cmk418 | Snowflake Challenge 3

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of metallic snowflake. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

I've done challenge 1 (updating my fandoms list with All For The Game) and 2 (Jan 2 post with goals actually done the day before the challenge came out). Here's challenge 3

Challenge #3

Create a wish list of fandom things (podfic, graphics, playlists, canon recs translations, research help, vids, sky's the limit!) that you'd like to receive. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

1) More participation at

hardtime100. This writing community for HBO's OZ has been chugging along for a little over 20 years. There are over 300 drabble prompts and over 100 fanfic prompts that participants can tackle and the word counts are fairly relaxed. Gone are the days of strict 100 word drabbles so if you've ever dabbled in the OZ fandom, come on back and give it a whirl. And if you don't feel like writing, I'd be happy to have some new prompt ideas.

2) Icons of strong female characters

3) Book recommendations - standalone fiction. I like a lot of mainstream/lit fiction, books with a lot of humor throughout would be nice, but I can also handle heavier material. Would like to read more books by women and/or BIPOC and/or LGBTQ authors.

That's all I have at the moment.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This writing community for HBO's OZ has been chugging along for a little over 20 years.

TWENTY YEARS?!? THAT'S AMAZING!

Okay, I have some book recs for you from queer authors.

Alexis Hall. I've loved everything I've read of his. They’re all funny and they also have a lot of heart--especially "Boyfriend Material" and its sequel "Husband Material." If you only want a stand-alone, "10 Things that Never Happened" is his latest and it's awesome too!

T.J. Klune. I feel weird reccing him because I ~technically~ haven't finished any of his books, but I'm reading two now and really loving them, so maybe I should hold off... but they're funny and also have Asexual MCs which makes me all sorts of happy. Those are "How to be a Normal Person," and "In the Lives of Puppets."

Sher Lee's "Fake Dates and Mooncakes" hits your female and BIPOC boxes (and maybe queer?) And is delightful. ❤️

Yes, it was around before I got started writing for fandom, my first piece of fanfic was actually posted there, and I got the job as moderator a few years ago and still love it.

Thank you for the recs. I'm going to see if my local indie bookstore has "Fake Dates and Mooncakes" because that's the one I'll tackle first. I've heard/seen a bunch about "Boyfriend Material". (I technically don't mind series, having read the heck out of the All for the Game series this past year, but I do mind if I don't know they're going to be series going in and then get to the end of the book for the "but wait, there's more".)

I technically don't mind series, but I do mind if I don't know they're going to be series going in and then get to the end of the book for the "but wait, there's more".

I hate that too, but with BM, it is such a complete and satisfying book that the second one is just gravy and not a necessity. ❤️

Butting in here but... Boyfriend Material is one of the few books I wish I could unread so I could read it again. And... I've heard the sequel is awful so you can call it a standalone? LOL

It probably would be for me anyway, because I'm a bigger fan of reading budding relationships than established ones.

Same here. I like the continuing relationship as well, but as a hopeless romantic, the getting together is always the best part.

A few months back, I was astonished to discover Hard Time 100 was still around. Thanks for keeping it alive! I'm going to resume wending my way through the series now that the holidays are over. Hopefully insipiration will strike and I can contribute a bit more.

On books, I don't know if you like science fiction, but the Murderbot Diaries (first one is “All Systems Red”) is by a female author and I love the main character’s dry sense of humor. But there is also heavier material.

I am glad to be doing it. I hope inspiration will strike for you (and for me as well, since I haven't even filled some of my own prompts)

I do like science fiction and I've seen a few things going through this challenge regarding Murderbot, so color me intrigued. I'm not averse to heavy- I just finished a novel called "Hell of a Book" which was as advertised, but sometimes too close to reality for its own good and I had to take breaks during the reading. Thanks for the rec!

I'd highly recommend Isabel Cañas! I've read both The Hacienda and Vampires of El Norte and enjoyed them both. They're a mix of light horror and gothic romance. Both are standalones with strong female leads. Oh! And it is a series, but I just finished a book called Legends and Lattes this morning that's like slice of life fantasy fanfic.

I am adding her to the list. Thanks!

I hope you like her books! :D

Perhaps not exactly your cup of tea, but if you would like a horror novel with a bit of a literary bent to its prose and occasionally very darkly funny moments... I highly recommend THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones. Jones is, himself, Blackfoot, and his story of a group of Blackfoot men hunted by the ghost of an elk they killed while hunting in lands reserved for elders in their community is both a tightly paced horror and a powerful look at Native American life and identity that refuses to lionize or demonize the struggles and mistakes of its characters. It's about basketball, revenge, cycles of violence, and the lengths parents will go to trying to do what's right for their children. Plus, the ghost of the elk is an incredible female character who, like the men she hunts, is both deeply sympathetic and incredibly flawed.

That sounds like fun. I'm adding it to the list. Thank you!

I hope you enjoy it! I've read it a couple times at this point because it keeps haunting my thoughts haha

Hope you like this very small selection of strong female characters:

Alien - Ellen Ripley by Tarlan

Alien - Ellen Ripley | Avatar - Trudy Chacon | Criminal Minds - Emily Prentiss | CSI Miami - Calleigh Duquesne | Mad Max Fury Road - Furiosa

These are awesome! Thank you so much.

halfamoon is coming up this February and it's nice to have a new group of icons to use when responding to posts.

(And yes, that was a plug. Would love to see you there.)

I'm going to have to watch "Mad Max Fury Road" again before the new "Furiosa" movie comes out. She's an awesome character.

There were so many other awesome women I wanted to icon but time is not on my side right now! I've joined/subscribed

halfamoon so I will get updates on my reading page - otherwise I will forget within a DAY! My memory is terrible!

For some reason, I can't seem to access these any longer.

It looks like Squidge is currently down, and that is where I have the images. I've added them to my LiveJournal photo:

Alien - Ellen Ripley by Tarlan.jpg