Ego Boost

This is an e-mail that I got Sunday. Needless to say, it was a tremendous Ego boost.

Dear YamiAmazoness,
I just finished reading your "quiz" "a most unconventional student",
and frankly found it to be better then the real Harry Potter books!  The
things that Raven and Snape did together gave me the butterflies!  She
tortured him!  (smiles evilly)  And Malfoy (punches him), oooh….my english
teacher once told me that the mark of a good writer was if he or she could make
you become a part of the story.  Well, unfortunately i’m not that good at
writing, but you…wow.  Have you thought of publishing this in novel
form?
sincerely,
julie

A Most Unconventional Student is like the birth of Raven Pegasus. This is the story that started it all. It took three months in the writing (I think that’s how long it was). And a lot of notebooks. (Which I still have, and will never part with if I can help it. Even after the panic of coffee being spilled all over them.)
It came about due to reading fanfic stories on Quizilla. I ran across a couple about Snape…and even I must admit, I thought the concept was a bit iffy then. But it’s one of those things, once you get to thinking about, kind of takes on a life of it’s own. 
Up to that point, I had only watched the 2 movies that were out…but I decided I wanted to write my own fanfic of Harry Potter…and I wanted all the info I could get, so I went out and bought the 5 books that were out at that point. I was done reading them in less than two weeks.
And once they were done, I went to work on my own story. Which has grown so much since then. I got wonderful reviews from my readers at Quizilla…and even had one who was feeling quite put off by the whole Snape/Raven thing, but still couldn’t stop reading! That was a great feeling as well.

After finishing writing the tale, I really wanted to bring Raven the world of roleplay…and it took me bit to find a place. Most were already established, and had certain rules that were quite restrictive. Then I stumbled across the roleplay group on Open Diary. It was a new way of playing from what I was use to, and I didn’t know if it was something I was up to…but I decied if nothing else, I could relieve my story on my own. So that’s what I started doing…I made the diary for Raven, and started to write, going from what I had in my tale.
I was noted by one of the roleplayers, and that inital note eventually brought me into one of the main factions of the roleplayers. Raven’s tale changed a bit, but for the better. She got more family, and more adventure…and I also found a great extended family of my own.

Now the orginal tale has passed…and I’m on to another year at Hogwarts through my roleplay…and some very surprising twists to come. Had you told me 6 months ago, Raven would be ending up with the ‘new’ friend she’s going to aquire…I would of told you that you were all bloody mental. But, things seem to have a way of taking on a life of their own. And I’m finding myself actually enjoying the things coming from the storylines.