It's confirmed: I am a huge freaking nerd

I know I haven't been keeping up with my blogging, but I have a good reason: I've been writing Avatar fan fic.

Yes, I did just say that. FanFiction. The only resort I have to getting exposure for my own creative writing. And let me tell ya, it's been really interesting.

I'm currently working on stories based on Avatar: The Last Airbender (also called Avatar: War of the Elements), a kids anime-styled show on YTV. It's an excellent series with complex characters, lots of good humour, and a real plot, unlike so many of the anime shows on now which are basically half-hour commercials for toys or card games. Avatar is on Saturdays at 11:30 am on YTV, folks. It's only into its first season - I'd recommend downloading the episodes.

I've completed my first Avatar story and I'll be publishing it tonight. (Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any of the characters therein - it's something the fanfic community has to say everytime they post.) I've started notes for a second story, which I imagine will go up over the next month.

Most of you are probably screaming, "NEERERRRRRRD!!!" because the only kinds of people who write fanfics are ultra-geeks who only think they can write and often end up writing slash to fulfil some perverse desire they have of seeing two character mack.

So call me ultra-geek. But if I may say so, I can write better than a lot of the authors who've submitted stories to the fanfic archives. (I'd better be able to, it's what I do for a living.)

Besides, the fanfic community can be quite critical and helpful in developing one's writing skills. It's challenging for me to have to write someone else's characters convincingly, too. You can't just make them do whatever you want, no matter how naked you want to see them.

My dream: for someone to pick up my writing and say, "hell, she's good, maybe she wants to help us write this new cartoon series we're working on...."

Any takers out there? I'm in Toronto if you need me.