Soledad's Journal

Finished Chapter 09 of "Arthur's quest, but I'm not typing it up until my main PC is back. There's no reason to kill my wrists on the keypad of the laptop - considering how very few people give a shit about it... or, indeed, about anything I write.

Yeah, I know I'm whining again. So what? It's my right to be unhappy if my work goes unrecognized - just like in RL.

Just before I forger: illereyn, thanks for the review for Chapter 08. I hope you don't feel too lonely on the review board.

I really, honestly inteded to write some more about our wonderful trip, but I'm still trying to catch up with everything that has happened during my absence. Plus, I thought posting the next installment of the Torchwood Wedding story and uploading some stuff to make it available on FF.Net was more urgent. I shouldn't have bothered, honestly. It really doesn't matter when it gets mostly ignored, save the faithful three or four people who actually do read it. :(

In any case, heat wave is depressing, school has restarted (even though without the kids, for the time being), the flat is a mess, but at least I've managed to get some writing done. Not much, but since it's mostly a l'art pour l'art act - it isn't so as if my fans would break my door down for the next update - I'm vaguely pleased with myself.

I've caught up with some of my favourite Merlin and Torchwood stories - it was actually an intelligent move to put them to story alert, considering the fact how flooded both fandoms are with poorly written, mediocre shit that gets enthusiastic welcome - and I'm just about to move on to Stories of Arda where there are some long-ongoing train wrecks I cannot resist reding. Again, the sort that gets enthusiastic welcome.

Well, yeah, life is unfair, but at least I'm having fun. Sometimes.

OTOH, I'm currently re-watching Alien Nation - thanks the_wild_iris to hunt it down for me! - and am still amazed how excellent that show still is. C'mon folks,it's been decades, and it's still 300% better than anything current television comes up with in the sci-fi category.

I HATE, HATE, HATE PEOPLE WHO CAN ONLY BE BOTHERED TO COMMENT ON STORIES WHEN THEY ARE NITPICKING OR HAVE SOMETHING TO WHINE ABOUT!!!

Urgh. I thought it would make me feel better if I got it out of my system. Guess what? It didn't.

Yes, I am completely frustrated. I've barely built up a tiny slice of confidence due to the lovely picowrimo support, when someone just had to get into nitpicking mode again. Now I don't even feel the strength to type up what little I've managed to write today - and trust me, I've been waaay behind my usual standard lately.

So much about being absent from my personal journal for a while. :((

Today was the second time that we had spargel (=asparagus) this year. Garlic chicken with spargel and sweetcorn, to be more accurate. God, I love spargel. It's the only thing that makes spring depressions better. Well, that and fresh strawberries, of course. Not the ones imported from some southern country - they all taste like water. The local ones, ripened under real sunlight. Mmmm.... You can't live on chocolate alone, after all!
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On a more positive note, we had some old apples left, so I made apple tart today. Mum was very pleased. Eating warm apple tart at ten o'clock in the evening is a noble thing; not to mention very comforting.

Terrific. Some f***ing moron has just torn "Auguries of Immortality" to pieces on FF.Net, because they think they found some canon mistakes. I'm so sick and tired of this. Why do these idiots always target me? I research myself into an early grave, and yes, there might still remain certain mistakes, I'm not a machine, after all, but having all the efforts ignored and just the mistakes pointed out f*cking *hurts*!

It's a story that has had some positive reviews so far, and now I might have to remove the whole thing and lose the good reviews if I don't want to appear as an ignorant fool, because this self-righteous idot just *had* to leave a signed review.

I mean, I don't mind if people correct my mistakes. But having them listed on the review board in painstaking detail is something that will remain there, even after I've corrected them, telling everyone what an idiot I am. I hate these people, I really do. Would it kill them to PM me the list, since they're signed in anyway?

Edit: In case you're interested, my answer to the f***tard via PM is behind the tag.
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It's something I've mcgyvered together from various existing recepies and it turned out very tasty. Sorry for the German - still no baking vocabulary in English. *sigh*

Zutaten:
500 gr Weizenmehl
500 gr Quark (eher Topfen in diesem Fall)
1 Eigelb
250 gr Margarine
1 Tüte Trockenhefe (oder 50 gr frische Hefe)
etwas lauwarme Milch
1/2 Teelöffel Zucker
Salz nach belieben
Eigelb zum Bestreichen und ganze Kümmelkerne zum Verzieren

So wird's gemacht:
1) Mehl in eine Rührschüssel geben. In die Mitte eine Vertiefung drücken, Trockenhefe, lauwarme Milch und Zucker verrühren, mit etwas Mehl bedecken, 20 Minuten ruhen lassen.
2) In der Zwischenzeit Quark mit der restichen Milch und dem Eigelb glatt rühren. Salzen. Margarine in kleine Würfel schneiden.
3) Alle Zutaten zusammenfügen, falls nötig noch einmal salzen. Alles zu einem glatten Teig kneten. Abermals 20 Minuten ruhen lassen.
4) Teig fingerdick ausrollen, Pogatschen ausstechen, mit Eigelb bestreichen und mit Kümmel dekorieren. Auf dem Backblech nochmals 20 Minuten ruhen lassen.
5) Im vorgeheizten Backofen, auf etwa 180-200 Grad Celsius goldbraun backen. Dauert etwa 30 Minuten, aber das hängt vom jeweiligen Backofen ab.

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For the last couple of days, it'd freeze my computer every time I log in. And it was such a reliable mailing programme. Anyone else having problems?

I've been experiencing the same joy with the Mahjongg Solitaire page lately. Generally, since I've installed the newest IE, I'm having much more problems. So I didn't even install it on my Notebook, where I can play the same Mahjongg without difficulties now. Shiny new programme indeed!

Also the total lack of interest for my writing continues on. Life can be so much fun when one is ignored. [/sarcasm] artemis10002000, ich weiß nicht wie ich diese Dürreperiode ohne Deine Unterstützung durchstehen könnte. *umarm*

Of course, my plotbunnies just had to choose this particular time to multiply like crazy. As if I had the time to write... Life is weird.

My very first site is gone, now that Geocities has been shut down. It was a fairly primitive site, only stories, nothing else, and I haven't updated it for ages, but I'm still a little sad. I do have the new Otherworlds1 and Otherworlds2 sites, managed by my generous friend Kim, but not being able to manage my own site isn't the best thing, so I've only posted to FF.Net and LJ lately, save of my Tolkien fic, which also went to SoA or TFF.

I really ought to try and create a site that I can deal with on my own...

On a more delightful note, I've finally finished A Touch of the Wild. It only took me eight months, which, for a story of 12 chapters and 58,725 words isn't half bad. Especially considering my track record with never-eending WIPs, some of which have been on the back burner for six to eight years!

So yeah, I'm happy to have finished it. It doesn't have many reviews - 14 so far on FF.Net and not a single one on hiddenrealms - but I never really expected it to have. It's a very special story about Criminal Minds' Spencer Reid's encounter with the supernatural (i.e.=vampires), with no ship, a lot of horror and even more background detail. I can understand that it isn't the cup of tea of an average FF.Net browser who probably wants some fluff or some smut or some old-fashioned adventure. But I like the story, I've enjoyed writing it immensely, and at least the existing reviews are very positive.

It's a very good feeling to have it finished, though. Now I might turn my attention back to The Web of Darkness, which is also just a couple of chapters away from being finished.

Wish me luck!

I saw this on the journal of the lovely lethe_loyd who offers me the most interesting memes to do. I still dont quite understand how it actually works, but I've simply copy&pasted it below; perhaps others are smarter than I am. *g*

the old.
as a fanfiction writer, have you ever wondered what your 'winning' fic or your most well-loved fanfic is? this meme is for fanficcers who want to know which of their works are others' favorites as well as for readers who want to show more appreciation to the fanficcers.

the new.
it's a new year, and if you're anything like me, you've written more and more fic since the last time this meme was around. so we're gonna do it all over again, and see if your best fic according to others has changed any. this is also a chance for the new writers to see if they've got any favorites among fandom, as well. :)))

rules.
• List the fandoms you write for.
Well, let me see: Tolkien, Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9 and Voy), B5, Stargate: Atlantis, Andromeda, Queer As Folk US, Kindred: The Embraced (x-ed over with several other vampire shows, including Angel, Buffy, Poltergeist, etc), Brother Cadfael - have I forgotten anything? If I count the x-overs individually, I come to about a dozen fandoms.

• people will tell you what is their favorite fic/s by you (links appreciated); they can also leave other positive messages.

• since this is an appreciation meme, please do not start wank. (and by please, I mean I'll delete that sh*t pronto. - original quote, so don't shoot me for it, okay?)

So that's it. Feel free to comment.

Reading the ones I got so far was mostly pleasant. The most reviewers seemed to like my stuff. Some of them complained about the typos, though - well, I'm terribly sorry, but when so very few people seem willing to do any beta work at all, spellchecker and proofreading my own stuff can only take me so far. Besides, my spelling isn't any worse than that of many a widely popular authors (not all, I would hurriedly add) who have the advantage of being native speakers. And to think that I extra re-read and corrected those stories... it was lost effort, apparently.

*is mildly pissed*

Someone also complained about the "constant head-hopping" in "The Prisoner of Dol Guldur". I'm not entirely sure what they meant with it. Granted, the story is written in steadily shifting POVs: those of Enadar, who's trying to find out who he is and where he is, and the others who try to heal him after his ordeal. But since these sections are clearly separated from each other, it should not be so very hard to realize through whose eyes we are seeing things.

*is moderately pissed*

The other reviews, though, were very positive, so all in all I shouldn't be too unhappy. Even if it does annoy me that some people can only see the negative things (unless you are one of their icons, that is, in which case grammar and spelling don't matter). Interestingly enough, these usually are the same people who'd never do the beta work, as it would require some effort from their side.

That said, I probably won't check out the reviews again until the MEFAs are over. Why upset myself? I accepted the nominations to get people read my stuff. I have achieved that. The rest shouldn't matter, right?