Hi all! *waves*

People have been writing and drawing gifts for me! I'm a lucky gal.

Purdueliz, as part of Fandom Gives Back, wrote me a fantastic Jasper & Bella story, From Tragedy to Eternity. Thanks, hon!

The lovely Jedi Buttercup, as part of the tthdrabbles community at Livejournal, wrote a Percy Jackson and the Olympians cross with Stargate: SG-1 at my request: To Storm or Fire, and a sequel, We Take The Star Trek Express.

As part of the Twilight Gift Exchange, siDEADde wrote a little bit of Alice taunting Edward in There's Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You.

Another Twilight Gift Exchange Gift is nonevil_redhead's drawing of Rose and Emmett's Volterra Christmas based on one of my prompts.

In a recent Support Stacie Auction, I won Ithilwen K-Bane's writing services. She responded with a fantastic Moonlight story as told by Josef: Reinvention.

My story I Am Not the Fine Man You Take Me For was nominated for the 2010 Crossing Over Awards for best portrayal of Angel/Angelus. Thank you!

My story Potential was nominated for the best crossover with a book at the 23rd round of The Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards. Thanks!

You can also find my fanfiction at Archive of Our Own (all fandoms), Twisting the Hellmouth (primarily Buffy/Whedonverse fics) and A Different Forest (Twilight only).

My fanfic interests are all over the place. If it is well written and I'm passingly familiar with the fandom, I'll probably try to read it.

Anyway, a few things I feel I need to point out, since they make me crazy:

(Oh! Hey! Look, here's a handy graphic guide for the ten most egregious errors: 10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. It's great. Read. Learn. Do.)

accept: verb. To take or receive something offered. "She graciously accepted his gift." Also to agree or consent to something. "To avoid bloodshed, the two sides accepted the treaty." Also to undertake the duties, responsibilties of something. "When he is sworn in, the president-elect accepts the office of president."
except: preposition. To the exclusion of. "They were all there, except me." or "She would travel more, except she has no money to do so." Also used as a conjunction; "The misbehavior of the two students are parallel cases, except that one is male and the other female."

choke/choking: verb. What happens when something gets lodged in your throat and you can't breathe; the windpipe is obstructed. "He choked on the hotdog bite and would've died if she hadn't used the Heimlich maneuver to save him."
chock: noun. It's a block of wood, kids. A block of wood used to fill in a space or hold an object steady. Oooor something being "chock full."

choose: verb. To select from various possibilities; "I'd choose the red shoes if I were you. They match your dress."
chose: verb. PAST TENSE of "choose," above. "When she bought her tickets, she chose to leave on Monday rather than Sunday."

definitely: adverb. unequivocally, positively, unambiguously. "You should definitely spell 'definitely' d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y." or "If she wasn't ticked off before, she was definitely pissed off now!"
defiantly: adverb. boldy resisting or challenging. "She didn't like what her dad had to say, and she crossed her arms arcoss her chest defiantly." or "Rose glared at Edward defiantly, challenging him to say something."

dilute: verb. to make a liquid thinner/weaker by adding water. or to reduce the strength or efficiency of something by mixing in other components. "She diluted the too-strong flavor of the canned broth by adding water to the soup." Or "The addition of a jerk to our team diluted our strength as a group; we were no longer unbeatable."
delude: verb. To mislead, deceive the mind. "That pompous jerk is deluded enough to think I'd ever date him!" or "Don't delude yourself! Despite what you think, you've more than earned that praise."

its: possessive adjective: "The car has lots its appeal." or "Its heart started beating frantically when it realized the danger."
it's: contraction of 'it is': It's Frankenstein's monster! Ahhhhhh!" or "It's a shame you have to be so idiotic."

Loose: adjective. It rhymes with "moose." Free of restraints, released from attachments. "I have a loose tooth!" or "Bad things happen when children are allowed to run loose!" Also can describe someone who is promiscuous: "That guy is well known for his loose character."
Lose: verb. To come to be without something. "If you are an Immortal in the world of Highlander, you don't want to lose your head." or "That's my favorite Prada bag! If you borrow it, don't lose it!" It also can be used with bereavement: "I can't imagine losing my mother to cancer like that."

piece: a small section of something: "Can I have a piece of that pie?"
peace: the opposite, of, ah, war: "By this treaty we now have peace in our region."

quite: adverb: completely, entirely; actually, truly; to a considerable extent: "I'm not quite done with you." or "That was quite a change in attitude." or "Her hand felt quite small in his larger one."
quit: verb: generally used to stop or discontinue: "She quit helping him paint." or "I quit! You suck!"
quiet: adjective: making no noise. silent. "We have quiet friends." or "Be quiet, will you?"

shudder: verb: "He shuddered at the thought of what his mother would say if she found out." or noun: "She felt the shudder run through her body."
shutter: noun: a cover for a window or opening. "When the storm came through, she pulled the shutters over the window to protect the glass." Or "The color you painted the shutters complements the color of the siding beautifully."

site: noun: the location of a building, town, etc. "The building site is full of construction equipment." or "The site of the crime is off limits to journalists." Also the exact plot of ground where anything is/has been situated. "This is the site of the famous burial ground..."
sight: among other things, a noun: The ability to see, perception. "He was amazed when his sense of sight came back after the accident." Also, a view: "What a sight!" Also something worth seeing: "When we travel, we'll see all the sights in NYC."

telepathic/telepathy: communication from one mind to another via extrasensory means. "Edward has some telepathic ability because he can read minds." or "Luaxanna Troi, like other Betazeds, is telepathic; able to both read minds and project her thoughts."
telekinetic/telekinesis: moving objects without contact or other physical means.

their: possessive adjective: "We are going over to their house now."
there: lots of uses. Can be an adverb dealing with location "They are over there!" or a point in speech "He stopped his sentence there." It can be an adjective "Ask that lovely girl there."
they're: contraction of 'they are': "Are you sure they're (they are) coming over tonight?" or "Those Cullens, they're the strangest kids in Forks."

waist: noun. A bit of anatomy, that bit o' body smack between our ribs and hips. On some people, this is the narrowest part of the body. "Emmett slipped his hand down to Rosalie's waist, giving it a squeeze."
waste: noun: 1. garbage: "He threw the waste away, into the wastebasket (aka "bin" or "garbage can"). 2. anything unused: "After your body digests the food, it expels the excess, or waste, in the form of urine and feces." 3. A wild/desolate region or tract of land "In The Wheel of Time, the Aiel live in The Waste." or "The landscape before him was a never-ending waste of sandy desert."
Also a verb: 1. To use needlessly or uselessly: "He wasted all his gold on beer and women." 2. to wear down: "Her body was wasted by the horrible disease."

wandering: adjective. Moving from place to place with no plan. i.e., roaming or rambling. "During our vacation to Rome, we wandered through the streets and sites once walked by Caesar." or "My mind was so shocked that I began wandering aimlessly through the neighborhood, with no thought to where I might end up." It can also be used as a noun: "Her nomadic wanderings took her all over the United States."
wondering: Verb. To be filled with curiosity. "She wondered at the boy's ability to stop a van with his bare hands." or "Alice never showed up. I wondered what happened." Also an adjective. Synonyms with "marveling." We use this to express admiration or amazement. "He looked around at the ancient burial chamber, wondering at the architecture skills of the ancients."

weary: adjective. When you are physically or mentally exhausted. "After studying for finals, I needed to rest my weary brain." OR impatient or dissatisfied with something. "She was weary of all his excuses."
as a verb: To make or beocme weary. "The long hours of study have wearied me."
wary: adjective. Being watchful, or on guard against danger. "After the car accident, I was wary of other drivers." or "After Jasper almost bit Bella, he was wary of getting too close to her." or "Finding myself in a bad part of town, I was wary of others around me."

whether: a conjunction. Basically, it introduces alternatives: "Whether or not he says 'yes,' you're still the hottest girl here." or "It matters very little to me whether you stay or go."
weather: 1. noun. The atmosphere; wind/temperature/precipitation/cloudiness, etc. "With the weather we have in Forks, it's best to keep an umbrella with you." or "The weather man says we'll have a rare sunny day tomorrow!" 2. verb: "Leave the wood out to weather and age properly." or "Those old cobblestones are weathered, aren't they?" or "We weathered the storm, grateful to be unharmed."

your: possessive adjective. "Is that your book?" and possessive pronoun. "The book is yours."
you're: contraction of 'you are': "You're (you are) the biggest dork ever!"

Something that's always given me trouble, and, it seems, every other writer out there. Lay/Lie. Evil, irregular, similar-sounding verbs that mean DIFFERENT THINGS. Obviously, I don't mean lie in the "tell an untruth" sense.

At the most basic, "lie" means to to recline. "lay" means to put something down.

lay: transitive verb (it always needs a direct object): tenses are-- lay, laid, laid, and laying. So, you can only "lay" something or someone--an object. Present tense is "As Edward enters the living room, he lays the gloves on the couch." Paste tense is "Yesterday, I laid the gloves on the couch." Past participle is "Earlier, he had laid the gloves on the couch." Present participle is "I am laying the gloves down, now."

lie: intransitive verb (never takes a direct object): tenses are--lie, lay, lain, lying. Fun fact about being intransitive: lie can only be used in active voice. Whee! Present tense. "I want to lie down." Past tense: "Yesterday, he lay there, dreaming about the love of his life." Past participle: "She had lain there all day, daydreaming." Present participle: "Bella is lying (read: reclining) there, hoping to avoid shopping with Alice."