I find myself writing stories that I want to read but cannot find.

I'm twenty-one years old, but I still get freaked out when children ask their parents about "that lady." I feel young and immortal. I'm a third year university student, and an avid reader. I'm also a proud Canadian, and I currently live in a smallish town near Edmonton, Alberta. No names, as that will hopefully shield me from psycopathic mass murderers who prey on hapless fanfiction writers.

Hey, now I have a DeviantArt account! Go me! To see my (lovely) photographs and my pictures (including Monsters Inc. fanart of Randall, most of 'em drawn in crayon) go here: http://beboots.deviantart.com/ Plus, there's an Monsters, Inc. fic up there that's not here, due to fanfiction.net's messed up formatting.

Furthermore, I have more fannish musings (as well as history-related nonsense) at my blog, so please feel free to check that out here: http://beboots.livejournal.com/

(I also have a Twitter, which is mostly about history and Canadiana, but may be entertaining nonetheless: http://twitter.com/#!/HistoryBoots )

I've mentioned it before, but I have another Monsters, Inc. fic. It's shortened title is called "Limbo", and it can be found here: http://www.deviantart.com/view/17743135/ or on the Boggs Board. For a summary - essentially Randall dies in the trailer at the end of the movie, and is reassigned to be Sullivan's guardian angel of sorts (Sulley's previous one quit due to stress).

I thought I'd also mention that I'm bilingual; I speak both English and Canadian French pretty fluently. (I have a strange accent when I speak French, though; it's a mix of anglophone, Québecois and Nord-Pas-de-Calais). One of my pet peeves is when people (delibrately or unintentionaly) have horrible grammar in either language (especially stuff like 'Bablefish' French). I also took basic Spanish once upon a time in grade ten. So, coupled with my French skillz means that I can get the jist of half of what's being said. I've also studied Latin in University, and I've been learning Japanese for nearly four years, so I like to think that I'm a well-rounded person.

And I'm wowed by the response that my "Alchemy's Child" crossover has gotten! I thank all of you who have taken time to review from the bottom of my heart. I appologize for my slowness in updating; chapter three was all I had. I have several "interludes" written, but the fourth chapter is in pieces right now. I'm also all set to begin being stressed by university. I'm not entirely sure when the next update will be. If it turns out to be "never" (unlikely, as I want to post at least one me chapter), I will, for sure, at least write a "bonus" chapter or fic in which Roy Mustang discovers Ed and Al, and that, I assure you, I WILL post. Just so you know. You guys are awesome!

Cosplaying! (notice that I seem to choose which characters I dress up as on the basis of similarities of their hair to mine. ;) )

My first costume was of Solf J. Kimblee (from Fullmetal Alchemist), which I've worn for two years. Here is the most recent photograph I have of myself in the outfit: http://beboots.deviantart.com/art/Evil-pose-79662213

I am also quite proud of my Fujiwara no Sai costume (from Hikaru no Go): http://beboots.deviantart.com/art/A-Rest-Amidst-the-Smokers-90848042

My latest is Rip Van Winkle (from Van Helsing), complete with fake sniper rifle: http://beboots.deviantart.com/art/Rip-Van-Winkle-Pose-183573315

So I was giving someone advise regarding fanfiction a while back, and my reply got rather massive. And then I was like, "hey, other people can use it too!" So here is...

Beboots' Very General Advice for Writing Fanfiction

First of all, there's the whole "pay attention to the fandom". What I mean by that is: don't write a fic that's been written before. No one wants to read the same fic again but by a different person, especially if it's not as well written as the first. It's fine to write fics with the same concepts as ones that already exist, but only if you put an original spin on them (for example, my "Alchemy's Child" is a more original take upon the clichéd concept of the Harry Potter X Fullmetal Alchemist crossover). When I write fics, I'm often inspired by other stuff that I've read, but many times I write with the idea of "hey, I can do better!" in my head. (I don't mean to be insulting by this - I just mean that I try my best ... As should we all)

I would reccomend against using Japanese or other foreign languages in dialogue, unless it's for one-word things that we don't have words for in English (for example, words like "jutsu" which have no cool-sounding translation, people and place names, and so forth) Even then, don't over-do them. It gets annoying, especially if it's incorrect. I'm thinking of fangirl Japanese, here. (ie, "kawaii", "baka", "watashi wa (name) desu" etc. - that's not even Japanese, as it's in romanji).

Always spell-check, go over your writing yourself, and, for even better results, have someone else look at it as well (the wonderful creature that is a "beta-reader", if you can recruit one). My sister enjoys reading fanfiction as well, and she goes over everything I write before I post it. She'll catch grammatical errors, strange phrasings, and confusing bits (ie, "this bit doesn't make sense, explain it better", etc.). A second pair of eyes is an invaluable resource.

Never be too self-depreciating in your summary. This means don't say things like "I suck at summaries" in your summary; if you can't even write a summary, why should the reader expect your fic to be any better written? I would also advise against saying stuff like "this is my first fic in fandom, so be nice!" If people perceive you to be a new writer, they may hesitate to read your fic because you'll be thought of as new/inexperienced/a bad writer. Try to "hook" your readers with your summary. Look at it, and think to yourself "would I read it? Does it look interesting?" Also, think of people who will be searching for fics like yours using the search engine. If you have a pairing (I mean, if you want to give away your pairing - you might not want to because of plot reasons), put it in the summary. Add key words like "crossover" or "time-skip" or "shippuden fic" or something so fans of these things can more readily find them.

(Oh, and if you want to attract more readers, give nice reviews to people. It makes you more noticed on ff.net - ie, people realize that you exist - and you'll get more people coming to your profile and checking your stuff out) While I'm on the topic of reviews, answer reviewers! If you're nice to them, perhaps they'll review again. Also, don't get huffy if they criticize your fic. I love it when people point out inconsistancies, typos, and so forth. If I know of them, I can correct them, which means I grow as a writer and begin writing better stuff.

Back to the fics themselves. Don't bombard your readers with massive footnotes. (I realize that I'm a hypocrite in this respect.) Keep it simple. Most people don't read them anyway - only say what you have to. Oh, and don't put author's notes mid-text, or worse yet, mid-sentence. It interrupts the flow of the story, and makes it look messy.

Once you post your story, go to its page and double-check the formatting. Ff.net is very screwed up, and sometimes deletes words, spaces, and so forth. Check. A nice-looking fic is more likely to be read.

Hmm... I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I'll likely think of more as soon as I've posted this. I hope that this was helpful!

Regarding Reviewing: Personally, I love reviewing. I find that the best and easiest way to get a person to update is to let them know that you love their fic (hint: this works wonders on me as well; therefore, review and I shall update faster). I'm not just talking about "lol that was good update soon" reviews (although those are much better encouragement than nothing at all). I'm speaking of those lovely reviews in which people talk about what they actually liked, what didn't really work, who was in-character, what needs improvement, and what was pure awesome. I even enjoy getting reviews that simply point out typos. I know that my writing isn't perfect, and I like people to remark upon things that need improvement, as that helps me write better stories for you! I know some people are too lazy to just click the review button (I know the feeling, I used to be like that) but I am serious when I say that every little bit of encouragement helps. Anyone who has recieved a massive review knows the feeling. :) Moral of the story? Reviewing makes writers feel happy with what they're doing. Happy writers = productive writers. Ergo, reviewing is a very good thing! Rock on, my dearest reviewers!

Fanart

Guess what, everyone! :D I have recieved my first piece of fanart! Thank you very much, Buni-San! :D From the first chapter of Rise of the Jinchuuriki, here it is! http://buni-san.deviantart.com/art/First-Five-Minutes-Back-82184946

Here is another piece, also from Buni-San: http://buni-san.deviantart.com/art/Game-On-86272693 I love symbolism. :3

I have also just recently received fanart for Alchemy's Child. It's adorable! A huge thank you goes to FerioWind for this piece! http://feriowind.deviantart.com/art/FMA-Two-brothers-82581001

What is Beboots reading?

If you want fanfic reccomendations (or just links to random interesting websites), check this out: http://delicious.com/Beboots That website actually creates your "favourites" online, so you - or others - can access them from any computer. They are seriously helpful... especially if your computer has died and you need to find that one website you saw a few months ago but can't remember the name of... Anyway, everything is tagged, so if you want fanfic reccomendations, check what I have there out! :) Oh, and if it's tagged "toread" as well, I haven't yet read it... which means I can't vouch for its quality. But I have several people stalking my delicious.com account for fic recommendations, so it can't be all bad!