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[Jess the Enthusiast]

Jess the Enthusiast

(Call me Jess)

en·thu·si·ast
/enˈTHo͞ozēˌast/
Noun: A person who is highly interested in a particular activity or subject.

I can't read lips. Or spell. Or walk in a straight line. But I can clap with one hand.

Feel free to leave me questions.

Stories:

Wonderland - Novel - Next Generation - Rated Mature - James/OC - WIP

The Month I was a Hipster - Novel - Next Generation - Rated Mature - James/OC - WIP

A Hundred Million Freckes - Oneshot - Marauders - Rated 15+ - James/Lily - Completed

All the Pretty Things - Oneshot - Harry Potter/Doctor Who Crossover - Rated 15+ - Eleven/Petunia - Completed

Hurricane Eyes - Oneshot - Next Generation - Rated Mature - Lysander/Lily - Completed

Neverland - Oneshot - Marauders - Rated 15+ - James/Lily - Completed

Rabbit Hole - Oneshot - Marauders - Rated Mature - James/Lily - Completed

author's page [m]

Edited by accioHPFF, 14 April 2013 - 09:29 PM.
requested edit

[atellam]

Jess, Jess, Jess!

Hello!

Ooo, okay, let me think of some questions...

1. Where did you get the inspiration for Wonderland?
2. You have two James/OC WIPs at the moment. Is James' character similar in both, and why not make one of them Albus?
3. Your favourite pairing to read, and, if you don't have a story written about them, would you consider writing one?

[Jess the Enthusiast]

Hey Adele!

1. Wonderland actually came to me by accident! I had originally planned to write a James/Lily novel and it started off with Lily at King's Cross with her family. The four of them (Lily, her parents, and Petunia) were just about to pass through the barrier and onto the platform when I stopped typing and thought to myself, "Can Muggles even get into Platform 9 3/4?" And thus, Wonderland was born! I can't say, though, why I decided to make it a Next Generation or James/OC story; I think I might have just started getting into that era and thought that James would be better suited for the story than Al

2. This is a bit of a tough question for me (a good one though!) because since James hasn't really been in The Month I was a Hipster yet, I haven't really delved into his character too much. Although in theory, his character should be different from Wonderland!James. I image HipsterMonth!James to be more of a boisterous person; he and his two best friends are very showy and pull stunts together. But they're not pranksters; they're more of classclowns...I don't think I'm explaining this right. But just know that he isn't as sweet or squishy adorable like Wonderland!James. He has a bit more...sex appeal, I suppose.

The reason I've chosen to use James instead of Al...hmm...well, I can honestly say that I'm not doing it because I don't like him, haha. Thinking back to when I came up with The Month I was a Hipster, I created Millie, Berkley, and the opening scene before anything else and then I came up the whole story concept as a result. I knew it wasn't going to be a Millie/Berkley story from the get-go so I think I chose James because he fit with the story more and with the way I wanted the romantic lead to be than Al did. But I do want to someday write an Al/OC story; the right idea just hasn't come yet.

3. My favorite pairings to read are (in no particular order) James/OC, Al/OC, James/Lily, and Sirius/OC. I have two James/OC novels out right now and a James/Lily oneshot. I would like to write a novel length James/Lily someday (because they're my FAVORITE) and I would do the same for Al/OC and Sirius/OC, I think I just need the "right" idea to come.

Thank you so much for asking me these questions!!! They were so much fun to answer

[Wistful]

*le gasp* JESS-!
Wonderland is just... epicsome. Its so epic, I had to create a word for it.
That girl takes after my own heart.

I can't walk in a straight line either-! I'm getting there though. One step at a time... *quickly stops before rambling phase begins*
M'kay,s o Wonderland is hilarious and original.
Where'd you get the sense of humor?

oh oh and-

Where are you going with Wonderland plotwise?

[Jess the Enthusiast]

Hi there! Thank you so much; you're so very sweet!

The humor aspect of Wonderland was extremely intimidating to me when I first started writing it; I was really afraid of my jokes being utter failures and/or funny to me and not everyone else. (Fun fact: I was so lacking in confidence with my humor that when I first published Wonderland, I almost didn't categorize it as a humor fic). But as time went on, I got to know Spencer better and feel out her quirks and habits and let her natural zaniness create the humor. My readers were also a big help; all of the reviews I get detailing exactly how hard they laughed while reading a chapter means the world to me (one reviewer spit coffee on her computer in public...or she spilled it, I don't remember...but the first one makes my story way cooler so we'll go with that one). But as for where it comes from, I mean, I come from a very funny family so I guess that's rubbed off on me, but I'm not the funniest person in the room whatsoever when it comes to hanging out with friends or being at parties...I think other funny people intimidate me, haha. But a lot of Spencer's thoughts are my thoughts and I'm not really sure where most of it comes from; I just pour my heart and soul into her crazy rants and from what I'm told, they're funny

As for where I'm going with Wonderland plotwise, I won't give specifics, but I will say that this story is kind of divided in two acts: Before Spencer finds out that James is a wizard and After. The first act is coming to a close and it's more the getting to know you, first dates, what-are-you, blah blah blah, and the second act is how do you deal with having a wizard as a boyfriend? Is there admiration? Intimidation? Jealousy? I'm definitely going to delve into all of that and how it affects their relationship.

Thank you so much for all of the questions! I hope their answers satisfy you; I had fun with them

[heart4siriusblack]

Hey there!

I so admire your writing style. Especially for A Hundred Million Freckles. I'm always trying to break out of my NextGen Humor fic writing style that I seem to be stuck in lately. Which, don't get me wrong, is amazingly fun to write but I am beyond jealous of your versatility.

So, questions.

How did you come up with the idea to make Lily less than perfect? Because I adore how you make her flaws the reasons James loves her, and you don't find that in stories very often.

And what's your favorite generation to read and write?

[Jess the Enthusiast]

Hi! Thank you so much! I love your writing style as well; Simply Smashing is one of my favorite James/OCs!!

And thank you for thinking that I'm versatile! I really appreciate it because it's something I'm working on; it's like what you said with breaking out of the Next Generation Humor fic writing style.

1. How did you come up with the idea to make Lily less than perfect? Because I adore how you make her flaws the reasons James loves her, and you don't find that in stories very often.

Thank you! The Marauders Era is one of my favorites and I have a very clear idea in my head of what it was actually like and although there are many fics I enjoy from this era, I find myself very frustrated with how the characters are portrayed; Lily, James, and Sirius in particular. It really bothers me how Lily in fanfiction has become Hermione on crack; I don't even know where in the text people got this idea from, but she's always scolding James (we saw this happen one time in the books), she's perfect, she's very strict about rules, she doesn't have a funny bone in her body, and she's always yelling. It really bothers me because not only is this wrong based on what we've seen in the books, but I don't think this is the type pf person that James or Snape could love. And Harry gets a lot of his traits from his mother; this Lily isn't anything like him. So I decided I would write my own. And while A Hundred Million Freckles doesn't exactly portray my head canon on the pairing, it has bits and pieces of it. For example, I've always imagined that as a child, Lily had crazy messy hair that she wore in two long braids, freckles everywhere, and dirt on her knobby knees from playing around in the playground. And Snape just thought she was this larger-than-life kind of person, she wasn't but what we see of her in the series is from his eyes so she seems that way. So I started off with her hair, it being a mess, and it just kind of grew from there and became an analysis of her as a person. Harry is a deeply flawed - but lovable in my opinion - character and I imagine that his parents would be the same way

2. And what's your favorite generation to read and write?

Definitely Next Generation and Marauders. I read a lot of both and I enjoy writing both although Next Generation is easier for me. I think because I have such a distinct idea of the Marauders, I have a hard time portraying them exactly how I want them. In Next Generation, there's more flexibility and story ideas come to me much more easily. But I love both!

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me questions!

[MazBlue]

Hello Jess!

Ha, walking in a straight line is too mainstream anyway;) I'm here, yet again to fan girl over you and I'm sure you know the lengths I go to to fan girl....oh dear.

Here are some of my stalkery questions for Jess-the-wise:)

1) where do you get your motivation to write? I've heard it is difficult to actually sit down and write a chapter and it takes you some time to actually get into the head space of writing a chapter, so how do you motivate yourself?

2) have you ever done anything as embarrassing as spencer has? Have you ever had the highly contagious word vomit? Do you ever base Spencer's experiences off your own?

3) do you have a fit or an author you love to read on hpff when your down and need cheering up? Or perhaps a general author whom you enjoy to read?

LOTS OF LOVE,
Mazzieee

[Jess the Enthusiast]

Maz!!!!!! Hi! Thanks for stopping by! I fangirl over you as well so we're even haha

1) where do you get your motivation to write? I've heard it is difficult to actually sit down and write a chapter and it takes you some time to actually get into the head space of writing a chapter, so how do you motivate yourself?

You are 100% correct on this one; I don't know how it is for other writers but for me, sitting down and writing a chapter can be very difficult. The hardest part for me is starting it; if I don't have a start that I like or can work with, it is literally impossible for me to write the chapter. This is because when I write, I write about 200 words and then I go back and edit, take out jokes, write new ones, reword awkward sentences, etc. I can't move on unless what I have is "perfect" in my eyes and something I can build off of - it can be extremely annoying when I haven't had an update in like 2 months and I really want to put something out (*cough* Chapter 16 *cough*) So to motivate myself, I have a few different methods. Imagining the chapter and what's going to happen can be either helpful or hurtful: I either get excited enough to write the chapter or I sit there imagining rather than writing or it becomes so perfect in my mind that any writing I do isn't good enough. Sometimes I read old chapters to get into the swing of things. Sometimes I check out my favorites and read everything that has been recently updated; seeing the fact that others are writing and updating can a lot of times motivate me to do it too because I suddenly feel bad about myself and for my readers enough to get off my lazy butt. It's a case by case situation, but my readers are a huge part of it; having such a wonderful following makes me feel like it's my duty to write and makes me work especially hard to make each chapter the best I can. I know updates can be really slow at times but I want my readers (and me) to be happy with the overall product. I know some authors can bang out amazing chapters in like an hour but if I attempted to do something like that, it would be awful, so I hope my readers don't mind the waits too much haha

2) have you ever done anything as embarrassing as spencer has? Have you ever had the highly contagious word vomit? Do you ever base Spencer's experiences off your own?

The unfortunate answer to this is yes. A lot of Spencer's thoughts are mine and we do share many traits and qualities - word vomiting included. While my case isn't nearly as severe as hers, it can get pretty bad. If I do it, it's usually because I'm nervous or uncomfortable; I did it pretty frequently in English class this past year, actually. A lot of it was my English teacher's fault, because he'd ask a question about how you interpreted a certain passage or something, so I'd raise my hand and answer. But as you were talking he'd like nod his head so when I was finished with my response, it always felt inadequate (to me; no one else seemed to have this problem) because he'd never have an "Ermahgerd that was so insightful; my mind was just blown" moment so I'd be thinking, "I should elaborate or go further on this idea" and then I'd be thinking "I should probably stop now...but he's still nodding. Is he encouraging me? Should I keep going?" and then "Wow I've been talking for a while" and then finally "SHUT UP ALREADY JESS". It was certainly a problem, but I don't know if it was as bad as I thought it was. But by the end of the year, one of my friends did start to hit me if my tangents went too long so maybe it was. My life is filled with many awkward and embarrassing moments, I have to say.

3) do you have a fit or an author you love to read on hpff when your down and need cheering up? Or perhaps a general author whom you enjoy to read?

I don't know if there's an author that I read as a pick-me-up but I do rather enjoy the stories of (in no particular order) deceptive_serenade, dream_BIG, loopyluna, padfoot4ever, shenanigan, peppersweet (I will read Starving Artists soon!) and I recently became a Toujours Padfoot fangirl

Thanks so much for the questions, Maz! I loved answering them

Edited by Jess the Enthusiast, 31 August 2012 - 06:54 PM.

[imacullenpottergirl]

Hey Jess!
OMGOD! I can actually communicate with you now!! (that sound really stalkerish but oh well). I absolutley LOVE every piece of your writing, and Wonderland is my absolute favourite next gen story i've ever read on here. You have such a beautiful and inspiring way of words, and i'm sure that all of your readers (myself included) wish that we could one day be as talented as you. As for questions, some will be random because i'm curious but some will need a bit of a think. Here we go:-

1. Favourite skittle colour? I thought I'd start it off with a random one

2. I just recently posted my first story here and I'm just wondering if you have any advice for people like me. I've been on here for a while, reviewing and reading as much gorgeous writing as I can, and finally plucked up the courage to start writing my own. My first chapter is up (I would LOVE it if you could maybe please take a look at it?!) , and i just can't seem to find the motivation to write the second. I'm not sure if it's cause I haven't gotten much feedback or if i'm just nervous but I just need some advice. I feel like i keep second guessing everything that i write, that this next chapter won't be good enough, and that i should just scrap the entire thing, the one chapter that it is and just stick to reading and reviewing. HELP?!

3. Nervous breakdown over, next question. I'm exactly like you, it takes me AGES to write anything because I keep perfecting it. How long roughly does it take you to write a chapter?

---
I just wanted to tell you that when I first read your story, I was so inspired, not only by writing but by your visual imagery. For my Visual Design Assignment at school, ( VD is kind a cross between photography and Art) I had to make a CD cover back and front from scratch. I read your story and the scene where James and Spencer lie down on the middle of the road at night gazing at the stars and it just stuck to me, it was very powerful. ...
So I based my cover from that scene, took photos and manipulated it and all, and I got full marks for my assignment, which frankly is unheard of!! Thanks to you, and your beautiful writing, I topped that subject for school!

Tangent aside 4. Is James from Wonderland based off of anyone? He is such a sweet and adorable character that I just had to find out.

5. Favourite book besides HP?

DONE! Sorry about the tangents and rambling, I just get like that, and i can't be stuffed to go now and edit that out to make myself look like a approachable person on the internet. Stuff it.
Anyways.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU so much for all your wonderful and inspiring stories! You really capture moments perfectly, and I just love you.

[Jess the Enthusiast]

Hi Abhi!

This whole thing is so sweet; I just can't even right now! I didn't realize that my writing had such an effect; I just thought I was making people laugh XD So thank you! This has really made my day!

1. Favourite skittle colour? I thought I'd start it off with a random one

Red. Always red.

2. ...HELP?!

Your problem here is very normal; don't get yourself too worked up about it! Posting your first story is so unbelievably nerve-wracking; I had such a mixture of excitement and anxiety over it. I think part of my issue was that I thought I was going to post chapter 1 of Wonderland and people were automatically going to flock over to it and I'd be the most popular author HPFF has ever seen. But a lot of these things take time; when I was posting chapter 2 of Wonderland, the most reviews chapter 1 had was three - and one of them didn't even count because my friend had created an account specifically to write it. I can't exactly say what motivated me to write and post chapter 2 other than my love for writing, my love for my characters, and my ambition to someday get many readers, but you have to push through that wall you have right now. Although reviews and many readers are wonderful, they don't always equal an amazing story. And by that I mean, there are so many amazing stories on the archive that don't get the recognition they deserve but that doesn't make them any less amazing. And I'm under the firm belief that every story has at least one biggest fan; whether you have 2 reviews per chapter or 30+ there is at least one person who waits on your every word and does a little happy dance every time you update. So if you love your story and you really believe in the direction your taking it, I'd recommend that you continue. A lot of times, you just have to get over anxiety (I know it's hard) and just so it. You'll feel a lot better, and who knows? Maybe you'll get more reviews with time. The more you update, the more readers you get (I've noticed that people are less likely to start reading a story that only has one or two chapters; there's always the uncertainty that it'll be abandoned). My story didn't start getting popular-ish until chapter four or five. Maybe yours will too; if not, that's not why most of us write anyway. But I understand that having a new story is scary so it's nice to have feedback. If you're really that worried, there's no shame in requesting reviews in the Reviews Offered thread here on the forums. I've done it myself and everyone is really nice with their criticism and are sure to have compliments for you as well; no one there is flat-out mean. Also, I'll be sure to take a look sometime this week and leave a review

3. Nervous breakdown over, next question. I'm exactly like you, it takes me AGES to write anything because I keep perfecting it. How long roughly does it take you to write a chapter?

I guess it really depends. It can take me a long time to get inspiration/the will to write/a good start, but once I get going, it only takes me a few days. I remember for chapter 13 of Wonderland (it was a monster, like, almost 7,000 words) I wrote half of it over the course of a few weeks, writing bits and pieces everyday, but then I banged out the other half one Saturday in about five or six hours. It takes me time not only because I go back and perfect everything before I move on, but I also don't have much in the way of an attention span so I take a lot of breaks, haha

AND OH MY GOD, REALLY?????? I feel so honored!!!! Could you maybe send me a copy? I'd love to have something like that saved onto my computer so that I could stare at it all day (Also I think you have the screenplay writer(s) of The Notebook to thank instead; I was inspired to write that scene because of one from that movie - despite being undesired on my part, I'm honored anyway. Thank you so much! WOW!)

Tangent aside 4. Is James from Wonderland based off of anyone? He is such a sweet and adorable character that I just had to find out.

Unfortunately no; there is no Wonderland!James except the one in my head *sigh* If only...

5. Favourite book besides HP?

I have a couple! The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Fault in our Stars by John Green (I love all of his books but this one is my favorite), Percy Jackson Series (and Heroes of Olympus) by Rick Riordan, The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Vampire Academy Series (and Bloodlines) by Richelle Mead, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, aaaaaand that's all I can think of

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me questions! I'm so glad that you enjoy my stories so much and that they've inspired you! I'll read and review your story sometime this week

And love you too!

Edited by Jess the Enthusiast, 01 September 2012 - 02:59 PM.

[AlPotterFan]

YES! I HAVE FOUND YOU!

1. What are your inspirations for your stories?
2. How long does it take you to write a chapter?
3. Why are you so awesome?
4. What's your favourite colour?

I'm reading Wonderland and the Month I Was a Hipster and I read One Hundred Million Freckles (erghmagerd). I love One Hundred Million Freckles, it's fabulous. I love it, it's just erghmagerd.

[Jess the Enthusiast]

AHHH YOU FOUND ME THANK YOU!!!! *Sigh* I like getting questions

1. What are your inspirations for your stories?

I'm not really sure? The initial idea for the story just comes to me out of nowhere (or is usually the result of a long train of thought that led from one place to another). Once I start the story I just imagine it playing out in my mind like a film or tv show so that's how I keep it going. And ideas just come to me - and in the weirdest places!

2. How long does it take you to write a chapter?

Surprisingly not long. I mean, I take forever to update but that's really because I either can't find the time or the will to write. But in some cases (take chapter 16 of Wonderland for example) I have to write and rewrite the chapter over and over and over again because it's not coming out the way I want it to. However, if things are going swimmingly, it generally takes a weekend or two

3. Why are you so awesome?

Oh shucks I'm really not, but thank you so much! That's so sweet of you to say! I'm actually extremely dorky and weird - like, I'm a Professional Fangirl; I'm not that awesome. But thank for thinking so

4. What's your favourite colour?

Black. I know it's not technically a color but it's my favorite

So thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me questions! I'm so glad that you enjoy my stories

PS: I'm working on the next chapter for The Month I was a Hipster; it should be up soon

Edited by Jess the Enthusiast, 29 October 2012 - 04:43 PM.