Legilimens

Now it’s time to go through your manuscript to pick the nits and split the hairs to make it as clean as it can be.

It’s time to dig down into the depths of your fic to examine how well the language you use tells your story.

Writing fic is supposed to be fun and subversive, and no one should expect perfection from any writer, much less one who’s doing it for love rather than money, but getting the basics right is still important.

I’ve just finished revising Epithalamium. Having recently completed the series with the end of Come Autumn, Sae Pensive, I thought it would be a good time to revisit the linchpin story of the Epithalamium Series.

One of the biggest mistakes Americans make when writing fic that brushes up against the British medical system is that, generally, British people don’t struggle to pay their healthcare bills.

With the completion of Come Autumn, Sae Pensive, the Epithalamium Series is (finally!) complete.

What with the main cast (with the notable exception of Voldemort) now announced for the HBO Max Harry Potter extravaganza, I got to thinking a bit about what I’d like to see the series do

Casting rumors abound for the upcoming HBO reboot of the Harry Potter series. I’m weighing on the casting and the fan reactions to the rumors.

Augusta/Minerva is always fun because of the canon hints at backstory between these two very opinionated (ahem) and formidable ladies. Neville’s potential reaction to a relationship between them is a lovely bonus.

I wrote a Minerva/Sirius for the 2024 Rarepair Shorts Summer Wish List.

I love Alastor/Minerva, and this pair of fics demonstrates why.

Two new favorites added to my list recently. One, a searing portrait of an uncompromising Minerva McGonagall forced to make intolerable compromises; the second a series of pieces showing the joys and sorrows of one Severus Snape over his lifetime.

I wrote this for the 2024 Salt & Pepper Fest at HP_Goldenage.

This year marks the final HoggywartyXmas fest, and a banner year it was.

This short piece was my contribution for the 2023 Ladies of HP Monthly Minifest.​

Hey, here’s a nice thing that happened: WattpadPotterverse featured A Slant-Told Tale for February.

HoggyWartyXmas 2022 has finished posting, and once again, I find myself in the difficult position of selecting just a few from the bounty of wonderful works the fest has offered up.

Let’s get this out of the way: Fantastic Beasts – The Secrets of Dumbledore is a hot, hot mess of a film.

Apparently, the second trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore dropped last week, and Minerva McGonagall is in it.

This year’s Snapecase fest yielded, as usual, a crop of terrific works.

My contribution to this year’s HoggyWartyXmas fest was this story.

Tom Riddle is both an open book and a mystery.

Have you ever wondered how the Wizengamot worked in Harry Potter? Well, here’s my take.

A million thanks to the folks at the Seeker Awards on Wattpad for honoring my story with a Golden Snitch Award for 2021.​

Yes, I know it’s only September and most of you haven’t even had your first Pumpkin Spice Latte yet (I’ve already had two, but only because Mr. Squib presented them to me, and far be it from me to hurt his feelings by not drinking them), but Fest Season is nearly upon us, so it’s time for fandom folk to think about what they want to create this year.

In the Epithalamium Series, Castle Isleif is Minerva McGonagall’s family home.

Severus never thought he minded the gap. Until he did.

I’ve seen lots of complaints about the “terrible quality” of lots of fanfic.

Filius Flitwick has always been one of my favorite characters in Harry Potter.

Hello. My name is Squibstress, and I’m a compulsive reader.

In honor of Poppy’s birthday, here’s my heacanon for Poppy Pomfrey from the Epithalamium series.

How lucky we are, dear peeps, how lucky we are!

In honor of his sixty-first birthday, I’m posting my backstory for Severus Snape in the Epithalamium series.

A new year, new (to me) Harry Potter fic and art.

This month’s crop of recs comes from a pair of fests focussing on short works, HP_Halloween on LiveJournal and Dreamwidth, and Minvember on Tumblr. In between shopping, decorating, baking, and other holiday deeds, give yourself a few small treats and read these.

Minerva McGonagall always struck me as the quintessential older sister.

Since my new story in the Epithalamium series, “From Jupiter’s Head,” is largely written from the point of view of Minerva’s father, I thought I’d share my bio of him.

This month, I’m reccing two Minerva-centric series, one older and one new, plus an older stand-alone fic that will give you a much-needed smile in these troubled times.

So, I have problems with JKR’s Pottermore biography for Minerva McGonagall.

This month, I found two new Minerva McGonagall fics I really loved.

I recently ran across an interview I did in 2013 for The Petulant Poetess on their Facebook page.

Hoggywarty Xmas has ended over at LiveJournal, and, as usual, there was a fabulous set of stories and art.

The HoggyWartyXmas fic and art fest has been running since 2010 and has produced some of the best Harry Potter fanfic and art around.

First off, I didn’t hate it. I didn’t exactly like it, but I didn’t hate it. It seemed very much an interim story that was just setting up plot points to be explored in the future films.

As Hogwarts grows quiet after the events of HBP, it’s left to Poppy to make the trek to the Hog’s Head and speak to Aberforth.

Decent human beings couldn’t or wouldn’t do the things the Headmaster was required to do — ergo, he couldn’t be decent.

This fic (from 2002) is an angsty but sensitive coming-of-age story for Minerva McGonagall with detailed and insightful charactarisations, an engaging plot and exciting action scenes.