Anyone Out There? Whatcha Reading...?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Pros seems so quiet on lj just at the moment! Is everyone off on holiday, or hunkering down for the winter, or...? Either way, I bet you've been reading Pros fic, online, or on paper, or on a Kindle, or... Right? Cos the lads!

I've just re-read the Adagio series by Sebastian, and liked them all over again - and there are four of them, which makes a lovely loooong fic, too! Fun to think too, that they were written way back in 1983! It's story that's 28 years old! That's something about Pros, isn't it - stories do hold up, because they're set in the past to start with and that's something we love about our lads... (if anything, modernisms knock me out!)

Anyway - what's anyone else reading? Do you have a moment to let us know? Give us something happy to think about at the start of the work week? And how is it for you...? *g*

(Pics from PhotoShoot Snap XV - The One from First Night if you fancy some more inspiration... *g*)

Comments

[lukadreaming.livejournal.com]

I'm wallowing and re-reading Larton for the 30-zillionth time *g*. My favourite lines still make me laugh (the Dagenham girl pipers one is possibly my favourite) . . .

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I would read Larton in an endless loop if I could - I have to stop myself... I read it again not long ago, and I really really want to read it again now... Cos yes, there are lines that make me laugh and lines that make me smile every single time I read them! *sighs happily and wishes for a wallow...*

[murphybabe]

I'm waiting (not very patiently!) for the CD to arrive, and then I shall wallow! I love Sebastian's work too, although some of it makes me sad...

Meanwhile, I have just reread all the Ken Blake et al books, and got a bit frustrated because the lads aren't quite right (a blond Doyle?).

Thanks to Msmoat, I have just read Tarot's Of Tethered Goats and Tigers for the first time ever - how can I have missed it? - and loved it.

I have also been dipping into the Random feature of the Circuit Archive, which throws up some interesting stuff that I might not normally find. I have to confess, I'm not that keen on AU, so the lads as elves doesn't really do it for me.

Also really re-enjoyed LRH Balzer's Scissors, which makes me go "aw..." and Lezlie Conch's Fly on the Wall, which makes me howl with laughter.

A favourite re-read is Kathy Keegan's Coming Home, although it is a bit soppy in places. This is my bad day comfort re-read.

Just in case you're wondering, I don't read all day, but I do speed read, so it can be difficult when people aren't posting new stuff!!!

It will be interesting to see what else people are reading.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I love Tarot's fic, I wish she'd written more!

Heee for the lads as elves - is it completely that the lads as elves don't do it for you, or is it that the lads the way they're usually written as elves don't do it for you? Have you tried Arduinna Finn's An Elf By Any Other Name (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/0/anelf.html) and it's sequel? *g*

I never remember Keegan's Coming Home, and I'm not sure if it's cos I just don't remember it, or cos I couldn't read it cos, as you say, it was a bit soppy for me (or a bit too Jane for me...)

And hah - I remember (and desperately miss!) the days of having so much new Prosfic around that I could just read and read and read... I still re-read an awful lot, but as you say when there's not new stuff being posted it's tricky!

I like hearing about what people are reading too - crossing my fingers for lots of people wandering by and stopping in to tell us!

[murphybabe]

I think it's that I just can't see them as elves. Ever. Or in historical fics either, actually - which is why I haven't read Birdwatcher's... Cornish Ghosts yet.

Also, things have to be well written, which is why I love your fic so much, BSL - keep writing, please!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Fair enough - it actually took me ages to get into AU too, I denied it and denied it and denied it... and now I adore it... *g* But I promise, the Arduinna Finn fic is totally different, and you're in absolute agreement with Bodie... *g*

Also - heeee, you've made me smile very widely - what a lovely thing to say, thank you! *g* And I'll try... *vbg*

[murphybabe]

Ha ha - just read Arduinna Finn and laughed lots! Thanks for the rec. I think these were okay because B 'n D are still the lads, whereas other elf and AU fic tends to make them all noble or unlike how I see them. This was just right, so I could suspend disbelief. Ta ever so!

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

"I'm waiting (not very patiently!) for the CD to arrive"

Oh, you are in for a treat - and you don't have to be too patient: my copy arrived faster than I expected. Compared with the online circuit archive, there's lots of extra stuff under the names of some authors, and lots of completely new (or old) authors who aren't in the online archive.

"I have also been dipping into the Random feature of the Circuit Archive"

It was doing that for about four nights that made me think "I need the CD". Particularly because one I read via the random button haunted me, and I could remember neither name nor author. (I know now, obviously...)

I also can read very fast, and I can promise you there is enough on it to keep you occupied for quite some time. Even if you do scratch all the AUs :)

[murphybabe]

I'm really looking forward to it - I might even try some of the AUs!

Come to think of it, there is one AU I enjoyed - Ellis Ward's Legacy of Temptation. It was a bit hard going at times but the lads are so well written that I could gloss over the demon bits when necessary.

There are some good other recs on this list - thanks to all!

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

It is a bit quiet isn't it? I think maybe it's one of those seasonal things though - kids on holidays, families and friends need more attention... RL can really mess with the fannish glee *g*

I'm into reading long fic at the moment, so I tend to wallow cheerfully in something for a week or so. I've also just read Tarot's Of Tethered Goats and Tigers for the first time, thanks to MsMoat's rec, which was fun. And I've only just finished reading all the Big Bang fic from last year *hangs head in shame*. (What an amazing standard of fabulous stories that has given us - Pros writers are so incredibly talented.) Angelfish's Painted Angels was about the last, and oh dear, I want to marry it and have its babies.

The next unread fic on my list is A Birdwatcher's Guide - no I've never read it, and yes, I'm suitably ashamed of myself *g* But first - more sodding RL stuff to hurdle. *rolls up sleeves and plunges back into the fray*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

And yet sometimes summer seems to be a really busy, chatty time! There's just no second-guessing people on lj, I guess... *g*

I've still not read all last year's Big Bangs - and I should re-read the ones that I did, too... I liked some, but struggled with many others for their Americanisms or characterisation or... I'm getting fussier in my old age! *g*

I can't believe you've not read Birdwatcher's yet! It's so, so gorgeous... put down that RL at once, and concentrate on the important things in life!

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you've not read Birdwatcher's yet! It's so, so gorgeous...

LOL - I just knew you'd tell me off *g* See, this is the joy and bonus of being a slow reader - I get to draw out the pleasure for so much longer. Plus I have a terrible habit of re-reading something I love straight away... *headdesk*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

I´m still procrastinating doing my PBB Art thingis, mainly by pretending I have to convert the eps in another format and not knowing how to play with gimp... and that RL is so demanding right now.
It´s only two more weeks until we leave here for Corse. We plan to stay there almost three weeks, but then I´ll take Asper the Kindle with me....HEEEEE

Currently I´m at the stories starting with "I" at the Circuit Archive, and there I reread "In case of emergency, break rules" by Heliophile, which is one of the bestest stories I´ve got on my looong list of Bestest Stories. Then there was "In for a penny" out of O´Yardleys "Party Spirit Series" which I didn´t read cause I know exactly I would start to read the whole series again, but which I love nonetheless!
And right now it´s "In love alone" by Dana Austin March, which I just started yesterday night. And I´m NOT gonna go there and read more until tonight, cause there´s a lot of stuff that has to be finished until then!

I am looking forward to the Reading Room on thursday, and I know there´s no nead for me to read the story for this week, because I know it. But then, what´s the fun of the Reading Room, if not to reread everything that´s being recced there? *g*

This post is unfair, I wanna go and read NOW!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm sorry - I want to read now too! (Actually I just had lunch, so I did just read now - the rather fab Getting to Know You series, by Ailcia... *g*)

I love that your kindle is called Asper - great name! *g*

I've never gone all the way through Circuit alphabetically - I tend to get stuck at authors whose writing I'm less keen on, and then find myself skipping and skipping and skipping, which is very bad really, as sometimes there are gems in amongst the rest...

I don't remember In Love Alone, but I've always really liked Third Week in October, and Bats at Noon too - I'll have to re-read, thank you! *g*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Oh, never be sorry for getting Pros back on my mind. Mind, they´re never far though. *g*

Uh, "Getting to know you" - I LIKE! (I´m NOT reading it now, I won´t go there, NONONO!!!)

Thanks for liking Asper! Since I got him to be able to read Pros whereever I go, it was the perfect name. Anothert hing to never get them far out of my head...*g*

And I´m reading the stories alphabetically, not the Authors, that way there´s always the chance I forgot that one writer had a bad story, and if the next ones as bad, I´m always able to skip whenever I feel like. And sometimes there´s a bad fic, and I hate the way the lads talk or walk or whatever, but then there´s this ONE sentence, and I have to have this one little part, because it makes the music start in my heart.....oh dear, here goes soppy me...

Two hours later: EVIL you! Evil, evil you! I just reread "The third friday of october" and boy, do I love it! Again! It´s so beautifully sad. So full of love and heartache and WOW!
I´m all shaky and the vac sits there on the carpet abandoned....and all the other stuff I wanted to get done....but I just sooo love that story...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Of course you're reading the stories alphabetically, I knew that when I wrote what I did, and yet I still wrote it - *headdesk* It's a very good idea actually, for just the reason you describe, so maybe I'll give that a go, just in case I've missed anything wonderful... *g*

Also - bwah-ha-ha-haaaa (as they say *g*). Isn't Third Friday in October great? I want to smack her for Americanisms, but it's still a great story - you just feel it, through and through and through... *sighs*

Apparently a friend told my mum once that she didn't see much point in vacuuming, cos the dust just came back, so... you can catch it tomorrow, right? *g*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

The thing about the dust is just so right!
Anyways, after three weeks there´s so much of it, it´s starting to form clouds when we walk through....and I have to work today, too. Poor me! *g*

Anyways, since I´m not able to make much difference between briitish and american english, the americanisms don´t touch me at all. Usually. I did realise that there´s a difference though, during the last year and a half, since I´m reading about the lads. Still there are so many things I can´t distinguish...

I didn´t get around to read "In love alone", I went right to "Bats at noon" - whih was wonderfully unfimiliar, must´ve been one of "my" earlier stories at the Hatstand.

*sighs* with you about "Third Friday in October". Again. Ah...I´m glad I read it! *g*

[murphybabe]

I love Third Week in October, and now have plans to read In Love Alone.

Also, a fantastic short fic is October, by Rowan, which ticked many of my boxes.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

In Love Alone is going to be my reading-in-bed tonight, now! Must look up October again too, cos I remember liking Rowan's stories... *g*

[starlite876.livejournal.com]

I've just discovered a stack of unread "No Holds Barred" so I have been reading #23 and have just finished the story "Wild Oats" by Lois Wellings. The story is not bad. I found the stories in the "No Holds Barred" series can be kind of hit-and-miss. I am now in the middle of reading #6 and is reading the story "Dreams of Reality" by Too Loose.

I have also been re-reading Larton Chronicles, and the Never Far Apart 1 and 2 zines.

I am waiting (very impatiently) for Love Conquers All by POM from Gryphon Press.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think I've read #23... I know what you mean about them being a bit hit and miss, mind... Actually, do you have #20? I think that's the one that lists a story by Lizzie - Both Ways - that's only available in the zine, and probably the only Lizzie story I've not read... if I've not read it - I can't remember! Actually there are a few NHB zines I've not seen, I think... they don't seem to come up second hand very often...

And oh, very oh for re-reading my favourite Larton... *g*

[starlite876.livejournal.com]

Lizzie actually has two articles published in NHB #20: "Both Ways" and "Diplomatic Immunity" — these are poems not stories *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know I knew I remembered something about them - rats! (And thank you! *g*)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I tried reading Kathy Keegan's "Flesh and Steel," but couldn't get interested, so next is a reread of Pamela Rose's "Arabian Nights." I between, I read Sebastian's "The Smallest Room," which I absolutely love.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I tend to struggle with Kathy Keegan too, though I was happy enough to read it when I first found Pros, and even recced Fancy Dancing (which makes me cringe a little now, sadly...) Actually couldn't get interested is a good way of summing up why I struggle with some fics - for some reason I find it hard to get interested in what Keegan has to say about the lads... I wonder why? Arabian Nights is a bit fab though, and definitely good for washing away the taste of lesser fics! Actually Keegan wrote an Arabian Nights too, and it occurs to me that it's still on my to-read list, I just haven't cos it's her...

And ahhh, Sebastian... I do like... I think every one of her stories! Though she does tend to go on about the smaller man, which makes me want to shake her... *g*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I tend to struggle with Kathy Keegan too, though I was happy enough to read it when I first found Pros, and even recced Fancy Dancing (which makes me cringe a little now, sadly...) Actually couldn't get interested is a good way of summing up why I struggle with some fics - for some reason I find it hard to get interested in what Keegan has to say about the lads... I wonder why?

I find that I rarely can see the Lads in her stories. Even in an AU, the characters should be recognizable, be as close to the originals as you can get them. I mean, what's the point if they're not? Then it's just an original story that you're passing off as an AU in that fandom in order to get people to read it. With a lot of her work, that's exactly the case.

Arabian Nights is a bit fab though, and definitely good for washing away the taste of lesser fics!

I seem to recall really liking it the first time. But, as you say, that has a habit of changing! *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I find that I rarely can see the Lads in her stories. Even in an AU, the characters should be recognizable, be as close to the originals as you can get them. I mean, what's the point if they're not? Then it's just an original story that you're passing off as an AU in that fandom in order to get people to read it. With a lot of her work, that's exactly the case.
That rings as totally true to me... I wonder if she thought that consciously (or when she thought that consciously, or if she gradually diverged away from fanfic, and eventually found herself comfortable with writing original fic to the point that she could begin to do that consciously... I wonder how it works for other writers too? There are quite a few who seem to have made the leap - I've just been looking at Fiona Glass' website (Taravan in Pros), and of course Alexandra has published original fic, and... Josh Lanyon went the other way (as far as we know), and of course my favourite Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett... Naomi Novak did it... Hmmn, there must be a list of "fanfic writers turned pro" somewhere...

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I borrowed some zines from a mate because they're not on line and wanted to give them a try. One was good; one was a miss. I'm onto the third one now and it's a very quiet story. :) I liked A Family Affair, didn't care for Bound to Please, and am now reading A Beach to Walk On.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

A Beach to Walk On was my first ever zine, and it's a favourite even now - hope you're liking it! Lizzie's always good, but I know what you mean about Shawn Gedge - I think that might have been one of Jane's aliases, iirc... though I may be calling everyone Jane, these days - pity the other Aussie writers of that period! *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading your Red Nose Day story "One Summer" and enjoyed it very much again. Nice long read, with the lads on vacation together, and of course, it never quite goes as planned, and there are misunderstandings, and girls, donkeys, drugs etc.
Now I'm looking at the long story recs for hutchyandstarsk, and I may just go and re-read "Harlequin Airs", once the wood floor is sanded (with a tiny hand sander, bit by bit, so it may take days and days, but there will have to be breaks!).

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yeay, that makes me happy! Also - I'd forgotten about the donkeys! *g*

Harlequin Airs is gorgeous... *sighs happily*...

Good luck with that sanding - sounds like it's going to need much dedication and rewards midway... *g*

[squeeful.livejournal.com]

Too busyyyyy. (Fuck you, GRE math)

Wait, I was reading something last night; can't remember what though. >_

[squeeful.livejournal.com]

Ah, "Forever True".

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I remember the GRE - good luck!

And Forever True, one of my absolute favourites! (How could you forget that? *g*)

[squeeful.livejournal.com]

DAMN ALL THE EXPONENTS! Add in dyscalculia and it's math I did when I was 14 and oh boy did I faaaaail that section. I breezed through the verbal and it's all I need, but the math section fail embarrasses me. Retaking it if only to prove to myself that I'm not completely stupid at it (and for possible scholarships).

It was late! I fell asleep in the middle! I remembered as soon as I pulled it up again, but I couldn't recall the name. So far, it is great!

I will finish a fic this year, I will I will I will.

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

I have been recommending stories to friends recently, hoping to tempt them to follow me into this place. So I have been re-reading a lot of old favourites and/or stories that I thought would appeal to those friends in particular. I must have gone on about Kitty Fisher's 'Paper Flowers' already, but this week I have been working my way through practically everything else I can find by her. Again. Not to everybody's taste, I suspect, but 'The Alchemist's Measure', 'The Devil's Apprentice' and 'The Chameleon's Dish' are the most recent on the laptop browser history, and 'The Pillory' will be next: I avoid warnings, so this made quite an impression on first reading.

Before that, the history has a lot by Sebastian, and 'Adagio' and friends is (are?) one of them, funnily enough. And most of Georgina Kirrin's Pros stuff, which is on the CD or her own website.

And paper things: Unprofessional Conduct and Roses and Lavenders mostly - I seem to remember foolishly volunteering to do a Reading Room involving a story from one of them, so it is research! - and a selection from the paper circuit, which were fascinating. I can't say I would re-read all of them, but it was worth reading them once.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, blissful Kitty Fisher fic... *sighs happily*

And fab Sebastian fic (despite her penchant for "the smaller man"... *headdesk*)... You must have read Kirrin's Cards stories by now - I think those may be my favourite, though I seem to remember Spring-heel Jack as being rather good too...

And all that research you'll need to do - such a difficult, difficult life, but I suppose someone has to do it... *g*

I must go and read fic now!

[potztausend.livejournal.com]

Some days ago I read "Sunshine after Rain" by Elspeth Leigh, and it's both happy and sad...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think I do remember that one as both happy and sad... I must look it up again tomorrow... I like a nice bit of melancholy now and then... *g*

[unoriginal-liz.livejournal.com]

Rereading Kate Maclean's stuff at the moment - gut-wrenchingly amazing :)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, one of my absolute favourite writers! Have you got hold of Redemption yet? If you like her other stories, it'll knock your socks off... *g* Totally recommend it!

[unoriginal-liz.livejournal.com]

Yes - Redemption is utterly fantastic :) I think the only one of hers I don't have is All or Nothing...I went and got the zines because I was so intrigued by the discussions about her...and I was blown away - she's just amazing. Like you said, my socks were completely knocked off :)

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

Just finished Thomas' "Angel in the Dark". What a hard read! Still not sure what to think about it. I wasn't totally happy with the portrayal of the lads, but the more I think about it, the more it seems they could, after twelve years of CI5, turn into those two men. A sad but moving story. I need something happy now! *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I've just loaned out my copy of Angel in the Dark, but it's on my list to re-read when it comes back. I remember it being dark, but I remember it being good too, and I wrote a review of it that said so, so it must have been! That said, I once wrote a review of Kathy Keegan's Fancy Dancing saying how much I liked it, and now I just can't read it...

Happy fic sounds like a very good idea - what're you going to go for?! *g*

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for "Two Lovers" and "Injured Innocents" from Gryphon Press- I'm hoping one of those will fit the bill!

[1moreirene.livejournal.com]

What a hard read!

Yes, intense. Illustrations that enhance that atmosphere and mood too.

Definitely, a happy story is in order as a chaser!