“Fiction is the truth inside the lie."
― Stephen King

May 25th: Posted a chapter of After the Fall. Woo hoo. Now, I'm going to fall into bed and sleep all weekend... or maybe not. It's a dream; a dream the kids, husband, and pets do not share with me.

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May 6th: Woo hoo, eleven years ago today I opened my ffnet account! *throws confetti* Okay, maybe it's not confetti... rather toilet paper that that the cats shredded with their claws, but I'm just using literary license. It’s still hard to believe that Castles in the Sky is eleven-years-old, heck it’s going to be a teenager soon. So, anyways, today I’m posting a chapter of Endless Waltz. See, it didn’t take me another year to update this time!

Thank you all for the last eleven years. I can’t believe how great it’s been.

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April 26th: Gah, I wish ffnet would get the ability to link fixed! I want my formatting back. *cries* Okay, besides that small complaint, just updating to say I'm posting another chapter of After the Fall. Are we all having fun yet?

…And on a random tangent (do I have any other kind?) I truly dislike spiders. Ever walk through a dark hall and run into one on its way down from the ceiling? Maybe you even saw it out of the corner of your eye, but your brain didn’t tell your feet to stop in time. You feel the web, you feel the spider crawling everywhere, although that's physically impossible, but if anything could manage - it would be the spider. In my case, when this happens, there is often jumping, screaming, and random cursing, and horrified looks from husband, teenagers, and pets thinking I’ve lost my mind. Okay, I'm done now - just remember these words when you're in a dark hallway. They're there... waiting. If you think they’re not planning the timing of their decent on purpose, you are wrong. Very wrong.

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March 1st: First of three updates hopefully. Today was Endless Waltz, shocking but true. Tomorrow the Selphie Letters at Archive of Our Own and March 3rd is After the Fall. Sorry, it's been a difficult time (story of my life lately) but wanted to keep busy, so I'm updating. ;)

To find the stories - Selphie Letters is linked below in the Feb. 17th update. Waking Moments (from the Endless Waltz/Dancing in Time series) is located here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6968973/1/Waking_Moments

Also, this was so amazingly sweet and honestly it meant so much to me - one of my readers sent me a Christmas Present. Not only did she make me a scarf, she made a CD that I absolute love. The title "Calling the Wind" is a reference to Somewhere in Between. She has made the play list available to everyone. Thank you Summoner Luna, I truly appreciate all you've done: http://summonerluna.livejournal.com/576431.html

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February 17th: Someone asked me about the links - since they are broken I'm going to see if I can place a few (not all) here; then just copy and paste. I'm putting this at the top for now, hopefully it's only temporary. Darn it ffnet! ;)

Until I Fall Away - "M" rated version on ffnet: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7767509/1/Until_I_Fall_Away and Until I Fall Away originial, adult version: http://archiveofourown.org/works/299402

The Selphie Letters - Again, I have way too much fun with action figures http://archiveofourown.org/works/263515/chapters/413260

Balamb Garden v3.0 - Co-written with Wayward Tempest (Run, it's a chatroom fic, but we had so much fun!) http://archiveofourown.org/works/92101/chapters/125616

Ashbear Facebook page by Alessia Heartilly http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ashbear/140175139374301

Pretty much everything can be found here at my Live Journal master fic list, with working links! Woo hoo! http://ashes-and-wings.livejournal.com/14107.html
Also, I do not check my PM here often, so please be patient. I will get back to you, but it may take time. If you want to contact me quickly, it's best to leave a message through the Facebook link. ;)

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Pieces based off some of my works, by really wonderful authors:

Crimson Lies
RachelWaterfly – A Moment (poem)
Robert Dogwood – Leave Tomorrow for Tomorrow
Wayward Tempest – Ad Infinitum (poem)

Somewhere In Between
DreamScene – Insistence
Noacat – The Time In Between

Miscellaneous other links:
A fanlisting site by Alessia Heartilly (I'm still amazed someone took the time!)
An interview (in Italian) that I have no idea what I said anymore. Babblefish anyone? ;)

A huge thank you!!!
Over the years, I've had several betas and I'd like to give them a shout out! I'll probably forget someone (it's been nearly a decade!) so PM me if I left you off.
Wayward Tempest, Emerald-Latias, Carie Valentine, Robert Dogwood, Jill, Lisa, Niqsta, and Vick330. The current icon is by DarkPalace at Live Journal.Thank you!

Also, as a general disclaimer - all Final Fantasy VIII characters, locations, ideas, and in-game dialog belong to Square Enix, formally SquareSoft.

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Personal (and very useless) Information - Revised on June 4th, 2010

I’m basically a (semi) normal married, mother of two, who writes fanfiction as a hobby. I'm currently residing (and/or hiding) in Indiana, somewhere in between the cornfields and the cows. My children are now fifteen and eleven, which is a horrifying thought. They have decided that arguing over random things is their new favorite hobby; trust me, they have made disagreeing into a new art form. I have my 'four legged' babies – my cats are Indy, Arizona, and Jazz. The newest addition is a rescue beagle named Skyla - who's an amazingly loveable dork.

My stories usually revolve around Squall and Rinoa, as they have always been close to my heart. I was drawn to them originally, I believe, because of my own experiences - I met my husband when were sixteen, engaged at eighteen, and married at twenty. But to me, they and their relationship have evolved into something so much deeper.

I still write strictly for fun. What means the most are the small things - the letters and comments I receive. I know that if I hadn’t been doing this, I would have missed out on so many friends, experiences, and years of enjoyment. I thank you. Oh yes, I was twenty-nine when I started writing back in 2001 – let’s all just pretend I’m still that age. Please? (Begs)