The first small victory of 2014

I started using HabitRPG a while ago.  If you're not familiar with it, it's a site and app that lets you set daily goals, habits to encourage (or discourage) and things to do, all framed as an RPG with experience and gold rewarded for completing tasks and health taken away for failing.

I'm terrible at sticking to things.  I don't have the attention span for it, so approaching it as a game with rewards is actually doing wonders.

One thing that it's proving particularly useful for is the To-Do section: mine is full of writing targets that, if I see every day, I can't escape so easily.  They range from the unlikely (completing the second arc of Three Graces, which has been sat doing nothing for two years due to my own stupidity--no, seriously), to the possibly-probable (finishing both Radial AUs), to the downright laughable but depressingly necessary (naming the steampunk universe, because Unnamed Steampunk is never catchy).

It also included two perfectly reachable ones: finish the Unnamed Steampunk (see?) novella I started last year, and rewrite it.  I'd intended to finish it last year but got unaccountably stuck on the last chapter, the part that should have been the easiest of the whole story.  I stared and prodded and rewrote, I even edited bits of it, but it resolutely refused to crystallise in my mind.  I could not wrap my mind around this one last bit.

And there was this perfectly reachable To-Do sitting there laughing at me.  It's embarrassing, being taunted by an orange box on a website.  But there it was, perfectly smug in the knowledge that it was reachable and I was just failing to reach it.

Funny how the brain works, isn't it?  Even funnier is that, in writing "Doors Should Creak", I solved my own problem.  By writing a point in Niko and Kirill's life where they were comfortable enough to have sex and clearly had been for some time, it made it much easier to write Kirill's tentative first steps towards confidence in Niko and their fledgling relationship.  Suddenly, over the course of two days, I could check off my Habit of writing 200 words (a small but manageable goal for someone who's so easily distracted) and I finished the story.

It's now on my Kindle, where I can be taunted by the weird chapter spacing and the fact it needs heavy revision, but it's done.

Considering my atrocious track record with actually completing projects, it feels weird and incredible, but I finally got to check off my first To-Do and complete my first project of 2014.

Anyone else using HabitRPG or cracked that first To-Do of the year?

Short Story: Doors Should Creak

Rating: 18
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 961
Summary: Kirill and Niko enjoy an intimate session—complete with unexpected visitors

“How’s that?”  Niko’s breath burned against Kirill’s shoulder.

________________________________________________________

The Obligatory New Year's Post

Happy new year!  I hope 2014 will prove prosperous and full of joy for everyone.

I have a habit of making resolutions, some of which I stick to and some of which I miss by miles--and then there are the ones I completely forgot about until after the event.  I can't tell you what last year's were, because I can't actually find them.

This, too, is pretty normal.

So in an effort to keep my resolutions somewhere I can find them (seriously, I'm sure I wrote them on Tumblr last year but I'll be damned if they're there now), I decided to write them here.  There aren't many.  There never are.

   1. Read at least 20 books this year.

I managed over 20 last year (it feels weird writing that on the 1st January, when last year was only yesterday), although it was partially with the help of the Goodreads 2013 reading challenge.  I signed up to read 10 books in a year, which I hoped was manageable.  In the end 22.  So hopefully, if I resolve to read 20 I'll manage 30.

   2. Write one story a week.

I already try, but I have this terrible habit of writing stories in my head that never end up on paper--I already imagined them from start to finish, why would I write it?  But that doesn't get anyone anywhere, does it?

   3. Finish some of the story arcs I've left hanging.

Related to 2., but slightly tangential.  In particular it's both parts of the Unravel AU, the spectrum Three Graces arc, the second Unravel NaNo Present Day arc and the last chapter of the Steampunk novella.  I should make a plan of attack for those.

   4.  Finish five computer/console games.

I say this every year and I'm pretty sure I didn't succeed last year.  I've got this awful habit of never actually finishing games, either because I lose interest (I have a week's window to get things done or it'll be put off, possibly indefinitely) or because the game in question is enormous and I have to stop playing it or I will get absolutely nothing else done (Borderlands 2).  Let's see if I can finish some this year.

   5.  Try not to be such a whiny and self-pitying shite.

Pretty self-explanatory.  Although to be honest I think I failed that one with the simple resolution.

Let's see if I can check off any of these by the end of the year.

Short Story: Mistletoe

Rating: 15
Universe: Unravel
Word Count: 99
Summary: There's the conventional place to hang mistletoe, and then there's Alex's.

 “Don’t I get a kiss under the mistletoe?”

________________________________________________________

Short Story: Christmas Tree

Rating: 15
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 2,791
Summary: Niko and Kirill go Christmas tree shopping, but end up meeting people Kirill would sooner forget.

“It’s early enough that it shouldn’t be too crowded, but will you be alright?” Niko asked, twisting to look over his shoulder as he lifted his shirt over his head. “I know you’re still a bit.. with... after...”

________________________________________________________

Short Story: Tinsel and Hooks

Rating: PG
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 1,152
Summary: Kirill asks Niko about Christmas decorations, only to find he has none—except it turns out that's no impediment to actually having any, when your lover is a talented mechanic.

Kirill waited until Niko finished hammering the sheet of metal until he tried speaking, and even then it came out more quietly tentative than he’d hoped. “Um, Niko, where do you keep your Christmas decorations?”

________________________________________________________

Short Story: Lost In Translation

Rating: G
Universe: Unnamed Steampunk
Word Count: 340
Summary: A sleepy Kirill would quite like Niko to read to him.

Kirill rolled over and blinked sleepily up at Niko. “What’re you reading?”

________________________________________________________

Committing To A Schedule

Or at least trying to...

I'm aware of the fact I've failed to blog consistently for months.  In part this has been due to failing to write anything regularly, part due to NaNoWriMo (I acknowledge that only accounts for a month), a small part due to redecorating--I'd intended to start this earlier this week but apparently painting takes forever and wallpapering half a wall takes a whole day--and part due to sheer laziness, because after everything else I'm knackered.

So I'm going to try to commit to a more regular schedule where Tuesdays, which used to be Meet My Desk days until I ran out of desk for you to meet, will be reviews of stationery (and maybe technology and books) and Fridays will be general blogging days, much like this.

It seems an easy enough schedule to stick to, which probably means you can expect resounding failure!

I won NaNoWrimo for my eleventh year with the Unravel AU, this time set nine years on from my Ridiculous Challenge.  I might even finish this one outside of November as I realised both how to end it--not usually my strong point--and the existence of some unintended plot points along the way.  I also need to finish up the steampunk novella, which is still in desperate need of a name; I'm not sure why I'm having trouble with it as I'm actually on the last section of the whole thing, but there we go.  Maybe I should challenge myself to finish it before the end of the year?

In a desperate attempt to write more regularly I'm intending to resume posting at Runaway Tales (one piece already posted, as well as crossposted to my usual place: "One Step Closer")as well as signing up to niee87's annual "I'll Jingle Your Bells" porn ficathon which I wholly recommend joining, especially if you're shy about writing porn.  I was nervous last year when I signed up and now look at me.

Take that as you will.

So with fingers crossed I'll actually be able to take up posting more regularly, as well as posting more stories.  And on the subject of posting and stories, if you have any opinions (and I know everyone does, even if secretly) on how and where you prefer reading online, please please have a quick look over the wordily-titled "How Do You Prefer To Read Fiction Online?" post, vote and add any comments if you wish.

I think that's about it, so hopefully I'll be seeing you again next Tuesday with a review of the Copic atyouSpica pens!

How Do You Prefer To Read Fiction Online?

How do you prefer to read original fiction?  It's a bit of a random question, made slightly more so by the fact I was halfway around Tesco when I thought of it--which goes to show just how much of my shopping is done on autopilot.

But the more I thought about it (still shopping on autopilot), the more I found myself curious.  I think it was mostly because I was itching to finish up and get home so I could read a short story by a webcomic author I like, but that in turn reminded me that said story is hosted on their SmackJeeves page which has the irritating habit of checking I'm a legal adult too often for my liking--although I suppose having an account might help.  (The story is for the very gorgeous m/m webcomic Devoto: Music In Hell, by the way, and the short story is here.)

I'm way over being a legal adult, for the record.  I don't even get IDed in stores when buying alcohol any more, which makes me sadder than it ought.

That, in turn, made me think about how Dreamwidth displays stories on mobile devices--as I've been using my Nexus 7 to fact-check existing Unravel AU stories with my NaNoWriMo project--and (by this point at the frozens section) I got to wondering about whether people prefer to read stories on blogs like this, on separate sites like Wordpress, Tumblr, Dreamwidth etc., or on their mobile device separately, where they might be able to carry it around with them to, say, read while loitering by the freezers staring blankly at Christmas frozens.

How do you prefer to read original fiction online?
	In a Blogger / Wordpress post
	On Livejournal / Dreamwidth
	On Tumblr
	On Archive Of Our Own (AO3)
	On a different third party site
	As an ePub for convenience
	As a MOBI for convenience
	Some other format / site (please comment)
pollcode.com free polls

I'm one of those irritating people who loves asking obscure questions, so I really do appreciate and love answers.  Basically, I'd love to hear from you.  If I've not listed a way that you use / prefer, please tell me.  Whether it makes an immediate difference to how I post is another matter--I'm notoriously lazy, I'm afraid--but I'm definitely interested to find out and it probably will help me (and maybe other people, who knows?) decide how to approach things in the future.

Also, if you have any opinions on colour schemes for online fiction, I'd find those interesting too.  Black text on white background?  White text on black background?  Something that's neither of those on something else that's neither of those?  It's more for personal curiosity, but again it might come in handy somewhere down the line.

Only slightly tangentially I might have some more stories done eventually, for that minority that reads them; yesterday I clocked over 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo and menial chores around the house may have helped me figure out how to finish the story.  That and a challenge to write more in general may actually yield online fiction...

At some point.

Meet My Desk: Celty

You thought I'd run out of these, hadn't you?

You'd be right.  I had.

However!  My little technological family expanded recently, so I'd like to introduce you all to my new Windows Surface tablet, Celty.

Celty was originally called Shizuo, mostly due to the fact that I'm unsure if it comes under the heading of laptop or tablet--most larger technical items are male, small ones like Lydia and Lucy are (surprise surprise) female.  But after using her for a while, I've concluded that she's female, thus necessitating a name change.  (I'll admit here that I couldn't actually tell you why she's female, she just... feels it, so female she now is.  Hey, I never claimed to be entirely sane, did I?  ...did I?)

I recommend DRRR!!, even if you're not normally a fan of anime.

As to why 'Celty', well... that's quite a hard one to explain, but let's just say she makes an admirable headless horsewoman, she's silent to run (but no occasional neighing or hoofsteps unless I start modifying the sounds) and she's very fast for typing on.  She can certainly stand up for herself, as can the tablet as it has one built in (hey, I never claimed to be a pun master).  Whether she emanates a shadowy substance... well, perhaps that depends on your opinion of Microsoft.

It's been an interesting experience trying to get the hang of Windows 8.1 RT, especially since it's already quite different to the version of Windows RT that comes preinstalled but I'm starting to get used to it now... I think.

The biggest surprise has been, of all things, how easy it is to type with the on-screen keyboard, I wasn't expecting to be able to reach the kind of speeds I do although I'm not sure how it'd be to use with longer nails.  Probably a little problematic, like Lydia the Nexus.  However, the touch keyboard is nice too, albeit a little odd--and yet I'm not sure how it is, because it's only like typing on the screen, but I suspect I keep expecting it to feel like an actual, physical keyboard like Sixteen's, rather than for it to be flat.

I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, but I think it's already been a pretty good meeting so far.

Even if I have already discovered my new procrastination fuel in the form of Taptiles.

Still, can't be all work, can it?