About Me

My name's Michael. I've been writing Sci-fi/Fantasy stories since I was in middle school (junior high). I currently live in Hong Kong teaching English as a second language in a high school.

My interests include reading and writing sci-fi/fantasy stories, studying Chinese language and culture, web design, and participating in forum debates.

Harry Potter and the Dark Passenger now has a Russian translation!

Many thanks to Bella Pierce for translating it. The Russian version can be found at https ficbook . net /readfic/4761120 (you have to delete the spaces). Now complete!

Pro-Tip for Finding Good Fanfics

A good way to find new stories to read is to look in the favorite section of authors of stories you already like. When browsing stories in someone's favorite's list, a good indication of the quality of the stories is the number of stories in the list. Usually, the shorter the list, the better the stories. Next, look for lists that include a few high quality stories you already know. This shows the reader has similar tastes to yours.

Advice for Fanfic Writers

Here is my advice for fan fiction writers. Some of it is specific to fanfiction, but some of it is applicable to writing in general.

1. Don't try to write a novel for your first story. Instead of starting out writing a 100k word story, start off trying to write a 1k-2k word short story. It takes more skill to express an idea in fewer words. By focusing on a short, well polished story, you will more quickly develop skill in description and characterization. Of course, after you have written a few nice short stories and have an idea that just needs more room, then it will be natural to expand out to novella or novel length stories.

2. Have an end in mind at the beginning of the writing. It doesn't have to be "the" end you are thinking about, but you should have a clear direction to take the story. Many writers start with a premise like "what if Harry Potter could _" or "what if Naruto did X instead of Y" and start writing how this different version would go without an ending in mind. But a general idea like this is not a plot. It quickly becomes clear that the author has no plan and what follows are a bunch of "filler" chapters until the author either abandons the story or comes up with an ending that only the last few chapters actual build towards.

That doesn't mean you have to stick rigidly to an original idea--you can add things in, go off in a new direction, or even completely change things from what you originally thought if inspiration dictates. But, if you have a destination in mind when you start you will have a much more cohesive and better paced story.

3. Pretend the reader doesn't know what it all looks like. We've all read the books and seen the movies, but you still need to describe the characters and settings. When a character shows up, describe them. When you go to new place, describe it. Fanfic writers borrow the reader's feeling from the original source, but good writing will always be descriptive and introduce it again as new.

Copyright Issues

All of my stories here are fan fiction. That means they are based in part on the established, published work of another author. Those authors own the rights to their intellectual property. I fully support their right to control what is theirs and make no claim to any ownership of any of the characters or settings created by other authors. If any author objects to any of my stories being based on their works, I will respect their wishes even when there exists an exception, such as in the case of parody or due to the transformative nature of the stories. My stories published here are not for profit and are not intended to in anyway interfere with copyright holders' right to control the distribution of their intellectual works or to profit therefrom.

Though it is fan fiction, my stories published here are also protected by copyright law. I license my stories published here for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license. (/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en_US) That means that anyone can copy, reproduce, and redistribute them without needing to ask me for permission. However, 1) they must be copied as they are, not changed or added to, 2) it must be clearly noted that I am the author, 3) it cannot be used for commercial gain. A link or note about the license should also be mentioned.

The "no derivatives" part does not preclude another person writing their own fanfiction. I just don't want anyone to change my words, or infringe on the original author's work using my story as an excuse. If someone wants to use one of my stories as the basis of their own fanwork, all I ask is a heads-up.

Story Status

Some people have asked if I plan to continue my currently incomplete stories. The answer is: Yes. None of them are abandoned. I would crash a meteor into the planet and kill everyone in the story before I abandon one of my stories without an ending. They are all, however, on indefinite hiatus.

Harry Potter and the Weasley Seer is the only story I am semi-actively working on. The story is in its final arc, I just need a little good health and bit of energy to finish it off.

Regarding my Stargate/Neverwinter Nights Crossover, I apologize. My original plan was to do an epic length story similar to the first, but focusing on an original plot. Instead, I will issue the sequel as a series of vignettes, but when at present I have no idea when I'll get to it. Put an alert on it and you'll know when I update.

Fanfic Story Ideas I am Considering

Dragonball/Naruto Crossover- Son Goku's space pod crash-lands near Konoha. He ends up growing up as Naruto's best friend, and strongest rival.

Witch Hunt- A Dresden Files/Harry Potter crossover with Dresden as the main character. At the end of 6th year, Harry Potter needs help finding certain dark objects. There's a certain wizard in Chicago who specializes in things like that.

Thanks to 25kartinok for allowing me to use his "Dragon Writer" image for my profile.