Bedtime Stories

So - the long awaited cross-over between The Western Sky and The White Rose has pretty much died a death. I can't figure out the last Act, so instead I am going in a different direction.

Jack And The Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretal and Little Red Riding Hood - three bedtime stories featuring various characters from The Western Sky as they haven't been seen before (at least in The Silent Trio Saga or any of my other stories. I can't promise no one else has done it!)

Hopefully once I get that done, I can get on to Arc 2 of the final series, before ending up with "The Wrap Party" and then - finally - "The Western Sky - The Movie" (aka "Foundations")

9th Floor and The Western Sky

So - Series 2 of The Western Sky is complete, and I am in the process of proofing it and posting it. "Respect For Your Elders" (Episode 2x09) is up, and tomorrow I am going to move on to Episode 2x10 ("Hallie Potter, At Your Service").

In addition, I have posted a complete story (more or less) called "The 9th Floor". This is another tv show type story, but rather than having big dramatic fights and evil beings, it is a simple political drama, in the vein of The West Wing and Commander In Chief.

It deals with life at The Ministry, and with the families of those involved. Also, a group of children starting Hogwarts - the kids of the families and so forth.

Whether I continue it is kind of dependent on the number of reads/reviews it gets - since it is not a typical story, I don't know if people will be interested in it or not, and while I do mostly write for my own enjoyment, I have other series (A New Dawn, The Western Sky Series 3, Christmas in Sunnydale, Return To Willamette and Nineteen Years Later to name but a few) I can be working on as well.....

So - that's where it is.

Restarting Nineteen Years Later

Lucius Malfoy looked down the length of Diagon Alley, and smiled.

While the weekly Devotion Meetings were always very fulfilling, this one marked the fourteenth anniversary of the end of the war, and The Unity Squads had been out far more often to ensure they got maximum attendance.

From what he could see, they'd done their job very well - The Alley was packed, with hundreds of people carrying unity banners and waving flags with images of his Royal Majesty.

"Minister Malfoy - it's time" He smiled down at his assistant - Saffron always enjoyed the meetings, and he was fairly certain that - after they were finished - she would be more than willing to join him in a post meeting celebration.

"Thank you, Saffron" He smiled as she giggled. In the decade since his wife had been executed for treason, he had had quite a few companions, but - he had to admit - Saffron was proving the most entertaining and delightful.

"You're welcome, Minister" She nodded, then took a step back as he walked up to the platform and turned to face the crowd.

"People of Britain" He paused to let the cheers calm down "I stand before you today, pleased to announce the longest era of growth and prosperity the county has seen" There was more applause, and he smiled genially "It's now fourteen years since the rebellion against his Royal Majesty was crushed - fourteen years in which we have hunted down the traitors, the terrorists and those who would disrupt the peaceful running of our glorious country" He paused, then beamed "And this morning, I am proud to announce that...." He trailed off, frowning as he realised there was music playing in the background.

"Early one morning"

"Minister?" Saffron walked up behind him.

"Just as the sun was rising"

"Where is that coming from?" He asked quietly, still looking around.

"I heard a maiden singing"

"I don't know, Minister, but I will find out" She turned, and clicked her fingers at a few of the security agents flanking the podium.

"In the valley below"

Lucius turned back to see the crowd looking around in confusion.

"Ladies and gentlemen - do not panic. This is merely a minor disturbance, and we will have it sorted out momentarily" He looked around The Alley again, then turned back to see Saffron looking confused.

"Shut that noise off now, or don't bother coming in to work tomorrow" He yelled at her. She looked around wildly, but still could not find the source of the music.

"Oh do not leave me"

"People! Do not...." He started again, then trailed off as the crowd started pointing up.

"Minister!" Saffron pointed above him, to where a giant wolf's head had appeared, jaws dripping blood as it snapped at the people below.

Lucius turned back to the now panicking audience, then glanced up to the roof of Flourish and Blots.

"Do not deceive me"

Three figures, all dressed in deep purple robes, were stood on top of the bookshop, all with wands drawn, and pointing towards him.

"Saffron...." He tried to get her attention, but his voice came out as a whisper.

A moment later, he saw three beams of green light lance out of the wands, and fly through the air towards him.

As the crowd screamed in terror, he realised that he, at least, was getting off easy. At least Voldemort would not be able to to torture him for this failure.

"How could you use a poor maiden so?"

Hermione Granger-Weasley turned away from the scene below them, and looked to her two fellow assassins.

"Lets go" She said, then all three turned on the spot, and vanished, leaving the screaming, panicked crowd below, and the giant, snarling wolf's head above.

More Sidious News

The next chapter of Sidious has been posted, but only to ForeverFandom, as HPFandom is still down (le sigh!).

In addition, I am pretty sure I am about to start the final chapter (of the main story arc), after which there'll be two epilogues (it will make sense when you read them) and a notes chapter (mostly answering questions asked in reviews).

I am pretty happy with the way it has gone, but I think the last chapter will prove the hardest to write - something else I am looking forward to!

HP Fandom Down (Ish)

So apparently HPFandom dot net is currently not accepting new stories, due to transferring to a new hosting plan (I'm guessing either a new ISP or the like?)

So new updates to Sidious are going to be unavoidably delayed until further notice. However, if you do want to keep reading it, I am going to continue updating ForeverFandon dot net, and then - once HPFandom comes back up I will post all the missing chapters to there to bring the stories back in to Sync.

(On an unrelated note, I am currently six chapters ahead, and I think I am two or three chapters way from the end of the story, with an epilogue, a second epilogue and probably a "Note&Queries" chapter after that).

So, pending holidays and work related crap, "Harry Potter And The Dark Lord Sidious" should be done by the end of October. Isn't that nice?

The Dark Lord Sidious : Posted

Woohoo! I have posted the Prologue and First Chapter of Sidious on the two main sites. I even contemplated breaking my near 17 month boycott of Fanfiction.net, but in the end I decided that after the events of M22-08 are still annoying, and even though I use "xoxox" rather than "-----", there is still the chance they'll remove that variation as well, and my scenes will start to merge again.

Anyway - setting aside my opinions of FFN, the first chapter is posted, which is good. Whether people like it or not, we'll see soon enough. And whether I've broken any site-rules will also become apparent.

There should be another chapter before the end of the week - I am doing two chapters ahead rather than one, because it's proving somewhat harder to write than I originally thought.

As for the other stories - A New Dawn : Enemies is having problems - the start of the third part is already tending towards being a lot like the last two, and quite a lot like The Silent Trio (in certain ways), so I'm going to take a slight pause and continue with Sidious, which will hopefully give me an idea of how to write it better.

And I spent my lunch re-reading the start of The Western Sky, and once I am done with that, I might be able to get back to it, and write "Shadows Of The Past" can start again.

And now, it is time for bed.

A new Dawn : Allies - Complete!

The second part of the "A New Dawn Trilogy" is now complete. Although I guess since there is a prequel ("A Summer's Story"), at least one sequel ("The Holiday From Hell") and another one planned ("Return To Willamette") I suspect that calling it a trilogy is probably a bit of a misnomer. (Though there were two Star Wars trilogies, so if I can write the third part of The Hands of Blue story line, maybe I can go back to calling it a normal trilogy. But I digress).

"A New Dawn : Allies" is finished, pending proof-reading and posting to the two main sites, and I am quite happy with it.

Quite what I'm going to do next, I'm not sure. I think "Enemies" will have to wait, at least for a little while. Not least because I am going on holiday in two weeks, and there will be no writing during that week or so.

Plus I kind of want to write "Dark Lord Sidious", or at least get it started. For example.....

Sirius Black was dead!

As Harry listened to Dumbledore explain The Prophecy, and how he was destined to be the saviour of wizard kind, only one thought went through his mind.

Sirius Black was dead!

As he turned and stalked out of the office, the same thought kept running through his head.

Sirius Black was dead!

And as he came face to face with Luna Lovegood, the thought continued to echo.

Sirius Black was dead! And he could not be happier about the situation.

(Yet again, I am reacting to whiny Post-OOTP stories about Harry being all depressed and turning in to a little, whiny bitch).

So - either "Dark Lord Sidious", "Return To Willamette" or another Harry/Jane story. I think "Enemies" is going to have to wait for the middle of August, or possibly September. But hey - that's only really six weeks away.

A New Dawn - surprisingly done.

Yay! Part One of the "A New Dawn" Trilogy is finished. It needs proofing and posting, but it's complete.

And aside from ONE HUGE GINOURMUS MASSIVE plot change (that took me completely by surprise when I wrote it), it pretty much went the way I wanted. Which is always good.

The OHGMPC has necessitated replotting the next two stories, but only a little. But, looking back over the rest of the story, it does seem kind of obvious that it would end up the way it did.

Clearly I can't explain this now - not without spoiling the story - but no doubt I will come the end of the trilogy.

Anyway - it's done, and should be posted by the end of the week. (Assuming I don't get ludicrously busy at work or home, which seems improbable!)

Damn inventive mind!

So - I started on 2x05, and managed to write nearly 3,000 words, and still didn't get anywhere near the end of the first act.

Which is kind of annoying, as I want all the acts to be around 2,200 to 2,500 words at most (otherwise they get very long, and since it is supposed to only be a 45 minute show, I can't be writing hours and hours of stuff).

So - I scrapped it, and plan to start again at some point. And this time, I will keep the imagination turned off!

Every blood time with the password!

I swear this thing changes my password at random. It seems every time I come to write a new post, it doesn't reconigse the password I give it, and have to get it reset.

Anyway.

Finally - after much postponing - I have finished 2x04 ("A New Beginning"). I admit I changed the title, and the end of the episode a little, and that it is around 1000 words longer than I would like, but the only bits I can really cut out are kind of important (and break up a very long scene with Harry, Sally, Hermione and Viktor - if I cut out the bits in between the total scene would be around 1800 words non stop, which is kinda bad).

So - after I re-read 2x01, it should be posted at HPFandom and ForeverFandom by the end of tomorrow (or Wednesday maybe - depending on what happens in the meantime. And given that it is almost exactly one week after the post that said I had finished Acts 1 and 2 and would have Act 3 done soon, you can see that lots of things happen sometimes!)

One of the major things to get in the way is "The Darkest Dawn" - a Harry Potter/Buffy cross over based on a challenge on ForeverFandom. I spent a fair part of the past week plotting it out, and now that that is done, I might actually start writing it. (And although it is nearly NaNoWriMo time, I am a) not entering and b) not using this story if I was, as I kind of like the idea of it, and want to do it justice). So - look for updates and possibly even chapters coming soon (I don't know yet if it is a post-as-I-go-along thing or a write-it-all-then-post-it thing or a mix of the two).

Anyway - 2x04 is done, and "The Darkest Dawn" is prepared for writing. So, all in all, a good night's work.

I am two acts in to 2x04 and counting

The Western Sky, Series 2, is nearly ready for its debut.

I have one act left of 2x04 (The New Girl), and then I will be willing to post 2x01 (When Tomorrow Comes, Part 2) - which will bring a conclusion to the cliffhanger from the end of last series.

Hopefully, I can do it tomorrow night (I am taking a break from character processing for the moment - it is dull and driving me insane), so it will (hopefully) be posted by the weekend, on both HPFandom and ForeverFandom.

Gorram it.

So I spend most of the night finishing Episode 1x14, and proof-reading it, to ensure it is posted before my sweetie comes home, and what do I find? HPFandom is shut down due to virus scares, and is not accepting new posts for the near future!!!

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother :)

But 1x14 (When Tomorrow Comes) is now finished and complete, and it came out EXACTLY the way I wanted it, which is very rare for my stories. It is a tad longer than other episodes (nigh on 8000 words), but it's the finale, so what do you expect?

Hopefully it will be posted by tomorrow (the 9th) night, but it really now does depend on how soon HPFandom sort out their problems and return to service.

The Western Sky - 1x12 and 1x13

So, after nearly six weeks, I have managed to write the next two chapters of Western Sky.

The main reason for the delay was that 1x12 (originally "Invasion", now "Twenty Five Years Later") was a complete disaster, and took about a month on its own to sort out. The original plot has been scrapped, and a whole new one put in its place.

Even after it was written, I thought I should post the second chapter, because the first had taken so long.

Anyway - they are posted now, and hopefully the last episode of the series "When Tomorrow Comes" should be done within two weeks, depending on how real life goes :)

Ok - maybe I am not *that* good

I was all ready to post the story at lunch time, but I managed to leave the memory stick plugged in to the computer at home.

So it will have to wait for tonight.

(Growl)

God, I am good

Episodes 1x07 and 1x08 are done, and the third act of 1x08 came out exactly as I wanted it. I know it is somewhat arrogant to blow my own trumpet, but it really is quite good :) Even the ending, which frustrated me for a good while, turned out pretty well.

And 1x08 contains another teaser trailer for Lost In Hyrule (Which I think now is just a working title). And given that I am going away this weekend, I might actually be able to get it started.

All in all, a good day.

The Western Sky

So - I finally got some more written. I have been spending the week trying to re-create a virtual rubik's cube (I did it a while back, and lost the code. Then I did it again, and lost the code. To give you some idea, this is version 4.0). I have almost got it completed, but I have completely forgotten how to solve the top side when you have two pieces that need swapping. I can do three, but not two for some reason.

So, because I can't do that, and I figured out how to write the rest of Episode 7, I went back to The Western Sky, and nearly finished Act 1 (and the only reason I stopped is because - well because it is 1am and I am going to bed) and I know how I can finish it. And Acts 2 and 3 should be easy. However, I am going to also write Episode 8 before I post 7, so that I can post both together, since it is nigh on a month since Ep 6 was posted (but no one left reviews, so I have no idea if anyone read it or not).

I am away for work again, and I might cave and buy a tiny DVD player, and possibly Series 3 of Voyager, so that I can write more TWS while I am in the hotel (Since I can only take one laptop, I can't write while DVDs are playing, unless only want to listen to them). If I do do that, then I think I can get through Ep 9 and 10 (9 is fairly simple, and 10 should be kinda fun. But not as much fun as 8 and 11). And once I am done with 10, there are only four episodes left in Series 1. Whoop!

In Dreams

The latest episode of The Western Sky is now ready for posting, but will not be posted until tomorrow, as it has one more round of validation to go through.

But of all the episodes so far, I would say this is the one that has not only caused me most problems, but has also changed the most from the original plot. To the point where the original plot has been thrown out of the window, then set on fire and burned to ashes, then the ashes set on fire and burned to whatever is beyond ashes, and then fed to some dogs. (Assuming dogs eat ash-ashes? I don't know!)

It also means that Episode 10 will have to change a little as well, because it was supposed to be a sequel to this episode (more or less), but as that is not all that possible any more, I will have to come up with another c-plot to fit in to the story line. Or, you know, just extend one of the a/b plots that are already there.

"In Dreams" is episode 6 of 14, so by the end of the next one (The Easy Way Out), we will be half way through the series. Isn't that nice? (I guess this would be a good time to warn you that because of work commitments, and the fact I have a holiday coming up soon, I am not sure when TEWO will be written, let alone posted. Possibly next week, but maybe not until two weeks from today (although I have two nights in a hotel with nothing to do coming up soon, so you never know....). The episode after that (the title of which is secret for the moment) is the one I am looking forward to writing, as I have almost all of it mapped out in my head.

But, for now, I will leave you with a preview of "In Dreams"......

“Me? Love you?” Tara laughed cruelly “You were nothing more than a tool to me. I used you to get to The Western Sky, and I used all of you to get access to the spells I needed. Now I can use the skills that I learned from you, and use it to make Willow forget the past, and take me back” She giggled at the look on her partner's face “Do you have any idea what you look like?” With a last glance at the crying woman, Tara turned, and walked away. Luna watched her go, then closed her eyes, not wanting to see her leave.