NEWS: Those of you who are waiting for UPDATES... the next chapter of THD is in the making but will take some more weeks. Unfortunately I'm making slow progress at the moment. I know, I wanted to be finished by now, but if I learned something these last months, it's 'what to expect when you're expecting': Nothing. It all turns out different in the end anyway. ;) Now, my son was born two weeks ago and we're still finding our bearing. Priorities change when you become a Mum. I can only tell you, that there WILL be an update, but I have no idea right now WHEN. So I hope you'll forgive me. And thank you all for your patience! :)

Hi. My name is Zaira.

In real life I'm a lawyer, specializing on family law. In my spare time I'm a fanfiction writer.

I've loved writing since childhood, and often wrote stories about my favourite characters of books or TV-shows. So you could say I started writing fanfiction before I knew there was something like that, or that people could publish their work on the Net and others would be interested to read it. I mostly wrote for myself because I wanted another, better ending, a different turn, or simply a story not yet to be finished at all.

I always loved reading stories, loved walking through them along with the characters, and in writing what I later found out was fanfiction I could create new paths for them. Erasing what I hated. Continueing what I liked. Honestly, that's the only power I'm interested in having. ;-)

I've got a HOMEPAGE now on Livejournal. There will be news on my stories, updates, additional scenes and sneak peeks. If you are getting impatient, that's the place to look! :)

WHAT I LIKE TO READ (AND OBSERVE WITH MY WRITING):

My favourite HP characters are Sirius, Remus and Harry. I like Marauder Area fics, First War fics, Harry/Sirius/Remus bonding and – yes, I openly admit it – Sirius/Remus slash.

But I don't get to read much fanfiction these days. I have a demanding job, a husband, and I spent A LOT of time writing. Yes, I feel the pressure of my readers out there. ;) I also feel like it's easier for me to write when I don't read too much other stories about the same characters. So right now it's mainly the few WIPs I have on alert and the beautiful Ocean's 11 stories of otherhawk and InSilva. I'm also really pickish with what I read. There simply is stuff that interests me more than other. And when I take the time to read fanfiction, I am really looking for quality.

There are three things I can't do without:

I like good characterization. For me, reading fanfiction is about meeting the characters I love again. Writing is about stepping in their shoes, and capturing their personality, and then walking down a new path with them. They can be set in an alternate universe, but I don't like them to have an alternate personality, because what is the point? I know it can be difficult to really capture a character, but I'm a little annoyed if an author doesn't even try. A few things that really make me roll my eyes and turn away from a story:

- I find it insanely silly to twist a character because one doesn't like him or her. Character bashing? Yawn. If it's your form of therapy, alright. But I don't have to read it.

- I like bad guys and antiheros. I don't feel the need to turn them all into nice guys. There are people in this world who are rude, and mean, and selfish and uncaring. No, really! They are not all just misunderstood! Prominent example: Severus Snape. He wasn't a nice person in my opinion. He might have done the right thing in the end. But he had a nasty personality.

- I'm not a harmony-addict. I don't need all the characters to get along to be happy. Far from it, some antipathy makes things much more interesting. So why does Harry have to befriend everybody? Even an arrogant git like Draco? And everybody else in Slytherin? And Snape? And (lets go the whole nine yards) Lucius Malfoy?

- Pairings. The problem with pairings, is the same you encounter when you want to set up two friends of yours. You have to find two people who really match. Unfortunately a lot of fanfiction author's don't care about that, and just want to pair up who they like best. The result is unavoidable: The characters are off. One of the worst: Harry/Draco. Now, I'm really open about slash. Homosexuality is not a character trait, and many people only discover their true sexuality in their adulthood. But those two have nothing in common. They rub each other wrong from every direction. So... why!? Just because Tom Felton is good-looking? For heaven's sake go for a wank...

I like realism. Solutions dropping from the clear blue sky? Not my thing. One of the basic rules of writing is that you have to give your characters motivation. They need a reason to act the way they do. You simply wanting them to is not enough. That's what I don't like in a lot of Spuffy fics. Buffy and Spike simply jump into bed because they can't fight the magnetic sexual attraction they felt when first laying eyes on each other, totally ignoring all issues of Slayer versus vampire, Buffy being sixteen and unexperienced, or the notion of plot development.

I like plot development. I like authors who take their time to create a story, develop the characters and built up the plot. I like it when they realize they have told the story, therefore not dragging it out for the hell of it or twenty chapters of plotless boring fluff. I like it if they have the courage and patience to face the problems and issues. Most people love happy endings. Me too. But it's not worth much if the path there is wide, straight and smooth.

A few things I can’t stand…

“I won’t update until I get a hundred reviews.” Yes, people who read and enjoy a story should leave a review. Yes, getting feedback is important. Yes, there are stories who are great and don’t get much recognition on this level. But yours probably isn’t one of them. It might very well be that your writing shows your lack of interest and commitment. And you really can’t expect those who gave your story the benefit of the doubt and read it take more of an interest than you do.

“Donate some plot!” Authors who don’t have a clue where they want to go with a story and need readers to throw ideas at them, or authors who want to cater to every whim of their readership and write the plot on demand. Odds are this story will be inconsistent, unoriginal and gets abandoned somewhere in the middle after a few absolutely idiotic plot twists.

THE STORIES I'M WRITING :

There has been some variety in the fandoms for which I'm writing, but right now I'm concentrating on my Harry Potter fics. It's the reign of the muse really. Writing HP fan fiction happened rather unexpectedly. Of course I loved HP, and gorged down each book without ever stopping to even go to the... - you know. But I never read any fanfiction until very recently. And now I'm writing it. Stranger things happen. My main complaint about the HP books was the tragic and useless death of Sirius, my favourite character. I honestly cried for a day (though I'm a little embarassed to admit that). Therefore that will not happen to him in any of my fics - no sir!

The Promise & The Heart's Desire:

My pet project. When I started The Promise I had no idea where this was going, that it would be this long, that there would be a sequel... But I fell in love with the characters and the more I write, the more I want to do them justice. I want readers to really get to know them. The story largely revolves about three characters - Sirius, Harry and Remus. It's their tale. Their story of overcoming the past, healing the pain and finding a better life.

I start to feel very comfortable in the AU I've created, and there might be a third part as well as adjoining One Shots. The Spirit of Christmas is a seasonal Two Shot I wrote, kind of a prequel, since it's set in 1979.

There has been wonderful FAN ART made for these stories. Thank you so much!!

The wonderful, talented Inigeshi has made one of Padfoot and Harry, which is adorable! http://deathjunke.livejournal.com/25600.html

There's also one of Sirius. All you Sirius-addicts out there? You don't want to miss THAT!! http://deathjunke.livejournal.com/29935.html

Herbologist was so kind to make this great sketch of Sirius and Harry. http://herbologist.deviantart.com/art/The-Godfather-143697470

Something New:

I've often been asked if Sirius and Remus' relationship will turn to slash in The Heart's Desire. It won't. Not obviously. Not in that story. But if you want to have a glimpse in an alternat universe and see how there could be... I just wrote this little One Shot fantasy. ;)

Shadow of a Doubt:

A new and absolutely unrelated story in an AU where Sirius did not break out of Azkaban, and Harry learns of his existence the summer before his fourth year. Many things will be different. Some things will be the same. What about Harry and Sirius relationship? How will it develope when Harry meets his godfather in prison, not knowing of his innocence?

Finding Felicity:

A project that started with 'There has to be a better way to tell such a story'. No offence, but there are a lot of stories with HORRIBLE OCs as Sirius' love interest out there. Now I finally know what a 'Mary Sue' is. Honestly, if I read one more time the description of such a girl on the first page telling me how slim she is, followed by detailed description of her clothes, I'm gonna scream. So I set out to write the OC who wouldn't be the perfect know-it-all and can-do-it-all. I really have a great story planned, but the Muse is resting. I hope to get back to it one of these days...

Hurt And Comfort:

A Buffy (or rather Spuffy) story. Set in Season four after Joyce's death. Grief is a powerful thing and can even bring people together... on hiatus.

Claudia's Chronicles:

The first story that I really put a lot of effort and thought in, and that became really important to me. It's settled in the universe of the TV-show ''Highlander". I'm writing on that one since I was like 17, which is a few years past. I loved the possibility to take my characters to any time and any place, and then I really liked Methos. ;-) It's like a huge arch and I have parts done, but I need to fill the awful many holes in it. Not my top priority right now.

DISCLAIMER: I write fanfiction. This means that (most of) the characters don't belong to me. They are the intellectual property of their creators. What belongs to me, are the plot and the words. They are my intellectual property. I make absolutely no money with writing these stories. I do it for the fun and the feedback. So it would be lovely if you give some! :)

Plagiarism: "The use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."

Yes, you can plagiarise the work of a fanfiction author. No, we don't all steal from the original authors, because we don't claim their work as our own! So, please don't do it. Writing a story is giving a piece of yourself. Seeing someone take it and violate it and carelessly take credit for your effort is really hurtful. It happened to me, and I felt like shit. It nearly put me off writing and posting. I'm glad there were so many people who gave their support and encouragement. Thank you for that!

Distribution: Please do not post my stories somewhere else on your own accord! You can link to this site if you want, but please don't reprint.

If you have or know of a site where you would like to see my work posted, please contact me and ask if I'm okay with it first. Yes, even if you post under my penname (anything else would be plagiarism). I simply would like to decide myself where and how my story is made accessible. The same goes for translations. It's great if you like my stories, but please keep in mind that they are still my property. Thank you! :)

Favourite Quote: “All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.” - Douglas Adams