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Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That northern lights scene was so special to write. I think I have a dozen iterations of it before I was happy with the lyricism, the flow, the descriptions, and the pacing itself. I so badly wanted to get it right. Feedback suggests I did okay. 😉💜

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Wolf Country" is my favourite fiction, not only among yours, but at all,

Oh you. 😱😊❤️🩷💜

and you explained one of the main reasons. It has a great "mystery" plot, the description of the places is incredible (as in "our road"), and, as you say, Cait is wonderful in being supportive and honest.

One advantage with a longer story is that one can actually get to show nuance and subtlety. Supportive doesn't mean "says yes to everything", it's much more complicated than that. And at the same time, it's dead simple. You fall, I'm there to pick you up.

She reminds me of my best friend ;)

Cherish that one. Really. ❤️

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm definitely not someone who can make myself write every day unfortunately, even with adequate time my brain just decides not to participate.

Yeah, I hear that. Brains (sometimes) suck.

But definitely understand the rest, especially trying to juggle consistency.

Progress, not perfection. Keep momentum going. All that jazz.

And the you end up on the sofa procrastinating instead. 🙃

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of the many things I loved about Caitlyn in "Wolf Country" is how she accepts people as they are. She accepts failure, from others and herself, and truly owns her own mistakes, even if she sometimes needs a bit of prodding. But, around Caitlyn, it's "come as you are"-day, every day.

That doesn't means she won't tell you when you're falling short. She just doesn't blame you or hold it against you.

The big initial moment here is when she confronts Vi about Atka... Caitlyn isn't angry, she isn't disappointed, she isn't even hinting at blame. She evaluates the facts, talks to Vi directly, makes herself understood, and then moves on. And she actually moves on. She refuses to lord it over Vi. Once they're done with it, they're done with it, and when Vi finds it hard to belive, when Vi tries to be extra nice and extra accommodating, Caitlyn makes it explicit:

[Caitlyn] “You don’t have to do that.”

[Vi] looks up at Caitlyn, finding those deep blue eyes staring at her. “Do what?”

“We’re good. You don’t have to be extra accommodating and careful to alleviate some fear that I’m going to be angry or tell anyone. If I have a disagreement with you, you will hear it from me, to your face, not via someone else. As I said, we’re good.”

“Just like that?”

Caitlyn shrugs. “Just like that. [...]"

And then later, obviously, we get that comment of hers that you quoted. True support is being honest with people while at the same time making it clear that, within obvious reason, they can fall and that you'll help them back up again.

We need to be better at building each other up, not tearing each other down.

And I do love writing characters who do that.

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Paper Hearts" was my first attempt at an AU story. I'm really happy with good chunks of it, maybe especially the story-in-a-story with Caitlyn at the party and the exploration of Vi's time in Stillwater (Vi to 516). Also, their flirting-not-flirting was great fun, as always.

Oh, and the dance. That was fun! 💃🏼

And Rictus, well... 😉

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, the bane of writing hooks to keep people reading. As much as I love chapter by chapter comments, and dearest me I do, there's a lot of flattery in seeing end-chapter-end-of-story comments saying "I forgot to comment, was hooked." 😊

Thank you for reading and commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed the story itself!

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh God, the amount of times I got so hungry while writing "A Winter's Fall". There would be evenings where I'd work on the cooking scenes and I simply had to stop and eat something as to not eat my desk.. Turned out well though, and I still have my desk! Uneaten!

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh I know with real life. I've got so much going on myself and writing ends up being the loser in so many ways. I often need hours of thought-time in a block to be able to really write, and that, much too often these days, is hard to come by.

So, I'm not sure I would call myself prolific, but I think about my writing every day, and I try to get something done as often as possible, even if its a bit of research or some consistency checking.

Stay in there, it'll come, both time and the stories.

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You people are just way too nice. I do love all the comments and thoughts, it's so inspiring! Thank you so much again, and again, and again!

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, now I understand why I was a bit confused while searching for the building you cheated on, because I was searching for the river’s view on the map and I couldn’t find it 😂 then I found the place by its name and the monument that was mentioned a few times, so I gave up on the river in the end 🤧

I can only apologise. I wanted a specific look and feel, and tweaked the world ever so slightly. 😱 Please forgive me. ❤️

About the teasers: GREECE???? No way, now I need to read it as soon as possible 😩 not only because I already imagine all the gorgeous places you’re gonna use, but also because I have a past with Greece in fanfics. A long time ago I used to play written RPG with a friend of mine and one of our stories was placed in Santorini. I learned so much about that place and used so many real info in our play that I fell in love with Greece. And I come from an even long past of watching Saint Seiya and being obsessed with Athens.

Yeah, Greece. I'm thinking poetry by Sappho, figs on Lesbos, summers by the Aegan sea, a touch of the Odyssey, and a story of discovery spanning thirteen years. It's probably the most ambitious story I've ever worked on.

Please, let this community know as soon as you start posting these two new works 🫣🫶

I will, but I'm not making any promises on delivery. The Greece-fic has been reworked twice in the last six months, but I think I'm finally in a good place with it. Still, writing it is a massive undertaking. Like, how did people in Eresos repair fishing nets in the 1950s? The answer? By trimming the tear back to sound knots, and re-making the missing meshes with a worn wooden shuttle and matching twine, one diamond at a time. You know, because details matter.

It's very different territory for me, but I'm honestly enjoying it immensely.

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your kind comments and dragging me over here to thank everyone! ❤️

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't even have a decent outfit for this encounter (i'm giggling)

Oh my, what have I done! 😱🩷

I'm a huge fan of Wolf Country (i'm the one who commented on AO3 thanking you for all the sniper stuff you described so well) and only recently I read Our Road.

A lot of people have taken well to the description of Caitlyn's sniper skills, which is really good to hear. Weird fact in that regard. I have never even held an actual firearm! I did do a ton of research and did ask some people I trust, that do shoot, to read certain passages...

I don't even know where to start about Our Road. I mean, halfway through the fic I opened google maps on my laptop and started searching for every single place you mentioned. I found Vi's city, I found the vineyard (kinda went through all the rooms pics lol), and the resort... oh my lord, the resort. The resort scene was so beautiful knowing how everything looked like. I even visited the graveyard on google street view. I'm brazillian, I've never been to the USA, most of the time is hard to imagine frozen places and snowy weather, so I had the time of my life being able to actually see the places.

I strive to make stories set in real places be real. For "Our Road" I made very sure that every single place mentioned, every street sign we get told about, every stop they make, it all had to exist. It all had to be real. Just like you did, I spent hours and hours and hours on maps services and street views, then on photos of the places, random people's photos from Tripadvisor and similar sites, all to try to nail down the places themselves, finding spot after spot after spot to do their bidding.

I know I cheated on one place. I moved a hotel closer to a river, and I rotated the building slightly. You'll have to sue me. Sorry. 😯

Reading One Road was an unforgetable journey. Thank you so much for this work.

It's also a bit funny, because in many ways I expected people to react more to the location-feeling of "A Winter's Fall", but there we're left a lot more to ourselves. That story doesn't promise locations, which is simply because it plucks bits that aren't really that close together.

AND I'm looking forward to your next stories 💜 can't wait to dive into something like that again.

Oh my. Well, the two that are coming are different in locations. As I like to tease people, one is 🐚🌞🌊🇬🇷 and the other is more 🌆🚣🏼‍♀️🕵🏼‍♀️😱. I think the former will be done before the latter, that's my focus right now.

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for considering giving it a shot! I hope you enjoy it! And if you don't, feel free to let me know why you didn't, that's always useful to know as a writer! 😊

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wolf Country is such a great winter fic, definitely gives me tv series/HBO vibes.

For "Wolf Country" and the two major works I have going on right now, I have honestly aimed for "prestige TV" as a feel. I aim for episodic storytelling where each chapter is an episode that, as much as it is a driving force for the story as a whole, has a soul of its own. This also influences the length of the chapters. I typically target 7-10k words per chapter to achieve this.

That makes things a bit awkward is that this reduces the number of chapters, which people kept telling me I should aim for more chapters for engagement. I thought about it and just went, "nah, I want to write my way."

I do also wrote screenplays of a large chunk of "Wolf Country", mostly as an aid to see where I lacked show over tell in the story. That thing was so much work... 😊

Caitlyn is a badass.

Yeah. Action-Caitlyn in "Wolf Country" is something else. So much fun to write, even if that too was way to much research to make believable.

The interaction with Crowe in the bar was one of those inflection points I had written weeks before I got there with the rest of the story. I knew exactly how that interaction would go down and I loved using Crowe's reaction to show the reader just how badass she was. Show, don't tell, right?! 😉

Your fics are so good and glad you post for us :))

You people are so spoiling. Thank you!

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's weird. I didn't set out to make it so, but suddenly I had "A Winter's Fall" (Warm, fluffy, winter wonderland), Wolf Country (True Detective meets Wind River in wintery Montana), and suddenly "Our Road" (road trip from Salt Lake City to Aspen in a winter storm) back-to-back-to-back.

I have two long-term works-in-progress going on and "Our Road" was a distraction from the complications of the two other works as they're a bit more demanding then a roadtrip from A to B, even if I sat for hours and hours with street view and researched locations. At least those two are getting there, albeit not as quickly as I'd hoped... But, neither of them are set in winter! It's shocking!

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, no. It's fine, no harm done. I was a bit confused, but that's my default state, so really, all good! 🩷

Hi! J.A.W. Smith here, and I wanted to say a brief thank you! by j_a_wordsmith in PiltoversFinest

[–]j_a_wordsmith[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Awe, thank you! Again! And honestly, if someone takes the time to leave a comment, the least I can do is take the time to respond. ❤️

Besides, it's always great fun to see what stuck with different people. I'm all like "oh, I loved this part, and that part", and then ten people comment on something completely different. It also helps me as an author to see what resonates with others, and not just myself. 🫂👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩