I have created an announcement ML for anyone who doesn't have an LJ and wants to be notified when I update my fanfiction.  (Or I suppose even if you do have an LJ but you don't want to watch/friend me.)   The form itself is below, and pretty self-explanatory. ;)

 
E-mail:



 

This ML is hosted on my paid webspace provider (Dreamhost), which I have been using for more than ten years.  It is for announcements only.  That means it won't accept replies from members (or anyone else), which should mean no spam.  (It won't even accept email from my email account; I have to login to Dreamhost and send through their interface.)

While poking around on Ravelry, I found the pattern for Cloud's Advent Children sweater: 

 

As a fan of Cloud, AC/ACC, and knitting, how could I not like this?  I even feel compelled to make one, although I don't know anyone who would wear it. Well, I think kitsune13_tam has cosplayed as Tifa in Cloud's clothing, but clearly she already has a sweater or the cosplay would not have been successful.

Should anyone be interested in checking out the pattern, it can be found here.

Also, if anyone else knits, crochets, plays with string, or otherwise has a ravelry account and would like to friend me, here I am. I spent a fair amount of yesterday uploading my yarn stash and now I feel all organized. 

Finally, I finished the scarf I was working on.  Pictures are uploaded on ravelry or:

http://www.sekiharatae.com/Yarn%20Stash/kasumi-scarf1.jpg
http://www.sekiharatae.com/Yarn%20Stash/kasumi-scarf2.jpg

(Kasumi is the name of the yarn I used.)

Most of what's going on with LJ doesn't directly impact me -- I don't really use the comment preview or subject lines, so the current changes don't bother me much.  Mind you, I'm not particularly sanguine about the upcoming layout changes, but I'm happy to 'wait and see' how it goes.  That said, however, if the bulk of my f-list jumps ship, there's not a lot of point in staying here by myself.  Plus, I'm not terribly impressed with the way staff members are responding to the uproar, and I'm definitely less than happy that my paid account was switched over to auto-renewal unbeknownst to me. 

Given that dreamwidth is currently offering accounts without requiring an invitation, I decided to go ahead and get myself setup.  Livejournal is still, at least for the present, my home (I'm just posting this on Dreamwidth to try out the crossposting feature) but all of my entries are now available on both sites.  I've also granted the same permissions to your open ID accounts -- so if you can read locked entries here, you'll be able to read them on dreamwidth if you login with your livejournal open ID.

Feel free to add me to your circle, or to comment and let me know who you are over there (if you're over there) if you'd like me to add you to mine.

This entry was originally posted at http://sekiharatae.dreamwidth.org/157098.html.

It's embarrassing when you have to go re-read all your research notes to figure out what you were trying to write.

On the other hand, y'all will probably be pleased to know I'm working on the next part of the Gryphon!Kenshin fic.  (I was trying to write Draco, but he's being, well, Draco.)

I decided to give away ten copies of my brother's first book, Kiss at Twilight.  Seven copies have been claimed.  If you'd like one of the remaining three, leave me a comment on the previous post.

Thanks to all for your interest!

ETA:  All ten copies are now gone to good homes.  I hope you all enjoy, and thank you all so much for your interest!

I have decided to give away ten copies of the PDF edition of Kiss at Twilight.  If you are interested, leave a comment here telling me a bit about why.  

Copies will be emailed to the contact listed on your livejournal profile page unless you specify otherwise.

My younger brother has self published two books in a paranormal series. Today I found out that it was being carried by his local Barnes and Noble, and had already sold out.  They were ordering more.  This is so incredibly exciting and squee-worthy.  Everyone in my family is now trying to buy a copy from B&N -- I mean, we could just order it online, but there's something far more... real about actually buying it, in paper, at a major chain.

Sadly, my local B&N doesn't have it.  ~.~

So I'm gonna go order me some paper copies off Amazon.  If anyone else would like to support my brother, that would be fantastic.  (No pressure, mind you. Just... it would be amazingly cool.)  The series is available at Amazon in paperback, and from B&N in nook format.  And, you might be one of the lucky ones who can buy it at the local store (if you do decide to try it, and you do buy it at the store, I'd love to know so we -- the family -- can get an idea of where it's being carried).

My dad tells me that Jay was surprised to find they'd shelved it in the romance section rather than the sci-fi, but he's pretty cool with it.  'As long as they're carrying it and it's selling, it doesn't matter where they shelve it.'  ;)

Links to both Amazon and Barnes and Noble are below:

Kiss at Twilight (book one)
In paperback at Amazon
In nook format at B&N


Aurora's Kiss (book two)
In paperback at Amazon
In nook format at B&N

ETA: The books are also available direct from lulu.com, and the prices appear to be better while also giving Jay a better percentage.  (Ebook is 1.99 vice 3.99; paperback is 11.99 vice 15.99.)  Here's the link to his stuff there.

In a desperate bid to read something I knew I would enjoy, I re-read the Ukiah Oregon series by Wen Spencer this week.  Although I did notice some flaws on this second reading that I'd completely ignored the first time, I still enjoyed it.  Loved it.  Enough so that I turned around and forced the first book on quoth_the_ravyn before gushing at length about the series to laura_josephsen.

During both the re-read and the gushing, I noticed a large number of similarities between the series and FFVII.  The main character, for instance, is very much like Cloud -- real Cloud I mean, not FalseZack!Cloud.  Cloud as he is before crisis, and then again later after he remembers himself.  The parallels are so large that I'd almost be willing to bet that if you love FFVII, you'll at least like Ukiah.

In any event, this realization has led me to the need for still more gushing about all that the two series share (and how awesome that is).

( Cut for large, whopping spoilers )

Thanks to aura_wolf noticing its absence, Yumi's Journal has now also been posted at the new webaddress:

Yumi's Journal