I am a 29 year-old college professor at a little university in the South. This semester, however, in addition to my usual freshman English classes, I'm teaching two sections on the Harry Potter series as literature. Seriously! Unfortunately, I spend a lot of the the time I'm supposed to be grading papers reading fanfic instead, and I've been writing it for about five years now. In fact, my chaptered fic, "Of Christmas Past," was the first story I wrote and it's still not finished...I'll finish eventually though, I promise! It was on hiatus for a while, but I've started it up again, so it might actually be finished this year.
"Of Christmas Past" was also nominated for the Best Cannon Romance Quicksilver Quill Award for 2009! I'm so excited! I mean, there are over three thousand stories in Romance, and at least fifteen hundred of those are cannon! And I was nominated twice! I don't even mind if I don't win, just to be nominated was an honor. Anyway, good luck to everyone else who was nominated!
Speaking of "Of Christmas Past," I'm very very sorry that it's taking me so long to update it. I keep having problems, and then encountering massive writer's block. But I will finish it eventually, even if it takes me five years. Hopefully it won't, but I won't abandon the story.
If you want to read these in chronological order, they are as follows:
1. "Langlock" - set during James and Lily's time
2. "Chasing Away the Dark" - Ginny's POV during the middle of OotP
3. " Among the Ranks of Heroes" - set right after Sirius' death in OotP
4. "Comforter and Comforted" - set a few days after Sirius' death in OotP
5. "The Monster ON Harry's Chest" - set in the middle of HBP
6. "Twice Lost" - set near the end of HBP
7. "Of Christmas Past" - originally set directly after HBP, but became Alternate Universe after DH came out. So, it's set during DH, but isn't totally cannon, since a few major details changed in DH.
8. "The Queen of May" - technically set during DH, but is mostly a flashback to Snape's childhood.
9. "Falling into Darkness" - set during DH
10. "The Tree by the Lake" - technically set right after the Battle of Hogwarts in DH, but is mostly flashbacks.
Aw, cuteness!! The bit about the Shrieking Shack was funny too. And I think it's great that Remus got the girl instead of Sirius! I mean, I love Sirius, but he tends to get what he wants, and Remus deserves to get what he wants too! The bit about the "old dog" was great too. Nicely done!
It's a good start so far, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
This was really good; I actually kind of feel sympathy for him. You made him seem human, which is something he's not really in the books. This way we can kind of see how he falls. I think you did an excellent job.
Author's Response: Thank you. :-) I\'m glad you liked the story. I was worried that I rushed through the memories too much, but I guess that\'s just me being paranoid, lol. I definitely wanted to show in my fic that he was human at one point in his life, and not the evil being he is now.
Sweetness! Absolutely adorable, and I think you really captured the moment, or night, well. I really like that you kept putting the times in, and that they were odd times, like 2:11 and so on. It made it realistic, since when you look at clocks on night like that, they're always some weird number.
I also loved the random conversations you gave them. They were all stories or bits of stories that sounded realistic. You write very well too.
I greatly enjoyed this!
CUTENESS!! That was absolutely adorable, and I love the way you characterize Andromeda. You do a good job in making her obviously a Slytherin, but a nice one, and I like the way you make her seem to get subtly nicer throughout the story. Loved it!
Author's Response: Ta, Thanks! Ted was rubbing off on her with just a smile! :D
Ha ha, that was great! I liked the dialogue that they both had with the Sorting Hat; it gave it personality, and Draco's bit was particularly funny. I really liked how the Hat was like, "Well, you'd do well in Slytherin, BUT..." That was great, and it made it more believable that Draco would fit in Gryffindor.
This looks fun! I quite enjoyed the first chapter, and can't wait to read more!
Very sweet! I love how you included the bit at the end about Mrs. Weasley and the love potions. It's kind of a missing moment in itself! Your writing is very good, and I think you did an excellent job of getting into Ginny and Hermione's heads. I also like that for the first couple of chapters, you manage to be ambiguous about who Hermione likes, even though she's telling Ginny and so one. Wonderful!
Author's Response: Dear Chaser, Ginny\'s misperceptions about Hermione were fuelled by her own fears, but fortunately she had the courage to face up to them. I understand from canon that the girls were good friends eventually. Thanks for taking the time to review, GhV
This was an interesting twist on the traditions “Snape and Harry hate each other” concept. You kept Snape very much in character, particularly in describing him as “swooping” in on the students and needling them so that he had an excuse to take points away. I can easily see him being irritated and nasty like this, particularly at Harry.
However, the change in the middle, when Snape realizes that Harry has been abused, is also believable. Though Snape is rather a wanker, I think he’s shown us that he does care about his students. He protected Harry in PS/SS, so it’s very believable that he would protect him here, especially if he identified with him, like he does at the end. That was a nice twist there, tying the two boys’ stories together and implying that they really aren’t that different from one another.
I really liked how you opened the story with Snape’s internal dialogue. It shows the reader immediately exactly how he’s feeling, and it is a great contrast with his feelings for Harry at the end. It also shows how initially superficial Snape is; he bases his judgment of Harry on his feelings towards Harry’s father, mother, and celebrity status. Then later, when he realizes that Harry has been abused, he starts to question that judgment, and in the end, compares Harry to himself rather than James, and realizes that they have much more in common than he previously believed.
Altogether an excellent story, and one that I much enjoyed reading!
Author's Response: Thank you so much for the lengthy review! I wish I had time to write more than that, but I\'m late and must be off... but really, thank you for your analytical comment - it was muchly appreciated =)
That was perfect! You caught everybody's characters just right, and I must say, the whole story was a brilliant idea. I kind of like it that Peter got to prank everyone else. Makes him seem less like an evil git, you know. Lovely!
Author's Response: Thanks! I genuinely enjoy writing a bit of Peter now and again just for the puzzle of it. Every bit as good as Sudoku.
Wonderful! I especially liked it when you included the bit about Penelope; that's one of my favorite stories and she's just as much a hero as Odysseus. Anyway, great story, you really got into Ginny's head. I like that you manage to show how she could've accepted that he was breaking up with her in the book, but still been against the idea.
Author's Response: I\'ve always thought that about Penelope, and then, one day, I thought about Ginny too...and it fit. =]
Aw, so sweet! I like how you're developing the relationship from kind of awkward to really comfortable. And I can totally see this happening. Great job, can't wait to read more!
Author's Response: Thank you! I\'m glad you think so! ^_^ I love writing this story because I don\'t need to worry about a war or fighting or anything like that. Just H/G. Thanks once again for the review!
That was terrible! Wonderful! Terribly wonderful! I could feel everything Regulus was experiencing; you really got into his head. I also like that you titled it "White Sheep." Very fitting. And I like that one cousin savs him and others kill him. Poetic, tragic, and characteristic of the Black family.
Author's Response: Thank you so much for your wonderful response! I am fascinated by the Black family, so I\'m glad I managed to capture that particular characterstic.
thank you again! :D
A very touching and realistic story. It was a day I can certainly imagine Ollivander having, and you fleshed him out well. I really like that you made Luna his grandaughter. It certainly makes sense! It was also an excellent idea to have his daughter experimenting with wands. That fits canon and your story. Lovely! Good luck on the challenge.
Author's Response: Thank you very much for your review! I\'m glad you enjoyed the story!
Wow...I'm speechless. I really am. I'm not sure if I'll be able to give you a proper review, but I'll try.
Everything about this story was amazing; I love how you focus on the summers between years. It's a good way to tell their whole story without making it incredibly long and unwieldy.
I LOVE love love your characterization of Snape. You manage to make him believable while staying in character with what Jo's written. Lily's excellent too; far too many people give her a nasty temper and make her into a crabby, bookish girl with no friends.
I also really like how you portray the relationship between Lily and Petunia and how it changes over the years from being really close to rather distant.
Your writing style is wonderful; I greatly enjoyed this story. Can't wait for the epilogue!
Wow...I'm speechless. I really am. I'm not sure if I'll be able to give you a proper review, but I'll try.
Everything about this story was amazing; I love how you focus on the summers between years. It's a good way to tell their whole story without making it incredibly long and unwieldy.
I LOVE love love your characterization of Snape. You manage to make him believable while staying in character with what Jo's written. Lily's excellent too; far too many people give her a nasty temper and make her into a crabby, bookish girl with no friends.
I also really like how you portray the relationship between Lily and Petunia and how it changes over the years from being really close to rather distant.
Your writing style is wonderful; I greatly enjoyed this story. Can't wait for the epilogue!
Very sweet and nicely done. I'm glad you wrote this; I definitely think Harry was starting to notice Ginny at the Burrow, and this filled in the gap well. I love how mischievious you make her! I really like your writing too.
Author's Response: Thanks so very much. I agree, it was clear in HBP that Harry must have begun to notice Ginny over the summer, but JKR left out the details. So we have to fill them in, hem hem.
Oooh, this was lovely! You did a fantastic job showing us Ginny's thoughts. They're wonderfully realistic, particularly for a girl post-break up. I loved it!
This story looks incredibly promising; it's funny without being annoying and completely AU (i.e. Voldemort dances around in pink robes). I like the addition of Natalie too, and it's lovely to have a pretty girl that isn't in love with Sirius. Your writing style is good; humurous, but believable, and few mistakes that I can see. Can't wait for more!
This story looks incredibly promising; it's funny without being annoying and completely AU (i.e. Voldemort dances around in pink robes). I like the addition of Natalie too, and it's lovely to have a pretty girl that isn't in love with Sirius. Your writing style is good; humurous, but believable, and few mistakes that I can see. Can't wait for more!
Author's Response: You really like my story? Thanks! Natalie is a character that I had created a long time ago, and I decided to put her in my story as James\' cousin. Thanks for the review!