Hi! I've been here three years and never had a profile, only because I thought "Who would care?" I figured the stories speak for themselves. But I see that everyone else has one, and my "stats" page says I actually have hits to my profile page, so I decided I should write one or people might think I'm unfriendly or secretive or something. :)
So, a summary of me: I'm 40 years old and married with two kids, plus a basset hound and a cat. I used to be a full-time journalist; now I'm a stay-at-home mom, freelance writer, and part-time dogwalker. I have my daughter to thank for getting me into fanfic: a couple of years ago she became obsessed with princesses, so of course I showed her all the Disney princess movies. "Beauty and the Beast" became her favorite, and she went through a phase of watching it literally every day for about three months. Since I like it too (my husband and I saw it in the movie theater on one of our first dates, so it's always had a special place in my heart), I would often sit and watch with her. Watching it so many times, I began to see more and more aspects to it, things that intrigued me and that I wanted to explore. So I began writing fanfic. It's been a wonderful outlet for me and fulfills my creative urge.
I love the slogan of FF.net ("Unleash your imagination and free your soul") because I really do feel that way. When I'm writing, and I can see the scene happening in my mind, and the words are flowing out...there's nothing like it in the world. Of course, not every chapter is like that! With any story, there are always many times when I'm struggling to figure out how to write a chapter, but it's just NOT coming out, or when I have a scene written but it just doesn't work, and I sit there rewriting and making huge changes and trying to force it into shape. But it's all part of the process. I've feel that I've learned so much by writing fanfic. I also beta-read for a lot of other writers in the "Beauty and the Beast" section.
I'm a fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as well, but somehow never felt the muse to write fanfic for it. Maybe it's just because of the sheer mass of fiction in that category: with well over 20,000 "Buffy" stories on FF.net, I can't imagine myself coming up with anything original, LOL! "Beauty and the Beast" is such a cozy section; I feel that I've been able to contribute ideas that are interesting and original and serve a purpose, and the authors there are so friendly, it's become my online home. :)
Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed me - it's such a wonderful feeling to get that "Review Alert" and know that someone liked my story enough to write a comment about it. I truly appreciate it!
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P.S. For any "Beauty and the Beast" fans: I'm on a really fun BATB forum called "Bittersweet & Strange," which can be found here:
http : / / z6.invisionfree . com/bittersweet_strange / index.php? act=idx (but without the spaces). Stop by and check it out!
FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination
