Defining Characteristics:

1. I'm a bibliophile, and as such, have a highly developed vocabulary (I love learning words no one ever uses) and am a veritable font of trivia. In Real Life, I am never found without a book on my person, and suspect I would experience withdrawal symptoms if I didn't carry one.

2. In writing (my own and others'), I insist on correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and of course, doing the research. This is a manifestation of my inner perfectionist.

3. I write extensively, usually fan fiction or poetry. My fandom beginnings are in Harry Potter, but I've lately begun to delve into the worlds of House M.D., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and Torchwood (not necessarily in that order of obsession/priority).

4. I majored in English with a concentration in British literature, made an abortive attempt at a minor in elementary education, and recently completed a Masters in adolescent English education.

5. I believe in intersectional feminism as a tool for social justice—that is, feminism that acknowledges the ways in which class, race, gender, ability and other factors are constructed and performed within societies. I take responsibility for educating myself about those power dynamics and remaining aware of my own privilege.

6. My religious background is Judeo-Christian, but I've self-identified as Pagan since my late teens and remain a solitary practitioner (eclectic with Dianic leanings).

7. My sense of humor tends toward the cynical, but actually, I'm a pragmatist with an idealistic streak.

8. I can be extremely stubborn (i.e., to the point of obstinacy), and cling to my convictions with the proverbial death-grip. I will bend, however, to the merits of a well-reasoned argument.

9. I suffer neither fools nor blind followers.

10. I am not afraid to be different.

Favorite Quotes:

"This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple "I must," then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse." —Rainer Maria Rilke, "Letters to a Young Poet."

"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot." —Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: Dream Country.

"People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around. Stories exist independently of their players. If you know that, the knowledge is power." —Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad.

"...[E]verything has a narrative, really, and if you can’t understand a story and relate to it, figure out how you fit inside it, you’re not really alive at all.” —Catherynne M. Valente, "Silently and Very Fast."

"There is only one right form for a story and if you fail to find that form the story will not tell itself." —Mark Twain

"In writing, one should notice and fondle details." —Vladimir Nobokov

"The written word is all that stands between memory and oblivion. Without books as our anchors, we are cast adrift, neither teaching nor learning. They are windows on the past, mirrors on the present, and prisms reflecting all possible futures. Books are lighthouses erected in the dark sea of time." —Gargoyles, "A Lighthouse on the Sea of Time."

"Stories ... are like prayers. It does not matter when you begin, or when you end, only that you bend a knee and say the words." —Catherynne M. Valente, In the Night Garden.

"Sing in me, Muse, and through me, tell the story…" —Homer, The Odyssey.

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” —Phillip Pullman

"One can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." —Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass.

"It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly." —J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan.

"Nearby is the country they call life./ You will know it by its seriousness." —Rainer Maria Rilke

"If we surrendered/ To earth's intelligence/ We could rise up rooted, like trees." —Rainer Maria Rilke

"Every sorceress is/ A pragmatist at heart; nobody sees essence who can't/ Face limitation." —Louise Glück, "Circe's Power."

"Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch." —Catherynne M. Valente, In the Night Garden.

"When they ask to see your gods/ your book of prayers/ show them lines/ drawn delicately with veins/ on the underside of a bird’s wing/ tell them you believe/ in giant sycamores mottled/ and stark against a winter sky/ and in nights so frozen/ stars crack open spilling/ streams of molten ice to earth/ and tell them how you drink/ a holy wine of honeysuckle/ on a warm spring day/ and of the softness/ of your mother/ who never taught you/ death was life’s reward/ but who believed in the earth/ and the sun/ and a million, million light years/ of being." —J. L. Stanley, "Catechism for a Witch's Child."

"Most people know intuitively that when you fall in love, the world is full of magic. What they don't know is that when you discover the universe is full of magic, you fall in love with the world." —Phyllis Curott, Book of Shadows.

"Hide it/ Just between the tart skin and sweet flesh/ Of an apple/ Make it / Forbidden/ Make it/ Delicious/ Then let the children/ Bite." —Esmé Raji Codell, "How to Teach Learning."

"I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned." —Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Dirge Without Music."

"Fire shadows on the wall,/ A hand rises, falls, as steady as a heartbeat,/ Threading the strands of life./ This is the warp thread, this the woof,/ This the hero-line, this the fool./ Needle and scissors, scissors and pins,/ Where one life ends, another begins." —Jane Yolen, "The Fates."

"And when the flames consume the air/ And when the fire turns frightening/ Know that the phoenix rose again/ In a reverie of lightning./ And when we fall into despair/ When we lose track of wonder/ Remember that the phoenix flies/ In glory and in thunder." —Seanan McGuire, "In Glory and In Thunder."

"The tribe of owls and teachers/ Sang the words onto the page./ They sang the books of knowledge/ That endured beyond their age./ The tribe of owls and teachers/ Were the ones who raised a hand,/ And they wander gowned in twilight/ As they strive to understand." —Seanan McGuire, "Tribal Secrets."

"It's not done until it's told;/ It's not told until it's written./ If I'm brave and I am bold/ I can challenge what's forbidden./ But no one gets to tell me/ That I'll never be the one./ When they ask you what befell me/ Say my story is not done." —Seanan McGuire, "My Story is Not Done."

"It's the wonders that I'm after/ Even if I have to fight./ It'll all be hard and bloody,/ Even when I get it right./ I know stories change their faces/ On an inconsistent basis,/ But I swear I am not afraid." —S. J. Tucker, "Wonders."

Note to TRD readers:

It's been too long since I've updated "Two Roads Diverged," but I'm not calling it 'abandoned.' It's the work of over two years and 197 pages, and I can't in good conscience invalidate that with a simple, "No more."

My narrative voice has evolved since the 28 chapters you've read were posted; I need to go back, polish those chapters, and bring them into alignment with the writer I am now before I can go forward. I probably won't write novel-length S6 and S7 reworks: much of my passion for Charmed fled in disgust from the travesty that was its final season. I will, however, eventually bring TRD to a close, and I may dabble in the fandom with shorter projects.