Introducing myself

[girlyswot]

When I first started this LJ I intended to post only fic here. I had a long Antonia Forest fic and then I started writing some HP drabbles. I didn't feel like I knew anyone who was reading it (and there weren't many of them) so I used only my LJ name and had no real personal information on here.

Anyway, over the course of the last few months I have felt like I am getting to know and trust those of you who check in regularly. And I've had a smallish spate of new friends in the last couple of weeks. So it seemed like a good time to say hi properly.

I'm Ros. I'm 32 and although I live in Philadelphia (actually just outside the city limits) I'm oh-so-very British. I'm studying for a PhD in Old Testament, which is what brought me to the US last summer.

I've written fanfic for years before I knew you could call it that and I never dreamed that anyone else might be interested in reading it. I like the Harry Potter books but I don't think they're great literature and it's probably not even my favourite fandom to write in. However it's a great place to learn from other writers and readers and I know my writing has improved in leaps and bounds over this past year as a result. But I definitely prefer fics set outside the limits of the books - whether pre-PS, post-Hogwarts, or minor-character centred. Too much H/G (except that of the stmargaretsvariety) makes me feel a little queasy. But the world never has enough of Charlie Weasley, for my taste.

I'd love to write poetry (and have made various more or less successful attempts) but I fear I may have to accept that there are some things that lie beyond my natural abilities. Like singing. I keep threatening my flatmate that I'm going to apply for American Idol next year and she very kindly points out that I'm not American enough.

I wish I had more time for things like writing and knitting and watching trashy TV, but sadly I have a reading list of 157 books which I'm working my way through far too slowly.  And semester starts again next week with classes and papers to get in the way.  Though, to be honest, if I won the lottery tomorrow (which since I never enter, is marginally less likely to happen than if I did) I wouldn't change a thing.  I love what I study and I feel incredibly privileged to be able to do it.  I might get a new sofa, though.

Comments

[moonette1.livejournal.com]

Hi Ros!

I'm so glad you wrote this post! I was curious why you moved here. Old Testament PhD? Wow. Fascinating. I was a theology minor "at uni" as you British say. I wish now that I'd taken only the minimum science requirements to med school, as I had to review it all again anyway once there. I would have much preferred sticking with philosophy and theology classes, as they seem much more meaningful to me.

I'm so glad we've been able to be in contact. I do absolutely appreciate your kind support of fic authors and count myself lucky to have been on the receiving end. I also absolutely agree with your thoughts on H/G - queasy is actually a very good word choice. St. Margarets is the only H/G I've been able to enjoy. I just don't like reading much about the kids. And I do think the more original stuff included in fic -characters, setting, etc., the more I enjoy it.

So welcome to the U.S., and welcome to LJ!

[rhetoretician.livejournal.com]

Hi Ros,

How interesting! May I ask what your comp fields are? (Married as I am to a PhD in American Civilization, I know full well what "157 books" means.) And have you a notion of your dissertation topic? (I don't mean to make you nervous; if I'd asked my wife that question while she was studying for comps she probably would have thrown something.) Have you ever run across Robertson Davies's hysterical little story, "The Ghost Who Vanished by Degrees?" It's in his collection High Spirits, and it's just the thing to put it all in perspective.

~Ken

[grandma-kate.livejournal.com]

Glad to know more about you, Ros. I'm sure it doesn't feel like it sometimes but you are young to be in a doctoral program and have your whole life ahead of you. I was 39 before I went back to get a PhD, newly divorced, and the sole support of three kids. I'd been "PHT-ing" (putting hubby through) for eleven years.

Gerry wrote today that she hopes to be able to meet you while you are in the US. I'm all they way across the country in California and think my traveling days may be over for a while.

[tdu000.livejournal.com]

I was wondering why you'd moved to the US too! My relocation is really boring (husband's job!). I don't usually like H-G fics though they don't make me feel queasy. I think it is because Ginny is done so badly so often but St Margarets writes her so well. I think it's because pre-OotP many readers thought she was sweet and quiet and post-OotP we realised she wasn't and few people managed to get the balance right.

I agree with the not great literature comment - but they are just so *interesting*! Plus there are lots of oportunities for fanfiction, which a great deal of more superior literature doesn't have.

I'm glad you've posted this too. I've been wondering about you recently as we seem to have so much in common in background, interests and even emmigration! (I still think it's a crying shame we didn't get that ISIHAC thread!)

Cheers, Bel

[jen-c-w.livejournal.com]

thanks, and thanks for the AF fiction. If you're as glued to AI as I am you'll know that this year one of the contestants is from former Brit-popettes North and South...

[dogstar101.livejournal.com]

Hi, thanks for the biographical information. It's interesting to hear that you're studying in America - how exciting. I'm at the start of a PhD programme myself, stuck in grey London for the time being.

I agree with you that HP isn't great literature - or even great children's literature - but I do find the books fascinating nonetheless. I think that bit of emotional distance may be what makes it possible for me to write fanfic set in that world, and extend it a little in my own way. If I had to list my favourite children's book series, HP would lag behind AF's books (and Arthur Ransome's and a few others too). But when I dipped into the fandom, I found I didn't want to read AF fan fiction for some reason. I think I'm *so* attached to those characters, and have been living with my interpretation of them for so long, that other people's seemed like an invasion. But then, I'm quite choosy about my HP fan fiction too! I don't really bother with H/G and R/Hr, because I prefer my own interpretations of them usually and yes, there is so much tooth-rotting dross out there. For me too, St. Margarets's writing is the exception because of its quality.

Back to AF - following on from your post the other day about epilogues - did Patrick marry Nicola or Ginty? I would rather answer that question for myself. I really applaud Antonia Forest for simply saying that she didn't know, and he might not marry either of them. Anyway, that's why I didn't continue reading your Nicholas story, which was SO beautifully written, I felt like I owed you an explanation :)

Antonia Forest wrote the book on understated shipping IMHO.
"Will you dance with me practically continuously?"
"My pleasure." Which it was, too. No fooling.

How sad is it that I can write that from memory and the only Shakespeare sonnet I can recite is the one in The Player and the Rebels?

/waffle

[blonde222.livejournal.com]

YOu don't have to be American to enter American Idol. There was a British bloke who auditioned this year (in Seattle I think, or maybe Minneapolis) who'd gone to the US especially for AI, and he got through to "Hollywood".

[sibtrelawney.livejournal.com]

Uh--not from what I saw in the first week of auditions... ;-)

[stmargarets.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you posted. I didn't know you had moved to the US for graduate work. I was a little worried about you this Fall when you mentioned that you had just moved to the US since I know what a huge transition that is. But you are there for a purpose and at least in school you can meet all kinds of intelligent, interesting people. Aren't you glad you had online life as a touchstone while you were in the moving process? For me it feels homey to have the same relationship with the same people no matter where in the world I am with the computer.

Oh, dear. H/G - you don't know how often I've heard that. I started out with that pairing and then branched out to other characters, but I keep coming back to them as my favorites to write. (Ironically, I don't like to read much H/G fan fiction. LOL - maybe I have the same problem with the sweetness and light.)

Word on Charlie Weasley! I hope to fill a gap in the fandom with him soon!