Updates/Author's Notes

1-5-15: Wow. Been awhile, hey?

Too much to include, really.

I've also written 98% of an original novel in the last few months. I plan on moving more toward originals, but the Lyraverse isn't ready to be abandoned yet, even if I take time out from it to pursue original projects. I'm hoping that if you enjoy my writing, you'll consider supporting a struggling author with a .99 cent purchase on Amazon when the time comes! I'm self-publishing this novel I wrote (the original one) probably this fall. It's part of a series, and it's gonna be amazing... at least, IMHO. :-D There are other plans in the works, too. I'll keep you apprised, and I do hope you'll consider helping me build my career!

Finally, let me just say... this fandom fracking rocks. I love you all. My best friends have come from Dragon Age fanfiction, and without you, I wouldn't be who I am today. I love, love, love you all so much. Lyra and I are in a good place, even if the drama isn't quite done yet. Our stories are not sprints...they're marathons, and at the end of the day, both of us will be crossing that finish line with our heads held high and smiles on our faces.

Thank you for reading. All my love to you. :-)

2-6-13: Life continues to be interesting. I'm moving in 13 days (holy crap) and am quite busy with all the packing and getting ready. Still working from home, still writing the Lyraverse. This last chapter of Seeds (posted yesterday) was the first one in a long time that things actually flowed again. I was so excited about it. I'm still feeling that urge to write, which is also amazing... sad as it is to say, for the last year I've been stressing the chapters and then knocking my head against the desk in an attempt to write them. This one... flowed. At least, it did once I got the idea that drove the second half of the chapter. I have to thank EtaineM for talking me through the upcoming conflict in the story. I think the blockage I felt - for a year, no less - was anticipating Lyra and Alistair's fight. And now, I know where it's going. And the words flow.

12-1-13: Feeling a bit more inspired! I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep it up, get things out a little quicker than I have been. Right now I'm working on the next chapter of Crow's Devotion, and have recently gotten a shot of inspiration from my dear friend EtaineM, who drew the most GORGEOUS picture of Lyra! I'm beyond thrilled with it, and I had to spend a few hours making her work into my new avatar for ffnet. :-D She claims it isn't finished, but it's already incredible, and I'm in love.

It's an honor to be a Dragon Age FF writer, and I love the heck out of it. I hope you enjoy my work. :-)

Legal stuff...

I own nothing. I make no profit from these stories, and I am not affiliated with Bioware or any of the other companies that produce Dragon Age and its characters/games/stories etc etc. I'm a humble fanficcer, and the idea that we even need to make these claims I find dumb. The day we find David Gaider on ffnet is the day the world starts spinning backward (though if I were him, I would troll for ideas. Here we all are, handing them EVERYTHING, so why wouldn't he? They'd all be silly not to make use of the thousands of ideas that are listed here). Like everyone else on ffnet, I own nothing, all of my stuff belongs to Bioware, though if they DO make use of one of my original ideas I hope they'll do something awesome, like list me as a writer in the credits. There. Done. *raspberries*

Special Mentions

To the ones who make it possible for me to write (alphabetically)... Csorciere, EkoCentric, Etaine M, FenZev, Jaden Anderson, KnightOfHolyLight, The Original Frizzi, WhatComesToMind, Wintryone, Zoedigz13, the fab writers of TWS, and all of you wonderful people who have fave'd my stories or me as an author, sent reviews, followed my stories, made suggestions, and struck up conversations via PM.

hugs to all* Love you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be who I am today, and my writing would be a thing that wasn't worth mentioning.

Stories (in order of publication)

*The Teyrn's Daughter and the King's Son (TDKS) is a F!Cousland playthru narration of DA:O. It's got AU elements, and some non-canon as well. It was the first story I ever published here on ffnet. I hope you'll give it a read, and let me know what you think! (That's Lyra Cousland there, as my avatar.) This story is complete, but in rewrites. Whether or not it'll ever be done to my satisfaction is another thing entirely. Eventually I plan to add an epilogue to this story - once it's rewritten to my satisfaction. If you're subscribed, you'll get a notice for it at that time and I hope you'll consider rereading it in its new, shiny glory. :-)

*Prank War is set during TDKS and fleshes out the story a tad more. You can find Prank War here, on The Original Frizzi's story list.

*The Shape Of The Past is a prequel to TDKS, and set in the same Lyra Cousland universe. Not sure how long or how detailed that one will get - I'm seeing many chapters, but skipping around to touch on the important events that shaped our Wardens before they met, fell in love and saved the world. *This story is on hiatus, though I do plan on adding to it. Eventually. For now, there's enough backstory to set some tone.

*Oghren's Experiment is a silly little one shot that nonetheless fits nicely into the week between Lyra and Alistair's wedding and the day they leave Denerim for their honeymoon. Not a vital read, but a fun one. :-)

*Seeds Of The Future is the sequel to TDKS. It follows Lyra and Alistair on their continued journey through Ferelden, focusing primarily on the first year following their wedding. If you have not read TDKS, you can still read this story, though there are enough AU elements that I believe it *does* help to have read the first book.

Friends Shouldn't Drink Alone is a one-shot centering on Alistair the drunkard, who's taken solace in the bottom of a wine-jug in the seediest bar in all of Kirkwall.

Of Flame and Blade is based on the story Shadows and Feathers, a DA2 fic written by the inestimable Jaden Anderson. This is a telling of the same events, but from the POV's of Alistair and Akarra, who are secondary characters in Jaden's story about Marian Hawke and Anders.

*Song of the Old Ones is a one-shot from the POV of Urthemiel, before he became the Archdemon to the 5th Blight. I wrote this as a thank-you to the lovely and amazing Nightlyre, whose profile on DeviantArt can be found by clicking her name. To see the artwork that inspired this story, click here.

A Pirate's Heart is a one-shot... in a few chapters, lol... about the OTP Isabela and Anna Hawke. A gift for the wonderful WhatComesToMind. :-)

*A Crow's Devotion is a short story focusing on Zevran Arainai in the Lyra Cousland universe. Chapters are released as I see fit, to complement Seeds Of The Future, and further flesh out Zevran's personal story.

*Do You Hear What I Hear? is a holiday one-shot, written on Christmas Day 2012, involving Lyra and Alistair on First Day, 9:31 Dragon.

The Death of Mary Sue is a parody poking fun at those characters we encounter in fanfic who are so perfect that we could just STRANGLE them.

A Kiss Goodbye is a one-shot featuring Larkin Brosca and Alistair Theirin in the final moments before the Archdemon's death. Sadness abounds, only read if you're in the mood for tragedy and death.

A Twist of Fate is a collaborative work, co-authored by the lovely and talented Jaden Anderson. VERY AU; Cailan and Alistair are royal brothers, there's blood magic... it's gonna be epic.

*Of Noble Birth is the story of Alistair's birth, told from the POV's of Maric and Fiona.

*denotes story set in Lyra Cousland Universe

Should you wish to read Lyra's story in an appropriate order, I would recommend:

1) Song Of The Old Ones
2) Of Noble Birth
3) The Shape Of The Past
4) The Teyrn's Daughter And The King's Son
5) Prank Wars (in the middle of chapter 64 of TDKS)
6) Oghren's Experiment
7) Seeds Of The Future
8) A Crow's Devotion (set during Seeds of the Future)
9) Prank Wars, The Sequel (after chapter 32 of Seeds of the Future)
10) Do You Hear What I Hear? (First Day 9:31)

Artwork

My Avatar - The amazing and talented EtaineM created this drawing of Lyra Cousland for me, and I'm so in love with it. My eternal gratitude for the incredible way you brought my favorite Warden to life.

Sketch of Alistair/F!Warden - I requested a scene from Nightlyre on DeviantArt, and she obliged me with this lovely sketch! I adore all things Alistair, so this made me wriggle with delight!

A Private Moment - this piece was done by Isbjorg on DeviantArt as a commission. The scene in question is in Seeds of the Future, chapter 9.

Snuggle - this great piece was done by the amazing Otaku-Mom on DeviantArt. My humblest thanks to her for her lovely artwork, which acts as the coverpiece to TDKS.

Zevran/Oghren - this awesome piece was done by the fabulous EkoCentric, and I heart it SO MUCH! :-D Many hugs to her for sharing her awesome talent! The scene in question is in A Crow's Devotion, chapter 2.

Zevran-Tabris - another amazing piece by EkoCentric! She had an inkling to draw Zevran's tattoos, and she was kind enough to include my darling Kallian in the picture. *swoon* This artwork has been included in A Crow's Devotion, chapter 8.

Alistair and Cousland - this piece of art was not made for me, but the moment I saw it I fell absolutely in love, and it's been part of my Lyra and Alistair head-canon ever since. It was created by the lovely Vela-S on DeviantArt.

Me

Oh... you want to know about me? Um.

Well, I came to fanfiction the way I imagine most of us do... wanting to see more of the characters we love. I played Dragon Age in 2010, and was obsessed. Hardcore. I finally put it down after another playthru and a half, having submerged myself to my satisfaction (when a game takes 80 hours to fly through, 200 hours in front of the computer screen seems like enough... especially when I got tired of the story quick enough that I never finished my third playthru), but spent the next year and a half searching for a game that would equal this one. Haven't found one yet. So then I finally took the plunge, and submitted to Dragon Age 2... which was okay. Great in its own way, but not the equal of Origins. Few things are.

Fast forward to March 2012, when I fired up Origins for another playthrough, creating a noble rogue that, on a whim, I named Lyra. I would romance Alistair, and just enjoy it all over again... maybe it had been long enough that my heart would race in that same delightful way, and the story would seem fresh.

Sadly, it wasn't.

When I realized how bored I was with the same old storyline I'd seen before, I had a flash of brilliance - about ten years ago, my younger sister got obsessed with a TV show and showed me some fanfiction she'd written for it. Did any such thing as Dragon Age fanfiction exist, I wondered? I went looking... and that brought me here. So I read and lurked for a few weeks, but nothing I read quite fulfilled the need I had - I kept thinking of ways I wished they'd taken the story, of things they could have done to make it better, and story ideas popped into my head. "No," I thought. "There are already SO many Cousland/Alistair playthrus. Do I really need to add another into the mix?"

Next thing I knew, I'd spent about three days in front of my screen, and I'd written 12,000 words.

I was freakin' stunned, to say the least. I've tried writing in the past, but 12,000 words?! Seriously? It was like magic. For the first time, I knew what to do, what to write, and I had things to say... beyond the occasional private journal rant, story writing had always eluded me before. It felt amazing.

At first, I was afraid to post what I had... I had about ten chapters when I finally took the plunge, created a profile, and started posting TDKS here to ffnet. It took me about three days to get all of the chapters posted (had I known then what I know now, I would have waited a few days in between each one!) It was only once I was about 16 chapters in and I started browsing for fan art just to see if there was anything out there that I liked, that I realized there was an awful lot out there about some character name LYNA. Um, whoa? And then it was weeks later that I realized Lyna is the default name for the Dalish Elf origin. *facepalm* Damn it. I swear, Lyra's name was completely out of my own head. Never played the Dalish Elf origin. Oh well.

What followed was 7 weeks of insanity. I rose with the sun, spent most of the day in front of the computer (to the horror of my husband and children) and stumbled to bed at midnight - or later - after having published at least one chapter. Some days I managed two. The story was my obsession... it was as if a faucet had been turned on inside me, and the only way I could vent the flow was to pour it onto the page.

TDKS was the first thing I ever wrote... it's more than 250k words, (*edit - now over 300k and growing as I edit and polish) and while I sort of hate it because most of it is quite amateur, I love that I did it. That I finished it. That it's inspired so many more words since then, in various forms. And if you're here because you've read it/are reading it, I hope that you love it as much as I did, and I hope you'll stick around for the rest of Lyra and Alistair's story. One day, years from now, when I'm finally happy with each piece of their tale, I plan on printing them, binding them, and resting them on my bookshelf, beside Harry Potter, Tolkein, and George RR Martin. And by then, I hope beyond hope that there will be some original works of mine mixed in there, too, only those will ideally be printed by a company that stocks them on bookstore shelves.

So now you know my story. Hope you enjoy all of my work - and please, if you like it, let me know! If you don't, let me know! I want more than anything to be a professional author, and if you cannot stand something I'm doing, for the love of fine cheese tell me. Improving is my largest goal... I've begun to look on fanfiction as an exercise. A fantastically fun one, but an exercise, nonetheless. You all are my teachers, my audience, and my critics... so criticize. Send me your thoughts. I want them. :-)

I love to hear from folks, so feel free to PM me about anything. Maker's Blessing, friend. :-)