What I am doing with my life: killing cylons.
I'm really good at: killing cylons. and blow jobs. and frakking. and drinking. and pyramid. everything.
The first things people usually notice about me: my rack and my mouth.
The six things I could never do without: flying, sex, cigars, pyramid, booze, anything that pisses Lee off.
The most private thing I'm willing to admit: I like to piss Lee off. I've probably frakked more guys than you. :D

Just a reminder that I need prompts for my wishlist_fic writing this year. I've got two, and I need a minimum of six, so if you haven't dropped by to suggest something, please do.

Do you have a favorite among the fics you've written? What makes it your favorite? Give us a link!

Hmm. I probably had the most fun writing Make Me a Match.

I really love some of my shorter works, including Like a Warm Sweater on a Cold Day or Combat Ribbons or Me on My Way to You.

But I like rereading most of my fic. When it's been a while, I get to read it from a distance, and it reminds me why I write - the feeling I get when I read good words.

Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?

Yes. I have collaborated on an as yet unfinished BSG fic with newnumbertwo, and I've done Round Robins with several BSG fic-writers for bsg_epics.

When it's at full strength, my beta village is a pretty collaborative place. We are in and out of each other's docs and we make comments and suggestions, which sometimes make it into that fic, and sometimes turn into prompts for something else. I've gotten some really fantastic prompts from random comments on a fic in progress.

For my Het Big Bang fic, Without a Net, I got art from lotrspnfangirl, and it was beautiful! I love the little section dividers, and the icons, and the header art of Kara and Lee. I understand now why writers love to get art for fics.

What is the oddest (or funniest) thing you've had to research for a fic?

I don't remember research anything truly odd. I've had to spend a great deal of time on battlestarwiki, but nothing really outrageous. Most of my fics involve something I've actually done or felt or see or heard, so personal experience is my main research tool. Except for smut. Though I've been somewhat adventurous, I've never been as adventurous as Kara, so I have a special sexpert for when I need to write something I've never experienced.

Betaing: How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?

I have a village of betas, including newnumbertwo and laura_mayfair as my long-time betas, and singerdiva01_sk and fragrantwoods as welcome extras, and red_b_rackham as out-of-fandom beta. I am very fond of my beta village.

I have a couple of horror stories about betas I DID, but not betas anyone's done for me.

Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?

I've participated in many challenges. My first Big Bang was this year. I had fun, though it was also stressful. I got art for the first time ever, and I love the story I started.

This is my second year in getyourwordsout, and that is a great experience all the way around.

Do you ever get plotbunnies from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?

Yes. One of the first stories I wrote, Careless Whispers, was a followup to olaf47's I Am Related to My Enemy, which frankly, I think is much better than my story.

I've written other things that follow on or happen in someone else's verse, but I can't remember any of them right now.

Day Three

In your own space, talk about your creative process - from what inspires you to what motivates you to how you manage to break through blocks. Does your process change depending on the type of creating you're doing? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

The process depends on what I'm doing.

For writing, when I'm inspired or connected, the words flow, my fingers fly, and fic gets written, usually without much effort. When I'm not connected, I have to work harder to find the voices in my head, but they still talk to me. When I'm disconnected, which happens from time to time, I don't write. Nothing works, so I give it a rest and fall back to reading or doing something else.

I've always thought I wasn't a terribly creative person, that the most creative thing I ever did was replicate my DNA, but I had an epiphany - it's been a big year for epiphanies - remembering how much I loved doing things when I was a kid before I shoved them aside to survive with my stepmother.

I used to love to sew - made some of my own clothes - and I really rose to the challenge of making Barbie clothes. This was back in the day when all of those kinds of dolls were Barbies/Mattel. lol Making Barbie clothes is exacting work, because the clothes are so tiny in comparison to sewing for a life-sized person. I've had all sorts of ideas lately about things I can make, new ways to make something I use every day, useful items I can make from scraps. I recently received a rather sizable donation of various kinds of cloth, and I'm looking forward to getting into combinations, contrasts, complements.

I love to color (which is why I have coloring books on my amz wishlist), which might not seem like a creative thing, but it accesses a completely different part of my brain, and I can do it when I'm watching TV. I love the process of choosing my colors, no matter how wacky the combination or how unrealistic the color is. I can pick everything, within the constraints of what's on hand. It's very relaxing.

With cooking, I have to really be inspired. I HATE cooking. I mean, with the fire of a thousand suns, I hate cooking. It's awful, and makes me sweat, and it's just ick, though I love eating a good meal. But I do occasionally get struck by a spark of creativity and try out some new spice or flavoring when making an old standby. Baking, on the other hand, I adore. It also makes me sweat, but somehow when I'm done, I have a completely different emotional satisfaction than when I cook. I've adjusted many of my recipes as I've gotten older, to account for my changing tastes, and I really enjoy trying something new and then perfecting it, according to my version of perfection.

Knitting and crocheting are also things I can do while I'm watching tv, and though I haven't done either in a long time, I remember the warm fuzzies of working on a gift for someone, choosing the right colors, the right sort of yarn, and the love energy I put into whatever I'm making. I'm planning to pick that up again, too.

I also love the creativity of organizing. I know, that doesn't seem like it's very creative, but I have to understand a bit about how someone thinks, then tailor their organization system to them, so it'll be something they actually use. I also just like organizing myself - it gives me a happy when I need a boost.

Interestingly, all of these things are meditative for me. When I get into the zone, my mind takes itself out of the loop and I am connected to somewhere else - a creative commons, for lack of a better description.

I think this ended up being more about what I love rather than the process of creation, but eh.