elrhiarhodan

Now that long!fic is done, and I can reclaim some of my life, I've got a few random recommendations. 

White Collar Fic:

photoash's Secrets Series:  Neal's First Heist | Music Full of Memories | Remembering Her Touch :  These are exquisitely written stories about Neal's past.  They are lovely and lyrical and make me weep just a little bit every time I read them.

On AO3, there's a terrific gen fic, Precious Few Heroes by OnYourMark.  It is one of the very few fics that have ever surprised me. 

A while back, I was looking for more WC fic (can one ever get enough), and I went out to the Internet and Google, and found Romanology, which is an enormous multi-fandom Master/Slave 'verse based on the premise that the Roman Empire never fell.  There are quite a few different fandoms represented here, and the White Collar story, which mirrors Pilot and Free Fall, is exquisite, particularly for fans of the genre. Maybe if a bunch of LJ fans send the author email, she'll write more WC in this awesome universe.


( Really cool stuff under the cut )

Today's New York Times has one of the most wonderfully lyrical pieces of writing I've read in a newspaper in ages.  Entitled Insomnia City, it is by Bill Hayes, a life long sufferer of sleeplessness, who moved to Manhattan following the unexpected death of his life partner.  From start to finish, this piece is writing at its best, both spare and evocative. 

One of my favorite paragraphs:

Sometimes I’d sit in the kitchen in the dark and gaze out at the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Such a beautiful pair, so impeccably dressed, he in his boxy suit, every night a different hue, and she, an arm’s length away, in her filigreed skirt the color of the moon. I regarded them as an old married couple, calmly, unblinkingly, keeping watch over one of their newest sons. And I returned the favor. I would be there the moment the Empire State turned off its lights for the night, as if getting a little shut-eye before sunrise.

It's a pain that you have to register or log in to the NYT, but it's worth it just to read this piece.  You can try the dummy log in username "bullybullywent" and password "bullybully" (no guarantee of success, though).

Today's Thursday.  I wish it was Friday...

But since it's not, I can only do two things here...make recs and respond to hoosierbitch's request for my response to the friending meme.


Recs first  (all links go to Amazon.com, pls forgive me).

I am reading, for the 10th or 20th time, Lois McMaster Bujold's Curse of Chalion.  I love this book so much, I've bought it twice in paperback (I thought I lost my original copy), once as an audiobook from Audible, and again for my Kindle.  LMB has created a perfectly thoughtout world - complete with theology and hagiography, but also a rollicking good story too.  Everytime I re-read this book, I find something completely new, and surprising.  I also love Paladin of Souls, a direct sequel.  The Hallowed Hunt, which is set in the same world, is good but really quite different.  I hope the LMB will return to this realm.

Another book/series with potential for greatness is Sasha, book 1 of the Trials of Blood and Steel, by Australian author, Joel Shepherd.  The sequel, Petrodor was just released, but not - sadly for me - in ebook format.  I have a hard time these days with dead tree books.

In non-fiction, I'm working my way through the 2009 edition of the Best American Essays, edited by Robert Atwan and Mary Oliver.  In the last decade, I've discovered many wonderful writers between the covers of this series, particularly Andre Aciman, and his essays that formed the core of Out of Egypt. 

Two humor recs - one fiction, and one non-fiction. 

If you haven't read them yet, go do so IMMEDIATELY - Jaspter Fforde's Thursday Next series - The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten and First Among Sequels.  This is the ultimate AU.  Books are real - if you change the author's first copy, all other editions are changed too.  And how can you resist any story where the villain's name is Jack Schitt?

I can't rec Bill Bryson enough...surely you've read A Walk in the Woods, about a fat man's sojourn up the Appalacian Trail?  But have you found In a Sunburned Country, about his travels through Australia?  I listened to this first as an audiobook, and nearly caused a massive pileup on the Cross Bronx Expressway because I was laughing so damn hard.

(There were music recs here - but LJ ate them at posting...grrr).

On to the Meme:

Six Names I Go By:

1. L
2. elrhiarhodan 
3. Dreadnought
4. Bitch
5. Fat Bitch
6. Leitska

Three Things I Am Wearing Right Now:

1. A black bra
2. A heavy gold necklace
3. Black wedge sandles

Three Things I Want Very Badly At This Moment

1. My iPad
2. gyzym 's Girl!Neal porn, too
3.  The Roman slave A/U fic I heard that some bitch is working on

Three People Whom I Hope Will Do the Meme

gyzym 
photoash 
shea 

Three Things I Did Last Night

1.  Wrote 1500 more words for Vampire!Peter fic
2.  Played dirty!girl with my vibrator
3.  Slept

Three People I Last Talked to On The Phone

1. My father
2.  MDF Valerie
3.  My sister, who wanted to wish me an almost happy birthday

Three Things I Am Going To Do Tomorrow

1.  Go to Work and Leave Early, because SATURDAY is my birthday, BITCHES
2.  Finish Vampire!Peter fic
3.  Work on Neal in Paris - the flashback!sex scenes

Three Of My Favorite Drinks

1.  Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin
2.  Calvados
3.  Seltzer - Ice, no Lemon

Three Things That Made Me Smile Today

1.  The rec by gyzym for Wash the Sins Away.  As well as all of the great comments that my readers/flist made. 
2,  Getting tagged for this meme by hoosierbitch 
3.  It's 76 degrees outside and all the cherry trees are in full bloom




Like I said above, it's my birthday on Saturday, and I'm heading out of town...but unless there's no 3G, I'll be around, babes.

Elr.