#jsevick

best story of the year?

Goodness, I don’t know! I like So It Goes because it’s become a neat little collection of different stories and perspectives, and I can take it anywhere I want to go. It’s freeing to have a collection like this where even the shortest stories can go, and so because of that I sometimes think the quality of those little ones are better. I totally get why story collections have become so popular, and it’s a bandwagon I’m glad I jumped on!

most popular story of the year?

So It Goes has the most hits, but The Male Prostitute in the Club With His (Word Redacted Due to Content) has the most kudos/hits (due in no small part to andymcnope on AO3, who was the gracious and hilarious author of the story this fic was inspired by).

In terms of reaction both here on Tumblr and AO3, I would say Chips and Dip (With a Side of Sparkle) was the most popular with a readers.

story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

I don’t know that I’d say any of my fic is underappreciated, I’ve been very lucky with the readers I have as well as their thoughtful responses to my stories.

If we go by the fewest hits, I guess that would be go lift your sails up (for one last swell) (my one SG1 fic of 2015), but honestly I felt that the fandom really embraced that story. It’s an older fandom with lots of loving fellow fans, and they are enthusiastic about any new work, so I certainly think they appreciated it. :)

most fun story to write

The Male Prostitute in the Club With His (Word Redacted Due to Content) was a ton of fun to write (and I may have been slightly drunk when I wrote it. Just slightly).

Chips and Dip (With a Side of Sparkle) was also pretty fun to write, just because it was both sweet and silly.

story with the single sexiest moment:

This is tough too, because I really only wrote too smuttyish fics in 2015, and both were kind of angsty and sad.

I would have to say don’t stand a chance (in these four walls) - there’s a moment before Oliver and Felicity’s encounter that sparks the whole thing that I’m fond of as the writer.

most sweet story:

Although Chips and Dip (With a Side of Sparkle) is definitely sweet, i came to win or lose with you is probably my sweetest story - it’s such a lovely, quiet moment between Oliver and Felicity (and then between OTA, which I love and will always be my favorite relationship out of Arrow). (Fun fact: it’s also the first story that I ever wrote entirely on my phone, in bed in the middle of the night!)

”holy crap, thats wrong, even for you!” story:

Haha,  The Male Prostitute in the Club With His (Word Redacted Due to Content)? It is an Arrow/Hung crossover, which is particularly ridiculous considering I’ve never seen Hung. Eh, I don’t know, I feel like my stories were pretty tame in 2015.

story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:

Honestly, I don’t know that I had any that did that? I’ve read works by other authors that have certainly changed the way I see the characters, and I have two in progress works that deal with Felicity’s and Oliver’s families and how that affects their relationship that do that for me, but they’re both unfinished and unpublished right now, so I’m not sure they count.

I really feel like this year was about me getting comfortable enough with the characters to portray them in a way that made sense for me, so maybe this next year I can start playing with their motivations and characterizations a little more.

most unintentionally telling story:

Again, to be quite honest, I don’t know that I had any this year that were telling about me as a person or an author. When you’re still new to a fandom and trying to break in, I think writers tend to write stories that are a little more surface level (although not always - I’ve read some authors who were just naturally very expressive and brave in how they included themselves in stories), and then you get more in-depth with time and comfort. My goal for this year, if I had one, was to entertain readers and just write stories that I enjoyed, and not so much to reveal myself or send a message.

hardest story to write:

Absolutely Caught a Long Wind. Because I want for it to work so badly, and I have a very specific vision for the way I want to do it, writing this one goes very, very slowly for me. I spend a lot of time editing what I’ve already written and second-guessing my choices for it, and sometimes every sentence feels like a victory. The period when the story needed to be published turned out to be pretty tough too (the holidays, the fact that we’re understaffed at work so my hours went crazy even while working through the holidays, two young children plus a pregnancy), so this has by far been the most challenging story I’ve undertaken in a good long while. (This seems silly, but I really have to thank @curvy-tam here while I’m talking about the story, because I’m pretty sure that without her there would be no story to post.)

biggest disappointment:

I’m going to echo @jsevick here and say myself - writing can be really, really difficult for me, a lot of the time although the stories are fully formed in my head, getting them down on paper just seems like an excruciating process. Often what comes out doesn’t always seem as good as what was in my head, and I have a hard time not comparing my work to other writers that I admire. So I’d have to say that I’m my biggest disappointment 

biggest surprise:

Like I said earlier (and others said) just that I wrote at all, and that I’ve been able to keep writing (for the most part). Although that people liked that weird Arrow/Hung crossover was pretty damn surprising, too. XD

Tagging fellow authors (as always, only if you feel up to it): @nandamai, @holdouttrout, @splash-the-cat, @tielan, @kavileighanna, @allofthefeelings, @ellie5192, @literarymagpie (if you haven’t already done it?).