Yay! Fic Awards!

[liz_marcs]

I've been running myself crazy for the past two months, so I was totally unaware that the White Knight Awards had been announced.

Congrats to all the winners!

I pulled in 1 win and 2 runner-ups myself:

• Winner: Last Train Leaving Wonderland for the Bad-Ass Vamp Award
  
• Runner-Up: Behold, Little Padawan! (aka Five Adventures Xander Harris Never Had Wrapped in One True Christmas Story) for the Sometimes I Shouldn't Say Words Award
  
• Runner-Up: The Last Tin Soldier for Unfinished Fic
  

*glares at last horrible chapter on The Last Tin Soldier*

Honestly, the stupid thing just refuses to be good. I'm not entirely sure why it won't come together. It will. Someday. Probably after everyone else has forgotten it.

Finally, a big thanks to mara_sho for pulling this together again this year and for making the shiny awards.

Comments

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the well-deserved awards - but I'm utterly flabbergasted that 'The Last Tin Soldier' didn't win Best Unfinished Fic. I couldn't believe that anything could possibly have beaten it, except maybe shadowcast's 'That Good Night' if the judges preferred Slash to Gen, and so I went to take a look at the winner expecting it to be truly sublime if it had beaten you. I was appalled. Spike's 'voice' was so hideously wrong that I simply couldn't read very far. He uses Yorkshire slang in the very first sentence, which is is wrong as if someone was writing you and they had you using "y'all". You were robbed.

[mara-sho.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I was shocked myself at this one, not to denigrate the winner at all, but Liz's fic is awesome. (Something I've been remiss at saying to the author - sorry Liz! I promise I'll make up for it when the last chapter's complete!) The point I started to make is that the WKA works on popular vote at the moment, although I have been contemplating having a 'judged' round mid-year. The problem with that is finding enough reliable judges to ensure a well-rounded and fair result.

I'm definitely considering it though - so watch this space! (Well, maybe not *this* space since it's not my journal, but if I go ahead with it I'll announce it all over LJ!

Yet, I'm surprised by the award

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

And yet, I'm surprised that "The Last Tin Soldier" did as well as it did in the WKA, which only goes to show...

And the reason why I'm surprised isn't because I don't think the story is good. I think I'm surprised because those opening paragraphs are awkward reading. They're supposed to be awkward, but if awkward rubs you the wrong way, I figure back-buttons will be quickly mashed and people will not read through. I figure I lose a lot of people before Spike makes an appearance about half-way through the first part.

The other issue (and God I hate to say this), is because some people may have started reading it expecting slash. Then they're half-way through it and they realize that, no, it's gen. I've had a couple of people who felt they were "duped" into reading gen and weren't entirely happy about it, despite the fact the header said the story was gen in big bold letters. I haven't had a whole lot of people complain about it (I can count the number on one hand...maybe 3 or 4), but I figure it wouldn't shock me if more than that was annoyed by it.

Which is to say...I'm surprised and pleased by the runner-up placing. I honestly didn't think "The Last Tin Soldier" would win or place for anything, and that's the truth.

Re: Yet, I'm surprised by the award

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

It's awkward only in the same way as 'Flowers for Algernon' is awkward - and that's one of the all-time classic SF stories.

Re: Yet, I'm surprised by the award

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Then they're half-way through it and they realize that, no, it's gen. I've had a couple of people who felt they were "duped" into reading gen and weren't entirely happy about it

Most people who think they're reading Slash aren't really reading Slash at all; they're reading Het with the female character given a male name and some genderswap surgery. Very, very, few female writers can write convincing male characters in a same-sex relationship, they just write them as if they are female.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

As I said to mara_sho below, I'm actually surprised it did as well as did. *grins*

In any case, I have you to thank for letting me know the WKAs had been awarded (your feedback to Last Train Leaving Wonderland). I'm so far behind due to the various minor health things with the fam (not to mention my dad's knee replacement surgery) that I've been literally running around like a headless chicken.

I am never, ever, ever going to catch-up Internet-wise at this point. Hopefully now that my dad's home my life will calm down. (*snort* Yeah. Right.)

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Well deserved, all of them.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[lynnenne]

Congratulations!

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Notice that two out of three stories are from the Lynnevitational, right?

I should say thank you for that. :-)

[lynnenne]

Heee. I did notice that, but I wasn't about to hog all the credit. ;)

[mara-sho.livejournal.com]

Oh! And Congrats Liz - so well deserved!

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Hey! Thank you! And thank you for running it.

I apologize for being non-grata about the WKA, but it appears the Mercury's in perpetual retrograde when it comes to my relatives. Nothing serious. Just minor illnesses and one case of major surgery (replacement knee). While I'm glad I can help out, some days...

Well, I've been a bit distracted. :-)

Anyway, just FYI...I've been going in to INAP to check submissions a couple of times a week, mostly because I've completely lost track of the schedule. I haven't seen anything come in, or at least I haven't come across anything that needed to be approved.

I thought I'd let you know that I was still in there, even if I'm not exactly visible. :-)

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

Many congratulations!

[tessarin.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, sorry to hear that you're stuck on the last chapter of tin soldier.

Pleased Wonderland won.:-)

[searingidolatry.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the wins, don't expect anyone to forget LTS anytime soon though....

[ponders-life.livejournal.com]

Woohoo -- congratulations!!!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Go you!