"Winterlyn Dow" is a nod to some of the most important people in my life.

I've always loved to write fiction. I started in 2nd grade, though I gave up writing for more than a decade before discovering fanfiction.

Books I loved: A Song of Ice and Fire, Lord of the Rings, Anna Karenina, The Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Beautiful Creatures, The City and the City, Gone With the Wind, The Book of Lost Things, Ten Little Indians, The Diviners, and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Fandoms I love: A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, Labyrinth, Star Wars, Harper's Island (weird, I know), Alice in Wonderland, the Batman universe (particularly that influenced by the Nolan Batman trilogy).

My fanfic philosophy: I'll read anything (from a fandom I'm familiar with) that is well-written. I don't care about ships, genres, length, writing style, etc. If it's good, I enjoy it. I particularly enjoy when an author is skilled enough to make me buy into a premise that I initially find far-fetched. I won't write in every fandom that interests me because I feel like I need a complete grasp of the works as a whole to write something believable (so, as much as I love The Dark Knight trilogy, there is SO MUCH to know about Batman/The Joker/R'as Al Ghul--movies, shows, decades and decades of comic books--that I don't know if I could ever understand it fully enough to do it justice). Additionally, if a source work is very well done, very tight, and has a satisfying conclusion, I'm less inspired to muck around with it (things I consider perfect or near-perfect don't cry out for fanfic IMO, so I won't bother writing it. That doesn't mean I won't read it, though). The exception may be ASOIAF--that series lends itself to FF for a few reasons, but namely that it's an incomplete work (thus far) AND the world GRRM has built is so vast and detailed, there are tons of nooks and crannies in it to explore!

Things that interfere with my ability to write/update fics: my husband and children, my career, college football season (Geaux, Tigers! LSU! LSU!), ennui, and guilt that I should be doing something else.

I have boards on Pinterest for most of my can find them by searching for Winterlyn Dow on Pinterest. I update them as I update my stories.

I'm on AO3 as Winterlyn_Dow, Pinterest as Winterlyn Dow, and tumblr as winterlyndow (my tumblr is super-lame, just a way to collect stuff that relates to my fanfic in one spot).

8/24/14 And now, The Assassin's Apprentice has *fan art*! I know! It's so thrilling! Pandorica 11 posted a really lovely drawing depicting the reunion in chapter 49 of the two most awesome and badass characters in ASoIaF. Check it out by going to deviantart and searching for The-Assassin-s-Apprentice-Fanart (since FFN no longer allows links in profiles, apparently).

12/7/14 The handsome man is awesome. Don't believe me? Just ask him. He'll tell you all about it. He has decided that he would like his own ASoIaF story. I told him not to be ridiculous. We finally compromised and he'll have a small companion piece that details some of the events of The Assassin's Apprentice through his eyes. It's called Morpheum. Check it out. If you don't, the handsome man will probably harangue you endlessly. The guy is persistent--trust me.

6/12/15 A lovely reader who goes by queveras on AO3 made a couple of graphics for the story. They are really cool. Check them out under her tumblr profile, fallenineveryway (I previously had them linked, but it seems FFN no longer tolerates links in profiles)

10/21/15 The Grey Daughter begins! Chapter 1 is up on FFN and AO3. Updating speed will be... variable (depending on inspiration and the cooperation of "real life"). I have a Pinterest board for this story as well and plan to add to it as I write the story.

6/28/16 I completed a small one-shot in the Star Wars universe and it helped knock the cobwebs off. I found my inspiration for the next chapter of TGD and shall be proceeding with it shortly!

1/6/18 I've completed the next in my New Orleans series of one shots (Need in the City That Care Forgot). This one is called The Undeniable Temptation of the Dark and is Jaqen's POV during their French Quarter escapade, covering the exact same time frame as The Irresistible Seduction of the Light. I need to do a final polishing of it and then I will be posting. I have created a Pinterest board for this story and it is up already (you are welcome to view it if you don't mind spoilers). Once I've posted this one shot, I'll get back to TGD.

4/7/18 I posted a chapter from a Labyrinth fic today that I've had in mind for ages but just finally started writing. I have several chapters written (unedited) but it's not quite complete yet. Once I get that out of my system, I'll be back to TGD.

8/23/18 Ch 22 of TGD is posted. I am lazily pinning things to the story's Pinterest board as I feel like it...

9/23/18 I've posted the next POV in my ASOIAF Modern AU/NOLA series, Need in the City That Care Forgot. I'm not saying it's any good, but it was super fun to write. It picks up immediately after A Friend Too Long Left Wanting More. Fair warning, it's way fluffier than I usually go, but this is me we're talking about, so there is also the requisite amount of angst. Now that it's out of my system, I'll get back to working on TGD and Morass. I have created a Pinterest board for the new piece and it's listed on my Pinterest page under the story title The Inescapable Oppression of the Gray.

12/4/18 I've written a little of Ch 25 of TGD and a little of Ch 20 of Morass, which is actually only a few chapters away from being finished. I'm also making notes on part 7 of my ASOIAF modern AU/NOLA series. So, lots of irons in the fire, and with work being crazy and Christmas coming up, no idea on a time frame for any of these updates. But, I am working on them! For those of you who write and regularly update your WIP (particularly when you are juggling more than one at a time), my hat is off to you. I have no idea how you manage it!

4/14/19 Morass is complete which means my focus is solely on TGD. I was hoping to be much further along by the premier of Game of Thrones but we are where we are...

12/31/19 Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for such a long lay-off! I pulled out ch 28 today and began working on it again for the first time in MONTHS. I have the day off and no other claim on my time so I was finally able to do it and WOW, have I missed this! I love living in this world and plotting Arya's course, I can't believe I let it sit for so long! I hope I continue to have time and can finish this very soon. Thank you all for your patience! Oh, and Happy New Year!

1/12/20 I posted another one-shot in my modern AU ASOIAF series. This one is about the brief relationship Arya and Aegon had while she was away at college. There is a Pinterest board for it as well. I'm working on ch 30 of TGD now.

6/8/20 TGD ch 33 is posted