meme of utter folly - but who am I to be behindhand?

[ellenkushner]

If astolat was brave enough to post this meme, then so am I!*

If you could force me to write anything, what would it be?

*Though, I now realize, she was referring to the world of fanfic, whereas I . . . well, I said "anything," didn't I? And I didn't say I'd actually do it.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Ha! Now that is difficult to answer: More Swordspoint/Riverside, of course.

[allichaton.livejournal.com]

More Richard/Alec, definitely. ^_^

[writingjen.livejournal.com]

And more, more, still more!

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes!

[resqdog51.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. Richard and Alec are lovely!

And complex. There aren't enough complex characters out there.

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

That one's easy. Katherine/Artemisia fic. :D

[evilprodigy.livejournal.com]

Seconded!

[seajules]

More Katherine. *G*

[aliseadae]

seconded.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

That brief time of utter irresponsibility in Katherine's life that you were describing to me at Wiscon.

[aliseadae]

seconded.

[aliseadae]

More Jessica.

[adelynne.livejournal.com]

Second.

Preferably some more formative years, where she gets the chip on her shoulder re: Katherine.

Also, something about Michael Godwin between where he is left in Swordspoint and where we pick him up in TPOTS. Perhaps something about that duel?

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Did Theron ever show up at Lady Francesca's first ball?

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

He was a bit late in the season, owing to a storm or two at sea . . . but yes, he did arrive eventually, and partnered her once, twice . . . maybe even three times. Indeed, I think it was probably three. And then - and then - but dear me, will you look at the time!

[cartazon.livejournal.com]

While I would adore more Riverside stories, I have to buck the trend here because ... well, you did say anything.

I think you should write something set in the Star Wars universe.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Re-ally? Why? And what? It's a big damn universe, as I understand it.

[cerisier.livejournal.com]

I would give quite a lot to read about just how Richard and Alec did meet. :) Or the utterly irresponsible Katherine period mentioned above. Or, because he's a pet favorite of mine from teenage years, I would love to read your take on Christopher Marlowe -- you do acidic wit so well, after all. :D

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

Hard-boiled detective fiction, first-person, female protagonist. *g* (With a fantasy element, of course. Ghosts, I think.)

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

You interest me strangely......

[dryfoo.livejournal.com]

I will avoid the beaten track here and suggest something different. How about a story for one of those "theme" anthologies, like "What if Boston were entirely drowned in fourteen feet of molasses?" or "What if all the U.S. Presidents spoke Esperanto?" or "The Day the Chickens Landed" -- you know the type, I'm sure.

Or maybe a story for "swap" anthology, where pairs of authors write stories set in each other's worlds. Or a round-robin on the same principal: author A writes in author B's world, B writes in C's..., and K writes in A's. I'm sure you have a few friends who might be ready for a challenge.

It's a New Year, after all, and so time to "blow out the ba-hoogies" as a saxophone player friend likes to put it.

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

That's a very strange meme.

I'd love to read a book by you about either the real or a fictional version of Tamara de Lempicka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_de_lempicka).

Edited to add:

My wife points out that if I had read The Fall of Kings like I'm supposed to that I would know you've already written a character with striking similarities. The woe of being a less than blazing-fast reader in a world full of books.

So, alternately, I wanna know what really happened with Báthory Erzsébet.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

No, no - Tamara de Lempicka is fantastic!! What a cool idea!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Alec and Richard setting up house on Kyros. A sex scene would be glorious. For extra squee, including descriptions of the household furnishings and kitchen implements.

I am very, VERY predictable.

[yaoi-in-exile.livejournal.com]

Seconded!

[glasshouses.livejournal.com]

I'm not *quite* asking the right question, but if you were to contemplate fanfic, in what fandom would you write?

FanFic

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

That's a very, very interesting question which I don't think I can answer without first asking another question: What impels a person to write a particular fanfiction?

Is it loving an author's work (or characters) so much that you want there to be more of it (or them) and the only way you can get it is to write it yourself? Or is it finding a certain style just comes easily to your pen? Or what?

I'm not being disingenuous here; I haven't written anything anyone could consider fanfiction since I was about 15 (and tried to write myself into some Earthsea stuff because I desired it with a great and burning desire - oh, and there was that starship full of teenage girls who regularly kicked the Enterprise's butt that my friends & I all wrote in Junior High for each other) - I consider that sort of fic to be an Apprentice stage that many young writers go through - kind of like they used to make art students go to the Louvre and copying paintings to pick up technique (and soak in the Good Stuff) until you're ready to create your own Masterwork. And I certainly can understand just loving to play in someone else's world. Like, a lot. In my actressy way, there are books I'd gladly spend an evening live roleplaying. Writing, though....?

Unlike, say, Mme. Astolat, who seems to have the creative power of ten, I can barely manage to get my own made-up stuff down on paper, much less squeeze in playing with someone else's - and, control freak that I am, I just like owning it all and making my own rules.

Thank you for giving me the chance to think about this and write it all down. I do suspect I have an answer to your question, and will reply at greater length when I hear back from those more wise in the ways of fanfic, and willing to instruct me.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

A novel about Lazarus.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Oh, you dog! It's not like I don't have scads of pages of this that never went anywhere - someday I should pull them out and see if 20 - no, 30 - more years of writing experience have finally readied me to pull them all into some palpable shape. Because you ask.

[twistedsheets10.livejournal.com]

Possibly more about Theron and his "tribe." :D But my true heart's desires are the first meeting between Alec and Richard, Richard's early days, and the Michael Godwin's duel...and Diane's death.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

The second half of The Fall of Kings...

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Yes. Well put.

I'd also like the Jessica novel that comes between TPOTS and FOTK.

[yaoi-in-exile.livejournal.com]

Whatever Happened to That Cat. :3 It's privy to the most interesting events(, which I suppose is what comes from your human pets being a swordsman and a scholar), but then just fades away. Sad.

Or Alec striking out for University. I've always wondered just exactly how that happened.

[phoenix64.livejournal.com]

I'll ignore the fanfic implications of that meme (though I'm not above imagining what you could do with Doctor Who) and say the first years that Richard was in Riverside. Second place would be something in the House of Nine Doors.

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Just to be perverse and snarky, I'd say Thomas the Rhymer 2: The Early Years.

Because I could. ^________^