Chapter 30 - Author's Wind-up
Throughout this journey upon which I've taken you, I've received a decent share from my readers of both charms and hexes. All verbal, of course. But, I really appreciated all of your remarks.
As some of you already know... and the rest of you are now being told... I'm a professional writer. I'm a Public Relations Consultant. So, I have always, until now, written factual works. This story is my first foray into 'published' fiction. And it's something I've thoroughly enjoyed.
In PR our 'coin of the realm' is feedback; just as it is with fanfiction. It's a highly valued commodity of my trade. So, when I receive it, I value it; no matter whether it be a bouquet or brick bat. So, to all of you who've taken the effort to write your review, no matter how short or long, I say, "Thank you!"
No matter what many may think, a critical review where you, as the author, get literarily creamed for your work, is sometimes actually a good thing. It gives us, as a writer, information which may aid us in improvement. Oft times a scathing review may prove of even greater value than a dozen reviews of praise.
However, I ask you to always temper your words to any fanfic author with this thought in mind: Would you welcome a scathing review where your reviewer's only contribution was to belittle you as the author rather than your works? Remember folks, play the ball, not the man. Ad hominem attacks belittle only yourself.
Just think about it.
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Like all good things, even a fanfic must wind to a close. However, while this fanfic has ended, the story has not.
At the moment I'm currently working on two others. Yes, one's another HP fanfic. The other is a cross-over. But, I'm currently struggling with both.
I feel the story of Harry Potter and the Four Heirs has some way yet to go. While writing it I left in place a lot of material that can easily transfer, and make a significant impact upon, a sequel. I've not made a lot of use, for instance, of their animaguses; nor have I made much use of their significant depths of knowledge, both magical and mundane. This yet lays open to me.
So, will the story continue? Probably. However, it will be as a separate story similar to robst's Fate's Gambit and it's sequel. This one will remain a stand-alone and not require you to keep coming back to check if it's been updated.
Because of the way I write I simply cannot post each chapter as it seems to complete. The reason is because I often find plot holes that need a previous chapter or chapters to be rewritten. In HP & the 4Fs there were no less than six I found where I had to rewrite significant parts of chapters to close them.
One example is where I completely forgot magical portraits in HP Canon and Fanon could speak. This meant I had to go back three chapters to rewrite the section where Harry first visited Potter Manor. If I had been publishing each chapter as it was written, I would have had to direct people to go back the three chapters to reread that particular one. Embarassing, or what?
So, you may not hear from me for a while. But, do not fear, I shall be writing. When you next hear from me I shall follow the same as this by posting, on average, a chapter every one to two days.
And, lastly, I once more give my everlasting thanks to the skills of alix33, a wonderful person who stepped up and offered to proofread for grammatical errors. I'm embarassed to say, she found quite a few.
Cheerio for now. :)
Sinyk