Year of Writing Review: 2016
Total number of completed stories
I finished twelve stories!
188,082 words! I’m impressed that I wrote so much!
Dragon Age and Overwatch.
Looking back, did you expect to write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?
I never expected to write as much as I did! I suppose I had a lot of inspiration!
What’s your own favorite story of the year?
It was without a doubt A Garden of Earthly Delights. I got a lot of comments from readers who said reading that story helped them feel better when they had bad days. There’s nothing more rewarding than hearing that something I did made someone’s day better. I’m proud of that story.
Did you take any writing risks this year?
I challenged myself by trying to write from different perspectives (like a cat in Queen of Her Kingdom) and writing cultural backgrounds different from my own (like Fenris in Questions Left Unasked). I want to challenge myself even more in the future by delving into more world building (something I love but rarely indulge in) and finding the courage to bring out my more ridiculous ideas into my writing (I’ve been sitting on a lot of ideas!).
Do you have any fanfic or profit goals for the new year?
I’d like to finish all my works that are on hiatus and expand into a few other fandoms!
In terms of getting people excited and getting to play around with ideas, I think Whisper Chat was the best received story I wrote this year. I plan to finish it, so fans of the story be prepared for more of Varric’s D&D Lovecraftian campaign, now with more eldritch horror! Expect more wacky cameos from Dragon Age characters, more silly scenarios between Anders and his neighbor, and Anders and Fenris being the most obtuse people who can’t recognize voices! The best I can come up with is that hearing a voice over a microphone is very different from hearing them in person. Also Anders and Fenris are very, very dumb.
Most popular story of the year?
Much to my surprise, it was For The Love of Soccer Dads and Bake Sales! I guess everyone really likes those Single Parent, PTA AUs! I’m glad it was well liked, it was fun to write!
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion
Hard to say, since so many people are so wonderful and supportive of my writing, but it would be nice to get more love for The Eternal Flame. I’m sure it will happen when I write more of the story! Who doesn’t love the idea of hyper fashionable Anders solving mysteries in 1920s era Kirkwall (as inspired by Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries)?
Probably Where the Night Meets the Day, because it gave me the excuse to pour over Tolkien lore to figure out how I could fit the characters of Dragon Age into the world of Middle Earth and the Ring War. It was so much fun to think about!
Queen of Her Kingdom was fun to write because I loved writing from the perspective of a cat. I also sort of consider it a bit of a dedication to my own cat, who was the biggest diva and considered my brother to be her Krem. In her world my brother made the sun rise, and I was the hired help she paid by tolerating pets.
I have fun with all my stories, but those two are the ones that first come to mind.
Story with the single sexiest moment
Oh dear. Maybe Best Little Whorehouse in Thedas? I mean, Anders’s costumes are pretty sexy! I don’t think I write sexy well.
Love Languages or Little Teasing Notes. I felt Love Languages was sweet because Orana had her own character development as she looked into the relationship between Fenris and Anders, while Little Teasing Notes was sweet because of Fenris bumbling around with romance and trying to make Anders happy.
“Holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you!” story
I’m not sure? I’ve never written anything too disturbing, I think? I know that future stories in The Eternal Flame will become more graphic and may edge on that territory, but since those chapters aren’t written yet it doesn’t count!
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters
Hmmmm... I think writing For The Love of Soccer Dads and Bake Sales made me consider what a future Thedas could be like, but it also made me think of what everyone could be like in a different world. It made me look at both Fenris and Anders in a new light, especially in terms of parenting.
Most unintentionally telling story
The Overwatch story Petrichor has a lot of vivid desert imagery, especially of desert storms. I grew up in a desert, and where I live I can see storms rolling in over the mountains and the plains because the landscape is so empty.
I think writing Lost Boys was the greatest challenge, because I didn’t want to disappoint the artist I was working with. I also didn’t know what direction I wanted to take the story, so it was hard to get started! I’m happy with how it turned out, though!
Maybe the shyness to leave comments on stories. I know I’m guilty of not leaving enough comments, though usually it’s because I remind myself to write a comment and then forget. I need to get better about that!
Everyone has been so wonderful and accepting! It’s been a joy to write in the DA fandom!
So many people have already been tagged, so I’ll just ask anyone who is interested to write!
