atlinmerrick:

How To Set Yourself On Fire

I’ve written more
about Sherlock Holmes than the man who created him.

Books, fan
fiction, articles, essays; more than three quarter of a million words.

The thing is, I
almost stopped so many times. Because I write professionally, people pay me to
write about flu jabs and saving for retirement but they didn’t pay me to write
hundreds of thousands of words of Sherlock fan fiction.

So I tried
quitting. Tried to focus on ‘real’ writing. Yet every time I turned in an
article on feral cats or baby colic, I’d start another chapter on another fic,
muttering I shouldn’t be doing this, this
isn’t paying the bills. I was always promising myself I’d quit.

I didn’t though,
and there was a reason for that: Writing fic about men in love and lust made me
happy. Giddy happy. Excited happy. Run round the room fist-bumping myself
happy.

Yet, because I’m
duller than the average deducing bear, I still tried to stop. Each time I did,
I’d grouse and grumble, and each time my friend Tony would encourage me to keep
going.

And yet, like
some sort of over-dramatic consulting detective, I’d lament: “But fan
fiction doesn’t earn me a living!”

Finally, Tony
responded with the two best words in the history of best words.

“So
what?”

*Blink* *Blink* So…………what?

Oh my. Oh my yes.

So the hell what?

Sure, maybe being
part of a fandom like Star Wars or Sherlock or Supernatural, maybe having a passion for writing fan fiction or
drawing fan art isn’t bringing a pay check. Well generally neither does petting
a kitten, going to the cinema, or having sex, and yet we manage to do and
delight in all of these things, finding fulfillment and joy.

That’s what
Tony’s so what taught me. Joy is
enough. Finding joy in a fandom is enough.
Yet beyond that, being part of a fandom, drawing, writing, meeting people,
well these things give so. many. other. things.

A community. A
place to share ideas. A place to find new ones. A place to fan the flames of
your passion.

And that passion,
oh it’s powerful. With passion you write more, draw more, edit more fan vids.
And when that happens, something beautiful happens.

You get better.
Then better still.

If you’re me you
write even more stories and then you finally, finally, finally pitch a Sherlock Holmes book to a publisher.

And get accepted.

Without fic and
the Sherlock fandom, without years of encouragement from readers and fellow
writers, I might not have bestirred my damn butt from its metaphorical chair
and approached that publisher. I’d already pitched books to publishers you see
and like every writer I had a stack of rejections.

Then Jayantika
Ganguly, a Sherlockian friend, one day said to me, “I’d like to introduce
you to someone. You should pitch something to him. He publishes Sherlock Holmes
books.”

So, because
people loved my AO3 fic Well Met,
I pitched the publisher a book based on that concept. The Day They Met came out in 2015, The Night They Met was published a year later, both books inspired by that fan fiction.

Writing and
reading fic changes things. It changes you. It has power.

Let it power you.

This is an abridged version of
an article written originally for Powers of
Expression. Wendy C Fries also writes as Atlin Merrick.

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As of right now I have a room to myself at 221B con, but if someone I know has a really great set of ear plug/noise cancelling headphones and wants to share a room, let me know. (Fair warning: I snore like a bear hibernating.)

nonbinarypastels:

if you can’t correct your friends when they’re wrong about something because you’re afraid they’ll lash out at your or otherwise hurt you then they’re not your friends.

if you can’t tell your friends when they’re being cruel to other people because you’re afraid they’re going to be cruel to you then they’re not your friends.

if your friendship with someone depends on always agreeing with them, always complying with what they want, and treating them as though they’re incapable of ever doing anything wrong or else they’ll turn on you and attack you (whether verbally or physically) then that is not a friendship and they are not your friends.

animatedamerican:

havent-the-faintest:

littlepinkbeast:

littlepinkbeast:

nehirose:

animatedamerican:

dialmformara:

agitatedtortoise:

animatedamerican:

so tonight I’m at synagogue, listening to the Purim Night reading of the Book of Esther, like you do

and near the end of this chapter my brain presents me with the following:

nooooo ooooone plots like Haman
calls the shots like Haman
plans a genocide by casting lots like Haman

(It only works with the Hebrew pronunciation of Haman, which, like Gaston, is accented on the second syllable.)

By the time we get home my brain has added:

for there’s none so well-favored and kingly
yes, we all can be certain of that
he’s so rich that his pockets are jingly
and he looks really sharp in a three-cornered hat

*face in hands*

Petition to sing this every year at Purim.

I shared this with my dad, and he added:

No one’s spruce as Haman,
Nor abstruse as Haman;
No one’s half as good tying a noose as Haman!
He’ll use gallows in all of his decorating!
No one else hangs as well as Haman!

niiiiice

i know several people who will definitely appreciate this.

this is beautiful

oh wait

When I was a lad I hatched four dozen plots
Every morning, to raise myself high…
And now that I’m grown I hatch five dozen plots
So all those who oppose me shall die!

Oy, what a goy, that Haman!

*SPLUTTERS*

instructor144:

thegingerpowers:

I’m okay…You’re okay

Are you ashamed to crawl to him because your belly hangs and your tits sway? Do you prefer online LDRs because if she sees your small stature in real life she won’t respond to your authority? Do your ribs show so distinctly that you’re always dreading the first comment about eating something so you’ll be healthy?

Too fat. Too short. Too skinny. Too loud. Too smart. Too hairy. Too old. Not enough money. Not enough experience. In a wheel chair. Lost a limb. A basket case with enough luggage to open a store.

Stop. Just stop.

You are you. And whoever that is you are a unique addition to the world. There is no other exactly like you which makes you a rare prize. And in this world there are those who would give anything to possess that prize.

Be proud of you. Love you. Don’t obsess over those who don’t value your brand of awesomeness. But remember to be open and accepting of those who do. If Tumblr teaches you nothing else it should be clear that there is a ying to every yang.

Who knows? The person you reblog this from may be yours.

All of this ^^^