Personal info: I'm an older reader of Harry Potter who began by reading the books aloud to my young son (who is somewhat less young now). I started with HP fanfiction the summer before the publication of Deathly Hallows, in part because I was dissatisfied with how Half Blood Prince played out and I was interested in alternatives that didn't grate so.

I appreciate hearing from readers and reply (eventually) to most signed reviews I receive. While I appreciate candor, I reserve the right to lampoon flames, particularly ones left by anonymous reviewers.

I receive a ton of help with my writing from the folks at Alpha Fight Club and the (infamous) DLP site. While I don't write much fanfiction anymore, I may come back to it if I find a story idea that I'm passionate about.

In real life, I'm a professional scientist by trade and an occasional fiction writer, having sold around twenty pieces of short fiction in a range of markets from "pay" to "pro". I also play piano (badly) and enjoy fencing and good wine.

Projects:

• Misericorde and Lily, the sequel to Dagger and Rose, has been removed from the site. I seriously doubt I'll be posting the sequel. (I actually have 100k words written of the draft, but lost my gumption along the way; reader feedback, generally negative, on the first 20k words posted suggests that this lack of passion was showing in the writing.) If I opt to write any more fanfiction in the future, it'll be another story.

For those who care, this is how the sequel was envisioned (warning--spoilers for Dagger and Rose): Sirius, rescued and recruited by the Unspeakables, finds love. Ron redeems himself. Remus is captured, but escapes, learning an important secret along the way. Harry and Fleur deepen their relationship. The Rosicrucians maneuver. Tonks plays with fire, though exposes a spy in their midst. Harry goes on a quest for an artifact. Dumbledore's and Harry's relationship becomes strained when Harry learns neither he nor Dumbledore will survive the war. Narcissa usurps the Ministry, sparking civil war. Hermione takes on Umbridge in Hogwarts. Harry completes his quest, though at great personal sacrifice. Dumbledore creates a simulacrum. Harry discovers it. He and Dumbledore have a falling out, as he believes Dumbledore is cravenly seeking to avoid death. The war escalates, culminating in a final battle in the Ministry involving all of the major powers. With the artifact, Dumbledore and Chevalier sever Voldemort's connections to his horcruxes. Dumbledore perishes. The Ministry burns. Chaos. Harry is captured by Death Eaters. Fleur and Sirius rescue him. Voldemort and Harry face off. Harry wins. Fleur, deceived by illusions, strikes Harry down. Faucon, ordered to slay his aggrieved daughter, kills Chevalier instead. Harry is resurrected into the simulacrum body Dumbledore had created, a final gift from his mentor. He and Fleur are reunited.

Awards and recognition: Dagger and Rose was a featured story on the now-defunct The Reading Consortium website and forum. My story, Hallows and Pathos, won Best Overall and Best Drama in the SIYE Deathly Hallows contest. (I'm a little surprised they allowed its publication, given the strong site preference there for fluff and happy endings; such a dark, horrific, dystopic tale is a little out of place). Five of my stories (Dagger and Rose, Hallows and Pathos, The Life of Brian: A Super Harry Parody, Don't Disrespect the Queen, and Riding the L) have been listed in the august Library, a community with exacting, if eclectic, standards. My story, Don't Disrespect the Queen, placed a close second in the recent DLP Crossover contest behind a very good Harry Potter/Dark Tower crossover story by Voice of the Nephilim. Another of my stories, Negotiations (chapter 9 of my Adventures in Child Care collection of one-shots) also placed a close second in the DLP Politics contest behind an excellent story by Silens Cursor.

I recommend that those who enjoy my stories check out the C2 DLP 5-Starred and Featured Authors, which contains stories considered the "best of the best" by the Dark Lord Potter community as well as works by featured authors on the site; I am fortunate to have been recognized as one of these authors.

Anthology announcement: If you've enjoyed my work and you're interested in reading original fiction penned by me and several of the biggest names in the fandom (jbern, Rorschach's Blot, Joe6991, Shezza, Clell, WhyDoYouNeedToKnow, Heather Sinclair, and others), please see jbern's author page on this site for information on an anthology of contemporary and traditional fantasy that we've prepared. The collection is titled Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume 2 - New Faces of Fantasy.

Second anthology announcement: Based on the success of HHH2, a follow-on anthology Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume 3 - New Faces of Science Fiction is being prepared and edited by jbern and is available for purchase; I have a story Let He Who Is Without Sin... in the anthology.

Third anthology announcement: joe6991 is compiling an anthology of antihero original fiction stories penned by notable authors in the Harry Potter and Dresden Files fandoms. While the final selection is still ongoing, I've submitted a story "Mutual Assured Destruction" to the collection.

Biggest peeve with the fanfiction.net site as an author: How the uploader consistently mangles double dashes when importing from any word processor I care to use. Kids, a double dash is not a hypen. It does not serve the same role as a hyphen. In fact, it is a mortal sin to the gods of typography to connote the two. Ever. To whoever made this egregious decision: I will hunt you down and end you.