There can never be too many nods and winks to the Monty Python on the Internet. Just sayin'.

As it turns out (and as witnessed by my suddenly better stocked "Fics and snapshots" folder), my spark for writing made a surprise return at the end of last year; since then I've been writing frantically in case it's temporary and goes away again (lately I've been slowing down and consequently been afraid that the urge to write was getting diluted into other interests/fandoms... typical).

Two things have really been a big encouragement, though: the fact that I now know that I can actually complete a chaptered story (that had never happened before!), and the Papa Bear Awards. Every year, readers/writers of Hogan's Heroes fanfiction hold an election for the best HH fanfiction in the past year, and I'm still reeling (in a very good way!) from the fact that people actually nominated, then voted for my story, Soul Food. I won Bronze for "Best Story of 2011" (!!!),  Silver for "Best Long Comedy" and "Most Unique Story", and Gold (!!!!!!) for Best Portrayal of a Canon Character (LeBeau, and I'm told Schultz - the other character I was nominated for in this category - actually made fourth place!). I mean, wow. I still can't believe it. It's a bit daunting, too, because now I'm afraid the stories I have cooking (in plot bunny form, or the ones I actually got started on) won't be that good... Which goes to show that sometimes you just have to switch off your self-doubt and questioning and just write the darn thing. We'll see where it goes from here

In other less cheerful, Real Life-related news, I'm still on the dole, because librarian jobs are hard to come by where I live... Technically, it should mean more time to write/doodle, but somehow, it doesn't much. I'll have to kick myself in the rear to get at least this kind of activity going. It doesn't bring bread on the table, but it's something that makes me happy. I guess it's important. And who knows? Maybe some day I'll be able to write something original. A girl can dream

Checked into the Pottermore thing (I still like "Belphegor" better than "FlameScarlet5995", but we're not allowed to choose our own names) and it's a lot of fun - except I'm stuck at the end of Philosopher's Stone and I have no idea 1) if the "Chamber of Secrets" part is accessible yet, and/or 2) how to access it. Little help?

That's all (for now), folks