So. I stayed up last night to play Lotro and then I suddenly remembered, at the crack of dawn, that my Torchwood download was almost finished. I decided to take a peek - and then ended up watching the whole 5 epis in one, no two sittings. (I had to take a 3 and a half hour break when hubby dragged me off to dancing practice). So, it's afternoon now, and I'm still flooded with adrenalin from watching this miniseries.

A quick glance at my flist told me that I'm not the only one who thinks that this miniseries is holy wow! :-) Incredible. I sure hope they win prizes by the truckload. Awesome!

As for what I've been doing lately, I'll keep that for a later post. :-)
Right now I'm too busy dancing the conga of TV-happy-happy.
BTW, does anyone know what the ratings were? Here in Germany we have a term "Straßenfeger" - street sweeper, to describe a TV show or event that keeps people indoors, glued to their tellies. IMHO CoE sure qualifies as one.

Fun! I thought the minor characters weren't given enough opportunity to shine, and parts of the epi felt rushed and hectic instead of dramatic, but I still enjoyed myself. I am glad, The Doctor didn't end up taking Christina with him. I'm still pining for Donna and feel that The Doctor should continue to pine, as well.
All in all, fun was had.
But. Hands up who thought the music soundtrack was thoroughly irritating.

HO-LY WOW!
Um, can I get season 3 NOW?
I still have no desire to read SCC fanfic, I'm happy with the show as it is, but I guess I ought to find myself a nice SCC icon....

Just saying.
*sigh*

I just watched the pilot of the new show Castle, and I LOVED it. It was fun! In a way that Dollhouse isn't. It's great to see Nathan Fillion, I loved Castle's family, and I really liked the detective. Good banter. Will definitely watch the next few epis.

Dollhouse is a fascinating show. Eliza Dushku is awesome, more versatile than I expected. The show has a few problems, I think it would be better if the epis were 10 minutes shorter, but I like what I see. The cop plot seems a waste of time, it's problematic keeping separate plot lines going, even if they intersect in the character of Victor. I "like" Topher, the epitome of the irresponsilble geek/scientist. The actor is very good. I'm intrigued by the plot arc with Alpha. But something is missing, and I can't put my finger on it. The whole slavery theme is disconcerting, and it's meant to be, but while the show rejects the use of real people (even if wiped) as sexual slaves or disposable set of skills, it still tries to fascinate its audience with a mix of sex, violence and degradation. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I will continue to watch the show, because I'm curious where they are taking this.

The other show that I watch as soon as I can get my hands on a new epi is SCC, but lately I haven't enjoyed the show as much as I used to. Maybe that's because my favourite characters are Derek and Cameron. The plot around the blown up facility hasn't really worked for me.

BTW, I have been away from LJ for purely naughty reasons: we are now the proud owners of a PS3 and I've been playing Oblivion IV instead of doing anything userful with my life. :-)

The names of the finalists have been posted, and I'm not among them. Apparently, they received 1400 manuscripts! (The jury only got to see a small portion of them.) *sigh*

Never mind. I will continue working on the manuscript, and then I'll try to shop it around. I have several projects on the backburner. One day, one of these projects will see print!

The good news is, I now have a bit of time to spare for Broken English, which I'd shoved into the bottom drawer for the duration of the competition. :-)

Today Heyne publishing house announces the winners of the fantastic novel competition. I know I'm not among the finalists, because, hey, they received more than a thousand manuscripts and the jury had about 2 weeks to go through the whole lot. I doubt that I was able to sell my story on the first page. Also, with three men and one woman in the jury, I'm betting that they picked Scifi instead of a historical vampire novel like mine. Still, it would be nice to see the list of the finalists, so I can stop refreshing the announcement blog. *sigh*
Oh well, at least I sent my manuscript out. Plus, I'm still working on it. Hopefully, I'll find another home for the manuscript.
I found a competition that fits one of my other stories, if I tweak it a bit.
I mustn't give up!
Mind you, being optimistic is easier, if you haven't got a nasty cold. *sniff*

We just watched Twilight. That was soooo bad. Oh my. Un-effing-believable. Crapastic. Horrifical.

The characterisation was dire, the pacing completely off, the acting cringeworthy, the special effects lame.
The soundtrack was brill, and the setting was great too, I suppose you could have given a camera to just anybody and still would have ended up with some pretty footage. Other than that? *shudder* Not sure what the metaphor was supposed to be, either. I kinda liked the vampire family. But not enough to care.

Mr. E's comment: they should invent a new rating for this: only for under 16. And: We've seen comedies where the audience laughed less.

I am in all honesty stunned that money and marketing where spent on such a turkey. I haven't read the books, I stayed away from other vampire novels since I started writing my own. I know the books are vastly popular. One can only wonder why.

The manuscript for the phantastic novel competition is in the mail. Whoppeeee! Thanks to everyone who crossed fingers etc.
There are still a few kinks here and there, but all in all I think I've handed in a pretty decent story.
According to the publishing house the book does not need to be finished yet, but it would need to be written ASAP. So I better continue working on it. Besides, the iron is hot right now....
Vampires are en vogue again. Does that mean they have enough vampire novels in the pipelind already and won't be interested in mine? I wish I knew. Gee, I'm nervous.

A lot of other stuff has happened since Christmas, boring real life stuff, mostly. But stuff that kept me busy. I can barely remember what it was like when I had hours every day to read and write fanfic, read LJ, watch fanvids, watch TV shows....
I can't wait to see Dollhouse. It would be nice to obsess about another Joss show.
You'll let me know if there a downloads prior to the official launch, right?
*smooch*

I AM WRITING! For the past weeks I have been writing writing writing!
No, I'm not dead, lost in space, sick, or misanthropic, or anything. And I haven't forgotten you guys. I am working on a manuscript for a competition.
The manuscript has to go into the mail today, the first 60-100 pages of a scifi or fantasy novel. Well, I'm translating my erstwhile vampire novella Family Tree (of which some of you may be aware) into German (I know, it sounds silly) and am turning it into a proper novel. And I have a good feeling about the text.

If you've got a thought to spare, and if you have faith in this sort of thng, please cross your fingers for me. I still have one very important scene to rewrite (completely, ack!), und a bit of small stuff to sweat, so, obviously I need all the good vibes I can get...

If this works out, you'll be the first to know! ;-)

I have to apologize for making myself scarce here, but those familiar with me and my family know that December is always a busy month, where I find it hard to stay in touch. Every year, I am determined to write lots of Xmas postcards and emails, to keep up with your LJ posts, to write plenty of drabbles and maybe even mail a few prezzies to good friends.
Alas, every December I only get a few of these things done. I got a few drabbles written this year, so I don't feel entirely guilty, but all the postcards and emails were never written. *sigh*

I am, however, pleased to say, that our Xmas was as peaceful and happy as last year's, with my aunty (who had had surgery only a few weeks before) happy and healthy in our midst. The girls dressed up again and sang for us and played music on flute amd keyboard, and they were ecstatic when the last parcels they unwrapped turned out to contain a Wii with several games. :-)



Now that the stress of creating a perfect Xmas for the family and happy birthday parties for Mr. E and daughter #1 lies behind me, I can feel my muse tiptoeing back. And I finally have time to say thank you to everybody who left comments, sent postcards or even gifts. *hug*

I wish you all a happy, healthy and creative new year!!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday!!!
*HUG*

It all amounts to 11 days of leave, the rest of the time I wouldn't have worked anyway. I only work Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, so in order to get a week off, I only have to take 3 days of leave. Hee.  :-)
Not sure if I'll manage to write a lot, since Auntie is due on Sunday (she had surgery two weeks ago, she got a kind of shunt? inserted into her cranial artery). Until then I have to clean, tidy up, throw stuff away, wait for payday, get the prezzies for friends and family, etc. One more week until Xmas...

Ethan-ficathon Masterlist

TITLE: Broken English Part 10
PAIRING: Giles/Ethan
RATING: will eventually be R
SPOILERS: Set after 8x04 The Long Way Home (comics); set in Germany, btw
PROMPT: a vacation or roadtrip, magic, slash
WRITTEN FOR: spikendru 
Sorry, unbeta'd.
PREVIOUS PARTS: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

( Broken English Part 10 )

Okay guys, you have to help me out and jog my memory. What are the best examples of Buffy improvising und thereby defeating the evil monster-of-the-week? I am thinking stuff like turning a pool cue into a stake or using the pumpkin patch sign post.

Give me your favourite example. Preferably examples, where Giles is present. :-)

And yes, I need the input for a fic. I am very close to posting the next installment of Broken English.

I've had a very busy week, with no less than three Christmas parties to attend. Plus I had to go shopping with my little sweeties, to help them get their own Xmas shopping done. I therefore had very little time for myself or for writing, but I spent it dilligently on Broken English... So, pretty please, help me out. *makes puppy eyes*