Imp posted a comment on Sunday 9th September 2007 6:47pm

It's been a while since any updates, so I decided to check and see if I might have missed anything. While looking through some of the reviews, I spotted a couple of mine, and though, I've pointed this out before, I think I'll do it again, just because I'm the curious type. You didn't reveal what Harry ended up getting Ginny. Did he forget he was looking for something for her after he parted ways with his aunt, or did he eventually find what he was looking for?

Abraxan replied:

What he got her wasn't important to the story, so I saw no need to reveal it.   He just wanted to get her something pretty or nice or something.   He might have ended up just buying her flowers or candy, but knowing him as I do (and it's fun knowing my Harry!), there were probably rubies involved . . .   heehee.  Or it might have been a pretty sweater, or a book or some decorative thing for the house, I dunno.    But yeah, he did get whatever he was after.

Abraxan

grey_shadow_horse posted a comment on Friday 3rd August 2007 10:36pm

nice chapter :) I love the lake scene

Abraxan replied:

Thanks a lot!   I love the lake scene too!   Glad you enjoyed it!  

Abraxan

Steven Crawford posted a comment on Wednesday 25th July 2007 7:03am

ok ok. I like this story, i really do. But you have him getting hurt way to much. Its really annoying and its making the story worse than if you didnt. You also use the word silly too much. Im aware thats a stupid thing to talk about but its true. You have a habit of repeating the same things numerous times until they annoy the reader. such as the silly thing, and "his heart in his eyes" ok that was good the first 5 times, but not the last two million

Abraxan replied:

War is hell, what can I say?   People get hurt in war.   People die.   Harry's the focus of a lot of people's wands and him NOT getting hurt is unrealistic.   These were my first fanfics and my first actual novels, so they're bound to have errors in them.   Apparently you liked them well enough to keep reading, though.   Thanks for the comments - and for the record, I use "silly" and those other phrases a lot less now.   You try writing over a million words (that's what my fics total, according to my readers) without repeating a word or phrase very often!   It's HARD!

Abraxan

Miss_sigma posted a comment on Friday 6th July 2007 8:38am

wow! that was a week well spent reading your stories (really wants to call them novels) I plan to now read the various other Harry/Ginny stories that go beyond this, you are a fantastic writer, and I really want to read the origonal novels you mentioned in reply to my earlier review, are they published anywhere?

Sigma x

Abraxan replied:

Well, I CALL them "stories" but they really are novels, so you're not wrong!   I'm so glad you enjoyed them!

My first original novel "Dawn of the Two" will be published soon (in August, I think!).   I'll post ordering info on all the sites hosting my stories when it's available.   It will be available on Amazon.com.   I'll make autographed book plates available to my HP fanfic readers on my publishing website, www.whspubs.com, which is still under construction at the moment.

Thanks for writing!

Abraxan

Miss_sigma posted a comment on Monday 2nd July 2007 7:35am

hi, reading you authors note, I have to disagree with your brit-picker, I live in britain, and its ROmania, infact i have never seen it written as rumania, and also to take a strop is to take a tantrum, and a stroppy girl is like a spoiled bitch really... im not sure what area your brit-picker comes from, but it seems to have a different dialect to both surrey and scotland, i mean no offence, its just a little strange... i realise its a bit late to sneak in with a review, but i have only just found your site, and have only just about a half hour ago finished refiner's (excellent by the way) so sorry.

Abraxan replied:

Glad you enjoyed the story - and it's WAY too late to worry about whether my Brit-picker was right or not (she's from West Yorkshire, BTW) - these stories were published quite a long time ago now - I've had time to write two original novels and a bunch of ficlets that fit into Destiny's epilogue since finishing the two novels.

Abraxan

Aberbadger posted a comment on Thursday 14th June 2007 10:32am

I'm not sure, but I think "abeo" is litteraly I change. I think the thing about the spells is should it be in the first, second or third person? Singular or plural? Imperative?
I think the simplest thing to do would be to find yourself a cheap book on latin grammar!

Abraxan replied:

And I think you should just enjoy the story and stop worrying about whether or not I'm any good at Latin.   The story is complete and will not be revised.  

Abraxan

Aberbadger posted a comment on Thursday 14th June 2007 6:46am

I can't remember if I've said this before (if I have, I appologise), but stroppy is more like catty than feisty - feisty usually has positive connotations, stroppy is always negative. Not to be too blunt about it, or sexist, or whatever, but stroppy is a very good way of describing your average PMS super freak out! Feisty on the other hand has more of a vivacious feel to it. Also, I'm not sure if that is the correct spelling, but even if it is, depending on regional accent, Firenze is normally pronounced Fee-a-ren-tsay/Fee-oh-ren-tsay/Fee-a-ren-thay/Fee-oh-ren-thay....

Abraxan replied:

I used "stroppy" because it's what my Brit-picker suggested as a British word for "feisty," which she said they don't use.   I don't even know why you're worried about the pronunciation of Firenze, but although I'm not a linguist, I DO know Italian, having sung opera for a great many years.     I've also traveled in Italy, and "Firenze" is the Italian name for Florence.   and it's not pronounced any of the ways you said - there is no extra vowel between the "i' and the "r" - and what the heck difference does it make in a fanfic anyway?   "Fee-rrehn-zuh" is how our Italian guide pronounced it, and from what I know of Italian, that's correct.   But I honestly don't understand why you think it's an issue anyway.

None of it matters anyway, since these stories were published between one and three years ago (depending on which story) and I've written several HP ficlets and two original novels since then (one of which will be published soon).   I'm not changing anything in my existing HP stories.

Abraxan

Infin1x posted a comment on Tuesday 12th June 2007 7:27pm

Two truly enjoyable novels. The two things that stood out the most to me were the Harry/Casey relationship which just felt quite nice and the situation with the Dursleys which was the best I have ever seen it done, to many have a long chewing out/ hexing scene and then the Dursleys are gone, it's nice to see it a bit differently.

Abraxan replied:

Thank you very much!   I'm so glad you liked those aspects of my stories!   I had a lot of fun writing the stories, and those things in particular were a lot of fun to explore.  

Casey's had such a strong reaction among my readers that I've "resurrected" her in my original novel "Star Sons: Dawn of the Two" which will be published hopefully by the end of summer.   Keep me on your favorites list and watch my news page for the pubication announcement!   And thanks for writing!

Abraxan

mercutioh posted a comment on Monday 7th May 2007 11:06am

the stories were absolutely fantastic, thank you for what was obviously a labor of love. I find that you remained extremely faithful to Jo's characters which is not all that common in Fanfic. All in all both books were an excellent read, and a great distraction until we get the real deal in June.

Abraxan replied:

You're right, they were a labor of love!   Thank you so much for your kind words!   I was trying to stay true to JKR's vision, developing the characters and story the way I thought she might.   I was delighted to see, in HBP, how many things I'd guessed right!   :D   Thanks for your lovely review!

Abraxan

Bonita posted a comment on Friday 20th April 2007 7:59am

Sorry, you probably don't want a review on the subject of your spelling of Romania, but I'm English and when I was in college, one of my teachers was Romanian. Since she lives in the U.K, she spells her country's name in the British way - Romania - apparently it is the standard spelling. I wish you would correct it, because it's awfully distracting and irritating to see such a glaring error. Your Brit-picker is wrong, unfortunately. Although obviously in Romania, the Romanians spell it differently (could be the spelling they use is Rumania?) Here in Britain though, it's still spelt Romania, regardless. Please fix.

Abraxan replied:

These novels were completed years ago and I'm not changing a thing.  

Abraxan

Jiapa posted a comment on Monday 16th April 2007 3:20am

I just finished reading Refiner's Fire, and now I'm partway through Time of Destiny and I'm loving it.

You're a wonderful writer and a joy to read. I do have one nit to pick that jumped out at me when I was reading this chapter, and one question that will probably get answered as I read on...

The nit: You mentioned that Harry and Ron were sitting on Ron's bed waiting for Neville to wake up. I thought that Ron was Head Boy and had his own bed in a separate room this year. Perhaps Harry and Ron were sitting on Harry's bed?

The question: You have no Slytherins coming to the DA meetings, and no attempts from any of the characters to develop connections with any of the Slytherins, other than Harry and Ron trying to unscare some Slytherin first years. Do you perceive everyone in Slytherin as unredeemable simply by virtue of being in Slytherin, or will there be some communication opened with that house before the end of the novel? It just seems sad that innocent 11 year olds can't learn with the rest of the DA first years just because they were sorted into Slytherin. I s'pose I'll find out by the end.

Thank you very much for writing these wonderful novels!

Abraxan replied:

I'm glad you're enjoying my stories!

Yes, Ron has a Head Boy suite, but he was lonely up there and moved back into the dorm with Harry and the others.   He uses the Head Boy suite as a study place for him and his friends (I do say all this somewhere, although I can't recall where - it's been over a year since I finished uploading Destiny and I've been busy writing original novels and HP ficlet since then).

As for the Slytherins - JKR didn't show a single Slytherin who could be considered an "innocent" of whatever age.   I base my stories on the world she created.   She didn't have any Slytherins in the D.A., and I see no reason to change what she started, since my goal with these stories was to continue Harry's story as I thought JKR might do (and I'm very pleased with how "right" my guesses were.   When HBP came out, I found a LOT of things in there that I'd already written--  my guesses were based on things JKR had written in previous books).  

All that said - Harry does want the houses to get along, and he does offer the Slytherins an opportunity to get involved with the other houses, but through Quidditch, not the DA.   You'll have to keep reading to find out what happens.

Abraxan

Robin Westerly posted a comment on Sunday 1st April 2007 7:48am

once again
UNBELIEVEABLE

Abraxan replied:

:D   I take it you mean that in a good way???   heehee.   Thanks a lot!

Abraxan

Robin Westerly posted a comment on Thursday 29th March 2007 7:26pm

I iobject! Fulham is in London! Just not in the centre.
Grin!
You know from the million and one times I've reviewed these stories that I adore and worship them and I couldn't resist the chance to say thank you again.
so ... Thank you!

Abraxan replied:

LOL!   I know it's on the outskirts of London (sort of).   I didn't think it was considered "London" since it has its own name (I thought it was a town in its own right).   Ah well, I never said I was perfect!!

I'm glad you're still enjoying my stories!   Thanks for writing!

Abraxan

neqs posted a comment on Monday 12th March 2007 3:57am

I've been enjoying The Refiner's Fire and The Time of Destiny because of your original ideas and creative plots, but some things have bothered me. For example, I find it hard to believe that even someone as complacent about his students' safety as Dumbledore would let Harry move freely in the corridors when every student is a potential assassin. Your Harry is pretty much in character except for one huge thing: his forgiveness. Canon-Harry is anything but forgiving, but your Harry gives second chances to his hated relatives and placidly hands over any captured Death Eaters to the Ministry while Azkaban seems to have a revolving door. I also find some aspects of the stories morally disturbing, like Hermione hexing a helpless if unpleasant squib just to hide her illicit snogging, and the use of cheering charms to curb righteous anger and stop arguments.

That said, I do enjoy your stories and think that you have a talent for writing.

Abraxan replied:

Thank you for your positive assessment of my skills despite your opinion of some of my ideas.     My Harry is forgiving because he's growing up, and those who don't forgive wind up in mental institutions or with otehr personal problems.   I want him to grow up to be a healthy, happy person, so he had to learn how to forgive both himself and others when needed.   He's still interested in justice and he still fights for the right, but increasing maturity helps people see more than just one side of issues.   I worked hard to mature Harry into a fully functional adult, and I think I succeeded there.   If you disagree, that's your right.   I would not rewrite any of it - I like it as it stands, and I like the way the characters matured and developed - and so do the vast majority of my readers, so I guess I wasn't that far off the mark.

Abraxan

lorddwar posted a comment on Tuesday 13th February 2007 10:18am

Bloody brilliant. I loved this story the first time I read it and still do.

Abraxan replied:

Thank you very much!   I'm glad you found it worth re-reading!

Abraxan

ShadowNixxie posted a comment on Wednesday 7th February 2007 1:59am

I really liked this fic. It was great! Although I did feel that there was a way too big pileup of injuries in the end and everyone was too dependent on spells and potions when they were feeling down...

I'm heading over to ff.net to add them to my c2!

Abraxan replied:

Glad you enjoyed it!

Abraxan

the-marauders-girl posted a comment on Saturday 20th January 2007 4:50pm

Wow...again. I just couldn't stop reading once I finished Refiner's Fire, and here I am, Chapter 16 a day later. The story's great again, just as Refiner's Fire was.
At the beginning of the chapter, during Harry's presentation, McGonagall says that Peter Pettigrew was alive...but didn't Harry kill him in the Battle in France? Also, wasn't it mentioned in Refiner's Fire that Remus is the only Marauder still living? I'm not quite sure, but if my memory serves me correctly (As it usually does), then there should be no need for students to look out for a rat with Wormtail's description...
But, other than that, congrats on another success, and good luck with the rest of your writing adventures.

Abraxan replied:

That was one of I believe four real mistakes I made in both novels - not too bad overall, really.   Yes, I killed off Pettigrew in RF, but forgot it in ToD and my betas didn't catch it either.   Oh well.   At some point, I suppose I should revise that chapter, but I'm busy writing original novels now and don't have time to revise fanfics that are already published.   JKR has serious mistakes in her novels too ("ancestors" instead of "descendents" in one place, and having James and Lily come out of Voldie's wand in the wrong order are two that immediately leap to   mind).   When you're writing stories of such length and complexity (and my two novels, totalling over a million words,  are as long as probably 4 of her books), it's easy to miss a detail here and there.

Glad you're enjoying the story!

Abraxan

joeb posted a comment on Saturday 13th January 2007 4:57pm

that was one of the best stories i have ever read on any fan fic website. it was just as good as any of the harry potter books. amazing

Abraxan replied:

Thank you so much!   I really appreciate it.   I'm glad you enjoyed my story!   Be sure to look for my other stories on this site!

Abraxan

Imp posted a comment on Sunday 31st December 2006 7:05pm

Exactly one year ago, I stumbled onto your fanfiction and read it all the way through (until I was forced to stop because of it being, at the time, unfinished) and watched every week for the next chapter. When I was notified of your latest fic, written from Hedwig's perspective, I read that, and decided I'd come back and read the entire story again. Wonderful writing, and an inspiration as always.

Abraxan replied:

Wow, thanks a lot!   That's a lot of reading!!   Glad you enjoyed it!   Happy New Year!

Abraxan

almost-alive posted a comment on Thursday 28th December 2006 2:20am

I love your story, and think that it's really original. However, as a true Brit, I can tell you that I have never heard of anyone spelling Romania "Rumania" unless they are spelling it wrong...

Abraxan replied:

Glad you liked it.   My Brit-picker is a true Brit (lives in West Yorkshire, works there and in London) and she insisted on that spelling, so that's what I went with.

Abraxan