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penny-anna · 3 years

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i was tagged by @handwrittenhello, thank u! <3

How many works do you have on AO3?

i got uhh... 355! that's a lot

What’s your total AO3 word count?

aww don't make me check it. *checks* 988,031.

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

i have 12 currently listed on ao3 tho a couple of those are for crossovers. uhh i'm not going to say them all as some are embarrassing. the Big Ones are the Witcher, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings & Merlin, anyway.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

they are all witcher fics are present!

New Monster Stories

The Price of a Touch

Somebody to Love

sandstorms and hazy dawns

Constellations

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

OH that's a good question! i actually used to but i got out of the habit (oddly) when i moved to a fandom where i get less comments. the reason for this is that getting less comments meant i liked to go back and re-read them as if they were new comments and once i replied that would mean i was 'done' with them. so if i haven't replied to your comment that is because. i am still enjoying it.

i do reply when someone has a question or other comment that i feel warrants a response tho

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

oof so the answer is definitely this merlin series which tbh i can't say i'd recommend as it's genuinely pretty brutal. i don't know if i can say that i regret the bleakness of the ending tho.

Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

very rarely write 'crossovers' in the strictest sense BUT i do rly like writing fusions & of those i think the weirdest is the merlin/borrowers fusion bcos the whole concept of M-rated borrowers fic is just. frankly unacceptable!! but i did it anyway.

side note i do actually have a bunch more material around that one drabble (a whole au that's like the plot of the first borrowers but a romance essentially)

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

uhh kind of? yes. way back when i was about 14 and had just started posting fanfic i got a hm Scathing review on a fic i posted. however i was not especially bothered as i was very up myself when i was 14 and it would have taken more than 1 rude person to make me think what i was doing was anything less than Stellar and also the review was pretty dumb.

a lot of the stuff they didn't like in my story seemed to come down to them having failed to realise it was an AU & what i learned from that experience was you can't trust people to actually read your author's notes. the other stuff they took issue with came down to 'this was clearly written by a teenage girl' and in retrospect i'm like yeah no shit. this sounds like it was written by a teenager bcos i was in fact a teenager. do u have nothing better to do.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

yes. tho not super often these days.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

sorta? once someone translated one of my fics & posted it without crediting the original. it was very very obviously a direct translation even without speaking the language it was written in. they'd been doing it for a while and i believe they got reported but i don't actually remember what came of it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

answered this above lol. yes i've had a few fics translated!! i don't really keep track of them. i used to go through and look at the comments on translations but i don't really bother these days.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

ok so i'm going to go with my gut instinct on this one & say Two/Jamie, even tho i'm not that into it these days. just in terms of. the level of enjoyment i had back when i was shipping it.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

OH you know i was actually thinking about this the other day! i always wanted to do a fourth installment of my Merlin urban fantasy AU that would tie some stuff together (and also feature gwen! who was absent from the entire fic bcos i was saving her for later!! i'm so sorry!) but i just lost interest in the fandom. i remember being conscious when i posted the 3rd part that it was kind of a parting gift to the Merlin fandom as a whole. am still pretty proud of that one.

What are your writing strengths?

dialogue!

What are your writing weaknesses?

basically. everything but dialogue lol.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i did it 1 time using google translate in an original story & then i ended up actually selling the story so i had to scrabble around trying to find someone who spoke the language who could help me in advance of publishing it and then the process of translating it turned out to be much more complicated than i expected.

i don't remember the usernames of the very kind people who helped me out w it off the top of my head but thank you again!!

anyway no i will not be doing that again probably.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

it was lord of the rings & tbh as lotr fanfics written aged 12 go it really wasn't that embarrassing but it is no longer online.

for some reason (and this is probably for the best) my tastes ran exclusively to crack fic & i also really liked legolas so it was just an extended fic about legolas having really stupid adventures which i thought was very funny at the time. it was co-written w a friend and tbph her chapters were legit funny. go figure.

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

i feel like i end up saying this every time this question comes up but the thing i'm proudest of is prolly the LOTR daemon au (if you can count that as one fic lol)

uhh who do i know who writes fic & hasn't been tagged. @thescarletpaperback @uighean

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boltthrutheheart · 3 years

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Thanks @courtneyshortney82 for the tag!

I’m modifying this to FFnet since that is where most of my works are posted. I am trying to re-edit everything and eventually transfer it to AO3.

1. How many works do you have on AO3 (FFnet)?

2. What’s your total word count?

779,9999

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos (favorites…I guess this would be the FFnet equivalent)?

I Will Follow You Into the Dark

Wasn’t Born an Angel

It Only Hurts When I Breathe

Bloodline

Hang Your Halo at the Door

4. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes! I always respond to comments…comments and reviews just make my day! I feel so bad because back when I first started publishing my multi-chapter Bethyl fics, I was still not really tech-savvy. I didn’t know there was an option to respond to reviews or comments, so I thanked everyone for their support in my author’s notes for the next chapters. I finally figured out that I could respond to reviews, and ever since then, I have been thanking everyone individually for their support.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Ugghh…that’s a hard on! Since both of my major works are still WIPS…and well, they’ll have relatively happy endings, it is hard to answer this one. I will say that the fic that has the most bittersweet ending (the saddest for the “main” characters) is Bloodline.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

It Only Hurts When I Breathe. This is by far the most tragic thing I will ever write, but it probably has the happiest ending I could imagine.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I’ve never written a crossover, but I think there are several interesting worlds/fandoms I would love to attempt to write Bethyl crossovers with.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Ummm…yes…but can we call it “erotica”! LOL! I have no idea what is meant by “what kind”.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, both of my large WIP Bethyl fics have been stolen and reposted on Wattpad. Fortunately, I was able to get them taken down. I would have never know but for loyal readers who let me know that it had happened.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone asked my permission to translate my fic I Will Follow You Into the Dark into Portuguese and post it. I gave my permission, but I don’t know whatever came of it!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I think that would be difficult for me because I am really stubborn about my own writing!

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Bethyl

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I really plan on finishing all of my WIPs, especially my epically long Bethyl fics (although it may be years to come when there is no one left reading in the fandom). I want to finish everything, but the fic that I haven’t worked on in a while is Hang Your Halo at the Door. I love the premise of it, it is the only non-ZA AU I have ever attempted, but I’m having difficulty finding time to work on it.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I pride myself on emotions and character’s inner discourse that really emphasizes their POV sections. I also really love writing the small, beautiful moments…moments that might just be mundane and normal, but stringing those together into scenes that make up the lives of the characters and the foundation of their relationships…that is one of my favorite things ever! I don’t know if these are actually my strengths, but these are the things I pride myself on and love.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut/Erotic scenes

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don’t think this really applies to my fandom, but if I were to write something where the my characters came into contact with individuals who spoke a different language, I would love to include it in my fic for realism!

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Way before I started writing fic for the Bethyl fandom, I wrote two one-shots for my favorite couple from a book series called The Black Dagger Brotherhood. I haven’t read over them in a while, so compared to my Bethyl fics, they are probably really poorly written, but I remember being really proud of each of them. I didn’t actually participate in a fandom at the time, I just wrote them because I loved the books and recently discovered that fan fiction was a thing. When I posted them, I was even less technologically savvy than I am now; I don’t even think I tagged them how I was supposed to…but everyone has to start somewhere, right?

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Wasn’t Born an Angel

I think most everyone I know who writes has probably been tagged. If you haven’t, please feel free to play! It’s fun!

#bethyl #bethyl fanfiction #bethyl fanfic #dash game

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deadlyglacier · 3 years

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20 Questions tag~

I was tagged by @mythicamagic thank you senpai~<3

How many works do you have on AO3?

40 right now, plus 1 that is still hidden because of the SOFA Exchange event. (I’m still a lil fish.)

What’s your total AO3 word count?

486,920! That’s so amazing to me!

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

InuYasha - A Feudal Fairytale (18)

FullMetal Alchemist (18)

Mass Effect Trilogy (3)

Let’s Play (Webtoon) (1)

Kingdom Hearts (1) But I hope to write for many more fandoms in the future! I have ideas for fics for Castlevania, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Last of Us Part II, and more!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

#1. Stardust FemShep/Garrus, Mass Effect Trilogy, Rated Explicit. A retelling of the Shepard/Vakarian love story, with lots (and LOTS) of sexiness, from Garrus' point of view. Starts from before the Omega-4 and will end sometime after the end of ME3. Trying to stay as true to the game as possible, while adding some things happening off camera and a new ending.

#2. Flamingo Sess/Kag, Inuyasha, Rated Explicit Kagome's method of beating the summer heat attracts a certain demon lord...

#3. Hawk Sess/Kag, Inuyasha, Rated Explicit Kagome and Sesshomaru discover they have a mutual attraction for each other after a battle and a slight comedic incident brings them together. At first their relationship seems entirely sexual, but eventually evolves into something real. What will this romance mean for Naraku? Or even the future? *TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHAPTER 6! MAJOR VIOLENCE AND TRAGEDY* Very, very loosely based on "A Mere Digression" by elle6778

#4. Daisy Sam/Charles, Let’s Play, Rated Mature Sam wakes up somewhere unfamiliar with a splitting headache with no memory of the night before. Takes place right after the S2 finale. First chapter was my prediction for what would happen next, and then three other “wishful thinking” chapters happened, lol.

#5. Chemistry Ed/Winry, FullMetal Alchemist, Rated Mature A look at how the relationship between Ed and Winry developed after Brotherhood ended. Cute, sweet, funny, and hot (eventually—y'all that know me know I gotta have some NSFW in there).

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to respond to everyone, especially when a fic of mine has just been posted, but sometimes I just forget. If I haven’t responded to your comment, please know it’s just because I’m a big dumb and forgot! I love getting comments, and I reread them all the time! I just feel like there’s a time limit to when I can respond to them--if I let too much go by, it’s awkward if I reply. Gah, but that’s just me getting in my own head, I guess. I’ll do better!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oof, definitely Psychology, a fic I wrote for RoyEdOTPoly this year. The prompt I got was dark, and I didn’t see any way around an angsty ending. Read at your own risk!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Well, aside from the last fic, I try to write happy endings for all my fics! But, if I have to name names, I’m torn between Zoology (another FullMetal Alchemist fic, RoyEd, for RoyEdOTPoly this year) and Stardust (my Mass Effect fic, which is long, but so worth it, in my opinion). Both are very fluffy in the end!

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Argh... I don’t really like crossovers, to be honest. I actively avoid them when looking for fics to read. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought of writing them myself. (I’m a total hypocrite, I know.) I had an idea for an Inuyasha x The Sims fic, years ago, that I never did anything with. The premise was basically Inuyasha and Kagome would get trapped in the game somehow (via the jewel or magic or something), and they’d be controlled by Souta, Kagome’s friends, Hojo--all sorts of different people who think the fact that Kagome and Inuyasha are in the game is just some kind of silly mod. I probably won’t write it, so if anyone is interested in that crazy idea, have at it! You have my blessing. <3 I also have a crazy crossover idea for what I call an “Ultimate OT3″ of mine that I’ve mentioned to my friends, but I haven’t actually written down yet: Sesshomaru/Alucard/Sebastian Michaelis. So be on the lookout for that!

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I wouldn’t call it “hate” so much as “mansplaining,” but I have gotten a couple of comments that made my eyebrow twitch on Stardust--both on AO3 and FFN. Just dudes (and I’m fairly certain they were dudes, just from their tone) trying to explain why a certain plot twist wouldn’t work, or tell me how to save Sidonis in the actual game (which I already knew, that person just didn’t read what I wrote). I’ve also gotten a comment on one of my more controversial fics, Hippology, on FFN, where the person asked me if I thought my summary was K-Rated (which, admittedly, it does need to be for the site, and mine wasn’t--because of a single word). I changed it and messaged them saying it was fixed. Going to that commenter’s profile, however, proved to be fairly enlightening... They’re nuts. They have another profile, too. Read at your own risk. Yikes. There’s also a team of people on FFN who make it their life’s mission to report stories with rule violations. I’ve gotten a comment from one of them as well. These people are not mods, they just like to pretend they are--one of them even made their name look official! “CU Administration,” gtfo dude. I also recently got one of my fics removed from FFN. It wasn’t even one of my sexiest ones! They put me in timeout for 48 hours, and when I was finally able to publish something new on the site again, I posted Hippology (my centaur smut), and it’s still up as I type this. (Wonder how long it’ll take them to notice?) And since the fic that got taken down was a SessKag fic, I’m thinking it might have been a petty SessRinner who reported it to the “authorities” of FFN, because another friend of mine got hers taken down not long after mine, and it was also SessKag. Just my tinfoil theory, anyway!

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes, yes, yes. It’s practically all I write. I do all sorts of smut, from romantic, sensual stuff, to specific kinks, to monsterfucking--all that good stuff. Can’t change me~<3

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

God, I hope not!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don’t think so. No one has asked me if they can translate one, anyway.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet! I’m open to the idea, and I’ve had little discussions with my fic-writing buddies about it, but nothing’s come out of it just yet. Keep your eyes peeled!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh, now come on! I can’t pick just one! But I’ll give you a top 3 (in no particular order, because they change places a lot, depending on how obsessed I am with them at the moment). Inuyasha: Sess/Kag FullMetal Alchemist: Roy/Ed Mass Effect: Garrus/FemShep

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have a couple of stories that I deleted from my original FFN account that I’d like to re-write and re-post on AO3, but I don’t think I’ll ever get around to it. There were a couple of Inu/Kag fics I had in-progress, and then a Koug/Kag fic. I recently rewrote and reposted my SessKag fic from years ago, Hawk, on FFN, AO3, and Dokuga! So maybe all hope isn’t lost. I’m even writing a sequel for Hawk! All the stories I have in-progress right now I plan on finishing. At some point, lol.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, without a doubt. It’s my favorite thing to write, aside from smut, of course--which is another strength of mine.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions, ugh. I try to do them well, but I always feel like they get stale. So I keep them somewhat vague, because in my mind, I think readers will fill in the gaps themselves whether you describe something immaculately or not--they’ll see what they want to see, and that is totally fine in my book! Or maybe I’m just making excuses, lol. I’ll only describe something in a lot of detail if I want the reader to focus on that--usually an outfit, accessory, or weapon--otherwise, I leave it up to their imagination (I don’t want manipulate it too much, I suppose).

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Wildly unnecessary unless that author speaks the language as well, or if certain words already exist in the fandom’s translations (ex. “youkai,” “alkahestry,” etc).

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Inuyasha, and the fic(s) I wrote in the beginning were terrible. I want to burn all traces of them off the face of the earth. I was in middle school. I was young and stupid.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I gotta go with Stardust. It’s the longest fic I’ve ever completed at more than 160k words. I was so immensely proud when I typed “The End,” and I was able to say to myself “I did it.”

I tag: @glassesmcfancyhair @willowsrain

#SessKag #RoyEd #SamCharles #Shakarian #Inuyasha #FullMetal Alchemist #Let's Play #Mass Effect #fanfiction #writers supporting writers #q and a #I don't know what else to put so here

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musette22 · 4 years

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Fanfic Writers Tag Game

I was tagged by @hbalbat and @ixalit in this lovely fanfiction tag game that was devised by the clearly very brilliant @thewaythatwerust, to discuss some of the fics I’ve written over time! Thanks so much, guys! 💖

I have no idea who has already done this, but I’ll go ahead and tag @paper-storm, @luninosity, @wintersoldier1989, @bluesimplicity73, @howdoyousleep3, @wayward-lives, @trekchik and please feel totally free to ignore! <3

Which of your fics…

* Did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got:

Hmm, maybe Body Politics? Generally speaking I think RPF AUs attract more readers than non-AU, and since everyone adores Political Daddy Chris, I figured this one could’ve done a little but better? Especially since I really like it myself (but then of course, that’s often how it goes isn’t it 😅)

* Got a better reaction than you expected:

Basically all of them! I never in a million years imagined that people would actually enjoy my writing, so every time I get a kudo on a fic I’m like “what, for real??” 🥰 But if I have to pic one, I guess From Brooklyn, With Love, since I wrote that one in one morning while at work and it did pretty well lol. Oh, and also my CAPBB fic from last year, Rare Is This Love (Keep It Covered), because I still can’t believe it did so well alongside the amazing fics from all the amazing authors who also participated in that bang.

* Is your funniest:

You Make My Heart Skip A Beet, I think. I’ve definitely gotten the most comments of people saying it cracked them up on that one! Or alternatively You lift my fucking spirits, bro, although that one is just a drabble. Still thinking of turning it into a proper fic at some point...

* Is your darkest/angstiest:

LOL none of them are particularly angsty. I’m not great with writing angst 😅 But for Stucky, it would probably be Rare Is This Love again, and for Evanstan maybe Closer? Yeah, I think so.

* Is your absolute favourite:

Ugh okay, if I *have* to answer this one, I’ll say it’s There is a Tavern in the Town, because that one allowed me to combine my love for Evanstan and Stucky and it’s not perfect, but it’s very close to my heart. Oh, and also I Really Can't Stay (Baby, It's Cold Outside) because I LOVE co-authoring with my gorgeous wife @paper-storm and I still feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever I think about this fic 🥰

Honourable mention for Reckless Serenade, since it’s the filthiest thing I’ve ever written and I love it.

* Is your least favourite:

That’s hard, too lol. I guess maybe Café Rouge, not because I dislike the fic but because it’s Peggy/Angie and I wrote it for a femslash challenge, but I don’t really ship it? Or, I mean, I ship it, but not in the same way I ship Stucky and Evanstan, you know?

* Was the easiest to write:

I guess maybe Strawberries & Cream or Diving In The Deep End, both of which I wrote really quickly because I just had to get those little scenes I had stuck in my head down onto paper!

* Was the hardest to write:

Probably also Café Rouge, because I wasn’t as driven by my passion for the ship as I normally am! That, or Rare Is This Love (again) because I really struggled to make the deadline on that one and that was not fun 😂

* Have you re-read the most:

That would be my fist ever fic, I've done some things that I shouldn't have done (but I haven't stopped loving you once), because I was terrified it was rubbish and I kept re-reading it to see if I could improve it hahaha. Also (If Paradise Is) Half as Nice, because I think it’s hawt.

* Would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time:

I did actually recommend There is a Tavern in the Town to one of my uni friends when she found out I wrote fanfiction and wanted to read some of it. In hindsight, maybe I’d recommend Maybe Baby (I'll Have You) now, because that one is non-RPF, more or less PG and kind of cute haha.

* Are you most proud of:

I think I Spy With My Little Eye, just because SO many people have told me how much they love it, and that’s kind of what you write for, isn’t it? And I don’t mean validation necessarily (although that is GREAT lol), but to give other people something they enjoy! 💗

* Has your favourite line/exchange/paragraph (share it):

Finding a favourite bit was literally impossible because all it did was remind me that I’m not all that good at writing 😂 However, I really like this scene from Closer, because I love how happy Sebastian is, and how fond Chris is, and how effortlessly these boys can laugh together, even during the most serious, heartfelt of moments. Since it’s a bit long-ish, I’ll put it under the cut!

*********

Sebastian blinks at Chris a few times, then suddenly sits up straight, grabbing Chris’s hand and prying open his fingers.

There they are. Two rings. That really happened.

His eyes snap back up to Chris’s face, wide and stunned. “You- had these made?”

Chris smiles at him indulgently. “Yes.”

“For us?”

“Yes.”

When the meaning of the gesture finally sinks in, a wave of pure, unadulterated happiness rises up in Sebastian’s chest so fast and fierce and unstoppable that it makes him feel lightheaded again – thought this time for an entirely different reason. He claps a hand over his mouth in a failed attempt to stifle the burst of laughter that escapes past his lips.

“Are you… laughing at me?” Chris asks, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, but he mostly seems amused.

Sebastian’s eyes grow even wider. “No,” he says firmly. “Fuck, Chris, I’m sorry.” He barks out another joyful laugh, unable to stop now that he’s started. “Sorry, sorry, I’m not laughing at you, I swear,” he hiccups, shaking his head from side to side and smiling like a lunatic. “I’m just so fuckin’ happy.”

“Oh, thank god,” Chris exclaims dramatically, slapping a hand over his heart. “So in that case, d’you think there’s any chance I could maybe get an answer at some point?” He pulls a face. “I mean, it may have escaped your notice, but I actually just made a heartfelt speech, declaring my undying love for you and asking you to be mine forever. But, you know, I can see how you could’ve missed that bit, it’s not like I poured my heart and soul into–”

Sebastian surges forward and cuts off Chris’s rambling by catching his still moving lips in a searing kiss.

#tag game #my fics #my writing

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sophygurl · 5 years

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Okay, time for me to try and remember all the stuff I wanted to make sure and say about my lovely time at WisCon 43 this past weekend.

Generally, I was just so pleased to once again get to extrovert all over the place in a space filled with amazing people. I got to hang out in my adjoining room full of my pals where we got to touch base with one another between running off to do other things and download our days to one another each evening. I got to enjoy several nice meals with friends I rarely get to see and acquaintances that I admire and respect. I got to have fascinating conversations with combinations of friends, acquaintances, and strangers in the lobby and at parties and in the hot tub. I got to sit on panels with intelligent and creative people with all different perspectives. I got to show off fun outfits and feast my eyes on everyone else’s cool shit and do the smile-and-wave at people I only see once a year even if we never got the chance to actually sit down and talk. I got to meet lots of new people and have adding frenzies on twitter and just generally delight to my heart’s content in awesome smart nerdy people who are also feminists with intersectional leanings - many of whom were also disabled and/or queer in a variety of ways. This is all what I just adore about WisCon so much. And it did not disappoint.

Being my 10th WisCon, I have stopped being utterly shocked that people might know/remember me. But I’m still a little bit amazed and delighted by it - especially when it comes from folks who I admire a lot and also have not spoken to more than once or twice. I know some people are just better at remembering and recognizing people than I am? But it still never fails to impress me!

I was a little less schedule-y with myself this year than usual. Which is not to say that I didn’t have full written schedules of all the things I wanted to do (planning is my favorite of my OCD symptoms so...). But I was a lot more flexible about doing things like walking in late to a panel because I got excited to sit outside and talk to someone I ran into in the halls beforehand or leaving a panel early if I felt like I wanted to take my time getting to the next thing. I may have still written down all of the things I wanted to be doing in any given time slot and prioritized them in order - BUT I played it by ear at each time and often did a totally different thing. lol

I still did lots of panels! In fact, I find I get to so many panels that I don’t spend as much time just doing hang-out activities as much as I’d like because there is only so much time in a day. I once again never made it to the trans/genderqueer/non-binary space and only went to the disability space the one time for the organized dinner. Ah, maybe next year!

I also still took notes during the panels I went to, but not as copiously as usual, and my handwriting is getting worse all the time so we’ll see how/if my panel write-ups go this year.

Getting my new walker the day before the con made a huge difference! It’s been two years since my previous walker broke down and I for sure noticed the difference in how much easier it was for me to get around to have one again.

On the other end of things, I have really gotten used to my hospital bed and having to sort out how to sleep in a regular bed again was an adventure in positioning various cushions and pillows and blankets around and requiring more lidocaine for nerves that got bungled up. But it worked(ish).

I also broke the toilet in our room. As in, neither plunging nor snaking did the trick and the maintenance guy had to take our toilet apart and cart it off and put a different one in it’s place. The replacement toilet was not currently in use for reasons that soon became obvious - lots of gurgling noises and self-flushing going on. But at least it flushed!

A few more specific things:

I found a pair of hot pink denim capri’s at the clothing swap that I’m excited to try out!

I discovered that my habit of suggesting lots of panel descriptions is more of a thing than I realized. Like, I knew I wrote a lot - I just didn’t realize how much more than the other average con-goer that was. I can’t decide if I should be more embarrassed or pleased/proud of this? But either way, it’s not going to stop me and I already have a huge list of ideas to write up for next year, so.

Only made it to one party, but glad I got to that one. I find I don’t have the physical energy for dance parties anymore and have never been a huge fan of the sit around and make small talk parties, but the Secret Superhero party that Alexandra Erin and co. throw every year is a good one because 1) they give people Stuff To Do which helps cover for all manner of social awkwardness and 2) there’s already built-in a few people I know and can reliably socialize with a little bit so I have less of that tendency to walk in - peek around - see no one I know (or only see ppl I know already talking to other people) - get intimidated - and leave.

Had planned to go to a lunch meeting for people to yell about The Magicians (of which I have a feeling my opinions would have largely been contradictory), but accidentally wandered off to lunch with other people without realizing I’d done so! Hopefully the 3 people I wandered off with did not feel as though I’d tagged along uninvited, but I certainly enjoyed the chance to get to know them all a little better.

Once again did not make it to the Vid Party, but DID make it to the Vid Deep Dive panel, which was great. And have watched a bunch of the vids on the list now and am super excited about vids in general again and am hopeful that this will lead me to actually using my YouTube and AO3 accounts to specifically watch and fangirl over vids more. Vids are like magic to me and vidders like wizards - I am so in awe of their talent I cannot.

Had some really interesting conversations about religion and fandom throughout the con - starting with my panel on the use of religion in SFF TV shows, dovetailing into a fascinating conversation down at the pool, and ending with some thinky thoughts coming out of the Antisemitism at WisCon panel. Possibly more on that later. Also possibly some more panels on the subject for next year?

Lots of panel topics and conversations this year ended up being about the combination of two subjects very close to my heart: 1) hope and/or redemption, and 2) community. Again, possibly more later and certainly some intriguing panel ideas for the coming year.

I did buy two books this year! Budget does not always allow for book buying, but I did good on the food budget, so I allowed myself two during the sign-out. They were both from people I like to presume to call friends, which is always a nice plus - to buy directly from someone you want to support financially as well as personally. I got First Dates, Last Calls by Alexandra Erin which I’m excited to read and The Apocalypse coloring and activity book by Theo Nicole Lorenz which I’m excited to color!

I had wanted to get Laurie Mark’s final book in the Elemental Logic series Air Logic, along with the 3rd book (since a friend is planning to gift me the first 2 in the series), because Air Logic has just come out and the author and/or publisher were going to be at-con but by the time I got the Dealer’s room they were not there and by the time I left the sign-out they had not gotten there so it was not meant to be. But I still plan to get those books because I ADORE the series so far and am excited about the 4th. (I actually asked my library to purchase the book and am on the first on the holds list to get it once it’s in, so at least I’ll be able to read it soon if not actually own a copy)

As evidenced by my post the other day, I was thinking a lot about conversations being held about making sure more diverse voices are being heard during panels. I don’t have a lot of advice re: making sure more folks from more marginalized groups show up. But I find I did have a lot to say about making sure the panels folks are on end up being inclusive of many voices whether or not those ppl show up to be on the programming itself. And - I suspect - doing the latter well enough will help to foster more of the former as people will feel safer to come and share their perspectives as well as not feel like they have to always BE The Diversity Voice on every panel they choose to attend/be on. But I am a cis white chick, and I feel like it was mostly trans and poc folks these conversations were about, so I am eager to hear what other people have to say about all of this as and if they’re willing to share.

I tend not to make it to GoH speeches or the Tiptree Auction because I have trouble with sitting still in a large room crowded with people type events. But as expected, even reading the text of Charlie Jane Anders’ speech made me weep with hope and joy and I hope G. Willow Wilson shares hers at some point so that I might also weep at hers. Those GoH speeches are always so inspiring and thrilling. I love this community. I am so grateful I became a part of it. I hope we can just always always keep growing and doing better to and for one another.

Panels that I may or may not end up writing up a little about in the days to come:

(the tail end of) Capitalism is Fueled by Anxiety

Favorite Queer Depictions in Fiction

Polyamory and Alternative Relationships

(the first half-ish of) New Pop Culture for Old Farts

Learning to Hear the Dog Whistle

Mental Illness in SFF

Vid Discussion Deep Dive

Antisemitism at WisCon

(parts of) The 116th Congress

Plus the five panels I was on, which will be less notes and more impressions: Killing Eve, Use of Religion in SFF TV, How to Write a Panel, Found Family, and Speculative Fiction on TV [also the spontaneous The Umbrella Academy panel which was small and informal but still really cool!]

#wiscon #wiscon 43 #wc43 #i don't have a tag for this #extroversion #life with chronic illness

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sugarcookiesandsins · 5 years

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Hey. So I don't meant to come off as rude or offense, but I'm really curious. I know you're a new blog and that you're friends with Kura, but I feel like you lost a lot of originality you could've had. You basically try to mirror everything she does, which I understand it's also because you admire her and want to be like her, but you can't BE her ... Like for example,,, you use "Jae talks" when it used to be "Jae speaks" lol and now you want amm asks when that's all she's been doing. (1)

This is going to be a long answer, but I feel it prudent to respond to this ask in particular because of the evidence this anon has brought against me in regards to my friendship with Kura ( @re-sugance ). She is free to make of these accusations what she will and whether or not she continues to be friends with me is up to her discretion and judgement. Each point that this anon has brought forward will be quoted and addressed.

1. “…lost a lot of originality that you could’ve had…basically try to mirror every thing she does…”

I feel that in no way I have lost any originality. I am very proud of my own ideas for my stories as well as the work I have put into making those ideas into reality through each chapter. Apart from Nymphet Garden, all my stories are independent works that are in no way related to Kura or her ideas for her own stories. As for trying to mirror everything she does, there is no way I could even if I wanted to. Like Kura, every writer on Tumblr is unique in their own way with their own quirks and interpretations for even the most common au’s that may exist.

True, the mafia!au idea for Charmed was not mine, but then again everyone who writes and reads that genre knows that. What is mine, is my application of the idea to the boys. Their profiles, painstakingly constructed so readers could relate more to the story and to the OC, because isn’t that the goal of any ‘x reader’ or ‘reader-insert’ stories? For the reader to feel like they are that main character. Those are my ideas. So please, if you still believe that I am mirroring her, tell me where.

2. “…because you admire her and want to be like her, but you can’t be her…”

I will not deny that I admire Kura; she is an amazing writer with a wonderful gift. Nor will I deny, that I have imagined being able to write like that. All of her readers will agree with me that she had a nuance about her writing that blurs the line between reality and fantasy, making the stories more real to our minds than they should be. And because I understand the art in her works, I also understand that I will never be able to be her.

I have my own writing style that differs from hers by a mile, but I am not disappointed in it. It is a style that I have created over these last 10+ years that I have been in creative writing. I have developed it through what I have read and through my influences in literature, and especially through my own personality that shows through my voice. I have my own merits in my writing, and if I want to rise in the ranks of the tumblr writing group, I will be doing it with assurance in my uniqueness and not the filched merits of others who have already achieved success.

3. “…you use ‘Jae talks” when it used to be ‘Jae speaks’ …”

If you really looked through all the tags on my old account, you would have noticed that I alternated between the two, half out of forgetfulness for which I had used before and half out of indecisiveness. When I deleted my original blog, and recreated my second one, I decided on which one sounded better when said aloud. You have no idea how many times I felt like a maniac alternating between both, before I decided that talks sounds better than speaks. Even phonetically the ‘ae’ from Jae and ‘a’ talks have a similar vocal shape when I say both words, making them sound better suited than the transition from ‘ae’ to ‘ea’ if I say Jae speaks.

4. “…now you want amm asks when that’s all she’s been doing…”

Yes, her and many other authors. If you would like I can provide you with a list of authors that participate in the ‘ask my muse’ and ‘ask my character’ types of asks as they are very helpful. Personally, I saw them more as a way for me to be forced into thinking more about my characters and their backstories, further than what I have to come up with for the story. They also provide authors with the opportunity to get ideas about possible spin-off chapters or one-shots to create.

As an author, you have read the story and chapter many times, the repetitiveness sometimes causing us to miss the smallest of details. These details are the wonderful little easter eggs that our readers discover and tell us about. This is why I started opening my inbox to ‘ask my muse’ and ‘ask my character’.

5. “…you already have an advantage given you are collaborating with her and she has a follower base…”

This is the most disgusting accusation I have heard. What ‘advantage’ do you think I am trying to gain? What you are insinuating here is that I am using Kura, someone who I personally call a friend, to help boost my own popularity on tumblr. I find this downright disgusting and a direct attack on my character and morals. Yes. I am collaborating her, but you best believe that I am putting my own share of work into this collaboration. I have in no way specially requested her to promote me on her website and the only promotion I have ever gotten from her is her tagging me in our collaboration and by reblogging a one-shot I co wrote with another writer. That to is on her recommendation blog and not her main one. I believe that if people follow me it is because they have read my works and enjoyed them. If you feel like I am using her, please ask her yourself. She is very strong individual who I believe is able to cut people out of her life who she feels are toxic.

6. “Even your writing style has changed.”

The beauty of being a writer is the ability to experiment with your writing style. Here I assume you mean that my writing style had changed in an attempt to match hers. Subconscious interference is not something to be taken lightly, and if you find evidence that my writing has changed to match hers, I am also sure that you will find evidence of stylistic qualities that will match Joseph Konrad and Jane Austen as well. As I have mentioned above, I am influenced by what I read. I read Kura’s works with just as much voracity as the works of greats. In light of that, I find it no issue that my writing style had changed; it is changing to improve and to learn.

7. “….I don’t mean to come off as rude or offensive.” ; “Sorry if this comes off as mean but I’m just curious if you’ve noticed that you’re doing the those things as we do.”

I think that the first thing is your attempts at placating me regarding the crude accusations you have made regarding my intellectual property and my character. Do not try to justify your accusation of me using a friend to further my own aims or that I am losing my “originality”. If you are accusing me of such, I believe that you should own up to it. And the first step, is coming off of anonymous and facing me as yourself. Additionally, I wonder who this ‘we’ is that you speak of. This means that there is a group of you that share these ideas. I invite you all to come forward, and not just to me, to Kura as well. I believe she also has the right to see these accusations you are making as it involves her, does it not?

I have addressed every point you have brought forward regarding my ‘mirroring’ of Kura’s blog and writing. This will be the last time I will address such claims as they are demoralizing and with the intent of hurting me. I have confidence in my own writing and wonderful friends who have faith my me and my character; this is all I need.

#jae talks #anon #the final answer #hate anon

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thepatricktreestump · 6 years

Text

My Entire World: Tom Holland imagine

A/N: i wrote this one for @fuckyou-imspiderman co-author thingy but i decided to post it on my personal so they can just reblog it from here to keep things easy and so i can see which of y’all are my tom holland stans haha

ask: could you do a imagine were you are the person playing peter parkers love interest in spiderman hoco 2 and it's time for the kiss with tom and you get all nervous. you chose the ending bc i'm a indecisive person and can't chose a ending. thank you - @graceisobsessed

As soon as you saw the role, you knew you just had to audition. You had been a Marvel fan for literally years, and for as long as you could remember, you found yourself staying up late at night flipping through comics or re-watching one of the movies. You were so close to getting the role of MJ in the first movie, but the director had told you that there was a “slight change of plans” and you were moved to an extra instead. Which sucked. But you couldn’t really be mad, because of all actresses, they picked Zendaya to fill your spot. And well, Zendaya was, Zendaya. So instead, you took a deep breath and grit your teeth, playing as one of the people in the background silently. That was, until you realized that they were coming out with a second movie, and for some reason, she wasn’t available for filming, and they were taking new actresses for the part. You knew deep down that MJ stood for Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man’s future love interest and wife. That meant extra screen time as the trilogy went on, as well as big bucks, especially now that you’d be filling someone like Zendaya’s shoes.

With lots of luck, you scored the role, beaming ear to ear upon hearing the news. You were ecstatic to be part of the main cast this time around and made it a priority to make the crew proud. You showed up early to script readings and interviews and meetings, being sure that you memorized all your lines and listened to critiques. Working with everyone was so much fun, especially Tom. He was so sweet and lighthearted, had a great sense of humor, and always kept his head up, no matter how many times it took to shoot a scene. Your makeup team was doing some touch ups when he came waltzing over, sporting the red and blue spiderweb covered suit, lazy smile on his face.

“What did you think?” he asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Did you see? I got it in just a couple takes!”

“I saw,” you giggled. “You did really well.”

“They didn’t even have to pull in my stunt double!” Tom explained. “I just- pew, pew, shoot, shoot, roll, roll- you know? Awesome!” He made overexcited hand motions along with his ridiculous silly sound effects, making you only laugh even more. He was like a little puppy bouncing around, wide eyed and eager to tell you everything.

“You did really good,” you complimented. “I’m proud of you.”

“P-proud of me?” he raised an eyebrow, flustered, slight blush rising to his cheeks. “Well gosh, thanks y/n. Haha, you did a really good job too!”

“Thanks,” you give a small grin. “Ready to turn in for the day? I think we have only one more scene to wrap up and then we’re done. Well, until tomorrow. God we have to wake up so early for that one take.”

“Ugh I know,” he groans. “But hey, you’ll be there! And I will too! So we can just suffer together, you know?”

“Whatever,” you roll your eyes, stifling a chuckle. “Come on, let’s get this last scene so I can take a nap.”

Shooting the scene wasn’t too bad, and after a couple of takes, they handed you the parts you’d be doing tomorrow and sent you home. Tom gave you a happy wave before taking off into his ride, and you nodded with a smile, then plopped the script in the shotgun seat and began to drive home. You stopped at a red light, then heard your phone buzz, picking it up and beaming when you read the text. It was from Tom, and he was thanking you for putting up with him during filming today. You laughed aloud as you quickly began to explain to him through typing that he didn’t have to say such things because you enjoyed being around him, then hit send before the light turned green.

There was something about him that you couldn’t help but love. Maybe it was how his laughter was contagious, his smile made your stomach fill with butterflies, and every time he complimented you, your heart skipped a beat. But you could never tell him -or tell anyone, for that matter. It was one thing to have a crush on a celebrity, but to have a crush on a celebrity that you knew personally and were working with? No way. It would be the end for you embarrassment wise, create a weird vibe between your coworker, and if the media got wind of it, millions of articles and tabloids and tweets. It would just be a mess, and you liked Tom too much as a friend to ever lose him just over a silly crush.

You were folding your laundry at home when you caught eye of your phone flashing his name across the screen, requesting for a Facetime call. Sometimes you would text or call, and even Facetime. Especially since you had a lot of shooting time together, you guys had bonded and created a great friendship, so it wasn’t awkward or just business. In fact, you liked to just have conversation or even read through the script for the next day for extra practice. Upon picking up your phone, you found yourself rolling your eyes, wondering what he might want this time, and then accepted it upon fixing your hair in the screen for a couple seconds. “Hey! What’s up?” you greeted, cheery. As much as you sometimes tried, you still couldn’t match his enthusiasm and classic sunshine smile.

“Nothing much. I just had a snack and decided to play some video games,” he explained. He seemed anxious, but you didn’t know about what. “Thought I’d call you up. And you?”

“Folding laundry,” you waved a sweater onto the screen and he smiled.

“By far being much more responsible and productive than I am,” he teased.

“Yeah I haven’t even read the script for tomorrow yet,” you admitted, and that’s when he scratched back of his head, something you realized he did when he was hesitant about something.

“Well uh, that’s kind of the next question I was about to ask you,” he gave a nervous laugh and you raise an eyebrow, curious. Although both of you had already skimmed and read the entire script at the first few meetings before production, you were sure there wasn’t anything to be too nervous about besides certain stunts or tricky scenes.

“Why? Did they change something last minute?” you asked.

“Oh! No, not at all,” he reassured. “It’s just uh, I don’t know, it’s really stupid. I’m like a school boy getting all worked up over this, gosh.”

“Oh,” you turn red at the realization. “It’s the kiss scene, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he let out another nervous laugh and looks away. “I don’t know, just thought that I’d give you a heads up. In case you wanted to bring me a mouthwash or something tomorrow.”

“Oh shut up,” you laughed playfully at his joke. “You are such a clown, Tom!”

“Sorry, bad joke,” he let out a giggle, something genuine, which made you smile. However, you weren’t at ease at all. The idea of kissing him tomorrow still lingered in the back of your mind.

“So uh, you want to do it in one take?” you offered and he blinked, confused. “I mean, so you don’t have to make it uncomfortable or whatever, I don’t know-” you began to ramble on and he frowned.

“Oh, I mean, I guess,” he stammered. “If you want to, I mean, I wouldn’t want you to have to kiss me any more times than you already have to.”

“Right,” you regretted the word as soon as it left your mouth. No! Now he thought you probably hated him.

“Okay,” he looked a little bummed but clouded it with a fake smile. You felt weird inside. Did you offend him by accident? You cringed.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know this is weird-” you apologized. “I didn’t mean to-”

“No, it’s okay,” he insisted. “Your boyfriend would probably get angry at me anyways. I’m the one who called, I’m sorry I made it awkward, uh, I’ll just talk to you tomorrow. Bye.” He speaks so fast you can barely even respond and before you know it he’s gone.

You sigh, frustrated and exhausted by the conversation. You didn’t mean it that way. And why would he mention your boyfriend? You didn’t even have a boyfriend! Did he know that? The sudden thought came to you. Both of you hadn’t mentioned your love lives, no wonder he was probably so nervous for the scene. If only he knew you liked him, that would make things a hundred times worse. Maybe it was better to fake a relationship, for Tom’s sake. But at the same time, you were so head over heels for him, you couldn’t even imagine being with anyone else.

When you showed up the next day to set, Tom was in a corner on his phone, another nervous tick you recognized he did, avoiding eye contact with others by scrolling through his Instagram. “Hey,” you approached him, swallowing down your anxiety. “Ready for the big shoot today?”

“Yup,” he smiled, looking up from his phone. He looked confident, cheery, happy. Maybe you were wrong about your assumption. “How about you?”

“If I’m honest, I’m kind of nervous,” you admitted. “I haven’t really kissed a whole lot of people before.”

“Well I’m right with you on that one,” he smiled. “So we can learn together, right?”

“Wait. Really?” you tilted your head to the side, confused. “But you’re like, the whole eye candy you know? Girls go wild for you.”

“Doesn’t mean they want to date me,” he shrugged. “No matter how many people tweet that they do, they don’t really know me you know? If that makes any sense.”

“I guess,” you hummed. “But I’m sure even if they did, they still would.”

“Nah,” he shakes his head.

“But you’re funny,” you argued. “And sweet, and handsome, and caring, and amazing, and you’re so much fun to be around and-”

“Guys! Get on set! Time to film!” the director shouted. “We don’t have time to blab! We have to get going!”

“U-uh okay,” Tom stuttered out, still shocked by your words.

You were ushered into your proper places for the makeup and costume crew to get a start on getting you ready and in a couple minutes you met Tom in front of the set where you were about to film. Both of you didn’t say anything except exchanged nervous smiles and stood where they instructed and went over lines until you heard the director tell you it was time to film. A nervous feeling bubbled up inside of your stomach, making you feel queasy.

“Superpowers or not, I still care about you,” you recited the line as you had memorized, reaching a hand up to caress his cheek as the script had instructed. You knew it was wrong to think about it romantically in reality, but you couldn’t help it. You liked him so much you just wanted this so bad, and to finally have it, scripted or not, felt like a dream.

“You do?” his expression softened.

“Of course,” you whispered. “I’ve always cared about you, Peter.”

“I thought you hated me MJ,” he confessed. “I didn’t think that you’d ever-”

“Oh shut up and kiss me, Peter,” you rolled your eyes, interrupting him in perfect time. You were about to lean in for the kiss when the director interrupted.

“Cut!” he shouted. “Hold up, I want some more emotion. Some more action, alright? Tom, maybe some more surprise? Y/n, a little more passion? Okay, let’s take that again.”

You cleared you throat, a bit flustered, then returned to your original position, waiting to hear your signal. “Superpowers or not, I still care about you,” you repeated the line, staring into his eyes, putting a hand up to reach his face when he surprised you, catching your wrist.

“Scripted or not, do you care about me?” his expression softened once again, but this time, much more genuine.

“W-what?” you stuttered, taken aback.

“Cut! Hey guys, not on the script!” the director called out, but Tom shook his head.

“I’m sorry I can’t do this without trying to fool myself that it’s real,” he insisted. “I need you to tell me, not MJ, but you y/n. I need you to tell me. Do you really care about me? Enough to kiss me even if it isn’t scripted or acted or anything? Do you like me the same way I like you?”

“Tom-” your voice got caught in your throat.

“It’s okay if you don’t, but I just need to know,” he told you. “Please.”

“Guys we really don’t have time for this!” the director insisted but you ignored everyone else in the room and kissed him, right then and there, pressing his lips to yours, his entire face turning bright red. You pulled away, your face turning the exact same shade.

“Yes,” you nodded. “I do care about you, Tom. So much. So very much.”

“Really?” he broke out into a huge smile. “For real?”

“Of course,” you laughed. “Definitely.”

“Can we please just get on with the-”

“Yes!” both of you cut the director off with a burst of giggles. “Yeah, yeah, we can!”

“Alright,” he groaned. “Come on, lovebirds. This shot better be good.”

And it was. Every single take you put as much passion into it as you could, and so did Tom. The directors and crew were all for it, and even at sometimes had to pull you two apart because you sort of got lost in the moment. It felt like the best day of your life, like you could do anything in the entire world. “Want to hang out after shooting today?” you gave a small smile.

“Want to?” he raised his eyebrows. “More like need to.”

“Alright,” you rolled your eyes. “Good to know.”

“And hey,” he poked you in the arm playfully. “You know I’ve always felt this way about you, alright? It’s not just cause of the kiss scene today. I really do care about you.”

“As do I,” you smiled. “There’s always been something about you, Tom. And I’ve been so scared to tell you how I truly feel, because I was terrified deep down that you’d never feel the same way.”

“Well lucky you,” he pressed a kiss to your cheek. “Because I do. I feel the exact same way if not more.”

“Thank you,” you whispered. “It means the world.”

“You,” he looked into your eyes, giving a small smile. “You are my entire world.”

“Thanks,” you mouthed.

“Now come on,” he nudged you softly. “We still have a couple more scenes to go.”

#tom holland imagines #spideman imagines #spiderman homecoming imagines #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland x reader fanfiction #tom holland x reader fanfic #tom holland x reader fic #tom holland x reader fluff #tom holland is an angel

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lethesomething · 6 years

Text

A writer tag thing

I was tagged by @tottwritesfanfic and it’s an excuse to talk about fanfic. Let's do this!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

Uh. Um. Since I am an Old, this username has existed since forever, and acquiring it involved a goth themed IRC chat room and some virtual naked table dancing. The Lethe refers to the River of Oblivion in ancient Greek Underworld mythology, because again, I was Very Goth at the time. I'd… I'ma leave it at that.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).

That'll be Chocolate Hearts. It's not the one with the most hits, because it's not porn, but it's getting there, considering it was only posted in August. That whole fic was such an incredible experience, because I was getting daily feedback from people as I was writing publishing it.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

It's Shimizu Kiyoko, because I still mostly write Haikyuu, and because she's awesome (and I, too, wish to be awesome).

Let’s put a cut here because this is Long.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I'd rather not name names, but I met at least one of my friends through AO3 comments. There's also a commenter whose style I liked so much that I started copying it for comments on other people's work. I absolutely notice when people drop by regularly, and I love every one of those people. I try to follow them back. There are few feelings more rewarding to me as a writer than seeing someone like one of my stories, and then go through the other ones I wrote for that fandom.

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

I don't regularly re-read fics, because I have enough trouble keeping up with fiction I feel like I *should* be reading. In that sense, the ones I keep going back to are the long ones I'm subscribed to. Bell, book and candle is my go-to plane fic for when I'm travelling, for instance. It's a 1k page pdf on my phone and I try to go back and comment on the chapters I finished when I get to a computer (or like three months later, most likely).

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

*Opens statistics page* I don't so much subscribe to stories, as I do to people. And I'm apparently subscribed to 22 people. I have 33 bookmarks, but that's mostly because sometimes I'll go back through my history and bookmarks stuff that I still like a few months later.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Urban fantasy. That seems to be the AU where my mind goes into every single direction and comes back with 60k worth of words every time. Also, a disproportionate amount of characters in my fics end up being bakers or baristas. So, uh, make of that what you will.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Um, I have 36 user subscriptions. 299 bookmarks. And 117 subscriptions to various fics.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Well, there's always stuff you come up with that maybe shouldn't be put to paper. When it comes to very self-indulgent, or very smutty, I try to stay my hand. I struggled a long time with whether or not I should publish any smut at all, because I don't want like… my colleagues to find it. What I ended up with, was several fail safes, and the promise to myself that I would only write… acceptable smut (so no werewolf orgies for you! not that I, uh, would write them otherwise).

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

So, uh, the very specific reason I started writing smut at all, was because that is the hardest thing to do. For me. Sex is, a lot of the time, awkward and funny and feely and there's a lot of emotions and actions going on, and I very specifically do not want to write lifeless mechanical porn sex. Because that's not what I'm here for. But that's difficult. I write to have the kind of stuff I want to Read, and I'm very friggin picky when it comes to smut, so it takes me longer to write 1k of smut than it does to write 20k of teen rated fluff. I wish I was better on that front.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

It's a mixed bag. I'm pretty sure me and @leeva-art are the pioneers of all ShinToko content. And I did that whole SugaTen one. Looking through the list, I actually did a fair amount of rarepair shorts. I kinda like writing rarepairs because there's a lot more of the dynamic for me to explore. But I'm currently writing a series full of popular ships (YamaYachi, DaiSuga, KageHina, IwaOi), because sometimes, those are popular for a reason. To be honest, I think the ship I write most is 'x reader', and I'm fairly certain that's an under-reported popular ship.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

I have 21 works on AO3 in total. All of those are finished one-shots or multichapters, except the one I'm currently working on. Yes, I'm proud of this :P.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

Oh god. So apart from the current multichapter one I have… one longish romance story that's been gathering dust for two years (The Aomine. I swear I will finish it one day), and… about four smut shorts in various states of unfinished-ness. And an Aizawa short that is like smut in the sense that it's a lot of action and feels and I'm Struggling.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I do both. I'm a bit of a daydreamer, so I like to play ideas and scenarios in my head for a while, and then I jot them down when they've grown enough. But I'm also a talker, and anyone who has chatted with me for any length of time probably knows that an Idea can take root in a convo and I basically talk it out and two months later there's a massive fic brewing. My brain is an overexcited puppy.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Nope. It's not that I don't want to, I'm just not sure how that would work practically.

16. How did you discover AO3?

It's all Rin's fault. I pretty much only got into fanfic after watching Free! and discovering the joys of tumblr. Fairly certain I discovered AO3 while looking for Quality SouRin.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

Ahahahaha…no.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

That would be weird? I'm not Lady Gaga.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I've been writing since I was a little girl. So the first stories I wrote were probably inspired by that one teacher I had when I was eight, that kept saying I was good at this. But I remember in my teens, wanting to write like Anthony Horowitz, and later like Terry Prattchett, or Douglas Adams. As for writing fanfic, that is the fault of Aleramicci and A Shadow so Great. That was the first time I saw someone take that level of world building and lore creation and character development, and spin it into this… epic tale. Because I have always imagined scenarios and characters in my day dreams, I was creating alternate endings for the Three Musketeers at 13, but I didn't think anyone else was willing to read them. I thought fanfic was, well, smut. And she showed me that you can create worlds out of nearly nothing (please remember that 2014 League of Legends Lore was total shit), and do it Well, and write it well, and… ugh.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Ok, where's that meme. I think the main thing is… just do it. You've got stories, you write them. But know that it is work. Like every hobby, it takes time, it takes energy and effort. You need to Make that Time. Very few people can sit down and just have the words flow out of their fingers. For most, it's Work. Once you know that, and you make the conscious decision to do the work, you can get shit done.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I try to plot up to a certain level but I leave room for a lot of improv. Like especially for longer fics, I'll have a vague idea of where the characters end up and what needs to happen for the finale to… happen. The actual scenes aren't plotted though. I write better when I just let the scene take me where it wants to go. I've learned a lot from the Lock, the Key and the Sacrifice, in that it was my first Very Long multichaptered fic and it was Mostly Improvised. This meant that some character development got lost, and that I had to write myself out of some weird situations but also, some of the best scenes in that fic are complete bursts of random inspiration. Since then, I've gotten a bit more organized. I use OneNote to jot down 'spur of the moment' scenes to slot into stories later, and to make time lines and character profiles and all that. The actual fic is still me opening the Word doc and going 'ok, it's day six in this story, what should happen today'.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

I don't think so? AO3 readers are very nice and disciplined, I think. Either that or I've been very lucky. All I've gotten were a few comments that left me flustered, mostly along the lines of 'when are you updating', when I keep a very tight schedule. That sort of thing. I just leave those be.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

See above: smut.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Currently, My Girlfriend is a Goddess?!, which is a fantasy exchange gift that ballooned into a very long, multichapter and possibly trilogy book type thing.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

The Plan is to finish book one of My Girlfriend is a Goddess?! (the YamaYachi, aka the actual exchange gift), then take a break for some one-shots and whatnot, and then continue to book two (the DaiSuga one). So yes, I do try to stay somewhat disciplined. This isn't to say that inspiration can't strike like a vengeful god and I have to rearrange the whole thing. Chocolate Hearts happened while I was trying to work on the TenSuga, and it got written in like a month of furious typing. Shit just happens, man.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

No. I have a very unstable work schedule, and sometimes I'm just tired. I try to get certain chapters finished on a weekly basis though. I learned with NaNo that when I try to write too much in one go, the output is also not that great. I need to write, and then do a whole bunch of editing, and then write again.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Things are certainly going smoother now than they did two years ago. It's a certain… confidence? I think? A rhythm you get into. I got wordier, too. Not sure if that's a good thing.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

This is hard. That is a hard question. For the longest time, my fave story was Balance. But if I read it now, it does show its age. So I'm going to say The lock, the key and the sacrifice. I will always be super proud of that, because that's my first and currently only 'book' and I worked a year and a half on it. Not every part of it is amazing, but there's some Pretty Good Parts and I just felt such an immense relief and… satisfaction on finishing it.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

One of the first things I published was an Iwaizumi smut short. It's… ok, but it has some issues that I would iron out if I were to write it again.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

When I was little I had this Plan to write a bestseller and sell it to Hollywood and then buy a castle in Scotland and basically be JK Rowling, but I sincerely doubt that's going to happen. Goals, tho.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Coming up with random shit that blossoms into big, huge ideas and worlds and complicated plot lines. Like… that happens without me trying.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

The bit where you sit down to write through a part you've been struggling with. Those few paragraphs that you need to connect scene A and scene B, for it to make logical sense.

33. Why do you write?

Because I like it. Because I enjoy building worlds and scenes and characters, and sharing them. Because like all kinds of creative work, it has gained me relationships and connections to people I resonate with. Also, ngl, for the kudos and the comments. I get a lot of joy from seeing people enjoying my work.

The tagging part. Um, I dunno if @skittidyne has done this one yet. Also the usual suspects: @bsinoranges, @haruhi02 and @thekuroiookami Consider it a subtle nudge if anyone else wants to do this.

#lethey writes #tag thing

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rudejasper · 6 years

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Top Ten Books for 2017

So I wrote half of this post yesterday, saved it as a draft and Tumblr must have eaten it. SO, it is with some vague annoyance and many fewer words that I list my favorite books of the year. These are books I read this year so they were not necessarily published this year. I’m a backlist reader kind of gal mostly. Also the list is in no particular order.

1) Pawn in Frankincense (Lymond Chronicles #4) by Dorothy Dunnett

I re-read this best-of-all-historical-fiction-series this year for the first time in 20 some years. It was just as breathtaking and heart-stealing as it was the first go round. Book 4, Pawn in Frankincense is my favorite.

2) Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith

Yep, I’m including series as one item, so sue me:). I started this mystery series by J.K. Rowling’s alter ego and absolutely fell in love and proceeded to read all of them in quick fashion. Now the wait.... My favorite in the series was the most recent, Career of Evil.

3) Lockwood and Co. Series by Jonathan Stroud

I flew through this middle-grade season about three young teens that fight ghosts in an alternate version of London. I gave three out of the five books in the series 5 out of 5 stars. It has great characters and relationships, mysterious and adventurous plots, a great sense of humor and terrific world building.

4) The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

This was the biggest dark horse for me this year. I bought it on a whim when it was on sale on Audible and I hadn’t heard any chatter about it. It utterly delighted me though. It’s a mysterious, lightly speculative with psychic abilities and delightful clockwork, romantic and witty. It reminded me a little bit of The Night Circus in tone and atmosphere.

5) Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

I am a greedy reader and like when books do many genres well. This mystery is also a strangely lovely coming of age tale set in Minnesota in the 1950s. The writing is beautiful and a lot of the sentiment really spoke to me. I will definitely be reading more of Mr. Kruger’s books.

6) The Veronica Speedwell Series by Deanna Raybourn

This series, which currently only has 2 books, has been instrumental in my finding a new favorite author. Deanna Raybourn’s blend of plot-heavy mystery/suspense with romamce is my catnip. I love her characters and how she writes romance - slow-burn and secondary to fun plots. She’s also great with the witty banter. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

7) Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West

I loved Ms. West’s funny and unapologetic voice in this series of essays about being a woman in the world, especially one that doesn’t conform to societal norms, and being proud and comfortable in one’s skin.

8) Six of Crows series by Leigh Bardugo

I positively inhaled this duology series; I couldn’t put them down. I absolutely adored all the characters and was thrilled by all the heisty goodness. Definitely my favorite YA of the year!

9) All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells

This short but perfectly well-rounded science fiction novella had my favorite narrative voice I encountered this year. That plus the fact that it was a neat and complete story in a short package made it one of the most satisfying reads of the year. SO glad this is going to be a series!

10) The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2) by Tana French

If characters are your thing than you can’t do much better than Tana French. Her mysteries are engrossing and unique story wise but it is the characters that put her books in a class of their own. This book focuses on Cassie as she goes undercover, impersonating a dead girl who had stolen the identity of one of Cassie’s previous undercover personae. The writing is also just beautiful.

So that’s my top ten! There are, of course, a few others that got really close which I’ve listed below. It was a good, if not terribly profound, reading year!

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

The City of Mirrors (The Passage #3) by Justin Cronin

The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen Flynn

#books #top 10 #top ten #book lists #booklr #booklife #booklover #2017 best of #book #bookworm #top ten books

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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We measure our success by economic impact, not market capitalisation: Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/we-measure-our-success-by-economic-impact-not-market-capitalisation-satya-nadella-ceo-microsoft/

We measure our success by economic impact, not market capitalisation: Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said it was important for technology to be regulated as it becomes increasingly critical, although he cautioned that over-regulation could increase costs to businesses, especially entrepreneurs. Calling privacy a human right, Nadella told ET in an interview that Microsoft would conform to India’s proposed privacy rules. He also said the company’s success was defined by its economic impact and not because of its high market capitalisation. Edited Excerpts:

Two of the large technology companies with trillion-dollar market caps are headed by Indians. Is that number important to you? (Amod Malviya), co-founder of Udaan, put it well: What is more important to us is the overall surplus and economic value that gets created in every country and in every community we work in.

When I come to India, I make sure we’re talking about our technology. (Take) Apollo Hospitals, they created a new AI model for the South Asian population with cardiac issues…A unicorn like Udaan was able to achieve success with just 17-18 people.

If you’re creating that local surplus, we (Microsoft) will even have the permission to operate. That is true in every country — in India, the United States and in the UK.

To me that is what is most important.

If you just celebrate your own market cap and you don’t see success broadly around the world, then I think that market cap is going to be very transitory.

You have said that we need to build technologies in areas such as health, agriculture and education, not just focused on consumer tech. How can India build for the world? There is nothing wrong with the consumer economy getting lots of innovation. After all, the mobile revolution along with consumer internet companies have really changed the lives of people, in terms of their access to services.

The question now is, can we make it broader? Here is a company that says electric vehicles are going to be our future, let us completely create a new grid effectively for batteries. That’s a startup here that’s relevant everywhere. Or, take this company that says I can build an exoskeleton device for anybody with spinal cord injuries, and they’re already taking it to North America.

Those are all very innovative ideas coming out of India that have global relevance.

You have spoken about being open to regulation and about ethics in Artificial Intelligence. Yet, there has been a pushback from local teams every time governments try to bring new policies on data localisation or digital tax. As technology becomes much more pervasive, just like we have regulation in food safety, like we have the Federal Aviation Authority for air traffic (in the United States) and so on, we will always have regulation for things that are very mission critical in our lives and society.

Privacy is a human right. We implemented the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, but (also) took the subject rights and implemented them all over the world. In India, there will be equivalent legislation and we will conform to it.

Even around AI and AI ethics, it’s ultimately a tool. How the tool gets used is something every country and society will need some norms around…one issue with overregulating anything means you fragment things, you increase transaction costs. The last thing you want to do is increase the cost of doing business for successful entrepreneurs from here.

Your remarks on the Citizenship Amendment Act recently were seen as controversial. Were you taken aback? I think every country is going to define their own policies around immigration and national security. In democracies, it’s the people and governments that decide. I mostly speak from being someone who grew up here…proud of my heritage of a multicultural India and as an immigrant, my hope is that this country continues to be a progressive democracy that really helps more people find that this is the land of their dreams. I think this is what is true about India today and I am very confident that it will be true of India in future.

The political discourse in the US recently has been anti-big business. One (Democratic Party) candidate has talked about breaking big tech companies like Facebook. What is your view? Ultimately, every company effectively has the moral licence to operate in any community because what it creates, empowers and enables. Just because you are big doesn’t mean anything. One of the things that we all have to re-acquaint ourselves with is, perhaps, what’s the social contract of a corporation. It is about finding profitable solutions to the challenges of people on the planet.

In your book, you talk about the Gini coefficient, but you are not obviously a believer in extreme equality…Would you like to expound on that? I am not a political scientist or an economist. I get enthusiastic when some of the cutting-edge technologies like HoloLens is being used by first-line workers in a manufacturing (unit) to basically tame the learning curve, which means they are getting better wage support. That’s a fantastic use of technology and its implication, even taking broader job creation and wage support. Ultimately, that’s what needs to happen.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani talked about a very deep partnership. What are its main elements? Fundamentally, they have really bet on our platform. They are big users (of our products). They’re also looking at how they can use the cloud infrastructure to build new types of solutions for some of the ambitious (plans) they have around small and medium-sized businesses… our identity there is to give them the technology and help them realize their ambitions.

You transformed Microsoft’s culture. Is that here to stay? Nothing gives any company a God given right to stay. It comes down to staying true to your mission every day and a culture that allows you to stay relevant and express your mission with changing technology. I feel really good about the cultural meme we picked around growth mindset…you have to confront your fixed mindset each day. Will it stay? It is a function of each day — whether you wake up and say, I am not perfect and what can I learn, and the day you feel you have even achieved a growth mindset means you don’t have a growth mindset. That is the paradox. It applies to human beings, it applies to organisations.

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churchofsatannews · 7 years

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Speak of the Devil – Reverend Campbell Interviews Magister Robert Lang

I have, on occasion, had the privilege of collaborating with like-minded Satanists, and through the course of those interactions I have learned that those of substance do not typically have the time to commit to an active online life. They are either too busy actually living their lives, or their contempt for the denizens of those virtual prisons holds no interest for them. One cannot hope to achieve his goals, or to manifest his desires if compulsively congratulating other social media thralls, after all.

The Church of Satan is defined by its members. In over 50 years it has attracted many different types. Some Satanists affiliate themselves with the Church of Satan and live their lives as productive members of society, with no one the wiser. Other Satanists join to make waves, attempting to draw the attention of the Alien Elite by seeking mutual admiration. Then there are those Satanists who join the organization and, through the natural course of realizing their passions and motivations, are recognized as superior human beings—individuals who, when they make a mistake, learn from it. They are individuals whose reputations precede them and who are known by their actions, even if not witnessed first hand.

As a content creator it can be a challenge to connect with Satanists of substance. If they are like you, you may never have the opportunity for an encounter. Often these Satanists will only join you if they believe you will not only provide a professional outlet for the discussion, but also ensure you are not wasting their valuable time. I have the distinct pleasure of bringing you my discussion with one such Satanist. From his contributions to now legendary Satanic publications, to his performance in Satanic Rituals and Ceremonies, my guest tonight has demonstrated his authority as a potent Satanic Magician time and time again. So it is my distinct pleasure to present to you, my interview with Magister Robert Lang. Enjoy!

RC: Magister Lang, it is a pleasure to speak with you. I suppose we should start from the beginning. Would you tell me a little about yourself?

ML: I have been a CoS member for at least 35 years now. I am an artist working in several mediums, a writer, editor and budding musician/singer as well as a character actor in some underground radio dramas.

RC: I was not familiar with the scope of all of your projects, can you elaborate on your music and acting work?

ML: Sure! The music is at the moment just for fun and I would never profess to be a professional musician. As you know, Magister Sass and I collaborated on the The Black House: A Tribute to Anton S. LaVey album years back for the soundscape 'Death Rune' which was a curse projected on particular individuals at the time. I collaborated with the very talented Warlock Eric Ouellet for a side project called Infidels of Iblis. The song 'Vlad the Just Petitions You' was the result of that. The words are lifted from an early essay by myself depicting Vlad the Impaler having risen from the dead and giving a speech to a modern audience. It is a spoken-word piece with me trying to sound like Vlad. Eric wrote and performed the music. The song was submitted and accepted to a Heathen Harvest compilation but we later pulled it in favor of a future Church of Satan compilation that Reverend Raul Antony may release some day.

Because of that song I was asked to play a part in a radio drama released by a friend of mine on Broken Sea Audio Productions entitled Sword of the Crimson Tatters. I may do more of those.

It's fun trying to judge which intonation, emotion and inflection to use without the other actors present. I simply read the script and recorded 3 versions of each line. The producer would then choose the best version that would go into the finished recording. What I am doing now is simply practice for a future secret project which would be improper to speak of at this point.

RC: Improper? Now I'm truly curious! However, I respect your wish for secrecy. Aside from the super secret project that is the only thing I want to know about at this point, what are a couple of your most proud accomplishments thus far?

ML: I would have to say that my proudest accomplishment was realized at the Church of Satan's 50th Anniversary conclave. I had so many people come up to me, talking about how some of my work had influenced them to become who they are today, how they looked forward to a new issue of the Black Pun-kin (a Satanic magazine I put out), or a piece of art I created or film I was featured in (6-6-06 and Inside the Church of Satan). These comments were inspiring to me also as the wonderful people who shared this with me were of such high quality, talent and intellect that I felt proud all my hard work in the past helped to influence these people to become who they are today. It seemed so worth it all of a sudden. It was like, WOW! Made me feel awesome!

RC: Can I ask you about the Black Pun-kin? When was that released, and will it be available in any form again?

ML: I think it came out in XXIX A.S. Some of that material may come out as a compilation or as part of a book. Unfortunately, all of that stuff will need to be re-typed by hand as one of my Great Danes spilled water on my Mac Book where all the files resided. Looking into trying to recover that stuff somehow. Damn!

RC: Ah yes, the joys of our pets and children. When I was in college my toddler son hit the power button on my computer, erasing a project I had been working on. I lost the whole piece, so I feel your pain. Let me ask you about the 6-6-06 ritual. Was it challenging to get into the ritual headspace with the size of the ritual production and that vast audience present?

ML: No, not at all. We had rehearsed over and over again. Once every word and action was set perfectly to memory, the confidence obtained made everything flow so perfectly once it began. To tell you the truth, the only time I even really saw the audience was when I was doing the incense burner walk and during The Benediction of the Cthulhu phallus sequence. The moment where I am directly talking to the other Satanists in the room, when I made true eye contact with certain friends there, that was one of my personally favorite moments. I loved the Fatwa part as well. I found out the next day that at that very moment in the ritual Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was bombed and killed. I had in mind another text for my curse on the fanatics, but we changed it in order to make the curse seem all encompassing.

RC: With the documentary Inside the Church of Satan, did you have any reservations going into or coming out of the project? Did it end up as you had hoped it would?

ML: Absolutely, most especially using that stupid green night vision that they insisted upon using. I spent days working on the aesthetic for that rite only to have it ruined because somebody had the idea that "paranormal" activity might be caught on camera. You always have reservations with these things and the most important one to us was security. Fortunately that was respected, and the end product. although not having high production values, gives the Church of Satan a pretty fair shake for outsiders. There was the odd bit of poking fun at us, but that is to be expected by folks who are not of our persuasion. We can take it.

RC: How did you first discover Satanism?

ML: I discovered Satanism at the age of 13 (go figure). I think I was mostly influenced towards my darker side by watching old HAMMER films with Christopher Lee as Dracula. That is where I first saw the Baphomet and was exposed to the idea of Black Magic. Eventually I walked into a Coles bookstore and saw a copy of The Satanic Bible with the Sigil of Baphomet sitting there in the Occult section. I picked it up and was immediately aesthetically charged by the front cover and the evil looking man on the back cover. I proudly marched up to the front with my forbidden tome and placed it on the counter. The woman at the cash register asked me if my parents knew I was buying this and I said "YES, they do indeed.” Reading it was like looking into a mirror and all of a sudden what had been disorganized in my mind due to a Christian upbringing seemed all of a sudden reorganized again. "This makes sense," I said to myself. "This describes who I am."

RC: How did you perceive Satanism and the Church of Satan? What attracted you to it?

ML: I perceived both as something remotely dark and beautiful, a romantic marriage of forbidden knowledge and earthly delights. It was like coming home.

RC: Do you still feel that poetic connection to both?

ML: Absolutely, it's something that never goes away. The Black Flame only expands and burns larger as we move through life. The more we learn, the more we experience the deeper into it we BURN!

RC: How did you see other Satanists? Can you tell us about your experience with Grottos?

ML: I was alone for at least a decade where my only contact with other Satanists being in the print form of The Black Flame.

My first contact with a real Satanist was with Magus Maestro Peter H. Gilmore and Magister Michael Rose through snail mail by submitting work to Rose’s From the Pit and The Black Flame. Eventually Peter put us in contact with some Canadian members—Witch Marguerite Thompson (whose funeral I officiated at years ago) and Warlock Rick Jaggard, two early members of the Church of Satan with whom we started our own un-official Grotto, The Infernal Garrison. It was unofficial simply because at that time there was no Grotto system. Through that vehicle we made even more contacts around the world, as well conducting interviews and answering questions for many magazines including Playboy and authors writing books on alternative religions like J.C. Hallman and others. I suppose by the time the official Grotto system came back we had had enough of the work that is involved in running an organization. We had by then our own little cabal of people in close proximity to one another and streamlined our focus on being Church of Satan media reps instead.

RC: What did you draw on as inspiration when planning to officiate the funeral?

ML: That was the first time the Satanic Funeral was ever performed. Peter had written it for this occasion, to mark the passing of our dear friend Witch Marguerite Thompson. It was her last request on her death bed.

RC: There is something to be said about the connection Satanists can make with each other. Do you think Satanism connects individuals as friends more than life experiences or is it not a factor in lasting connections in your opinion?

ML: It is both. Certainly experiencing the camaraderie of like minded individuals and building friendships is a special thing. However, it is the life experience shared with them that makes it precious and when all of a sudden one of those people goes bat shit crazy, it hurts all the more. I would never befriend someone just because they are a Satanist. They have to truly resonate with me.

RC: Going back to your first connection with the Maestro, submitting your work to The Black Flame, or even performing a ritual with him, what was it like working with him?

ML: HP Gilmore always has a way of making you feel comfortable in ritual or in any project. He has a great way of suggesting changes to your approach while still complimenting your strengths. No matter how good you think you are at something there is always a way of making it better. His guidance at the Hellfire Caves ritual rehearsals were a prime example of this. He would take centre stage at the centre of the room like some Master Yogi, tell us what he thought of what we were doing wrong and then took up the director's gauntlet and began doing so. Without his direction that ritual could have been so much less than the great magical experience it ended up being.

RC: I have heard rumors of a now infamous phallus incident. Would you be willing to share your knowledge of this?

ML: That was hilarious, but not so hilarious if you did not know what happened as we waited back in the catacombs getting ready to perform our parts in the ritual. They are laughing at us I thought. What could have gone wrong? As it turned out, the two foot long glow-in-the-dark giant phallus designed to literally GWAR the audience with fake semen had broken during Priestess Fifi Labonne's exuberant attempt to spray the congregants. As she swung it, the thing broke in half and went flying across the room, striking the gong in perfect timing. As it turned out, cock #1 had been dripped upon from the chalk walls and had lost its ability to keep a hard on. In perfect ritual form, Magistra DeMagis very ceremoniously recovered it and presented it back to Priestess LaBonne who continued her benediction with the now very bobbly shaft. We did however consider that there was a possibility of it breaking, so earlier on during prop constructing and rehearsals, we had constructed a backup cock. But we did not bring it.

We actually really forgot about it. Months later it was discovered in Reverend Entity's hot water heater closet where we put it to dry. It was like the Fungi from Yuggoth at that point. As for the phallus that broke, I think it's still there, so if you ever visit the Hellfire Caves, you might come across this historic artifact.

Funny that John Wilkes (a prominent member of The Hellfire Club) who wrote, The Essay on Woman used a cock with wings on the frontispiece of that book.

The ritual achieved what we intended—to revive the thriving spirit of those great people that used to haunt that place for fun, frolic and collaboration.

Francis Dashwood, Benjamin Franklin, William Hogarth, Paul Whitehead, John Wilkes, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, Robert Vansittart, Thomas Potter, Francis Duffield, Edward Thompson, Lord Chesterfield and others...here's a cheer to some true iconoclasts and lovers of life. Hail Satan!

RC: Are there any memorable experiences you've had as a media rep you would like to share? What was your least favorite experience as well?

ML: The fun one was the Spring Rite which is on the CoS website with Colonel Akula as Pan. Lots of fake blood, masks and debauchery. Magister Rose wrote that one. The Hellfire Caves rite was also amazing! Having the crew there filming it was cool and the after-ritual impromptu rite in the main ritual chamber of the Hellfire Club was a very fond memory. I look forward to that ritual footage making an appearance. Some of it was shown at the CoS 50th salon presentation by Magister Harris.

The Spring Rite was also the most disappointing one, as well as the coffee table book with photography of different religious ceremonies that never came to fruition. We had a blast though taking the photos. Everything was very over-the-top as it always is during our rites.

RC: In your time as a member of the Church of Satan, what was communication between the organization and other Satanists like?

ML: Communication was one of those things you really looked forward too. Snail mail demanded patience which is something you do not see much of these days. A typical response to a letter could often take months, however when you did get a response it was usually a very beefy letter.

Looking forward to a new magazine like Not Like Most (Matt Paradise), From The Pit (Michael Rose) The Raven (Neil Smith) or The Cloven Hoof and The Black Flame was like hitting the Jackpot when you went to your P.O. Box. These were things you kept and cherished. Nowadays things are too easy and the value of the materials has cheapened due to ease of communication. There is good to that as well, it's just less inspiring to me.

RC: I always felt like the art of writing a letter was very ritualized for me. The process of thinking about what you are going to write before putting pen to paper took consideration, discipline and an appreciation for the written word. Not to mention the cathartic experience of receiving the response letter. Do you think the decline of the art of writing a letter has any connection with the inability for some to focus or clearly convey a thought? Like a muscle that's not exercised becomes atrophied?

ML: LoL! Just joking. Absolutely, one hundred percent with you on this one. Writing a thoughtful letter, the act of putting it in the mail and the patience and anticipation of receiving a response are core values of ritual that should be held dear. Though it is very nice being able to contact my friends at the drop of a hat, there is definitely something missing—the magic, I'd say.

RC: Do you think the lack of an Internet helped or hindered early Satanism and why?

ML: It helped develop strong leaders who were patient and passionate about what they were doing which laid a strong foundation for our organization. Because things were so hard to obtain we all worked that much harder to put out a quality product. A communication was like gold, the gift of a new Baphomet medallion was a big deal. Things were harder to obtain and therefore there was more value placed upon such things. Today you can get anything at the wave of your hand. Granted, I like that, but the mentality is different. Patience is VIRTUALLY non existent.

RC: I see what you did there. Do you think the pervasiveness of 'Satanic' merchandise is a gift or curse? With overabundance comes mediocrity, I think.

ML: It's a curse. I would say especially for the business person as things are not so desperately sought after. If there's too much of it then it's never going away therefore the consumer delays at purchasing things because it can be had at any time.

It does not increase with value over time either. Like my Wolf-Hook Rune ring for example. Many wrote me asking me to start making them again, then when iSatanist makes them available for half the price I was selling them for then hardly anyone wants one. So if you want one, get them while you can folks.

RC: When the internet became pervasive, and you saw sites like SatanNet pop up, where there could be in-time communication between Satanists and fan boys, did you see it as a positive or negative form of communication?

ML: Both negative and positive. Positive in the fact that we could get our information out there and fight misinformation. Negative in the fact that any little piece of shit could start up their own pseudo organization and cause shit being their own self-styled Grand Poohba of pseudo-satanic drivel. This creates confusion to an ever-lazy media not willing to do proper research. Now everyone can make a big noise.

RC: We have all had embarrassing or shameful interactions in social media, it's what clues us into the true negative human interaction this medium encourages. Is there any interaction that informed you about the ugly face of social media.

ML: Yes, I've been guilty of taking the bait at times. I remember a certain interaction with a certain grandson of somebody that I wish had not happened. I was defending my friends who I consider family and therefore in doing so I used what may have been confidential information to bitch slap the asshole. I regret doing that, but I do not feel sorry for the harm it caused him. Like I said earlier, I am very passionate about the people I came up with in the organization. When someone attacks them, they are attacking me.

RC: I think what's important about those types of interactions is learning what caused your reaction, and evaluating what you could have done differently. This is a lesson I learned many times over. What is your philosophy for interacting with detractors or trolls now?

ML: Let them eat STATIC!

RC: Was there any other turning point you can identify that caused you to shy away from the hourly social media interaction that seems to be applauded in our culture?

ML: I spent too much time being out there as a representative—way too out there. I changed careers, and in order to do that I had to step back from the spotlight and be pragmatic. I decided that a lot of it was a waste of my time and that I could be spending that time on things that really matter. There's plenty of others willing to step up to the plate. The turning point was after Inside the Church of Satan came out. Too much energy put into it with little or no return as a final product.

RC: Do you think there can be an effect on Satanists or Satanism through the constant interaction of social media?

ML: Yes, you are not doing anything productive. You should be constantly interactive with real life. Social media should be something you do with a morning coffee, to wake up.

RC: Why do you think social media is so popular amongst those who claim to champion real life?

ML: It's because they usually have no life.

RC: I can't argue with you there. What do you think is the biggest downfall of most Satanists nowadays?

ML: Social media. The inability to recognize the skill and time it takes to create something valuable due to its ease of access now.

RC: What is the single most important Satanic principle(s) Satanists should continually keep in mind?

ML: The best advice you will ever get in my opinion was from Anton LaVey. "Dare to keep company with those smarter and more accomplished than yourself, then see what happens."

RC: What is next for you, are there any new projects or goals you would like to share?

ML: I am interested in making music these days as it is something I have not challenged myself enough on—and getting back into my painting again.

RC: Thank you for your time, I would like to ask, without a hint of irony, if there is anywhere you would like to direct the readers to connect with you online or to learn more?

ML: I am FreyjaFru on Facebook and Magister Lang on Twitter where Donald lives.

Hail Satan! —Reverend Campbell

Note: Photos used with permission, given to Magister Lang. Article photo, Magus Gilmore in Lotus position and profile photo of Magister Lang were taken at the Hellfire Altar by Diana DeMagis. Inside the Church of Satan photos used with permission Joshua Warren. Nude altar still from 6-6-06. The photographer for Pan and myself for Inside the COS is C. Eric Scott. Magister Lang standing beside the Nude Altar was taken by Bob Johnson. Latex backed nude Altar was taken my Bob Johnson for an issue of Old Nick Magazine.

#satanism #church of satan #satanic ritual #the black flame article #the black flame #Magister Robert Lang #reverend adam campbell

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allenmendezsr · 4 years

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Hypnosis With The Legendary Gil Boyne

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/hypnosis-with-the-legendary-gil-boyne/

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A 22-year-old male college student has had seven sessions with two different hypnotherapists and reports he has never “been in a trance.” In this video, Gil demonstrates an intake interview, an instant standing induction, eye catalepsy, arm catalepsy, arm levitation, heavy left arm, handclasp response plus self-hypnosis training session.

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The commentary, approved by Gil Boyne personally, is provided by Rob Woodgate, co-creator of Gil Boyne Online and former Editor of The Hypnotherapy Journal.

Gil Boyne, who has become a a living legend in the hypnotherapy world, takes his students on a journey of true emotional and spiritual transformation in just six weekends. Gil is the only therapist who has videotaped a comprehensive library of his successful hypnotherapy sessions and follow-up interviews. The videos are shown to students on a giant screen and interspersed with Gil’s insightful commentary. Gil’s unique “Transforming Therapy,” shows its potency in liberating clients from a wide range of emotional traumas and physical ailments. This is one training course that I can recommend with absolute confidence.

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Bob, a 72-year-old Hypnotherapist, has been unable to experience trance in spite of his many efforts to do so. Using age regression, Boyne uncovers mother’s early script: “You’ll never amount to anything”. Bob enters into a deep trance complete with several tests. Boyne then teaches him self-hypnosis and he comes up from the trance amazed and radiant.

Designed to help you consolidate your learning from the previous videos, this case study is left open for students to provide comments and discuss the specific techniques used.

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coffeeinkblog · 4 years

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Bittersweet Tapestry by Kevin O’Connell

Publication Date: November 1, 2019 Gortcullinane Press eBook & Paperback

Series: The Derrynane Saga, Book Three Genre: Historical Fiction

A dramatic decade has passed since sixteen-year-old Eileen O’Connell first departed her family’s sanctuary at remote Derrynane on the Kerry coast to become the wife of one of the wealthiest men in Ireland and the mistress of John O’Connor’s Ballyhar – only to have her elderly husband die within months of the marriage.

Unhappily returned to Derrynane, within a year, under the auspices of their uncle, a general in the armies of Maria Theresa, Eileen and her sister, Abigail departed for Vienna and a life neither could have ever imagined – one at the dizzying heights of the Hapsburg empire and court, where Abigail ultimately became principal lady-in-waiting to the Empress herself, whilst Eileen, for nine momentous years, served as governess to the Empress’s youngest daughter – during which time Maria Antonia, whom Eileen still calls ‘my wee little archduchess’, has become Marie Antoinette, dauphine of France, though she continues to refer to her beloved governess as “Mama”.

As Bittersweet Tapestry opens, it is the High Summer of 1770. Having escorted the future Queen of France from Vienna to her new life, Eileen and her husband, Captain Arthur O’Leary of the Hungarian Hussars, along with their little boy and Eileen’s treasured friend (and former servant) Anna Pfeffer are establishing themselves in Ireland.

Their ties to Catholic Europe remain close and strong; in addition to Abigail and her O’Sullivan family and General O’Connell, his wife and young daughter in Vienna, their brother Daniel is an officer in the Irish Brigade of the armies of Louis XV, whilst their youngest brother, Hugh, is studying at École Militaire in Paris, his path to a commission in the Dillons’ Regiment of the Brigade. His gentle Austrian friendship with Maria Antonia having inevitably waned, Hugh’s relationship with the strikingly-beautiful young widowed Princess Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy is blossoming.

Though happily ensconced at Rathleigh House, the O’Leary family estate in County Cork, being prominent amongst those families which are the remnants of the old Gaelic order in the area, Eileen and Art find that the dark cloud of the Protestant Ascendancy hovers heavily, at times threateningly, over them.

Bittersweet Tapestry is a tale of stark contrasts – between Hugh’s life of increasing prominence amidst the glitter and intrigue of the French court and Art and Eileen’s in English-occupied Ireland – especially as the latter progresses into a dark, violent and bloody tale . . . ultimately involving an epic tragedy, which along with the events leading up to it and those occurring in its dramatic wake, will permanently impact the O’Learys, the O’Connells – and their far-flung circle of family and friends in Ireland and across Europe.

With his uniquely-descriptive prose, Kevin O’Connell again deftly weaves threads of historical fact and fancy to create a colourful fabric affording unique insights into the courts of eighteenth-century Catholic Europe as well as English-ruled Ireland. As the classic story unfolds amongst the O’Learys, the O’Connells, their friends and enemies, the tumultuously-dangerous worlds in which they dwell will continue to gradually – but inexorably – become even more so.

Bittersweet Tapestry joins O’Connell’s well-received Beyond Derrynane and Two Journeys Home as The Derrynane Saga continues – an enthralling epic, presenting a sweeping chronicle, set against the larger drama of Europe in the early stages of significant – and, in the case of France – violent change.

Available on Amazon

The Derrynane Saga

Excerpt:

Having departed Vienna with Eileen’s former charge – her “wee little archduchess” – by then become Marie Antoinette, dauphine of France, Eileen and her husband, Arthur O’Leary, continue on to Ireland. They easily settle into life at the O’Leary family’s estate, Rathleigh, in County Cork and by Christmastime, 1770 they are sufficiently ensconced as members of the local “Gaelic Aristocracy” so as to join their fellows, along with many members of the Protestant Ascendancy for a night of revelry in Macroom. There, the O’Learys experience a strange tragi-comedic and unsettling confrontation with Abraham Morris, the High Sheriff of Cork:

Within the hour, as O’Leary and Eileen were quietly making their way slowly about the hall, in a continuing effort to have visited with as many of their friends and acquaintances as they were able, they found themselves unexpectedly facing a red-faced, glistening High Sheriff Abraham Morris, his eyes watery, his stance unsteady – as he suddenly set himself directly in their path.

“Why . . . if iz not Ghen-eril O’Learlee himself!” the short man began, his voice combatively loud, “and, and . . . his luverley wife . . .You are Missus O’Lear-lee, mmmmh . . . Lear-ree, are you not, girl?” he slurred, looking up and gesturing towards a clearly shocked, unpleasantly surprised Eileen.

She quickly turned to her husband, hissing, “Who is this foul little man?”

Barely having heard Arthur inform her of Morris’s name and position, her carriage customarily regal, her expression as she looked down again on the squat, stout, sadly unattractive man one of disdain – bordering on contempt, Eileen sniffed audibly and turned sharply to simply walk away. Feeling O’Leary’s white-gloved hand delicately placed on her arm, she then turned back, her voice icy. “I am the Lady Eileen O’Leary . . . Mistress O’Leary to you, sir,” she purred condescendingly, almost viciously.

O’Leary instantly regretted detaining her.

“Hmmfh,” Morris managed, visibly swaying in place, despite that his feet were flatly planted, his legs spread wide. “One would have uh mpressshum . . . from your wurvs and by your cos-soom—” smirking, he gestured wildly at Eileen with an unsteady right hand— “that you see yerself as being wurvfy of res-speck . . . of my russ-sphecht,” he again slurred, now wagging his left forefinger up at Eileen as he pounded his chest with his right. “I know nah wun reason why, nah wun bloody damme reason . . . you arr-gunt gurl, you . . . why, you slul . . . you schlutt . . . you SLUT. . . yeh . . . fuh’ing Romish SLUT . . . you, you . . . you run ‘way wiff” – snorting, he waved both hands at O’Leary, who stood uncustomarily mute – “him . . .who d’ya tink . . . you think, you . . . you . . . are, hmmm?”

By then having separated herself from O’Leary with a single step, gesturing for her husband (whose hand was on his sword-hilt) to remain back, her cheeks now bright, and, having permitted her train to cascade back onto the floor, some of it puddling in front of the broad skirts of her gown – as if to sharply separate her elegant self from this “foul little man” – her arms at her side, Eileen turned to look down yet again at the momentarily silent sheriff, his eyes now focused quite noticeably on the ample décolletage her robe provided. “You will look at me, sir . . . at my face!” she commanded and, unthinkingly, he did so – instantly, his rheumy eyes shot up, his mouth still slack.

As he did – Morris having just spread his feet as wide as possible – with a force sufficient to make a statement but not nearly enough to injure, she unhesitatingly slapped the drunken man across his face with the palm of her by-then ungloved right hand – the smack was quite audible in the hushed hall.

His body first lurched precariously forwards and back, swaying then sideways, finally managing only a shocked “You Pape-piss bisch!” – and a laughably-comical, wholly impotent parody of taking a swing at her, which evoked hilarity and mocking remarks amongst those closest to the pair – Morris swayed even more visibly, as Eileen – stifling a laugh – continued in a calm, firm voice: “I would remind you” – from this moment, in her disgust, she pointedly refrained from addressing him as sir – “that I am the daughter of Donál Mór Ó Conaill and Maire ní Dhuibh of Derrynane, County Kerry. I am the wife of Captain Arthur O’Leary, an officer of the Hungarian Hussars in the imperial armies of Austria and Hungary, of Rathleigh House, in this county. I am the proud mother of his first son, his first child; I am just returned from most of a decade spent in service at the highest levels of the court of Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna. I am well-read and travelled; I am fluent in four languages, competent in two others, I am well-spoken, whilst you . . . you are none of . . .”

Shaking her head, she caught herself, but then continued. “I am most assuredly worthy of respect in this, my country, the very same respect accorded me at what is perhaps the highest court of Europe. You shall behave accordingly!” she again commanded haughtily, “you repulsive little man.”

Pausing momentarily, her gently heaving bosom the only indication of the passion she felt, she then spoke, loudly enough to be heard by most people in the hall, “. . . and . . . should I ever learn that you have used that – or any similarly foul – word in reference to me ever again, be assured,” she paused dramatically, pointing her long, elegant right forefinger directly at him, “Be fully assured, little man, that I . . . shall . . . kill . . . you.”

People gasped; Morris’s mouth fell open. In the deadly silence, he finally managed, “Zat’s uh fret! You dare ‘fretten me?”

Laughing cruelly, Eileen condescendingly shook her head, “Indeed, not, small, foul, nauseating man, that I shall kill you I assure you ‘tis a promise . . . and I rarely break my promises,” she sneered, quite loudly.

At which point, gathering her train, she slowly, disdainfully turned and swept elegantly away . . .

About the Author

Kevin O’Connell is a native of New York City and a descendant of a young officer of what had—from 1690 to 1792—been the Irish Brigade of the French army, believed to have arrived in French Canada following the execution of Queen Marie Antoinette in October of 1793. At least one grandson subsequently returned to Ireland and Mr. O’Connell’s own grandparents came to New York in the early twentieth century. He holds both Irish and American citizenship.

He is a graduate of Providence College and Georgetown University Law Centre.

For much of his four decades-long legal career, O’Connell has practiced international business transactional law, primarily involving direct-investment matters, throughout Asia (principally China), Europe, and the Middle East.

The father of five children and grandfather of ten, he and his wife, Laurette, live with their golden retriever, Katie, near Annapolis, Maryland.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Blog Tour Schedule

Friday, November 1 Review at Gwendalyn’s Books

Sunday, November 3 Review at Carole’s Ramblings

Monday, November 4 Review at Locks, Hooks and Books

Wednesday, November 6 Interview at The Writing Desk Feature at Chicks, Rogues, and Scandals

Friday, November 8 Feature at Maiden of the Pages

Monday, November 11 Interview at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, November 13 Review & Guest Post at The Book Junkie Reads

Friday, November 15 Guest Post at Before the Second Sleep

Sunday, November 17 Review at A Darn Good Read

Monday, November 18 Review at Books and Zebras

Tuesday, November 19 Feature at What Is That Book About

Wednesday, November 20 Review at Al-Alhambra Book Reviews

Friday, November 22 Feature at Historical Fiction with Spirit

Monday, November 25 Review at Hooked on Books

Tuesday, November 26 Review at Red Headed Book Lady Review & Guest Post at Nursebookie

Wednesday, November 27 Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Friday, November 29 Review at Broken Teepee Excerpt at Coffee and Ink

#BittersweetTapestry #KevinOConnell #HFVBTBlogTours Bittersweet Tapestry by Kevin O'Connell Publication Date: November 1, 2019 Gortcullinane Press eBook & Paperback Series: The Derrynane Saga, Book Three…

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loveforinfoworld-blog · 5 years

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Leaders Are Discovered in the Kitchen

Best-selling author, Rev., Dr. John Maxwell, reveals something in one of his many writings called 'The Law of the Lid.' The 'Law of the Lid' means that you, as a principal leader, or your organization will go no higher nor move further than the level and degree of proficiency, ability and excellence of those surrounding you or are operating in pivotal leadership roles XV Leader. People in those vicarious positions will either hold you and an organization back or will be the fuel and energy to propel you and your organization further.

I vividly remember one of my first jobs and a lesson learned about 37 years ago.

You may remember Burger Queen. If I'm not mistaken, it merged with or became Burger King some time in the late 70's. I was so proud to have an 'official' job. I had mowed lawns in our neighborhood and tried selling newspapers (I think it was called 'Grit') but THIS was a REAL J-O-B!

I was very impressed with my two youthful managers. They were energetic, take-charge and focused young men that helped create their atmosphere - the work environment. During the training days I remember having finished my hand at either flipping burgers or something like that and, having completed that task, I stood, waiting for my next assignment. I was waiting for the next 'tell me what to do' assignment. I call this a 'hand-holding mentality.

Hand-holding is when a worker or someone identified as a leader will only function through the 'hand-holding' relationship with their superior without ever being willing to take on the personal responsibility or personal initiative. Workers are rarely self-starters whereby leaders by virtue of their placement must be self-starters, people of personal initiative and owners of responsibility whether it is their own, others or their organization.

Workers are as important as leaders. However, if I had to choose between workers and leaders, I would rather have five exceptional leaders rather than one hundred workers. If an organization has five exceptional leaders they will help find, train and raise up workers whereby one hundred workers, unless trained and equipped, will never multiply their lot but stay at a state of maintenance.

Now, back to my Burger Queen story: Picture this.

The food-preparation area is buzzing, everyone busy at it, a lot going on. There I stand, waiting for orders. My manager walks over to me with a cleaning rag in his hand and said, in essence, from now on he never wanted to see or my hands idle. He said that he always wanted to see me doing something - find something to do. That would include wiping down counter tops, taking out the trash, sweeping or mopping the floor, re-stocking the preparation table - just don't stand waiting to be told what to do next. Now, don't laugh, but THAT incident changed and fashioned my life, forever! Honestly!

KINGDOM CONDUCT IN THE KITCHEN

I remember listening to one of Pastor Bill Hybel's teaching tapes (Willow Creek Community Church - one of largest in America) describing his process for identifying new leaders Azul XV. Each year he hosts a retreat with his current leaders and those who have been working with these leaders in their perspective departments.

After mealtime, Pastor Hybels will make his way over to the sink and begin to wash dishes. The person who comes to his side and offers to dry the dishes while he washes them is essentially hired or at least identified as a leader on his/her way 'up' (though my view of leadership is servant-ship and has nothing to do with upper eschelons of a structure). He will scan the room and look for signs of initiative, self-starters. When he observes someone digging around looking for the trash bags so he/she can empty the trash, on their own, without being asked or instructed, shows up on his radar.

PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION WITH KINGDOM CONVICTIONS

I think back of another story, this one was also a teaching tape I listened to years ago. A long-term and very successful pastor hired his grandson to join the pastoral staff. The grandson was thrilled to have completed his training and was anxious to serve alongside his revered grandfather - his hero.

The grandson shows up early on Monday morning looking like a million dollars: Nice suit, shoes shined, desk version of his leather Franklin Planner in hand. He meets his grandfather in his office and granddad welcomes him and is obviously excited to begin this new pastoral journey with his grandson.

The first thing the pastor instructs his grandson to do is to take off the suit. Granddad informs him that the gymnasium is in a mess and needs a thorough cleaning in a terrible way. That's not exactly what he signed up for but the new junior pastor obliges and gets to work on the gym. Not what he had in mind for his first day in the pastoral ministry, but he did it with a right heart and spirit.

Day two rolls around and it's pretty much a repeat. Looking good, meets his granddad/pastor in the office and, once again, the master pastor instructs his grandson to take off the suit and informs him that the restrooms in the Christian education wing of the campus was in dire need of a thorough cleaning. This time, the grandson just had to speak up and express his confusion explaining to his granddad that this was not what he had invested all of his time and energy into pursuing but that it was in order to help pastor and minister to God's people and serve and support his grandfather's senior pastor's role. Now comes the lesson.

The wise granddad began to tell his grandson that what he was having him to do was ministry because what he was doing will affect people and the church in a positive way and that when you are a leader, you own every detail, personally, whether it is the empty toilet paper holder in the restroom or snow on the church sidewalks, everything matters and everything must matter to leaders because ownership breeds excellence, accountability and stability.

As it turned out, these menial assignments didn't last just two days but for more than a year. The wise senior pastor/granddad wanted to teach his grandson/associate pastor the lesson that not only is leadership a matter of ownership but leadership is also about being content with whatever assignment God has given you even if appears to be humble, irrational, nonsensical or beneath him. Granddad informed him that when he determined that his grandson had grown a right heart and a right attitude of gratitude to simply be able to serve, serve anyone, anywhere without striving to maintain an image or position, then he would be released to take on more advanced roles and responsibilities.

Here's the last illustration and then I will lay out some principles concerning leadership.

FORTUNE 500 STRATEGIES LEARNED FROM THE BIBLE

I read just recently that not long after mega-church pastor Dr. Charles Stanley went to First Baptist Church of Atlanta someone gave him a copy of the book 'Think and Grow Rich.' Now, hold on just a minute because it is not what it seems. Dr. Stanley equates the growth of First Baptist with having read this book, a book that he says he reads again each and every year.

In this book, there are guidelines and principles of success that the business and professional world recognizes, values and enlists with great and fabulous results. They are never satisfied with status quo and never, ever blame someone else for the dissatisfaction they hold for their current plight. They take ownership of how is should be and what it should be.

When I was still a single evangelist I started reading Donald Trumps books, as well as others that are motivational such as Zig Ziggler, Brian Tracy, Os Hllman, Og Mandino, Dale Carnegie and most anything from Nightingale Conant Publishers. Reading these books, especially Donald Trumps, revealed to me that they were utilizing Biblical principles such as the laws of sowing and reaping and utilizing nothing but faith-filled declarations and these were working for them even though they were not Christians. They never permitted themselves to have any excuse where their future was concerned.

I simply reasoned it out and said that if these extremely successful people could be such because they were utilizing Biblical principles and spiritual laws whether they knew they were or not then I, too, would identify these principles and engage them without exception.

What was amazing and what I discovered in Donald Trump's books was that he never acknowledged a 'no' or an 'it won't work' situation. These phrases meant nothing to him. And, what's more, the books would reveal the rewards he earned by refusing tolerate excuses from himself or anyone else or laying blame somewhere else. He took ownership, personally, of the current condition or circumstances and lived by a particular mindset.

SOLUTION, THEN SOLUTION, THEN SOLUTION

Donald Trump's mindset was or is 'solution driven.' It kind of works like this.

Whenever or wherever I find a problem, I own the problem and, will therefore, enact an immediate solution. Whether it is a stamped, stack of mail waiting to be mailed by someone, a light bulb burned out, a torn piece of carpet, a wet vanity in the bathroom, I am the solution for details, great or small, owned by me or not, I will add to my organization by bringing solutions to whatever need I discover, whenever or wherever I discover them.

Second, Mr. Trump said that all of us are paid for one thing and one thing only: the size of problems he/she solves. The value of any leader is determined by the number of problems that never show up on their manager's radar.

Third, that means that problems should only be handled one time and one time only. There should be no such thing as a lingering, open-ended, left-till-later problem. Whenever a problem is met, it belongs to the conscientious leader who discovered it.

I was in a fast-food restaurant the other day and saw a poster inviting the customer to inquire about their company's fund-raising program. The restaurant was not busy at all at the time that I asked the young lady waiting on me to tell me about it. She had no idea as to what I was talking about and referred it to the shift manager. The manager politely informed me that she had no idea either and that I could consult the manager when she came in the following day. Here is how a leader would handle that.

A proper response would be the shift manager telling me that she wasn't aware of the program but that if I would wait a few minutes that she would be more than happy to find what information is available. If I were the shift manager and couldn't find any printed materials, I would then do something like run a quick internet query and, at least, hand the customer a web site to refer to but I would absolutely, positively never, ever leave that customer without a solution of some sort.

If a leader carries anything, a leader carries a smile, a proper attitude and a determination to be a solution-finder and help at all times. It really is the very same as employing 'The Golden Rule.'

I remember one organization and occasion where I was in leadership and asked one of the office workers for a zip code. He informed me that he didn't know the zip code for that particular city. Shocked at that pall reply, I asked him to get it for me. I inquired to see if he really wasn't aware that zip codes were recorded in the local telephone books and were easily found through an internet query.

A leader is somewhat like a chess player who holds several moves forward in their mind as they maneuver across the board a move at a time. They never see the game or the process as a single step at a time but they look ahead to several moves or several steps that lead to the anticipated win.

Fourth, a person who has leadership abilities will never report a problem without an immediate, 'I-have-taken-charge' and it is therefore resolved' response. When this is not the case, the leader is only being a messenger delivering status reports or updates and should then be paid for being a messenger as opposed to a leader.

Leaders are confident and move beyond what is comfortable or safe and assume responsibility for the permission they have been given and act independently to move their assignments or their organization forward.

By the very fact that a person is a leader and functioning in that capacity, they do not demand permission for every action nor do they use the excuse of needing permission in order to carry our their responsibilities. A 'safe' leader will never take on the responsibility of making decisions or act independently under the permission and authority they have been granted. A safe leader remains, essentially, a messenger who reports on the status quo and feels that role should be recompensed at the same level as a real leader who has solved many problems and helped move his organization forward alleviating concerns and the weight of details for those whom they are serving.

Fifth, leaders will never report or reply with: 'I don't know how;' 'I can't find;' 'I don't know where;' or, 'I didn't try.' Being paid for solutions, a leader will report with a succinct description of the problem along with the resolution already enacted.

Every problem has a solution or solutions and will be the first order once the problem is discovered. When a leader is solution-focused or possibility-driven, they think creatively and abjectly for answers and solutions. In their mind, they are never boxed in or left without some avenue of resolve. They meditate, inquire and investigate until potential resolutions are found.

Sixth, a leader will wears three different hats, especially so if they are a part of an organization that is comprised of people who are connected in both the professional and casual, familiar relationships. Leaders will have a leader hat, a friend hat and a worker hat and they know when to wear which hat. Leaders do not prefer one hat over the other at any particular time but is versatile in wearing each hat whenever the role requires.

A leader will never hold so closely to a leader hat that when the need demands he/she would be hesitant or unwilling to lay the leader hat aside for the worker hat. It is the concept and understanding of servant leadership and the devotion to things greater than our personal desires or preferences.

For instance, when you are in an organization where you are working with friends, you must, essentially, wear your worker/follower hat so that personal feelings are laid aside for the good of the objectives and organization. In other words, if a leader has to speak strictly with a fellow-worker who is also a friend, by wearing the proper hat at the right times one is kept from undue tensions and issues that can clutter, hinder and hamper an organizations progress. Consequently, I remind our team on occasion that I can never be offended because I choose to hold and value the relationship and the mutual assignment we share above the privilege of being offended so that the work of the Lord may prosper and move forward.

This approach helps to keep hurt feelings and even anger out of the equation so the work of the Kingdom continues unencumbered. There is nothing too much more debilitating than for bad attitudes and tensions to permeate a work environment or even a portion of a work environment. Leaders have the ability to set their minds and emotions above the fog of conflict and other distractions and remain focused on the tasks at hand.

This approach also helps leaders to be used, really used, and even used sacrificially sometimes with a joy and a confidence that counts the costs a privilege, even at times when the reasons for the extra demands are not clearly understood.

Seventh, leaders are magnets of enthusiasm. They see the good in the bad. They live by the paradigm that whatever they are encountering by way of challenges, the 'cup is half full' as opposed to seeing the need as being the 'cup is half empty.' They look for the good in everyone and in everything. Shut doors, unexpected needs are not stifling but are opportunities for God to manifest His generosity.

A leader's enthusiasm brings a calm and a stability to those all around them. When handling criticism or complaints, a leader listens empathetically and does not leave the discussion until they are satisfied that they have succoured and settled the matter more than adequately.

Leaders never complain but they inform and they never complain downward or laterally but they manage discord and similar sentiments with their superiors in a strategic and proactive way. They cover one another's backs and make sure everyone and their team or organization is always seen in the very best light. Whenever a leader is disgruntled and goes public or is open about it, that leader has ceased thinking in terms of the organization and has become self-focused and preoccupied with their own plight as opposed to the collateral damage their actions could bring.

Many years ago I was in a setting where a great and real injustice toward a fellow staff member took place. It boiled down to the issue that the leader no longer wanted the other person on staff. From a setting where I was present, the manager reported to his 'board' that the staff person had done something intolerable and painted him in a terribly false color and light. It was absolutely a situation of character assignation and I was sickened by it.

Although I was sickened by it and the terrible grief it caused and the damage it did to this staff and his family, I knew I had to guard my actions so that my disgust and deep convictions as to how wrong a thing this was would not hurt or hinder the organization. I quickly made up my mind to resign and leave. However, I also knew that even though I held the deepest of feelings and sentiments about the occasion, no one but Mary Gaye, the manager and I would ever know it so that there would be no collateral damage to the organization caused by my disagreement or departure. I feared God far too much to become an instrument of conflict that could hinder the Kingdom of God.

Mary Gaye and I were always careful to paint the manager in a good light and the fellow staff member as well who was, in essence, experiencing character assignation and slander. It always boils down to the Lord's Promise and message reminding us that blessed are the makers and maintainers of peace for they shall be called the children of God.

God is going to take you and your organization higher and further. Know those who are the closes to you if you are a leader, manager, team leader or senior pastor. Identify those who have obvious and definite leadership abilities even if it is determined by way of gifts profiles and tests. Maintain a healthy, open dialog deportment that we call HOT: Honest, Open and Transparent. Encourage transparency and frank honesty and reward it with goodwill.

Set the lid and make it higher by bringing alongside you people of greater abilities or talents and give them the license to make decisions and take ownership in your presence or in your absence. Then, reward them appropriately as well as verbally.

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markwatkinsconsumerguide · 5 years

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Consumer Guide / No.76 / Radio presenter, writer & Patron of Carers UK, Tiggy Walker with Mark Watkins.

MW : Tell me about your radio show on Abbey 104, and how you’d like to perhaps develop the programme in the future…

TW : My show is called Afternoon Delight and goes out Thursdays from 2pm - 4pm. I’d occasionally been co-hosting on someone else’s show on a London station and thought that I could be doing this for myself, so I contacted Abbey 104 (broadcasting on 104.7 FM) who welcomed me with open arms. We live about 35 mins drive away in Dorset - so it’s perfect.

I thought about what features I wanted to include, and then created two “clocks” to space them out over the two hours (with music etc). I’m happy to say that I got the balance pretty much sorted from the first show.

It’s a magazine style programme with lots of different elements : ‘Love Me, Love My Dog’ for canine dedications; ‘Tiggy’s Kitchen’, where I cook something at home each week – which normally entails Johnnie having to try it (I’m proud of this slot as I think it’s quite original and many people have used the recipes); an arts review – cinema/theatre/TV; a what’s on locally; a show tune; a guest interview which normally runs for 30 minutes.

I’ve had some amazing guests, and I’m booked quite a long way in advance. I’ve had a tarot reader, a funeral director, a heavy rock band, a mind coach, authors, a successful actress, a legendary DJ (!)… and so on. We live in an area rich in talent and interesting people.

I’ve created a really labour intensive show for myself, but it’s very satisfying when I’ve pulled it all together, and chosen the right tracks. I try to give tracks a context. It makes a difference if they feel relevant to what you’re talking about. Prepping the show does take up a lot of my week, and I’m trying to keep it under control as I’m also writing a novel. Two very different head spaces.

People are complimentary about my music choices, especially Johnnie. I can play whatever I like and that is so rare these days. That freedom is my creativity. You express your own mood with those choices. I’m mainly drawn to the 1970’s as that’s when I was most interested in music. I like a wide variety of music, but not the commercial, “poppy” stuff. I love it when odd tracks pop in to my mind. The other day, I played “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean (1961). That amused me greatly!

This show just happened so easily, and organically. I get great feedback, and I know it’s completely right that I’m doing it. Radio is a wonderful outlet for your voice in every way. As for the future, I’ll keep on doing it as long as I have the time. It’s a great way of connecting to our community in and around the Dorset area.

www.abbey104.com

MW : Give your own SOUNDS OF…from each of these decades…

TW :

SOUNDS OF THE 60’s

Single : Richard Harris ~ ‘MacArthur Park’ (1968)

Album : Simon & Garfunkel ~ ‘Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme’ (1966)

SOUNDS OF THE 70’s

Single : David Bowie - ‘Starman’ (1972)

Album : Pink Floyd - ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ (1973)

SOUNDS OF THE 80’s

Single : Michael Jackson ~ ‘Man In The Mirror’ (1988)

Album : U2 ~ ‘The Joshua Tree’ (1987)

MW : What’s the best new single and album you’ve heard recently?

TW : I listen to very little new stuff with enthusiasm. Best new single : Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper ‘Shallow’ - and that’s because I liked the film (‘A Star Is Born’).

As for best new album, ‘Delta’ by Mumford & Sons. I adore their sound and Marcus Mumford’s voice.

By the way, if it could be a stage show CD it would have to be the cast recording of ‘Girl From The North Country’ from 2017. I literally adore that CD, and could play it every day!

MW : What newspapers / magazines do you usually take, and what are your favourite features / columnists?

TW : Newspapers?! They are pure luxury reserved for flights. I’m so busy all the time that the most I’ll do is look at the front of a paper and flip through a magazine.

Saturday Telegraph, and Sunday Times, are the weekend papers we get. I like travel writer Susan d’Arcy (Sunday Times) : I also like Diana Henry, the food writer, in the Telegraph.

MW : How do you and your husband, Johnnie, support each other ( a ) career-wise ( b ) relationship-wise? ( c ) health-wise?

TW :

a ) We’re a huge support with each other’s careers. I’m his manager and agent, so I deal with every request and negotiation. Johnnie is chaotic and I am uber efficient. I’m constantly having meetings with him about his schedule and work, trying not to overload him and get the balance right. BBC Radio 2 always come to me because they know they’ll get a quick reply.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2

Johnnie supports me hugely with my show. He gets me the tracks I ask for, edits my “Kitchen” recordings. I couldn’t do it without him. The lovely thing is that he says it’s been good for us, plus he loves my music choices – which are different to his. I have been writing a screenplay and two novels over the past few years. He reads everything and is a brilliant sounding board. There is nothing he wants more than for my first publishing deal to come through - or - a script to go in to production.

It’s been a lonely, and very challenging time for me, but he’s the one person who has kept me going both financially, and emotionally. He’s the only one who sees how relentlessly I work and re-write. Without him, I’d probably have given up and returned to producing commercials. I vowed never to do commercials again when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’d done 30 years of them.

b ) The relationship is everything – career/play-time/love. We love each other deeply. We knew it from the moment that we met. It wasn’t easy at the start. He had baggage. Then he nearly died (through cancer) after we married. Our relationship knocked me completely off track. The love was so strong that I didn’t feel in control. It will be 16 years this December that we’ve been married. My God how we’ve grown and matured together. I know it’s corny, but it does get better as you go through the ups and downs together. Yes, sex was wilder when we met, but the knowledge and understanding of each other is so so much deeper now. It’s hard to imagine life without him as we are so entwined.

c ) Health-wise we have both supported each other hugely. Johnnie went through cancer (Non-Hodgkin lymphoma) just after we married. The chemotherapy nearly finished him off. It was a terrible start to marriage. I stopped everything so that I could care for him. At one point it was so terrible that I felt suicidal. I don’t really like looking back there, but he says he wouldn’t have survived without me. He still has the odd stay at Salisbury District Hospital. He had pneumonia in the summer and was in for a week. He never does things by halves!

In return, he helped me through my breast cancer. He liked to chauffeur me everywhere. I had to go to hospital over 50 times. He was brilliant at supporting me emotionally through chemo. After his experience, I had a very deep fear of having it. I was sure it was going to kill me as it almost had him. He sees us both having had cancer as a very balancing thing. He says it makes us an equal opportunities marriage!

MW : Tell me about your book, ‘Unplanned Journey’, and your ongoing patron roles for charity…

TW : The book happened organically. I asked photographer Bella West if she would take a torso shot of me every few weeks as I went through breast cancer treatment. I had no idea what changes I would go through. I hoped I’d get really thin. I didn’t!. Johnnie changed physically so much when he was ill that I wished I’d taken photos of him. The sick him and the healed him are like two different people.

Bella said she’d like to document the whole thing. I wrote a diary, just as a form of catharsis, and at the end Dee Brecker, who used to be at Carers UK, suggested we put Bella’s photos with my writing in a book. It’s a pretty hard-hitting account of what it’s like to go through breast cancer treatment. There’s a lot of very large breast shots in it which I can barely look at now. Happily they are now a lot smaller. Every cloud has a silver lining. All profit from the book has gone to Carers UK. You can buy it cheaper than on Amazon on the Carers UK website.

Our experience of caring for each other has led us to becoming the Patrons of Carers UK. I was on their fund raising committee, and then in their 50th year they wanted a famous Patron. We asked other people on their behalf, but when they all said no, they asked us! I think we were the right choice in the end as we have real caring experience. They could easily have asked Johnnie on his own, and I am very glad they did not. I’m a bit more outspoken about the caring process as it was the worst time of my life. Harder than going through cancer myself.

http://www.bellawest.co.uk/

https://www.carersuk.org/

MW : Have you ever visited a “mystic” such as a clairvoyant, or tarot reader? If so, what was it like, and what came true, or not?!!

TW : Indeed. One of our closest friends is a psychic tarot reader, Pete MacDonald. He has done my cards many times. He told me we were moving house way before we’d even thought of it. I don’t think it all comes true. Timings are seldom right. I take out the positive bits – like it’s all going to happen for me. In fact, I pulled a few cards the other Saturday night. I kept pulling the Strength card – and that is certainly growing in me.

http://www.petemacdonald.co.uk/

MW : Has anyone ever written a poem/poetry for you/about you? If so, details…

TW : Just one person. My father when I was four. He saw me running down the garden to steal his raspberries. I just read it out at his funeral and it got a great response. It starts :-

“Tiggy Toddles Trot trot trot, My the pace is getting hot….”

I did go out with a songwriter briefly - and I should have loved a song written about me - but I’d be quite hard to write about. I’m not exactly a romantic, delicate flower. I’m not the muse type. I’m more the bossy motivator! That said, when he was playing live he’d incorporate my name into one song and that made me stupidly thrilled.

JW once played ‘Drive In Saturday’ by Bowie. There’s a line, ‘She sighed like Twig The Wonderkid’, and he said it was written for me. I wish! People believed him even though he was joking.

MW : Tell me about your Dorset life…

TW : I made a declaration at 16 that I would live in Dorset as I knew after a one day visit there that it was my spiritual home. When I met Johnnie one of my conditions was that he’d have to embrace Dorset. The other was he’d have to use Apple computers. He accepted both things happily.

We live in beautiful small Georgian house on the edge of Shaftesbury that we renovated when I was going through cancer. From our house we can walk into town, or into fields. It’s a great location. From our bed (a fabulous Simon Horn sleigh bed) we look up to Melbury Hill, south of Shaftesbury. There are so many glorious views around us that lift my heart every time I see them. It’s one of the reasons we love Dorset.

We used to go to pubs a lot for dinner, but less so now. If we go out, it is usually to have supper with close friends at their home. If we go to out to eat, it will be at the divine, unique, Pythouse Kitchen Garden, or a pub like The Beckford Arms.

https://www.pythousekitchengarden.co.uk/

https://www.beckfordarms.com/

Our lives are quite busy going up and down between London and Dorset. We do quite a bit, so home is about relaxing, pulling up the drawer bridge, lighting a fire and watching some decent drama.

MW : What’s your favourite cheese and wine?

TW : Don’t eat cheese! Much as I’d love to. My favourite wines are from Burgundy. A crisp Chablis. A red Mercury. Or the big Italian reds – Barolo, Brunello, super Chianti’s. Stonking stuff! I only like European wines. I buy from the Wine Society, Waitrose and Shaftesbury Wines.

https://www.thewinesociety.com/

We seem to eat a lot of fish and vegetables. I get a weekly veg box from Abel & Cole who are fantastic. I’ve started getting fish boxes from them too as it’s really great quality fish, and not outrageously priced. We eat quite a simple diet. Healthy. Organic. All made from scratch, including soda bread which I make twice a week for JW. I avoid grains, dairy, legumes, and sugar where possible.

https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/

MW : How do you usually prepare for Christmas?

TW : We ‘do’ Christmas every other year, which I think is perfect as it’s so ludicrously overwhelming and over done. When we’re here, our Christmas starts on Christmas Eve. One pair of friends has a lovely drinks do at lunchtime - Dorset Champagne (Langham) and great nibbles.

https://langhamwine.co.uk/

We then get home in time for ‘Carols from Kings’ during which I make the mince pies. We do a small dinner party that night, always serving a Fortnum & Mason Christmas Pudding. Our friend Pete who is always invited gets hugely excited about the ‘table of dreams’. My mother always covered the sideboard with a fabulous selection of goodies and that tradition has stuck (Bendicks mints, Quality Street, Turkish Delight, a fruit bowl, Hotel Chocolat truffles, nuts. port etc).

https://www.bendicks.co.uk/

https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk

We wobble off to Midnight Mass afterwards. If we are too tired we’ll go to church on Christmas morning. Then for the rest of Christmas Day we tend to be alone. I cook a roast chicken with all the trimmings and open a fab bottle of red. We open presents after the Queen’s Speech, and later watch a couple of films. I’m a BAFTA member so have to see all the current films so I can vote at the beginning of January. It’s a big, yet delightful pressure over December and Christmas.

My birthday is on Boxing Day so we catch up with friends then.

Neither of us see family at Christmas. That’s just a matter of geography, I think. Or maybe it’s something we said! I like to keep things as unpressured as possible. I adore that the world just stops for a week. No emails. No requests. Just calm and a chance to catch your breath. It’s a really necessary punctuation point in the year, especially after the madness of the build up.

Christmas shopping is something I detest! I get what I can locally in Shaftesbury. We have a couple of lovely shops like Mine selling clothes and jewellery, and Enchanted Plants selling handmade skin care.

https://mine-boutique.co.uk/

https://www.enchantedplants.co.uk/

I’ll also go to Liberty in London as they do great gifts, and John Lewis. Strangely, I like the men’s department there as they do several brands in a small setting. It’s efficient with excellent service. That’s the kind of shopping I enjoy - quick and effortless. I will also do Fortnum & Mason as their biscuits and specialties like Maron Glacé (SO EXPENSIVE but my Mother loves them) make excellent and very attractive gifts. I believe in giving things that I would love to receive.

On the years that we are not doing Christmas here, we’re in Australia. My brother Graham and family live there, as does Johnnie’s son Sam and family. It’s very handy having them in the same country and city. Sunny Christmas days take some getting used to, but at my brothers it is a huge day ending up with a singalong in to the early hours. It’s fantastic and a total contrast to our quite UK Christmases.

MW : What are your personal and professional plans for 2019?

TW : Personally, to stay balanced, keep fit, travel (we always do as I’m obsessed with arranging trips) and have a joyful time with our close friends. One slight sadness is that Johnnie’s Rock Show is moving to Saturday nights. So we will be apart all weekend for half the year. I’m used to Sunday’s alone and enjoy some space, but Saturday nights are a bit sad. I’ll be a weekend widow, but I think our friends will take pity. Hard on Johnnie though if we’re all having fun and he’s working and returning to a lonely flat. I really could not stand all my weekends in London. I no longer belong there emotionally, even though I go a lot in the week.

Career wise I hope…

To get a two-book publishing deal and deliver final drafts of both books I’ve written. My agent is on standby to get the next draft of my second book.

To get my film script off the ground. I have my first backer. Currently looking for the right director.

I’d love a radio show with Johnnie. As would he. He doesn’t need me. He’s a legend! ; but when I had him as a guest recently the listeners loved the chemistry between us, and the overriding opinion was that we would make the world more fun and happy if we did a show together. It was such a success that Abbey 104 have left the show up on their website homepage.

To earn money again. I used to earn a lot in commercials. It feels that you have value when you earn money. I love to be generous and travel. Both of which require the stuff.

My father always said that luck was preparedness waiting for an opportunity. I’ve worked bloody hard for a long time. I’m prepared. I’m ready. I think 2019 will be brilliant. I certainly hope so. You can follow me on Twitter to find out!

Twitter handle : @TiggyWalker

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