I guess I’m doing better on the updating front if it’s only been a little over a month since my last update. I’ve finally had a chance to post a new chapter of Shelter. Chapter Two is up now, and, hopefully, there will be more to follow very soon. I’ve been going over everything I wrote during NaNoWriMo, and Mel has been going over those chapters for me. I just haven’t had the chance to go back and fix those edits since I’ve been busy trying to push forward and get more done, but I’m planning to start updating regularly now. It will probably been every two weeks unless I suddenly find myself with oodles of times and energy. I wouldn’t hold my breath for that, though, especially since I’ve been sick for the last couple of weeks and I’m still trying to play catch up from that. Have I mentioned my hatred for the winter months?

There are also a few other things going on. I’m running another round of The Spark Inside. Sign-ups are open until midnight tonight, so if you hurry, you can still get in on the action. This year we’re rewriting the first chapter from an older story or redoing a short to show how much we’ve improved over the years and to give ourselves a chance to do things differently. I’ll be rewriting the first chapter of Bed of Lies, and I’m really excited about it.

The Thieves and Liars Awards are also back. Nominations there will start on March 11th, so you have time to think about things, but you can check out the categories in the meantime and decide what you want to nominate!

Also, HanficSprints is still going strong. Jenna is hosting early sprints starting at 8 PM EST and I’ll be taking over at 10, so please come join us if you’d like to get some writing done. You can find us in the AIM chat room HanficSprints.

Thank so much to Jitterbug, Mel, Lauren, HelenLouise and Robyn for signing the guestbook! Feedback makes me uber happy, and I’ll try really hard not to let so much time pass between now and the next update.

*waves sheepishly* Um, hello. Remember me? Yeah, I know. I fail. I’m sorry.

I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that it’s been a very long, hectic year and in the midst of it, my drive to write seemed to get lost. Regardless, I’m back and I’m writing again. I have a ton of things to update on, so please bear with me!

Sadly, I don’t have any chapter updates for you right this minute. I have, however, sent some stuff off to my beta, so I will have something up very soon. I do have some new short pieces to share, though! Back in October, for Renee P.’s Trick-or-Treat Hanfic Halloween Challenge, I wrote 3 pieces – a drabble (Tick. Tock.), a ficlet (Practice), and a short story (Praying For Daylight).

You can find them along with the rest of the Halloween fics on the challenge website or in my Vignette Collection. Practice takes place in the Catalyst universe, and I also wrote a Christmas story for Christmas Time that also takes place in the same universe, but it won’t be up until December 16th. Becca is currently still accepting Christmas stories until December 10th, so if you should feel so inclined to write a Christmas Hanfic, there’s still time to submit!

I also have a couple of new projects going on. The first is an expansion of Just Shy of Reality. The forums are still in place, but we now have a Hanfic News Center. The goal is to keep readers and writers alike in the loop with the latest Hanfic awards, projects and websites. We also have a small directory that we’re hoping to expand over time.

The other project is Hanfic Sprints. Renee P. and I started the sprints to help people reach 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, and we’ve decided to keep the sprints going. You can check out the community for all of the details on what the sprints are, if you aren’t familiar, as well as the current schedule. I hope some of you will join us. You don’t have to work on Hanfic specifically. You can work on homework and other works of fan fiction. We just want to keep people motivated to write.

Since I mentioend NaNoWriMo, I suppose I should share that I participated this year and reached 50k. I decided to rewrite and old collaboration. I’m not sure if many people will remember it, but it was called Shelter. I’m in the process of editing and finishing the ending. As soon as my beta is finished looked it over, I will have an update for you. I’m also working on some other things – new and old – so keep you eyes peeled for that.

There are also a couple of other things going on in Hanfic. One is the Hanfic Christmas Awards. Nominations are open until December 10th. (And thank you so much to the kind soul(s) that nominated me! I really wasn’t expecting it given how absent I’ve been lately!) So there’s still some time to nominate, and then voting will begin on December 11th, so go nominate your favorite stories and don’t forget to go back and vote!

Some of you may also remember the 10 in 10 challenge from last year. Well, Jessemay is hosting again. Sign ups are still open, so check it out. I won’t be participating since I already have so much on my plate, but I’m looking forward to reading!

As for site news, you might have noticed there’s a new theme and that the old ones have been taken down. I figured it was about time for a new look. The sidebar also went on a diet. I decided to take out some of the clutter, so I hope things are easier on the eyes now. I may be adding more themes later, but for now I’m just focusing on getting back into my writing.

Shelter, Solace and Watershed are currently my main focus. You should be seeing Shelter sometime this week, and I’m working on Solace tonight in the sprints, so Chapter 5 may be coming to you very soon as well. As for Watershed, it’s just a little pet project that likely won’t be seen until it’s been finished, but you might be able to find some sneak peeks over at aloneinthe@lj.

I also have three new affiliates. All talented girls I’ve been chatting with in the sprints – Aeryn (Tabula-Rasa.cc), Bethany (Extemporaneous) and Jenna (ForeverPoetic.com). Make sure you go visit them and check out their stories if you haven’t already.

Thank you to Flash for signing the guestbook. Assuming anyone still visits the site, I hope you enjoy the short stories I mentioned, and I’ll be back again soon with actual chapter updates!