randomling | More MtYG pimpage.

I'm trying not to pimp Make the Yuletide Gay every day until sign-ups close, because you guys will get very annoyed with me (particularly those of you who are already signed up, I"m sure!) but I think today is a good day to ramble on about why I think you should sign up.

It's my second year taking part in MtYG. Last year, I was so brand-shiny-new in the fandom that I couldn't imagine being able to write a decent story as a gift for someone. I'd literally got into popslash only weeks before.

I live with the truly awesome

ephemera who encouraged me hugely to take part. She was also the person who got me into popslash and introduced me to my first raft of popslashy friends. I was very glad she did, because the process of writing my story was such fun that it got me writing again as a serious hobby after a break from both writing and slash of many years. I've now written over 50 popslash stories (many of them short ficlets, but still).

It was a fantastic experience. My mentor,

pensnest, could not have been more helpful, and gave me a fantastic beta. I also had people who American-checked it for me and read it to make sure it didn't suck and to help me with giving the story a title. It was the challenge that - after suspecting it for a long time - that popslash fandom was awesome.

The resulting story was Six Steps To Being A Better Stand-Up, which I am still pretty damn proud of.

All this is pretty much to say: if you haven't signed up, DO IT! If you're brand new in popslash or haven't written in it for a while, if you're wavering, whatever the reason you haven't done it yet, DO IT! It made my Christmas last year, and I'm so excited for this year, it's not even true.

Come on! Sign up! You know you want to!

[beams]