For notices and ramblings on how my writing's going, see my livejournal (link is above).

And for original work, go to my fictionpress account here.

My fic Beyond This Place of Wrath and Tears was nominated in the Harry Potter thematic awards at the Sorting Hat, in the time-travel category (http:///sortinghat/index.html). Although it did not win--that honor went to Sam Vimes's brilliant Cartographer's Craft and (honorable mention) S'TarKan's Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past--I'm pleased that it got nominated anyway. :) I urge everyone to check out the fics at the Sorting Hat.

Jan. 2007Wrath and Tears was also nominated in the 2006 OWL awards (http:///awards.php), in the category "Realm of the Half-Blood Prince" (Snape-centric fics). The final OWL winning stories are quite amazing; do go read them:)

In June 2006, on FictionAlley’s “Help, I’m looking for…” forum, I started a thread asking for fics in which characters other than Harry time travel to change the past. Time travel is one of my favorite fanfic genres, and often in fics Harry is the time traveler, so that I wanted to find time travel fics featuring other characters. So I kept bumping every now and then. Then someone suggested that I make a masterlist of the fics recommended—and here they are (http:///7261.html#cutid1).

By the way, I stumbled upon this veritable treasure trove of writing advice a while back, dealing with such topics as characterization, worldbuilding, and endings. Take a look at it; limyaael makes very good points about writing (here).

About me:

15 year old girl. Still in school. Straight-A student. I read so fast that I can probably get through the Harry Potter series, all six books, in twelve hours (estimation, of course, I haven't actually tried.). I read all the time; the only TV I like watching is the news (sad, I know; all my friends shake their heads in disbelief).

I like Harry Potter, The Dark is Rising (Susan Cooper), Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien), His Dark Materials trilogy (Philip Pullman), Orson Scott Card's Ender and Bean series, George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm, Homage to Catalonia), Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None), Gore Vidal (Lincoln, Messiah) and Stephen Jay Gould's series of collections of essays on evolution and punctuated equilibrium (Ever Since Darwin, The Panda's Thumb, Wonderful Life, Full House, Dinosaur in a Haystack, etc.). I am sick of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which is seriously overrated, and I prefer his history plays, like Julius Caesar. More books I like include Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Richard Adams's Watership Down, Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, C.S. Lewis's Narnia Series, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity, and Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy."

Oh, and I play the piano. Right now, my current pieces are Franz Liszt's 12 minute long Mephisto Waltz No. 1, a Beethoven sonata, Op. 10, No.3, and the Grieg concerto.

My stories:

Beyond This Place of Wrath and Tears (chaptered, WIP)—Some burdens cannot be left alone. And memories can taunt a wizard for the rest of his life. Severus Snape, however, is not a man who accepts defeat. Post HBP... in a way.

I would've written a longer summary, but has limitations on the number of words. It is many years since the defeat of the Light, Harry Potter is dead, and Hogwarts is in ruins. Voldemort and his Death Eaters control the wizarding UK, but Snape has different plans. After a raid on the Department of Mysteries' stash of Time-turners, he takes the initiative and travels back in time to the end of Harry's fifth year... Involves some centaurs, a sentient Hogwarts, lycanthropy with a mind of its own, a Percy Weasley who isn't the Ministry blowbag and sycophant almost everyone thinks he is, and a Snape who is perfectly willing to utilise his Muggle heritage if it means an advantage over those he considers his enemies... The title comes from the poem "Invictus," by William Ernest Henley, which can be found here.

Falls the Shadow (chaptered, WIP)— Post-HBP, in 4 parts. A horcrux hunt; death; redemption; and the aftermath of the final battle. War and peace are always more complicated than they seem. Harry Potter and Severus Snape, gen. The title comes from the poem “The Hollow Men,” by T.S. Eliot.

The Moment of the Yew Tree (one-shot)—1945. Two professors speak with Tom Marvolo Riddle before he leaves Hogwarts. Dumbledore, Tom Riddle, Slughorn, gen. Written for the omniocular livejournal community June challenge, All in a Day’s Work. The title comes from the poem “Four Quartets” (Little Gidding), by T.S. Eliot.

Stories in my mind—I really cannot quite figure out how my mind is so irritatingly active in making up stories for the HP universe. I have in my mind at present, several one-shots and two chaptered stories: 1) a sequel to FtS, Hermione-centric, set several years afterwards, and 2) an AU, Snape-centric, during the MWPP years. Although it will probably be a while before I get to them, and by then the seventh book will probably be released…

On shipping:

I usually favour gen fics--that is, those without ships. I have always been somewhat annoyed by a lot of fics with romance--I feel that they detract from the story's plot and characterisation, although as long as it's limited—or well-written—I don't mind.

Het—The H/G, H/Hr, and R/Hr war: I've never really actually liked those ships, although I'm perfectly fine with reading a well-written fic with them. The problem, in my opinion, with H/G is that throughout CoS, Ginny is simply portrayed as "Ron's little sister with a crush on Harry." Then she finally comes into her own in OotP. Then, in HBP, she reverts back to being "Harry's girlfriend." It's... a bit of let-down, I admit--I would rather that she become more fleshed out in characterisation, and have her own unique "label," so to speak.

And as for the H/Hr v. R/Hr: I prefer neither. In fact, I don't much like the idea of a ship within the Trio. Perhaps it's because I've always viewed the Trio as a group of three, not a romantically involved pair and another one... Dunno, it's just what I think. Though if I had to choose, I would pick H/Hr. R/Hr--well, their personalities, to be honest, seem to clash somewhat, an example of Opposites Attract, I suppose, but a little irritating nonetheless. Bickering does not necessarily and automatically mean romantic love. At the same time, H/Hr--they're more like brother and sister than... you know.

Slash—Just as I don't have much of a strong position on het, nor do I on slash. I have always viewed the het v. slash with a bit of exasperation. Like I said before, the romance doesn't matter so much to me as the plot and characterisation do, and if the romance is kept to a minimum, I don't care if it's het or slash, period. For instance, I usually don't read H/D fics, but Lightning on the Wave's fics are so superbly written (and there's barely any romance at all until the fourth fic in the Sacrifices Arc) that I simply go on reading. The romance is minimal at the beginning, and the plot and the background and the characterisation is of a caliber rarely seen in the fandom. Why would you drop such a good story universe just because you don't like the ship? Why? (looks puzzled)

(Note: If I must choose a favorite ship, it would probably be HG/SS. The intelligence and wit involved appeals to me. But like I said, shipping doesn’t really matter in my mind, not as much as plot and characterization.)

Quotes:

George Orwell, 1984: The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens: God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players (i.e., everybody), to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath: Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back…. And this you can know—fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe.

Alexander McCall Smith, The Sunday Philosophy Club: You loved another, and this made you so vulnerable; just an inch or so too close to the edge and your world could change.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged: “Tell me, are you proud of the way these three have turned out?” He looked off, into the distance, at the dying fire of the sunset on the farthest rocks; his face had the look of a father who watches his sons bleeding on a battlefield. He answered: “More proud than I had ever hoped to be.” (I especially like this one because I think it can also be applicable to HP: Albus Dumbledore reflecting on the Gryffindor trio.)

Miscellaneous:

OK. I have just come across what may be the most terrible HP fanfic ever. Mary Sues, bad spelling, horrible grammar, no connection whatsoever with the actual HP world... Argh! It's My Immortal; just click here. I've posted examples of reviews to the fic on my lj, only because they're so hilarious.

However, I now fear for the future of the English language. Thank god so many people, in reviewing the story, think the same way I do about it.