These seven miniature stories were my contribution to the "door prizes" for on-time players in the May 2010 fkficfest game.  (You can read the whole slate here, with seven more drabbles by amilyn and one by leela_cat.)

I'd written a drabble -- a 100-word story -- once before, but just the once.  People often compare the discipline of a 100-word story to a haiku.  The goal is to fit an entire, self-sufficient tale into the few words, not just an excerpt of a larger piece; I found it very challenging, and I know that my success varies across these selections.

	•	Title:	"Party Favors" (also on AO3)
	•	Length:	7 x 100 words
	•	Date:	Posted to fkficfest on May 30, 2010; not yet posted to FKFic-L
	•	Rating:	Assorted
	•	Quotation:	"The little camera on the patrol car's dashboard ensured that Vachon had to take it like a human."

What's Good?  I'm happy to get to kick off the new year in the recommendation-of-the-month project with pj1228's 2008 novella "Disclosures" (which I had the privilege of beta-reading).  This episode-like story puts both Natalie and Schanke on a collision course with things Nick never wanted to tell them.  Cop plot plus Nick/Janette, Nick/Natalie, Lacroix/Natalie (PG-13).

     [Natalie] covered her mouth with her hand and was about to stumble backwards into the elevator, when Nick raised his head and fixed her with an amber stare. Janette turned in his arms and regarded her curiously. ... “Nat, wait,” he called her back and she watched in fascination as his fangs retracted and his eyes changed to blue. “What’s wrong?”
     “Lacroix is at my apartment,” she blurted.

What's New?  In December, fkfic-l saw a new ficlet by Kristen F., "Comfort and Joy" (one post, 3KB), and a multi-part story started posting, concluding in January (so to be listed next time).  The list has seen two new stories in January so far.

It's still November where I am, honest!

What's Good?  November's recommendation was "Soaring" (2005) by Kristen F., a canon-careful N&N friendship interlude, and a broad-brush illustration of the storytelling efficacy of the right perspective.

        Natalie blushed, her heart rate increased, and she dropped her eyes before she gave him an evasive, "Oh, just meeting up with a friend."  She started shuffling papers, refusing to meet his eyes.
        Nick frowned...

What's New?  In October, fkfic-l saw three new stories by three different authors:  ( list with links )

Sekrit Message to tv_elf: A year already. Miss you.

What's good?  I'm proud to begin the new year of the recommendation-of-the-month project with amilyn's novella "Slippery" (2003).  Undeniably harsh, the story dramatically explores what might happen if, one of the times he tells Natalie to get away and she doesn't, a blood-stoked Nick unintentionally lashes out -- with his muscles (rather than his fangs).

   "How long before someone in your department ends up with you as one of their cases -- just like you had to cut up Maggie Dwyer and God only knows how many others like her?"
   "That is enough!" Natalie interjected, her voice sharp. "That was very different. This... this was an accident. He did not mean to hurt me. I know that, and he knows that."
   "Oh, really?" Tracy caught Natalie's eyes. "Then why is he scared silly he's going to do it again?" Tracy paused, looking for a long moment at Nat, then added carefully, "And why are you?"

What's new?  In December, fkfic-l saw three new stories, a filk, and one piece identified as a repost (which is technically against the list rules without permission, so I wouldn't advise it as a trend).

• "Disclosures" (6 posts) by pj1228
• "Dashing Through the Snow (Vampire Style)" (filk) (1 post) by Kristen F.
• "Birthdays" (1 post) by Walt D.
• "Snowy Knight" (1 post) by J.L.K.
• "Milepost" (1 post) by me

There is also a six-post story that began in December, and has finished in January.  So this month so far is not empty, but not crowded.

I began posting my oldschoolfic ficathon story to fkfic-l today.  I'm grateful to amilyn for the ficathon prompt, and her enthusiastic reception of the story!  And I'm obliged to my generous beta-readers (see the story's end note) as always.  This is the longest piece I've yet written solely from Natalie's perspective.

	•	Title:	"A Delicate Balance"
	•	Length:	~9,900 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L July 27-29, 2008
	•	Rating:	PG (gen)
	•	Summary:	Natalie takes a break from a murder investigation to attend an unusual memorial for her brother, while considering a new approach to Nick's condition.
	•	Setting:	After "1966."  Flashbacks to Natalie's childhood.
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick, Schanke, Richard, Sara, Nana, Janette, Grace, Stonetree, Tracy and others.
	•	Quotation:	"The mesmerism-enforced lie that had covered Richie's vampirism curdled on Natalie's tongue."

Addendum:  By the way, the fkfic-l "ACK" states that the posts are reaching 279 recipients.  (I presume that is "mail" and "digest," not "nomail," but I don't know for sure.)  Those of you who have FK fanfic you've posted on LJ but not the list, please do consider sharing with the biggest FK audience still assembled.  We miss you.

This retrospective is rapidly catching up with me, as we come to "Better Late," written just last summer.  I have only three more stories from then to now to list.  Good thing I have a new one underway!

In fact, "Better Late" is not, in all ways, quite as new as last summer.  I first drafted a version of it in 2002; it was from Nick's perspective, shorter, and more conventional.  My perceptive beta-readers didn't like it.  So I set it aside, and did not seriously pick it up again until spring 2007.  In addition to being from Natalie's perspective, the final version has flashbacks, and a presence by Lacroix, that were nowhere in the original.  I believe it's stronger for the changes.  I'm bemused that it took me so long to grow into a capacity for those improvements.

	•	Title:	"Better Late"
	•	Length:	~6,100 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on July 30, 2007
	•	Rating:	PG (m/f)
	•	Summary:	Natalie suspects more behind a change in their daughter's custody arrangements than her ex-husband Nick has said.
	•	Setting:	2012 Toronto
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick, Lacroix, Others
	•	Quotation:	"One reason of many for not telling Joanie had been to keep her innocent by the Enforcers' code if they ever came for Natalie and Nick.  Silence was safety."

I wrote "What It's Like" during one of those phases when I identified very strongly with Nick.  Given that, I'm not sure why it's from Natalie's perspective, but there it is, in that delightful canonical gap between the flashbacks of "Only the Lonely" and the present of "Dark Knight."

This little story winds up with an origin for Natalie and Nick's "movie nights," as seen on screen only in "False Witness," but famed in fanfic through every faction and fad.

	•	Title:	"What It's Like"
	•	Length:	~2,400 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on May 3, 2003
	•	Rating:	PG-13
	•	Summary:	Natalie attempts to understand Nick's struggle, as he grapples with his third shift as a homicide detective.
	•	Setting:	1991 Toronto
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick
	•	Quotation:	"That's exactly the kind of thing I need to know, if we're going to cure your condition, not just treat its symptoms.  And that is our mission statement, isn't it?  Find a cure?"

 

[Crossposted from forkni-l.  In reply to remarks on the second-season episode "Capitol Offense."]

Nick getting away with breaking lots of procedures and perhaps contributing negligently to homicide is just a "little bit"?

Well, yes, in "Capitol Offense," it is, because, as we know, the even bigger reality-defying problem in this episode is that Canada would never extradite someone who faces the death penalty.  It's against the law.  If "Capitol Offense" had happened in the real Toronto, the Laura Garfield character would probably be behind bars in a Canadian prison to this day, as I understand it.  They wouldn't ship her home until Texas gave up the death penalty -- which is to say, never.

But despite that infamous blunder nomination for the wall of shame, I really do love two things about "Capitol Offense."  ( Read more... )

"Fireweed" is my longest story to date.  (To my surprise, "In the Light of Day" falls short by 11,000 words!)

This alternate universe diverges during the "Be My Valentine" flashbacks with Janette bringing Fleur across, and then parallels canon, asking what would have been different had Fleur been there.  I named the story for Epilobium angustifolium, a particular flower species [Fleur] that thrives in the aftermath of wildfires ["Ashes to Ashes"] in northern climates [Toronto].

	•	Title:	"Fireweed"
	•	Length:	~64,600 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L in December 1998
	•	Rating:	PG-13 (m/f)
	•	Summary:	As Natalie strives to derive a cure for vampirism from Divia's lethal venom, Fleur returns to her family.
	•	Setting:	After "Ashes to Ashes," with flashbacks to 1229
	•	Characters:	Nick, Natalie, Janette, Lacroix, Fleur, Grace, Tracy, Others
	•	Quotation:	"I hope, Doctor Lambert, that you will tell my brother of my attempt last night to dissuade you.  He will be looking for a scapegoat, and I'm not eager to take on the role again so soon."

And Another Thing 10:39 PM:  I almost forgot to mention that "Fireweed" was a nominee in the 1998 FK Fanfiction Awards!  My sincere thanks to those who nominated it and voted for it.  Your kindness still matters.

So far, I've rolled this fanfiction retrospective in reverse chronological order.  But today, in a seasonal mood, I'm going to leapfrog ten years in order to reach my one Christmas fanfiction, "Send My Love."  I actually wrote it on Independence Day, a little Christmas in July.  (It's the first of three "Where are they now?" pieces I've posted in the past two years -- and by my standards, that's a bit of a kick!)

	•	Title:	"Send My Love"
	•	Length:	~2,505 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L September 19, 2006
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Mailing Christmas gifts, Natalie bumps into a very old acquaintance.
	•	Setting:	December 2006 (alternate future, diverged just before "Last Knight")
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Janette
	•	Quotation:	"Well, she had no intention of leaving her place in line, not for vampire, murderer or apocalyptic space debris.  She had presents to send."