Hi, you don't mind long reviews do you? If you do, feel free to stop reading at anytime. I have a tendency to get a bit carried away when I start writing :)
I got to admit that three weeks ago I hadn't even heard about Stargate Atlantis. I'm from Norway and they have just recently started showing season one over here, so that might not be all that strange. Anyway, I was looking for something well written to read and I stumbled across your unfinished Castle in the Sky. Although I have to say it was a bit strange to read a story where I had no clue how or what the main characters looked like. It got kind of frustrating in the end because I had a hard time imagining the different reactions in my head when I didn't have faces to go along with the names. So I tracked down a couple of season 3 episodes and started watching them. I got addicted to the show after a few episodes and I went back and re-read Castle. I have to say it was even better the second time around when I had faces and personalities to compare the names and actions to :)
After reading Castle I took a look at your author page and I can't say how pleased I was when I discovered that you have written several stories in the SgA universe :) I started at the bottom and made my way through them.
I haven't left a review before, mainly because every time I reached the end of one of your stories I just had to start on another, so I thought I'd leave you a comment here with my thoughts.
One of the reasons why I enjoy your stories is that you have an exceptional talent for writing. You chose a POV and you stick with it. You don’t jump from scene to scene, and you take your time to let things unfold in the right order. You describe the persons, surroundings and actions so that it’s easy to picture the whole thing in my head. That was the main reason why I enjoyed Castle so much the first time, even though I had no idea who the people in the story were.
Some of your stories are dark, which you know seeing as you're always good at putting up the appropriate warnings in the beginning of the stories. But the darkness was one of the thing that drew me to the stories, because even if they start out dark the always end well. It doesn't matter what kind of crap the team or Sheppard goes through, they always comes out alright in the end, even though it some times takes a while to get there. That balance is important. Some writers only concentrate on the hurt/torture part and ends the story with the rescue and a "lived happy ever after" end. They forget the important piece, which is the recovery part.
I also think you’ve captured the characters very well. I can hear and imagine them saying the lines in your stories. I really like the OC characters you bring in as well, and you’ve got quite the imagination when it comes to names. I especially liked Maj in Hound of Hell You Cry. She was really nice. Any chance we’ll meet her again some day? Oh, and Sherbet. We can’t forget him. I saw the picture of him. He’s so cute. I want one too :) I hope you’ve got plans to keep him around because I’m looking forward to seeing him in a new story someday.
Okay, I think I should stop here. Just one more thing. I noticed you posted an entry about some people having abandoned your stories because they were too dark. Now, this might just be me, but I don’t find your stories to be that dark or scary. I think they have the proper about of angst combined with those wonderful aftermath chapters that you do so well. I would have liked to leave a few thoughts on each story, but I’m not going to. Not now. Perhaps I’ll drag myself over to ff.net and leave you a proper review for each of the stories some day :)
Anyway, I just wanted to leave a comment to tell you that I really appreciate your stories and that I’m always looking forward to reading a new chapter, or story from you, so please don’t stop writing anytime soon :)
*Blink* I got someone to start watching SGA? Very cool.
And thank you. Comments like yours really make my day as I'm one of those writers who tends to be plagued by self-doubt and a need for perfectionism, as well a desire to please everyone all of the time with my stories (which, realisitically, just isn't possible since we all have different tastes.)
I think the issues many people have with my dark fics is that they are heavy on the whump and psychological trauma (Eyes Wide Open, for example. After I wrote it and post it, I actually had second thoughts about it because of how I had Shep tortured. It was gross, even for me.) And I'm cool with that.I would never ask any one to read something that makes them uncomfortable.
What bothers me is when (or if since I don't know for sure) people refuse to read any of my stories because they automatically think they're all going to be dark. I find that unfair, especially since I'm such a stickler for people putting warnings on their fics, so I always make sure to put warnings on mine. If there are no warnings, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Ranting, sorry.
Again, thank you. I love knowing when people are enjoying my stories. I plan on being a published writer one day (and am almost there) and, for me, I don't care whether or not the book is a big hit. As long as people are enjoying it, I'm happy.
What bothers me is when (or if since I don't know for sure) people refuse to read any of my stories because they automatically think they're all going to be dark.
I can agree with that. Several of my favourite authors often change between what type of fics they write. Some are dark while others are pure humour fics. You can't judge all of a person’s stories based on what she/he has written up to now, or based on one story alone. Doing so would be unfair to the authors. I can understand why that would irritate you.
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chiming
no subject
Date: 2007-11-29 01:03 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-11-30 10:20 pm (UTC)From:I got to admit that three weeks ago I hadn't even heard about Stargate Atlantis. I'm from Norway and they have just recently started showing season one over here, so that might not be all that strange. Anyway, I was looking for something well written to read and I stumbled across your unfinished Castle in the Sky. Although I have to say it was a bit strange to read a story where I had no clue how or what the main characters looked like. It got kind of frustrating in the end because I had a hard time imagining the different reactions in my head when I didn't have faces to go along with the names. So I tracked down a couple of season 3 episodes and started watching them. I got addicted to the show after a few episodes and I went back and re-read Castle. I have to say it was even better the second time around when I had faces and personalities to compare the names and actions to :)
After reading Castle I took a look at your author page and I can't say how pleased I was when I discovered that you have written several stories in the SgA universe :) I started at the bottom and made my way through them.
I haven't left a review before, mainly because every time I reached the end of one of your stories I just had to start on another, so I thought I'd leave you a comment here with my thoughts.
One of the reasons why I enjoy your stories is that you have an exceptional talent for writing. You chose a POV and you stick with it. You don’t jump from scene to scene, and you take your time to let things unfold in the right order. You describe the persons, surroundings and actions so that it’s easy to picture the whole thing in my head. That was the main reason why I enjoyed Castle so much the first time, even though I had no idea who the people in the story were.
Some of your stories are dark, which you know seeing as you're always good at putting up the appropriate warnings in the beginning of the stories. But the darkness was one of the thing that drew me to the stories, because even if they start out dark the always end well. It doesn't matter what kind of crap the team or Sheppard goes through, they always comes out alright in the end, even though it some times takes a while to get there. That balance is important. Some writers only concentrate on the hurt/torture part and ends the story with the rescue and a "lived happy ever after" end. They forget the important piece, which is the recovery part.
I also think you’ve captured the characters very well. I can hear and imagine them saying the lines in your stories. I really like the OC characters you bring in as well, and you’ve got quite the imagination when it comes to names. I especially liked Maj in Hound of Hell You Cry. She was really nice. Any chance we’ll meet her again some day? Oh, and Sherbet. We can’t forget him. I saw the picture of him. He’s so cute. I want one too :) I hope you’ve got plans to keep him around because I’m looking forward to seeing him in a new story someday.
Okay, I think I should stop here. Just one more thing. I noticed you posted an entry about some people having abandoned your stories because they were too dark. Now, this might just be me, but I don’t find your stories to be that dark or scary. I think they have the proper about of angst combined with those wonderful aftermath chapters that you do so well. I would have liked to leave a few thoughts on each story, but I’m not going to. Not now. Perhaps I’ll drag myself over to ff.net and leave you a proper review for each of the stories some day :)
Anyway, I just wanted to leave a comment to tell you that I really appreciate your stories and that I’m always looking forward to reading a new chapter, or story from you, so please don’t stop writing anytime soon :)
Take care.
P-oenix aka Ace of Black Hearts
no subject
Date: 2007-11-30 10:56 pm (UTC)From:And thank you. Comments like yours really make my day as I'm one of those writers who tends to be plagued by self-doubt and a need for perfectionism, as well a desire to please everyone all of the time with my stories (which, realisitically, just isn't possible since we all have different tastes.)
I think the issues many people have with my dark fics is that they are heavy on the whump and psychological trauma (Eyes Wide Open, for example. After I wrote it and post it, I actually had second thoughts about it because of how I had Shep tortured. It was gross, even for me.) And I'm cool with that.I would never ask any one to read something that makes them uncomfortable.
What bothers me is when (or if since I don't know for sure) people refuse to read any of my stories because they automatically think they're all going to be dark. I find that unfair, especially since I'm such a stickler for people putting warnings on their fics, so I always make sure to put warnings on mine. If there are no warnings, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Ranting, sorry.
Again, thank you. I love knowing when people are enjoying my stories. I plan on being a published writer one day (and am almost there) and, for me, I don't care whether or not the book is a big hit. As long as people are enjoying it, I'm happy.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-01 07:19 am (UTC)From:I can agree with that. Several of my favourite authors often change between what type of fics they write. Some are dark while others are pure humour fics. You can't judge all of a person’s stories based on what she/he has written up to now, or based on one story alone. Doing so would be unfair to the authors. I can understand why that would irritate you.
Well, now I'm ranting. I'll stop here :)
And good luck with getting your book published :)