This and That

I thought I'd blog about something non-Europe today, even though I do have things to fill in from my recent trip to Spain (lovely - but more on that later). Now I'm in Lille, north of France, near Calais and the Belgian border for those of you interested. But for other things...

The muse is back. Very much back. I've outlined three stories while I've been over here. The first fills in Kasidy Yates' background and her involvement with the Maquis. I'm very, very excited about this story as I have mentioned to both Rocky and Liz Logan. There's just so much potential here and I've just got to find a way to reconcile the timelines and canon to make it work. DS9 TPTB were actually quite kind to fans on that level, so I think it will work out. The other two stories fit in Rocky's "Glory Days" universe - ie two characters meet somewhere five years after Voyager's return and it's a little character study/sketch to fit there.

I've also finished read several fics. Five of Lori's C&C stories - though I think I got a couple out of order, including "The Omega Doorstop," "Wuthering Holodecks," and "Elephants in the Lift." I also finally read m.c. moose's "Tapestry" trilogy and a couple stories by Michele Masterson and Ragpants. It felt really good to be a reader again and to read such quality fic. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Lori's C&C fics this summer plus more of m.c. moose's work.

I saw a post on zendom about Real Life and discussion on fandom interfering with writing. That's one thing I've realized while being on this trip with limited computer access (I'm back online, btw, for the next 2 weeks). I like *not* talking about fandom. I like *not* keeping up with what's going on in so-and-so's blog. When I first started this blog about 18 months ago, I talked about life, about things that amused me, occasionally fandom, but it wasn't the overriding 'thing' in my blog. Now, I make the blog rounds and there are mini wars everywhere and people talking about esoteric things in fandom which are way over my head and beneath my knees. I love Trek, but I don't think I love it as much as other people love their fandoms. I do love fanfic and certain fanfic authors (they know who they are), but I lack the ability to pimp them properly or the vocabulary to properly gush over the said fics written by the said authors and I only have the energy to stalk two or three of them at this point. Which makes me think I must be a wannabe fandom blogger rather than the Real Thing. I just don't have it in me to discuss endlessly or characterize or post snippets of fanfic. People who want to read my WIPs can email me and I'll be happy to send them my snippets in their unvarnished glory.

So what I'm saying is - I like feeling like a writer again. I like feeling that I have stories on tap and that I have outlines. And I can't wait to get home to start *writing*. That's not to say that some meta isn't good - it is. You have to have a little bit of both, but it is *possible* to get carried away and when I move past my little Trek blog rounds, ie the Mod Squad, I get bamboozled and honestly, some days I can't remember my own name, let alone what's going on in fandoms I'm not a part of - in the hope of finding something that I find useful.

Lori posted about stopping her blog in June (which I hope she doesn't do - otherwise I'm with Jemima, what's left for us to read?) and I've thought about the same because I cannot keep up with fandom in the way I need to in order to be a Good Fan. But I think I'm going to go back to the way This Blog Used to Be. Maybe fandom will get discussed, maybe not - I just know that this break from the internet, painful as I thought it would be, as been good for me and for getting the muse back.

Next blog entry: Four girls and a bathroom.