My problem with signing up for yuletide is looking at the requested fandoms and forgetting what I decided about them in the past. Last year, I apparently offered Life on Mars. What made me think I'd be able to write Life on Mars?!? But I know this year, I'm going to end up with fandoms that will confuse me when next year's selection comes around.

I had a much harder time thinking of what to request and how to request it than what to write. I'm happy with what I requested, and I hope it doesn't inflict too much pain on whoever gets my requests.

I didn't participate in Yuletide last year (in fact, I boycotted all holiday fic exchanges in 2006) and I'm very much looking forward to it this year.

I kind of want to sign up for the Sports Night holiday exchange, but I don't know about two holiday exchanges, plus I have a Sweet Charity story due at the end of November.

By signing up for Yuletide, that pretty much means I won't be signing up for the holiday exchange for my main anime fandom. But, given how fractious the fandom has become, and how off-putting the requests were last go-round, I'm not considering that too big a loss.

I have another fic exchange that comes due end of this month, so at least there'll be no overlap between that and Yuletide.

My signups are complete. I probably could have offered more, but I'm coming around to the opinion that offering only fandoms in which I already have at least one idea is the way to go. I don't think that leads to brevity, but it does lead to much less head-desking later on.

My requests were like My secret desires, let me show you them, for values of gen and incredibly vanilla. (The secret secret desires remain secret, or at least stay in backchannel.)

Hmm... I didn't do it last year, because I was going to be out of the country, but... should I? Decisions...

I think I am not doing it. My ability to write in a given fandom is generally not something I can predict, and I just hate the stress of a ficathon assignment. Challenges are great, but I think I choose to pick my own.

But I will be happy to beta, thus contributing to the great yuletide tradition.

I'm doing it. I'm chosing a minimal range of fandoms, though, this time. And nothing I've done before. (Which only eliminates the one, as last year was Baby's First Yuletide.)

I just don't know what I'll offer. Or ask for. Yet.

I offered 30 fandoms this year. Apparently I'm feeling more reckless than last year.

Jilli, I really enjoyed that.

Deena, I'd beta for you. I'd beta for any of you guys. I say, with the confidence that I'll be around for the Christmas hols. (I'm not going home.)

The most challenging thing I find with Yuletide every year is to pick the requests. There's just so much choice! For about three years, I did the same three fandom requests in a row--The Dark is Rising, Narnia, and something else I can't cross-check because the archive is closed, and a wild card. This year, all I know is that I want a Hollycrack story. I don't know what else to pick!

Usually I offer at least a few dozen fandoms to write, mostly because I can stretch myself pretty far, but that's not an approach that works for a lot of people. I think it's probably more sensible to be very limited about what you are willing to write, because that's something you *do* have control over.

I signed up for the due South fic exchange, and I will sign up for the popslash one, because although it's becoming smaller every year, I just love it too much to let it go. But I let Secret Slasha go last year, and this year I think I'm not going to do JBBS either. Unless another one catches my eye, I'm going to stay pretty minimal this year.