Soledad's Journal

I wrote almost 5 full pages today. Granted, for a brand new story, instead of one of my never-ending WIPs, but still. That was the most progress I've made in... well, I think in years. I don't expect it to last, but it was a wonderful surprise.

Other than that, I cooked a cauliflower-heavy lunch (sorry, noadvertising), and we had the usual quarterly visit from the exterminator. A really good day indeed.

I've been seriously sleep-deprived lately. Which is my own fault - staying up reading fanfic till 2am when I have to get up six hours later isn't the most intelligent thing to do. But the late night hours are potentially the most undisturbed ones, and I've discovered this interesting Voyager AU series a week or so ago and have been binge-reading it ever since. The overall angle is a bit too gay for my taste (I've left my very slash phase behind years ago), but considering the author it isn't surprising. But the re-imagining of the canon episodes (well, most of them anyway) with a different set of canon characters is brilliant, the world-building is highly imaginative, and all in all, it is a good read. I'll probably add a link to telekis_vendiak, my fic recommendation comm later, if the author keeps up the quality.

Of course, such short nights mean that I need serious naps on the next day, but that's doable. Usually. Unless I have to leave the house, which complicates things. *g*

Today I went to our on-site concert rehearsal (after visiting the grandparents in the churchyard). The rehearsal went surprisingly well; much better than Tuesday's regular practice, in fact. Perhaps because we didn't have piano accompaniment (our pianist lady couldn't come) and we found our tune better that way? We'll see how it goes tomorrow, when we'll have extra practice. *fingers crossed*

On my way home I did a bit of grocery shopping; well, half of it, as it became dark while I was at Aldi, and the maze that is the Lidl parking lot can't be safely navigated in darkness. So I'll go to Lidl tomorrow. I found some lovely baking supplies at Aldi; supplies that I don't actually need right now but that might vanish by the time I'll need them, so I bought them. They'll keep.

My friend Evie called after I go home and we talked for about 40 minutes or so. We had a lot to catch up, as we hadn't talked for a week, which is a rare thing for us. So, now we're both well informed about each other. :))

This doggone heat, I mean. We had 38°C today, and apparently, it might go up as high as 40°C by the weekend! We'll cook inside our hide!

And, of course, I just had to get out of the house in the morning, to fetch my new credit card from the bank. They usually send it by post, but I didn't want it to get lost, as it happened to my friend Evie. Granted, the bank had air conditioning, but it made getting back out into the heat all the worse!

It was almost noon when I finally got home; we skipped having any cooked meal because, frankly, neither one of us was suicidal enough to make the kitchen even hotter. Sandwiches, and iced coffee and ice-cream were on the menu, with some fresh raspberries and cherries.

Accordingly, not much else got done. I worked a tiny bit on the next pot-holder in front of the telly, took a nap in the afternoon, played Solitaire on Methuselah-the-laptop, who shows first signs of dying on me, which would be really inconvenient, since I could actually write lying on my front on the laptop. And no, the iPad isn't good for that, not having a proper keypad. I type using 8 fingers (sometimes the thumbs, too, but not regularly), and I can't do that on a touch screen.

I also read some excellent fanfic today: still working myself through a DS9/Enterprise crossover called Faith in the Path. It has a good plot, great characterization, and not even the romantic subplot could ruin it for me.

So, I've finished the Never-Ending Translation(TM) this morning. Yay!

It's still just a first draft that will need some serious editing, but honestly, the mere fact that I'm done with it makes me feel seven feet tall.

Yesteday afternoon I've also put together the list of my original (insectoid) characters, listing them by names, writing down which of the six Castes (Swarm-leaders, Guardians, Researchers, Nurturers, Caretakers or the Honour Guard, aka warriors) and which of the six genders (fertile females aka Queens, fertile males, infertile females, infertile males, neuters with female chromosomes and neuters with male chromosomes) do they belong. I also made the decision of the official (English) names of the six Castes, their respective colours and their names, which depend on their Caste and their position within said Caste... It is a really complex thing, and I've made several continuity errors during the translation, which I'll have to weed out as I type up and re-read the whole stuff.

I did the same with the Andorian characters: I determined their names, the subspecies and the genders they belong to. The Andorians having four genders is semi-canon (established in the DS9 relaunch novels), based on Data's statement that Andorian marriage requires four partners. The Enterprise series contradict this, but I always cheerfully ignored the canon rape that is Enterpise, even though the show did grow on me after four or so attempts to re-watch it. Like fungus.

In any case, it is an enormous relief to have "The Sins of the Mothers" fully translated, despite the awful lots of work I'll still have with it before the rest can be posted to AO3 and the Pit of Voles. The first half of it that I've found acceptable for public consumption can be read here, in case anybody is interested. There will be small corrections in these chapters, too, but they'll stay basically the same.

In case anyone is interested, I've started posting my old story Still Not in Kansas - a Babylon 5/Star Trek Voyager crossover - to AO3. This is part of my effort to transfer copies of all my work to that archive, and also a chance to read through them again and weed out any possible remaining mistakes.

Chapter 15.2 - Search, Rescue & A Lost Trail has been posted to FF.Net.
Enjoy!

Chapter 12 - Decisions has been posted to FF.Net.

Enjoy!

Chapter 03 - To Boldly Go... has been posted to FF.Net.

Enjoy!

Chapter 09 - The Monster Bait and the Epilogue have been posted to FF.Net. My heartfelt thanks to my lovely and generous beta, lindahoyland, who's waded through ten chapters of, er, creative grammar to make the story enjoyable for native speakers.

As this is one of those stories that have more chapters than reviews, feel free to be supportive. *g*

Chapter 07 - The Twin Dilemma has been posted to FF.Net, thanks to my wonderful beta, lindahoyland.

Enjoy!

She's actually beta read Chapter 8 already, which will also be posted in a day or two. And I've finished the story today. The last two parts are still a bit rough, but I hope to iron out the glitches when I type them up.

Phew! this was one tough piece of work! I'm so glad it's done. Next project: pushing "Brothers-in-Arms" forward a little. The last update was over 2 years ago, it's high time for me to finish this sucker.

Oh, and I've tried my hand on felt work today, for the first time. My first piece turned out a bit uneven, but Mum likes it and so do I. I'll upload a photo to my Pinterest account as soon as I've made one. You'll be free to grin. *g*