2.18.2011

ONE YEAR!


So...we made it.

Oh, wait, that was a dumb thing to say.  The story's not finished yet.  I still have a whole book and a third of a book left to add to What Fates Impose.  But today, February 18, 2011, Fates officially celebrates "A Year in Print."

But looking back in the past year, I have:
  • 46 chapters of What Fates Impose
  • 4 chapters of To Resist Both Wind and Tide
  • 6 chapters of Fortune Favors Fools
  • 341,346 words (of Fates) according to fanfiction.net, 299,920 words according to MS Word
  • 747 pages
  • 10 individual stories in the Fatesverse, with narrators including Ellie, Sarah, Chuck, and Frank
  • In Fates alone:
    • 58 individuals uses of the word "Crap"
    • 243 uses of "Hell."
    • 1412 em-dashes.
    • 3388 uses of the name "Sarah."
    • 5226 uses of either "Chuck" or "chuck"
    • And oddly enough, only 1 use of the word "Willies"
  • Only written 1 Fringe story. Hmm.
Man, what a lazy year.

Speaking of lazy, it was my goal to have a really great chapter ready for everybody to read, kind of a victory "Yay, it's a year and 341k words later and we're all still here!"  Unfortunately, a headcold/migraine/nausea came out of nowhere and kicked my butt, and then I got bogged down with homework, making this a very depressing story.

HOWEVER, there are a few things I'd like to say.

First off: thank you.  It's as simple and as complex as that.  Without the great support of everybody, I wouldn't have gotten to spread my wings writing Fates or W&T or Fortune or Greater, so I really do appreciate all of the reviews, support, tweets, feedback that everybody has given me.  I know I do evil things like a cliffhanger every three or four chapters or so and I once went 60 days without updating, but I really do appreciate every single one of you, from my first reviewer (the lovely Augmarenne) to my last (don't know who that is yet, time machine's in the shop).

Secondly: thank you, mxpw.  We joke a lot about Frea's minions on this blog because that's just our sense of humor, but I've come to regard mxpw as a partner (in crime).  Rarely does anything happen in Fates without me running it by him or mentioning it to him ("So I think I'm going to rewrite all 10 pages of 34." "Again?!  FREA!"), and Fates would not be the story it is today without his constant encouragement and feedback.

....There would be even less SWP, for example.

Point C: I am going to finish Fates.  I am, I promise.  mxpw and I have a shared document on Google docs that has the entire plan for the rest of What Fates Impose, so there is a game plan and an end point.  It's not my original ending place (which was after the Intersect 2.0, but I'm not quite that crazy), but if you stick with me through the storm-tossed days, I promise I'll make it worth your while.

Menu Item the Fourth: thanks to my wonderful Cabal/CIA.  Chris, Wep, Justin, and Crystal, you guys are awesome.  And I meant that entirely un-ironically, of course.

And now that I'm done being schmoopy and whatnot, I wanted to say I got y'all a birthday present to celebrate Fates's one-yearness.  I converted some old favorites and some new favorites into ebooks, and then had a blast designing book covers for them.




I wish I could give you a chapter instead of all of those. At any rate, thanks again for the great year, and may the next one be even better!

Most Affectionately,

Frea O'Scanlin
Overlord, Most Benevolent

28 comments:

  1. Anonymous18.2.11

    Aww. :) Thank you for the great writings of Frea! Happy Birthday Fates! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. alladinsgenie4u18.2.11

    Congratulations,Frea and Happy Birthday Fates!

    It's been a really fun ride and wading into fan fiction has resulted in me coming across some of the most passionate fans of the show. So, thank you for that also.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats! You made the world a brighter place for many of us. Kudos.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations on making it to one year Frea and thanks for a year of great stories, great characters and great writing! Most of all, thanks for sharing it all with us!

    ReplyDelete
  5. MichaelK18.2.11

    Congratulations on Fates one year anniversary. That is quite an impressive list of accomplishments. Thank you for sharing your amazing story telling talent with us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations!! and thank you for this past year of unending enjoyment both for the wonderful stories you send forth and for all the cabalisms/cabalisting done with this site. Pure unadulterated fun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you Frea, I honestly believe your Fates universe has kept me a fan of Chuck. It reminds me of how good the show could be IF the writers truly cared in introducing a captivating story.

    -BCF

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous18.2.11

    Wow, what a stupendous achievement!

    How did you manage to only use one thousand, four hundred and twelve em-dashes in over three hundred thousand words of story!? I don't think I'd make it five chapters. ;)

    Okay, seriously, you know I'm kidding. You're not only ridiculously prolific but you always manage to find the exact balance of gravity and fun that keeps me glued to the page. How that's even possible I have no idea whatsoever. But please - keep doing it.

    Again, 'grats and here's hoping for a blistering and inspired home stretch for Fates!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous18.2.11

    It's been an epic journey so far - One I only became part of a few months back. But I have since read Fates in it's entirety twice.

    I know it's becoming a little clichéd to say this, but seriously - WOW!

    - Joel

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats and thanks for persevering I know at times it must feel like a chore but we really appreciate it. Also thanks putting up with your well intentioned but often overbearing fan base, I'm sure that's a big reason why it can feel like a chore at times.

    Hopefully, a year from today you'll be able to celebrate Fates' conclusion and perhaps toast new accomplishments in the post-Fates era! I for one, rather selfishly hope the post Fates era is nothing but Sarah narrated/centric fics, a long shot but a guy can dream.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats and thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous18.2.11

    Thank you and congrats!! Count me among those that feel indebted to you for such great entertainment -- lust fever, sarah's happy dance, grand canyon relief sobbing, go fish, bungalows, panic attacks and all. rock on!
    -- seaboji

    ReplyDelete
  13. My time of servitude is slowly coming to an end. Thank the Maker!

    Willing to entertain offers from anyone who can make it worth my while to share that shared document of Fates's plotline up until the end.

    Any takers?

    ReplyDelete
  14. It looks like I got into Chuck fandom just in time for an epic anniversary!! I'm a Chuck newbie (started last week of Jan, all caught up in time for "Seduction Impossible") and I have fallen in LOVE with this whole epic project. I'm so excited for more! I dont think in all the fandom's I've engaged in, has there ever been such a fun project with so much devotion from the authors and cohorts!

    And seriously...what is mxpw sayin' up there? O.o

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations on such a great year! I remember seeing this story for the first time last year, and I don't think I imagined it to become such a huge part of my Chuck life that it is now. Thank you for sharing yours. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ayefah18.2.11

    Mx, I am so very tempted to take you up on that offer, but I've actually been learning the value of staying unspoiled. (I can hear you snickering, Frea.)

    Anyway...a year. Wow. It's been 365 days since Frea first got me pondering Chuck's bunker, and many, many overly-detailed and persnickety reviews later I still don't know what was up with that. Frea, you really know how to string a girl along. *tips hat*

    ReplyDelete
  17. Frea, thank you for writing soo much fates goodness, every time I have re read I end up doing a facepalm because of another thing I missed.

    Most of all I want to thank you for being my example of what I shoud strive fir as a writer. Thank you also for validating the trust that so many of us have placed in you.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Obviously, good grammar is not a goal;) I can't wait till I can use a laptop instead of a touch to type on.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sorry for the delay in my comment here: I've either been at work or asleep for the past weekend, though I've been checking stuff on my phone, but I did want to say thank you for all of the congratulations.

    And I'm crazy, so I'll reply to all of you!

    Anonymous the First: You're welcome! Fates says happy birthday. And also "nnnnnngh." No idea what that last one means either, sorry. Fates gets hard to handle sometimes.

    Genie! My favorite prompter! Glad we could help you discover the fanbase. I went through the same discovery as I started writing Fates. The first time I went someplace and they'd already heard of me...was intensely freaky. It's a great fanbase though, no?

    OD! I try. :) After I'm done with this reply, I'm going to go write Fringe, and hopefully I'll remember that there's a podcast tonight.

    PeterO: you are most definitely welcome. Thank you for bringing back my love of Dr. Seuss. LOVED him as a kid, love him as a writer, and that's all thanks to you.

    MichaelK, you're very welcome. By the way, that Dr. Pepper truck has not arrived yet. Should I send out a search party? ;)

    dnm: you're welcome! Pure, unadulterated fun is what we're going for here, so that really did put a smile on my face!

    BCF, you're welcome. I really think with these new eleven episodes, we're going to see a return to the characters the fans love. I hope. Fingers are crossed. :)

    Aardie. Aardie, Aardie, Aardie. Did you hear mxpw groan? Encouraging me to use more em dashes doesn't put you on his good side, you know. And I have no idea how this mix I do keeps you glued to the page. :) Usually I require handcuffs for that. Thanks for the 'grats and here's hoping, right? Right? Meep.

    Joel, are you a crazy person? You've read the entirety of Fates TWICE? I applaud you, sir, for that gargantuan task. Hopefully you took enough water and a homing beacon for when the story really gets lost from Chapters 21-28. :) And yes, I am so incredibly flattered that you've reread Fates that I *am* dancing.

    (more)

    ReplyDelete
  20. JohnClark, hee, it's definitely a long-shot, but I understand. Unfortunately, I enjoy writing Chuck POV as well as Sarah (not as much, but I do get a kick out of it), so definitely a long-shot. And if dealing with fans is ever a chore, I'll never tell (but I will probably bitch to my diary. It has unicorns and stars and rainbows on the front and like one of those things, may not exist). Here's to another awesome year for the show and for the fans!

    Crumby, Merci and Tres Bonne! (I asked my took-French-in-high-school-brother how to say "you're welcome" so if that's wrong, blame Van)

    Seaboji - I had NO idea "lust fever" would have the impact it's had, seriously. Though the fact that you said "Rock on!" did make me do the rock'n'roll hand sign at you, so yay! And thanks!

    mxpw - get in the woodshed, minion.

    Karen, welcome to the fandom! Congratulations, you've now been assimilated into one of the craziest fandoms on the planet. Heck, when our show was in danger, we went on the attack, armed with Subway foot-longs. I'm really glad you're enjoying Fates, which has really taken on a life of its own. And mxpw is saying things that will, as you've probably seen, end up with him in the woodshed.

    biskwit, thanks! I don't think any of us imagined how big Fates would become, both in the fandom and word-wise. I certainly didn't think so. I remember being really excited to get 8 reviews on a chapter for the third chapter. That was a huge thing for me. And now Fates isn't even my "big review winner." :) But I'm glad so many people are loving it. It gives me the warm fuzzies inside.

    Ayefah, maybe by this point next year I'll reveal why Chuck was in that bunker. Muhaha. But I do want to thank you in particular, too, since your reviews have at least twice changed the plot of the story or have made me think of things I would never have considered.

    BDaddyDL! You're very, very welcome. I reread books I love all the time and discover something new every. single. time. So no facepalming, mister! You know, I was in your shoes when I started writing fanfiction. There was a writer in the Harry Potter section named Cassandra Clare, who every chapter she wrote, I wished I could be that good, have that skill, etc. Now, Cassandra's a published writer and I can't say I'm as good as she was then or whatever since her writing got taken down, but I do believe that I got much better as a writer with that goal in mind. And to be on the other end of that equation now...it's a little daunting and also insanely flattering, so thank you. Here's hoping in a couple of years, I'm published and you're writing the new Fates-length/magnitude of the section or published right there alongside me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Point A) Yay! I wasn't mentioned last! Suck it Justin and Crystal! Nah, I'm just kidding. Love you guys. But still, I wasn't last. :P

    Point B) Congrats on a year, Frea! I remember long ago, when I had my own 1 year celebration of a story. Hmm, I don't think I've ever updated that story since. Heh, hopefully that curse doesn't catch Fates, too.

    Point C) Yes, my head is getting a bit big, seeing as one of those covers? From an edition of WtFiWR! I'm so good at picking good stories. As soon as my brand new, shiny iMac gets here on Tuesday (can't wait!), I'm totally gonna start posting that column again. Oh yeah, and writing fic, too. :)

    Point D) Er, I think I'm out of points, so I'll end with this: Olivia Dunham is the queen of the world!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ayefah20.2.11

    Joel, are you a crazy person? You've read the entirety of Fates TWICE?

    Erm. *facepalm* I may or may not also suffer from this very specific mental imbalance...except "twice" is just how many times I read a chapter before reviewing. It doesn't count rereads. Of which there have been several, because a girl has to build her Fates Conspiracy Wall somehow, you know? :P

    ReplyDelete
  23. I've been infected too.

    ReplyDelete
  24. How is that wall, Ayefah? Does it rival Charlie Crews's beautiful, beautiful conspiracy wall that would surely make Dani roll her eyes? If it does, pics or it didn't happen. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  25. "341,346 words (of Fates) according to fanfiction.net, 299,920 words according to MS Word"

    If you save with MS Word, then fanfiction.net counts Word's mark-up as extra words. If you want an accurate word count in fanfiction.net, you need to save from word as an RTF, then open the file in wordpad, then save again. Also, never use the fanfiction.net editor. It adds even more non-existent words.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Eh, too much work.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous21.2.11

    Here's my congratulations too! Fates has been an epic and enjoyable ride and I've looked forward to each and every chapter...I still do! In looking at the Fates document (yes, I print out each and every chapter and re-read them all of the time; and yes, a hard copy is old fashion but you do what you can afford to do!) I thought: "Wouldn't it have been neat if Frea could have averaged a chapter a week in that year? Just a couple of more chapters and she would have done that." But then I realized: Fates' 46 chapters isn't the whole saga. There's also Fortune, Wasted, Sleeping, Bunny, To Sleep, Truth and Resist. Those are all part of the Fates saga and Frea also wrote those in that year. So by my count, the total was 61 chapters. Frea average MORE than a chapter a week in that year. Way to go Frea!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ayefah21.2.11

    The "wall" is an RTF file, I'm afraid. Studio apartments are sadly lacking in Walk-In Closets O' Paranoia. Maybe if I write really small I can fit it all on the back of my Vitruvian Man poster...

    ReplyDelete

Please remember to be courteous to all other Castle Inanity commenters.