| Current mood: |  satisfied |
I just finished my first book on SugarQuill--about Minerva McGonagall's childhood through her first year as a student at Hogwarts. It got a lot of good feedback.
I'm starting my second--which finishes off her school years--have about ten chapters finished. Her character intrigues me, not only because I find myself to be a bit like her--cynical, but caring underneath--but also because she grew up during a great Muggle conflagration--World War II--in Britain (the Battle of Britain has always intrigued me)--and two of her peers were Hagrid and Tom Riddle. These juxtapositions held great possibilities for a writer of any imgination at all, so I plunged right in and had not trouble finding plot threads aplenty. One might say, the thing wrote itself.
I'm also beta-ing for three very different writers. Diana Summers, pen-name GraceHasVictory, is polished and original. Her collection of books--she's on the fourth and final one now--is about Remus Lupin and his romantic relationship with a thoroughly delightful Scots breweress (expert potion maker) named Ariadne MacDougal. Diana researches her work carefully and has some interesting and cogent theories on the workings of magic in the Potterverse. She's also a dead serious statistician and psychologist. Her way with the words of children makes me weep with joy. The little ones really come alive in her writing.
Sandra Kaput is a Dutch writer who also has dyslexia, so her work requires a bit more patience. But her lively imagination and sense of humor makes it all worth the bit of trouble. And she has improved rapidly in the trivial mechanics of English writing.
Liam Lane is a beginner and freely admits it. He's set a prodigious task for himself: re-writing Chamber of Secrets with Ginny a much more important character and a whole parallel universe of god-like creatures observing Harry and his friends.
Also, I'm now head beta for WizardTales, a new fan-fic site for all things Potter. It's not a big job, just assigning pieces to the other four betas, but it gives me a chance to help shape a site that is devotingitselfto helping writers write better--without destroying their spirit.
Still working for Hallmark--Gawd, last week was awful--Liz ill tell you--but it's money and it gets me outta the house!
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wordmad) wrote,
