December 2017

Writing

I published Chosen Names, a Star Wars crackfic about ridiculous amounts of titles, as inspired by a tweet.

I wrote 30k words for my NaNoWriMo, all on the Star Wars fanfic that I’ve been calling Naema or Dawnverse or “In the Pale Darkness of Dawn”. For a nano thing, it failed to reach 50k. But for a story thing, I fleshed out a lot more of the immediate background of the characters, and solidified many ideas I’ve had recently.

The story is now written as several volumes instead of one plus some side stories.

The story starts with Jeira, last Keeper of History of her family line, thus holder of one of the Keys to the Thabeskan archives, and wife to Beca, an offworlder who studied to be a historian in the Archiva Republica. When the Empire arrives, the family is forced into survival as their jobs become illegal, and they become part of a network of resistance spanning the planet and beyond.

We then look to Patra, current Clan Head of the Fardi, looking both to maintain the Clan’s standing and responsibility in Thabeska, and to change its mission from profit in smuggling back to being the protectors of the small world, and regain a more active hand into its politics and direction. When the Empire interrupts those plans by replacing the officials of one of the most remote Republic worlds with its own, the Clan starts a dangerous double game of staying in the good graces of the Imperial Major ‘in charge’, and keeping the population as safe as they can while also planning for their independence.

Patra Fardi’s youngest niece, Hedala, is Force-sensitive although she doesn’t know it. What she knows is she has keen instincts and she’s always better off, in small ways and in large, when she follows them, even when they’re very odd. Jeira’s and Beca’s daughter Naema was left alone when her parents suddenly disappeared one night. She’s had to survive on her own, and she’s focused all her efforts on escaping Thabeska. One day, she finds an opportunity and steals away on a Fardi shuttle. When they land in Rinn, Hedala stays behind, citing feeling off — which the crew assumes is land-sickness: not uncommon in first-time travelers after a long passage. Naema proceeds to steals the shuttle, unknowingly kidnapping the important child! From adversity grows a reluctant partnership (and perhaps more!) as they try to find their way.

It’s pretty fun to write, and I do plan on publishing it at some point. However, I’d like to have an entire work finished before I do that. I know better than to commit myself to deadlines I know I’ll blow, but I expect to have at least the stories of Jeira and Patra out there before mid-2018.

Cooking

Sauce I made up when looking for a softer, creamy, tangy alternative to Sriracha for a salmon dish:

  • 3 tbsp Paprika
  • Chili (powder or flakes or whole peppers chopped up) to taste
  • optionally, 2-3 drops of Tabasco
  • 3 tbsp White Vinegar
  • 3-5 cloves of Garlic, crushed/pasted
  • 1 tsp soft brown Sugar
  • a generous pinch of Salt

All that should make a wet coarse paste.

Then, to make creamy:

  • 2 heaped tsp Mayonnaise (non-sweet if possible)
  • 20g of Philadelphia

Mix until smooth, store in fridge.