which of your fics is your pride and joy?

idk if i have a pride and joy fic yet!!! i would say love game took the most of my soul, needs met and classical conditioning were surprise joys, and i'm anticipating king hunt (my current wip) will have the most interesting structure/character dynamics! in general i look back at all my fics with some level of cringe/trepidation, unfortunately.

3. is there another author who inspires you to write?

Yes!!!!! my favorite author for years is naomi novik. in 2023 i listened to her speak on a podcast and her words actually made the pick up the pen and start writing for the first time since childhood. she was basically asked what advice she gives new writers and she listed three things. now those three rules are my bible. i'm literally so weird about her.

her rules (paraphrased in the way i've internalized them):

Write a lot.

Finish a lot. (Get in the habit to finishing things before you start a new thing, even if you finish badly. this was probably the biggest for me, bc as a kid i started hundreds of projects and never finished one)

find beta readers who enjoy your writing and vice versa, not just critique partners who you're trading services with (paraphrased. this is where she pointed to fandom, and this is literally why i made an ao3 account. i'd always read fanfic but thought writing it would be ~uncool~. but writing in isolation is so lonely! and having people read your stuff of their own free will is such a gigantic gift.)

6. what's your usual writing environment?

i am that person who loves writing with all my soul but also hates writing, iykwim. so i use a lot of body doubling / external motivation to actually get words on the page.

I have a standing weekly date with my friend i met at a write-in during nanowrimo years ago (rip) -- we meet up every sunday at a coffeeshop and typically write for 2-4 hours.

i typically use pomodoro timers (25 minutes on, 5 minutes off) bc i need to be locked in or i have the attention span of a goldfish.

when i have a deadline (kingdon week is staring at me rn) or when i'm in a good creative flow, i'll wake up at 5am before work to write for a couple hours before work.

elsewise it's usually night, and i try to commit to at least one pom per day when i'm actively writing a project.

i actually resist ~writing rituals~ like a special spot, special candle, clean house, dishes clean before sitting down to write, etc. bc i feel like those can lead to procrastination. i want to be able to write in unsexy, unaesthetic places-- on a napkin, on a desert island, dictating on my phone during my morning commute, etc.. interested to hear others' thoughts on this.

10. Do you outline?

Yes! And unless you are a writing god / have tons of writing experience, i think you should too! it makes the third act so much easier. If anyone reading this has a problem with finishing novel length projects bc you lose steam in the second/third act, outlining will help you. I loosely use "romancing the beat" for my oc genre romance project but every outline is 95% the same.

14. What are your top three most used additional tags?

Is there a way i can look at this? i have no idea! the ones i like the most are probably hurt/comfort, whump, fast sexual burn slow emotional burn. are those tags? lmao

my friends and i rent a lake house every july and this year we are doing a T SHIRT EXCHANGE like the tiktok trend and here is the t shirt i got for my friend

and we also want to have CRAFT TIME so i just got all the stuff to make bandana chokers like this (all the pics i can find are giving country music concert [respectfully] but i swear they are cute and i grew up making them)

my friends are even asking me to host my ADULT SPELLING BEE drinking game/betting competition one night. ok fine i brought it up first but they all said JESS THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. yes they actually said that :')

Maja Chwalinskamaking it to the final as a qualifier, no apparel deals or sponsorship, literally buying clothes from the RG merch shop so she would have clothes to play in... Maja we love you!

And Mirra sweet precious 19yo baby who is a brat to her coach and mother... my partner said, "she looks like she would play cruel pranks on her governess" which i think is very well-put... but... i love her so much! she specifically thanks her psychologist for helping her mental game and using those mental techniques over the course of the tournament. I also love her relationship with her coach.

This has been such a fun tournament to watch--i have so many new faves in Marta Kostyuk, Maja Chwalinska, Elina Svitolina, and so many more. <3

Love this question! Thanks for asking!

Hi dad!! ily

8. Which WIP are you most excited for? Definitely King Hunt; i got to write like 4k this weekend for that project and i think it's shaping up to be very cute, original, and the grovelcore that I want to see more of in the world. :)

omg hi cece!!!

20. Do you listen to music when you write? Yes. usually a couple of albums will present themselves as chosen for each multichapter piece i work on :) love this about the writing process. it feels like magic.

hiiiiiiiiii :^)

7. What's a fic you didn't expect to be popular but really took off? i started my ao3 journey in the dramione sphere in 2023 (I disavow, etc.) which at that time was a very fertile creative ground with tons of diverse readership; readers were really itching for stories and my stats there were immediately very impressive (*to me; of course there's always a bigger fish!). Honestly that was such a gift because it taught me that popularity in fandom is more about being in the right place at the right time than merit, so now I don't stress about numbers or how pieces perform. I never expect any of my stories to be, like, read at all honestly. But to answer the question, the kingdon answer to this is definitely needs met which i almost posted anon because i really wrote that with my whole pussy. Haha.

11. Which fic did you do the most research for? Definitely Love Game, my pro tennis au. Researching for that story led me to my new favorite sports autobiography, Open by Andre Agassi.