Thanks, Congratulations, and cheers all around
Thanks to topaz_eyes for taking my comments with her fic (and they can be brutal at times) in stride. You appreciate that it's all about the work, and that friendship is all and good, but if the work isn't, it's not about you. Thanks for seeing that.
The other thanks goes to underlucius. She's made me an honorary member of hp_literotica! *goggles*
Thank you so very much! *beams*
I have made no secret of how much I respect the art of writing in that community, and the fact that she's carved a space in a fandom for these writers to breathe. It is gratifying to see a place where writers are recognized for their art of wordsmithing, and the fact that underlucius seeks out people for their talent first, and names be damned.
Another thanks goes to xylodemon. Thanks for having a newsletter that recognizes the fact that talent supercedes BNFs. I've always liked the premise of hogwarts_today from the get go, and the like cemented into love when nyxfixx's fic actually got to be an editor's choice. She is an unknown writer with an immense talent, and for her to actually get that deserved accolade (within four weeks of her being on LJ) is tremendous indeed. Thank you for recognising and supporting formerly unknown talent. You mightn't hear it enough, but you're the business.
Right. Now onward to congratulations. Allow me to use this space to congratulate sionnain on her invite with spikeyboots to hp_literotica and forgive me if I use this space to tell y'all (my flist) how I came to be her beta.
I came across Shannon's work through fleshdress ( you know, her journal is the place where people come and crash or something, like a social club), and I read it, made a few comments, and that was that. The fandom is big, I do leave comments when I can, and 98% of the time, I never run into the writers again.
Well, fast forward another time, when xylodemon (another haven for fandom to come and hang out, y'all need to charge admission) was having a discussion on het being the redheaded stepchild of fandom. I met up with Shannon then, telling her that I admired her ideas and whatnot, and emails were exchanged. She then said that she wasn't satisfied her standard of writing, and we went into specific areas for her to work on and the like. She also said she wanted to join hp_literotica and knew that her style and prose needed work, and she asked me to be her beta for ten stories, or hp_literotica whichever came first (lesson to writers! See you can get a beta, all you need to do is ask! Ask!).
Anyways,to cut a long story short, after intense sustained efforts on her behalf- she's finally gotten what she wanted. It's an achievement for her, in the sense that her writing is now lean, and sensual, and she is in control of her style in a way that she wasn't before.
So, *raises glass of sherry* here's to shannon, for being such a good sport when I was (admittedly) brutal in my initial assessment of her fic . Thanks shannon, for taking it all in stride when you had to redo certain parts of a fic ten times and laughing when your pristine story came back jackson pollack'd with five different coloured fonts, spelling out what you did wrong and when and will you do it differently this time? Good on you for reading different genres of work (poems, writers and all) without resistance, because it's made you forge new spaces and ideas in your work. You've worked long and hard, and your story-telling techniques have improved by leaps and bounds.
Of all the stories that I've cracked the whip over, I think Poppy's Bonfire Spread is the best I've liked from you so far (Bellatrix and Regulus - gen, PG-13. Graves).
So yeah, cheers to you Shannon and congratulations. You worked hard, sweated blood, and you deserve it.