Under the wide, wide sky

I thought I'd better claim my Smoochfest fic. I had so much fun writing this, and it felt good to be writing again after quite a long break. I actually wrote this as a pinch hit (it makes no difference to how long I take though) so I wasn't expecting to write for Smoochfest, but I'm so glad that I did! I'm writing so much less at the moment, but when I'm actually in the middle of a fic it feels like I've never stopped. Anyway, I have a soft spot for Harry working with his hands and had always wanted to retell a fairy tale. And I became quite obsessed with pottery while writing!

( This photo, in particular, inspired me )

Title: Another Sun That’s Brighter Still
Summary: Draco’s parents are trying to force him to marry – just because of some stupid family curse – but Draco isn’t willing to settle for second best. After rejecting one suitor too many, he’s handfasted to a stinky and ragged minstrel and sent off without a Knut to his name.
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Word Count: ~26,500
Author's Notes: I’ve always had a fascination for stories like King Thrushbeard (The Taming of the Shrew is another that springs to mind) despite a sense of unease around some of the themes. Writing this story was a great chance to work out what I like about the trope, and to write a story that I can be happy with. I wanted, I realised, to focus on a humility without humiliation. I hope I’ve managed it. The two songs quoted in the fic are the Neapolitan song ’O Sole Mio (from which I’ve also taken the title), and Do The Hippogriff, from the Goblet of Fire film.

Thank you to my prereader indyonblue, and to my beta evilgiraffe. And thank you to the wonderful mods to this fest, who are always so helpful and, ahem, generous.

Another Sun That's Brighter Still (on AO3)

ETA: I've been on painkillers and antiobiotics all week, and my poor head is all over the place, otherwise I would not have forgotten to link to dustmouth's amazing little sketches for my fic (and others - they are all wonderful)! I am so lucky and honoured that she chose to illustrate my fic. <3

I haven't said hello for a while, as I have been busy with all the writing. But I've hit my targets, so here I am with a little update on what I've been up too recently.

Two weeks ago, I went to see the Tempest at the Globe. It was wonderful - a perfect summer's evening, a great production, and oh my goodness, Colin Morgan is beautiful. I mean, I knew this, but seeing him on stage... he stood out, he really did, as a creature of beauty. I couldn't keep my eyes off him. I am tempted to go back to watch it again - as well as Colin being other-wordly and pretty, it was a fantastic experience and I loved every second of it.

Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take photos during the performance, so have a nice pic of The Globe on a summer's evening instead.

( The Globe, on a summer's evening )

It was good timing too, as I have been busy working on my Paperlegends fic. Last night I finally finished my first draft! It feels so good to have (finally) got to this point.( More on writing for Paperlegends )

In HP news, I've claimed a prompt for the hd_fan_fair Book Fair, which I'm very excited about. I quickly sketched out some ideas the other day, and will now think about it for a while. It's quite a challenging prompt, and I'm really looking forward to teasing out all the possibilities and getting writing.

I've also got about a million fics to read to catch up on Smoochfest, but what I did manage to read before stopping to get my PL fic finished, I loved!

I do have one quick rec from hd_smoochfest (I know I'm usually rubbish at reccing, but this one really stood out): Sticky Fingers, art (although art really doesn't seem enough of a description for this story/comic). It is absolutely amazing, and it left me with tears in my eyes as it was just so perfect: beautiful to look at, and a wonderful, gentle story with real soul.

Author: omi_ohmy
Prompt Number: 49
Gift for: tariana
Title: Trust in Hope
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione, Ginny/Dean
Summary: It's Eighth year, and Draco is broken, ostracised. One person prefers him the way he was, full of life – Draco just needs to learn to trust in hope.
Rating: R Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): None, really.
Epilogue compliant? Nope.
Word Count: 20,002
Author's Notes: This was written for the 2012 hd_smoochfest. Thanks to birdsofshore for pre-reading and evilgiraff for betaing. 

( Trust in Hope (2/2) )

Author/Artist LJ Name: omi_ohmy
Prompt Number: 18
Gift for: winterstorrm
Title: Rain
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, um, and then a whole lot of het pairings – Luna/Rolf, Ron/Hermione, Ginny/OMC, past Harry/Ginny, inferred Draco/Pansy, Pansy/OMC,
Summary: Luna is getting married, and old friends meet up. It's too hot, and everything's changing for everyone except for Harry, who is still mooning after Draco.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): Lots of references to het couples! Sorry, but it seemed kinda necessary at a wedding.
Epilogue compliant? Not really. I took elements from the epilogue and canon, to suit my needs, and disregarded others. *shrugs*
Word Count: ~5000
Author's Notes: Written for the 2012 hd_smoochfest. I saw this prompt was still unclaimed, and fell in love with it; the story wrote itself, basically. Thanks to my pre-reader birdsofshore and beta evilgiraff for their help.

( Rain )

I'm still working away at When a Tree Dreams - I'm halfway through the epilogue - but I've actually slowed right down with my writing. RL is a little stressful at the moment, and I'm already looking forward to getting back to writing obsessively again.

( More ramblings on writing, fests and fandom love )