(rhymes with Pikachu)

I'm a stay-at-home mother of three - two teenagers and a 20-something - and I've rediscovered both the Thunderbirds and the joy of writing fiction. Thanks for any and all reviews; they really help. For the record, I write mostly TV-verse stories; the only movie-verse story I currently have is The White Winds.

Due to Fanfiction.net's policy about reprinting song lyrics, my songfic, Bedtime Song, can be found at Fan Nation and Tikatu's Corner, under One Shots & Poetry. My 4-part Bekkah Barnes story arc, and it's spin-off Kyrano story, The Retainer, are now archived at Tikatu's Corner and are no longer on this site. Eventually, all my fanfic will be archived there, but for the most part I'll be using it as a mirror to the stories posted here and elsewhere.

Updates:

February 5, 2012 - Chapter 6 is at beta, undergoing some pretty radical changes. I'm going to update at my other posting sites in the meantime. Many thanks to ThatGirlSix for her fabulous beta!! She certainly is teaching me a lot!

My sincerest condolences and virtual hugs to the fandom's AmandaTracy, whose husband died unexpectedly on January 5. I had the pleasure of meeting both of them back in 2008. You're in my thoughts and prayers, Amanda.

A new public service announcement: If you're having trouble updating due to a "403 Response timed out" error, there is a workaround. You can find it on my Classic Thunderbirds Forum in the Communities list. Just be sure to double check your file after saving the first time; the site does wonky things with italics (and presumably bolding) when you copy/paste.

An old public service announcement: The World filter is available to help those who are looking for one universe of Thunderbirds fanfiction in particular. For those who haven't yet labeled their fics with it - whether movie or TV-verse - please consider doing so.

To be worked on:
NaNoWriMo 2011 - Moonstrike!
My original fiction from NaNoWriMo 2010
Chapter 10 of Resolutions Redux
Chapter 28 of Overtures
My original fiction from NaNoWriMo 2008
My own website, where all my fanfiction will eventually be archived.
My Brains-centered NaNo novel, entitled Brainstorm.
Various posts and cast biographies for International Rescue: The Next Phase, which actually take precedence when something is due to post.

Things that make you go, "Hmm..."

Fanfic written from fanfic. Please, please, please, if you're going to write fanfic, see the movie. Watch the TV show. Read the comic or the book. Play the video game. But don't rely on other writers. When a writer changes something, another writer will thinks it's canon, and that change gets perpetuated to the nth degree until eventually the fanfic is unrecognizable as being from the fandom (or the fandom world) we love. So please, know your canon!

Fanon =/= Canon. Even if you extrapolate an idea from a scene in canon, it's still fanon. For example, I use a couple of different scenes from TV-verse canon to extrapolate that Virgil is romantically interested in Lady Penelope. However, there's nothing overt in canon that states Virgil is interested at all. Only teeny-tiny possible hints. It's fun to play with, but I'd never come out and say it's canon.

Names. Another fanon thing that is mistaken for canon is the Tracys' middle names. To be blunt, they don't have any. It's fanon that the orignal astronauts' last names are the middle names of the Tracy sons. Also, it's just Jeff. Not Jefferson, Jeffery, or any other variation thereof. If you want to use those, fine. But don't claim it's canon.

Nationalities. A small reminder: the Tracy family is American. I've noticed lately that some writers from across the ponds are making the Tracys use terms that aren't American in their thoughts, dialog, and narration. Even little things will really stand out to someone from here (just as our mistakes do to you).If anyone has questions about how Americans do or say things, get on one of the forums or send a PM to one of us Yanks and ask. Most of us are more than willing to advise you on how to write the Tracys as Americans. If you have questions about the US school system, check out my overview at Thunderbirds Central's forum or at As the Muse Moves.

And conversely, for those of you who need information about Britain, Cathrl has provided a wonderful resource. You can find it here: http://www.reeslay.co.uk/cath/britain.htm. Lots of great information about education, politics, and things to watch out for as you write.

Female OCs - Contrary to popular belief, not all female OCs are Mary Sues. If you can write one who doesn't warp the whole Thunderbirds universe around herself, more power to you. But it's quite a balancing act to come up with a strong female character who doesn't out-do our favorite family in every (or even almost every) area, yet has realistic flaws. Remember, the readers want to read about the Tracys; start off with them and keep the focus on them as much as you can.

Artwork!

Scenes from my fics, Turnabout, Serendipity, Masquerade and Overtures, as drawn by MathGirl can be found at the Thunderbirds Central gallery. Artwork from her own stories is also there; all is posted with her kind permission. Other manga-style Thunderbirds art by my daughter is also available at Thunderbirds Central. Hope you enjoy!

Current observed TBs fandom fanfic trends:

Ignored, misunderstood, and emo movie-verse Alan
Kidnapping and torture fics!
Virgil-whumping!
Scott-whumping!
Tracy boys having children they don't know about.
Tracy Sister fics - Will they ever end!?? Definitely not...!! In fact, we have another little run on them right now.
New women in the Tracy household - Since the Tracy Sister cliché usually ends up flamed to a crisp, writers are turning to other methods of inserting a female OC. Unfortunately, the effect is often the same. Two bright spots: Silver Bee's Perfect Cousin, which turns the cliché totally on its head and Artemisdesari's Blood of Innocents -- a truly believable foray into marrying one (possibly two!) of the boys off.
Alan-whumping - forever and aye in the movie-verse.
Tracys as kids stories - more appearing, some of them excellent
Some interesting new authors and stories coming along... and a few, fine veteran authors are returning to share their artistry with us.

On archiving and linking:

Please do not copy my fanfictions anywhere online or reprint them in a fanzine without my consent or without giving authorial credit. To ask permission, I may be reached at my email of record or you can send me a PM. I don't bite, really, and will be very grateful that you were polite enough to ask. However, printing out a copy for yourself to keep is cool with me.

I like being favorited--who doesn't? No need to ask. But if you add my fics to a C2, or recommend them somewhere off ff.net, I'd appreciate it if you drop me a line and let me know where it is. I'd love to know why you felt my story good enough to recommend this way.

Any and all original characters are mine and may not be used without my consent. Especially the cats. Thank you.

Favorite sayings:

Current fortune cookie quote: Your genuine talent will find its way to success.

From a key chain: The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.

Thoughts on NaNoWriMo:

"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time." --Leonard Bernstein

and

From a t-shirt: Even if it's crap, get it on the page!

Enjoy!