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Feb. 27th, 2010 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWell wrote an synopsis but it doesn't really work as one. More of a summary of the plot and what happens in the story. The good news is it is only two pages. The bad news is I don't think it sells the book.
Sigh. Back to the drawing board. Sort of. Wish I could find the one I wrote for my previous novel. That would help.
On the reading front - I read![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gabrielleabelle's WIP fanfiction Influence of Demons - which blew me away. (In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm reading fanfic that has been rec'd or written by members of my flist, sort of in the same way you might read one of my metas - to see another point of view. Also, because I have an itch that must be scratched and can't find what I'm looking for amongst my many novels at home. Currently plowing my way through The World According to Garp - which is very good, but I'm not sure I'm in the right mood for it.)
I really wish this wasn't a WIP. Not meant as a criticism or to pressure the writer. I wrote an WIP myself that I never finished, would be quite hypocritical to get upset with others for doing the same thing. I know why I didn't. Partly because my interest drifted, partly life got in the way, partly I wanted to write original fiction, partly because I hit a brick wall, and partly due to lack of interest.
At any rate, back to Influence of Demons - in this tale, the author manages to do what I felt was lacking in the last Buffy/Spike fanfiction that I read - which is present the points of view of each character in a clear and sympathetic manner, demonstrating the faults and foibles of both, without inserting the author's judgment of the characters, their past relationships, or the other subsidiary characters into the mix. She also shows as opposed to tells the reader why these characters are behaving the way they are. We aren't forced into being sympathetic. This is hard to do. But particularly in how she has set things up.
The story takes place five years after Buffy and Spike have fallen into a demon dimension via a portal. The dimension is what Buffy's world would have been like if a slayer had never existed. The two dimensions are parallel but the slayer doesn't exist in one and does in the other. Buffy and Spike were separated. The story starts with Spike locating Buffy after a five year long search - in a demon brothel. Having lost her powers and being forced to be a sex slave, Buffy's beaten down, high on cocaine and sex. Spike on the other hand, has a soul, not his own, and is distant. The story delves into why each character is the way they are, and how they choose to deal with it, each other, and the prospect of getting out of the dimension.
But the author has something to say. Was once advised ages ago by a creative writing prof that there are two types of writers - the one's who have something to say, and the ones who are in it for the fame/fortune and fun. Don't bother if you are the latter. Or so he told me.
There's a underlying theme about power, male and female, and abuses of power. We are shown exactly how a person can get beaten down to the point that they just want to escape. And how they can feel guilty about the fact that they didn't fight hard enough, feel ashamed that they didn't try something else. Yet, there often aren't any other options. It's easy to judge someone else, when you haven't had to deal with their obstacles - internal or external.
This is shown not told. There's no preaching in this story. And it is at times a brutal character study of both characters. Spike's struggle to be a better man, and how he fails miserably at it at times, and Buffy's struggle to reclaim her personal power and not be the victim of fate or her surroundings. It's also about we do to survive.
Wish there was more. But am rather pleased with what I got. It is NC-17, with graphic violence and sexual situations - so not for everyone. The sex is at times brutal, but realistic.
Demonstrating the difference between fucking/sex for sex sake and love.
As an aside, I found it rather hilarious that people were actually writing lengthy posts demonstrating how they were clearly shippers and should be considered Spuffy shippers because of the fact they read, wrote, or posted fan vids on Spuffy, regardless of how they felt about the canon. Interesting. Usually, I see the opposite - ie. I'm NOT a shipper. I just happen to enjoy reading B/S fanfic - it's a guilty pleasure, like, uh, Harlequins, and I just happen to love the characters of Spike, Buffy and their relationship. But this so does not make me a shipper. For one thing, I don't necessarily see them getting back together. And yes, I admit it was a destructive relationship, but then I happen to think all the relationships in that series were destructive. There weren't any in my opinion that weren't. Just different degrees. How dare you define or pigeon hole me (perhaps that should be penquin hole? Are there penquin holes? Guessing so, since penquins crap like pigeons do. Cooler birds though. Pigeons are flying rates, penguins are cute and sing songs and tap dance - okay maybe just sing...oops sorry, tangent.)!! I defy your right to do that, dammit!
Sigh. Life is pretty exhausting enough without having to constantly worry about what other people think. Can't control what they think. They are usually wrong, because let's face it our opinions regarding others are colored by our own crap. And half the time they aren't thinking about us at all - but about what we think or someone else we've never met thinks about them.
Also finished Unquiet Earth by Denise Gardina - which as noted earlier deserves a lengthier review, but I'm just not in the mood. The book is about a coal mining town in West Virgina and Kentucky or along that border. It takes place between 1930-1990. Describing in detail the effects that the coal mining industry have on the people of this region. The main characters are Rachel Honaker, a nurse who is in love with her first cousin, Dillion, a union organizer, and their illegitmate daughter, Jackie, a newspaper editor. Other characters include a gay Mayor of the town, named Hassel, and a priest/Vista worker, named Tom, as well as one of the heads of the coal company, Arthur Lee. Much like the story above, the author shows us how the coal mining effects these people's lives and exactly what it does to the surrounding environment. Often in graphic detail. While at the same time showing us who these people are and what motivates them. It's a layered book, with tough characters. I can't say it engrossed me, and I did not cry during it. But the final chapter did haunt me long after I finished reading it and it is not a book that I will soon forget. It also reminded me a great deal of some of the things I saw in South Wales during the 1980s as the coal mining industry was shutting down.
Sigh. Back to the drawing board. Sort of. Wish I could find the one I wrote for my previous novel. That would help.
On the reading front - I read
gabrielleabelle's WIP fanfiction Influence of Demons - which blew me away. (In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm reading fanfic that has been rec'd or written by members of my flist, sort of in the same way you might read one of my metas - to see another point of view. Also, because I have an itch that must be scratched and can't find what I'm looking for amongst my many novels at home. Currently plowing my way through The World According to Garp - which is very good, but I'm not sure I'm in the right mood for it.)I really wish this wasn't a WIP. Not meant as a criticism or to pressure the writer. I wrote an WIP myself that I never finished, would be quite hypocritical to get upset with others for doing the same thing. I know why I didn't. Partly because my interest drifted, partly life got in the way, partly I wanted to write original fiction, partly because I hit a brick wall, and partly due to lack of interest.
At any rate, back to Influence of Demons - in this tale, the author manages to do what I felt was lacking in the last Buffy/Spike fanfiction that I read - which is present the points of view of each character in a clear and sympathetic manner, demonstrating the faults and foibles of both, without inserting the author's judgment of the characters, their past relationships, or the other subsidiary characters into the mix. She also shows as opposed to tells the reader why these characters are behaving the way they are. We aren't forced into being sympathetic. This is hard to do. But particularly in how she has set things up.
The story takes place five years after Buffy and Spike have fallen into a demon dimension via a portal. The dimension is what Buffy's world would have been like if a slayer had never existed. The two dimensions are parallel but the slayer doesn't exist in one and does in the other. Buffy and Spike were separated. The story starts with Spike locating Buffy after a five year long search - in a demon brothel. Having lost her powers and being forced to be a sex slave, Buffy's beaten down, high on cocaine and sex. Spike on the other hand, has a soul, not his own, and is distant. The story delves into why each character is the way they are, and how they choose to deal with it, each other, and the prospect of getting out of the dimension.
But the author has something to say. Was once advised ages ago by a creative writing prof that there are two types of writers - the one's who have something to say, and the ones who are in it for the fame/fortune and fun. Don't bother if you are the latter. Or so he told me.
There's a underlying theme about power, male and female, and abuses of power. We are shown exactly how a person can get beaten down to the point that they just want to escape. And how they can feel guilty about the fact that they didn't fight hard enough, feel ashamed that they didn't try something else. Yet, there often aren't any other options. It's easy to judge someone else, when you haven't had to deal with their obstacles - internal or external.
This is shown not told. There's no preaching in this story. And it is at times a brutal character study of both characters. Spike's struggle to be a better man, and how he fails miserably at it at times, and Buffy's struggle to reclaim her personal power and not be the victim of fate or her surroundings. It's also about we do to survive.
Wish there was more. But am rather pleased with what I got. It is NC-17, with graphic violence and sexual situations - so not for everyone. The sex is at times brutal, but realistic.
Demonstrating the difference between fucking/sex for sex sake and love.
As an aside, I found it rather hilarious that people were actually writing lengthy posts demonstrating how they were clearly shippers and should be considered Spuffy shippers because of the fact they read, wrote, or posted fan vids on Spuffy, regardless of how they felt about the canon. Interesting. Usually, I see the opposite - ie. I'm NOT a shipper. I just happen to enjoy reading B/S fanfic - it's a guilty pleasure, like, uh, Harlequins, and I just happen to love the characters of Spike, Buffy and their relationship. But this so does not make me a shipper. For one thing, I don't necessarily see them getting back together. And yes, I admit it was a destructive relationship, but then I happen to think all the relationships in that series were destructive. There weren't any in my opinion that weren't. Just different degrees. How dare you define or pigeon hole me (perhaps that should be penquin hole? Are there penquin holes? Guessing so, since penquins crap like pigeons do. Cooler birds though. Pigeons are flying rates, penguins are cute and sing songs and tap dance - okay maybe just sing...oops sorry, tangent.)!! I defy your right to do that, dammit!
Sigh. Life is pretty exhausting enough without having to constantly worry about what other people think. Can't control what they think. They are usually wrong, because let's face it our opinions regarding others are colored by our own crap. And half the time they aren't thinking about us at all - but about what we think or someone else we've never met thinks about them.
Also finished Unquiet Earth by Denise Gardina - which as noted earlier deserves a lengthier review, but I'm just not in the mood. The book is about a coal mining town in West Virgina and Kentucky or along that border. It takes place between 1930-1990. Describing in detail the effects that the coal mining industry have on the people of this region. The main characters are Rachel Honaker, a nurse who is in love with her first cousin, Dillion, a union organizer, and their illegitmate daughter, Jackie, a newspaper editor. Other characters include a gay Mayor of the town, named Hassel, and a priest/Vista worker, named Tom, as well as one of the heads of the coal company, Arthur Lee. Much like the story above, the author shows us how the coal mining effects these people's lives and exactly what it does to the surrounding environment. Often in graphic detail. While at the same time showing us who these people are and what motivates them. It's a layered book, with tough characters. I can't say it engrossed me, and I did not cry during it. But the final chapter did haunt me long after I finished reading it and it is not a book that I will soon forget. It also reminded me a great deal of some of the things I saw in South Wales during the 1980s as the coal mining industry was shutting down.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 09:36 pm (UTC)Sped through it last night and this morning.
Also am admittedly curious to see where and if you go anywhere with that odd memory of Prophecy Girl - where Buffy remembers staking Angel with pleasure after Xander revives her, as opposed to embracing him and going after the Master. Rather fascinating.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 09:46 pm (UTC)Your post made my day, though. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-27 09:50 pm (UTC)And happy to hear you are continuing with the story. Although, note to self - probably not the best thing to read late at night...I think it influenced my dreams a bit.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-28 06:43 am (UTC)Is it difficult because it's on LJ? I have it also posted on ff.net and on Buffyforums.net. I don't have it on AO3 though, but plan to post it there once it's complete.
I'm always interested in making my fic easily accessible, so I'd appreciate any feedback you could offer.
Ta!
no subject
Date: 2010-02-28 01:33 pm (UTC)I think it is how it is set up. Can't figure out why, but when I plugged in the page - it said there was none or took me to your dreamwidth journal. Still working on it.
Right now I'm playing with a way to download fic to my computer, transfer to txt and transfer to Kindle. (I'm really not that techie, so this is an experiment.) You can transfer personal files to the Kindle from your computer but they have to be in a specific format.
Not word, dang it.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-28 01:45 pm (UTC)This is fun.
May do that with Thought You Should Know.