Wow, I had forgotten my password and actually, all about signing into LJ a lot of the time now. But, to make things simple, I want to share my myspace blog (not that I do a lot of them, anyway) with everyone to share in my excitement from last Saturday night. Yes, I am still flying high from it!!

A dream come true!!!

I know some things aren't as funny if you're not so tired you have the silly giggles. This is my update of silly giggles that I know someone will get.

Last night, I didn't get in bed until 2. I was tired way before then but knew if I went to bed, I wouldn't do anything but lay there and talk. So the hubby and I went to bed and this was me: yakyakyakyakyakyakyakyakyakyakyakyakyak.

I was talking until nearly 4 and I had to be up at 6 for a fun day with my mom and grandmommie. But somewhere along the way, Shane decided to actively participate in the conversation instead of just listening and giving the appropriately timed "Mmhmms". I think it was about 3:15 when I started giggling about my typo (beard for breast). Now I had told him about it when it happened, but it got funnier as it got later. The conversation went like this:

Shane: How in the hell do you get breast and beard mixed up? They're not even anything alike!
Me: They both have brea...granted, not in that order, but it is there.
Shane: I still don't see how you did that. That's like mixing cock and coke. They're not anywhere fucking close to each other!
Me: I didn't do that one. Kim did it.
Shane: It doesn't matter. You were part of it. You typed catlick, too. *immitating someone saying that* "Boy, you sure are catlick. You like that, dont you?"
Me: *giggling* I also typed sexcited one time instead of excited.
Shane: Maybe that's where the catlick came in. HA! She was sexcited because of the catlick!
Me: *DIES DIES DIES*

Today, my daddy had two canisters of fruit. One was raisins and I ate some of them. I asked what the other was and thought it was dried prunes. Daddy made a face about the prunes and told me it was apricots. Conversation followed:

Daddy: Get you some apricots.
Me: Thanks, but I don't like them. I'm just going to eat some more raisins.
Daddy: No, get you some apricots. They're good.
Me: I'm sure they are, Daddy, but I don't like them.
Daddy: Yes you do, get a couple and eat them.
Me: *gets a couple of dried apricots and bites into one then spits it out* Yuck.
Daddy: Good, huh?
Me: No, I still don't like them.
Daddy: Why'd you eat it then?!

GRAMMARICAL RULES TO LIVE BY
1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Don't use no double negatives.
17. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be ignored.
21. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
22. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
23. Kill all exclamation points!!!
24. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
25. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth skaing ideas.
26. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
27. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
28. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
29. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
30. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
31. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
32. Who needs rhetorical questions?
33. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
34. Proofrread carefully to see if you any words out.

Just a scene that will hopefully fit into a story. It's pretty much the middle of it and the characters will be introduced way before this. We'll call it en medias res for the moment. As always, NC-17 for language. Chris is the star of this one.

( Wherein Chris nearly has a melt-down )

48 something thousand.

So I'm not exactly participating in the NANOWRIMO or whatever that thing is. I think it would be cool as hell to do that, but I'm more in a fanfic mind right now.

So I'm going to do my own version of it for fanfic. Go me?

Muwahahaha if I was ever going to hell for something I wrote...this would be it.

( Little Red Truck )

Dear muses and plot bunnies running amok in my head,

Yeah, hi. Remember me? I'm the one who you all are driving insane. For nearly four years, I went without any inspiration to write. You left me right after I started two BSB stories--a Nick and an AJ--and basically abandoned me after getting me 12 chapters into a Lance fic and three into a Chris story. But then you tried to make it up to me by staying with me through these wonderful years of writing in role-play. And for that, I am thankful.

Then you come back into my life for writing in something other than RP. Thank you for the wonderful JC story that you would not stop playing in my mind until I wrote it. Thank you for the sudden desire to write my Justin story that started off as a joke and quickly rolled into one I wanted to see how it would play out.

But now, you won't even let me finish that one before you start putting these incredibly dark storyline ideas into my head. Like the one of someone being kidnapped and held by these serial killers and made to make sex videos before being killed but is rescued before the murders happen? And the aftermath of that? Or what about that one of JC being a drug addict and forcing himself on a woman? You know I don't like to portray any of those guys in those lights because I don't know them and it's just wrong. Let me write it as an original fic, but no, you insist on them being fanfics. We will have to come to some kind of agreement on this.

But seriously, muses and bunnies, let me finish this one I'm deeply involved in before you start bugging me to write another. It's the polite thing to do.

Sincerely,
April/FantaCwriter/Sugar Magnolia (depending on which writing mode I'm in at that time)

One of my favorite BSB fics I wrote with "the other half of my brain" Jennifer a few years ago. It started when she called me up one day and said "I want us to write a story together. I have the first scene in my head, I just need a name for the girl." To which I replied "Okay. Her name is Bailey Brooks Townsend. Go write and I'll see what you did and pick up the next chapter." And so began the April and Jennifer writing team. lol We were quite the dynamic duo with A&J productions. She'd write a chapter, post it and then leave me to write the next and so on and so forth. So on this story, she had the odd number chapters and I had the even. Most couldn't even tell it was two writers until they noticed the different names posting it on the messageboard. Hahaha And yes, the cliffhangers were just to see where either she or I would take it next.

( Survivor - Chapter 1 )

This is a visual I wrote a year or so ago for a challenge in a BSB fandom writing group/message board I was a member of. It was getting close to Halloween and we decided to see what we could come up with. Here's mine and as always to be on the safe-side...rated NC-17:

( Heaven's Just A Sin Away )

So now is the time I should be asleep because I've got so much stuff going on and it's keeping my mind running in circles talking to myself. And the craziest thing about it? I'm not getting answers I need or want. Pfftt.

I'm thinking that I'm going to start posting my stories here because I just want them somewhere I can easily get to them and LJ isn't overrun with rumors of it closing down...I don't think. Anyway, this will be like a third back up for them since I have some posted at a journal on GJ and backed up on a disc, as well as in a couple of media sites. I'll also get a chance to tag and keep them together here as well. Not that I can't do it on GJ, but I need to use this journal anyway. That makes sense, even in my sleep-deprived mind.

So first up will be In Another Life, the first real fanfic I started AND finished after a four year hiatus. Haha, listen to me, sounding so important and calling it a hiatus. Honestly, I got addicted to the instant feedback in role-playing so I kind of fell out of sorts with actual writing but then one day, this one popped into my head and just would not leave until I sat down to write. I based a lot of the characters on people I knew growing up and the grandmother was loosely based on my granny and her mother. The name Daisy came from my great-granny and most of the spunky spitfire came from my granny. I never thought when I was writing this story that I would end up losing her in August. It saddens me so much that she's no longer with us, but at least I was able to capture her spirit in a character and I know if she had known I was using her as a model for a character, she'd be flattered and a little embarrassed, but oh so proud of me. I just wish I had a picture to use for the female lead in this story. I don't know if I'll ever be able to find one of her, but I think I did a pretty good job in describing her looks and her personality.

Now, to post the prologue.

I've come to the realization that even if people complain and insist the don't like the dreaded "Mary Sue" of fanfic world, if that concept is given good writing, it will be welcomed with open arms. I've been writing for as long as I can remember and just love writing fanfics. I used to hide from my husband that I was doing it...it seemed...cheap and tawdry. But now that I'm a little older, I just don't give a rip. I'll give him the basic concept/storyline for it and then see what his reaction is. I know there are times I need someone to pull me in when I get a little carried away and he's one of the best ones to do it.

The story, I'm working on now, In Another Life, is my first attempt at actual writing in three and a half years. I've been nervous, thinking I had gotten out of the swing of things and had gotten lazy with the short descriptions used in roleplay. Apparently, though, the muse to do "real writing" is still there. Go me. Last night, I was in the middle of an angst filled scene and needed to make sure something I was putting out there worked. Granted, not many who read fanfics, or anything else for that matter, will stop and say "Oh no. That is totally not going to happen. You can't believe that. Why aren't they putting more realism into it?!" But being like I am, I asked the hubby a question on the law. (He's been through law school and is working on passing the bar). I had to corner him as he came out of the shower and tell him point blank that I just wanted a simple answer and none of the bullshit he usually gives me. Save that for the courtroom, buddy. After half an hour, I finally get a straight answer not shrouded in some mysterious legal terminology from the hubby. In the process, I have to explain the concept of the storyline. His reaction? "It's stupid!! No one does that anymore! There aren't any arranged marriages? How do you know people still do that? You can't force someone to marry you! That's just...preposterous, April!" Jackass. I didn't ask him what he thought of my plotline, but apparently it was a freebie thrown in with the legal help. He got all upset about it and I had to gently remind him...it's fiction, none of the people actually exist or have been through this situation. And at least I didn't use the term "pogo stick".

As many times as I've written intros to characters, both in fanfiction and other forms of writing, it's still the ones about myself that are the most difficult to compose. What do I want to say about myself? Is it possible to keep some kind of secrecy when there are people out there who know the person behind the name? Am I just sounding pompous and obnoxiously verbose now? Let's make it simple, then and start with the basics of who I am.

The name FantaCwriter comes from a Sandra Brown book called FantaC. I came across it a few years ago while working in a library and shelving the large print books. It's a great book if anyone's looking for some romantic brain candy. I'm actually a big fan of hers and there was just something about the name written "Fanta C" that stuck in my head. Years later, when I discovered the wonderful realm of fanfiction, I noticed lots of people were using pseudonyms and I wanted one, too, and the first one that came to mind was the title that book. So I decided hey, it's good, I'll use it! It's funny, though, considering I've really only used that name when writing Nsync fanfic. Maybe my subconscious has always thought of them as being naughtier than BSB?

That was a pretty good segue into my writings, wasn't it? I became a fan of the two high-priests of boybands around 1999-2000. I was teaching at that time and my students were crazy about Nsync and the Backstreet Boys. Being the cool teacher that I was, I would let them listen to their CD's in class if they were good and doing their work. Gotta love private schools. By the summer of 2001, I had stumbled upon a few messageboards dedicated to the two groups and one actually introduced me to the beauty of fanfiction. It made perfect sense to me and having always wanted to be a writer and holding a degree in English, I decided to give it a go. I haven't looked back since.

I tend to put a lot of elements that I'm familiar with in my writings. If I have an idea for something and I'm not "knowledgeable" on that topic and don't have anyone I can call on to tap into their experience, I will go the extra mile and research it. I'm very big on credibility and plots being believable; therefore I only "write what I know". Being born and raised in a small Southern town, I tend to keep my stories and female characters in places I'm familiar with or feel some sort of a connection. Nothing irritates me more than to read a story where I sit and swear at the screen because of some ridiculous twist or unbelievable plotine or character. Well, that and sex in a story just for the sake of it being there. However, I am not without guilt on that. I'll admit that I did it in my first story, but it was only because that was what all of us thought it was about in the beginning. I quickly learned to work around that and actually use my background and love of literature and words to create stories that I would want to read if I came across them. I also became one of the biggest feedback whores at this time. Even though I write for myself first and foremost, I love to know that people are reading and have some kind of reaction to my writings.

Because I'm well over 21, all of my stories have adult language and themes in them, written by an adult for adults to read. I love AU stories and crossovers. Slash isn't top on my list, but I will read it and have even found a few that I really like. I don't think I really have a preference when it comes to particular lead males in stories, just as long as they're believable and not a caricature of the real people. I love when authors take and make an established "person" their own. I love to see more than just the public persona that's accepted of one of the guys. I'll even take dark as long as it's not too over the top and improbable. But when it comes down to it, I love the sweet, dreaded Mary Sue plotlines. I see nothing wrong with them and maybe, one day, I'll give my reasoning on why they are the best things ever.

And there you have it--all that is me. In this journal, you'll find some stories that I started a while back and never finished for whatever reason. Hopefully, I'll find the muse for them again and finish them. I might talk about a fic that I've read and really like or one that just makes me say "huh?". I'll probably include some character development pages for random characters that pop into my head. I can almost guarantee you there will be some random ramblings on a tv show that I've seen and found fascinating or a book I've read. There won't be any profound musings or deep opinings going on in here.

Feel free to friend me and let me know how you found this journal. Comment and leave suggestions or feedback if you like. All are welcome.