Name: Jenny aka: "cowgirl", "kamikaze djali"
Why I'm here: stress relief and entertainment. I work long hours at my, incredibly fun, educational and mentally stimulating, job. Every now and then one needs to cut loose and write something non-academic for it's own sake.
Inspiration: I tend to have a lot of very disturbing dreams that are slowly becoming fodder for Hellboy fanfiction. Used to be fed into the Hunchback of Notre Dame universe, but Hellboy requires less editing to fit well. Also inspired by people I meet while working, buildings I see while on the road, local mythology and some of the stranger thoughts that enter my mind.
Favourite books: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of six, Notre Dame de Paris, Les Miserables, The Hobbitt, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Watership down, The Last Unicorn, Black Beauty, the entire "Hellboy" series, Salmon of a Doubt etc...
Favourite movies: Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid, Spaceballs, Legend, The Fox and the Hound, Hellboy, Splash, Kill Bill, The Last Unicorn, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ever After, The Dark Crystal, anything by the "Monty Python" crew and some others I'm sure I missed.
Favourite topics for writing: tortured souls suffering for mistakes long past, forgotten spirits, elder gods, purity turned evil through innocence, emotionally scarred individuals forced to make tough choices, the boomerang effect, Quasimodo's internal struggles, battles to the death with atypical weapons (such as rotten femurs or icky charms).
A few pet peeves: Mary-Sue stories, poorly-done research, drivers who don't signal, spelling and grammatical errors, people that talk lots and say nothing, perversion of language, political correctness, people who page me for non-emergencies several times in one evening, bullshit, small grumpy dogs with sharp teeth, chauvanist pigs, censorship, misuse of French, improper emphasis when speaking (listen to a highschool kid reading something they don't understand and you'll get what I mean), the religious right.
Words and phrases that annoy me: "like", "aliquot", "portion", "waft", "rule of thumb", "febreze", "only", "0.50cents", "sharp", "spiffy", "bees knees" "righteous" etc... Basically any trendy statement that likely made sense 100 years ago, but the original meaning has been lost. That, or the word is longer, less practical and perhaps less specific than another word of similar meaning (ie/ "utilize" versus "use" or "facility" versus "kitchen").
My writing style: I use a lot of facts, or relevant information to support my stories and try hard to show rather than tell. For example, if Hellboy uses a relic in one of my stories against some monster, likely I've gone through the list of Patron Saints and will make mention of the appropriate Saint. I also like to add in little bits of information that tie the story together early on, add hidden meanings, use names that translate appropriately (look up the names used in "Forgotten Lotus" or places in "Lutey's Knife"), use real food names, add in local customs etc... etc... The internet is a wonderful tool for this information. Essentially, I try my best to make something worth reading with a believable setting, believable own-characters and in-character borrowed ones.
Fun words: cantankerous, chillies, drag link (for a sausage stretcher), fanclutch, mysteriah, palatopterygoquadrate...
Current fictions: "Lutey's Knife", the Roger fiction, is slowly being continued. "January 2nd, 1463" is still in the works. I may add additional chapters.
Next fiction: There is another HoND story somewhere on my desktop that revolves around Phoebus. It needs major editing if it's to be worthy of my wanting to post it. I don't like Phoebus, really, which is why he's fun to torment. I have a Quasi story hand-written, that in it's current format is nearly illegible. Abe and Kate might take a trip to Uranium City in another upcoming ficlet.
For anyone who is curious, I also have a DA account under the same username (kamikaze-djali dot deviantart dot com). HoND, Hellboy, and nature images. :)
Notes for reviewers: I LOVE to read reviews, good or bad. I'm not into fluffy reviews. If you have constructive criticism, bring it on! I'm into writing good stories that make people go "wow, that was really good and I'd like to read it again". If my writing doesn't do that, please provide tips on what's missing or what I can do to improve. I'm doing this to relax, sure, but the last thing I want to do is write crap.
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