[Violet Gryfindor]

Hello! I'm Susan, also known as Violet, or Violet Gryfindor (the pretentious name my 17-year-old self gave me). My main focus is on my HPFF work: 30-odd stories of various lengths, genres, and pairings.

Author Page (12+)

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The Grimm Trilogy
featuring Tiberius Grimm and Minerva McGongall
1. This Longing (15+) -- WIP, 1942-3.
2. Ghosts of You (15+) -- one-shot, 1956.
3. ad memoriam (15+) -- one-shot, 1958.

Additional, related stories:
The Fires Within (15+) -- novel, 1968-1997 (OLD!)
Shadows and Dust -- WIP, 1969-1981 (rewrite of the above)

Cat's Eye (15+) - Minerva's perspective on Voldemort, 1943/1981
And Then I Died (12+) - Myrtle's perspective on dying, 1943
For the Greater Good (15+) -- Dumbledore's battle with Grindelwald, 1945
Sharing Fire (M) -- Minerva/Tom Riddle, 1956


The Lily Stories
Amoretti (12+) -- James
Signal Fire (12+) -- James
Something Lost (15+) -- Sirius
The Hardest Word (15+) -- Sirius
Ghost (15+) -- Sirius
Enough (12+) -- Snape
Blindness (12+) -- Snape


Snape/Hermione
Afterglow (15+) -- post-HBP final battle
Fallen (M) -- sequel to the above


Humorous Stories
Murder on the Hogwarts Express (15+) -- novella featuring Nymphadora Tonks
Harry Potter is Dead! (15+) -- WIP, featuring Draco Malfoy
Eleanor Digby (15+) -- novella, Sirius/OC
The Sands of Time (M) -- WIP, 1920's Egypt
Green and Silver Bells (12+) -- one-shot, the Malfoys at Christmas


Other Experiments
Winner Takes All (15+) - WIP, Rose-centric epic romance
Betray the Night (M) -- WIP, post-DH Dramione

Midnight Rose (12+) - one-shot, Rose/Teddy
Astute Observations (15+) - one-shot, Remus/Tonks missing moments


Old Stuff
Loved and Lost (12+) -- one-shot, Ginny at the HBP funeral
Following the Footsteps (15+) -- short story collection featuring the Marauders
Into the Darkness (12+) -- one-shot, post-HBP Snape

For new ideas and other things, check out my HPFF blog here.

This post has been edited by Vera_Black_Potter: 09 September 2009 - 05:04 PM

[stagnight]

I've only read... Following the Footsteps (? I think thats what its called off the top of my head)

Which is your favorite of all your fics? Like, which would you recommend me to read? And why?

[timeturner]

How did you keep everything going in Murder on the Hogwart's Express? I adore that story.

And because you asked me tough stuff - what possessed you to venture into the realm of Sirius/Lily?

[magicalperfect]

I've only had the chance to read Afterglow awhile back. I really loved it though.

As you pointed out at the end of your author's note, you were possibly going to write more HG/SS. Do you still plan on this? Oh, can you tell me about this plot bunny that made you write that wonderful one-shot? Finally, have there been any HG/SS stories that you read in the past that you really enjoyed?

P.S. Bibbs, did you purposely throw that 'like' out there? :lol:

Edit: Shame on you for spamming! I kid. But you could've edited? Susan, Mary Sue is going to haunt you forever dear.

This post has been edited by magicalperfect: 11 April 2006 - 01:18 AM

[stagnight]

magicalperfect, on Apr 10 2006, 09:14 PM, said:

P.S. Bibbs, did you purposely throw that 'like' out there? :lol:

I did I even considered pointing it out ever so subtly, but I was afraid of spamming, so I didn't. But yes, the like was intentional. :biggrin:

[Cor_Leonis]

Violet, you have a very distinct style, especially with your dialogue and first person narrative. It strikes me as very sophisticated, and I'm curious how you developed it!

[Violet Gryfindor]

Oh dear. I wasn't expecting this.

Bibbs - My favourite? Definitely Murder on the Hogwarts Express. It's quirky and amusing, also exciting from what I've heard people say. I like it because I honestly followed the idea of "writing what you know". Practically every little detail in that story comes from a mystery story convention - in many ways this story is a parody, which is what I had in mind when I first came up with the idea. It's also my first completed story that I'm really proud of how it turned out. It's about the only one that I wouldn't revise for any reason. That's why I love it.

timeturner - Would you believe that I never planned a thing in that story? The only event from the ending that I had in mind at the beginning was Tonks meeting Moody for the first time, that's it. The rest of the story was very improv-like. Whatever I could think of to happen was what I wrote for the next chapter and that would influence what happened in following chapters. But to answer your question more fully, I would have to say that something big had to happen in each chapter to keep the action going, even if it was only the discovery of a clue which could lead to solving the mystery. I wanted the story to wrap up in about ten chapters, so there could be no filler, no part in which the plot dragged. So that's what I did.

And for your second question, the answer is incredibly easy. I wrote it because I wanted to see if I could and also to try and understand why you were so attached to the ship. And it helped a lot - in some ways, they make a better pair than Lily and James (but don't tell Lauren I said that).

Lisa - Yes, most definitely I will write more - at least one more one-shot and a possible novel-length. One day. The bunny sprouted from thin air and thwacked me in the head during my week off from school. I was interested in the ship - the idea for my novel-length was already in existence - and I also liked the song the one-shot later became named after. So I sat down and out it came - 5000 words in two days.

There's only two Hr/SS story that I've really read. One is also a post-battle story, Building a Mystery [15+] by Twisted Fate. The other is The Price [12+] which Jay posted forever-ago, which takes place during the final battle. I'm not really a true shipper of anything, I just like experimenting too much.

Cor - That's one question that I have a lot of trouble answering. I'd love to say that it comes naturally - most of my stories were written in first person, probably because I was influenced by the novels I was reading at the time, most of which used first person. It's like I become the character, like with Helen Black in The Sands of Time - she just spills herself onto the page without letting me get a thought in edgewise (which may be why I still don't like her). Or like with James, who also comes easily in first person - he's always got a funny remark to make when I write him. Sometimes it can take me a while to get into a character enough to write him or her - take Peter for example in Following the Footsteps. That chapter took a long time to write because I just couldn't get the feel for his personality until the idea for having him using a journal came to mind. From there, the rest of the chapter came quite easily. For writing first person, you really have to know the character well and be able to relate to them in some way or another - otherwise, you won't get that same closeness.

However, dialogue is what I would still call a weakness. Sometimes I give characters insanely formal speeches and unrealistic dialogue, though this problem is decreasing gradually. I've listened to how people speak - especially when I'm around people the ages of my characters - which has helped to understand how people use language to communicate and make it more realistic. Although it sounds crazy, dialogue comes best when I can actually hear the character speaking in my mind, so that I can imagine what sort of things they would say and how they say it. Maybe that's why it comes out the way it does.
____

Ramble fest over. Great questions. You really did make me think!

[BitterEpiphany]

What writer do you admire most in the real world and secondly, what writers do you admire most here at HPFF?

[PhoenixStorm]

Do you prefer writing novel-length stories or one-shots? why?

If you were to recommend to me another of your one-shots to read, which one would you? (what, I have a hard time choosing :biggrin: )

If you were to re-write one of your stories which would you choose, what would you change, and why?

[PropMaster]

And yet another question to keep you hoppin'.

I have just read AFTERGLOW, and was really struck by your powerful imagery in the battlefield scene. As a reader, I really felt in the moment at this one; reminded me of the beautiful, descriptive quality of Ray Bradbury. How hard do you work on your descriptions, or do they flow off your fingers? Can you pass along any hints to budding authors?

[Bella]

What possessed you to write The Sands of Time? What was your inspiration?

[Violet Gryfindor]

BitterEpiphany, on Apr 10 2006, 11:39 PM, said:

What writer do you admire most in the real world and secondly, what writers do you admire most here at HPFF?

In real life, my writing "hero" of sorts is Agatha Christie. Not only because she could write so many books and stories with so many different ways of killing people off, but also because her plot lines are so intricate; everything within them is connected in a way that most readers don't see until the end. I also admire J.K. Rowling for the fact that she didn't give up on her idea even when a lot of publishers rejected it. She went from a schoolteacher to one of the most famous authors today and it's a great thing to look up to.

On HPFF, do you really want me to name them all? Oh well, here it goes...
- Llewellyn McEllis
- BJ Auth
- timeturner
- forsakenphoenix
- Noblevyne
- She Who Must Not Be Named
- Madame Snape
- Lucid
- Acapella
- BitterEpiphany
- Cor_Leonis

Those are the major ones who I really admire for their writing abilities. Each has a different reason for being on that list, and each of them deserve it mightily.

PhoenixStorm, on Apr 11 2006, 07:54 AM, said:

Do you prefer writing novel-length stories or one-shots? why?

If you were to recommend to me another of your one-shots to read, which one would you? (what, I have a hard time choosing :biggrin: )

If you were to re-write one of your stories which would you choose, what would you change, and why?

In a way, I like writing both one-shots and novel-lengths. With the first one, I can get rid of a plot bunny quickly and easily, while at the same time trying out a new genre or era to see what it's like. A novel-length, on the other hand, needs a lot more attention and has to be in a genre that I'm comfortable with as well as needing a big idea that can withstand being drawn out to last many chapters.

For a recommendation, go for Loved and Lost [12+]. It has depth to it and, even though it's a songfic, the lyrics fit really well with the narrative without being repeating what Ginny thinks. Other than Afterglow, which you've already read, I'd have to say that it's one of my better one-shots.

I could rewrite them all if I really wanted to, but would it interest you to know that two of my stories are rewrites of earlier ones I did? The Fires Within is a total rewrite of my very first HP fanfic and The Sands of Time is a rewrite of an original story I started at the end of high school. The first chapter Following the Footsteps was rewritten on the advice of some Marauder-experts and the entire ending of Afterglow had to be scraped due to intense fluffiness. So in a way, I've already rewritten most of my stories, or at least parts of them. I'm quite nortorious for frequently changing my mind.

[Violet Gryfindor]

Double posting to keep up with the questions.

PropMaster, on Apr 11 2006, 12:09 PM, said:

And yet another question to keep you hoppin'.

I have just read AFTERGLOW, and was really struck by your powerful imagery in the battlefield scene. As a reader, I really felt in the moment at this one; reminded me of the beautiful, descriptive quality of Ray Bradbury. How hard do you work on your descriptions, or do they flow off your fingers? Can you pass along any hints to budding authors?

I love that opening scene. Even now, I can picture the mist rising from the muddy soil, the fires burning in the distance, the dead bodies littered on the ground - it's a morbid scene, but one that fits with a battle zone. To write it, I closed my eyes and tried to picture what the last battle would look like. There's no absolute location for it, I didn't go that far in my thoughts, but when this image appeared, I knew that it was the one I wanted to use. That's how I write descriptions, by writing down nearly everything my mind pictures for a scene - all the five senses contribute in a way to make it more vivid for the reader. The old rule my writing teacher told me was "show, don't tell" - I follow it as well as I can.

Bella, on Apr 11 2006, 12:16 PM, said:

What possessed you to write The Sands of Time? What was your inspiration?

The idea sprouted when I was 16 after being heavily influenced by authors such as Elizabeth Peters, who wrote an entire series of suspence novels taking place in Victorian Egypt. Originally, my story had no association with the Potterverse: Helen was an archaeologist who'd gone blind in a car accident and was being stalked by a criminal whose forgery ring she'd uncovered before the accident. Other parts of that old idea are more similar, however, such as the death of her older brother in the war and the character of Alexander, the handsome and daring theif. For a grade 12 creative writing project, I wrote the first and last chapters of the story, as well as a complex string of events between them.

When I wanted to start a new suspence story, I couldn't believe how easy it was to add in Potterverse things, such as magic carpets, demons, and the Black family. Helen may not be blind anymore, but she does have other weaknesses, such as the fact she's a witch in a muggle world. I thought it'd be interesting to try out, even though it would not have a close association with the Potterverse.

[timeturner]

What would you like to try writing in fanfic that you haven't? Is there a character or ship that you'd like to explore further but haven't been able to get around to yet?

[stagnight]

How much thought do you put into naming your fics?

I know its sort of a lame question, but you do have some good names. I love the word Afterglow. The Thread of Love?

I'm horrible with titles, so I envy people like you. I know some people put a TON of thought into them (*cough* timeturner *cough*) and I was just wondering about yours. What types of things do you go for when titling your fics?

And any advice to those poor challenged folks such as myself who flounder with this sort of thing?