Well, my main account currently has Author as their profession, so I can say with some authority that it’s a pretty decent gig. The steady supply of Blackmail Material, Cellars of Wine, and delicious secrets is nothing to balk at, and the Appreciation Society is in the upper echelons as far as both Watchful and Persuasive companions go. In fact, I like it so much that I’m entirely unsure about whether or not I actually want to progress Soran to a Correspondent. I mean, sure, the Pot of Violant Ink would provide a further boost to Watchful and Persuasive, and the weekly reward seems pretty decent, but at what cost? The thought of disappointing all those fictional fans and losing the Appreciation Society just makes me kind of sad.
Anyway, both of my characters have a decent number of literary works under their belts, with Soran’s work edging more towards the heavy, cerebral, or beautiful, while Zero prefers pulpy schlock, satire, and comedy. For example, they’ve both gone through the storyline for writing a penny dreadful about Jack-of-Smiles (both even going the extra mile to make their story especially bloody), but I imagine the overall tones their individual stories being quite different; Soran’s being straight horror, while Zero’s is more joyfully demented. As for their other notable works, well, allow me to list them for you:
Soran:
-A Tale of the Future: Entitled "Brass Bat Rising," in which a team of eccentric sciencey-types ("nerds," as we in the 21st century would call them) build a swarm of robotic bats to raise London back to the surface. The ultimate marriage of Soran’s intellectual and artistic talents with an inordinate love of bats.
-A Gothic Romance: Entitled "Wings Above Hathaway Castle," in which a man visiting a remote village finds himself embroiled in the intrigues of the local noble family and discovers its connection to the mysterious winged creature that’s been terrorizing the countryside (spoilers: the monster is actually the family’s young daughter, who’s been cursed to transform into a giant bat monster each night).
-An Epic Poetic Cycle: I haven’t put much thought into plot or title for this one, but I’m sure there are bats involved somewhere. Maybe a great hero and his magical bat companion have to save a kingdom from an evil dragon or something.
-A Tragedy of Romance: No title again, but here we have a darkly beautiful epic poem of self-destructive love. And bats, somehow.
-In addition, Soran has written a tragic play, two ballets (the two that don’t get you immediately shipped off to the Tomb Colonies), and enough short stories that I’ve lost count of exactly how many.
[b]Zero Hunt:
[/b]-A Patriotic Adventure: Entitled "John Fox and the Mountain of Youth," in which an irrepressible zee-adventurer learns of the fabled mountain and embarks on a quest to find immortality and riches. This is an utterly ridiculous novel, bordering on self-parody. Also, Zero hates water and sailing, so I’m sure it’s chock-full of technical inaccuracies where it comes to all things nautical. He probably could have asked his zailor friends for help, but I doubt he even cared.
-An Allegorical Satire: The poem that unintentionally gained Zero most of his goodwill with the Revolutionaries; a small price to pay for the chance to publicly and mercilessly mock all the socialite leeches at Court. I’m sure he was giggling all through the writing of this thing.
-He’s also written two plays; a Slapstick Farce and a Wry Satirical Comedy. Don’t entirely know what they’re about, but they’re probably quite stupid.
-And outside of Court, Zero has written a single low-tier short story, which I’ve just now decided was a prequel to his adventure novel, detailing one of John Fox’s lesser adventures before his journey to find the Mountain of Youth.