How time has ticked a heaven round the stars

How beta to mark a return to these parts than with a brag-rec or two and an update? (After a long week in the editing trenches, beta-reading these is like dessert. Dessert topped with colorful gdocs sprinkles.) 

 

Still haven't seen a single ep of Merlin, but I'm happy to follow fave writers and co-conspirators who've made it their home base. misswinterhill kindly let me in on the beta for her glomp_fest entry, We're Lost, It's Cold, and There Are Dragons Out There, a purely delightful modern AU set in the wilds of Wales, and of course there be dragons! Naturally! There is also charmingly awkward UST, a scaly baby who steals every scene she's in, and nasty shenanigans around not-so-clean-and-green energy -- in other words, trademark sly touches and humor. Read it, even if it's not your fandom, because we can all use a weekly dose of dragons and the boys who love them. 

 

Nothing that sam_storyteller writes needs a signal boost from me, but I still want to mention two of the latest that I beta-read, because in their different ways they break some new ground in the White Collar Garden of Readin'. Horse Thieves and Mathematicians is a vital bit of Peter backstory, a nice expansion of the hints we've gotten in S2, but also a good hard look at how he came to choose the FBI and be chosen in turn. It's especially fun for how it builds up Peter's relationship with Reese Hughes (and for how Peter later takes on Diana and Neal). And then for Something Completely Different, try Eternal Springtime, because...yeah, why do birds sing when Neal walks down the street? Why is the weather always sunny and perfect wherever he goes? It's a gift and a curse of sorts, and it takes some clever tale-spinning from El to unravel the magic. 

 

In other writing news, I have a White Collar epistolary fic nearing completion. A collaboration via postcard with a dozen ultra-creative flisties. A very, very art-geeky fic, because that's how I roll, and how you can you put Neal in Paris without having him check out the goods? I had the good fortune to meet elainasaunt  during my work trip to the city last month, who not only welcomed me with kir and great conversation but also showed me the PERFECT hotel for Neal and Peter to stay in, and well, it's been snowballing from there. Watch this space.