So, apparently, I wrote some books...

[hells_half_acre]

I'm back from Seattle - yay!

While I was down there, I met up with sentra04 and her good friend, so that she could give me MY BOOKS! That's right...apparently, I've written three novels worth of demented'verse. sentra04 liked them so much, that she made the two longest stories into bound hardcover books, and she was SUPER kind and also made me copies!! And then when she met up with me, she had me sign her copy, like I was actually a legitimate author!! It was surreal and awesome, and one of my absolute favourite Christmas gifts this year.

I'm genuinely amazed by the beast this 'verse turned into. Damned Demented Demons was the first chaptered fic that I had ever written - and, actually, it was only the 2nd fanfic of any kind that I had ever written. At the time, I had planned for it to be 8 chapters at most...and now, apparently, I have written 3 novels. Anyway...yeah...before I get too mushy about my own writing (because no one wants to read that), let me show you PICTURES:



The outside of the books - on the left, is Damned Demented Demons and on the right is Vile Violent Vacations. They are SO PRETTY!


A random page from Damned Demented Demons...the books have page numbers, which I love. DDD is 336 pages. Vile Violent Vacations is 390 pages. I also love the font she used for the chapter titles! So awesome.

 
The title page of both books features franztastisch's lovely artwork, which I'm super happy about.


Here is a picture of the books on my bookshelf! I temporarily slipped them in next to my Deathly Hallows book (it's the only one of the Harry Potter books that I have in Vancouver, the rest are in a box at my mum's place in Ontario...well, except for an Irish Gaelic version of Philosopher's Stone, which you can see just a little hint of in the back there). I would also like to point out that the tall yellow bound thing you can see in the background is my Masters research paper. It is another thing that I am quite proud of, yet will not ever be seen by most of the world, as it seems my career as an historian will never come to be. Still, if you ever want to talk about the summer of 1916 in Ireland, I have opinions!

Then I re-arranged the shelf, because I must always sort books according to height.

Where the magic happened - now, also containing the magic. Technically, I only wrote Vile Violent Vacations while living here in Vancouver, but it still counts! (I would also like to point out that I have more books than that - but they live in large stacks at the end of my bed, because I only have the one shelf right now. )


I'm super happy. I kind of want to read my own books now - but I really shouldn't, because I'm trying to write another one (which, incidentally, I keep getting discouraged on...sigh)...but yeah, back in 2008, when I posted the following entry:

After successfully posting my first ever fic, I thought "Maybe that will be it. Maybe nothing more will come to me..." and then this afternoon, out of the blue, I started writing an HP/Supernatural crossover fic in my brain.

My only thought now is "How far down this rabbit-hole am I going to go?"

So, in the near future, look out for a slightly dorky crossover. Crossovers have always been my guilty-pleasure, I figure I might as well try my hand at them. I might just title it "Demented"...just to make a horrible pun

I really wasn't expecting ALL THIS.

Apparently, the answer to that rabbit-hole question was "pretty damn far!"

Super Happy.

Comments

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

Yay! They're beautiful!

Hey, I have a lot of the same books/movies on my bookshelves! Supernatural and Harry Potter of course but Sherlock and His Dark Materials series too!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Obviously, you have good taste in books/movies! ;)

I actually own a small library, but sadly, since I can't decide where i want to live - my possessions are in two different locations in Canada :P

[lethiaw77.livejournal.com]

Congrats!!!! They are lovely :)

And I would LOVE to discuss the summer of 1916 in Ireland with you!!!! Seriously...I took more pics of Kilmainham Gaol than I did the Louvre. I also have a framed copy of the Irish Declaration of Independence on my wall. (My Master's is in Political Science...and the focus of my studies is Political Violence (revolutions, insurgencies, and terrorism...and I am Irish descent). What is your Master's thesis on???

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Cool!!

I have not been to Kilmainham Goal! (TRAGEDY!)

My Master's thesis is on "Public Opinion in the Aftermath of the Easter Rising"! It's all about how public opinion shifted during the summer of 1916 from disagreeing with the insurrection to raising the rebels to the status of national heroes and getting behind their cause. I basically looked at newspapers and police reports to determine WHY and HOW the shift took place. It's REALLY INTERESTING and has everything to do with the British Government's reaction to the Rising.

My prof wanted me to get it published, and I did the extra research required to expand it enough for publication - but then I never got around to rewriting and then my prof died and yeah...still, at least I have the original thesis. :)

[lethiaw77.livejournal.com]

It was wonderful!!!! We did a political tour of Paris and Ireland (Belfast and Dublin). It was the most amazing experience. Kilmainham Gaol has the cells labeled as to which prisoners were kept in them (and the years in some cases...Eamon de Valera). It was just amazing.

Your thesis sounds fascinating seriously. It doesn't surprise me the British response was a trigger for shifting support to the rebels. The Brits are notorious for making a bigger mess than they started with LOL. You should consider getting it published anyways. Submit it to some journals, the worst that can happen is they say no. If you want encouragement I'll help as I have gone through the process before.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oooo, cool! If I ever find myself back in Ireland, I will have to check that out. Apparently there's this wicked awesome historical tour of Trinity College that I missed too (though, I did see the Book of Kells and the Library, which at the time was on my MUST DO list).

Thanks! I will keep that in mind! It'd be nice to have someone with experience to help me through the process if I manage to get the thing rewritten - right now it just seems like this monumental impossible task, because I don't know what I'm doing and my one guide is no longer with us (he was quite the dude in the world of Irish historians). Also, right now, half of my additional research is in a box on the other side of the country. The problem is that my master's thesis focused only on May and June, but for a published article, I think it's important to have July and August in there too.

Maybe I'll be able to find my papers if I have a look for them this summer...the thesis has been waiting for 5 years to be published, one more won't hurt it. :P

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

Jeez... there was a *lot* of bad press following the Rising- well done, you, for trawling through it all! Didja at least get to visit as part of the research? :D

It's taught here (here being the R.O.I, btw) as the support resulting from the reactions of the British Government at the time- the deaths of the signatories especially. Plus, you gotta love an underdog, right? After 700 years, they really should have had a better handle on what was going to upset the apple tarts. ;)

Also, congrats on your beautiful books! They look wonderful and you are completely deserving of it! :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think in the end, I read three national newspapers, all with their own political leanings of course. Which was why initially I only made it through May and June :P

It wasn't just the death of the signatories - actually, a lot of the public supported their deaths...some, supported their deaths just until the communist among them was killed and then they were like "well, that's enough then" - my argument was that the thing that REALLY caused the shift, was when Britain decided to mass arrest people who had nothing to do with the insurrection, and then they escalated the voting on Home Rule - which, of course, just brought all the issues that the Rising was about to the forefront. So, you suddenly had all these people placed together in jails away from their homes and families for crimes they didn't commit and all the main issues talked about in the major newspapers...and well, yeah, it's no wonder that people started getting frustrated and thought "maybe those dead guys had the right idea - now I'm kind of upset that they're dead." :P

Anyway, THANKS! I'll stop talking about your fine nation's history now. :P

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

I love that way of putting it- "maybe those dead guys had the right idea - now I'm kind of upset that they're dead." Sounds about right. Lol.

There was a massive resentment, too, that emerged after the Rising and with the punishment of innocents. Because of Redmond's support for the Volunteers to join the British Army and fight in WW1, there were thousands of families left thinking 'We've sent our boys off to fight for England and this is what we're being treated like in return'. Of course, that resentment turned inward later, but I think it set the tone for post-Rising behaviour.

It's an interesting case, really- an early example of how the media affects public opinion and how easily the public mood can change. If there had been less coverage, or less agenda-driven coverage, the Rising may have had a much lesser affect.

I could talk about this stuff forever- but I won't bore you! My own degree doesn't get dusted off often enough, obviously, or I'd have shut up already! Anyway. If you decide you want to get back working on it, let me know if there's anything I can do from this side of the pond to help you out. :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting case, really- an early example of how the media affects public opinion and how easily the public mood can change. If there had been less coverage, or less agenda-driven coverage, the Rising may have had a much lesser affect.

Exactly! I find it endlessly fascinating. In cases like these, it's not the events that drive history, but rather the reactions to them. The Rising could have faded into obscurity - become an "unfortunate incident that caused damage to some public buildings in Dublin" - instead, it has become an important bit of narrative in the story of Ireland.

My degree is quite dusty too! I really appreciate the offer to help, and I will certainly keep it in mind if I decide to start working on the thesis again :)

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

What I always used to find the most upsetting about it was that, if the Rising hadn't happened/had just faded into obscurity, then Ireland would have gotten Home Rule on the far side of WW1 anyway- it could have been a wonderful time for democracy and an example of how to get what you want without killing people to do it. (Well, ya know, if you ignore the preceding few hundred years. Lol.)

Of course, it wouldn't have been the same thing, so there's that. It took me a long time to reconcile to the idea that sometimes, maybe we do need to pay for these things in blood. Maybe there does need to be struggle and pain before there can be freedom? Dunno. Waxing philosophical now. :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's hard to say which is better really - I mean, Canada went the non-violent negotiation route...it took us years longer, and technically the queen is STILL official head of our country...so, once could argue that we still haven't actually managed what the R.O.I. managed. Mind you, one could also point out that there isn't that big of a desire in Canada to be completely separate, and THAT's the only reason we haven't done it.

For me, the great useless blood shedding of Irish history is the civil war. I don't know how they teach it in schools over there...but more people died in the Civil war than the War for Independence, and really, all the Civil war was about was TIMING. Both sides actually wanted the same thing, they just disagreed on when/how they should get it. I mean, really...you'd think it may have been better to talk that stuff out with words not guns. :P

But I digress...

It's always hard to say if another course of action may have been better - mainly, because there's no way we could ever know for sure. Home Rule could have brought it's own problems that eventually led to a bloody conflict as well...there's just no way of knowing.

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

I think the Civil War here was the inevitable result of fanaticism- there's no arguing with a fanatic; no such thing as reason when people are so committed to a cause. It was a futile and terrible waste of people and left a legacy of tremendous bitterness at a time when the Republic should have been building itself as a state.

Civil War is always a waste, IMO. Anger and frustration turned inwards. Friends fighting friends and brother against brother- that leaves a scar that isn't easily exorcised. It's not hidden very deeply, either. Still only a few generations ago.

I think what saddens me most about it is that if, for example, the Rising hadn't happened and we'd won Home Rule instead, we would never have lost the leaders that we did. There were some seriously clever people killed during those years that would have been such an asset to the country's development. So much potential lost... Gah. It just annoys me! (On the other hand, we wouldn't have been the first country in Europe to give women the vote (IIRC) and have a female Minister in cabinet... I'd like to think that played a small part, somewhere, in a whole 'nother movement)

I'll put away my soapbox now and shut up. :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything! Well said. I'm very lucky to live in a country that's never had a civil war...we might have other problems, but at least we've avoided that one.

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

Ah, Canada's too young to have enough history for a civil war yet. Though I was party to a conversation a few days ago where it was decided that if the dollar collapses, the US might head for civil war- your lot might get dragged into that one, simply due to proximity.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh man, yeah...let me tell you, sitting so close to that country only makes me nervous. They're heading towards SOMETHING, and right now Canada does not have the best government to deal with whatever that something might be.

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's a government in the world prepared to deal with the crap that could start flying over there, or the fallout from it.

So, yeah. Big fences? Guard dogs? Adopt Alaska?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, they can keep Alaska :P

I'll make my way back to Ontario and hide out at my cottage until it all blows over. I've got satellite internet there. ;)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Didja at least get to visit as part of the research?

I forgot to answer this question!

No :(

I did my entire research from microfilm in Canada. I WISH I had been able to go to Ireland - even if it was just to read microfilm there instead. I've been to Ireland for pleasure twice, but that's it. Maybe if i had gone on to do a PhD, I'd have ended up there - but sadly, that didn't happen, and at this point, I don't really think it'll ever happen.

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

Aw, that is a pity. I imagine it'd be a completely different experience to wander around Dublin, tracking events and people. But everything will still be there for whenever you manage it. There'll be a massive commemoration ceremony in 2016- plan your next visit for then! Lots to do Easter week that year. Lol.

Also, microfilm is hateful. Well, for me anyway. :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I'm sure I could scrounge up enough money to get to Ireland in 2016 - who knows, maybe by then I'll be living back on the eastern seaboard again and the flight will be cheaper ;)

Man, microfilm...back when I was doing my MA, I had to read microfilm for my paper, and I also was working as a research assistant for a professor who wanted me to spend 10 hours a week reading microfilm. :P I basically lived in the basement of the library for a year.

Now I have a job that VERY occasionally, forces me to read microfilm...there is no escape!

[onechairleft.livejournal.com]

Easter 2016 is where it's at for historians- never know, could get lucky and get involved in some commemorative riots, too. (Mostly a joke, but who knows?!)

I spent one very, uh, memorable week fighting (well, I fought and it sat there) with a microfilm machine. It won. I remain bitter and beaten.

[dairygirl.livejournal.com]

I love that your stories have been bound and in such a nice format (with a great font choice). I'm sad that you had to split up your book collection. I have three bookshelves and counting filled with all mine (and that's after a [rather small] culling). You should take great pride in what you wrote.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

One of these days I'll get my life together and have all my possessions in one place again. I have a gorgeous set of bookshelves in Ontario too. :)

[firebanshee.livejournal.com]

Congratulations your books are beautiful.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[mymuseandi.livejournal.com]

Very very very pretty. I'm thrilled for you!

May the new year bring more such goodies from fandom all over!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I wish the same for you :)

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Way cool!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree!

[risenshine22.livejournal.com]

as a librarian I totally want my own book too, that's so cool! Congrats!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thanks!! :)

[franztastisch]

*FLAILS*

Remember that time I said that sentra04 had made a dream of mine come true by putting something I'd drawn on the title page of a book? WELL THIS STILL STANDS. Despite the fact that this is clearly Your Thing, I am also quietly pleased with myself. :P (Which is silly because this is clearly 50% your awesome and 50% her awesome and 1% my... awesome. And I know that that's 101%. I AM THE SUPERFLUOUS PER CENT. AND I AM STILL PLEASED.) Where is she? I want to tell her she's awesome.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Your awesome makes both our awesomes even more awesome, so don't sell yourself short!

sentra04 is a magical lurking fairy that grants wishes - so I'm sure she will eventually discover that you think that she's awesome whether you directly tell her or not... :)

[franztastisch]

Well, that's very kind of you to say. :)

*deep breath* Well, here goes.

HEY sentra04! YOU'RE AWESOME AND HAVE UNWITTINGLY MADE ONE OF MY DREAMS COME TRUE! *MASSIVE HUG*

(Anfrican proverb: if you're going to eat a frog, eat a big one. This is me, eating a big frog. Without stalking the frog first... this is getting away from me now.)

Anyway! Happy new year! *hugs*

[4422shini.livejournal.com]

dude, that's so cool. the covers look awesome!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I know! They are super awesome. I think they both suit the stories contained within very well too. :)

[mattheal.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! They look great! That must be so cool to look at your book shelf and see your own bound works on it. And yes! please more crossovers!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And yes, it is pretty damn cool to have my own books on the shelf - even if I'm the only one that has them ;)