Hello all! Gondolier here. Admitted lover of fanfiction and way too many hobbies.

I'm a freelance fiction and nonfiction writer with a charming corner "office" at the nearest Caribou Coffee. I completed my Creative Writing MA spring 09, hurrah!

I have so thoroughly loved fanfiction writers' work, and think that much of the stigma that comes with fanfic writing is bogus. There are some darn good fanfic writers out there, and it's a wonderful way to stretch your writing fingers. Just a matter of finding the gems. If you come across a gem, please don't hesitate to mention it to me. I'd love to take a peek!

UPDATE RE HYDRAULIC LEVEL 5: You may have made your way here searching for an answer to this question: “Where the heck is Hydraulic Level 5?” In a nutshell, it’s on my computer with a drop cloth over the entire thing. I’m rewriting, revising, recharacterizing, and making it wholly my own creative work.

First, the really important stuff: I truly appreciate this readership, all of the feedback and encouragement and love you’ve given to me and to my story. Most importantly, I appreciate your generosity to the charities I hold dear, such as Alex’s Lemonade Stand and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.

HL5 has been in this fandom a long time. Reviews and hits have trickled down now, so hopefully those of you who wanted to read it had a chance. Now I want to make it available to a wider readership—especially those who have struggled in real life the way HL5’s characters have struggled. I put a lot of myself--my passions, experiences, fears--into my writing, which I think is why readers seem to relate to the characters. So please don’t consider this a flounce, slight, anything of that sort. Truly, you have encouraged me to be a better writer, mother, and person. You’ve taught me writing skills that graduate school never could—most importantly, how to personally connect with readers. You have made me want to give you the best of my creative work. Now I want to give that work a chance to sit legitimately on bookshelves and Kindles. Please consider the three-plus years HL5 was written within the creative infrastructure of this fandom as my labor of love for you. THANK YOU.

My hope is to publish it in two books. I haven’t chosen a publishing avenue yet, but it will happen.

What can you look forward to? A lot more than “filing off the serial numbers”. The entire crew has packed up, left Washington behind, and settled firmly in Colorado. This new environment lends a rich cultural history to HL5’s characters which I think you’ll appreciate and enjoy. This also brings out a new dynamic and conflict to the relationship between the main love interests.

I’ve done a general cleaning up and tightening of prose, metaphors, sentence structure—especially in earlier chapters. Certain sections have been switched to present tense. I’ve also taken care of discrepancies and plot holes.

There are richer, more in-depth supporting characters, in addition to the narrator and her luvah ;)

So, at its heart, HL5 is the same story you (hopefully) enjoyed the first time around—just “de-fanfictioned” and strengthened.

I’ll post info on how to find the story once it’s available, should you be interested in it, at these places:

Twitter: Gondolier1

Goodreads: Sarah Latchaw

Future author website: sarahlatchaw dot com

*8/16/12: Want to nip a tiny conspiracy theory in the bud before too many run with it, and it's that I intentionally took the 1 1/2 year hiatus from finishing HL5 to secretly rework it for publication, thus stringing along readers until I could hit them with the final chapters and yank the story. This is 100% false. Without going into detail, I had a high risk pregnancy which required me to choose which energy investments I valued the most. Understandably, fanfic did not make the cut. After he was born, my baby had serious health issues, and again, fanfic did not make the cut for my time. Once baby healed and I had a little more energy and time, I gave the story an ending. I hadn't seriously considered publication until after I completed HL5. I know all the for/against P2P arguments and find merit in both sides. This was a decision I weighed and struggled over--it wasn't made lightly.

AUDIOBOOK: the last chapters of the audiobook were completed and sent to those who donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Thank you for your generosity! I had several emails bounce back. If you changed your address and didn't notify me, please send me an email (weeboatly at gmail dot com) with your old address and new address so I can update my contacts and ensure you receive the last of the downloads.

TRANSLATIONS: please note that I have not authorized any translations of my writing. While I appreciate the desire, I'd prefer to maintain control of where and how my stories are being posted. Therefore, if any translations exist, I politely request they be removed. Thanks