Bio

A little about myself.

I am married with three children. I have two older sons and a much younger daughter who is now ten. My wife is Japanese, and I speak fluent Japanese, although I don't read or write very much.

Update 3/22/2024

Sorry for the false alarm, everyone. Not having posted in many years, I had forgotten to take into account any change in the published story would generate emails to all those who followed Heart and Soul. The story is complete and I haven't added anything. The update was simply to remove the author's note from the end, the one I should have removed a month after I made the final posting. Mea culpa.

Update 2/6/2024

I just thought I would post a quick update regarding Mr. Plagiarizer and my story Heart and Soul. I have had quite a few people reach out to me commenting about the plagiarism and the Patr-eon postings, including how to report him for copyrighted material, and I thank those people who were good enough to reach out. In my reading of Patr-eon's guidelines, it seems clear that they will not do anything unless the copyright owner brings it to their attention. Seems a little strange to me, but it is what it is. I noticed that the mods at AO3 have taken him down, and while I had hoped FFN mods would do the same, it appears they will not, which to be honest does not exactly surprise me. In considering this, I have decided that there is no more reason to pursue this. I assume that at some point this guy will reap the whirlwind on Patr-eon, but if he does not, then so be it.

In my brief interaction with him, he claimed that FFN would have to take everything down if they pulled "his" stories down. The truth is that any published author who likes could insist that everything be taken down, and the mods would need to comply. Most authors have chosen to allow us to continue to write stories based on their works, but there are a few who don't like fanfiction. You will not find any of their stories on this site. Fanfic is different from plagiarism. Yet, as fanfic consists of basing new material on copyrighted material (obviously, works like Jane Eyre and other classics do not count as their copyright is expired), it is illegal. New stories with new plots and new writing do not fall under the definition of plagiarism. Taking someone else's work and reposting it while changing some words around is plagiarism. Passing off someone else's ideas as your own without attribution is plagiarism. It is amusing that he does not understand this.

To be honest, I really cannot see what he gets from what he is doing. Sure, there are likely people who are gullible enough to waste their hard-earned money on his AI generated brutalization of mine and others' stories, but I cannot imagine he is making much. I suppose to a thief, how they come by their ill-gotten gains does not really matter much to them.

If I do a simple calculation based on my work speed, I spent 375 hours writing Heart and Soul. This is just a simple calculation, based on my writing speed of approximately 1000 words in 30 minutes. In reality, when you consider the times the words did not flow, distractions, researching the series, outlining, editing, re-editing to bring it to its final form, and so on, the number is much, much higher. Why did I do it considering I would not profit from it?

I can only speak for my motivations and not what motivates other authors, of course. Sure the likes, the follows, the reviews, and so on are nice, though they are tempered to a certain extent by the criticism one expects when posting something for public consumption. For myself, it was the feeling of accomplishment, the desire to tell a story that I had created, even if I was playing in another's sandbox. There is no money to be made in fanfiction unless you have no morals, so these things must suffice. For many, many fanfic authors they do.

What does our plagiarizer get? None of that. He took completed works, changed a few things, and reposted. He has not even done a good job of hiding what he is doing, and the changes he has made are atrocious. I said earlier that I thought it was AI generated, but I am not certain AI could have done such a poor job of it. In Heart and Soul, I had Fleur sorted into Gryffindor for her final year, but in his bastardization he has her sorted into Ravenclaw and then Gryffindor, all without seeming to realize his screw up. That is just one example of the mess he has made. The guy has no idea what he's doing. He has virtually no likes or follows, the reviews are sparse, and most of them point out that his stories are stolen. Considering he has butchered what he stole, he doesn't even have the satisfaction of improving what I wrote. It seems to me that it all comes down to whatever money he can extort from the naive of the world. If that is all the motivation he can claim, I truly pity him.

So, this is the last time I will discuss this subject, though I reserve the right to post again if the FFN mods get off their butts and give him the boot. There is little to be gained from belaboring the point.

I appreciate those who still read and enjoy my work. As an announcement, I noted in my previous posting that I was thinking of returning to an old idea and doing some work on it. That is now a reality. Please note that assuming this comes to fruition, I will be writing the entire story before posting it, so you should not expect anything in the near term. At present, I have just started the outlining phase. Early indications suggest a story similar in length to Heart and Soul, so it will likely be next year before you see anything, and possibly much longer. If I have a couple of moments, I might post updates here and there.

Update 12/26/2023

Merry Christmas everyone!

My Merry Christmas was, in part, a reader on this site who had the decency to point out that my story, Heart and Soul, is being plagiarized and published under a different title. The author's handle is PEVERELL LEGACY 8, and he's posting the story under the title HARRY POTTER CASTING SHADOWS: THE HIDDEN PATH. Not only has he got the audacity to change a few words and publish the story taking credit for my work, but he's also got it on AO3 and, get this, Patr-eon. Maybe I'm crazy, but isn't it against copyright laws to make money off copyrighted material?

To be completely blunt, I'm more amused by this than offended. Imitation, after all, is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, and I suppose one could consider this the same, though to an extreme level.

If you're reading this, I would appreciate it if you would report the offender. Apparently his other stories are also plagiarized, so reporting them would also be advisable. Thankfully, the effect on me is minimal, as there's no financial benefit in Heart and Soul. It was a labor of love I did entirely on my spare time. Furthermore, I listed the story complete almost eight years ago. It's more the principle of the matter.

Either way, I appreciate those who still read my works after so long and leave the occasional review. A more heartfelt thanks to the reader that reported the plagiarism. I've actually dusted off an old idea I had and done a bit of preliminary work on it. Don't expect anything new in the near future, but never say never. It's possible I might return to posting here at some point.

Addendum

So I PM'd this guy to tell him that I was onto him, and he responded saying that JKR owns Harry Potter and the mods would have to take every HP story on the site down if they erased his plagiarism. It's pretty amusing that he doesn't understand plagiarism. For all I know the mods will do nothing. But for all his bluster, the point is that taking someone else's writing and story and passing it off as your own is wrong, whether it's fanfic or anything else. If anyone knows anything about reporting on Patr-eon, I'd appreciate knowing, as this guy is breaking copyright laws by charging money for people to read my work there.

Incidentally, after the above exchange, he blocked me. Typical. The guy has no integrity and no way of justifying his actions, so he hides behind a block.

Update 09/25/2019

I'm posting this here because I got a review this morning that annoyed me.

IF YOU CANNOT TOLERATE ANY MENTION OF RELIGION AND ARE THINKING OF READING MY WORK HEART AND SOUL, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING FIRST!

There is a section in chapter 30 entitled Christmas Cheer which has a little religious talk in it. I have had occasional comments from from people who take a completely intolerant stance and bitch and moan about it. So read this and skip the section or reconsider your choice to read HaS if it bothers you that much.

Basically, the section in question attempts to answer a question that occurred to me many years ago: why is there no hint of religion in the wizarding world? Now, you can say JKR avoided it because she did not want to get into religion, and that may be true. From my perspective, however, it's a valid question. Historically, medieval Europe was religious, and since magicals lived beside their non-magical neighbors until the statute of secrecy took effect, it logically follows that magicals were at least familiar with the tenets of religion before they separated. Thus, I sought to answer that question. It's written from the Christian perspective since Europe has been largely Christian for centuries.

Nowhere did I proselyte my own views, nor did I attempt to make a moral point. Nowhere have I stated my beliefs. It was pure history in a fictional world. In fact, if anything, much of what I wrote could be deemed critical of religion if you squint hard enough, as I talk about the persecution of the witch hunts, largely driven by religion of the time, I reference the inquisition, and I specifically poke at “Easter and Christmas” Christians. One character expresses a belief in some religious traditions, but that's all he does.

I have no desire to hear anyone else yap about how much they hate reading about religion. It's a minor point in a chapter and doesn't affect the larger story, though I consider it valuable in that it offers a possible explanation to the question I posed above. If you can't stomach any reference to religion, either skip the section or refrain from reading the story. Sorry for the rant, but it amazes me how people who spout off about inclusion and tolerance are often the most intolerant of all.

Furthermore, while I do appreciate the occasional review about how enjoyable the story was or compliments me on writing such a long fiction, I'm not interested in negative reviews anymore. Why should I be? Look at the time stamp. HaS is set as it is now and nothing will be changed, regardless of how much people whine about it. You may as well save yourself some time and not write a critical review. It will take a lot longer for you to write it than for me to consign it to the trash folder. One more thing I should point out: I delete anonymous critical reviews as soon as I realize what they are. If your cowardice or laziness is such that you won't even sign your largely anonymous pen name to a critical review, you're really wasting your time.

Not much else to say at this time. I'm completely out of fan fiction and I doubt I'll have time to get back into it any time soon, though I do still follow some favorite stories and authors. I do have one HP story that I was half finished before I hit a wall on it. It's pretty long for what was intended to be a short work—about 30,000 words. I've toyed with the idea of posting what's there, but then I'd feel obligated to finish it. I'd also like to finish Redemption, but that's not likely for the same reasons. Maybe I'll get back into fan fiction some day, but not in the near future.

Completed Fics

Take My Hand: Essentially AU RotJ told with Mara Jade in the mix. It follows the plot of the movie fairly closely - no major plot shifts other than Jade's presence and the effects I believe her presence would have on the story. The focus is on Luke and Mara's burgeoning relationship, Mara's struggle to overcome the Emperor's domination and her growing conviction she is fighting for the wrong side. This is not a complete rewrite of RotJ. Since it concentrates on Luke and Mara (there are only a couple of short sections with character viewpoints other than the two main characters) it does not touch on parts of the movie in which they do not take part - for example: the Battle of Endor.

A Profitable Venture: The next in the series of challenges between Deja Vu and I. Elizabeth gets into mischief, involving a handkerchief and a very young Mr. Collins.

Heart and Soul: The published name of Harry Potter and the Ambassador's Daughter. When Sirius hears Harry is about to go on trial for illegal magic use in the summer after his fourth year, he sets in motion a series of events which will change Harry's life forever.

Incomplete

Redemption: Star Wars KotOR following canon as closely as possible. I am also trying to write this as if the reader does not already know what is going to happen—I do not spill the beans on any plot twists before they actually happen in the story. In other words, I am trying to write it as if were my own original creation, rather than a fanfic. After all, part of the challenge of writing a story involves setting up the plot, giving the reader clues as to what is going on and then seeing how long you can keep them guessing. So my recommendation is if you are not familiar with KotOR and don't want to know what is happening, don't read the reviews on this story as they are littered with spoilers.

Comments: Though I'd love to finish Redemption, I just can't see it happening. Being so far out of fan fiction these days, I just don't have time, though it kills me to leave it unfinished. Every so often I do go back and look at my notes and what I've written. There are several sections later in the story that I wrote when I had specific ideas for them. Never say never, I suppose, but if there is anyone reading this who remembers the story, you should not expect any updates.