Date: 10 Dec 2013 06:26 Title: Picture
"Of course, he could have detailed out at least some of how that happened biologically. But, in the end, he didn't want to. He didn't want to quantify something so beautiful. Didn't want to turn something so amazing into a scientific discourse."
That was beautiful. And his knowledge of the "onesie" made me smile. A beautiful snapshot of a fledgling family.
Author's Response: Thanks! Another oldie-but-held up okay.
Date: 01 Dec 2013 00:39 Title: Picture
Aw, so lovely; a moment captured forever, as the image but also as Corry's memory. Lovingly well done!
Date: 12 Sep 2013 01:07 Title: Picture
That was absolutely beautiful, and so true to life. My oldest is twenty-three, but I remember those days like they were yesterday. ::chuckles:: Yes, we could have waited on the crib and nursery for our second. ;-) Seriously though, a great window into the changing life of a family of two that was just expanded to three. Stirred powerful memories, and emotions. Thank you for that.
Author's Response: Thank you!
Date: 09 Sep 2013 23:16 Title: Picture
Lovely little scene you’ve done here of Corry and family here. I’m sure Scotty will appreciate the pictures when he gets them. I think you’ve done your usual good job of keeping Corry him and yet at he same time show his growth as his world changes.
Abby and Alice are loved and the fact he when and got the mini-bed when the nursery was done and accept Alice wasn’t going to be that type of Child, show he’s going to be a fine father to his daughter.
A very short and sweet story but which is another little gem of yours in this archive.
Author's Response: Thank you. I remember writing this when my youngest child was somewhere around the same age Allie is here, so it's much appreciated.
Date: 24 Aug 2013 08:10 Title: Picture
A nice, serene little scene of one of those perfectly captured moments of a young, first time father. All of it rings absolutly true.
I'm kinda thankful this is set in the distant future. If this were a contemporary story, this litte Kodak moment would have ended with Cory's irresistible urge to share, tweet and facebook it all.
Author's Response: LOL! I dunno, Cor probably would do the same thing he does here. He's sort of timeless like that. Thanks so much!
Date: 02 Aug 2013 00:52 Title: Broken Fall
This is such a lovely portrayal of friendship. Andy with T'Shae, who is a little puzzled by it, but is seeing the benefits. And, of course, with Scotty. Like a lot of great writing, it isn't hit you over the head obvious.
Subtlety seems to have always been your strong suit, and it shines through here. Well done.
Author's Response: Thank you! I hope then when I tackle the less than subtle stuff -- as I've started -- I don't fall flat on my face. <3
Date: 06 Jul 2013 12:17 Title: Dance Lessons
Very nice story, while I'm still getting to grip with your version of Scotty and Corry. They're a interest dynamic and so enjoy the light flirting with the wife scene.
Plus I think stories like this that take the time to show the impact of some-one death add much to the main characters and did it very well here.
Author's Response: Thanks, Bill. Probably the best way to get to know Corry is to start with On the Nature of Wind -- that's his introduction there. I'm glad you liked it! Albright's death kind of broke my heart, too.
Date: 05 Jul 2013 01:14 Title: Dance Lessons
Wonderful Steff. I know, I'm remiss in not getting through Arc after the early parts so some of the events don't have context from prior reading but all the context that's needed is here. You give everything flavour or texture as you write it. The Spanish setting had all the feeling of Spain and yet you did not have recourse to use white stucco buildings, sun baked walls or blue seas. You imbue a sense of place and setting somehow in your writing. Beautifully done so.
A wonderful rendering of different scenes and amid it all it feels all dream like, an eye in the storm of their lives, a moment of passing peace for Corry and Scotty. The respite of the break feels like that as you read it. The break feels like almost the perfect break, just what the soul requires - food, company, wine, music, sailing and even dancing.
As for Catalina I think I'm in love with her myself. She just danced off the page as a strange rare beauty, an exotic thing, a passionate thing with heart and music in her feet, a rare energy and a personality so fierce and energetic that it would be hard to find a match for her and yet she could probably have been the perfect soul mate to all three. I loved the trio and the competition to be her 'husband' the humour was well judged and whimsical and yet the marriage between Perez and Catalina feels read and honest too.
And then there is the relationship here between the three men. Like Corry I found myself liking Perez straight away. I'm struck too byhow Corry comes to his decision - it seems he has a moment of deciding - he iether likes you or he doesn't - I don't think there's an inbetween with him reading this here.
Admittedly, despite how much you write Corry I've not always read much of him. In a way because he was an interloper onto the scene with Scotty to begin with that made him an intruder, someone I didn't want to like or read about. But you've burrowed your way in with him. He is just such a likeable chap. And I swear, he should be some sort of Mary Sue but he never is. I read his bits and I find myself getting charmed by him. He lowers my defences - it really is no wonder that he gets through the walls Scotty built up around himself. Again here, Corry wins me over. As soon as he decided he liked Perez and how, that's when I found myself realising I liked Corry all over again as each time in each story he does something that wins we over.
And of ocurse there's the meater end to this story too, the hurting and the pain, the sense of being adrift, the damage wrought by grief. Funnily, or not so funnily, the welcome Scott gets from Perez is similar to words said to me by someone who had shared experiences - their words for the great calamity that is mourning and grief was simple, blunt, seemingly offered no comfort or help and yet it gave a strange reassurance cos it was the feeling of someone else in the know of such a close loss and it was simply: Shitty things happen. And that's that. and just something about this piece put that in mind with me. Anyway.
As always Steff, wonderful writing. It always feels like a gift to read something from your pen.
Author's Response: Wow, Kev. Your ability to make someone's day with feedback never ceases to amaze me.
This is actually kind of side-lined from the Arc of the Wolf, so don't worry. Forty-Eight also needs bashed to neatness and compliance, so you're not missing anything huge yet, except that it was up there in the 'Worst Years of Scotty's Life' list. Yes, this was written as something of a challenge, if I remember right, and it was during a bad patch. I loved Catalina, too; she's all woman, but in the good ways, and the banter between the three about who should be married to her was a ton of fun to write. She and Cayo are a perfect match, and his warm-hearted affection towards Scotty and Corry genuine; he has nothing to fear from competition, nor from sharing a dance with her.
Cor's a good judge of character. He's willing to be amiable with anyone, but when it comes to Scotty, there's gotta be a balance between his own good nature and his protective streak. Perez would have been likable just as a person, no problem; in the context of Cor's unofficial little brother, though, Perez also had to meet the 'good for Scotty' criteria, and did.
Don't feel bad. I was always prepared for people to get frustrated by Cor being so much in things. But you're not the first to say he's charmed them, and become part of the story. It's fair; he did the same to me. He was never meant to stay, but he did. It was Anna, I think, who said that it was almost impossible to not love Corry, just because he loves Scotty so damn much. And he does. And he fills a position that young man so badly needed: Someone who loves and protects, unconditionally and unreservedly. I'm glad he keeps charming you. ;) I hope he never stops.
Indeed, with the heavier aspects. Scotty and Perez served together for at least a year, maybe even two, and Perez was as close as he let himself get to anyone on the Sun. They definitely built their own rituals.
Geez, Kev. You are, by far, the only person to go in-depth on this story, and it means the world to me.
Date: 25 Jun 2013 20:58 Title: Dance Lessons
I'm admittedly not as familiar with your characters and your other work but this was a very nice little story. More than anything, it really gives us a sense of the powerful bond of friendship which connects these men who clearly have been through a lot together.
No matter their past history, it really felt like they deserved this little respite away from the craziness of the galaxy.
Nicely done.
Author's Response: Thanks so much, CeJay, I really appreciate you taking the time to read it.
Date: 25 Jun 2013 20:55 Title: Sweet
Nice to see that's not always the man who has trouble expressing his feelings. It can happen to her as well.
As the title suggest, a sweet little ode to love.
Author's Response: Oh, definitely. Thank you!
Date: 17 May 2009 19:48 Title: Broken Fall
I can't believe nobody's reviewed this one yet, and I wish it hadn't taken me so long to figure out where it was filed. This is still one of my very favorite Corry pieces for some reason--I think the intensity of his emotions is something that very much appeals to me, and seeing that juxtaposed against the rigidity of Vulcan is a very striking thing indeed.
One thing that I believe I told you before that was really remarkable to me was also the way you portrayed the Vulcans in your story. They are certainly quite unemotional, but they also manage to come across as likeable, not as the pompous jerks they can so easily become.
They actually seem very considerate of Corry, even in the small details of what they say: stuff like making sure to state that the new program they were devising was more appropriate for his physiology, very carefully distinguishing that from anything that could be seen as casting aspersions on him as a person in general or as a human in particular (from a psychological standpoint). Though it had to be very, very disappointing to Corry, I thought it was good of them to make the point that it was simply that his body shut down, not that HE wasn't good enough.
T'Shae really comes across as likeable, even though she has that very Vulcan demeanor--she's not arrogant and I get the feeling that even though she's very comfortable in her ways, she has a genuine interest in learning about Corry's.
I also loved the deep connection Corry shows to his family, the way that he sends Scotty to check on his mother and make sure she was all right. And ya know, I kind of wonder what THAT interaction was like, from Scotty's point of view, to realize he'd been trusted with such an important family task like that.
(And of course the reference to that "new-age movement" was GOLD.)
One last thought popped into my head. I find myself wondering, for some reason, what it would've been like if Corry had been put in the Round Robin instead of Scotty. Not in terms of skill sets--I think you made the most logical choice where that was concerned--but in terms of interpersonal dynamics. The closeness to family, the energy, and the openness of emotional display...well, suffice it to say he's reminding me of a young version of a certain somebody... ;-)
Author's Response: Thanks much! And I've never been entirely comfortable writing Vulcans, but have tried to take a balanced and fair view of them -- not the bigotry in Enterprise, nor the other extreme. Just something that seemed fair and honest. Likewise wanted to show that there was some mutual learning going on there, and am very glad that came across.
I imagine Scotty wasn't really comfortable going to Maine (this predates 'Time'), but like all things asked of him by Corry, he does so and carries it through admirably. Be there no doubts that he takes that with the utmost seriousness, even if it does scare him for a long time.
And LOL! at the idea of Cor in the RR. That would be interesting, though I'm not quite sure in all the same ways you think. It would depend a lot on his age.