What I Did: A Year-End Roundup for 2006

[nightdog_barks]

Stolen Borrowed from daasgrrl.
Stories, where they were posted and when.
Does not include drafts but does include "unpublished" pieces.
No tables because I couldn't do a table to save my life. Heh!




JUNE

Three Brothers
Posted 6/7/06 in housefic
Look! It's my first fic! *cuddles fic* And from the very beginning I was writing about poor crazy David Wilson.
Favorite line in this story: He knew what "Clean up on aisle nine" really meant, and it wasn't good.


A Lifetime Too Long
Posted 6/12/06 in house_wilson
The first time I killed House (a motorcycle accident, of course). I think this was also the first time I used a quote in a fic (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
Favorite line in this story: Sometimes he felt that some small pilot light in his soul had flickered out in a strong wind, and there weren't enough matches in the world to relight it.


And Never Tarnish
Posted 6/14/06 in house_wilson
My first story with any hint of "schmoop." Wilson, at a conference in Chicago, buys House a present and then worries he'll hate it.
Favorte line in this story: You're an asshole and everybody hates you.


He Dreams of Distant Thunder
Posted 6/19/06 in house_wilson
The second time I wrote about David Wilson. James Wilson dreams of an incident that occurred when he was twelve and David was sixteen. Obviously the age difference shifted a bit to where it is now. *grins* I find it interesting that I'd already started describing David's eyes as "empty blue pools."
Favorite line in this story: Lately, James has been finding minute, almost ant-like words scratched into the paint on the walls of his brother's room.


Standoff
Posted 6/22/06 to house_wilson, 1 of 6 chapters, contains links to the other chapters.
And here I went off the deep end. Heh! This was originally written as a stand-alone, but it got such a huge response I decided to make it a multi-chaptered story -- my first ever. This was also my first experience in having characters not wanting to let go. Teresa Pasqale and Tyler Ramirez wanted closure.

This was the first time I almost killed Wilson -- I sent him walking unawares into a convenience-story armed robbery.

First extensive use of dream imagery, of recurrent tropes, of birds.

Favorite line in this story is also the first: Wilson lay with his face pressed to the cold linoleum and thought how sad it was that a WaWa, a convenience store, for God's sake, would have a cleaner floor than House's apartment.


The Shell
Posted 6/25/06 to house_wilson
Third time writing about David Wilson, and the first time I killed him. The Wilson family (with House) hold a memorial service as David's ashes are scattered in the Atlantic. Used a lovely quote from Swinburne at the beginning of this piece. This was also the first time a character actually "spoke" a line in my head -- House's "Everybody lies."
Favorite line in this story: The kind glances, the sympathetic words ... it was like being surrounded by Camerons.


Kosher For Passover
Posted 6/30/06 to house_wilson
First drabble ever. Wilson brings House home for Passover, and House makes inappropriate remarks. What a surprise. I was tremendously surprised when extrabitter left a comment saying s/he had recommended it at housefic_meta.
Favorite line in this story: "Why do you think they call it a conspiracy?"



JULY

A Kiss Is Just A Kiss
Posted 7/8/06 to house_wilson
Second schmoopy story. House falls asleep while reading The Postman Always Rings Twice and dreams of -- what else? Gangsters. Dames. Tough guys. I really enjoyed writing this.
Favorite line in this story: "Spare us the chitchat, dollface," House smirked as he leered at Cuddy's most valuable assets.


A Minor Pentatonic Scale
Posted 7/11/06 to housefic
My first attempt to write something of the backstory of House's life. His thoughts on the passing of Syd Barrett, with a small test for Wilson.
Favorite line in this story: Later he discovered the blues, and the memory of his earliest musical love slipped into a small, tidy place in his mind, mostly accessed when he wanted to pull off a perfectly executed riff of air guitar.



The Unrequited Passion of Walter Cunningham, Jr.
Posted 7/19/06 to house_wilson
House and Wilson watch To Kill A Mockingbird together. House diagnoses one of the characters; Wilson disagrees.
Favorite line in this story: "The kid probably gets chased around the barn by his 'funny uncle' a couple of times a month, when he can't catch the sheep."



AUGUST

Cold Call
Posted 8/3/06 to house_wilson
I like this story. A lot. It can be read as a stand-alone or as an alternate, much darker ending to Standoff. Wilson is dead, killed eight months ago in a stupidly needless tragedy. House copes the only way he knows how.
Favorite line in this story: He wonders who'll pick up the phone tomorrow night.


Up In the Air
Posted 8/4/06 to house_wilson, housefic, house100
Second drabble. Wilson talks about moving back in with House.
Favorite line in this story: "Were you going somewhere?"


Five Futures and A Lifetime
Posted 8/10/06 to house_wilson
In which I cheerfully kill Wilson five different ways! Ha!
Favorite line in this story: "Don't be such a girl," House advised.


The Cane
Posted 8/17/06 to house_wilson
My take on what Wilson was doing when House was shot. Guest appearance by Wilson's family.
Favorite line in this story: My bris, he thinks sardonically, something all the ex-Mrs. Wilsons would've liked to have seen.


Two Ghosts, Sitting Around Talking
Unpublished, dated 8/22/06
An experimental fic, consisting entirely of dialogue.
Favorite line in this story: "I'd say that's very sweet, but since I can't begin to imagine a sweet Gregory House, I'd say you're insane."


A Button, A Feather, A Grain of Sand
Posted 8/24/06 to house_wilson
*grins* ... a lot of people seemed to really like this little story. This was my first fic that "wrote itself." House goes to a conference in Las Vegas and sends Wilson a series of very small things, out of which Wilson constructs meaning.
Favorite line in this story: The rest of the afternoon, he finds himself absently patting his chest, the little button secure over his heart.


Playing For Keeps
Posted 8/26/06 to the_smut_couch
NC-17
So. By this time I had plenty of ... er ... exposure to the slash side of House/Wilson. And I wanted to see if I could write that. And so I did.
Favorite line in this story: "I lose things, Jimmy. Legs, girlfriends, patients ... I won't lose you."


Shipwreck
Posted 8/31/06 to house_wilson
House. Wilson. Ella Fitzgerald. A steady rain against the windows. They dance. This was originally entitled Midnight Sun, but the ocean metaphors soon drowned that out.
Favorite line from this story: Their clasped hands, left and right, formed a two-fisted heart trapped between their chests.



SEPTEMBER

The Annals: Part One of An Irregular Series
Posted 9/7/06 to house_wilson
Hee. I thought this was the dumbest idea for a story ever. House and Wilson? Romans? Greeks? Not just an AU, but a historical AU? I was scared to death the night I put this up.
Favorite line in this story: He slotted his oaken staff into the two loops sewn into the saddleback, and said, "I don't like riding in the wagons. Can't see far enough."


Happy New Year
Posted 9/9/06 to house_wilson
One of my shorter stories. I like it because there's actually a lot going on beneath House and Wilson's conversation on Rosh Hashanah.
Favorite line in this story: "Jimmy, are you turning into a Jew?"


Slipcovers
Posted 9/14/06 to house_wilson
Um. *clears throat* The story that lit up my LJ like a Christmas tree. Second story that "wrote itself." First story in which I actually became furious with a fictional character. First story I needed to put a "hard R" rating on. And the true beginning of the Slipverse. Yeah, the reaction to this fic was pretty much unmitigated horror.

It's truly the nastiest story I'd written up to this point, and for a long time I swore I would never write a sequel. Instead, as we shall see, I've been dancing around the subject ever since.

Favorite line in this story: He imagined himself floating, hovering above the ugly avocado-green shag, moving slowly through the house like one of those German zeppelins he'd seen in the W - Z volume of his World Book encyclopedia.


Horsefeathers
Posted 9/21/06 to house_wilson
Lightness follows horror. A simple little story -- Wilson is injured, House takes care of him. Sort of.
Favorite line in this story: The thought of cane vs. crutch duels in the hallways of PPTH filled House with joy.


Letters of Transit
Posted 9/28/06 in house_wilson, 1 of 8 chapters, links to other chapters.
*grins* The second cousin, in a way, to A Button, A Feather, A Grain of Sand. I return to the theme of communication -- postcards, this time, sent by a Wilson who's not quite House's Wilson. Love. Loss. The way history might have been. A happy ending. What's not to like? Probably my third story that "wrote itself." This one's pretty darn good.
Favorite line in this story: Er ... I like them all.


OCTOBER

A Microfic: All the Wrong Reasons
Posted 10/12/06 to house_wilson
The first fic I wrote directly after an episode ("Lines In the Sand"). I carried one possible scenario to its worst possible conclusion: House, in the grip of madness and paranoia, shoots Wilson.
Favorite line in this story: He lifted his head just enough to look down -- the front of his lab coat, normally so pristine, was blooming red like a bright poppy in the snow.


A Fine and Private Place
Posted 10/26/06 to house_wilson
A second visitation to the death of David Wilson. James Wilson is affected, perhaps more than he knows. House helps him through it.

I like this story -- it has a lot of nice detail in it, like the ringing telephone, the other doctors in Oncology searching for Wilson, the coats that House and Wilson wear to the funeral.

Favorite line in this story: "I'm a great observer of the human condition," House replied, clicking the ballpoint shut and replacing it in his pocket.


NOVEMBER

The Annals: Part Two of An Irregular Series
Posted 11/02/06 to house_wilson
And the dumbest idea ever continues! Hee! This story makes me smile.
Favorite line in this story: The roan pony shifted under him and blew out a noisy, whuffling snort.


The Easiest Lie
Unpublished, dated 11/8/06
Influenced by the show, set immediately after "Que Sera, Sera." Wilson reflects on why he lied to Tritter about the forged prescriptions.
Favorite line in this story: This is the price of being House's friend.


One-Night Stand
Posted 11/9/06 to house_wilson
Another fic heavily influenced by the show, and the second story to light up my LJ. Wilson is tormented by Tritter in a traffic stop on an isolated road. Rough and nasty, but doesn't go the expected route. Yet another story that "wrote itself."
Favorite line in this story: Tell Dr. House," the detective whispers as if sharing a secret, "I'm still waiting for my apology."


Escape Velocity
Posted 11/16/06 to house_wilson
A sort of triptych -- 3 ways Wilson flew. Childhood, love, resurrection. More bird imagery, with flying/falling. I think this is a nice little story that knits together well.
Favorite line in this story: She seems to think he's beautiful too, which is just extraordinary -- no one has ever told him this before, and it makes his heart rise in his chest like a hawk climbing a ladder of sky.


When Bad Things Happen ...
Unpublished, dated 11/16/06.
Speculative fic. Tritter threatens House with a very unpleasant scenario.
Favorite line in this story: "Even the Federal pens can be hellholes with the right word in a willing ear."


The Beds We Make
Posted 11/20/06 to house_wilson
Influenced by the show. House discovers that Wilson is living in his office because he has no where else to go if he still wants to protect House.
Favorite line in this story: It was an old blanket, soft with little pills where the navy-blue wool was wearing thin. A faded satin border was stitched around the four sides.


You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone
Posted 11/23/06 to house_wilson
Influenced by the show. House's actions lead to a possible tragedy for Wilson. A short, sharp piece.
Favorite line in this story: His shoulder was screaming at him.


The Dominant Hand
Unpublished, dated 11/24/06.
NC-17
Oh my. Wild. Nasty. Very rough. This is chock-full of unresolved issues, including possible echoes of the Slipverse.
Favorite line in this story: None.


Thirty-Three Degrees
Posted 11/26/06 to the_smut_couch
NC-17
This is the twinfic to The Dominant Hand. I was experimenting to see how I could change an emotionally-charged Slipverse fic into ... um ... just smut. Heh. And smut it is.
Favorite line in this story: He wasn't sure when their bouts of love-making had tipped over into this dance of dominance and surrender.


Shooter
Unpublished, dated 11/29/06
Written immediately after the episode "Finding Judas." References the scene in which House is playing with his laser pointer and trains it on the back of Wilson's head. Only the second fic in which I've involved John House.
Favorite line in this story: There was a Golden Mean to everything.


A Time to Gather Stones Together
Posted 11/30/06 to house_wilson
A melancholy little meditation on love and loss. House is left alone. I did name his youngest son Evan, which pleased me greatly.
Favorite line in this story: It was the way Wilson knew him, and he won't surprise Jimmy at this late date.


DECEMBER

Cryptic Resemblance
Unpublished, dated 12/5/06
A drabble, introducing the original character Don de Cristo.
Favorite line in this story: "Take a name like de Cristo, hide in plain sight."


The End
Posted 12/7/06 to house_wilson
More melancholy in the form of an apocalypse!fic. I really like it, though. It's stark and surprisingly peaceful, given that things are falling apart.
Favorite line in this story: Another story where I like all of them.


Swimming Lessons
Posted 12/14/06 to house_wilson
Influenced by the show, but with a big heaping dose of David Wilson and House's possible resemblance to the same.
Favorite line in this story: Wilson ties the lead weights to his own ankles and signs the evidentiary statement Tritter places before him.


2 Tbsp Elephants
Posted 12/14/06 to house_wilson
Fun. Happiness. Fluff. God bless daasgrrl for asking for this. Wilson tries to make dinner, House provides diversions and obstructions.
Favorite line in this story: "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition," House murmured.


Tie
Unpublished, dated 12/18/06
Oh, a sweet little piece. Wilson assists House in tying his tie, and has a brief reflection back on his own childhood. It's very nice. I liked it a lot.
Favorite line in this story: He's remembering kneeling before his little brother Jonathan, his big-brother hands giant like fee-fi-fo-fum against the child's neck, showing the boy how to make his first half-Windsor.


The Better Angel
Posted 12/21/06 to house_wilson
House gets a chance to see what the world would be like if he'd never been born. Angst. Happiness. Woe. In other words, real life with angels. This story ate my lunch.
Favorite line in this story: Raptor's pinions, born of a killer god.


The Price of Silver
Unpublished, dated 12/21/06
NC-17
Possibly the single ugliest story I've ever written. If not, it runs a very close second to Slipcovers. To put it bluntly, this is a story about rape. It's graphic, it's violent, and it's nasty, and it involves a dynamic that I had never seen before in Housefic. Heed the warning labels at the top of the fic and read at your own risk. Which makes it all the more amazing that I actually do have a favorite line, spoken by a completely out-of-control House.
Favorite line in this story: "Candyass," House mutters.


The Secret Language of Owls
Posted 12/24/06 to house_wilson
House and Wilson, separated, and a definite return to the theme of communication through packages and letters. I like this because it puts Wilson in a different place and gives him someone new to talk to (Don de Cristo).
Favorite line in this story: House had thrown it off the balcony.



And that's it.

Comments

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

That's 44 fics! I'm in awe...

I think Standoff was probably a bit of a breakthrough fic for you. My favourites there are Shipwreck and A Better Angel. And of course the lovely Elephants - I still owe you for that one :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

...making you one of the most prolific producers of quality fic I have the honor of knowing. Look at all this! "Playing for Keeps," "Happy New Year," "The Annals," "Slipcovers," "Letters of Transit," "Escape Velocity," and I'm going to stop listing them because there are too many. When I do my "year-end" roundup in April (the one-year anniversary of my first posted fic) I'm going to borrow your idea of including favorite lines. I already planned to name the "firsts" of each story, so it was cool to see those here as well.

Memming this post as a fantastic reference to what you've done so far.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

You are much too kind. Many thanks.

... I'm going to borrow your idea of including favorite lines.

Hee -- you may have noticed that after a lot of thought, I decided I did have a favorite line from The Price of Silver, and it's the one that is so massively inappropriate for the situation.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ha, no, I didn't notice "Candyass" -- last time I checked, it said "No." Which could also have been your favorite line, though I figured you meant you didn't have one.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

p.s. found this while going through my old images folder and thought of "The Better Angel."

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*looks, then nods*

That's David. With longer hair, obviously, but those are definitely the wings born of a killer god.

Fierce and unyielding. Nice, nice image.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Fics is all well and good (and impressive!)...but no roundup of YOU?

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is really an incredible amount of writing, all of it extremely well done, too.

I gotta say, though, that amid the terrific stand-alones are several stories that are like those precious papyrus fragments of ancient texts uncovered in the desert -- little gems that make the reader cry out "But what happened NEXT?" and search frantically through the sand for more!

What I would really like to know -- if it isn't too personal -- is what you've discovered about the process of writing itself, and yourself as a writer...

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

What I would really like to know -- if it isn't too personal -- is what you've discovered about the process of writing itself, and yourself as a writer...

Oh, gosh ... no, it's not too personal at all.

I think that would make an essay in and of itself. I'll see what I can put down, but I did mention some stuff to rubberbutton the other day -- let's see ... here's what I said:

You learn by writing. Writing about love and death teaches you about love and death -- writing changes you, opens your mind and heart and brain in ways you never imagine.

I'm sure I sound like a total old fogey, but it's true.

*smiles* I'll try and expand on that a little. *uses Virginia Woolf icon in a vain attempt to appear thoughtful* Heh.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

How interesting to think that writing transforms the author. I never thought of that, before, although writing certainly transforms the reader.

Since you once mentioned that in your youth you sent fanmail to a favourite author, I'm really interested in how it feels to be "on the other side of the desk" now, as they say!

[asynca.livejournal.com]

Both those ideas, writing changing the writer vs. reading changing the reader are very, very interesting concepts. Thanks for introducing them to me!

[mystcphoenxcafe.livejournal.com]

Greetings!

"You learn by writing. Writing about love and death teaches you about love and death -- writing changes you, opens your mind and heart and brain in ways you never imagine."

So true. Writing is about answering questions... the questions that you have about yourself, your life, your world. A safer way, in theory at least, to explore the various possibilities so that you do not have to use Method Living to explore them all.

-Katrina

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

Wow. Your roundup has left me gaping in amazement, both for the amount of output and the sheer quality of that output. I don't know how you do it, but I'm very glad that you do do it!

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*grins*

To be perfectly honest, I don't know how I do it either.

help please

[kirkshomegirl61.livejournal.com]

I have told you before you are my absolute favorite writer. I stumbled on a new site{to me} that had a piece of your work called
"An Irregular Series". It only had parts one and two. Can you please tell me if there are other parts and if so where I might find them?

Re: help please

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*smiles*

There is a Part 3.1 -- you can find it here (http://community.livejournal.com/house_wilson/1037815.html), with a link at the bottom to Part 3.2.

I am currently working on Part 4.

If you'd like more story indices like this, I update on the last day of every month. September's update is here (http://nightdog-barks.livejournal.com/709186.html#cutid1), and contains links to all the previous months' updates.

Hope this helps, and thanks for reading! I do appreciate it. *g*