busy-ness

So on top of all my other projects, I seem to have a complete draft of AGL 35. I got a windfall yesterday evening: the house to myself. T was working late, so I took advantage of the solitude to get some work done. First I played through a section of the game a couple of times -- once with pen and paper in hand to make notes, once just soaking it all in -- and then I ran up to the computer to translate the experience into words. I've spent much of this evening editing, and I think it's almost ready. Just needs to marinate overnightm, another editing pass, and it's done. It might even go up tomorrow.

I'm getting into an odd area here, since I'm mostly re-writing canon from a secondary character's point of view. Everywhere else I've been able to work in original scenes here and there, but this particular chapter doesn't really have space for that. I hope it doesn't end up being dull, just going over these bits that everyone already knows.

So I had this idea that AGL was shaping up be forty chapters. I can tell you right now, it's going to be more than that. How much more I don't know. But more, for sure. Well, it will take what it takes. I've long since given up worrying about that.

project updates

Second lines are here. Congratulations to peachespig and helianthemum, who came up with the theme: songs parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic!

Also, a new chapter is posted here.

fanfic as lit

Okay, I know I am way over my posting quota these days, but I just had to share this right away (found it by following a link in madlori's blog).

The Democratic Genre: Fanfiction in a Literary Context. A scholarly work about fanfic, examined from a literary persepective rather than considering it as a social phenomanon. And high time, I say. The first chapter is published online; I'm about halfway through and it is utterly fascinating. Anyone interested in literature should look at this.

Unfortunately it only seems to be available from Amazon UK. I'm pretty tempted to buy it anyway.

cat advice

I know a lot of you are cat people, so I thought this might be a good place to ask this question.

Cat negotiations have been going very well lately. T is more than coming around to the idea -- in fact, he's actually started feeling the need to have cats around again. So he's become a lot more open to the idea of cat "shopping" (not that we'll buy one, we'll probably go through a friend of his who works with a rescue group), and I think it will probably happen soon.

One thing is still holding him back, though: he's worried about Nadia's ghost. Specifically, her scent. How completely do we need to de-Nadia-ify the apartment? Do we need to get rid of everything she ever used? Or can we reuse her old litterbox, dishes, carrier, etc.? All have been washed, but I realize that probably doesn't get every scrap of scent out. What about the old cat-tree? (That seems iffier to me than the others, since cats do mark those with the scratching.) T found some websites that went so far as to recommend shampooing the carpet and furniture upholstery and getting rid of all area rugs. That seems like overkill to me, but maybe not.

Nadia was my first kitty, so this is the first time I'll ever have gotten a "replacement" cat and all this is new to me. How much should we be concerned about this? I know that cats are territorial, and I want the new kitty/ies to feel comfortable in the new home, but I'd rather not have to turn the place upside down to acheive that. Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

( Beware: Gratuitous Cat Pictures! )