#queue do count

[keepcalmandwritefiction]

So much about a character is invisible, in fiction as in real life; but what lies beneath the surface will affect every aspect of your story. If you really take the time to figure out who you’re dealing with, much will become clear.

– Claire Messud

[sherlollyliplocked]

You didn’t win.

          You lost.

[keepcalmandwritefiction]

[Image description: A screenshot of a tweet by Kyla Zhao (#kylazingaround) saying,

murphy’s law for writers: the more free time you have, the less likely you are to actually write

/end image description]

[keepcalmandwritefiction]

You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer.

– Jean M. Auel

[keepcalmandwritefiction]

Write a lot and hit the streets. A writer who doesn't keep up with what’s out there ain’t gonna be out there.

– Toni Cade Bambara

[keepcalmandwritefiction]

I never feel that it’s finished, but you have to stop somewhere.

– Annie Proulx

[keepcalmandwritefiction]

I assume that my struggles and joys are not unique. I’m not interested in making the spotlight fall on myself and my particular life, but instead on the struggles and joys of humans, who are born and then forced to exit.

Louise Glück

[austenshephardhooperholmes]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Title: In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Author: AutumnLouise (@autumn-louise)

Rating: Teen

Summary: Sherlock Holmes is a world-renowned pairs figure skater, and he’s got nowhere to go but up. But when his longtime partner Janine suddenly quits, he’s left out in the cold. With the European and World championships looming, finding a new partner is imperative if Sherlock wants his career to continue. But with Janine selling false stories about him to every news outlet in England, anyone who’s anyone in figure skating is refusing to even look at him. Molly Hooper’s dreams of figure skating fame were crushed four years ago, when an accident at the European Championships ended her career as a singles skater for good. She’s over it. She’s moved on. But when Sherlock Holmes’s agent approaches her with an enticing offer, she finds that she may have missed skating much more than she’s been letting on. Thrown into the new world of pairs skating, Molly searches for the passion and talent she left behind on center ice… but what she finds there is so much more than she bargained for.

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper (Sherlolly)

Status: Work in progress (1/?)

Word Count: 1,636+

Fic Rec Because: I love figure skating AUs––thanks to The Cutting Edge, even if neither character is a former hockey player––and the author did a great job with the first chapter. The author laid out figure skater!Molly's backstory and figure skater!Sherlock's motivations well. I'm looking forward to reading what happens next, especially Molly and Sherlock's first meeting. My favourite line/passage in Chapter 1:

Molly took off, skates scratching the surface of the rink as she twirled and danced across the ice. As the air whipped through her hair and the skirt of her costume, the anxiety in her chest faded to the bubbling excitement of joy. This was where she belonged. Where she thrived. She launched herself into an easy double, landing it cleanly and going straight into a line of choreography that looked like it came straight from the Russian Ballet.