Paired With The Potterhead

Wattys 2019!!!!!

Alrighty. I'm going to see if this eligible (again) for submission so fingers crossed that it is (editorial notes with an update as to whether or not it is will be shown below). There's a lot that I want to say so brace yourselves for a long monologue.

I seriously hope that this new "submission form" works out as well as I hope it will. Because last year's Wattys were a MESS. I don't know if you guys knew this or saw anyone talking about it but there were a lot of stories that made it through the first round that didn't even meet the criteria. I can't even remember what the criteria was because I have the Wattys 2018 completely erased from memory but all I know is that it was a god awful mess and it pissed a lot of people off. So hopefully this form clears out the garbage that shouldn't even be there and actually showcases the real talented stories (I'm not saying the stories were garbage. They just never met the criteria which made a lot of people upset because they, like myself, have been entering for years and felt very overlooked).

I know I finished this story quite some time ago. Almost a year I think and it still hasn't found its footing as fast as I want it to. With the Wattys I'm hoping this story will finally find the audience I've been wanting to reach out to. I find in literature these days there aren't a lot of f/f representation (but if there are books out there, recommend them to me! No matter what the genre is) so I wanted to write something to contribute to the lack of rep out there. It would mean the world to me if I made it to the winner's circle and my story finally found the audience and readers it's been looking for.

Also you may be wondering why Harry Potter? Harry Potter is my entire childhood. I was 9 when I read my first Harry Potter book. I'm 28 now so for me it's almost 20 years of the wizarding world being an influence on my life. The books and movies were how my friends and I bonded. My 5th grade teacher read the first three books to us everyday at the end of the school day. She'd do this really good impression of Hagrid's voice and always had some kind of merch up around the classroom. My class even took a trip to the movie theater to see The Philosopher's Stone and I remember everyone cheered when the movie started and when the credits rolled. It was was such a magical experience for me at the time and it still is to this very day. I'm even collecting the 20th anniversary Ravenclaw edition books and my mother is like "do you really need them? You have the series already" yes but I mean it's RAVENCLAW. The superior house. My house. The covers are stunning and the bonus material inside is very interesting. I'm getting every one when it comes out so suck on that mom! (I'm kidding. Love you ma). 

It's the love of the series I wanted to share and bestow onto Nora. Mind you I don't have as much merch as she does but we both love the books so that's all that really matters. It's a memory of when our childhood times were easier and we could dream more, so I really wanted to pour a lot of who I am into Nora. There's some of me in Laney too (the sarcasm, the dry sense of humor) but not as much as Nora. She's basically me but much cuter and with blonde hair. Laney is my....darker side I guess you can call it. The one that loves zombies and gore and music that's anything punk, punk rock, rock and roll or just straight indie. Both characters are definitely sides to me that I wanted to show in the story and I think I did myself justice.

I said this before too but Nora and Laney are my babies. I had the pleasure of watching Laney go from being a sarcastic closeted Harry Potter fan who hated society standards yet secretly followed what everyone else thought to not giving a single shit. Nora helped her open up and that's the beauty of Nora; even though she's been bullied for most of her life, she never really did let it bother her. She kept on doing what she loved most and that is a big part of the message I wanted to convey to readers. No matter what anyone tells you, you do you. Do what makes you happy and don't let anyone try and take that happiness away from you. You like writing fanfiction? Write away! You enjoy cooking up weird combinations of food and eating it? Go for it! We all get our happiness from something in life, whether it's a book or a tv show, if it's the only bit of happiness you ever get then you hold onto it for as long as you can. Don't let anyone try and take it away from you.