FairerStillTheMoonlight

Been flamed by me? Feelings a little roasted? Please bear with me and read the following:

 1) Definition of Flame:

to “flame” someone is to viciously insult them or their work in a manner that has little or no redeeming value. Note that “flame” is a general-usage netword, and is not appreciated anywhere…especially not in writing/creative groups.  - The Fanfiction Glossary. 

Given this definition, I do not flame. I sincerely hope that my reviews are never considered rude or of an insulting nature to an author. If I don’t know you, why should I insult you?

Well then, if I don’t flame, what do I do?

2) Harsh - but constructive! - Criticism

This would probably be as high as I go in my reviews.  I may complain about a fic and give several hints that I wish it had never been written; however, I have resigned myself to the fact that people will write trash, and on occasion I will read it - usually by mistake, though. And my personal policy, at least where Narnia is concerned, is to review everything I read. Bar none.

3) General Form of Review

I’ll probably start out by rolling up my figurative sleeves and grousing about how I hate to have to write long reviews to writers of poor fanfics. I may apologise in advance if I’m in especially nice mood. Then I’ll probably start picking it to pieces. Oh joy. I type slower just at the thought.

These are usually areas I will touch on: plot, grammar, spelling, content, characterisation, canon, Mary Sue/Gary Stu-ness of a character, unoriginality of the piece, poor flow of writing/events, and misunderstanding/misrepresentation of C.S. Lewis’s works/worldview.

I will do my best to point out specific examples and suggest how to fix them. On only a very few fics will I blatantly recommend instant removal from the site.

I will never personally insult an author. I will never use a swear word in any review. But if a fic is bad, I will let you know.

4) Understatement

I will use understatement in my review. A whole lot of it. So if somehow you can’t understand that, a sentence like ‘your grammar could use a bit of work’ probably means that it’s a wreck and you should re-take all your high/junior highschool English courses. (This only applies in flames/harsh reviews; in normal reviews, I don’t use understatement as much, since they’re usually shorter and easier to misinterpret). So if you think I was being nice…. read it again. I was probably being civil and polite, but I won’t be nice to bad fic. Understatement of the year.

5) Where’s the Constructive?

 I make a point to include at least one, if not several, constructive comments. If I don’t - my mistake. Please let me know. Politely.

6) Why I Do It

Because I’m a cynical, mean-spirited girl who enjoys inflicting pain on fellow authors. No, not really - as cheesy as it sounds, I do it because I care. About you personally? Perhaps. God grant me the grace to - but mostly I do it out of love for Narnia and respect for Lewis. I also do it out of the (mostly) vain, idealistic hope that somehow my comments might help reform a writer.

I can’t bear to see Narnia and its inhabitants mutilated and otherwise disgraced by bad writing and perverted imaginations. I also dislike seeing Lewis’s beautiful work ruined by people who couldn’t write their way out of preschool. I don’t like writers who have no respect for the author and the time and effort he put in to his works. I could go on.

7) Wanna Gripe? PM me.

Link’s on the side of the page under ‘my fanfiction’. Click on it, then click ’send message’. Gripe. Moan. Complain. No cussing, please. I’ll get back to you.

Well, it’s about that time of year again… and I really do have so much to be thankful for. My alter-ego Val does, too…

 I’ve got to say, first of all, that I’m thankful to God for giving me the ability to write. And also for the inspiration to write, whether it comes from other people’s stories, random events, songs, poetry, the sunset and stars, or just ideas that come from out of nowhere.

More specifically I’d have to thank Ted Dekker, for always making me excited about writing - his books are AMAZING, which of course you’ve heard from me already. A huge thank-you goes out to my friends at The Lion’s Call - Dearheart, Petraverd, Cherokee, Squeaklebeep, Gleeblecheep, Kristi, Deanalynn, etc., etc… and everyone, including the awesome writers elecktrum and Lickitysplit who drop in for Writer’s Group now and again.

And then I thank God that I have time to write - it’s not much, but it’s enough! I’m so glad that The Tempest got finished, and that I’m finally publishing The Uncanny and Such A Time As This. I’d also have to say thanks to WhiteWolf1 for nominating Double Blessing for a MC award - as well as for her friendship and her awesome story Trolls and her crazy plot bunny.

And I’m sooooo thankful for C.S. Lewis and the wonderful world of Narnia that we fanfic authors get to play around in. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s been a blast.

I’m thankful for God’s incredible gift of music, and for the inspiration I get from it - especially, of course, from Skillet. Comatoseis the world’s greatest album. Ever. At least four stories of mine would be nowhere without it. Thank you also to BarlowGirl, Switchfoot, Kutless, and Casting Crowns. Y’all are only slightly less amazing than Skillet.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who take time to review my stories - especially Andi Horton, elecktrum, floppyearsthebunny, kassandra not cassey, Jacky06, BubbleBlower, etc. You all rock! Thank you also to everyone who has honoured me by placing me and or my stories on your favorites list.

And finally, both me and the fanfic-writer part of me would like to thank God for chocolate, my cool laptop, strong wireless connections, beautiful leaves and brilliant stars, the amazing people that He’s placed on the earth, my awesome roommate, Stargate: SG-1, and the colour green.

THANK YOU, JESUS, for my salvation, above all else. Because I would have quit long ago if not for You.

It’s a product of long nights and days full of studying and nothing else. Because a girl has a right to have some fun…. the photos I used either came from Deviant Art or Google Images. I’ll put up a full list of credits later. But in the meantime…. does this not look cool? It looks just like the cover of a real book - but then, I have to remind myself that it is novel length…