silbrith
silbrith
Silbrith Kirpich
40 posts
writer, wildlife lover, wormhole traveler
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silbrith 8 days ago
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This is such an amazing and satisfying story! It will make you wish this had happened in canon! 馃槏馃槏
Happy Mozzie Mania!
In celebration of Mozzie Mania Day, I wrote A Conspiracy of Writers
Metafiction, ~2500 words. Mozzie discovers that he is a character in a TV series. When he learns what is planned for the series finale, he decides to intervene.
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silbrith 1 month ago
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For Dragon Lovers
National Appreciate a Dragon Day on January 16 is for the dragon lovers of the world. Count me as one of them! I've written about dragons in three of my fanfic series鈥擲ix-Crossed Knot, Tales from the Library, and Arkham Files鈥攁nd even managed to sneak them into Caffrey Conversation. My preference is for lovable dragons with plenty of personality. I have no interest in reading about such magnificent creatures being killed. You won't be surprised that The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman and All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness rank high in my story recommendations. True, the dragon in All Souls Trilogy is actually a firedrake, but that's close enough.
Other recs:
Tales from Verania (5-book series) by T.J. Klune
Guards! Guards! (Discworld) by Terry Pratchett
Champion of the Scarlet Wolf (2-book series) by Ginn Hale
Dragon's Egg Blue by @penna-nomen. In my post about werewolves, I'd already recommended this gem of a Discworld fanfic. It's a must-read for dragon lovers too!
Smaug in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien gets an honorable mention since he has personality in spades. I do wish he'd turned over a new leaf. Couldn't Gandalf have gotten to him before he became such a destroyer?
Who are your favorite dragons?
A special shout-out to @penna-nomen on her birthday! May all the dragons in your life be as adorable as Bonnie!
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silbrith 2 months ago
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Werewolves for the Wolf Moon
With the approach of January's Wolf Moon, I feel a howl coming on for my favorite werewolf stories.
I resisted the genre for a long time. I like wolves but I'm not a fan of gore and I've seen too many depictions of ferocious werewolves to think that I'd like reading about them. How wrong I was! The werewolf stories below place the emphasis on family, personal growth, and character development.
The聽San Andreas Shifters聽series by G.L. Carriger. Bonus points for including otter, bear, and other types of shifters. Spicy tales filled with love, humor, and positive vibes!
The聽Green Creek聽series by T.J. Klune. The characters are so wonderful, I willingly suffered through the nerve-wracking bits with them. Mixed in with the angst are plenty of scenes to make you smile and laugh.
Angua von 脺berwald, a werewolf in Discworld. She gets high marks for remaking my notions about werewolves. My favorite fanfic featuring her is @penna-nomen's聽Dragon's Egg Blue.
Late, an original story in @penna-nomen's collection聽Wattpad Contest Plot Bunnies聽provides an imaginative refreshing twist to the genre. This is a story begging to be turned into a series, hint, hint!
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Tagging anyone who'd like to howl their favorites!
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silbrith 2 months ago
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Reblog if you've made at least one friend because of a fandom.
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silbrith 2 months ago
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Sci-Fi Reads
January 2 is Science Fiction Day. Cheers to all the authors who have expanded our horizons!
My recent favorites are two series: Tinkered Starsong (Divinity 36, Demigod 12, Dome 6) by Gail Carriger features spectacular use of music and color, captivating aliens and creatures, and an ending that sets my spirit soaring. The Resolution Universe (Winter's Orbit, Ocean's Echo) by Everina Maxwell combines a thrilling mystery with dazzling plot twists. Both series include an understated M/M romance - so much pining!
Tagging anyone who wants to share their faves.
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silbrith 2 months ago
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A sparkly heist to dazzle and bewitch you! We've joked about the complications Neal loves to add, but this set is one for the record books. Thank you, @penna-nomen!
Merry Christmas White Collar fans!
I'm thrilled to announce that the White Collar fanfic I've been working on since March is finally complete, with all 7 chapters of Overcomplications posted!
The title accurately describes the writing process. I'm very grateful to beta reader @silbrith for helping me tame the story. This is a twisty tale featuring a heist planned over Thanksgiving. There are some nods to Christmas, as the mansion is being decorated at the end of the story. Much of the story is told from the POV of the women of White Collar, specifically Sara, Diana, and Lauren. I was inspired by Ocean's 8, wanting to feature the women, to pass the Bechdel test, and to pull of a heist.
Did I have any idea how complicated heist stories are? No. No, I did not. Fortunately Mary Robinette Kowal offered a class on structuring heist stories earlier this year.
I posted several of the first stories in the Caffrey Conversation series over the holidays in 2013, writing them to get through a difficult time in my own life. Since then I've tried to post something around Christmas each year, for people who need a distraction -- whether it's from grief or from overwhelm during the holidays or something else. Hopefully this story provides some respite, whenever you happen to be reading it.
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silbrith 2 months ago
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So many festive stories by @penna-nomen to make your holidays bright!
Festive fics - twelve days of Christmas
Spread some holiday cheer and self rec your festive fics. Can be Winter, Holiday, or Christmas fics.
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Thanks for the tag @a-noble-dragon! You tagged me right after I'd started wondering if 11 years of writing fanfic has led to a dozen holiday fics. And if I include stories my dear co-writer @silbrith has contributed to our joint series, there really are 12 stories.
So my plan is to post a link to one story per day! All of these are in the White Collar fandom.
Day 1: Caffrey Conversation -- the first story in the Caffrey Conversation series, this story is set mostly in early December, and one of my favorite bits is loopy, feverish Neal singing "The Little Drummer Boy" and getting confused in the chorus, unable to find his way back to the final verse
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silbrith 2 months ago
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Books I'm looking forward to reading
Assuming tags from @penna-nomen and @lillytalons --
These are works I'm excited about that I know are coming out in 2025: Damned, the final work in Genevieve Cogman's fantasy trilogy, The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune, and Viscounts and Villainy by Allie Therin.
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As for recommended classics, anyone who hasn't read Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Laclos is in for a treat. The original is in French but there are many excellent editions in English. The Woman in White and The Moonstone, both by Wilkie Collins, are my favorite 19th century mysteries.
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silbrith 2 months ago
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Solstice Reads
I'm not familiar with many solstice reads, but one of them is the marvelous fantasy by Ginn Hale, Lord of the White Hell. The two-volume novel is the first part of The Cadeleonians, a high fantasy series that satisfies my cravings for imaginative worldbuilding, complex plot, characters that I fall in love with, and romance. Lord of the White Hell also wins my award for favorite use of the solstice. The scene of Kiram sneaking around the dorm late at night to leave gifts for his fellow hellions is one of those storytelling magical moments that I reflect back on each year with the return of the winter solstice.
Kiram and Javier celebrate the holiday again in a bonus short story available on Ginn's website called "A Very White Hell Solstice." The story takes place several months after Lord of the White Hell and comes with a caution for major spoilers.
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Happy Solstice to all who celebrate! Tagging anyone who would like to share their faves!
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silbrith 2 months ago
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Lady with a Hellhound
You could call Crossed Lines a fix-it series. It places the Supernatural characters from roughly the start of their second canon season into the world of Caffrey Conversation. Thanks to @penna-nomen's series, Neal and Mozzie are on their way to much brighter futures. In Crossed Lines, Dean, Sam, Bobby, and yes, Crowley too, all have a chance as well.
One character has been pleading entry for quite a while, and that's Crowley's hellhound Juliet. She appeared in a couple of canon episodes but was very disappointed with her role. Juliet pointed out I'd already laid the groundwork for her arrival. Crowley's already displayed his affinity for dogs. Doesn't he need one of his own?
Juliet gets her chance in Lady with a Hellhound.
Happy Holidays, all!
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silbrith 3 months ago
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Favorite Holiday Reads
10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall. Sam -- please don't call him Samwise -- is the perfect cinnamon roll for a cold December night. Can he melt the heart of grumpy Jonathan? Will Sam's cat Gollum steal the best scenes? Will the quirky relatives' idea of Christmas cause a Titanic-sized disaster? Knowing the answers makes rereading even more satisfying!
Tagging anyone who would like to share their faves.
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silbrith 3 months ago
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Romance soars to new heights in Neal and Sara's anniversary celebration! 馃馃挒
Overcomplications chapter 2 posted
At long last, we have the chapter that includes Neal playing with a lightsaber and Neal and Sara celebrating their first wedding anniversary. Definitely a fun one to write!
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silbrith 3 months ago
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This is such a delightful story! It will definitely put you in the holiday spirit!
New Caffrey Conversation story!
Chapter 1 of Overcomplications is posted to AO3!
This is a Thanksgiving story set in 2007, in a pre-series AU where Neal was recruited to work for Peter instead of being arrested in 2003. At this point they have both left the FBI to work for a private PI firm, along with Diana, Jones, and even Sara! Neal and Sara are celebrating their first wedding anniversary and planning to host their first big holiday event.
Inspired by Ocean's 8, the focus is on Sara and Diana, who need to plan a heist as part of a case. Neal stays at home to prep for Thanksgiving dinner. Riiiiight. As if he could resist getting involved in a heist!
I'll post new chapters weekly. Enjoy!
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This story took me ridiculously long to write! Now I'm finally going to take a break and read fics I've been marking "for later" on AO3.
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silbrith 3 months ago
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I'll play along!
Current WIP title: Apophis Rising
The original title was Serpent's Shadow and it's still clamoring to be used.
In @novella-november's format, it would be The Clash of the Serpent and the Scorpion
Okay now I am curious. 馃憖
How does everyone come up with titles for their work?
Do you have a go-to style, or is it more "vibes based" depending on the work?
this question is prompted by me wondering where the new publishing trend of what seems like a lot of unrelated book series having titles along the lines of
"The [blank] of [blank] and [blank]"
with me wondering where it came from, and if it is based off of one book series that everyone else is trying to copy, if its something publishers are pushing, or a mix of both.
so, as a fun little interactive post:
What's your current WIP document title,
Are you planning on changing the title after editing
what would the title be if you formatted it in "The [blank] of [blank] and [blank]" style?
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silbrith 5 months ago
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I finally get my happy ending to Camelot thanks to @penna-nomen's marvelous suggestion! 馃槀馃槀
Went to a production of Camelot on Saturday and I wanted so much for a show to end with a throuple. Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot could have been so happy together 馃挃
Loved the music 馃幎 My parents had the soundtrack and I learned all of the songs as a child, but this was the first time I saw the play performed. The theatre posted this song by Lancelot -- he's an impressive singer!
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silbrith 7 months ago
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Nothing beats the fun of tossing around the plot bunnyball with Penna! 馃悋馃彁馃悋
I just adore the Caffrey Conversation series you co-write and am always blown away by how you鈥檙e able to weave a plot together with many elements into a fun story for the characters to dive into and for us to read. I was wondering what your favorite part of the process was for working on these fics. And which one was your favorite story to write so far 馃榿.
Thanks so much! I'm blushing at the praise.
The weaving of plot elements that you mentioned is one of my favorite parts, and being able to brainstorm (we call it playing bunnyball) plots with a fellow writer has been a true highlight (waving at @silbrith) Almost as soon as she became my beta reader and let me know she didn't mind spoilers, I was running ideas by her for feedback and it was sooo marvelous to get a second opinion. When we graduated from email to video calls for our conversations, it was even better.
Favorite stories... oh my... so many are sentimental favorites for one reason or another. If I tie it back to those bunnyball sessions, I'd say Full Circle. We had multiple conversations about how to handle the White Collar "James plot" and whether James could be redeemed. I also loved revisiting elements from the original Caffrey Conversation story while giving Ellen a happier ending.
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silbrith 8 months ago
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This story had me squealing with delight! And yes, of course, I wish @penna-nomen would continue the adventures of Neal and Peter as reporters. 馃槀馃槀
WIP Wednesday
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Thanks for tagging me @a-noble-dragon
After spending the long weekend on a virtual writing retreat with @silbrith, I drafted my AU Roulette story, which puts White Collar characters in a reporters AU. Here's a sneak preview:
"You could be a real journalist, you know," Peter said, not for the first time. As much as he disliked C4, he admired Neal's ability to gather information. His podcasts were the best feature of the publication, which otherwise veered dangerously toward conspiracy theories.
I hope to post the full story in a few days!
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