Present Perfect

March 29th, 2013 § 1 comment § permalink

Ages and ages and ages ago, I participated in The Fandom Gives Back: Eclipse Edition. I auctioned off the rights to prompt me for a 5,000-word short story. I had two winners: robsjenn, who asked for a piece about Alice and Edward (NOT Alice/Edward), and Team CarlWard Slash, who asked for a CarlWard slash piece, as close to canon as I could make it.

Out of those two prompts, and over two years later, came Present Perfect and (soon) Patroclus Rising. For both stories, I’ve written and tossed something on order of 3x as many words as made their way into the final version, and both are looking to be about 3x as long as I promised them.

Present Perfect will post today, and the next two Thursdays, April 4 and April 11, 2013. (And my apologies to anyone who got the screwy auto-update from earlier! I was using a new plugin and and didn’t know how it worked.) At the suggestion of both my prereader and beta, I’ve split it so that each section is its own chapter. Doing so was a bit crazymaking, but I think in the end, the results will be worth it. I will post the first “part” today, and the second and third parts over the next two posting days, with multiple chapters on each day (same goes on FFnet).

This was a long time coming, but it wound up being one of my favorite fics I’ve ever written. I hope you enjoy the read.

Stregoni Benefici, Epilogue: Chapter notes.

February 1st, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

By way of a note for this chapter, I leave you with this: the progression of chapter titles through this fic.

The 1667 titles
Infant Lowly
Sarah’s Son
Spectator at Tyburn
Suitor
Layman
Intended
Improper
Tempest
Beloved
William’s Son
Carlisle

The 1789 titles
The Young One
Shy
The Student
Friend
The Fourth Brother
Englishman
Taoist
Doctor
Stregone Benefico

The 1918 titles
Cheater of Death
Motherless Child
Psalmist
Infantry man
Night Watchman
Invisible Man
Miracle Worker
Savior
Sire
Father

Yes. There has been a method to this madness. 🙂

Thank you so much for reading.

Every new beginning: Notes on Stregoni Benefici, Chapter 28

January 31st, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

I never intended to put a 4-week break between the penultimate and final chapters of this fic, but the reality of fanfiction is that real life sometimes gets in the way. Chapter 28 was penned in November, but taken to pieces several times.

One of the things a canon writer has to face is having a moment that is part of canon, that dozens upon dozens of writers have written before. I was grateful for every review of Chapter 26 that said that this version of Edward’s turning felt new. There is honestly no higher compliment, as far as I’m concerned.

When I first envisioned what would become Stregoni (it was at the time called Absolution), I’d planned to do exactly what almost ever writer who has covered these years has done—begin at Carlisle’s turning, or very near to it, and then barrel through two hundred seventy years of history until I reached Edward. But over the year plus it took me to even put the bones of this story together, I came to realize that the real story of the end of Carlisle’s life was rooted in the relationships he lost, and those he then had to forge anew.

So for that reason, I chose to end Stregoni Benefici at exactly the point others have chosen to begin. For when you are immortal, every ending is really only another beginning.

I will post the epilogue tomorrow, but if you’re chomping at the bit, check the Stregoni main page. 

Happy Reading.

Notes to Stregoni Benefici, Ch. 27

December 29th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

I find I don’t have much to say about this chapter except to thank my beta, because that is where my mind is right now.  One of the great things about fan fiction is that the interaction between readers and writers opens the door for you to meet people you end up truly loving as your closest friends.

It’s not my place to say any more, but  I feel the only thing appropriate to do in conjunction with this chapter is to express my extreme gratitude for her help, her guidance, and her friendship.

So that’s all I’ll do here.
Thanks, K

Sempiternam Requiem: Notes to Stregoni Benefici, Chapter 26.

December 15th, 2012 § 0 comments § permalink

(I posted this to my tumblr last night, but I think it bears repeating as the notes to this chapter.)

I always find myself amused by what I feel the urge to listen to while I’m editing or writing a particular chapter or scene. I don’t have a set “soundtrack” to anything, and  one gift I always ask for are iTunes gift cards so that I always have a balance ready to purchase exactly the song I want for any particular moment of writing.

When I sat down to edit chapter 26,  I knew I needed to listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s setting of “Pie Jesu.” sung by a boy soprano. It’s a beautiful piece, and something told me this was the piece for this chapter. So I dug around on iTunes until I found a setting I liked, and then put it on one-song repeat.

I had never in my life looked up the meaning of the Latin in this piece, until the moment when I knew *this* was the song I needed to hear as I worked on this chapter. I just knew that I liked it, and that I needed it to do these edits.

This is the translation:

Lord Jesus
Who takes on the sins of the world
Give them rest

Lamb of God
Who takes on the sins of the world
Give them rest
Everlasting rest

Call me a crazy author, but I think the urge to listen to that was Carlisle. Telling me exactly what he wanted to say to Edward in his turning.

(It was also eerily appropriate given the tragedy in Connecticut yesterday, and these words certainly apply there, as well.)

I posted this one without sending it to my beta to stay on track with getting SB up in December, but she is never undeserving of my thanks. Openhome sits on my shoulder even when I’m self-editing, going, “You’ve already said that three times, move along.”

Happy reading.

 

Pie Jesu:

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