Profile.

Name: Nathan Hofstad.

Gender: Male.

Age: 32!

Location: The lovely state of Minnesota.

Some things I like: Nature, all wild animals and some domestic ones like chickens, cats, and cows, chocolate, fried foods, reading, swimming, watching TV, my parents, my sister, anything with high levels of sugar LOL, bonfires, fishing, writing, 4-wheeling, cheesy B-movies, R&B music, hip-hop, mostly all 80's music, some heavy metal, snakes, sharks, hyenas, bats, birds of prey, African painted dogs, dinosaurs, sculpture, Ancient Egypt, nature documentaries, and books that have substance to them, as in teach you something.

Some things I hate: Rude people, bullies, people who scream and are loud, morons in general-especially when they fancy themselves to be the voice of authority on some given topic-most professional sports save boxing and gymnastics, TV commercials, romance novels, math, soap operas, Animal Cruelty!, being cold, people who feel the need to shove any religious dogma down people's throats, whenever I can't find something important, and definitely writer's block!

Story I'm currently working on: The Once and Future King. This is the first "epic" fanfic I've ever done-almost more of a practice novel, really-, and it's quite a learning experience. Currently, Chapter 31 is the one in the works. As fanfic writers go, I'm almost obessive-compulsive when it comes to research, details, sentence structure, and the general "flow" of my words.

In addition, although I'm often quite pleased with a finished piece of writing and feel that it needs no further touching up, there are also many times where I'm only satisfied with what I have written for the interim. If I feel that something is a little bit off, or I find a factoid that I believe includes mention in my fic, or think a bit of dialouge is stilted/deserves to be expanded on, I won't hesitate to change it. In short, I often periodically revise and tweak my fics, particularly my big crossover one, although it's very rare for me to go beyond the quotes, details, and a few sentences. The basic structure of what you read will stay solid.

Lord forgive me if this makes me sound like a perfectionist or that I'm sitting all high-and-mighty in my lofty tower of course-I'm just a regular dude too! But at the same time, I've grown to view writing, whether it be for fun or for profit, as very much like taking up mountain climbing-a sport I find just a little too risky for my tastes by the way. You start out tackling a mountain which is on the smaller side in terms of difficulty. When you get to the summit, you feel worn out, but also very pleased with yourself. I mean, you just climbed a mountain after all! But as time goes on, and you become wiser, you realize that your mountain actually wasn't all that impressive as things go. Other people laughingly tell you that their grandma or their dog or an ape could climb that peak. It's tough knowledge to take, but it drives you to kick things up a notch, and go climb a mountain which is a little higher/more challenging, and after you've reached the summit of that one, decide to climb a peak which is even more of a challenge. As time goes on, you just may come addicted to mountaineering. You will not just keep trying for grander and grander peaks, but also probably revisit ones that you've already tackled and this time see if you can't climb them by way of another route, or in conditions that were different than last time. Eventually, you just may discover yourself climbing the Everest of fanfics.

"Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Don't trouble it, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent." The Brothers Karamazov.

"Animals are among the conductors of life's greatest symphonies. They exist not solely for our convenience or fancy, but are an important rhythm to the planet we share." Darcy Bell Symes, 1981.

All of my stories, already existing and those to come, are dedicated to the legacy of Steve Irwin, 1962-2006, or far, far, far too soon in other words. Most of all, they are also dedicated to our children, and to our children's children.