Temp-o-Header

Having said what I did in my last post, I feel compelled to point out that the above header is not the “beautiful” image my friend is making. Instead, it’s one I made to put up for now, using images created for characters at Dawnsisters Weyr. THANK YOU to the folks who gave me permission (or, er… I hope will be?) to use them.

The new theme is way less soapy (that is, not dark and gloomy) but it does more things that I like, so we’ll go with it for now.

Incoming Images!

My project tonight is going to be picking out a new theme, one that can accommodate the beautiful custom header a friend of mine is making for me. Whee!

In other news, I’ve run into a snag trying to figure out the best way to publish these suckers. At the moment, I have them broken into chunks of about 1000 words which cover several different scenes. I’m starting to think maybe it would be better to break them into smaller posts so there’s only one scene per post. But then should I post more frequently?

And what should I call an episode? Maybe I need to abandon the idea of episodes (because, well, this isn’t actually a TV) and go more with something like Acts of a play. Act One covers all the scenes from curtain up (the Weyrwoman’s dragon rising) until the Junior Weyrwoman’s dragon clutches. Act Two covers candidacy until Hatching. Of course, the breakoff of Act Two would be right before you find out who impresses, or maybe right after the most scandalous candidate impresses? Hehe. Evil cliff hangers.

Anyway, I’ll be working on that, and stay tuned for the beautiful new header!

(And yes, yes, I’m behind schedule. I meant to be ready for posts right about now, but I’m not. Give me another month and we’ll see how it’s going. Better to delay now than when people are waiting to know what happens next! See? My ego thinks I’ll have readers. Well, why not?)

And now for a setting!

The Setting Page is now up. In the end, it isn’t anything terribly exciting. My setting is about as basic as it gets: 10th Pass Pern (that’s the Pass after Anne McCaffrey’s books) where AIVAS never worked and the population of dragons has expanded enough to require settling nine additional Weyrs.

I’ve been in some clubs that require dozens and dozens of pages to describe their worlds. Don’t get me wrong - some of them do a really great job (and some not so great at all). But the point of my story is going to be much more about the crazy interactions between the characters and not the unique situation of the world. Since I’m the only one writing, I don’t need any schtick to attract new writers. Of course… I hope to attract new readers, but that will depend more on whether I’m entertaining than whether I have a gold egg to offer.

(Hint: the fate of the gold egg will be very exciting. :D)

So I plod on with my episodes. I’m not writing as fast as I meant due to some very time-consuming events in my real life, but I still want to start this summer. My goal will be July. Stay tuned!

Another New Page

April update!

I’ve added a new page that will eventually be used to track the story as it happens. I may eventually need to turn it into a graph (which is what I’m using as an outline as I write Season One) to better keep track of what’s happening at the Weyr, the Hold, and Elsewhere. But after wrestling with the cast page so long, I’m not sure I’m up for another table just yet. One thing at a time.

And I have Episode Five written, so we’re making progress!

I’ve come to the conclusion that half the convolutions of Soap Operas are generated by plot holes. You see, if you’re writing along in fanfiction and all the sudden you realize that three weeks ago you made a claim which no longer fits the story you’re trying to write, or perhaps simply contradicts something you want to say now, you have two choices. If youre fanfic club uses a forum, you might be able to go back and edit the old post. If you use email or publish regular FanZines, you may not have the option to edit.

Enter convoluted explanations!

“I thought her gold dragon laid 26 eggs, and now you’re saying there are only 24? What happened to the other two?”

Uh, um… oh wait! I know!! They’ve been kidnapped! I mean, eggnapped! Yeah… I know I saw some shady-looking people hanging out in the hatching sands last sevenday…”

If Anne McCaffrey had just been a little more open to convolution, her stories might have had a lot fewer holes. (Not sure how you could explain the color-morphing of Lytol’s dead dragon… an alergic reaction to some new kind of chemical scrub AIVAS recommended trying? No, wait… he was dead before that. Well, that’s what you get for deliberately creating your own plot holes.)

I hereby solemnly swear to never go back and edit my stories, but to convolutedly try and fix any apparent discontinuities or errors as the plot rolls on! If I ever get any readers, I hope they’ll agree to try and help me spot such things!

Cast Page Tidyified

Finally managed to sort out the mess I made of the Cast page. Now it’s all in pretty tables and should be a little easier to read.

I have the first two episodes (in eight parts) set up in drafts and ready to start posting. Once I have all of the first season (ten episodes) done, I’ll start posting. The first four are written, five is in progress, and I have outlines for the remaining ones. Looks like each blog post will be about 1000 words, give or take.

Check back later to see what’s new. I’m planning to put up a few more info pages in the next week or two.

Cast is Up

So my days of coding HTML are quite a long way behind me, so the Cast page is looking a little lopsided. I’ll work on figuring out where I went wrong with my tables and get it fixed up, but at least it’s legible. Go take a look to find out about the scheming Weyrwoman, the sleazy holders, the clueless damsels, and much much more!

Coming soon to a blog near you…

Welcome to Dragons of Twilight, a blog that is soon to be dedicated to a very soapy fanfic based on Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern (all copyrights to be duly noted and trademarks credited).

The first “season” is currently in composition. I know how easily I can get distracted, so I’m writing up the whole first set before I start posting. If all goes according to plan, I’ll start posting them this summer (0 and put up about 2-3 posts a week.

If you’re curious, check back here before then. Cast Bios and a general About page will be going up before long.

If you have any really soapy ideas you’d like to share, let me know! I’d be happy to use them and give you credit.