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[coppermarigolds]

2019 Writing Year in Review

I didn’t write a whole lot this year in terms of word count (story of my life), but I branched out and tried a couple of new things that I think are worth recounting! I’m going to steal the format used by @theherocomplex. 

What I Wrote

Fanfic

Not...much. Heh. Basically all I did this year in terms of fanfic were a handful of prompt fics here on Tumblr, and my Yuletide fic:

Yuletide 2019: The Hour of the Wolf, The Ritual

Tumblr prompt ficlets: five Legend of Korra, and one each for Mass Effect, The Umbrella Academy, and SWTOR.

Original Fiction

Status Red - my ongoing original speculative novel. I completed the first draft of it in late 2018, after having worked on it off and on for...about four years? So this year was about trying to revise/rewrite it into something, well, coherent. Success on that front was mixed. As of right now, I’ve decided to put it on the back burner and let it marinate while I work on other projects. I definitely do not plan to abandon it, but the rumblings I’ve heard about the market for Young Adult sci-fi are not encouraging, to say the least. My main options are to change the characters’ ages and revise it into an adult novel, or to keep it YA, but strip out a lot of the more sci-fi elements (e.g., space travel) and try to pass it off as a contemporary near-future novel with speculative elements. 

Untitled mystery/ghost story novel - this is the book I started in October 2019, complete with a trip to Wyoming over Halloween weekend to research the setting. I didn’t get quite as much written on this story as I would have liked, but I’m pretty pleased both with what I have so far, and with my plan for the rest of it.

“Seeds” - a short (about 7,000 words) gender-swapped Hades and Persephone reimagining set in post-apocalyptic Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I wrote it for a contest, which it did not win, then submitted it to a handful of journals and received a handful of rejections. I may revise it and try sending it out again in 2020, but I’m equally content to just let it stand as is. 

In July, I entered a four-round flash fiction challenge run by NYC Midnight. In each round, writers were divided into groups, assigned a genre, location, and object, then given 48 hours to write a story under 1000 words incorporating all the assigned elements. It was hard, but a lot of fun! I actually earned the top score in my group in rounds one and two, but then crashed and burned in round three and didn’t advance to the final round. That was a bummer, but I was still super proud of myself for earning first place in the previous two rounds. The three stories I wrote were:

“Turn Your Eyes Away” - my assignment was drama, set in a foreclosed house, incorporating a prosthetic. 

“Misconception” - this was the tricky one. My assignment was political satire--my worst nightmare--set in a safehouse, incorporating a potato. Getting the top score for this story might have been my proudest writing moment of the year, given how much I hated the genre. 

“Til Death Do Us Start” - this assignment was horror, set at a dress rehearsal, incorporating a microphone. Yes, for some reason I scored well on poli sat, but struck out on horror, one of my favorite genres. That’s the way the cookie crumbles I guess!

Year-End Questions

Number of Words Written? I didn’t keep track. I could go back and add it all up, but one way I’ve been growing as a writer is to accept that my pace and my process are my own, and that there’s nothing to be gained in stressing over word count or comparing my productivity to other people’s. 

Number of Smut Scenes? Don’t think there were any! Not surprising, since I’m not much of a smut writer in the first place. 

New Things I Tried This Year? The big one was entering the NYC Midnight challenge. I’d never done anything like that before, and I’m proud of my effort. Signing up to not only write stories in under 48 hours, but also have them read and judged by total strangers, was nervewracking, but a good exercise!

The other big one was beginning a brand-new novel in a genre (ghost story) I’ve consumed plenty of, but never actually written before. I have high hopes for this one, and I’m hoping it’ll be easier on me than Status Red, especially since there are fewer moving parts to keep in the air. 

And finally, this isn’t really a new thing, but my other big writing accomplishment of the year was finally finishing my creative writing certificate via UCLA’s continuing-education program.

Favorite Thing I Wrote This Year? The ghost story novel-in-progress. Now if I could just think of a good working title. 

Favorite Fics I Read This Year? I didn’t read as much fanfic as I would have liked this year (though on the plus side, I did read 40 novels), but here are a few that stood out:

What Once was Given by StopTalkingAtMe - my Yuletide gift this year! It’s also from The Ritual, and takes a deep dive into the lore and history of the monster and its worshipers. It’s gorgeously written and I loved it.

Fresh by halfeatenmoon - this is a post-canon fic for Night in the Woods, a new fandom for me this year, and is basically just what I wanted for the long-suffering, unfortunate yet persistent character of Bea.

Mundane Fears by ConvenientAlias - fic for The Luminous Dead, one of the best novels I read this year. It’s post-canon so I don’t really want to say much for fear of spoilers if anyone wants to read the book (and you should!), but suffice it to say I found it a very satisfying coda.

Shapes (and Other Unidentified Flying Objects) by jibberjabber13 - another Night in the Woods fic that sees the game’s protagonist, Mae, finally getting the mental health help she deserves. This fic was downright therapeutic for me as well!

Goals for 2020

Basically just one big one: finish the ghost story novel, polish it up, and send it out to agents. Getting something to query-able status has been my goal ever since I first began trying my hand at original writing, but for so long I concentrated all my efforts on Status Red, and that story refuses to be wrangled for the moment. But they always say that it’s highly unlikely you’ll get anywhere with your first novel, anyway. I have a good feeling about the second, so far. We’ll see if it pays off.

A secondary goal: to finally finish my Rogue One multi-chapter fic. Yes, the one I’ve had languishing for at least...a year and a half now? I’m afraid to even look at it to see how long it’s been. I still get the occasional comment on it asking “is this ever going to be finished?” and I really really want to. It’s just gotten to the place where it’s been so long since I looked at it that I’m almost afraid to pick it up again. But I’ll always adore Jyn and Cassian, and they deserve better than to be left hanging. So hopefully 2020 will be the year for that as well!

[allivegottodoislove]

The Song Remains The Same

here it is! chapter sixteen, like 13 weeks after i promised it! sorry that my life got so hectic! but it’s summer now, so i’m trying to write a ton more for you guys! as a small update, i might post a larger one later, but i do promise that will be an update next week. ive been writing the next chapter of a lad insane, so there will be an update of that next week. i am going to try to have an update of this fic for next week, though, because i do know that this seems to be the preferred fic

but without further ado, enjoy chapter sixteen!

     At some point in the night, everything started to blend together for Calypso. Where her body ended and Robert's began, she wasn't sure anymore. They had spent hours wrapped around each other. If Calypso didn't know better, she would have thought Robert was dying. But it was quite the opposite, wasn't it?

     If Calypso had been capable of coherent thought, she would have pondered it. Was this his celebration of life? Or a man dealing with news he didn't know how to deal with? Besides another death, this might just have been the worst news Robert could have gotten. At least, that's how it seemed to Calypso.

     Her brain wasn't working, though. Robert had effectively, for that night at least, shut off any thought processes. She didn't need them.

     By the time they had finally passed out, they were both sticky and sweaty. They were just a pile of limbs and sore muscles. Neither cared, though. All they had wanted was to continue touching, to never let each other go. The good fight against their eyelids had been lost.

     Robert was the first of the two to begin to stir. His eyes flicked open, adjusting quickly to the little streams of light in the room. He began to move, but soon realized he couldn't. Calypso was carefully tucked into his side. Her head rested carefully on his arm. Even if his heart had felt a little cruel, his arm was asleep. The rest of his body might want to stretch, but it would have to wait.

     His attention turned to the rest of his body as he thought of it. It ached. But, this was an ache that Robert had long forgotten. It was no longer the aches and pains of old age; the pains of all the harm he had caused his body gone. It was almost easy to forget they had ever been there.

     Calypso shifted slightly. Robert turned to face her, but noticed she was still lost to sleep. Let her have a few moments more, he figured. It was tough for him. He couldn't imagine the thoughts running through Calypso's head. He hoped he offered her more solace than pain.

     His spare hand, the one not curled in Calypso's hair, ran down his own torso. It was a physique he had long forgotten. It was one that he had only managed to maintain on the road; mountains of cocaine had made it all possible. Now that he had been given it back, would it be back to those old vices? Robert hadn't thought of anything harder than marijuana in years. But what was to stop him now?

     The one part of his body Robert could stretch, he did. It was the leg he had injured years ago in that accident. It felt like a lifetime ago to him. To this body, it had never happened. Perhaps it was what he was most grateful about now. That leg had never felt right again after, never healed completely as it should have. On rainy days like today, it would ache and protest his every movement.

     It was only natural when Robert's attention shifted back to the warm body against him. It was a familiar feeling. Most of his life had been spent like this: a pretty face in bed that he hardly knew, but had already grown comfortable with. Perhaps that was his true vice. Robert's love flowed freely. He'd never been one to believe in having a single love.

     It hadn't been until recently that the stream of girls had stopped. Finally, he had gotten too old. Or, the world had moved past him, his rock star status meaningless to those women. This one had changed that, though. Unknowingly, she had even made it possible for that stream of women to return.

     Another old vice Robert wasn't sure he'd like to return to. His bed had gotten lonely. There was no denying this. But now he had a new girl to fill it, one he rather enjoyed.

     She was a pretty face, there was no denying that. Looking at her now, Robert would be a fool to suggest anything else. At least, he would feel one. Any sign of concern or worry was wiped from her face. Despite her age, Robert had noticed her eyes always carried some anxiety in them. All he found himself wanting to do was wipe that away.

     Looking closer at her, he could see a faint smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. It seemed her tanned, olive skin usually hid them from the world. Robert counted himself lucky to see them.

     His mind, and free hand, quickly wondered from her face to elsewhere. It never took him much to get going. Even in his old age, he had still gotten there quickly when he needed to. Unable to stop himself, he leaned in and placed a kiss to her lips.

     At the sudden new pressure, Calypso woke. Her eyes fluttered opened and she gave him a sleepy smile. It was still so much for her mind to process. In her groggy state, she half thought the vision of him was a dream.

     It took a second kiss for her heart to really jump into action. This was real. It was all real. Her only physical reaction was her smile grew just a bit more.

     As she came a bit more too, she reached a hand up to play with his hair before returning his kiss.

     "Good morning," she mumbled. It was obvious that sleep was still in her voice. For a faint moment, Robert debated letting her sleep. As much as he would have loved to spend the morning lazily making love, he couldn't keep her up like that. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled.

     Before any words could leave his mouth, there was a loud banging downstairs, accompanied by some vague grumbling. Robert could only sigh and run his hand down his face.

     "Good morning to all of us, it seems," he mumbled. Calypso just chuckled softly before she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "As much as staying in bed with you all day sounds perfect," he said as his hand ran down her body, "I do believe that we have our guests to attend to."

     Her heart froze a little at least. She knew it was foolish. Time and time again he had said they were their guests. Hell, last night he had asked her to stay, indefinitely. But there was still something that got to her. Maybe it always would. It was hard for her to guess how things might play out.

     The memory alone of last night had her wanting to cry. Not the sex they had, she would never be saddened by that. But rather, how gentle he had been when talking to her. She knew Robert had a way with words. It how he had won over the whole world; his lyrics spoke right to people. Having that magic worked on her personally would always get to her.

     "I'll go deal with them now," he mumbled. He finally wrangled his arm out from under her and sat up. His arms went above his head to stretch, and Calypso couldn't help but reach over and tickle at his sides.

     "You devil!" He roared with laughter as he turned to face her. "Just for that, you're on your own with the shower!" If Calypso hadn't seen the twinkle in his eyes, she might have thought he was serious.

     "You wouldn't do that, now," she said as he laughed again.

     "No, I suppose I wouldn't want to do that," he said with a laugh. Calypso stood up from the bed, and all at once began to realize how sore she was. It hadn't hit her before then. Or, perhaps it hadn't mattered until her legs tried to give out from under her.

     "Worked you a little hard last night?" Robert asked with a chuckle. Calypso just rolled her eyes and laughed.

     "Nothing I can't take again," she said with a wink. Robert offered her his arm as he kissed her forehead.

     "I'll walk you there, maybe be so kind as to explain how the shower works," he said with a smile. She nodded and simply followed him. It was a bit unnecessary, after a few seconds of standing she had gained her bearings again, but the contact was nice. She'd never refuse it.

     Once in the bathroom, Robert let go of her arm to grab a towel and place it on the sink. "Now, this contraption can get a little tricky." He spoke with a grin as he slid the shower curtain over. "This little thing here controls the pressure, and the other controls the heat. I do hope you enjoy yourself," he said. The grin he had on his face lit Calypso's insides on fire again.

     "But, if that's not good enough for you, feel free to take a bath. If you don't, I might just try and con you into one later." Calypso could only smile and lean up to kiss his cheek in response.

     Once she started the shower, she looked back at Robert with a grin. "I might just let you con me into that bath later."

     Another loud bang came from downstairs and Robert rolled his eyes. "I'll leave you to your peace now, and go deal with our rather raucous guests," he said before disappearing. As much as she hated parting with him, watching him go, especially naked, was such a sweet sight.

     Calypso held her hand out under the water, waiting for it to get warm enough. That didn't take too long. How he managed to have such a lovely shower in the middle of nowhere she didn't quite understand. But, that mattered not now. She stepped into the shower and closed the curtain behind her.

     Once the water hit her back, she was unable to keep herself from letting out a gentle moan. Any of the knots in her back seemed to come undone between the pressure and the hot water. It was exquisite.

     For a few moments, she just stood under the showerhead and enjoyed the warmth. Her eyes flew open when she thought she heard the door open. Would Robert be joining her in the end? No noises seemed to follow immediately, until she heard Jimmy yelling from downstairs. The door made a quick slamming sound not long after. Perhaps he had thought about it, but their guests were too much. She'd have to gaud him into that bath later.

     All of Robert's hair products smelled amazing. It wasn't something that should have surprised her. He always smelled divine. It would only make sense his products would as well.

     It wasn't until she began to wash her body that she realized how much Robert had marked her up. Nothing but hickeys, of course. She doubted he would be capable of the things she heard Jimmy did. But, she found her body littered in hickeys. None were in plain sight, something she was incredibly grateful for. Her thighs, in particular, seemed to be the most marked up. She could remember him eating her out, how could she ever forget, but she didn't think he had put that much work into it.

     As she stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel on the sink, she realized she hadn't picked out any clothing. For a moment, she began to wonder where her suitcase had gone. She hadn't seen it this morning, or even last night. Had Robert moved it on her?

     She wrapped the towel around her and noticed that, on the closed toilet seat, there was an outfit picked out for her. It seemed as if Robert had picked out something for her. He already seemed too sweet to be real. It was just a pair of black jeans and a sweater, but it would do. Now she wouldn't have to worry about leaving the warmth of the bathroom completely naked.

     She slipped the jeans on, and then the sweater. It looked similar to one she owned. Of course it would have to hers, right? It was just a tad bigger than she remembered, and she certainly didn't remember packing it. But, with the whirlwind she had been swept up into, she couldn't blame herself for forgetting some things.

     She ran the towel a couple times through her hair, just to make sure it wasn't completely soaked. From there, she found her way downstairs. The smell of good food filled the air, and she knew that she had to head toward the kitchen. It was where Robert would be. At least, she assumed that's who was cooking, based on dinner last night. Perhaps things would be changed up.

     Walking it the kitchen, the first thing she saw was the back of Robert, his curls halfway down his back. How he managed to get them to look so nice, seemingly without any effort, was lost on her.

     "It smells delicious," she said after a few moments. A girl had to enjoy a view, right?

     "Just in time," he said as he turned around to face her. His face lit up as he made eye contact with her. "I cooked up whatever I could find for a good English breakfast, I hope that you don't mind," he said.

     "I've yet to have a proper one, and I can't imagine a better, or more handsome, cook," she said with a grin. Robert grinned and just rolled his eyes. "Was it you that snuck back into the bathroom to gift me with my clothing?"

     "Well, the sweater is mine, but it looks better on you than it ever did on me. One of the few things I found I had lying around from a different era," he chuckled.

     Calypso, on the inside, could only melt in that. Now it made sense why the sweater looked so familiar. It wasn't one that she owned. Rather, it was one she had likely seen him photographed in. But, also, he was giving her his clothing to wear. It was stupid, but it was probably the most romantic gesture someone had ever done for her.

     "I'll make sure to give it back to you," she replied quickly.

     "Darling, you don't need to. Like I said, you look much better in it," he said with a smile. "I didn't want to go searching through your bag too much, privacy and all," he said while waving a spatula around. "You'll have to unpack your bag eventually. I'll clean out some dressers for you."

     "Oh, you don't need to do that," Calypso mumbled.

     "Nonsense, I will. Now, I hope you don't mind helping me carry this to the table?" He asked as he held out a plate to her.

     "No, not at all," she replied as she took the plate. It was all so domestic. Setting the kitchen table for breakfast while wearing his clothing? It felt unreal. Calypso wasn't sure what to make of it all. How could she? It wasn't like she had gone to the concert with the plans to tie down the mysterious and ever illusive Robert Plant. Hell, she hadn't even been planning to sleep with him.

     There was just so much to process all at once. For the most part, she could handle it. But there were small pockets were she felt overwhelmed with anxiety. She didn't want to lose this. It was good; honestly it seemed a little too good. What if she managed to screw this up? The spell might say they were meant to last forever, but what if she took a wrong step? What if he found another woman?

     It wasn't like Robert was known to fall for one person. Even back when he was freshly married, he was a notorious womanizer. There was nothing keeping them together. She hadn't had problems with his ways when Robert hadn't been so real to her. Now he was, and he was back to his Golden God looks, what would stop the Golden God ways?

     Touring was the big question. With all this, she refused to believe that Jimmy would press to get the real band back together. Logically, she knew he probably wouldn't go on tour again. At least, not with Zeppelin and probably not on his own for a while, with the new looks and all. That was assuming they ever went public with this whole disaster. Though, she wasn't sure how they manage to hide it forever. There would be other woman all over him on the road. It wouldn't be hard to find a prettier, more experiences girl than her.

     Now wasn't the time to be freaking out about that. It was too early in their relationship, if she could even call it that, to start to worry. If she did, she'd look crazy. It was a roller coaster she was going to have to learn to just ride. It's what Robert always seemed to do.

     "You'll be joining us for breakfast, right?" She asked as she looked back at him.

     "Of course, I didn't cook all this for nothing. I'm not getting paid," he laughed, "Just tell everyone to wait for me, I just gotta finish this." Calypso just smiled and walked into the kitchen.

     She took a few minutes to set the table. Of course she knew this wasn't all the food. Robert would likely be bringing in more. It looked like he had been planning to feed a small army. Maybe with these men, and Jonesy's wife, it would be like feeding an army. Robert knew them better than she.

     From the kitchen, she went to the living room. The sounds of idle chitchat and the morning news filled the room. It seemed to be some news story on their concert. If only the reporter knew the goldmine that might come out of Zeppelin one day.

     "Morning everyone!" She managed to get out before the shock hit her. The sight in front of her was one that was still shocking. Jimmy and Bonzo sat on two chairs, side by side, with Jonesy and his wife cuddled up on the couch. If the news hadn't just said the day's date, she would think it was 1972 again. It amazed her. It took everything in her body to not have her jaw drop. As it were, it was clear she was still a bit shocked because Jimmy chuckled under his breath.

     "Morning Calypso," Jonesy said with a smile. It seemed he was the only morning riser. Everyone else sluggishly turned to her with a smile, and mumbled their good mornings under their breathes. Bonzo and Jimmy practically grunted.

     "Rough night boys?" She asked with a teasing smile.

     "Would have been a lovely night, if someone hadn't been managed to keep me up most the night," Jimmy mumbled. The look he said it told her everything. They'd all heard her and Robert, likely all night. Her face turned a bright red from sheer embarrassment.

     If Jimmy had heard them, there was no doubt that the whole house had heard them. Were the rest of them just going to put up with it? Never tell them they had been horrendously loud?

     "Oh god, I'm so-" she opened her mouth to apologize by Jonesy cut her off.

     "Now, Jimmy, there's no need-" he said, but was cut off by Robert as he walked into the room.

     "Consider it payback, for all those nights on the road, especially during the 90s tour," he said with a laugh. "We've all lost sleep and years off our lives because of the noises you and your little girl friends made," he said.

     Jimmy answered with a roll of his eyes before he spoke. "All in good fun, Robert, of course it's all in good fun," he said with a wink. Robert just rolled his eyes before he motioned for everyone to follow him.

     "The kitchen table fits us all better, wouldn't you agree?" He asked. "Besides, some of you are messy eaters and I'll be damned if you stain the furniture," he said with a smile.

     Everyone laughed at that and followed Robert to the dining room. It seemed that he had brought out a few more plates than Calypso had assumed, because there was much more food than she had remembered.

     Robert took his seat first, and motioned for Calypso to sit down next to him. Everyone else filled in around them, with Maureen on her other side.

     "How did everyone else sleep?" Robert asked as he began to pass the plates around.

     "I couldn't get to bed," Bonzo said as he began to pile the food onto his plate. No doubt he was hungry. Calypso couldn't really blame him. "I suppose taking a twenty something year long cat nap will do that to you, he said. There was a nervous tone in his voice.

     But at least he was joking about it, Calypso thought that was at least good. It was an uncomfortable subject. Looking around at the table, she could see the mix of reactions. It was clearly a joke, but a joke no one was quite ready for. How did you joke about your buddy's death with the dead buddy?

     "First time in years I got to wake up without that crick in my neck," Jonesy said. There was a smile on his face that was suggesting something else.

     "And you, Mo? I hate to think we kept you up like the princess here," Robert said as he pointed a thumb at Jimmy. Jimmy, in return, just hugged and rolled his eyes.

     "Oh, no no," she chuckled. "Both me and John slept just like babies." Her grin matched Jonesy's and that was what made the spark in Calypso's brain go off.

     She knew very little of Jonesy's marriage. It didn't seem to be very well publicly documented, and honestly she never really did the research into Jonesy. It never hit her to. But the way they were grinning and looking at each other? Perhaps her and Jonesy were the ones that kept Jimmy up, not Calypso and Robert. She couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that.

     Breakfast, from there, seemed to be a roaring conversation about nothing as they all passed plates around. Once everything seemed to be piled high on people's plates, the conversation died down as they all ate. It was clear the stress of yesterday had made plenty of room in all their stomachs.

     Once Robert was done, he looked around the table to notice that everyone else seemed to be just about done as well. "I'll go put the kettle on," he said as he got up. It only took him a few minutes to return and sit down, clearly waiting for the scream of the kettle before he returned.

     "Before the tea, though, I don't want anyone to go anywhere. I think we have a few problems to deal with. The first is the dishes, I'm not washing up after all you animals," he laughed. "But, there are a couple other, bigger issues I think need a bit of our attention as well."