This, That & the Other

I started a new blog today: Seduced by the Muse. I decided it would be nice to have a place to put my writing. And as a bonus, for any of you who might be interested, I put the chapter I wrote for the Leaky Cauldron contest there.  So go check it out if you’re so inclined.

Rehearsal was great last night.   I didn’t sleep well afterward, though. I seem to recall not sleeping well while I was working on the last show. I complained to Izzybella this morning, and she said that she doesn’t sleep well during shows either. Yay! Six weeks of having bags under the bags under my eyes!  I’ll probably crash on Saturday and Sunday, which is what I did during What Happened. I went like mad all week, and then did nothing on the weekends.

Of course, this Saturday night there’s something fun going on. Jane Espenson is going to be in town! Equality Now is sponsoring a showing of Serenity, and Jane Espenson is doing a Q&A. There will be door prizes, music, etc., and Izzybella and I are going. So I really hope I can crash on Saturday so that I’ll have the energy to be up late on Saturday night.

Hmmm. I need chocolate.

Harry Potter and the Awful Dursleys

I don’t write fan fiction. Never have.

That being said, The Leaky Cauldron has a contest running through June 30th, 2007. The challenge is to write a chapter imagining what happens when Harry has his last fateful stay with the horrible Dursleys. The chapter cannot be longer than 2,000 words.

 Here’s my entry.

GOOD-BYE TO PRIVET DRIVE 

Harry had never seen Uncle Vernon speechless before.

Uncle Vernon’s walrus-like moustache quivered with rage. His huge red face resembled nothing so much as an oversized radish—Harry suddenly thought of Luna’s hand-carved radish earrings and had to quickly stifle a laugh—as he sputtered wordlessly. Finally he managed to form some sounds. “You! Them! Out!” He pointed first at Harry, then at Ron and Hermione, and then at the door.  He jabbed his finger again at the door for emphasis.

Harry fought down his anger.  “Uncle Vernon,” he said desperately, “please. You’ve got to let us stay, at least for a week or two. Remember what Professor Dumbledore said!”

“I don’t care what that doddering old fool says. And don’t bother sending him around again, either,” added Uncle Vernon. “I won’t let him in the house again, I can tell you that much.”

“He can’t come around again. He’s dead,” said Harry dully.

“Dumbledore’s dead?” asked Aunt Petunia sharply. “How? What happened?”

Everyone in the room stared at her, shocked.

She flushed.

“He was murdered by Severus Snape,” Harry said deliberately, “on Voldemort’s orders.”

Aunt Petunia paled. “They can stay, Vernon. And I don’t want to hear any more about it.” She turned and walked out of the room, leaving everyone gaping after her.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

I’m not sure about the sweet part, though. The S-project seems to be dying a slow, agonizing death. I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve liked having a specific writing prompt each month, and have particularly enjoyed the prompts Trista provided. But even in those months that I had to wrack my brain and come up with a prompt myself, I liked it. It was good to have a place to go write and write.  And of course I’m not going to kill it. As long as Trista keeps it alive, I’ll keep participating, keep supplying prompts on the months she doesn’t, keep writing, keep hoping others will continue to write, keep hoping that somehow it will be miraculously resuscitated.

But I also don’t have to rely on anyone else. I can make my own writing place. And this is it. Welcome to my world.