December 28, 1999
The last new story of the year. My partner's dog is about to turn fifteen, so I started thinking about how he had managed to wiggle his way into my heart nearly nine years ago. I'd been very upset about something and went over to where she was living but she wasn't there. Her roommate let me in and Hoover immediately came over and put his head on my knee, looking up at me with those soulful eyes of his, making me fall in love with him nearly before I fell in love with my partner! To top it off, I'm a cat person, not a dog person, but I've ferried poor old Hoover to the vet many times for shots, more medication, toothaches, etc. and will be extremely upset when he's gone.
But, all maudlin stuff aside, may the new year bring all of you the best of everything!
JS Stephens
November 29, 1999
Ah, Jury Duty. Fortunately, there were few trials this week and many potential jurors...so I finished my story Generations. This four part story follows the trials and tribulations of one DJ Sanders (neč Tribble) as she navigates the murky waters of relationships and revelations. As you may recall, DJ's former drama teach, Randie Calder, comes to work for Volcano Films. Randie and DJ form a friendship, much to the dismay of David Sanders. Don't worry, I'll get back to either Xena & Gabrielle or Uber X&G soon.
JS Stephens
November 27, 1999
Sorry for the long delays between updates and story installments, but my dear partner has kept me busy with holiday shopping, running errands, etc. I'm glad to say that my football team won on Thanksgiving Day and that I ate a lovely meal at my parents with the rest of the family and my dear partner. Maybe some day we'll even tell them...nah, my closet is too comfy right now...
JS Stephens
November 13, 1999
I took a short break from uber and other to write a story called The Scroll. It concerns a scroll found by Janice and Mel that Xena had written, just after some of the events in the fourth season of X: WP. Will Xena and Gabrielle ever get the chance to *ahem* show affection again?
JS Stephens
November 11, 1999
I've posted part one of a new story, Generations. It is the (as yet unfinished) story of a woman whose former drama teacher comes to work at the same film company, and the former student is starting to experience strange feelings around her former teacher...
JS Stephens
November 6, 1999
I'm still working on some other stories (see the Oct. 14 entry), but I have spun a silly little uber tale, The Sound of Love, in which two women find and lose each other several times, pursuing their dreams...
October 14, 1999
Nope, no new stories right now, but I'm working on:
JS Stephens
September 14, 1999
This is not about a Xena & Gabrielle story, not even an uber, but the premise came to me during a dream one night. It's over on my Uber & Other site. It's called Blind Dates and White Roses, a tale of a slight mixup. Kathy tells her friends Jerry and Lynn to meet each other for a blind date, saying to look for white rosebuds on their lapels. She just forgot to mention that Jerry and Lynn were both women -- and both men.
<g>
Battle on and start the countdown for Season Five!
JS Stephens
September 9, 1999
Well, since nothing happened to crash my computer, I decided to celebrate by watching Xena on USA before tennis. I caught the episode, "The Greater Good" and started thinking...about the Interlude Between "The Greater Good" and "Callisto".
JS Stephens
August 23, 1999
Finally, the last chapter of And Baby Makes...
JS Stephens
August 17, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I've added part 5 to And Baby Makes...not much else to tell.
JS Stephens
August 5, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
The links should all be working now, I've added some small redirection files. Splitting a site is a pain in the rear, believe me.
On to the other stuff: Gabrielle has given birth to a daughter, Theodora, in part four of And Baby Makes... Dezso, the local healer, has to come to the house when Theodora is running a fever...meanwhile, Xena sneaks off, seeing Gabrielle's growing attraction to the handsome healer...but all General Ulysses has other plans for the couple.
Battle on and stay tuned!
JS Stephens
July 26, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
In rearranging my site(s), I realized that there are lots of links from other places leading to dead or non-existent files. Therefore, I'm cleaning up after myself. At first, I will just put in files of formerly separated stories (for example, The Anniversary Party was three files, I condensed it to one) and will put in a redirector to the appropriate file. Later, I'll go back and put in bookmarks so that you will be redirected to the correct part or section as well.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone.
JS Stephens
July 23, 1999
Okay, I've finished part three of And Baby Makes... I've been pretty busy trying to get my new computer configured properly, going to a convention and doing more weeding (ick!) When I finally finish this story, I will combine the files as I've done with other stories (see explanation below.)
JS Stephens
June 27, 1999
I've made corrections (my Xenadex had a couple of dead links) and finished part Two of And Baby Makes... I have also corrected links to my Timeline (forgot to correct for the split.) If you notice, I combined many multipart stories into longer files with fewer parts. I decided to do this for two reasons:
By not having the disclaimer multiple times, I save server space.
I've noticed a trend on other X & G sites to have stories that are up to 110k per part. They seem to load pretty quickly, so why not have fewer files to keep track of?
I'm not sure when I will finish And Baby Makes... , I keep having to send my new computer back to the shop and drag out my old computer...it's such a pain to have to copy files to Zip disks over and over and over again...speaking of new computers, has anyone else had the problem of having the audio cd player quit talking to the sound card? This seems to occur under Win98, after loading my Logitech ScanMan software...the shop now thinks it has to do with duel parallel port devices (printer & scanner) conflicting with the sound card...I personally think Windows 98 can't handle parallel port passthrough. Win95 didn't have any problems. If you've ever experienced this, please email me at libriscat .
Battle on!
JS Stephens
June 21, 1999
Sorry it has been so long, but I've been trying to figure out how to split my site. Since the mighty AOL allows only 2 MB per screen name and I am so wordy, I have split my Xena stories thusly:
Xena and Gabrielle: http://members.aol.com/jstep64/index.htm
UberXena and others: http://members.aol.com/libriscat/index.htm
I am presently working on the ending for And Baby Makes... my other Armageddon tale.
JS Stephens
June 6, 1999
Whew.
May 21, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
Sorry it has taken me so long to post part four of The Past is Prologue, but I've been very busy with yard work and with other work. I've also helped my parents clean out my grandmother's apartment -- not the most pleasant task. I am also still contemplating posting my stories somewhere else -- I've had to delete almost all images from this web site to keep under the AOL limit per screen name.
Battle on!
JS Stephens
May 7, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I just posted part three of The Past is Prologue. I've taken some time away from my writing, I just got back from my grandmother's funeral yesterday. Therefore, I'm not in a very chatty mood.
JS Stephens
April 26, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I'm still thinking about the rest of the stories that I'm in the process of writing, but I've also decided that I can take advantage of PDF technology and Tripod free space for Xena & Gabrielle, Mythical Babes: The PDF Connection! If you have the free Adobe Acrobat reader, you too can read the stories in one file, not multiple files!
Okay, so I'm being a little silly, it's better than being too damn serious.
XS Stephens
April 24, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I've just posted part one of a new story set in the Xenaverse of the Conqueror, And Baby Makes... (part one). I'm starting to work on part three of The Past is Prologue, but I've been rather distracted by such mundane things as gardens, work, my dear wife, and a grandmother who can't remember my visits and calls.
Battle on!
JS Stephens
April 17, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I've just posted part two of The Past is Prologue. I'll be posting part three as soon as I can write it. In the meantime, I'm going to work on another story, set in the alternate universe of The Conqueror, set soon after my only other excursion into that strange land, Armageddon. I won't tell you anything about it except that there will be some twists to the tale...
Battle On!
JS Stephens
April 9, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I haven't decide on reorganizing or moving or mirroring my site yet, but I do have the first installment of my newest uberwork, The Past is Prologue. In this contemporary tale, Helen and Brigid are summoned home by Mel to say goodbye to Janice, who is dying. Mel also wants Helen's assistance with some scrolls and we learn a bit of background on various characters through flashbacks. This will have to be posted in parts as they are written, I just don't have to time to write for hours right now.
Battle On!
JS Stephens
March 28, 1999:
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I'm starting to rework my Xena site a bit, due to the crunching the upper limit of space that AOL allows each screen name. Mostly, I'm removing graphics, removing one story (The Wormhole Incident, if you really want it, I'll email it to you), my guestbook, and rethinking my approach. I may even consider moving or mirroring my site on one of those freebie servers, like Xoom, Tripod, or GeoCities. If anyone has any opinions on which free service is best (including upload time, MS FrontPage extensions, etc.), please drop me a line at libriscat
Also, I do have a new uberstory in the works, so stay tuned --- but be patient, it may take a few weeks, since I'm helping my gf with some of her projects...
Thanks much!
JS Stephens
March 14, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
Ever wondered what made me tick? where I got all those weird story ideas? Read all about it in my interview. (taken down May 10, 1999)
Battle On!
JS Stephens
March 11, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
I just finished my newest uberstory, Helen of the Plains. It is set somewhere in the Midwest during the early 1980's, with Helen Pappas as the new professor of Greek History and her neighbor, Brigid Anderson, a high school senior. They go through some interesting experiences and try to deny the attraction that is growing between them...and yes, I harked back to my youth while writing it and discovered that I, too, felt certain strange feelings toward friends. I just never acted on them.
Battle on!
JS Stephens
February 26, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
Sorry it has been so very long since I posted any new materials, but I've been very busy as of late. In early February, my computer crashed, necessitating the complete reformatting of my hard drive, re-installation of Windows 95, re-installation of all my software & data files..so I've been very busy. Work has also kept me busy, especially since I'm learning a completely new job (the "joys" of mergers.)
That's about all for now. I'm working on a new story, an uber story, tentatively titled "Helen of the Plains." It is the story of a college professor and her next door neighbor, a high school senior. The professor is related to Dr. Melinda Pappas...and stay tuned for the rest! Between securing databases and weeding the yard, I might squeeze in the rest of the story in a week or so.
Battle on!
JS Stephens
January 21, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
In my last letter, I nearly forgot to tell you that the reason I have used the spelling Solon rather than Solan is that I wanted to connect him to the real Solon, who really did codify Athenian law. Of course, one source I read stated that X&G probably lived in the 400's BCE, but Solon lived in the 600's BCE, can't win them all. Literary license and all that stuff.
Take care and battle on!
J.S. Stephens
January 17, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
Sorry I've been so long in posting new fiction, but I've been rather busy with professional activities. That said:
New: A Destiny to Fulfill. Solon is rescued by Dike, Goddess of Human Justice, just as he is about to be toast on his funeral pyre. Years later, he meets his future wife--except she is engaged to his friend Gregor. Meanwhile, Xena and Gabrielle have received a summons from Cyrene to come home and they just happen to pass through Athens -- where Solon and Julia live.
Hey, I had to come up with some sort of explanation bridging Solon's death and his later family in my Xenaverse...Besides, death is rarely permanent in the Xenaverse...and yes, there was a Greek goddess Dike, goddess of human justice. Her counterpart was Themis, goddess of divine justice. By the way, you seen Themis often, represented as a blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice, in many courthouses and legal iconography.
Battle on!
J.S. Stephens
January 1, 1999
Dear Fellow Xenites:
Ain't time off wonderful? I went to see You've Got Mail today and loved it. Meg Ryan is so cute...
No additional Xena fiction, but I did add some stuff to my Unrelated Stories web site. I've written a fairly short story in which Seven of Nine explores the difference between friends and lovers, asking Captain Janeway to please explain sexual relationships. I also started a story about two friends who take a romantic cruise, one gay, the other straight, who find that their friendship is changing. Hope everyone had a safe New Year's celebration.
Battle on!
J.S. Stephens