Writing Retreat

Normally, in the course of my (un)fortunately busy life, I reserve two points in the calendar year exclusively for writing.

The first is none other than National Novel Writing Month, which I first participated in back in November 2004 (oh, gd, those were the days). I have produced such works as the following:

• a massive Lucius/Narcissa that remains unresolved both in my head and on paper (I stopped sharing the first draft of it on yahoo, as I was called “evil” multiple times by well-meaning readers, for leaving such a massive non-cliffhanger)
• “Of Princes and Fireflies” (2009)
• the unfinished third installment in the Fireflies trilogy (2013)
• a short story conglomeration including “Inside Her Mind” (and various Star Trek:Discovery oneshots (2017)
• “Hide Me Quiet” (Man in the High Castle) (2018)
• an 8k 2-chapter (and then I gave up) fem!Harry/Sherlock that I still read obsessively when I’m in a certain mood (2019)

The second is when I go off the grid on holiday every summer.

Now, my usual trip up to northern points in a cabin with no internet is unfortunately an impossibility. There are still massive travel restrictions and it gets fun when trying to go to certain countries… and I am paranoid enough to not even want to leave my little county where the population of any town really doesn’t exceed 10k people (and even that is unusual).

But… I did book a nice little b&b the next town over for three consecutive nights in a week or so. They apparently do gourmet hamburgers, which makes me a little suspicious, but I’m willing to try it. The local shop also has ice cream, and I can just walk there and burn off any calories I may or may not consume.

Question: What to Write

Somehow, my brain is short circuiting (I blame the heat).

I’ve been tossing around ideas in my mind, but I should have something concrete, otherwise I’ll end up puttering down some country road getting poison ivy (it’s been known to happen, though usually with nettles, if I’m honest).

• “Timeskip” (Spock/?) – I think I have 11 chapters (so, 44k) of an unfinished first draft that I started in August/September. It’s meant really to be a “Time Traveler’s Wife” fusion, but ended up … not. Currently the time traveler is Bella Swan of all people.
• “Missing Address” (Sherlock/fem!Harry) – I always wanted to come back to this pairing after “A Science Other Than Deduction.” Fem!Harry? regular Harry? Focuses around a Squib Harry who inherits Grimmauld Place but can’t find it because it’s unplottable. Natch, Sherlock likes a good mystery.
• “Of Lordlings and Lullabies.” Harry/Octavian (sequel of Of Princes and Fireflies and Of Horcruxes and Kings). Worked extensively on this is 2013/2014. Scrapped one version, and the second is just plain … *shivers* I was a little LV obsessed at the time, enough said. Problem with this is it can go in many directions:
  • (spoilers) Harry dies, but Octavian has the Hallows. Timewarp of some kind, rewrite of history. Octavian remembers?
  • Octavian does not remember and the Hallows rewrite how they met. Possible permutations:
    • Lucius and Lucrece get together
    • Lucius raises Octavian with Narcissa
    • Troy Prince (grandfather) raises Octavian
    • I’m sure we could get Snape involved somehow as a parental figure, but I fear how badly this might go (for both Octavian and my sanity)
  • The Hallows do not rewrite history. However, Romola or Hadrian (Harry and Octavian’s children) have access to the Hallows and … what? pull a Cursed Child?
  • Moves forward with Romola as heroine and Harry somehow moving forward in time… could get messy

I would also like to point out that I currently read hannigram obsessively, so gd helps me if that comes into play. We also can’t forget Mycroft Holmes in any way, shape, or form. He deserves so much better than he currently gets in the world of fic (always second fiddle, sadness).

… shutting up now and finding something cool to drink. Or collecting the post. hmm…