Mab's Mad Musings

Hello f-list!

I'm sorry I've been so distant the past couple of months. I do this every year, but this year I've been feeling especially hermit-like. My time alone is really short lately and as much as I'd love to be around more in fandom, I just can't right now. Life things are looking up, but they're taking a hell of a lot of time and attention to make sure they keep going in a forward direction. I know you all will understand that. XD *hugs all the lovely people* If you're curious as to what's been happening to draw me away so much, I'll give a quick rundown in the spoiler cuts below. If you're not really interested in some areas, and would just like to know what the heck my plans are for future HP fandom participation, skip to the cut: Harry Potter Fandom.



My daughter: She's doing really well since we started in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). Most of the kids in her therapy group are going through it because of eating disorders or self-harm, and she's not in that boat at all, so I'm very thankful. I am attending the therapy as part of a parent group, which is really helping me a lot to brush up on the skills I learned (that really got me started out of my darkest days in the mental health system). I like that the teen group isn't allowed to talk in group about why exactly they are there (so they don't feed off each other's maladaptive behaviors, but they do also have individual sessions, so those things are addressed. I get weekly email reports from her advisor at school and since we've started this therapy, she's only had positives to report.

Exercise/Fitness: I've not been doing fantastic with keeping up on this, but as of Tuesday, I'm still heading in the right direction. Since my last measurements I'm down a bit, but not at the pace I had been going. Still, I think it's healthy to slow up every so often, let the body find its normal, then start again with the intense training. I will write up a fitness post for those on my weightloss filter in a little while. Not gonna go into detail here.

Son: My son is going to be 13 in 2 days! OMG! I can't even believe that he'll be a teen. He is my child who has high-functioning autism. I went to his student-led conference last month and then had 2 conferences with the school board about his qualifications for special services. (they do this every few years). I'm so proud of how far he's grown and how much he's improved regarding school performance since we started him at the private school. His private school is tailored for kids with learning differences and most of the kids are somewhere on the spectrum. He's recently decided he wants to wear his hair long-ish. I think it looks great. Considering my husband's hair is down his back, I have no issues with how a person wants to wear their hair. I'm loving mine short, and eventually I plan to shave it all off again, just because I can, and because I love rocking the bald head look. :P (it also grows insanely fast and the bald look never lasts long for me.)

Toddler: The toddler has been a handful lately. He's three and a half and doesn't want to potty train. He's still nursing a couple of times a day, which is fine, I have no problems with going at his pace, but I am looking forward to reclaiming my boobs as MINE. It will happen. This too shall pass. But overall, he's a smart little duck and comes up with the most interesting observations. Last night, after a drawn out refusal to go to sleep in his own bed (which he later changed his mind about) he was lying beside me and pointing at the shadow cast by the ceiling lamp. He said goodnight to me, daddy, the pictures, the window, the door, and the (fish robot) he swears the shadow looks like. XD

Housemate: Our housemate is still with us and I am glad of it. She watches the toddler while I take my daughter to our group sessions on Thursdays. My husband is also home (as he works from home) but it's a real blessing to not have to figure out child care. She was 257 on the waiting list for the women's shelter back in September and has now moved up to the mid-40s, so this too is a good thing. When she gets a spot, they'll be able to help her with getting the services that just aren't freely given in this fucked up world we live in and I'm happy she won't have been on the streets during the winter season of waiting.

Husband: Husband is plugging along, doing his thing. We chat in the evening before bed and catch up on what's what. We're dealing with unexpected expenses from my emergency root canal and an insurance company refusing to cover them, but it could be so much worse, and we're thankful and fortunate to not be in a real hardship.

The hugest time suck of my day to day is driving. I loathe driving. Ever since I was hit by a car at 18, I swore I'd never drive ... and then my mom guilted me into doing it when I was pregnant with my daughter (because you have to be able to drive if you're a mom). Anyway... Now I'm driving nearly 3 hours a day, just taking my kids to school and back.. and on therapy days, it's more like 4.5 hours because of traffic and everything is on opposite sides of town from everything else. Blah. Humbug.




The Harry Big Bang is gearing up! OMG! I'm way excited about this! I am looking forward to submissions coming in and preparing to find every single spare minute I can to start proofreading! It's gonna be awesome!

My goal for podficcing the 300+k fic Turn by saras_girl all in 2014 is now complete! Turn the Podfic! I've sent the sound file to my lovely hosting person and will have it posted after she gets back to me with the link. I have so many feels about finishing this project. It was a true labor of love. I think the entire thing maxes out at almost 37 hours. It took at least 4 times as many hours to record and edit (and that's being generous with estimating, it was likely more). So, yeah... Whew! *wipes sweat from brow*

And now for some sadder news. I'm going to be using 2015 as a sort of hiatus year from fests. I'm still planning to co-mod hp_darkarts with writcraft and the hp_podfic_fest with starduchess, but as far as writing goes, my muse is not on HP right now. I do have several HP podfic projects planned for this coming year, but I will likely not be taking on any more until my hiatus ends. I'm also still going to the the hp_uk_meetup this summer and cannot wait to meet all the fandom friends that will be there. I suspect my HP squee will be back up in full force by then! So this hiatus is really only a break from participating in fests and it will end in 2016 in time for Leviosa the Harry Potter 2016 convention in Las Vegas! I'm so there!

I don't think I'll be in my quiet space for much longer. I really love all of you on my f-list and enjoy keeping up with all your news and chatting, etc... So even though I'm taking a break, I'm not leaving.

And I sent the last of my holiday cards today, so if you haven't got one yet and signed up for one, it's on its way! And my goal of beating last year's number of cards sent was met and more than doubled! So thank you for that! Sending cards is something that makes me so happy!





For those of you who follow me on tumblr at Mab-speaks or Mab-shares will have noticed, I've fallen into a new fandom as far as writing goes. I seem to have an all or nothing muse, and I can't juggle more than one canon and set of characters at a time. I completed my first fic for the Percy Jackson fandom late last month. It's called Shelter and is 71,505 words. I wrote it a chapter a day from mid-October through November and I haven't let go of it yet. I had to end it where I did to free up December and January for the Harry Big Bang, but I have three Shelterverse one-shots planned, the first is posted: Atonement and it pairs the greek god, Apollo with Zephyros, the god of the West Wind. The next will be my first go at a femslash pairing and the last is going to be the main pairing that featured in Shelter. After that, in February, I'm planning to begin the sequel.

I have too many feels and ideas and my head is just brimming to the point I have 3 documents filled with notes, canon/head canons, and partial outlines. I've never felt so freaking prolific in my life and it's just something I can't ignore or stifle. So I'm going with it and will find out where it gets me.

And see the pretty cover art made for me for Shelter... The artist is called St00pz and can be found on tumblr.



Another artist was inspired by the fic too and created this art Nico di Angelo gets a new jacket. And I've had two other people ask permission to fan art from the fic. OMG... so much squee!



All right ... and if you made it through all that, thank you. If you didn't, I don't blame you. Please don't feel guilty. I just want to give you all a heads up as to where I've been, why I'm quiet, and what my plans are. I love you all and I hold the fact true to my heart that Hogwarts will always be home, and I can never stay away forever.

Hey all Turn, the podfic fans... I have some news that will likely make you a bit mad at me... *hides*

I've gone over the deep end and decided to throw my hat in at harrybang, so I'm churning out a 50k fic before October 16th. And so...

Turn, the podfic will be on hiatus until after mid October. I plan to have chapter 14 recorded by the end of October and posted ASAP after that, but I really need to focus on writing for a bit. When the muse hits, jump on and ride it, and all that.

So... Anybody up for a word war/writing sprint? I'll be in srs: http://www.chatzy.com/252190812952 pass: hd69 for the rest of the night. I'm about 2/3 through my detailed outline. Goal tonight, completed detailed outline.

Come and write with me!

Title: Turn Chapter Eleven by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Length: 03:47:55
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Notes: One of my favourite chapters to record so far. I had fun with Misu, Lucius, and a doing a few other scenes that just pulled at my heart strings.
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's summary: One good turn deserves another. Apparently.



click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3

Title: Turn Chapter Nine by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Length: 02:53:31
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Notes:
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Reader's Notes: I'm sorry this chapter took me so long to complete. It is the longest one yet and I estimate the remaining chapters will be as long or longer! I have been scrambling with real life this past month, getting my kids finished with school for the year, enrolled for next year, and working hard on improving my lifestyle and health. *\o/* I have a couple of side podfics I'm planning to record for Summer/Fall fests and so I can't promise a quick update for Chapter Ten of Turn, but rest assured it will be up this summer and the entire work will be completed before the new year! Thanks for listening and supporting me on this HUGE project.


click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3

Title: Turn Chapter Seven by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Length: 02:21:42
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Notes:
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's summary: One good turn deserves another. Apparently.



click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3

As I've been working on my huge podfic project of the year, I've learned a lot about what to do and what not to do during the recording process in order to make an audio fic sound good on a number of different devices. Fortunately I figured this out before I was too far into the project to go back and correct my earlier mistakes.

Chapter one and two have been remastered for improved sound and now also have the option of being downloaded as an m4b (audiobook). I am halfway through remastering chapter three and I still have chapter four left after that, but I'm satisfied with how chapter five turned out.

Chapter six is currently with saras_girl who is pre-listening for me and letting me know where I need to make adjustments. I hope to have it posted within the next week or so.

Thanks to everybody who has supported the project. It's immensely time consuming, but as a labor of love, I am proud to put in as much time as it takes to make it shine bright.

Title: Turn Chapter One by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Cover Art Provided by: YuuyamiArtist
Length: 00:50:10
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Notes: I'll be posting one chapter at a time as I finish them on Ao3. I have through chapter three recorded so far and am just finishing up with the editing.
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's summary: One good turn deserves another. Apparently.


click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3

Title: Turn Chapter Two by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Length: 01:43:45
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's summary: One good turn deserves another. Apparently.

This chapter has been remastered for improved sound quality and the addition of an m4b download.



click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3

Title: Turn Chapter Four by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Length: 02:09:25
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Notes: I've been working on getting the sound to be louder. I really hope this chapter sounds better than the previous ones. I do plan to go back and correct chapters 1 through 3 as soon as I get all the kinks worked out. I thank you all for your patience.
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's summary: One good turn deserves another. Apparently.


click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3

Title: Turn Chapter Two by saras_girl
Podficcer: mab
Word Count/Art Medium: Podfic
Length: 01:42:42
Rating: NC-17
Contains: slash, het, epilogue-compliant AND AU, just to be contrary. Lots of terrible language.
Link to Text: Turn
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's summary: One good turn deserves another. Apparently.



click the banner to listen to the podfic on Ao3