First of all, I am sorry I dropped off the radar. Thanks to folks who sent hugs.

I'm not necessarily back, unfortunately. But I'm fine and I might even do something more than half-hearted lurking. I had some "real life" things that left me with little to no time to surf the net recreationally, and the more I fell behind, the harder it was to catch up. So it became eerily easy to drop off the edge of the universe, and I apologize to you all for not at least telling folks when I decided take time off.

And then, there's the novel. About three years or so ago now, I finished my first novel -- the first of a planned trilogy -- and put it on the back burner. To keep in shape with my writing skills, I started writing slash, and anyone who's bothering to read this will know what came of that! I found not only a great  circle of brilliant writers and talented artists to bounce ideas of of, but wonderful friends and a community that spanned the globe, one that I have sorely missed. But then, inevitably my own original characters yanked me back to their world; I am currently writing the second book of the trilogy now, and currently the internet is too much a temptation to stray from some serious work. I'm finishing chapter two; by chapter seven, I should be able to socialize with slashers once more. 

But yesterday, I looked over at my studio wall where I have a printout of Spacefall's beautiful pic "snog", and the memories came flooding back. I've missed folks, and I promise I'll be looking in again, as soon as the gods of fiction allow. 

One thing I have continued in my life is my constant digital shutterbugging. So I leave you with a few pics.

Unfortunately, I haven't done anything with Holmes/Watson in a long, long time. My own characters are making sure that all my literary energy goes in their direction right now, and the boys are far too sweet a distraction. Oh, well, maybe in another few months Kat and Wing will let me see other people.

I'll try to keep in touch more often.

Love and kisses
Spike
 

Well, everyone's Friday Fives were so wonderful, I decided to join in the fun, only to remember that to accept the challenge of the Fives is to allow yourself to be nibbled enitcingly by hordes of plot bunnies --

Wait, that just sounds wrong. Anyhoo:

But also, I've gotta share this. 


And then, there's what kept me at this computer for ten straight hours yesterday:

Well, first, the fic. It's a short one, just a stupid little plot bunny that bit me. All I can see is that I've gotten out of practice writing, and the ending just fizzles, but here it is for what it's worth.

And here's some more foliage shots.

Honestly, I've been doing nothing but working on my career. Hence my abscence from any lists or anything. Sheeit, I'm so out of touch it hurts.

Why did this happen? Well, actually mixed circumstances, good and bad. The boss who drove me nuts gave notice. And lots of people in the nursing department left or were fired due to some bad blood coming to a head (sad but it happens in healthcare; we're all drama addicts, and so there are personality clashes). It didn't effect me personally, but we were working pretty thin to make sure our folks still got the best care possible. 

And then-- someone up there likes me! -- the person who is now my new boss is the one co-worker, who, when I saw her car in the parking lot, I knew that my day would be that much easier 'coz she was there.

Did that make sense? I'm sorry; my brain is still fried. You see, with the change of personnel, this new boss and I had to work extra shifts, crazy shifts and split shifts and any other kind of shift in order to keep the department together. We worked hard and kept our folks happy and safe, and now I'm tired but very very very happy.

For the last month, I did nothing more than work, sleep and eat until just a week ago when my vacation started, and then it took me this long to recover. I spent a week in my pajamas reading Wodehouse and eating chocolate chip cookies and now emerge a rested and wiser Spike.

I am now in the middle of the first two-week vacation I have had in my adult life, and finally, once again, able to crawl back into myself and get back in touch with my online buddies to whom I sincerely apologize, particularly all the good folks at Holmesslash. I have been slogging about four or five weeks' worth of posts, laughing and crying, and I will try to comment on what I've missed, but no doubt I'll miss someone's stuff.

So as an apology to my fellow slashers, I offer a few more screencap scenarios. Some are good, some are lame, some can only be dismissed as the imaginings of a deranged mind.

And while I'm sharing pix, here's some artsy shots, taken sometime during the flurry of shift changes. These are all literally in my back yard. Yeah, I'm in Vermont, where the trees are fucking fluorescent. We do FOLIAGE, dammit!

All right, I'm completely nuts.

After a day of polishing shiny things and watching Russian Holmes and learning how to do screencaps, I have perpetrated some sacrilege. I will probably do more; they're horribly addictive.

No disrespect is intended, I'm not makin' any cash, really, but I just couldn't resist.

Well, now I know why I've never done these! Now I'm knee-deep in plot bunnies. I feel a bit funny that I haven't done it before, but I think I'll do more from now on. They do wonders for one's comic timing. 

And for those who were wondering about the jokes, yes, they're real. And I'll share 'em, if asked nicely. Or even if you beg me not to, heh-heh.

Well, this is almost two days late, for which I apologize. The thing kept getting longer and longer and ... erp.

Anyhoo, it a) is probably full of typos, b) ends slightly abruptly, and c) doesn't have a good title yet (if anyone has one, let me know. If it matches the fic, all the better.)

But I want to get this out before it's three days late. 

 

All right, this is dedicated to Lew Nightspore, who posted his amazing Centaur!Holmes pic over on Holmesslash.

It's only mild R-ish at this point, but if folks weren't put off by hot man-on-squid action, I can't imagine that anyone'll be too shocked to hear that I'm working on an x-rated Centaur!sex scene.

EDIT: And for some reason, yahoogroups is acting up and my posts aren't working on Holmesslash, so I have no idea whether or not Lew even knows this is up here. OK, my second post went thru; perhaps it's something my end. Anyone else having problimz with yahoo tonight? 

The piece also needs a bit of an edit -- I keep seeing typos/repeated words, etc, but I'm too lazy to fix it now. But for now, here's what I have:

Well, since folks have been showing us such wonderful art, I thought I'd share what I've been working on. A while ago, a certain Hindu divinity who shall remain pachydermoid gave me a bit of a hand in the Deus Ex Machina department of writing SHIM. I promised a portrait, and it isn't done yet (I still need to add some jewelry and make the necklace in his lower left hand more obvious), but it felt like the night to post it here.

Thanks and blessed be

And I decided to spam y'all with an even dozen pix. 

So. Here I am, it's a freakin' gorgeous day, and I'm on the back porch, enjoying a half-day of bliss. I tend to get shutterbuggy at times like this, and so, I give you a Sunny Day in Vermont.

****BIZARRE SIDE NOTE*************

Honestly, I took these pix with the intention of posting them here to share, then logged on and saw on my flist sherlock2040's excellent pictorial of a sunny day in Regent's Park. I can only attribute this to strange forces beyond my understanding or control, creating strange cross-Atlantic mind-links. 

So there it is. Wherever y'all are on this lovely planet, I hope your day is as fine as mine!