Featured Story: February

[captainraychill]

Please listen to Bon Bon.

Bon Bon - which is I - is a free house-elf who loves bonbons and Glimmer and ducks. Miss Captainraychill asked Bon Bon to tell the nice readers at Hawthorn and Vine about her, so Bon Bon will.

Miss Captainraychill lives in a land called Texas. Texas is hot and full of cows. She is married to Mr. Captainraychill. He calls

Comments

[captainraychill]

I have discovered that I am head over arse in love with Bon Bon. Ha ha! Bon Bon loves you, too!!

Thanks so much! I love that you have questions - and here are my answers:

"Who are your influences?"
They are woefully un-literary. Never read "Jane Eyre" and can't get through Austen. Haven't gone near "War and Peace" or "Anna Karenina". Growing up, I read L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables) and Frances Hodgson Burnett (A Little Princess, The Secret Garden). I have an enduring love of fairy tales, both Perrault and Grimm. In college, I admired Anne Rice for her lush language and vampires but lost interest when she decided she was above the need for editors. As an adult, I have always gravitated toward romance novels, particularly period romances of the non-sweet variety by authors like Jo Beverly, Lisa Kleypas and Eloisa James. We call it smut. My sister calls them "trashy" romances. But there's a line in the movie "The Fisher King" about such novels that I like - "There's nothing trashy about romance." Every now and then a random book will strike a chord with me - like Judith Merkle Riley's "A Vision of Light" and "The Oracle Glass" or Tracy Chevalier's "Girl With A Pearl Earring". I also find J.K. Rowling a bit inspiring. ;)

"First Dramione I ever read?"
Don't remember, but it was probably on Mugglenet.com and a Head Boy/Head Girl fic.

"Describe my fascination with this pairing"
I think, for me and many, it's the old seeming opposites attract, enemies becoming lovers, and the conflict that arises from this. There's something built into Western culture (and maybe others?) that romanticizes the clash between classes, the "prince" falling for the "peasant" (pureblood vs. Muggle-born). Very Cinderella. What is great about Draco and Hermione is that, in many ways, she is better than him - smarter, more skilled at spells, more courageous, etc. She doesn't need to be rescued like Cinderella. And what is great about Dramione is that we've altered canon Draco to our own creation - and that he appreciates this about Hermione and falls head over heels for her. With lots of banter and conflict along the way. :)

I spend more time writing fanfic (as I said, I'm a slow writer) than reading it. When I do read, I read as much Draco/Harry as I do Draco/Hermione. I think I'm attracted to that dynamic for the same reasons.

Thanks!!

[dhlane]

Ooooooo, thanks for answering all my questions. I love romance novels and call them mind candy. They give me a rush and leave me happy because they almost always have a happy ending. (If they don't have an ending to suit me, I write my own. lol.)It is always so neat to discover what drew someone to fanfic. I am constantly intrigued with that.

Brilliant story, btw. I loved every tiny thing about it. xoxoKel

[captainraychill]

No problem! To me, if it's genre romance, it must end happy. If no, I think of it as something else. Maybe with "romantic elements."

Thanks - regarding the story. Glad you liked it. Xoxo to you! :)