MONDAY FAN FICTION REPORT - 1/11/99
[Previous report was for 1//99]

Hi guys,

THE SWORD AND STAFF FAN FICTION AUCTION is now underway and ready for your bidding pleasure! :) Lots of INCREDIBLE offerings from many of the top talents in this fandom. Lets do our bards and artists proud people with a great response to this auction. Proceeds will go to benefit the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT. The auction will run through midnight (EST), Monday, January 18. Check out all the items available for bid at: http://sword-and-staff.com/auction.htm

I am considering an addition to my web site and would like the help of all you fanfic readers/bards out there. I know that during the writing process bards sometimes find themselves in need of "experts" to make their stories as accurate as possible. They may need someone with medical knowledge to tell them what part of the head an injury to could cause amnesia, or how long an individual could go without food. Perhaps they need someone with knowledge about herbs to suggest some herbs a character could use for a certain purpose. They could be writing an uber story set in the Middle Ages and need someone with historical knowledge about that period or who can describe the type of armor a medieval warrior was likely to wear. Maybe they're writing a Mel/Janice story and need someone with knowledge of World War II. In short, our bards sometimes need "expert" advice but find it difficult to get it. Recently a very kind Xenite sent me a message volunteering to share medical knowledge with any bard that would need it SOOOOOO the idea of an "Experts" page was born where Xenites who are willing to share their expertise could make themselves available to bards. What I need to know is whether such a page would include more than one person - in other words, I need "experts" :) Do keep in mind that this is DIFFERENT from being a beta reader. I maintain a BETA READERS DIRECTORY listing people who are willing to provide bards with feedback, correct grammatical/spelling errors, comment on the storyline, etc. By contrast, an "Experts" page would just list individuals who are willing to answer questions about their area of expertise so that a bard can make a story more accurate. If you don't have time to beta read but would like to contribute something to the Xenaverse and to the bards who share so much with us - THIS is a nice way to do that guys. Ok - so here's what I need - IF you consider yourself an "expert" in some area (you don't necessarily have to have a professional degree - you might just be an expert on the Civil War because you like that historical period and have studied it a lot), then write me at lunacy@dc.seflin.org with the following:

1. The name and e-mail address you'd like listed on the "Experts" page.

2. A short description of your area of expertise (medicine, modern weapons, herbs, ancient history, clothing, horses, swords, etc.)

I have NO idea what types of subject areas will be covered - it all depends on what types of Experts volunteer :) BTW - keep in mind that uber stories span the ages so if you have a more modern specialization (detective work, reporter, etc.) bards might find those useful as well. If I get a lot of responses I'll make the page available. To keep it manageable for starters I'll put a limit of four on the number of "experts" in any one area so if 10 people want to offer their medical expertise, I'll list the first four that write me. Also, I'm gonna try to keep the subject areas to the type of things that we tend to see frequently in fanfic. If your specialization is very narrow it may not be included. We'll see how this pans out. I'll let you guys know in a couple of weeks if the page is a go. One last thing - if anyone has ANY suggestions on how to do this differently lemme know!

Short one tonight :)

ALTERNATIVE FICTION:

THE GAME by Poto
Skillfully written, this post BITTER SUITE tale has Xena and Gabrielle on their way back to the Amazons for the first time since Xena's attack on the village. Nervous at the prospect, the warrior is relieved when they run into a young Amazon from a now disbanded tribe on her way to visit Gabrielle's. Recognizing the young warrior's skills, Xena proposes that they test the security of the Amazon village as a game to hopefully lessen the tension she's certain the Amazons will be feeling around her. It is a game that unfortunately turns deadly when they all fail to realize that others may not be as forgiving as a certain bard from Poteidaia. Poto delivers here a very compelling treatment of situations and feelings that have been woefully ignored by the TV series. The characterizations are solid all around in a storyline already riveting and with the potential to get ever more so. DO NOT MISS! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! [unfinished] - 44 pgs.
http://www.xenafan.com/fiction/list/titleg.html

THE WAGER by Rab Donald
Amusing little story that has the Warrior Princess making a VERY sure bet. Some fun mind games in here. - 7 pgs.
http://members.wbs.net/homepages/c/h/a/chakram1/thewager.html

GABRIELLE AND THE SIX LABOURS by Amazon Moon
Cute story based on an actual Greek myth involving Hercules only this time it is the Bard of Poteidaia who must fulfill six labours if she ever wants to see her dying warrior alive again. Precious ending to this ;-) - 21 pgs.
http://www.amazontrails.com/xena/sixlab.htm

BLOOD RED SCREAM by Tragedy88
Updated through chapter 10. This terrific contemporary uber story revolves around the life of a very troubled and very lonely computer hacker by the name of Taylor. Having suffered through a nightmarish past, the young woman is still reluctantly tied to the employer who rescued her from the streets - a very wealthy, deadly and heartless employer vent on using Taylor to advance her power. For the hacker life consists of time spent working amidst her computers in an out-of-the-way warehouse, and time spent trying to loose herself in alcohol and sex - until the day she receives an e-mail complementing her on one of her Web stories and suddenly she finds herself... with a friend. In these latest updates Taylor finds the courage to reach out to a friend just as her life starts to crumble around her. Tragedy does a nice job establishing rather original uber characterizations in a riveting, poignant storyline. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! [unfinished] - 22 pgs.
http://members.tripod.com/~Trag_88/fanfic/scream/scream.html
https://ausxip.com/fanfic6/bloodredscream.html

FANFIC ART:

"LOST SOUL WALKING Fan Fiction Book Cover" by Tragedy88
Inspired by the story LOST SOUL WALKING by DJWP.
https://ausxip.com/fanfic4/lostsoulwalking.html

For those of you reading this post who are not familiar with the term alternative (alt.), it refers to ADULT stories that add a romantic element to the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle, depicting them as more than just friends.

Happy reading!

Lunacy 8-)