Welcome to my author page!
I am a teacher, musician, reader, and avid Harry Potter fan. I am originally from the Midwest and now live a bit farther south. I am thrilled to be a proud member of RAVENCLAW House and enjoyed being a site moderator for a time as well.
I hope you enjoy the many stories and poems I have written. I am proud of them all and appreciate any feedback you might care to leave (in other words, reviews are love!) I've listed them below with a short description since I know trolling through summaries can be tedious. Thanks for reading!
EDIT: Someday I will categorize my stories by genre. Today is not that day. ;)
Fascinating chapter! Wonderfully descriptive - you really do know how to build the suspense. I loved how you didn't reveal the mysterious Death Eater until the end. I figured it out as soon as Hermione saw him. Of course it was him. Saving grace indeed. I can't wait for the next bit.
~Gina :)
Author's Response: Nice interpretation of the title, Gina dear ;) I wanted people to wonder if it was Voldemort under the hood to be honest, or at least leave people frightfully confused for a minute. Next bit should be up soon!
Hi there,
Great job! Congrats on being the featured story! I don't read a lot of chaptered fics (at least, not until they are done), but I'm glad I clicked on yours. I have also never read a story where the wedding is attacked - its highly possible, of course, and would be devastating. I thought that putting Percy under the Imperius Curse as the instigator of the attack was really heartbreaking. I loved how you showed Ron rising to the challenge - he is a stronger wizard than most people give him credit for. You are a talented writer - as with your HHWP story you bring strong emotion to your writing. Good luck with the rest of the story! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Thanks Gina! I hope you read the rest, I am pretty happy with how this story is going. I love Ron, I felt it was time to show him as a hero for a change. Thanks for reading!!
This is great! You do a wonderful job of creating suspense, which is why I just went ahead and read the rest of it! And this is why I don't read a lot of chaptered fics, because now I have to wait for the next chapter, and it's getting so excitng!! :)
I love what you've done with Ron and Hermione, but I was so glad when you wrote Harry's story as well. This chapter was brilliant, at least if I've figured things out correctly. :) I can't wait to see how it resolves.
You're writing has really evolved over the course of these nine chapters. You must be having so much fun. I really enjoy reading your work. I hope you update soon! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Hey Gina! I am actually surprised with how nicely the suspense is building in this story. You\'ll have to let me know in the next chapter if you figured something out (I wouldn\'t be surprised if you did, I think I left a few hints). I do feel like I\'ve grown as a writer through the course of this story, thanks so much for reading!! I\'m going to update today, I think =D
One more thing - you have the funniest fans following your story. Reading some of the reviews is almost as entertaining!:-)
I especially wanted to read what people had to say about this chapter. I don't think they figured it out. I may head over to the dueling club again and ask about that. I won't say anything else except - great job!! I'm adding it to my favorites so don't abandon it! :) ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Yea, I have some fantastically entertaining readers on this story. And no, I don\'t think anyone has figured it out yet (so I\'m really excited to see if you did!!). This is my favorite story to write at the moment, I\'d never abandon it! ~ashley
Poor Hermione! And poor Percy - I am intrigued by what he discovered at the Ministry. I like the way you layer your stories with things like that.
See, I kept reading :)
Great job! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Hahaha, thanks Gina! Layering plotlines is one thing I pride myself on, and it means alot that you pointed it out! ~Ashley
Hi! I really liked seeing things from Harry's perspective. I'm excited I picked up the hints about Harry-the-Deatheater. Good plan! I'm somewhat surprised he roughed up Flint: I'm tempted to throw one of those dueling questions you asked me back at you. ;) I think you write Ron and Hermione really well so I'm looking forward to the next chapter. I wonder where the Death Eaters took Ron and Hermione? Did I miss another hint? Are you really going to answer that? ;) Great job and good luck as you continue! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Oooo, dueling club throw back, huh *cringes* could be interesting ;) Thanks, I think Ron is my best character in writing, though I\'ve grown by leaps and bounds wtih Hermione. Where or where have they gone... hmmm... (I always leave hints, btw)
Double review! :) I agree, you do write Ron the best. You make him into the character he truly is, the man we don't always get to see, especially in fanfic. I sort of want to comment on where the story might go with Ron but I've learned my lesson, I think. You do what you need to do with Ron, you don't need to know what I want. ;)
Dueling question is up. As for the hints, I'm determined to find them now. Here I thought I was getting better at slowing down as I read and actually piecing things together. I'm so going back over this.
As always, your fan reviews are a hoot! It's like a whole second story to read along with the main feature, lol! What fun. :)
~Gina :)
Author's Response: Hooray! Gina this is review #200on this fic! *throws confetti* Glad it was from you! Please, comment away. I\'m actually intrigued as to where you think this is going for Ron, because I\'m afraid I may have foreshadowed something I didn\'t intend to have happen... And yes, I love my reviews. They light up my day =D
This was very touching! You did a wonderful job of tugging the readers' heartstrings. You are able to write emotionally without just describing the emotion - both the characters and the readers feel it. Nice job. I particularly liked the ending, when Ginny took off her ring - very sad! And tying the last line to the title was fantastic! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: GINA! *Tacklehugs* Wheeeeeee, tacklehugging is fun! :D Anyway, thanks SO much for the lovely review! I\'m so glad you liked the story! I\'ll be sure to read/review one of your stories, soon! :D
Great job! I really like this poem, I think it captures Dumbledore's thoughts perfectly. It is very strong and moving. I love how it builds to the third stanza, "Absalom, O Absalom," and the final line is great. Wonderful poem, I hope you write more! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Thank you very much. The third stanza was really the root of inspiration for the poes, which explains the build up. I really appreciate the review!
Very nice job! I love stories like this that explore a characters thoughts and feelings at a particularly poignant time, and you did a wonderful job here. Seeing Professor McGonagall deal with her grief was very moving. I especially liked the part with Professor Dumbledore looking down on her from his star, it was cute and touching. What a great first fic! Keep it up! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Thank you so much Gmariam! That means a lot to me! I\'m glad you liked the way i wrote Professor McGonagall\'s feelings because she is my favourite character!
-Evie-
Good job with this moment! We all know its coming - Harry is going to the wedding and Ginny will be there, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I think you did a good job of keeping them both in character. The piece had a nice easy flow to it as well. But what I really like is that you avoided H/G cliches and didn't make it overly sappy and sentimental. It was just right - great job! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Aw, thanks for the review! I tried really hard not to keep it to cliché, and I think I did well. This was how I imagined things going in the REAL book.
Hi there,
Good job! You write with a good sense of humor and character. I never would have pictured Hedwig as the drinking sort but you gave her a distinct personality that fit with everything else in your story. And Buckbeak was quite amusing - maybe you could write something similar from his point of view! Keep up the good work! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Haha, yea. This story was so much fun to write! I love this side of Hedwig... it\'s one people don\'t really write about. I think that the different sides of the pets is what makes this story stand out... Thanks for the review!
Written as a Gauntlet Maze Challenge entry by Cruciatus Love of Slytherin.
Hi!
This was fantastic! It was so creative and original, and utterly believable that Tom Riddle might participate in a TriWizard Tournament. I loved reading each and every task, but especially the maze. You did a fantastic job describing each challenge, as well as what Tom Riddle was thinking during each task. You have a strong grasp of his character. Seeing him build up to the Killin Curse was particularly powerful. I also liked the lighter moments, like the Babbling Curse.
Your writing has a wonderful flow that makes it so easy and gripping to read. The poems and riddles were especially good. They gave the story a sense of depth, as did the many details you drew in from the larger HP universe. You must have put a lot of time and effort into this story, and I hope you do well with it.
I wonder if Professor Dumbledore would be happy to see Tom Riddle win the maze at the end; we know he was keeping a close eye on him, so a bit of suspicion on his part might be more appropriate. On the other hand, this story is AU, so perhaps you had something else in mind. :)
Wonderful job! I am so glad I decided to read this story. I enjoyed it tremendously. Good luck with your future writing!
~Gina :)
Author's Response: Yes, this is AU because the Triwizard Tournament had been banned long before Tom Riddle was going to Hogwarts. Thanks for the review!
Hi there,
Nice job writing from such an unusual point of view! The personality you gave Hedwig through the first person narration is exactly how I picture her myself. You did a very nice job of describing the scene, as well as creating an emotional connection to Hedwig. It was especially nice to read her feelings for Harry. My only nit-pick would be that at times it seems a bit contradictory: Hedwig doesn't know why Harry has changed, and yet at the same time she understands that he is special, that he has suffered, that he is bound, etc. I personally think Hedwig would know why Harry had changed (is this after Sirius's death? After Dumbledore's death?) but that could just be because I wrote a story in which she was very aware of everything Harry was going through. :)
When you mentioned Hedwig having other owners, I thought - new story! I think you've opened a door where you could definetly write about Hedwig with her past owners. It would lovely, and if you wanted to you could even come up with some clever way to link those owners and those stories with Hedwig's present life with Harry. I don't know what those clever ideas are, I'm just leaving you a plot bunny, if you like. ;)
Again - good job with this piece! You have a nice style of writing and I enjoyed reading it. Keep up the good work!! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Haha, thanks for the bunny! I\'ll be sure to feed him and take care of him! lol, anyway, that\'s a pretty good idea! I might use that sometime! Thank you for the well thought out review! Thank you for the critisism. In a way, I agree with you, but in a way, I see where I was coming from (lol, I know that sounds weird, but I wrote this a while ago!) What I meant was that she could tell that he has been through something that\'s changed him, but she doesn\'t know what, and she just wants to understand. Thank you for the con-crit, though! I don\'t think I\'ll change it, just because I\'m done with this story, but I\'ll take the contradictory-factor into account when writing future stories; you\'re the second person in two days that\'s said I need some work with that! Anyway, mucho thanks for this very sweet review, Gina! (I would break up my rambling, but I don\'t understand paragraph breaks!)
I quite liked this - nice job! The way the sets of three words evolved to the end was wonderful. So do you think Snape is good or evil or stuck somewhere in between? :) Again - great job! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: First, thank you so much for the kind words. The hardest part was finding an appropriate new word in each revolution, so I\'m very glad it all works nicely together.
I am hopelessly and forever a Severus fangirl and will always support his innocence! Severus is good, he is!
Thanks for taking the time to review!
Mooncalf- that was wonderful! You perfectly captured the challenge element in this story! You also introduced a great character - two, including Genius. :)
I thought your sense of description was wonderful - as a reader I could picture everything very clearly. This set up a good emotional context. I also liked the backstory you created for Senan.
You did a good job of building things up. When Senan came home and found the house empty, I expected his parents to be dead of an attack, not taken by the Ministry. The end was a real tragic surprise! I assume the Ministry took Senan as well then? Are you planning on writing any more with Senan, or continuing this story? I could definetly see his story continuing after this!
Great job and good luck with your future writing!! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Thank you very much, Gina, for your kind and constructive review. I loved writing Genius - little did I know that I would soon have my own little Genius soon afterwards *huggles puppy*. Senan was taken by the Ministry, yes. I didn\'t originally intend to write more on Senan, but after it was suggested to me a plot bunny began to form. Look out for A Prisoner of Conscience, coming soon!
Hello!
This was a wonderful story, it truly was. You started out by doing a great job of setting up and describing the relationship between Severus and Iduna. Even in such a short story, her character shone through clearly, and the relationship with her brother was very touching. It was also very plausible. Although we don't know much about Snape's history, the background you gave him - his abusive father, his loving sister, and his absent mother - was very realistic and fit with canon perfectly as we know it.
You wove past events into the story very well. It was never confusing, and always had an immediate impact on the present story you were telling. It was particularly fascinating to look back at Snape's character and then see his evolution into a Death Eater fascinated with the Dark Arts and obsessed with power.
I was shocked when he killed his father. I think I actually said "OMG" out loud. Having peeked at the reviews, I had some idea that Iduna was doomed. I also remembered you posting a bit of this story on the forums, in the thread on foreshadowing. But I didn't except Tobias Snape to die, and would never have believed Snape was capable of such an act. If you wanted to stun your readers with that one, you did!
After that, I was very worried for Iduna. I did not want Snape to kill her! Her death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange was also shocking, and so sad. I didn't expect Lucius and Bellatrix to be there, and the seemingly random, callous way that she died while trying to run from Severus was truly tragic. Someone needs to get Bellatrix for all she's done!
The end was exceptional: not only did we see Snape evolve into a Death Eater, but we learned why he turned away. I loved the final sentences:
Severus no longer desired power. He wanted redemption. He wanted justice for his sister's fate.
Severus wanted revenge.
I would only suggest reversing justice and redemption, for dramatic impact. :)
I think what I enjoy most about your writing is your style. You have an exceptional vocabulary: you never reuse words, you always have the perfect description. You combine your words into sentences that flow naturally and are easy and enjoyable to read. You also give your writing an emotional quality that draws in the reader. The setting is always great (loved the storm here!) and your characters are strong as well.
This was a fascinating story exploring the life of Severus Snape. It was well told, had some wonderful twists, and an emotional ending. I'm so glad I read it! Keep up the great work!
~Gina :)
Author's Response: *huggles Gina for dear life* Thank you for reading this, Gina!! That was an AMAZING review, potentially the best I have ever gotten. I\'ll consider switching that last bit, it would change the emotional impact a bit. Thanks again for reading, and for the great feedback! *huggles again*
~Ashley
Hi HermyRox12!
Nice job! Congrats on winning the challenge! At first, I didn't understand why this story wasn't in the Great Love category. Then Clarice sabotaged Mandy and Charles, and I figured it out. But then Clarice married Charles, and I wondered. And then she lost him, and I understood. The ending was good, a sort of "full circle" kind of thing. It was sad too: I do feel bad for Clarice. I wonder if you wanted readers to feel sympathy for her?
I like how you pulled small pieces of the HP universe - Aurors, Dolohov, Charles Potter, etc - into the story in subtle ways. You also write first person well, and I'm someone who prefers third person. :)
I hate to even say anything, but I believe "Apperated" is spelled "Apparated." If you edit it, have fun with the extra
tags, lol!!
I enjoy being in Ravenclaw with you - nice job, and congrats again!! ~Gina :)
Author's Response: Thanks! Welll, I wrote this challenge for regret, then saw that I mis-read revenge. :-) So, I changed it to revenge.
Yeah, Clarice sort of got the downside of life. But hey, life is not a fair, it\'s a circus! /cheesy pun. Anyway, I want them to feel sorry for her, yet still realize that she asked for it.
Yeah, first person in my favorite way to write. I explained that a bit in my thread, so I won\'t make you read it twice.
Stupid tags. I\'ll try and get rid of them. I really need to make sure my stories are truley perfect before submitting. Ah, well. Thanks for the reveiw, and it is awesome having you in Ravenclaw, and you better not leave any time soon. lol. Thanks for the congrats.
HermyRox12
Author's Response: Actually, I just edited it, and no tags! YAY! Thanks again for the review.
~HermyRox12
Nice story! :) I like how the focus was on Ron and not Harry and Ginny. I love missing moments and other points of view. I also enjoyed the way you got Ron to accept Harry and Ginny going out by picturing himself with Hermione. Hermione's explanation to a clueless Ron was cute also. Good job, keep it up! ~Gina :)
Joanna! I am so impressed - this was a lovely story! I loved how I kept being surprised by things - I was enjoying a story about horses, which I didn't expect in the first place :) and it turned out to be about Pegasus! And then I felt so sorry for Photios, you did a good job writing emotion into that situation. And finally the end - wow! Apollo - Thestrals! You never used the term, but it was a strong implication with great description. This was so refreshingly original - you are a wonderful writer. Keep it up and good luck with your future stories! ~Gina :)