I'm updating my profile because I have some news that I'm finally able to share with everyone.

I've mentioned a few times that, in addition to writing fanfiction, I've been working on some original fiction. Like many of us on here, I've always dreamed of writing professionally and I've worked towards that goal for years. Almost a decade ago I finished a manuscript that got me a wonderful agent, but unfortunately it never sold. While I was waiting through the submission process, I wrote a second book. Last January we got an offer on that book.

While the production process went forward, my agent spent the next several months negotiating the contract. In July I signed a three-book deal (with an option on a fourth book) with Midnight Ink, a Minnesota-based publisher that specializes in mystery and suspense. My books are going to be a cozy mystery series called the Auction Block Mysteries and my first book, Death and the Redheaded Woman, is now available.

I know that people come to this site for fanfiction, not original fiction, so I'm not going to go on at length about it. But if you've enjoyed my work and you'd like to see what I do when I'm on my own (or even if you'd just like to look at my pretty book cover), you can find all the details at my website.

I've started another story on here and I will finish it, though it probably won't be terribly long. Other than that, I probably won't be around too much. I'm still working full time in retail and I have two more books to deliver. I still love my shows and my fandoms, though. (I even tried my hand at writing a Supernatural script and my agent was going to try to submit it for me, but when she went to her literary agency's film guy he basically patted us on the head and said, "you're very cute. The world doesn't work that way. Go invent a reality show.")

So, anyway, that's my news! :) Thank you for reading my stories and for being so encouraging all this time!

Loretta Ross (aka Elfinblue)

Grammar notes:

Cas knows, I'm as fallable as anyone, but I try hard to get my grammar and punctuation right and really obvious errors are like fingernails on a chalk board when I see them. I don't usually say anything -- I figure when people ask for reviews they want encouragement, not an English lesson -- but since I have this forum, of sorts, I thought I'd list a few that I see often. I'll add to this as I think of more.

"If you think that, you've got another thing coming" -- I see this ALL the TIME! The saying is, "if you think that, you've got another THINK coming". In other words, "think again".

Effect/Affect -- Effect is almost always a noun. "What effect will this have on you?" "That is the effect we are going for." When it is used as a verb, it means "to bring about". "We need to effect change." It does NOT mean "to alter or have an influence on". That is affect, which is always a verb (except for one really obscure medical usage in the field of psychiatry). "Her scorn was bound to affect him." (Affect can also mean to adopt a mannerism or style of dress or to pretentiously take on some trait, as in, "he affected a British accent".) Clear as mud?

Pass/Passed/Past -- Pass is a verb meaning to go by or exceed. "I'm going to pass that car." "She hopes to pass her test." The past-tense of pass is passed. "We're going in a circle -- we already passed this house three times!" Past is an adjective ("past presidents") or a noun ("we learned about the past") or an adverb ("he walked past the cemetery") or a preposition ("the barn is past the house") but never a verb. It's really understandable that this is confusing. Past started out in the Middle Ages as a deviant of passed, but in modern English the meanings have diverged.

Apostrophes -- Apostrophes are only used for plurals in the case of abbreviations and symbols. "She saw several M.D.'s" or "there are too many @'s in your URL". With regular words apostrophes have two meanings: possession and contraction. Winchesters means "more than one Winchester". Winchester's means "belongs to one Winchester". Winchesters' means "belongs to more than one Winchester. In this area, singular possessive pronouns (his, hers, its) often confuse people. These words are complete alone and don't need apostrophes to clarify their meanings. His means "belongs to him", hers means "belongs to her", and its means "belongs to it". It's is a contraction of the words "it is". In contractions, the apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter or letters, in this case the second i. If I see "there were three angel's in the yard" I'm going to ask "three angel's whats?" (Noting that it would be three of something belonging to one angel.) (It occurs to me that Winchester's can also be a contraction meaning "Winchester is", such as in "Winchester's gonna go postal!" or "Winchester has" as in "Winchester's got a plan". You just have to figure that out from the context.)

Using pronouns in conjunctions -- If you need to use two or more pronouns in a phrase and you're not sure if you should be saying I/me, he/him, she/her, they/their, there's a trick you can use. Just put each of the pronouns in the phrase alone and the right one should be obvious. For example, take the phrase "they gave he/him and I/me a box of chocolates". (I was going to say "a rough time" but I decided I'd rather have a box of chocolates. ;)) Put each pronoun into the sentence alone. "They gave he a box of chocolates"? Nope. So, "they gave him a box of chocolates". Then, "they gave I a box of chocolates"? Doesn't work. You need "they gave me a box of chocolates". So your correct phrase is "they gave him and me a box of chocolates".

Sorry if I'm being pedantic! That's just me.

Elf