silbrith

[silbrith]

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.

Happy Solstice to all who celebrate! Tagging anyone who would like to share their faves!

[silbrith]

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!

[silbrith]

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.

[silbrith]

Romance soars to new heights in Neal and Sara's anniversary celebration! 🥂💞

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!

[silbrith]

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!

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.

[silbrith]

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. 👀

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?

[silbrith]

I finally get my happy ending to Camelot thanks to @penna-nomen's marvelous suggestion! 😂😂

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 💔

Loved the music 🎶 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!

[silbrith]

Nothing beats the fun of tossing around the plot bunnyball with Penna! 🐇🏐🐇

I just adore the Caffrey Conversation series you co-write and am always blown away by how you’re 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 😁.

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.

[silbrith]

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. 😂😂

WIP Wednesday

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!

[silbrith]

Music Monday

Thanks for the tag @penna-nomen!

Rules: Choose a few fics you wrote that were inspired by a song - not just with song lyrics in title - and share the tune and the link to the fics. If anyone wants to guess which goes with which go for it in comments or tags!

Like Kate, I've always loved the classics. I include both popular and classic music in my stories. Whittling down the list to a few favorites is a daunting task, but here goes —

The Woman in Blue (Caffrey Conversation). Klaus Mansfeld, a friend/enemy is linked to Franz Schubert, contrasting with Neal's love for rock music. In later stories, the opposites theme is expanded to include Klaus's evil brother Rolf who is tied to Rachmaninoff.

In The Queen's Jewels (Caffrey Conversation), Neal is framed for a crime he didn't commit. Bound for Botany Bay (John Doyle) and The Chain (Fleetwood Mac) play in his head. They're later replaced by The Rising (Bruce Springsteen). The White Collar team celebrates his name being cleared with a CD of songs, including Footloose, Born to Run, Unchained Melodies, and Born Free.

Nocturne in Black and Gold (Caffrey Conversation): Neal's theme songs are Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) and Nara (E.S. Posthumus). Neal associates heist planning with Rachmaninoff's Folia Variations. Peter uses Bridge over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel) to pull Neal out of a dark place and then scores a double-play by having it featured in Cinereous Skies in the meta series Arkham Files. At the Zoo (Simon & Garfunkel) provides a lighthearted moment. Neal and Sara make a game out of Mockingbird (Carly Simon & James Taylor). Both songs are also included in Cinereous Skies.

Arkham Files (set in the 1970s): A Little Help from My Friends, Long Time Gone, and Woodstock with its line about stardust, are plot elements in The Locked Room.

Crossed Lines (Caffrey Conversation x Supernatural): In Whispers in the Night, Peter reveals that Dean Winchester isn’t the only one into classic rock. Songs include Hot Blooded (Foreigner), Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood & The Destroyers), and Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves (Eurythmics). When Dean, Mozzie, and Peter are afflicted with a dork curse, they belt out Rawhide and Happy Trails at a diner.

Dark Rabbit (Crossed Lines): Angela Caffrey is mesmerized by a dulcimer-playing vampire. Inspiration: The Kiss, played on the dulcimer by Scott Williams.

Six-Crossed Knot (All Souls Trilogy fandom): a series about Jack Blackfriars—an Elizabethan musician and artist turned vampire. Inspiration for Jack: Cymbeline (Loreena McKennitt). Jack's theme song, Touch Me Lightly (Tobias Hume), was featured in Walking Shadows. Leonard Shoreditch's customized theme song It Was a Lover and His Lad is in Fretwork. Nothing Else Matters (Apocalyptica) inspired Tangled Knots.

Can I squeeze in one more series? Reflections (The Supremes) is the inspiration for Sedlow Chronicles (original sci-fi fantasy). That song and People Are Strange (The Doors) are featured in the second story Shadows of Crellos.

[silbrith]

So eager to read the entire story!

Snippet

Thanks @twisted-tales-told for the tag! I'm slowly getting caught up on tags.

Here's a snippet from my next Caffrey Conversation series story. This is the one inspired by Ocean's 8.

As soon as Sara entered the room, she dropped the deli take-out bag on one of the chairs. Food no longer mattered, not in the presence of the dress.

Spread across half of the table, the dress was an evening gown in sky blue. The bodice was covered with blue beads and crystals that caught the light enticingly. An over skirt of wispy chiffon was connected to the garment with combinations of more beads and crystals in a design that made her think of the waterlilies in a Monet painting.

“Tell me about the case,” she demanded. “Whatever it is, I want to be part of it.”

[silbrith]

Dragon's Egg Blue is at the top of my list of favorite stories written by @penna-nomen. As you can imagine, it's a VERY long list. One of the many runners up is Dead Planet. Soooo many stories to love!

Fav lines game 💫

rules: share your favorite lines or paragraph you’ve written from one of your fics, posted or wip.

Thanks for the tag @a-noble-dragon!

There are many lines I'm fond of, but when I was scrolling through AO3 for inspiration, the opening of Dragon's Egg Blue stood out. It's my Discworld fic, and writing in Pratchett's style was a challenge I enjoyed.

There's a saying about dragons. It goes: Here there be dragons. Because really, what more do you need to know about dragons? They're here, so you should be elsewhere. 'Nuff said. 

The saying appears on ancient maps of the Disc, to warn of dangers in the mountains. And it -- briefly -- crossed the minds of travelers who disregarded the warning only to learn that cartographers take their craft seriously and don't joke around about matters like massive flying creatures who make a game of knocking climbers down the mountainside.

I'll make this one an open tag to my fellow writers -- share your favorite lines!

[silbrith]

summarize my wips badly

Thanks @penna-nomen for tagging me!

Stories that will soon be at the starting gate: 1. Neal and Peter dance with dinosaurs. (Caffrey Conversation series) 2. Sara gets to meet her distant aunt, Rowena MacLeod. (Crossed Lines series)

Daydreams run amok: 1. A mummy chases Irene and Kai on the moor. (Tales from the Library) 2. Hauntings at the Miskatonic Library. (new Cthulhu Mythos series) 3. Mozzie and Quark save the day. (Caffrey Conversation x Star Trek crossover)

Titles looking for a story: 1. Lady with a Hellhound (Crossed Lines series) 2. The Amber Phial (Elder Scrolls series)

open tag to anyone else who wants to join!

[silbrith]

Pirates of Manhattan

Neal Caffrey has visited New Orleans once before. In Voodoo Remoulade, a doubloon cursed by the pirate Jean Lafitte, along with a vampire nest, almost wrecked his plans to celebrate Mardi Gras. Sara's never been to New Orleans, and when Neal suggested taking her there to celebrate her birthday, he didn't expect lightning to strike twice. Peter probably wouldn't be so optimistic if only he knew about Neal's previous misadventure.

Pirates of Manhattan on AO3

[silbrith]

Strange Signals

Is Neal a dragon? That didn't come up in White Collar, but it's something he's puzzling about in my latest Arkham Files sci-fi fantasy story, Strange Signals. Arkham Files is a meta fusion series of Caffrey Conversation and the world of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Strange Signals on AO3.

[silbrith]

Ringing in the Year of Baby Bear

That's right, @penna-nomen and I decided that 2024 will be the Writing Year of Baby Bear. Readers of Caffrey Conversation may remember that Baby Bear was the nickname Irene Caffrey gave her grandson Neal when he was an infant. In honor of Penna's 10th Anniversary of Caffrey Conversation (October 2023), what better choice could there be?

It's a year when we hope to have so many plot ideas, we'll need two names for them—berries for fluffy ideas and cubbies for the angsty ones.

For more about Baby Bear, our writing plans for 2024, and the history of our writing years, check out our blog post on Penna Nomen & Silbrith Conversation.

[silbrith]

Harm's Repair

With Harm's Repair, I complete my take on Jack's journey up to and a little beyond the third All Souls novel, The Book of Life. It gave me the chance to spend quality time with Marcus, Phoebe, Miriam, Fernando, and Chris. I added some twists to canon that could be the start of future adventures or they may simply be ideas to daydream about. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Harm's Repair on AO3

Happy Winter Solstice!