Finish what you start, Crane.
This will mean absolutely nothing to most readers, since it’s meant more as a reminder to me. I have so many writing and art projects that when I scribbled them down on the studio whiteboard, the list made me a little queasy. But if I acknowledge them in public, I’ll have more impetus to finish them. In order. And not get ahead of myself.
The ones I must do: Moro’s Shield, Leopard’s Leap, Moro’s Crown. These are the stories in my Moroverse sequence, and Real Life Nonsense has derailed the pace at which I wanted to write. Too bad, Real Life Nonsense. I love these stories and I need to see them finished properly. I have impatient fans, for whom I am unbelievably grateful.
The ones I want to write or finish eventually: My trickster/endurance runner M/M romance, a M/M Cinderella variant in a steampunk universe, the Foodie Spy novel that needs to be updated to a futuristic setting, the contemporary M/M/F musician romance, the rest of the ‘Consorts’ fantasy stories to add to my ‘Saints and Heroes’ sequence, and the big fat epic fantasy novel Bloodshadow that sits in my hard drive and laughs at me. I have scribbles and plot ideas for at least six other books, but they haven’t named themselves yet.
The artwork I need to do: poster concepts for a major decorative image publisher, for their spring 2014 catalogs. Book arts restocks for several galleries and upcoming shows. These include a zodiac book, one about water, two re-done versions of previous books (because I love the subjects), an adaptation of an Edward Abbey quote, another Wallace Stevens poem I adore, books showcasing three original poems, a book inspired by the Latino respect for Santa Muerte, a leather and silk book of embroidered figure studies, and a book about pigeon psychology that doubles as social commentary about cults.
The artwork I want to do? The latest idea, and the one having the most strident tantrums to be made. It marks the first time my book arts obsession has been inspired by fanfiction. It’s called Vows, and it will feature sixteen words drawn from one of the most remarkable M/M/F erotic romance stories I’ve read in years. I gushed about it in my last post. It is ‘Small Things’ by Alis Dee, on Archive of Our Own and Tumblr.
Note: as of early 2014, that link has been disabled and the author’s works are no longer archived at AO3. Normally this would be a cause for despair, but no, this is actually really good news. It means that the author is going on bigger and different original projects, and now has the backing of a top literary agent. I’ll still review the story.
I should not have loved this story. It’s a huge Work In Progress, currently weighing in at over 153K. The multiple storylines jump times and interweave in ways that unseasoned readers may hate. There are small errors that a good editor and proofreader could have trimmed. Those did not derail me.
Nor did the subject matter. I’ve been trying to stay away from the more esoteric One True Pairings and One True Threesomes in most fan efforts, because I need to be writing more than reading. This one was recommended to me by several different people.
While I enjoyed the Marvel adaptation of Thor and look forward to the sequel this fall, I think Natalie Portman pretty much phoned in her performance as New Mexico astrophysicist Jane Foster in the first movie. Yet, Dee’s portrayal of Jane Foster is sweet, realistic, heartwarming to nerdgirls, and the perfect addition to solidify an impossible menage.
I was skeptical of the tendency to slash Thor and Loki, if only because I have a grounding in the actual Norse mythology. (Loki is always fun, but Thor is much more of a jerk than Chris Hemsworth portrays him. I don’t even like blonds, and Hemsworth is, well, yummy.) Dee’s basic premise (familiar to many Thunderfrost ‘shippers) holds that Thor and Loki should never have been reared as brothers, but as partners in a political alliance between Asgard and Jotunheim. But the story is not just about sex, even though the sex is by turns poignant and searing.
And goddammit, if Dee doesn’t make it all work, and flawlessly, in a big sprawling saga that isn’t over yet. I hope she writes original fiction too, because she’d be a winner at it.
I asked permission to use her work, and she graciously agreed.
So to give my twitchy creative mind a rest, I looked through my supply stocks and sketched Vows this weekend. Blue-black leather and blue-dyed maple wood covers and pages, with bronze-leaf accents; Norse runes, English and Icelandic letters woodburned in strong and simple scripts. Two or three small books, each no bigger than a deck of playing cards. Open-back Coptic bindings whose spines drip with dark indigo tassels of black lava and rock crystal, bone and bronze, and scarlet and ice-blue glass beads. Because I’m a props-nerd, I really like the idea of two or three little books that look like they might have come to Earth in a Jotun trade delegation, in some alternate present.
But the Vows books are a long way from reality, because they are fanfiction pieces and I can’t sell them. Paying work comes first. So in a way, this post is my promise to all those named but not-yet-real pieces hovering in my mind’s eye: I’ll do best to get you finished…