I wondered how you'd been overlooked for the blacklist.
Well, the thing is that, despite having written a big-ass HP novel about a popular HP pairing, I haven't stored it in any of the popular archives, or posted it to any of the mailing lists (I assume they exist) or, you know, engaged with HP fandom at all. Um. Because I am odd. But I haven't read much HP fic, actually, and I'm squicked by a lot of the HP stuff because - dude. They're kids.
...I do realise that this sounds foamingly insane. What can I tell you? The teacher/student stuff messes with my head, the Americanization of JKR's 'verse irritates me, the sexualization of the child actors drives me batshit insane...there are lots of parts of HP fanfic that are really really not my cake. I like the books, and I think JKR's 'verse is big and interesting, and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to write Draco/Harry* in such a way that I would
buy
it, since the pairing doesn't jump off the page at me at all. And there's some very good fic. But I'm quite horribly sure that there's lots of fic that, in terms of concepts if not execution, would make me want to stick forks in my eyes - so I pretty much only read stuff that I find rec'd by polyfandom sites I trust.
I very much doubt that Msscribe et al ever heard of me. I certainly hadn't heard of any of them other than the famous Cassandra Claire. Still made absolutely fascinating reading, though.
*in which they are both 17. Which I had to remind myself again and again and again is how old Buffy was when she managed to misplace her virginity
and
Angel's soul simultaneously, and
older
than
Smallville's
Clark was in Season 1 or 2, during which time I had absolutely no wotrries about him being Too Young To Have The Sex. But because the only visual representatives we have in canon of the characters are wee kiddies, it still did my head in. Which is why I was at pains to provide appropriately aged standins to represent my legally of-age-in-the-UK 17 year olds.
Harry, (played by Johnny Lee Miller,Draco, played by Jude Law, and Justin, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
I am pretty unfamiliar with HP fandom, and I just spent the last 2 hours reading it, completely fascinating. It is a lot more about human nature than about Harry Potter.
Since this board is my major on-line outlet, I hadn't really realized how lucky we are here-- perhaps because we aren't too popular, and Buffy is over?
It was fascinating -- well, as much of it as I read. (I read the first two chapters and some of the comments - but the third chapter was in a funky font and kind of illegible to me so I stopped there.)
I can't imagine spending the energy and imagination to create a bunch of different personae just to make yourself "famous" in fandom.
I don't know if anyone here used to read XF MSR, but Brandon Ray, who was one of the Big Names in MSR back in the day, died in his sleep the other night. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Somewhat sobering.
Suela, I'd heard about that from his SiL. His poor family.
Yeah, it's very sad. Do we know how old he was?
Well, the thing is that, despite having written a big-ass HP novel about a popular HP pairing, I haven't stored it in any of the popular archives, or posted it to any of the mailing lists (I assume they exist) or, you know, engaged with HP fandom at all. Um. Because I am odd. But I haven't read much HP fic, actually, and I'm squicked by a lot of the HP stuff because - dude. They're kids.
...I do realise that this sounds foamingly insane.
It doesn't sound insane to me. It's a squick issue for me, too.
HP fic with a sexual aspect (even with the kids all grown, and that's just a note on my tastes, not a moral judgement) is just never going to be for me. I also didn't love the books enough (I liked them) to chase extra-canonical stories, so HP gen doesn't draw me, either. Plus, there are still volumes of canon I've yet to read.
Oh, is
that
Snacky's Law? Huh. 'Kay.
Oooh, you really should get up to speed with
The Half-Blood Prince,
if you're at all inclined. I was really pleased with a lot of what she did in that. And it's cleverly constructed - there are at least two completely different and canonically-grounded interpretations of What Actually Happens, and we'll only find out which interpretation is correct with the final book. I spent the last 3 chapters sobbing, on the basis that my own interpretation was big with the tragedy. YMMV.
For me, JKR's 'verse is sufficiently familiar as a composite of countless fairy tales and children's books (fantastical and non) that the gen stuff can tickle my fancy; I particularly enjoy the wordplay and the wee details that round out her 'verse. As to Sex in the HP 'verse - well, the stories I've happily read (& written) deal plausibly with people of Buffyish age or considerably older. And I'm good with that. But I still wince at the prospect of trawling for fic, because I feel perfectly certain that the vast bulk of the stuff out there is stuff I'd really NOT be good with.
(And, man, if you think SGA has a lot of crack, HP is
way
freakier and infinitely more worrying.)
Oooh, you really should get up to speed with The Half-Blood Prince, if you're at all inclined. I was really pleased with a lot of what she did in that. And it's cleverly constructed - there are at least two completely different and canonically-grounded interpretations of What Actually Happens, and we'll only find out which interpretation is correct with the final book.
I'm inclined, just lazily. I liked the books I read (the first three, I think) but after a while, it felt too much like the same story to me, which I knew meant I had to lay off them for a while. That happens to me whenever I read too much of one author's work, too closely together.
I believe I was spoiled on the HPB development you're referencing above. That it's open to interpretation makes it more intriguing to me.
As to Sex in the HP 'verse - well, the stories I've happily read (& written) deal plausibly with people of Buffyish age or considerably older. And I'm good with that.
I'm good from a that's-okay-to-do stance, but it's just a [something] for me.
