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  <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed</id>
  <title>Briar Reed</title>
  <subtitle>Briar Reed</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>Briar Reed</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2008-08-13T22:42:27Z</updated>
  <lj:journal userid="12239585" username="briar_reed" type="personal"/>
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  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:5055</id>
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    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-08-13T18:32:00</title>
    <published>2008-08-13T22:42:27Z</published>
    <updated>2008-08-13T22:42:27Z</updated>
    <content type="html">Hooray!  At last, Bitonality has its website.  The "comics" that are there were only posted to test the working of the ComicPress script, and will come down shortly, but I think nearly everything else is set up as it should be.  I am well beyond ecstatic, as I think it looks great for all the work I've put in.  You can find it at: www.bitonalitycomic.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, in the way of milestones, between the actual story and the outline for Bitonality, I've written well over 10,000 words now.  Considering that only takes the story into the end of September and the outline into late Januaray/early February, it proves that there's still a *lot* left to do, but it's a wonderful milestone to have reached.  My goal before the comic launches is to get the story itself up over 10,000 words, which I'm hoping shouldn't be too terribly much longer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bands are named, birthdates and other stats worked out, and everything still seems to be running almost too smoothly.  Hopefully, once we begin posting in September (or as soon as I finish this short story obligation for elsewhere, whichever comes first) I'll be able to get to work on one of my other numerous projects.  So many plans, so little time.  But, I do feel like things are steadily coming together.  I just need to remember to try not to force things.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:4648</id>
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    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-07-29T12:53:00</title>
    <published>2008-07-29T17:00:21Z</published>
    <updated>2008-07-29T17:00:21Z</updated>
    <content type="html">July turned out to be an enormously busy month for me, for a variety of reasons.  Unfortunetaly, it seems August will follow in the same vein.  Especially as I'll be working on coding the website for Bitonality.  Possibly starting today, if I settle on client to use for the comic pages.  Right now, I'm heavily leaning toward ComicPress, as I have WordPress experience already.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've commited myself fairly extensively to a number of writing projects this month, which sadly seems to mean that I really shouldn't give LJ writing communities another shot this month.  (Last month, I forgot to check and missed the first challenge completely, hence my lack of participation then.)  I still want to do it though, so I may try it, however unwisely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I suppose that means I really ought to get started on the projects I need to finish, rather than thoughtless typing to LJ posts.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:4554</id>
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    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-06-29T22:39:00</title>
    <published>2008-06-30T02:45:10Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-30T02:45:10Z</updated>
    <content type="html">Sometimes new characters come at me in unique ways.  It's rare to have one jump at me like this one though.  (Initially posted accidentally to my fandom journal back in May.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a name="cutid1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Somewhere in the back of Briar's mind a young man appears.  He has dark blond hair, tips darkened toward black with some kind of dye, and very dark blue eyes.  He's wearing heavy weight black slacks, a sleeveless white button front shirt and heavy black boots.  Accessories include several rings, a band around his upper right arm and a thin silver necklace, along with a large number of stud earrings running up the entire length of his left ear.  Which, one may note, is pointed at the top.  His right ear is not pierced, but he does wear a single wide cuff that covers a good inch around the center of the outer shell of his ear.  The cuff is etched and darkened by tarnish.  He is lanky and possessed of what is usually called a dangerous grace, but his smile is friendly enough.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I'm Lethe," he says, pulling a chair away from the table and swinging a leg over the seat to straddle it backwards.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't have anything to say at first.  There are always characters wandering in and out, and it doesn't do to get too attached before they decide if they're going to stay or not.  He doesn't say much at first either, just wanders around and explores as he likes.  Eventually, he comes back to his chair.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What do you know about steam?"  He's even more comfortable in his seat now, resting a heel on the rung and folding his arms over the back.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"It's hot," I say, and look up to catch his glare.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Steampunk," he says, enunciating it like two very distinct words.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I shrug.  "Gaslamps.  Airships.  Airship pirates would be fun."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Mm," he responds, looking faintly displeased.  He takes to wandering again, occasionally poking at bits of my memory where remnants of the steampunk things I've seen and read reside.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"So, steampunk," he says from behind me one day.  I turn, look him over.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"You're an elf."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I don't need him to call me an imbecile to know what he's thinking.  He holds his tongue on that score, though it appears to cost him deeply.  "Magic died, leaving us no way to remain separate from the human world."  He pauses.  "We lived in the ozone layer, and when the hole formed we fell out."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He stops again.  Studies the look on my face.  "It was a joke."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Of course," I say, drawing a scribble through something on a sheet of paper.  "How does the death of magic tie in with steampunk?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lethe frowns.  I think of something else, but he is gone again.  If he comes back, I'll ask then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He does return, off and on again, not coming close enough to talk at first.  He paces, striding through the background of the everyday.  Sometimes I can hear him muttering.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The spark of creation dies with the magic," he is saying one day, and I follow his musings.  In the end, he shakes his head and those words end up dropped among a jumbled pile of others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I lose track of him for a bit, but a faint sense tells me he hasn't left just yet.  When he comes back, it is to shove me toward some research of steampunk.  I find some things, gather some interest, and he takes them, sorting through to find his gold among the dross.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The Disaster," he says one day, and I look up to find him settled into a window seat and wearing a smug grin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What's The Disaster?" I ask, turning from the desk.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The end of the world."  At my incredulous look he shrugs.  "As it was known then, at least.  Most of the world's population died, the barrier that hid the elves disintegrated, cities were destroyed.  It's 100 years after The Disaster in my present, 2009.  Much has been rebuilt, using what books and records were found from that time, and the stories that were passed down, leaving us in a world powered primarily by steam."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I suppose," I say, giving him a wry look.  "It may explain why you're an elf named after a river from Greek mythology."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"They took what they could find," he says, shrugging.  Then he grins.  "Wait until you meet Pan."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Pan?"  I blink.  "Goat legs?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"No," he says grin widening, but he stops as a hand closes on his shoulder.  Beside him, now, there is another man.  Around the same age, this one seems a bit taller, and his hair and eyes are brown.  His skin is a medium tone, and while his expression is serious there is a fondness when he looks at Lethe.  He is dressed in a suit with a Victorian flair, waistcoat and pocket watch, shined shoes and fine linen handkerchief.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Certainly not," he says, and I don't realize that it's in answer to my question until he lifts one pant leg to show ordinary legs, though the garters for his socks surprise me a little.  "Behave," he adds, looking down at Lethe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Not a chance, Pandora," Lethe says, swift as he rises from the window seat and walks toward me.  He pauses beside me, and winks, lowering his voice so Pan can't hear him, "I'm not a pirate, either.  I rob trains."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pan and I sigh at the same time as he walks off.  Pan from familiar frustration, while my exhale is born from the knowledge that Lethe promises trouble in the form of sleepless nights and writer's block.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:4152</id>
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    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-06-24T12:21:00</title>
    <published>2008-06-24T16:38:15Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-24T16:41:51Z</updated>
    <category term="bitonality"/>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <content type="html">I've realized I'm an idiot.  I don't have much time to elaborate on that particular point at the moment, so please just take it for truth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have, even though I never put them here, written several short stories set in the Bitonality universe.  Why they aren't here, I don't exactly know.  Now, they will be here also.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First up was a teaser of how Zane and Aron first met.  This has actually been changed a bit for the comic at this point, but it was one of the earliest things planned for Bitonality.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a name="cutid1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;center&gt;Teaser: How Zane Met Aron&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As far as first meetings went, this one was far from spectacular.  In a hurry, Zane rounded the corner at exactly the right speed to knock the other young man a few steps back, and nearly to the floor.  Zane's books--held precariously to begin with--wound up scattered across the hallway.  Really, Zane thought as he looked at the person he'd almost run over, this was someone that under other circumstances would have had him making an effort to make the best impression possible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was Aron's shoulder hitting the wall that kept him upright when the other body collided with his own.  He had spent enough time here that he should be used to rushing students, but somehow it seemed to be his lot to be run over on a regular basis.  He looked up, and his mild annoyance melted into an embarrassed blush under the intense stare of green eyes.  It took a moment, but then Aron realized that the stranger was doing more than looking to see if he was okay; no, he was, in no uncertain terms, being checked out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Oh, hey, sorry about that."  The dark-haired boy tossed his head, grinning a little.  "The name's Zane.  I'm lost and late, like every other freshman around here.  You too?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron shook his head, bending to help pick up the books.  "I'm not a freshman," he said, blushing darker as he straightened up and caught Zane staring openly at his backside.  "You know," he continued, shoving the books into the other's arms, "you might try being subtle."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He'd been aiming to project irritation, but the words only drew a grin in reply.  "It looks like you've had an accident," Zane said, pointing.  Aron glanced over his shoulder, then sighed and closed his eyes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ink stained the back of his jeans, dark against the light denim.  The pen he'd shoved into his pocket had exploded, and he couldn't tug his shirt down far enough to cover the stain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Here."  The word made Aron open his eyes, and he saw Zane shrugging out of his hooded sweatshirt.  Zane dropped his books into a nearby chair and then slid his arms around Aron's waist.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I... Wha--?"  Aron glanced down, nose almost brushing Zane's shoulder, and saw Zane tying the sleeves of the sweatshirt around his waist.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Just so you know," Zane said, very close to Aron's ear, "this &lt;i&gt;is&lt;/i&gt; what I consider subtle."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before Aron could reply, Zane pulled back, winked and scooped his books off the chair.  With a short wave, he vanished around the corner, leaving Aron standing there touching the knot at his waist. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;center&gt;*   *   *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Next is a goofy little story I wrote just to show how comfortable Zane and Aron were together in their relationship.  It's sort of an outtake, as there's no real reason for it to end up in the main storyline.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a name="cutid2"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;center&gt;Zane and Aron: Infomercial&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The light from the television screen flickers across Aron's cheek, painting it with a pallid glow.  A flash of brighter white makes him squeeze his eyes tighter shut, nose scrunching as he huffs out a soft, irritated sound.  Zane glances down for just a second, confined to the small corner of the sofa left to him by the other boy's careless, sleeping sprawl.  Then his attention is drawn back to the television, brow furrowed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Thirty-nine ninety-five," he mutters, stifling a yawn and propping his chin on an upraised fist.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Wha--?"  Aron's sleepy mumble is mostly lost as he tosses an arm over Zane's leg and nuzzles his face into the other boy's hip.  "How late is it?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Almost two."  Zane flicks a strand of hair away from Aron's ear, then traces the shell with a fingertip.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron sighs, then twitches.  He wriggles away and pushes himself up, rubbing at a crease on his cheek left by the uneven surface of the cushion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What are you," Aron starts, but is interrupted by a yawn, and he drops his head back against the sofa, "...doing?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Nothing," Zane says, quick; his cheeks darkening under the soft light from the screen.  He hunts for the remote, but can't spot in in the dim room, hand groping helplessly across the table next to the couch.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Nothing?" Aron repeats, then fixes his attention on the television.  "Didn't you say thirty-nine ninety-five?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Yeah."  Zane gives up on trying to find the remote and rubs the back of his neck with one hand, looking off toward some vague point in the dark.  "It's just...  I like to guess the price of whatever they're selling on the infomercial before they say it.  It's dumb."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron scoots in close to Zane's side, resting his head on the other boy's shoulder and his hand on Zane's thigh.  It takes a bit of pushing, but he manages to insinuate his other arm behind Zane's rigid back, and he tightens the embrace in one brief squeeze.  He doesn't say anything, and Zane's tension turns to a gradual relaxation, assuming that Aron has once again drifted off to sleep.  He turns his head, letting his cheek rest against the softness of Aron's hair.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Two payments of nineteen ninety-five," Aron says, sudden but soft.  Then he curls in closer, and in less than a minute his breath evens out to resemble the heavier puffs of sleep.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zane slides an arm around Aron's shoulders; the warmth at his side draining away the last stiffness of his muscles as he waits for the sales pitch to prove which one has the closer guess.  He is nearly asleep himself when it comes, lulled by the comfortable weight of Aron against him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"All this, for two easy payment of nineteen ninety-five," the perky saleswoman proclaims, wide white smile causing a momentary brightening of the room.  Zane blinks, turning his head a little to look down at Aron from the corners of his eyes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I've seen this one," Aron says without opening his eyes, a faint smile curling his lips.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zane chuckles, tightening his grip and letting his eyes fall closed.  The flickering light of the television draws shadows across their bodies, but it is not enough to wake either of them from the content slumber they have drifted into.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;center&gt;*   *   *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, this story was written for a fiction challenge community.  The challenge is to write a story of exactly 1000 words based on a picture prompt.  Again, it isn't a part of their canon storyline, though I do think I'll work in the dollar somehow.  This one can also be considered possibly NSFW, as it contains two boys kissing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a name="cutid3"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;center&gt;Zane and Aron: Wanna Bet?&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"That one's way too shy for you, Zane.  You'll never even get a kiss out of him."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron stood frozen to one side of the open doorway, listening to the voice of the red-haired singer.  He bit his lower lip, leaning forward as he waited for Zane's reply.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Wanna bet?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron rolled his eyes, but remained standing outside the door, rather than knocking and going in to retrieve his forgotten sketchbook.  It was childish, but he felt a little flushed knowing they were talking about him.  That, and he was wondering if Zane had some sort of plan in mind for winning this particular bet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"What's it worth to you, pretty boy?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There was the sound of rustling, then a triumphant, "Ha!" from Zane.  "I've got a dollar here that says I'll kiss him so hard his eyes'll cross."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One dollar?  That was all it was worth to Zane?  Aron's mouth hardened, and he stepped forward into the doorway, knocking on the frame.  Zane's mouth opened, but before he could say anything Aron was nodding toward the sketchbook that lay propped against the side of the chair he'd been using.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I forgot something.  Don't let me interrupt."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Walking through the room, he saw the knowing smirk on Rae's face and his shoulders stiffened further.  Snatching the sketchbook off the floor, he turned and left again without another word.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I think I win," Rae whispered, just before Aron got out the door.  The look Zane shot her made her press her mouth shut and look away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Shit."  After a silent second, Zane took off after Aron.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He caught up just before Aron got to his car, reaching out to grab Aron's shoulder.  "Hey.  Wait, okay?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Why?"  Aron glanced back, one eyebrow raised.  "I don't have a dollar to give you."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zane winced.  "Yeah, okay, I deserved that.  Don't I deserve the chance to explain too?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron didn't say anything, but neither did he turn away or reach for the handle on the car's door.  Zane smiled a little, fingers tightening in a brief, wordless thanks on Aron's shoulder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Look."  Zane closed his eyes, paused to take a deep breath, then opened them again.  "The bet thing is a long time joke between us.  It's not always about the same sort of thing, but we've been doing it for years."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron turned a little more toward Zane, but shrugged Zane's hand off his shoulder.  Zane's face wore an expression of mingled contrition and hurt as he held up the dollar he still held folded up in his hand.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"We've used this dollar bill every time," he said, unfolding it to reveal words scrawled across the face.  There were so many, squeezed in and overlapped, that Aron couldn't read more than a few here and there.  "It's, well, to us, it's worth a lot more than a dollar by now.  The only time we bet with this is when we plan to win."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rush of red that spread across Zane's cheeks was easy for Aron to see even under the dim light cast by the streetlight over their heads.  Zane looked down at the dollar, rolling his shoulders in a shrug.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"I know it sounded bad, but it wasn't an insult.  I haven't bet this on anyone in a long time, but I thought--"  Zane stopped when Aron's fingertips skimmed over one heated cheek, eyes widening.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Guess I'd better make sure you don't have to give it up then, huh?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zane blinked, opened his mouth, shut it again and swallowed before he looked like he was ready to speak, but Aron never gave him a chance.  Curling his fingers around a handful of the front of Zane's faded t-shirt, Aron pulled himself up so that his lips fit against Zane's.  He hovered there, and then Zane felt Aron's mouth curve into a smile over his own.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"If you're going to make my eyes cross, I suggest you get started."  Every word changed the shape of their near kiss, and when Zane licked his lips he found he could already taste Aron on his mouth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With a muffled sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan, Zane pressed himself closer to Aron, raising his hands to cup the column of Aron's neck between his palms, the dollar bill falling forgotten to the pavement beside their feet.  For a moment the meeting of their mouths was sweet, a slow exploration of the slick topography of unfamiliar lips.  Zane forgot the bet, focused on feeding the steady increase of the pulse beneath the gentle cradle of his hands.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron's mouth opened under the fleeting foray of Zane's tongue, his own following in a tentative parry that made Zane's breath catch on the rough edges of the pleased noise that filled his throat.  Zane drew his mouth back, dipping in over and over for slow, nibbling kisses that made Aron chase after and draw him back on each retreat.  Their mouths parted a final time, and Zane slid his hands down Aron's back before letting him go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Eyes crossed yet?"  Zane felt like his own should have been, and there was a surprising weakness to his knees.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Mmm," Aron hummed, bending down to retrieve the dollar from the ground.  He held up it, looking from it to Zane and back.  Zane rubbed the back of his neck, fighting down the urge to ask if he were the only one affected by the kiss.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"You can tell Rae," Aron said at last, folding the bill and tucking it carefully into Zane's pocket, "that you won this fair and square."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Zane's mouth curled up into a smirk, and he caught hold of the top of Aron's car door as it was opened.  Aron looked up as Zane leaned over the top of the door.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"So, can I bet that you're going to call me?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron grinned, tugging the door away from Zane.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"That," he said, just before the door shut, "is really going to cost you."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;center&gt;*   *   *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All three of these stories are licensed under a &lt;a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license&lt;/a&gt;.  You can see character art at &lt;a href="http://cloverflynn.deviantart.com/"&gt;Clover's DA page&lt;/a&gt;.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:3507</id>
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    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-06-22T23:16:00</title>
    <published>2008-06-23T03:22:17Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-23T03:22:17Z</updated>
    <category term="betweentimes"/>
    <category term="bitonality"/>
    <category term="project angelus"/>
    <content type="html">In my bid to post here each day to update on work, I've got a little to say today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bitonality got worked on today, but it was mostly hashing out things with Clover via e-mail.  Said hashing out involved a lot of things written in all capital letters.  At times, we're a bit excitable.  Something did get written, but it was for an event that happens well down the line from where I am right this minute, all because a certain smug bastard doesn't know when to leave well enough alone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Something I hope to do very soon is get started with short bios on our main characters.  Particularly the two main boys, Zane and Aron, then following up with the first four supporting cast members before moving on to people who come in later.  Which just reminded me of something else I need to discuss with Clover.  (Note to self:  Talk to Clover about other members of Jeremy's band, duh.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Betweentimes is still being stared at, and I'm starting to wonder if perhaps now isn't the best time to tackle that after all.  A prior NaNo project is staring me in the face and begging for work.  I couldn't get it to start when I did NaNo, but now I'm thinking the trick of starting in the middle might be just what it needs.  Who knows, maybe what I think is the middle is actually the beginning.  Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have nailed down whether I'm going to go at it with Betweentimes or if I'm going to temporarily jump to Project Angelus.  We'll see.  Then there are short stories...  But those are the subject of another entry some other time.  It's late now, and if I want to squeeze in a little writing before sleep, I need to go do that.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:3080</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/3080.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=3080"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-06-21T21:33:00</title>
    <published>2008-06-22T01:48:39Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-22T01:50:24Z</updated>
    <category term="betweentimes"/>
    <category term="bitonality"/>
    <content type="html">I want to try and post more frequently here, in hopes that it will keep me more on track with my working as well.  Seeing as it's been four days since my last post, we'll see how that works out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Betweentimes has been discarded and renewed about three times in those four days, because I tend to be very fickle.  However, I think I've finally struck on the idea that will stick with it, and now I'm going to move on to trying to write an outline for the first book.  (Which is tentatively titled 'Sky Beneath Your Skin' right now, with another called 'Embers Within' to follow.  But, titles and I tend to fight a lot, so we'll see.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Outlines aren't something I typically use, but I've been using them with Bitonality and it's been going well.  In fact, the process has been quite drawn out for Bitonality.  First, I write what I've termed a "Fast and Loose" timeline.  From there, it's expanded into a more detailed outline, and then each segment of the outline is written.  At the moment the timeline is settled through several months of the story (from September to early January, actually), while the outline is set, mmm, a bit past Halloween, I think.  Maybe about to Thanksgiving.  Story segments aren't as far along, and so those are the area that I need to concentrate on next.  After segments are written, I pass them on to Clover and she adapts them into comic format, or sometimes tells me that certain things won't work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm hoping to follow a similar format with Betweentimes, in hopes that I'll get a better handle on the characters that way.  I know my main character for this story fairly well, it's her supporting cast that's giving me trouble.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, here's hoping there will be more to update on soon.  And hoping that I figure out if I can get a new computer soon.  Handwriting is all well and good, but I'm feeling the need to settle down with a word processing program that's not Notepad.  (I'm typing this on a nearly 10-year-old system that's running Windows ME.  Not pretty.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For now, bed.  The day job requires my attendance at 7am tomorrow.  Another thing that is far from pretty.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:2947</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/2947.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=2947"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-06-17T17:19:00</title>
    <published>2008-06-17T21:42:55Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-22T01:50:01Z</updated>
    <category term="betweentimes"/>
    <category term="bitonality"/>
    <content type="html">I seem to be stuck with the letter B quite often.  Right now, I have two major projects in the works (one of which is going quite a lot faster than the other) and both of them are currently going by names that start with B.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Only one is appropriate for posting here, however.  I think.  I dunno.  Originally I intended the other to be posted under my real name, because it's very different in subject matter and tone than what I intended this journal for, but now I'm not so certain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sure, this particular story starts out with a 13-year-old girl as the protagonist, but the story works through several years and won't end until Ally's 17 or 18.  The plotline continues to grow darker than my original intent, and I'm starting to see no reason for the story to not be connected to the name Briar Reed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, it's different from other works.  Vastly different from Bitonality in a lot of ways (especially as Bitonality is a comic that I'm doing with Clover Flynn, and Betweentimes will be a series of novels) but it's still my work.  It's lost a lot of the young adult feel it had when the idea first came to me, so I think I'll be claiming it under this name after all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It needs a lot of work, though.  Right now, Bitonality is much closer to being ready to begin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a name="cutid1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bitonality is (or will be, when it starts in September) more or less a slice of life, manga-style comic that follows two boys through their meeting, falling in love, conflicts and so on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aron, who is mostly our narrator for this story, is a young man going to school to develop his art.  He meets Zane quite by accident, and under less than stellar circumstances.  Luckily for him, Zane is easily enraptured, and a few coincidences serve to keep them meeting up until they decide to give things a shot themselves.  Nothing is ever easy, and as everyone knows the path of true love never does run smooth, so there are plenty of complications along the way.  Not to mention a cast of secondary characters that are pretty certain that they should be in the main spot with stories and issues of their own.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm hoping that Bitonality finds an audience that will love the characters as much as Clover and I do, because they've certainly become very dear to us in the time that we've been working on their stories.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:2655</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/2655.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=2655"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-03-07T10:48:00</title>
    <published>2008-03-07T16:06:23Z</published>
    <updated>2008-06-23T03:13:03Z</updated>
    <content type="html">As I was saying the other day in the Dimestore Fairytales blog, serialization will be put off until next month at the moment.  I have decided on the story, which will be called Demonic Desires, and is about a detective named Derek Sanders who has to solve the case of a murder that involves the companion of a friend of his.  Of course, things are more complicated than that, or it wouldn't be much of a story.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other than that, I'm working on a piece that's a collaboration with an artist, and promises to take up a good deal of time.  Also, there are two short stories that I'm working up for anthologies, that I have a lot of hope for.  One involves a dark retelling of an obscure fairytale, while the other is the tale of a collector who finds himself at the mercy of part of his collection.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During all this, I'm trying to finish up the website and get some ads ready for the serial.  There's a short story that was once published in &lt;span class='ljuser ljuser-name_bb_shousetsu' lj:user='bb_shousetsu' style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='http://community.livejournal.com/bb_shousetsu/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif' alt='[info]' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='http://community.livejournal.com/bb_shousetsu/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;bb_shousetsu&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; that I'd like to rewrite and put in my short story archive, and I want to get some more substantial content put on the site.  Also, I really want to figure out how to make WordPress themes, so I can design my own for the site.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So mcuh to do, and so little time.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:2445</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/2445.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=2445"/>
    <title>Working along.</title>
    <published>2008-01-21T21:07:09Z</published>
    <updated>2008-01-21T21:07:09Z</updated>
    <content type="html">The first portion of my plans has been set into motion, and I now have the front page of the redesign up at &lt;a href="http://www.discount-muse.com"&gt;Dime Store Fairytales&lt;/a&gt;.  Basically, that consisted of installing a WordPress blog and tweaking it a bit to suit what I'm going to need.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, of course, comes the hard part.  Picking a couple of stories to start with, and working on them to prepare them for launch.  This would be easier if I didn't have at least a half-dozen options in mind already, heh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Off to sort through story ideas and try and narrow it down.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:1952</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/1952.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=1952"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2008-01-15T23:49:00</title>
    <published>2008-01-16T05:08:27Z</published>
    <updated>2008-01-16T05:08:27Z</updated>
    <content type="html">I should have posted here ages ago, but time has been in short supply lately.  The last time I posted (officially forever ago, I think) I was concerned about a short story I'd submitted.  The story was accepted, and the issue has since been released.  The submission was to &lt;a href="http://www.bent-magazine.com"&gt;BENT Magazine&lt;/a&gt; and it was published in issue 4.  The story is called "Fade to White".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since then, I've started a number of projects, but haven't had the time to find appropriate venues for submitting them.  Very soon, though, I plan to do something about that.  Right now, I'm trying to finish up a piece for &lt;span class='ljuser ljuser-name_bb_shousetsu' lj:user='bb_shousetsu' style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='http://community.livejournal.com/bb_shousetsu/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif' alt='[info]' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='http://community.livejournal.com/bb_shousetsu/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;bb_shousetsu&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;'s upcoming 'Short and Sweet' issue.  I've had a story there before (under a Japanese pseudonym), but looking back on it now, I desperately want to rewrite it.  I love the story, but the technical aspects of it need work and something I'd tried as an experiment really didn't work as well as I'd thought at the time.  That may go on my list of things to work on.  If so, I'll probably post the rewrite here.  Also, the way the story ends leaves room for future stories, which is something else to look into.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right now, this is all speculation as it is, since I have another project that I'm hoping to release soon.  Once I decide which one to start with.  Heh.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:1725</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/1725.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=1725"/>
    <title>Nerves of rubber?</title>
    <published>2007-03-25T02:01:12Z</published>
    <updated>2007-03-25T02:01:12Z</updated>
    <content type="html">No matter how many times I make a submission for something--paid or not, original or not--I turn into a nervous wreck.  This time, it's a rather minor submission of a short story, but I'm very fond of this particular short story so I'm trying to keep my fingers crossed for it around the stress of the day-to-day work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's hoping for a bit of good news.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:1297</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/1297.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=1297"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2007-02-19T02:40:00</title>
    <published>2007-02-19T07:53:07Z</published>
    <updated>2007-02-19T07:53:07Z</updated>
    <category term="pointlessness"/>
    <content type="html">Once a day...  Not so much with the success there. If I didn't know myself as well as I do, I'd be shocked and dismayed.  Instead, it's pretty predictable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's largely thanks to the fact that original work has been very little lately.  Most work has been on the meager side, as I seem to be blocked up whenever I'm at the keyboard.  I have managed to write when I have paper and pen in front of me, but thus far it's been loads of notes for a fandom project of fairly large proportions.  It's for an event that's a pretty big deal in this particular section of fandom, but as I'm trying to keep this journal strictly for non-fandom activities, the details won't be appearing here.  After this project, my fandon stuff will take a major sideline to everything else, but I couldn't resist this particular invite.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, if I could just hush the muses for a short time, I'd be set.  Instead, they're invading my dreams rather insistantly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking of, as it's growing a bit closer to 3am than I wanted to see today, I should probably be headed for sleep soon.  I just need to stop watching Expedition Borneo on Discovery.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:1030</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/1030.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=1030"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2007-02-10T15:08:00</title>
    <published>2007-02-10T20:17:03Z</published>
    <updated>2007-02-10T20:17:03Z</updated>
    <category term="pointlessness"/>
    <content type="html">I did get a start on the V-Day ficlet, but now I'm not at all sure that it's going anywhere.  Of course, seeing as I did nothing on it today and I need to get ready for work in a moment, it may go entirely nowhere.  I haven't a day off until V-Day, which makes things yet more difficult.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps tonight I'll feel okay with the idea of taking a break, and I can jot some notes or something during my ten minutes.  I really need to get a handle on all these ideas, and settle for working on just a couple at a time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I need to get ready to go, but I wanted to stick with my daily posting to this journal schedule, and I don't know how tired I'll be when I get home tonight.  Maybe I'll have something project related to discuss then.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:904</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/904.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=904"/>
    <title>briar_reed @ 2007-02-09T14:48:00</title>
    <published>2007-02-09T20:06:56Z</published>
    <updated>2007-02-09T20:06:56Z</updated>
    <category term="procrastination"/>
    <content type="html">Rather than doing any serious work, I'm about to embark on a short ficlet as a V-Day gift for my artist Clover.  It's using our original characters, and hopefully I can finish it up in time.  If it works out, I can also use it for the &lt;span class='ljuser ljuser-name_picfor1000' lj:user='picfor1000' style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='http://community.livejournal.com/picfor1000/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif' alt='[info]' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='http://community.livejournal.com/picfor1000/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;picfor1000&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; entry that I signed up for using my fandom journal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There's a lot of other things I should be doing, but procrastination is fun, and today is a relatively horrid day anyway.  I guess this is denial fiction writing, where I pretend it isn't winter by writing about sunny summer days and sweaty boys not wallowing in angst.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I really haven't anything important to say here, I just want to be in a blogging habit.  Hopefully, once I'm through this bit of self pity, it'll keep me motivated to have done work to talk about here.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:briar_reed:542</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/542.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="http://briar-reed.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=542"/>
    <title>Age Statements</title>
    <published>2007-02-08T19:37:56Z</published>
    <updated>2007-02-08T19:40:58Z</updated>
    <category term="age statements"/>
    <content type="html">If you friend this journal and wish to be on the adult content filter, and you do not have your year of birth shown in your userinfo--or I have not met you to know you are of legal age, you can comment here with an age statement to be added.  All comments to this post will be screened.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your age statement does not have to contain your year of birth, though you are welcome to include it if you wish.  You are also not required to give your actual age.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For the purposes of this journal, legal age is considered 18, because that is the legal age where I live.  Your age statement should declare that you are at least 18 years of age and legal to view adult content where you live.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By making such a statement in reply to this post, you agree to disclaim all responsibility of the user of this journal if you are not actually of legal age to view such content.  Your statement also shows that you are aware that graphic content of this journal is typically homosexual in nature, and that you have no objections to viewing such content.  If you do not agree to the above terms, please do us all a favor and refrain from making a comment to this post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You may be removed from the adult content filter at any time, by commenting or e-mailing the user of this journal.</content>
  </entry>
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