I've had a fanfiction account for a few years now, and I've used it mostly to read, review, and track stories. I just posted my first two stories in Oct. 2008. I write a lot at work mostly public education and information pieces, so writing fiction is very different for me.

I live in San Diego so anyone familiar with the area reading Some Truths Hurt might recognize some local landmarks. BTW for any Veronica Mars fan writers out there who are not familiar with the area, I assume Neptune/Balboa County is a tiny county just south of Orange County and north of San Diego County, so basically Camp Pendleton.

The fandoms that I follow are Dark Angel (Max and Alec), Veronica Mars (LoVe), and Twilight. I also like but do not obsess on Gilmore Girls, Fringe, Supernatural, and Project Runway.

Twilight is my most recent obsession and I'm trying to wean myself off it. I actually read the first section of the last book then stopped. I'm too afraid it will ruin the whole series for me. But I have to read it before the movie comes out so I have a deadline.

Pet peeves in writing:

People who don't use spell or grammar check.

Alternately people who spell check then accept all changes without looking at them.

Pronoun confusion. He, she, they, we, us, you. I don't get how they get messed up. But it throws me off when I'm reading.

Your and you're. Nuf' said.

There, their, they're. Very different words. Use the correct one.

Adding one for fanfic: I never understood writers begging and blackmailing for reviews, but now that I am writing, I see that less than 2 percent of people reading my story are reviewing. That kinda sucks. Perhaps it is my karmic reward for not reviewing often enough myself. I will try harder and apologize to writers of stories I read and liked, but did not review.

Things that are hard:

Its and it's. Seriously, I use them constantly and still second guess myself.

Affect and effect. I know affect is a verb and effect is a noun. But I still have to stop and think about it. A trick (that I forget to use) is to replace affect with influence and if if works use affect. Effect = result. But effect can also be a verb, meaning to bring about. WTF. You see my dilemma.

Spelling. Not my best subject back in school. Thankfully, there is spell check and online dictionary now.

The. The word is not hard, but apparently the fingers on my left hand are speedier than my right because I invariabily type it teh. Which is odd, because I am right handed.

Trying not to repeat words or phrases over and over within a chapter. I seem to have a marked preference for "Suddenly" and "across the room" also "just" and "actually."

Defanitely and Definately. Seriously. Very hard.

And my battle with MS Word. I say breath it says breathe, I capitulate to it's superior spelling skills. Then it changes it's mind. Damn you Bill Gates.

Stories:

Defined by a single choice. Veronica Mars, one shot.

Some truths hurt. Veronica Mars, multi chapter. Goes AU in Echolls' Family Christmas when Veronica decides to get her hands on Duncan's journal. It's a monster fic at this point, but I think worth the read. I "right" several wrongs from the show and take LoVe farther. It includes most canon events, but tweaks them.