shadowscast

(cross-posted from InsaneJournal)

So, hey, if you've known me for a while, you might remember that in 2006, after my writercon roommates convinced me that ficathons are fun, I signed up for Fall for S/X? And then proceeded to write a 42,000 word story (Sock Puppet!) which completely ate several months of my life and stressed me out tremendously to the point where even my husband said to me at the end "You're never doing that again, right?"

I mean, it was fun, too! And it was wonderful to be able to share the story once it was done, and I was really, really, happy with the result—but still! The stress!

So when it was over I said "Okay, fun, but I'll never do that again!" and I went back to living my life and slowly updating my big Spandery WIP (That Good Night).

But then spring came, and I got a plot bunny about this crazy Spike/Giles story set in the summer between S5 & S6, and hey, you know what bunnies are like in the springtime, right? So I wrote to

yourlibrarian about it, and asked her to please help me make rabbit stew, and instead she suggested, hey, why not sign up for Summer of Giles? (I love

yourlibrarian very much, but let it be known she is EVIL.) So of course I said "No! Dear God, no!" ... and within 24 hours I'd signed myself up.

Thus, It Never Happened.

(And I totally wasn't going to tell my husband that I'd gotten myself into that again, but by now I have RL friends who also know me fannishly, and one of them outed me over ice cream in May, asking casually in front of my husband "How's the new ficathon story coming along?" Heh. So much for keeping my real and virtual lives separate!)

So here I am, finally ficathon free again, and ready to get back to work on the WIP ... and then I wake up to an email in which

yourlibrarian casually mentions that Fall for S/X is taking sign-ups.

To which my first reaction was "No! Dear God, no!" I mean, I'm having a baby! At some point in the fall. Sometime around Halloween! Wouldn't a ficathon be a foolish idea? And besides, I really want to finish That Good Night!

Right, so, guess what I've gone and done?

I mean, how can I let Fall for S/X happen without me? I write Spike/Xander, that's what I do!

Okay, but I'm saying right now, in public: this year I will experiment with the short form. I swear to Cthulhu. I'll see what I can do in under 1000 words. Maybe a little drabble series? That could be fun! I will not neglect That Good Night again. Or the baby!