Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[nicksgal]

I will actually probably pick Curtain Call.  But that brings up another question:  How do you pick your favorite of your own stories?  Is it the one you consider to be your best work?  Or the one you have the deepest connection to or strongest feelings about?  Broken was my best work at the time I wrote it, but it's not anymore.  It will always have a special place in my heart though.

Deepest connection to/strongest feelings about for sure! The juggernaut that is PBox just also happens to be that and my best work simultaneously, especially as time goes on and I won't leave it alone, lol. Me projecting my opinion on everyone else before hearing otherwise is probably why I figured you would pick Broken, haha. I will work harder to stop doing this.

That being said, that's probably also the reason I keep saying I think I'll try to go back and finish Gobosei, because of the connection and feelings. In my mind, writing is about love, not work. Once it feels like work, it's time to take a break. As long as it always feels like love, then keep on keepin' on.

He has a very cute laugh!  Did you see the video he shared of him reacting to old videos of himself?  https://youtu.be/6QawjXmEeRU  So cute!!!

I don't think I have! But I'm loving this premise and will watch it when we're not knee deep in Iron Chef, haha.

It was a nice touch to remind us that they are demons and not human, thus their sense of smell is magnified.

Aw thanks. It was also fun thinking of Nick's horrified reaction that it was so pungent, since he's a reactor and all, haha. And then it evolved into a cute Nick & Kevin thing later on in the scene where Kevin said he'd teach him if he was interested, but they'd start with something that had fewer ingredients. 

There's moments with those little touches, but there's also moments where I got too busy telling the story that I forgot to mention dumb things like "how can they change clothing quickly if they have wings," which I knew, but never explicitly said. So in the rewrite, I was like, I should probably specifically mention this when it comes up.

In fairness, summaries are hard!  I also try to keep mine intentionally vague, but interesting enough to click on.  The difference between us and the "Sorry, I suck at summaries!" writers is that we put forth the effort to agonize over them and come up with something instead of writing that cop out.  But yeah, at least they're self-aware LOL.  Mine would also be "I suck at brevity" LOL.

I feel like everyone who posts here puts forth the effort to agonize and agonize over lots of things before we post: summaries, titles, whatever.

What's worse, self awareness/laziness or just not noticing? As I'm typing this, I realize that it's probably the people who just start posting the first chapter in the summary box.

There are definitely some of us who do more revising before posting, but that doesn't seem to be the norm.  Then again, I could just be underestimatin g most of the writers who aren't on here talking about writing all the time with us because I don't know what their process is like.  I didn't used to do much revising beyond basic proofreading before posting.  It's only in the last few years since I started hoarding chapters that I started revising more.

Or overestimating the amount of time we all spend agonizing over everything. Just kidding! The limit does not exist! But you're right, it's probably better not to assume anything about other writers unless they specifically say so themselves (which I will do better about, as I mentioned at the beginning). I also didn't do much revising until I got to that point of wanting to edit the early parts of PBox 2.5 years in, but pre-completion.

We should have listened to Mare all those years. She was so wise. Being able to go back and fix things before it's out is the best thing that's ever happened to me. That and being less worried that you'll all catch up to me when I know that six month writer's blocks have been a legitimate reality for me in the past.

Mine had the same type of monitor, but it still had USB ports.  No floppy drive though.  It's about ten years old.  That is why I prefer desktops to laptops for file storage, though, because they last a lot longer.  I've never had a laptop make it more than a few years without having some kind of catastrophic hard drive failure, which is why I'm team Chromebook and Google Drive now.  But it's nice to also have a real computer that I can install programs and store files on.

It was the computer I had in 2000! Ancient! I didn't do much internet things on it, since we never really had internet at my house, so I feel like it would probably still work if I could get it to turn on, at least to get files off of. The graphics were definitely going purple/green when I switched over to my laptop, though.

I think most of my laptops have made it about four years? Google drive was the best thing that could have happened to me. I like having the desk space to use without a computer if needed. When we eventually move, if I'm able to have my own office space, I think I might get more desk space to have a desktop computer, or at least have a computer up and space to use the desk without a computer.

[nicksgal]

Since I've spent more time in my day looking up writing related things on my phone, I get more writing related articles and blog posts in my news section. It's a fun romp.

Here's one I thought worthy of sharing: "How Do You Keep a Novel Alive When It Keeps Trying To Die?"

This part at the end stuck out to me, mainly because I thought "Oh, hi Nick" when reading it (you know, just replace "weeks" with "years"): "If there was ever a time to write a main character with agency, who wants things and keeps trying to get those things no matter what, this is it. That's the kind of character who will keep your novel alive even when you haven't opened your laptop in weeks."

[FrickingKaos]

I have also been trying and failing to come up with discussion topics, but I did find a list of ten questions every fic writer secretly wants to be asked. (https://wyseink.tumblr.com/post/164167799585/10-questions-every-fic-writer-secretly-wants-to-be).  I think these are all meant to be answered about whatever story you answer for #1.


1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Probably Finding Carter.

2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [title of fic]?

The chapter where Nick and Brian dressed in drag as Spice Girls after failing to complete the task during the fraternity rush. It's funny because I made Nick Baby and Brian Sporty and then years later on the 2018 cruise they dressed exactly the same Spice Girls I chose lol

3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

I think the car crash scene just because it was so abrupt and sad.

4. If you could change anything in [title], what would it be?

I don't think I'd change anything if we are being honest. Maybe I wouldn't have done such a drastic time jump at the end of the story, but it worked out well anyway.

5. Did you make an outline for [title]? Did you stick to it?
I never outline. I just let things roll. I do have a general idea of what I want to do and I wing it from there.

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in [title]?
I didn't cut any scenes but the part where they go to Miami for spring break was an add in.

7. Who was your favorite character to write in [title]?

Nick of course. But this was my first story that I did in first person POV. I like to challenge myself.

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
The title came after I wrote the first chapter. I wanted to do a play off of Finding Nemo. It also has a double meaning.

9. Which idea came to you first in [title]?
I always wanted to write a story about Nick being in college.


10. What are some facts readers may not know about [title]?

All of the Disney quotes are actual quotes from Disney movies
Each quote has to do with what happens in each chapter in some way. There's so many Disney references.

The two guys who hang out with Howie all the time, Brock and Gary are named after characters from Pokémon. Also, their fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa (Pikas) is another pokémon reference.

Nick wanting canned cranberry sauce is something I always throw in because it was a thing we had a discussion on here on the AC forum one time. So whenever I mention Christmas or Thanksgiving I make a joke about it.

Peter and Andrew, Nick's kids are named for Andy from Toy Story and Peter Pan. Peter is named because when Nick had his first son he realized it was time for him to grow up. Andrew because Andy in Toy Story grew up. Nick held onto the Disney things because he wasn't ready to grow up and move on from his parents death and at the end the children are kind of symbol of him letting go and maturing.

I made Brian very country in the story because I wanted him and Nick to be opposites, who later find out they have a lot in common.

[RokofAges75]

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Like I said in my last post, I'd probably have to go with Curtain Call.  It's the first novel I wrote that I've found I can read for my own entertainment and actually enjoy, instead of cringing over parts I wish I'd written differently or skimming over boring scenes.  It's the kind of story I would love if someone else had written it, but I'm happy that I'm the one who did.


2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [title of fic]?

It's so hard to pick one favorite scene out of ninety chapters LOL.  My favorite part of the story is the tour, which is like Chapters 25-50, and I loved writing just about every scene in that section - everything except actual concert performance scenes, which I hate writing but were a necessary evil in this one.  I like this part of the story best because it's the perfect blend of hurt-comfort drama and cute comic relief.  From a writing standpoint, if I had to narrow it down, I'd say my favorite of the hurt-comfort scenes was Chapter 42 because it was so dramatic and scary.  My favorite of the cute, fluffy scenes to write was Chapter 36 because I based Cary's dad on my own dad, and it was fun to write him as a character and imagine myself bringing Nick Carter home to meet him.


3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

The last fifteen chapters were pretty brutal, but Chapter 88 in particular was tough... not only from an emotional perspective, but also because of the challenge of trying to realistically write a character's death in present tense from their own point of view.  I'm really happy with how it turned out though.


4. If you could change anything in [title], what would it be?

I have never loved the American Idol storyline at the beginning - even when I was writing it, I didn't like it.  It was just there as a plot device to facilitate Nick finding Cary without resorting to even cheesier teenybopper fanfic tropes like having him discover her at open-mic night at the bar or in the front row of one of his shows or something.  It still feels kinda cheesy though, so if I could change anything, I would come up with a better but still believable scenario.  The first five chapters definitely feel like the beginning of a teenybopper fanfic, which is why I posted them all at once and hoped readers who are like me would stick with it long enough to get hooked by how I ended Chapter 5.  I don't know that I would have made it that far without knowing where it was going LOL.


5. Did you make an outline for [title]? Did you stick to it?

Yes, I had an outline, and yes, I stuck with it, although it evolved as it went.  


6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in [title]?

I don't think I cut out any scenes I actually wrote, and I don't remember going back and adding in entire scenes.  I didn't do that kind of revising with this story.  I only held on to chapters for maybe a week or so before posting them, so I didn't really have time for that.  I do know at one point I was planning for (spoiler) [spoiler]Nick to undergo more treatment toward the end because I have the research notes in my outline still, but I decided, as he did, that enough was enough.[/spoiler]


7. Who was your favorite character to write in [title]?

Nick was my favorite character to write about, but Cary was my favorite character to write as (since the story alternates between their points of view).  Her parts were definitely easier to write because she was more relatable, and it was fun describing Nick from her perspective.


8. Which came first, the title or the fic?

The idea for the fic came first.  Rose gave me the title during one of our late-night summer chats/brainstorming sessions.  I was torn between calling it "The Show Must Go On" and "On With the Show" (as I listened to Queen's "The Show Must Go On" on repeat) and asked her opinion on which she liked better, and she answered C) None of the above and suggested "Curtain Call" instead, which was way less cheesy sounding.  Thanks, Rose!


9. Which idea came to you first in [title]?

I came up with the basic premise after watching the movie "Funny People."  It was always going to be about Nick taking another singer under his wing so she can help him hide a serious illness under the guise of being his opening act, so I guess that's the first idea I had.  The next part in the planning process was figuring out what the illness was and creating the character of Cary.


10. What are some facts readers may not know about [title]?

Originally I was planning to write the whole story in Cary's point of view, which is why the first five chapters are all in hers.  But once I got that far, I found myself really wanting to read Nick's perspective, so I decided to try writing some chapters from his point of view and see how it went.  From there on, I started switching back and forth between their POVs.  Early on in the story, it changes POVs every five chapters, then at some point starts switching every two, and then finally every chapter toward the end.  I guess that's something else I would try to change if I could - just alternate POVs each chapters from the beginning and keep it consistent.  Lesson learned for future stories written this way.

When I was still in the planning stages of this story, I had two versions outlined - one that took place during the This Is Us tour (more or less in the present, since I started writing it in July 2010 as that tour was going on) and one that took place two years earlier during the Unbreakable tour.  I had a list of all the tour dates and cities for both tours, as well as other real events that happened in the Boys' lives, and I synced that up with the events I had planned for the story and the treatment schedule to see which would work better.  TIU won.  From there, I tried to include as much real life stuff as I could.  I looked at soundcheck videos and forum threads for each show I wrote about so I could include some moments that really happened, like Nick forgetting the lyrics to Panic at one of the soundchecks and singing Shattered in his Michael McDonald voice at another.  That was fun.

[RokofAges75]

I guess that's one way to keep Howie interesting and in the story without falling back on winking. Maybe in my Nick is Brian's guardian angel story, Howie can be the villain, haha.

Yes!  Nick is an angel, and Howie is a devil LOL.

It's a weird feeling, being twenty chapters out but knowing that it's coming to a close. I'm sure twenty chapters sounds like a lot, but anyone reading will see what I mean when it gets to the point I'm at now, it's kind of a turning point in the direction of the rest of the novel.

LOL When you write epically long stories, twenty chapters isn't that much.  I can see how you would be at a turning point that gets you into the last phase of the story that far out.  It's exciting to get close to the climactic part!

Anyway, knowing that, I thought, "Boy wouldn't it be fun if the last line of PNecklace was similar to that idea, where it worked together with the first line of the story, especially because of some of the deeper themes we've been exploring and PNecklace being that for the whole series." So I decided to lean into it hard. That thought may only make sense to Julie since she gets all my best vague spoilers in favor of list assistance since she's not actually reading along, haha. All that being said, the last word of PNecklace is "Nick."

LOL Of course it's "Nick!"  Nick probably insisted upon it, right?  I love that you came up with a last line that related back to the first line of the story.  I love when stories parallel or bookend that way.

[nicksgal]

2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [title of fic]?

The chapter where Nick and Brian dressed in drag as Spice Girls after failing to complete the task during the fraternity rush. It's funny because I made Nick Baby and Brian Sporty and then years later on the 2018 cruise they dressed exactly the same Spice Girls I chose lol

I can confirm that fraternity boys make new members do some funny things; when the new members roll with it, it's the best. I also love that this ended up coming true in real life! I am in awe of y'all predictive abilities, first Mare uses her power for evil, Tracy uses it for Spice Girls, Julie uses it for Christmas albums. (*glances hopefully at PBox and crosses both fingers* Please actually be demons with magic powers.)

5. Did you make an outline for [title]? Did you stick to it?
I never outline. I just let things roll. I do have a general idea of what I want to do and I wing it from there.

It's fun over here on Team "I suck at outlines, lol."

7. Who was your favorite character to write in [title]?

Nick of course. But this was my first story that I did in first person POV. I like to challenge myself.

Do you have an idea of what your next challenge to yourself might be?

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?
The title came after I wrote the first chapter. I wanted to do a play off of Finding Nemo. It also has a double meaning.

10. What are some facts readers may not know about [title]?

All of the Disney quotes are actual quotes from Disney movies
Each quote has to do with what happens in each chapter in some way. There's so many Disney references.

Peter and Andrew, Nick's kids are named for Andy from Toy Story and Peter Pan. Peter is named because when Nick had his first son he realized it was time for him to grow up. Andrew because Andy in Toy Story grew up. Nick held onto the Disney things because he wasn't ready to grow up and move on from his parents death and at the end the children are kind of symbol of him letting go and maturing.

Why did you decide to lean into the Disney with the story? I think it's fun.

The two guys who hang out with Howie all the time, Brock and Gary are named after characters from Pokémon. Also, their fraternity of Phi Beta Kappa (Pikas) is another pokémon reference.

I see your potential weebiness and salute you as a fellow former weeb (as you likely know having read PBox before it's de-weebing edit).

[nicksgal]

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Like I said in my last post, I'd probably have to go with Curtain Call.  It's the first novel I wrote that I've found I can read for my own entertainment and actually enjoy, instead of cringing over parts I wish I'd written differently or skimming over boring scenes.  It's the kind of story I would love if someone else had written it, but I'm happy that I'm the one who did.

How often would you say it warrants a self reread?

2. Which scene was your favorite to write in [title of fic]?

My favorite of the cute, fluffy scenes to write was Chapter 36 because I based Cary's dad on my own dad, and it was fun to write him as a character and imagine myself bringing Nick Carter home to meet him.

This is so cute! Do you often base characters on people in your real life or was this a one time thing?

3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

The last fifteen chapters were pretty brutal, but Chapter 88 in particular was tough... not only from an emotional perspective, but also because of the challenge of trying to realistically write a character's death in present tense from their own point of view.  I'm really happy with how it turned out though.

This sounds super brutal! Is this the one you were talking about that time we talked about character deaths and you said you'd agonized over having the death happen in real time or be told about later?

4. If you could change anything in [title], what would it be?

I have never loved the American Idol storyline at the beginning - even when I was writing it, I didn't like it.  It was just there as a plot device to facilitate Nick finding Cary without resorting to even cheesier teenybopper fanfic tropes like having him discover her at open-mic night at the bar or in the front row of one of his shows or something.  It still feels kinda cheesy though, so if I could change anything, I would come up with a better but still believable scenario.  The first five chapters definitely feel like the beginning of a teenybopper fanfic, which is why I posted them all at once and hoped readers who are like me would stick with it long enough to get hooked by how I ended Chapter 5.  I don't know that I would have made it that far without knowing where it was going LOL.

Of all the teenybopper starts, I feel like open-mic night is the most realistic/feels the least teeny. It's perfectly reasonable that a Backstreet Boy would happen to be at a bar and it happens to be open mic night (and he thinks, "Oh no, I've made a terrible mistake! I don't want to be at an open-mic night!") It is not perfectly reasonable that a girl is front row at a show and he thinks "Yup, she looks like she can sing!" And then he replaces whatever opening act they've had all tour with her. lmao

I would also hope that people who typically read your writing didn't think, "Oh no, Julie has gone teeny. Must stop reading this now."

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in [title]?

I do know at one point I was planning for (spoiler)

You say you don't get backlash, but that spoiler feels like backlash.

8. Which came first, the title or the fic?

The idea for the fic came first.  Rose gave me the title during one of our late-night summer chats/brainstorming sessions.  I was torn between calling it "The Show Must Go On" and "On With the Show" (as I listened to Queen's "The Show Must Go On" on repeat) and asked her opinion on which she liked better, and she answered C) None of the above and suggested "Curtain Call" instead, which was way less cheesy sounding.  Thanks, Rose!

Rose has many great late night ideas. It's her hallmark/calling card.

10. What are some facts readers may not know about [title]?

Originally I was planning to write the whole story in Cary's point of view, which is why the first five chapters are all in hers.  But once I got that far, I found myself really wanting to read Nick's perspective, so I decided to try writing some chapters from his point of view and see how it went.  From there on, I started switching back and forth between their POVs.  Early on in the story, it changes POVs every five chapters, then at some point starts switching every two, and then finally every chapter toward the end.  I guess that's something else I would try to change if I could - just alternate POVs each chapters from the beginning and keep it consistent.  Lesson learned for future stories written this way.

When I was still in the planning stages of this story, I had two versions outlined - one that took place during the This Is Us tour (more or less in the present, since I started writing it in July 2010 as that tour was going on) and one that took place two years earlier during the Unbreakable tour.  I had a list of all the tour dates and cities for both tours, as well as other real events that happened in the Boys' lives, and I synced that up with the events I had planned for the story and the treatment schedule to see which would work better.  TIU won.  From there, I tried to include as much real life stuff as I could.  I looked at soundcheck videos and forum threads for each show I wrote about so I could include some moments that really happened, like Nick forgetting the lyrics to Panic at one of the soundchecks and singing Shattered in his Michael McDonald voice at another.  That was fun.

Was it first person alternating POV or third person alternating POV? I always think it's fun to get a story from two different perspectives.

I love this attention to detail and am always in awe of y'all who plan with real life timelines. True heroes.

[FrickingKaos]

It’s actually funny you say i predicted that, and I have mentioned this one before I think? But I had written a short story that was a parody of the Wizard Of Oz once called Jizzle Of Oz. In the story Nick was the Dorothy character complete with ruby red converse sneakers. Leighanne was Glinda the witch from the North. On one of the cruises they did Wizard of Oz costumes, and to my delight Nick was Dorothy with ruby red sneakers. I was so happy. I had to explain to my roommate why I was so excited. Leighanne ended up being Glinda too which I found hilarious.

I truly do suck at outlines haha.

I challenged myself while writing If I Knew Then, it was my first slash novel. I’m currently challenging myself in writing History by making Kevin the main character, because I’ve never done that before. I’d say my next challenge would be to make a story about Howie or AJ, but I really just cannot connect with Howie long enough to write a decent amount about him. Sorry Howie.  

I don’t remember why I went with the Disney theme but Nicks character was studying to be an animator and that kind of went with it. I just love Disney myself and thought it would be fun to play off all of those things. When I wrote the story I had never set foot in a Disney theme park. I ended up going in 2018 and it was just as amazing as I had described in the story.

I do enjoy anime lol I have a super soft spot for Sailor Moon. However none of my readers caught the Pokémon references during the story and I must admit that I was slightly disappointed lol

[FrickingKaos]

Funny that Dee said that Howie is always evil..in Finding Carter he is a real jerk lmao I made him so mean. My readers were like whyyyyyy

[nicksgal]

Yes!  Nick is an angel, and Howie is a devil LOL.

Now I have to find something important for AJ and Kevin to do, haha.

LOL When you write epically long stories, twenty chapters isn't that much.  I can see how you would be at a turning point that gets you into the last phase of the story that far out.  It's exciting to get close to the climactic part!

It's exciting now. Ask me how I feel once I'm in the thick of it.

LOL Of course it's "Nick!"  Nick probably insisted upon it, right?  I love that you came up with a last line that related back to the first line of the story.  I love when stories parallel or bookend that way.

He just wanted his time in the spotlight, haha. He didn't necessarily insist on it, he just kind of said, "Hey, I'm going to do this thing. Let everyone else react how they will." I felt the paralleling/bookending was appropriate; I also love it so much. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing.

[RokofAges75]

Deepest connection to/strongest feelings about for sure! The juggernaut that is PBox just also happens to be that and my best work simultaneously, especially as time goes on and I won't leave it alone, lol. Me projecting my opinion on everyone else before hearing otherwise is probably why I figured you would pick Broken, haha. I will work harder to stop doing this.

That being said, that's probably also the reason I keep saying I think I'll try to go back and finish Gobosei, because of the connection and feelings. In my mind, writing is about love, not work. Once it feels like work, it's time to take a break. As long as it always feels like love, then keep on keepin' on.

For me it's a bit of both.  I love Broken and BMS and will always look back at them with a sense of pride, but I also see the flaws and the mistakes I've learned from along the way.  I've finished like 7 novels since that are all better written, but Curtain Call is the only one that is comparable in terms of my emotional attachment to it.  I loved writing that story the same way I loved writing Broken/BMS, and it's a more enjoyable read because there aren't as many cringey moments as in Broken.

The connection and feelings you have for a story are really important though.  I think that is what's missing for me with Guilty Roads and why I can't seem to get back to writing it, even though I know exactly what to write next.  It's not writer's block so much as just a lack of passion.  I like what exists of the story; I just don't really care enough to keep writing it.  But I care just enough to not say I quit either; I keep hoping that someday I get back the passion I must have had for it in the beginning, before the idea for Curtain Call came along and ruined it LOL.  I hope you're able to do the same with Gobosei.  If you still feel passionate about it, it's worth going back to and at least trying to finish.

I feel like everyone who posts here puts forth the effort to agonize and agonize over lots of things before we post: summaries, titles, whatever.

What's worse, self awareness/laziness or just not noticing? As I'm typing this, I realize that it's probably the people who just start posting the first chapter in the summary box.

LOL Yes, I agree.  I'm pretty sure I spent well over an hour answering those questions about my favorite story.

I think laziness is worse than lack of self-awareness.  If you know you suck at something, why not try to get better at it?  You'll never improve if you don't at least try.  A bad summary is better than "Sorry, I suck at summaries!"  I would also rather see a blank box or just an appropriately-sized banner than "Sorry, I suck at summaries!"  If the title and/or banner or captivating enough, I might still click on the story.

We should have listened to Mare all those years. She was so wise. Being able to go back and fix things before it's out is the best thing that's ever happened to me. That and being less worried that you'll all catch up to me when I know that six month writer's blocks have been a legitimate reality for me in the past.

Yes, we should have!  But hanging on to chapters for so long takes a level of self-control I don't think I had back in the day LOL.  Maybe it comes with maturity.  Or maybe it's easier now that the fanfic corner of the BSB fandom has shrunk.  I don't usually have readers begging me for updates anymore, and there's not much competition from other sites updating more often, so I feel like it's okay to go weeks or months without updating while I hoard chapters.  The loyal readers I do have left know I'll keep them in the loop and come back eventually with a new story, which I will then be able to update consistently.

It was the computer I had in 2000! Ancient! I didn't do much internet things on it, since we never really had internet at my house, so I feel like it would probably still work if I could get it to turn on, at least to get files off of. The graphics were definitely going purple/green when I switched over to my laptop, though.

I think most of my laptops have made it about four years? Google drive was the best thing that could have happened to me. I like having the desk space to use without a computer if needed. When we eventually move, if I'm able to have my own office space, I think I might get more desk space to have a desktop computer, or at least have a computer up and space to use the desk without a computer.

Oh wow, that is ancient!!  Yeah, I dunno if USB was even a thing in 2000 LOL.  I definitely don't still have any computers that old.  I actually just got rid of some old CD-roms from the 90s that I had saved all these years for some reason, even though they probably wouldn't even work on a modern computer.  SimAnt... Nickelodeon Director's Lab... Encarta '95 LOL.  Stuff I'd had since I was like 10.  I am a low-key hoarder!  I do still have a box of floppy disks that have old BSB photos, fanfics, and files from my old Microsoft Word site on them.  It's all stuff I have backed up elsewhere, but I just can't bring myself to throw them away, even though I haven't had a floppy drive to put them in for years.

My new computer is an all-in-one, so it just looks like a monitor - no tower needed, which freed up a lot of desk space for me.  Everything is wireless except for the power cord, so it could technically even be portable if I wanted to carry it to another room to write (but that's what my Chromebook is for).  Coming from a bulky ten-year-old desktop, I was like, "Wow... technology has come a long way!"

[nicksgal]

It’s actually funny you say i predicted that, and I have mentioned this one before I think? But I had written a short story that was a parody of the Wizard Of Oz once called Jizzle Of Oz. In the story Nick was the Dorothy character complete with ruby red converse sneakers. Leighanne was Glinda the witch from the North. On one of the cruises they did Wizard of Oz costumes, and to my delight Nick was Dorothy with ruby red sneakers. I was so happy. I had to explain to my roommate why I was so excited. Leighanne ended up being Glinda too which I found hilarious.

You're a wizard, Tracy!  

I challenged myself while writing If I Knew Then, it was my first slash novel. I’m currently challenging myself in writing History by making Kevin the main character, because I’ve never done that before. I’d say my next challenge would be to make a story about Howie or AJ, but I really just cannot connect with Howie long enough to write a decent amount about him. Sorry Howie.  

I hear that someone asked in the thread earlier about when there would be a Howie trend... Perhaps you can be the trendsetter.

I don’t remember why I went with the Disney theme but Nicks character was studying to be an animator and that kind of went with it. I just love Disney myself and thought it would be fun to play off all of those things. When I wrote the story I had never set foot in a Disney theme park. I ended up going in 2018 and it was just as amazing as I had described in the story.

Disney is a lot of fun! Was it World or Land? Favorite ride?

I do enjoy anime lol I have a super soft spot for Sailor Moon. However none of my readers caught the Pokémon references during the story and I must admit that I was slightly disappointed lol

I see and acknowledge your "writing fanfic by moonlight." I also have a soft spot for the senshi (again, as you know, having read PBox). You can probably guess exactly what manga I was really into in 2005 based on both the basis of the setting and the generalization of the main characters of PBox, haha.

It's always disappointing when you put in a reference in a story and no one catches it, isn't it?

[nicksgal]

Funny that Dee said that Howie is always evil..in Finding Carter he is a real jerk lmao I made him so mean. My readers were like whyyyyyy

Yo, someone has to be the jerk and Howie is the one you would least expect! It's a twist!

[nicksgal]

How productive is everyone with a few cocktails?
Depends? I've had many less cocktails while writing on weekends in 2021 than I did in 2020. A White Claw or two wasn't too bad when the mood struck; more than two was dicey.

This chatty forum coupled with two moscow mules destroyed my motivation to write this evening, in case anyone was wondering!

[RokofAges75]

The chapter where Nick and Brian dressed in drag as Spice Girls after failing to complete the task during the fraternity rush. It's funny because I made Nick Baby and Brian Sporty and then years later on the 2018 cruise they dressed exactly the same Spice Girls I chose lol

It's fun when life imitates art this way!  But of course Nick would be Baby and Brian would be Sporty.  I can't imagine them dressing up as different Spice Girls.  It's so funny that they even did that on the cruise!

All of the Disney quotes are actual quotes from Disney movies
Each quote has to do with what happens in each chapter in some way. There's so many Disney references.

It's fun to make references like that to other fandoms or pieces of pop culture.  I did the same kind of thing in Secrets of the Heart with Beatles references.  I'm not a Beatles fan, but my sister is, and I based the character Jori on her.  I named most of the minor characters after Beatles lyrics.  Has anyone else had a theme like this for one of their stories?

Nick wanting canned cranberry sauce is something I always throw in because it was a thing we had a discussion on here on the AC forum one time. So whenever I mention Christmas or Thanksgiving I make a joke about it.

I remember the canned cranberry sauce discussion! LOL  I love inside jokes like this in stories too.