcriptionist for a group of pathologists at a small local hospital. Prior to that, I spent almost 12 years in the Intelligence field, first in the Navy and then for the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.
I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction authors including Anne McCaffrey, Tanya Huff, Diane Duane, Katherine Kurtz, David Weber (mostly the Honor Harrington series), Lois McMaster Bujold, etc. I also read Dick Francis (obviously), Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, as well enjoy some of the "classic" authors such as Alexander Dumas, Edward Bulwer-Lytton and the Baroness Orczy.
I'm an avid Star Wars and Star Trek fan, adore animated films (both the Disney classics as well as movies from the new animators such as Cars, Toy Story, the Incredibles, etc.), and adventure films such as Indiana Jones. I don't care much for the romantic comedies or "campus comedy" movies, but am a big fan of Monty Python and Mel Brooks. Go figure! I do not enjoy the horror genre, so don't try to give me a crossover with anything remotely related to Stephen King, lol!
Heavens, but this got longer than I wanted to get! Hope all the babble was helpful, and to parrot back the Yuletide mods, remember all the optional details I've written here are optional, so please don't stress! I'm certain I will love anything you come up with and thank you for your time and effort in researching/writing my story.
My four requested fandoms are:
1) Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (James Asher/Simon Ysidro)
My Yuletide prompt: "Don Simon and James Asher went out on the proverbial limb for each other more than once during the course of the book, even knowing the other was a danger to their continued well-being if he were allowed to "live". I would love a story that focuses on the odd friendship between these two. Perhaps a story that delves deeper into their relationship either during the canon of the first book or afterwards. A situation where one of them has to "save" the other is another possibility. However, if you have any other story idea with the main focus on Don Simon and James Asher, indulge yourself! Feel free to use any of the others as secondary characters. Gen or slash is fine, although given the vampires' nature, I realize slash is extremely difficult here!"
If you're not familiar with the book (and my prompt for the fandom you did volunteer for scared you off), then this is not a hard book to obtain. Neither is it exceedingly long. It does have a sequel (Traveling with the Dead), but I didn't care for the sequel as much as the first book, so feel free to ignore it (like I tend to do, lol!) if it makes your job easier. Again, if you're not familiar with the book, it's a vampire mystery story set in London around the turn of the century with a set of very intriguing characters.
My favorites, as mentioned above, are Don Simon Ysidro and James Asher, but all of the ancillary characters are interesting in their own right, so again, feel free to include any others you like. I don't normally like the female characters, but Lydia Asher is particularly well rounded, and I have to admit, an excellent match for James.
2) The Guns of Navarone, by Alistair MacLean (Keith Mallory/Andrea Stavros/Dusty Miller)
My Yuletide prompt: "I love everything about this series, so I'm easy to please here. Give me an adventure story with Mallory being injured/captured, and the other two having to save him, perhaps against his own orders. Or maybe an interlude during one of their rare "quiet times" where they're not under immediate danger of death or capture. Or a story told from an "outsider" who is viewing their complicated relationships from a different angle. This is a fandom I would truly love anything you give me, so feel free to follow a completely different path. Gen or slash is fine. No death stories please."
I much prefer the book canon to the movie canon for this prompt. My two favorite characters are Mallory and Andrea; therefore, as much as I enjoyed the movie (and Gregory Peck as Mallory - yum!), I just couldn't get my mind around Mallory and Andrea as enemies. It boggled my minuscule brain when I first saw the movie, let me tell you! I'm primarily a slash writer myself (as noted below), but gen is absolutely fine for this prompt.
I'm a big fan of Alistair MacLean and have read everything he wrote at least once, but this series is a particular favorite of mine. The two follow-up stories by Sam Llewellyn were okay but just didn't have the same "feel" as MacLean's original two books. Can't explain it more than that, but I did find the revelation of Mallory's severe claustrophobia to be fascinating. Makes you wonder what kind of event (traumatic or otherwise) brought that phobia on, doesn't it?
3) Dick Francis - Sid Halley series (Sid Halley/Charles Roland)
My Yuletide prompt: "I find the relationship between Sid and his father-in-law fascinating. One suggestion would be a story set soon after they first met, or how their relationship has evolved over time. Or a story where the Admiral knowingly puts Sid in danger (for a good cause, of course), and he sees firsthand the consequences of his maneuvering. However, any story featuring these two would be met with open arms, so if you have your own idea, feel free to surprise me. Use whichever secondary characters you like but no death stories and no strong focus on the het relationships please."
I've been reading Dick Francis books ever since I was in high school (a long, long time ago!), but Sid Halley will always be my favorite. I was ecstatic when I found they were doing a TV series on the character way back when ("The Racing Game", I believe it was called), but while Mike Gwilym is a perfectly fine actor, he just didn't come across as the Sid Halley I had always pictured in my head. Of course, I haven't watched these again since they came out in 1980, so my take on the series may be completely different now. (Making a mental note to add the DVD's to the Netflix queue!)
You can certainly try a slash pairing if you'd prefer, but this is one set of characters I've never slashed, even in my head, lol! Of course, I'd thought the same way about Miles Vorkosigan and Gregor Vorbarra until E.E Beck and Sahiya convinced me otherwise in their absolutely marvelous Vorkosigan slash fanfic, A Deeper Season. So, by all means, if you're a slash writer and feel the need to write them as a slash pairing, you can certainly try to convince me! Otherwise, gen would be perfectly fine.
4) Hogan's Heroes (Robert Hogan)
My Yuletide prompt: "I love Colonel Hogan, but he can be insufferably arrogant at times, albeit for good reason, lol! I would love a story where Hogan meets his intellectual and scheming match on the German side, and for once, doesn't come out on top. This can be straight comedy as in the series, but I would prefer at least a little angst in this if you can arrange it. You'll probably have to come up with an OC, but if you can manage it with one of the canon characters, more power to ya! Gen or slash is perfectly fine. No death stories and no het, please."
This show is absolutely timeless, and the entire cast did a marvelous job with their respective roles. My favorite characters among the heroes are Hogan, Kinch and Newkirk, but feel free to use any (or none) in your story. You may get as dark as you'd like with this prompt, short of an actual deathfic. And yes, I know it was a comedy, but so was M*A*S*H, and they covered some fairly intense topics in their run. I tend to write angsty myself, but again, a straight comedic "episode" as in the series would also be avidly welcomed, so please don't feel too strangled here.
As for personal information you may (or may not) want to know: As you can see, I haven't updated this LJ in over two years (Real Life has been - and continues to be - a real trial), but I've been writing in various fandoms since 1999, including The Phantom Menace, Pirates of the Caribbean, Starsky & Hutch, Horatio Hornblower (A&E series), Guns of Navarone and the original Star Wars. You can find some of my older stories here:
My stories on WWoMB
If you're a gen writer and are cringing at the number of slash stories I've written, don't despair! I do have a gen Star Wars novel here, Between Flight and Longing and I read far more gen stories than I write. I've also discovered as I've gotten older that it's the relationships between the characters that are far more interesting to me than the actual sex scenes (and to tell you the truth, I tend to just skim through those anymore!), so a good gen story is just as fine with me as a slash story in many fandoms. In short, when I say in my prompt "gen or slash is fine", I mean exactly that, lol!
And yes, I know I mention in almost every prompt that I don't want a deathfic but have actually written one myself ("An Element of Blank"). I can't help being a hypocrite here, so you'll just have to accept this as a "Do as I say, not as I do" type of situation, lol! "An Element of Blank" was my first fanfic, I was depressed as all get out when I wrote it, and I've never felt the urge to repeat the experiment. (Though I do still tend to abuse characters quite a bit when I write them!)
If you prefer to write slash, I'm not much into kink or threesomes, but I do enjoy a well written BDSM story occasionally. However, as I mentioned above, I tend to prefer the "how they got there" aspect of slash rather than a detailed sex scene. Guess that's why I especially enjoy the first time stories. In other words, "fade to black" is quite acceptable if you're not comfortable writing sex scenes. (However, do feel free to indulge in hot man sex if that's what you'd like to write - I'm certainly game for that as well. I just don't write them well myself). I'm not much into PWP's though - I prefer to have at least a little plot with my porn.
For gen stories, I enjoy world-building and well plotted stories, but I realize you can only fit so much plot in 1000 words, lol! I tend to write very dark myself, but I would prefer to have at least a reasonably happy ending when all is said and done. Light, "feel good" stories would be just as welcomed. In other words, go for what works best for you.
As for myself, I'm fast approaching 50 years old, and I'm currently owned by three demanding cats. I have a 40-acre farm in central Virginia, USA, and work as a medical transcriptionist for a group of pathologists at a small local hospital. Prior to that, I spent almost 12 years in the Intelligence field, first in the Navy and then for the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.
I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction authors including Anne McCaffrey, Tanya Huff, Diane Duane, Katherine Kurtz, David Weber (mostly the Honor Harrington series), Lois McMaster Bujold, etc. I also read Dick Francis (obviously), Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, as well enjoy some of the "classic" authors such as Alexander Dumas, Edward Bulwer-Lytton and the Baroness Orczy.
I'm an avid Star Wars and Star Trek fan, adore animated films (both the Disney classics as well as movies from the new animators such as Cars, Toy Story, the Incredibles, etc.), and adventure films such as Indiana Jones. I don't care much for the romantic comedies or "campus comedy" movies, but am a big fan of Monty Python and Mel Brooks. Go figure! I do not enjoy the horror genre, so don't try to give me a crossover with anything remotely related to Stephen King, lol!
Heavens, but this got longer than I wanted to get! Hope all the babble was helpful, and to parrot back the Yuletide mods, remember all the optional details I've written here are optional, so please don't stress! I'm certain I will love anything you come up with and thank you for your time and effort in researching/writing my story.