*waves*

[emmagrant01]

I'm back!

I know I probably missed a lot in the last few weeks, so if there's any fic I should absolutely go and read, please, please comment here and let me know! Feel free to pimp your own stuff. *meaningful glance at jedirita*



Writing Update:

• I'm currently finishing up a Star Wars prequels-era fic that I really hope to get posted in the next week or so. This has been a looong time coming, so I'm looking forward to getting it done! I just hope people will read it... :-/

• I'm working on the rewrite of Left My Heart now, and it's coming along well. I'd like to thank the folks who took the time to send me concrit -- it has been more helpful than I can express! I'm hoping to get the rewrite done in the next few weeks, then maybe post the final version in late August. As for the sequel... don't hold your breath to see that in the next month or so. It will probably be well into the fall before that's in any shape to start posting! I'd like to post it as a weekly WIP again, and I need to get quite a bit of it done before I start that. I really overwhelmed my poor betas last time, and I don't want to put anyone in that position again.

• helens78 and I are co-writing a SW ficlet. It's my turn to get something done on that, but I'm excited to be doing something with her again! I think it's going to be a nice piece when we're finished with it. Again, I hope people will be interested in reading it. That fandom's been a bit quiet of late. Well, maybe there's been a burst of fic in the last few weeks that I've missed!


That's all for now. Hope everyone's having a great summer!

Comments

[sapphyre-twins.livejournal.com]

Well I'm glad to hear that you're still planning a sequel to "Left My Heart"! I read your story just a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in LOVE! I can't wait to read more!! *wriggles with excitement*

Alas, I'm not into SW. :(

Good luck with your writing!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Welcoe back! I was just thinking you were due back any day now.

Here's a link to some recent stories that I liked:

New stories

[cypress-vine.livejournal.com]

Welcome back!

I can't wait for the rewrite of Left My Heart, and of course, the sequel. I'm eagerly awaiting it.

As for fandom - there's been a lot of good new fics, but I'm too stupid to remember them. :P I'm sure everyone else can provide you with a long list of good stuff.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

Welcome home! Siri is waiting for you. ;)

[operaboy05.livejournal.com]

Sice you don't seem to mind self pimping, I will.

i have written a story, and many things are inspired and a little (though not really) copied from LEFT MY HEART. It's called Abounding Sorrow (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=operaboy05&keyword=AboundingSorrow&filter=all) and i hope you like it. There are actually 10 chapters, not just the 8 in my memories, but I am lazy and have not added them yet. You can find them in the harrydraco community. *smooch* and I look forward to reading your sequel, and I gladly wait.

[brightsun301.livejournal.com]

Yay! You back! And Yay! Still gonna be a sequel! hehe

[vichan.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! :)

Not much on the reading front for me - all the stories I found while you were gone are old. :p

Oh, this is homicial_nny, BTW. I just changed my screen name (for various reasons which I won't start ranting about here).

On the writing front, I sent you the next chapter of Doppelganger, and I've also got the chapter after that nearly finished. You seem like you might be overwhelmed with all the projects you've got going on... let me know if you need me to give you a break with the beta-ing of my fic.

Anyway, yes - definitely glad to see you back. Hope you had a nice, relaxing vacation. ^_^

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Ooh, pick me! Pick me! I trust you can find my Neville fic on my LJ - I'll send you more privately. But look! Marauder era! How conventional! But I hope I give it a bit of a sicko twist. I got quite excited about Lupin while working out backstory for the Neville Epic.

Here's one: No Place Like Home

And here's another: Killing with Kindness

I've got another one in beta, if she'd ever get back to me, and another one I need to type in. And more in my evil little brain.

And you're working on a story with Helens? *squee!!* Me so excited! Do I know about this, or is it news to me? *bounce bounce* So happy!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links! I'm looking forward to reading those... I can't wait to see your take on Sirius/Remus!

The fic with Helens is a rewrite of a fic she started but never finished about a year ago. You made have seen the original version of it -- it was in four parts?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

That screen name will certainly be easier for me to remember how to spell! :-P

Actually, I don't seem to have found the latest bit of Doppelganger. I may have accidentally deleted it while cleaning up my inbox... Could you send it again?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is still coming! ;-)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! Actually, that sounds a little familiar. Have I listed it on my post-Hogwarts page? I made have read the first chapter, now that I think about it, but I haven't kept up. Is it about Harry and Draco meeting up in New York?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm happier with LMH already. I'm immensely flattered that so many people liked the first draft so much, because I saw it as flawed in so many ways. I'm working on it, though! I hope people are happy with it when it's done...

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oooo, is that a reference to the round robin? Heh. Yeah, I need to get that done!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I just didn't want to have missed something!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks so much!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope the rewrite is as well-liked as the first draft... I have this fear that people aren't going to like it, even though I know it's something I'll ultimately be extremely proud of.

[helens78]

Yay SQUEE welcome back! :D And of course, looking forward to seeing what the next bits of the TPM fic look like.

*points at userpic* This is Joel Edgerton, who was also Owen Lars in Ep 2 and will be playing him again in Ep 3. Joel, Emma, Emma, Joel. Joel is responsible for my dabbling in King Arthur fandom. *facepalms* He plays Gawain. *laughs at self*

[operaboy05.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

hee yep, we've had inquiries on it and Alan and I yammered about it at Constrict.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, you got to meet Alan! I'm envious of both of you. You're both people I'd love to meet!

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

And we want you, darlin'!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, back! I suddenly seem to have a long fandom to-do list, but I want to work on that some more this week. Actually, having time away from something is often very helpful in making progress on it!

Ah, yes, I remember him! And yet another fandom? *grins* How many does that make now? You're a busy woman! ;-)

[sapphyre-twins.livejournal.com]

I bet everybody will love it just as much. What's going to be different about the re-write though??

[helens78]

*sporfle* Well, the only ones I've really felt like I was hip-deep in have been TPM and LotRPS so far. I've dabbled in lots, but have only moved in with two. :D

I think KA's going to suck me in, though. It's got all the right pieces. Good story, characters you know just enough about to be interested in writing them, but not so much that you think you have to do all the research to get everything perfect (which is what kept me out of LotR and Troy). If I could write RPS with Joel, I'd probably just slash the hell out of him with Hayden Christensen (I would so write Anakin/Owen slash, too) and be done with it in a few weeks, but nooooo, he's gotta be named Joel. So Gawain it is. *grin*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Mostly I'm hoping to cure the rampant WIP-itis in the first two thirds of the fic. By the end, I knew the characters very well, but at the beginning, I really didn't. Now when I read the first half, it doesn't really jive with the way the characters are, to me. So, I needed to fix that.

Second, I realized that I had written a very fanon Draco, without much explanation of how he got to be that way from the character you see in the books. I went back and re-read all the books so I'd be able to make him a little more believable. I'm not changing him so much as trying to make it seem more believable that canon Draco could have grown up to be this Draco.

Third, Harry is a bit of a bumbling idiot in the first half of the fic. There was a reason for this, of course, but I needed to clean it up a bit and make it a bit clearer that he's trying to overcome those difficulties, rather than just stumbling around blindly. I had quite a few comments along the lines of, "He's not much of an auror, is he?" And those people were absolutely right! So I'm working on that part. Again, it was a WIP-itis thing.

Fourth, I didn't know I was going to write a sequel when I started, so I'm going to plant lots of little things that I'll be able to pick up again in the sequel.

Fifth, revision is always a good thing! I honestly don't know how some writers write WIPs over a period of years, and never go back and revise them. I guess it's just like my high school writing teacher said: write it, then revise, revise, revise. My best writing strategy is to push my way through something, put it down for a little while, and then go back and fix it.

Um, did that answer your question? *grin*

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Um, is it the one involving blood and knives? That one was cool!

[mayree.livejournal.com]

Glad you're back! And excited that you and helens78 are writing together again and that it's SW! Looking forward to it, as well as the rewrite of LOMH and it's sequel.

[sapphyre-twins.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for the lengthy, thoughtful reply! I appreciate it! And yes, you did answer my question. *snicker*

Well, now I can't wait to read it again to find out what little gems you've popped in there!! :) And I really really can't wait for the sequel!

I'm going to butt in a bit

[snickelpop.livejournal.com]

So glad to see you are still around! And that you are still creatively thinking about LMH. It was really fabulous. But I've ranted about that before.

I wanted to tell you that your post explaining the reasons why you wanted to revise was very interesting. I agree more than I disagree. But I would caution you that to have too good a grip on your characters may be counter-productive. I realize that Harry was fairly clueless, but he had a good heart. And that seems to be his saving grace more than anything.

And maybe Draco was "fanon" a bit, but frankly I am not interested in a non fanon Draco. I think that canon Draco is not headed for any interesting places. Just my personal opinion. You have given him adequate reasons for why he is what he is. And also, I think Harry has also been explained. I love these imperfect and somewhat unpredictable characters. They don't need to follow straight lines. Or have to make sense. Who does?

And, I am excited beyond belief about the clues you will place for the new sequel.........I would be fanon myself and squee, but I am too old for such......

To conclude (can you tell I've had a night on the town?) I think that you should not be as hard on yourself as this post indicated. I really did not get the sense these guys were not being true to themselves. They are what they are. You can tweak them, probably. But they are pretty darn strong as they are.

[ashice-roses.livejournal.com]

welcome back! um, I like to take a moment to say, if no one has told you yet, go to devon_may's journal, because she is in the process of posting a lovely fic called A Different Kind of You.

If you read around, you will notice that at first she didn't want to post it, because she thought it was to much like Left My Heart. I'm glad she has got over that and posted it. I know she would apreciate your view on it. It is really really good, and there are only a few similarities between the stories.

Apart from that, I don't think there are two many things you missed. Though I have to say, even a day or two away from the comp, and I am hopelessly behind on everything! Go to dracorocksmysox for her recs over the past few weeks, she manages to rec almost everything that is worth recing!

Nice to see you back!
-ash

yay! you back!

[alia-eternal.livejournal.com]

so awfully glad your back!
I just can't wait for the rewrite of LMH. I completely agree that revision of ones work is a must. I always think rereading something that you did awhile ago can really help you spot what you might have missed before.
Must say though, I am a little apprehensive about any change to Draco. I just adore him the way he is and can't imagine him turning into mean canon Draco. I understand that its necessary to put a bit more explanation into why he is like he is but I hope so much that he doesn't change from the wonderful character we came to know and love.
I also really hope you decided to work in the tattoo deleted scene. i think it was such a great scene and i would love to see it in the rewrite. i can't wait to reread LHH and am so happy to hear that you are still planning a sequel even if it is far off.
Lots of love for the author of my favorite Harry Potter fan fic.
~~AliA~~

Re: I'm going to butt in a bit

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Been meaning to reply to this, but I've been swamped with other things... :-P

First, thanks for letting me know what you think! I really appreciate it! Lots of people seemed to have really liked LMH, and even though I have a lot of problems with it, I still get emails from people telling me they have no idea how I could improve it. Though I'm flattered, I disagree.

The changes I'm making are subtle, for the most part. I was always bothered by Harry's cluelessness as an auror, and it didn't make much sense that he'd be the one chosen to go on this assignment. I needed to iron all of that out in my head, and I'm making some changes to make all of that more sensible. His cluelessness will be preserved, of course, because that's an important part of the story. I'm just hoping it makes more sense in context in the final version.

Re: fanon Draco: You have given him adequate reasons for why he is what he is ... They don't need to follow straight lines. Or have to make sense.

Well... There was a recent discussion on several folks' LJs about OOC-ness in futurefic, and one of the conclusions many of us came to was that just about anything is fine as long as the writer makes it plausible that a character could turn out a certain way.

As a result, I'm not changing Draco so much as I'm trying to make it a bit more plausible that canon Draco could have become this person. One of the things I didn't like about the first draft was that I hardly dealt at all with the fact that Harry and Draco hated each other through school. I just dismissed all of that canon conflict in a single line and then proceeded as if both of them were fine starting over with a clean slate. I'm addressing that a bit more carefully in the rewrite. I'm also hinting more that Draco is aware that Harry has been under the influence of a suffocation spell, and things like that. Does that make sense?

I think that you should not be as hard on yourself as this post indicated.

*big grin* Oh, I'm always hard on myself! I'm my own biggest critic. I'm also my own biggest fan, though, so it all works out! Thanks again for your encouraging comments!