This is my Chronicle page, with one fic.

I'd like to warn any potential readers that this fic doesn't conform to most people's expectations of a Brokeback Mountain fic, though it's as sad as the movie. If you think you'll mind, don't read it, but if you want to take a chance, here it is.

New week, new fic... Here's my American Dreams fic. Read the rating and the warnings, it's the equivalent of NC-17.

More or less everything, but mostly the hope I felt then.

I thought I'd take this chance of introducing some of my fanfics. Usually I only post them on my own site, but sometimes I post a few on fanfiction.net (and FanWorks.org) and I thought why not show them off here too?

If anyone's interested you'll find my fic here.

Landline, IP-phone and cell phone. LOL.

Here's a list:

My dvd rental club (partially my own fault, but if they weren't my only chance of seeing any movies other than the top 5, I'd cancel my membership in a second)
Our ISP (email STILL not working!)
The neighbors (don't get me started)
Various other parties, that shall remain anonymous. Can't be too careful these days.

Since the (originally) Swedish Wallander mysteries have been successfully exported to the UK, I thought I'd put in my two cents' on this topic. In an earlier post, I've already mentioned that they're not quite my thing. What I would like to discuss is something else. In the UK reviewers are raving about Kenneth Branagh in Wallander. I haven't seen the UK version yet, but I will, just to see what they've made of it. As far as I'm concerned, things can only get better. :)

What I'm reacting to is just one thing that keeps being repeated over and over again, in the reviews, in the UK and even in the US. Sweden is gloomy. What? Ok, I'll admit that the north, far away from Wallander's Scania, could be described as gloomy, especially during the dark season, which, frankly, lasts almost all the year around. That's the north, not Scania. If you went to Scania presumably you'd notice that much of Sweden is pretty ordinary. The scenery is beautiful. (I just had to mention that. After all, I live here. I like the scenery.) But let's get this straight once and for all, Scanians are not gloomy. Not generally. Sure, anyone can get gloomy, especially if you work hard all day tracing killers and dealing with gruesome murders. Are the British sleuths any more cheerful?

This is how the rest of us Swedes (or Goths, as I am - and no, I'm not dressed in black, we're called goths anyway and there's a fascinating linguistic or semantic explanation to why there are so many goths worldwide, especially throughout history) view Scania and the Scanians:

They're jolly, positive people. They love to eat and drink. Kind of, if you allow the metaphor or simile, like hobbits, though not as short and fat, well some might be, but then so can anyone. Scania is usually green and smiling, rather than gloomy, though personally I tend to agree that the area around Ystad might be described as gloomy, especially during the winter.

Oh, and another thing, for those of you who are into fan fiction/slash, I will translate my Wallander fics some time, and it will be sooner if I get some requests.

Thanks to Stephen Fry for this idea. :)

I hate to say this, C, but you're going to wish you were fat again, just so you could be young. Sorry. Also, try to have a bit more fun, because that's all you're going to get. See if you can get D to dump his silly teenage girlfriend and become involved with you. That was probably your best chance to get a cute boyfriend of a reasonable age at that time. Work a little harder at getting a good education, because, frankly, you screwed up there, big time, despite the good grades. You should also begin to work on your writing a lot earlier. Imagine where you'd be today, if you'd been serious about it sooner.

When I was out taking a walk yesterday, I saw a girl with something covering her mouth. Sure, the swine flu might soon be here, even in this little backwater town, but still - It feels as if I've ended up inside some disaster movie, or in someone's worst dream. Of course, I could be wrong, but I don't think we need to worry that much. Just someone's mother overreacting. Who wouldn't be overprotective of their child? I tend to be very cautious about everything myself, but this - no, not yet. I hope I won't be proven wrong.

Right now, Europe is discovering Swedish crime novels. I just read an article on the Guardian's website which mentioned, among others, Stieg Larsson, Liza Marklund and Camilla Läckberg. The UK has already taken Henning Mankell's Wallander mysteries to their heart.

It seems almost petty to mention that they've just scratched the surface. In all honesty, I haven't read Stieg Larsson or Liza Marklund. I have however read Mankell, Nesser and Läckberg and I must say I wasn't impressed. For instance, take the latter - when you write a 'mystery' that is so predictable that someone like me - a writer wannabe, but still just an amateur - knows exactly who is the killer, why he did it and how it all happened when I'm reading the first couple of lines of the second chapter - what does that tell you about the quality of the book?

Forget all of the above writers (the Whiskas people books - Whiskas people are those who go for the most popular of anything, in case you're wondering). I'll tell you about my favorites instead. Since we're talking about Swedish mystery writers, I won't go into my Finnish favorite, at least not here, or the British, American or French books I like. So, here goes...

Emma Vall. She's really three persons using the same pen name. They're reporters, and so is their main character Amanda Rönn. She investigates crimes in the northern town Sundsvall. Emma Vall also writes mysteries for kids, about a girl named Svala (she's originally from Iceland, hence the unusual name). The mysteries for kids are as well written as the others. My only problem with the kids' books, is that they're a little predictable. The basis is as follows: Svala makes a few new friends (or reconnects with some old friends) who have a problem. She starts to investigate to help them. That's it. Don't let that stop you from reading them, if you like books for older kids. They're still good, even if the writers might want to vary the 'recipe' a little. If I have to criticize anything about the 'grownup' mysteries, it's the fact that while Amanda Rönn is relatively young - just over 30 - she prefers men who are around 60. I think that's because one of the writers is about that age herself and creates love interests of her own age. All their books are well written and definitely worth reading.

Arne Dahl. Pen name for a man named Jan Arnald. In addition to writing mysteries he's also a short story writer, editor and critic. His mysteries are about a fictitious group investigating serious crime - the A group. The group employs quite a few people, so chances are you'll find a main character you'll like. For instance out of the roughly ten people involved, I primarily like two of them, both male, but there's no one I absolutely can't stand. These books are well written and fascinating, but once in a while, Arne Dahl tends to get a little too fanciful (I noticed this in Hidden Numbers (Mörkertal).

Thomas Kanger. He's a reporter too, just like the women behind Emma Vall. His main character is young cop Elina Wiik who works in Västerås in eastern Sweden. Just like most cops, she's single and trying to find time to date in the midst of her busy professional life. I used to like these books and I still like most of them. However, in The Borderland (Gränslandet) he just gets too fanciful for my taste. There's absolutely no logic in the ending. It stops being a mystery and turns into speculative fiction and that just isn't appropriate, without any warning. The earlier books are still fine, but I won't recommend The Borderland.

Åsa Nilsonne. She's actually a psychiatrist and medical doctor, but also writes excellent mysteries about the cop Monika Pedersen, working in Stockholm. Monika Pedersen is single (is there any cop who isn't either single or divorced?), but has a close male friend, who is gay. Most of the cases are investigated in central Stockholm, but in the last book Monika goes to Ethiopia to follow up on a lead.

I know I said I wouldn't, but I have written a new Robin of Sherwood fanfic again. If you'd like to take a look, you'll find it here.

I just finished a long Robin of Sherwood fic. It's a little different than my other fics, but I hope someone will enjoy it. I had a lot of fun writing it. So much fun it distracted me from editing the book I'm going to send to a publisher this spring.

If you'd like to take a look, you'll find it here. Don't forget to read the rating and the warnings.

Sherlock Holmes, I think. Tough question. But I'll go with him (and Watson).

I just started a new microcommunity! If you don't know what that is, no wonder. Apparently, it's something completely new. Have you heard of Twitter? This is something similar. You just type in short status update messages to let your friends know what you're up to. Naturally, this community is about writing - fan fiction and original fiction.

You're welcome to come in and take a look:

Tonica's Friends

Last night was the first time in our writing course. It was ok, quite fun, though not like the last one. I had worried a lot about the first exercise, but I shouldn't have. (We were supposed to bring a printout from a book that had influenced us in some way. I've been reading since I was three and writing for almost that long, so practically everything I've read has influenced me.) That went ok too. What wasn't quite as much fun was the fact that out of a possible fifteen people (from the last course), only six had signed up and just four actually came. We don't know what happened to the other two. Oh, well, I never expect much from this town. Our efforts to start a writer's group have failed. Only one person outside our family had shown any interest. No one has the time, or the inclination to join a writer's group. :/

I just added a new fandom and two fics! This time it's Torchwood. It's a fun fandom to write in, how could it be otherwise with a guy like Jack Harkness?

Those of you who have followed my journal, will know about the unfortunate incident concerning my supposedly last RoS fanfic. This is not the one I mentioned before. I was actually inspired to write another fic in the same fandom. It's set before the beginning of the series, in Guy of Gisburne's early days with the Sheriff. Many thanks to grondfic and my new friend M for inspiration! You'll find the fic on my fan fiction site, The Fandom House - Agri Sublunares, here.

This is the book, you know the one with two of my stories and one of my poems.

Last night I actually had a pretty detailed and clear dream. In that dream, I had the idea that I should edit the book I'm going to submit to a publisher this spring. The first chapter might hook the reader a bit more than it does in its present form, so I'll try to think of something more exciting. Maybe that will help. In any case, I want to make the book as good as it can be.