At this point, I have no plans to continue writing Harry Potter or Harry/Draco fanfiction, although I am not completely writing off a return at some point in the distant future. For now, any promised projects will not be continued and I will not be posting any new Harry Potter fanfiction works. I would be grateful people would no longer write to me regarding the posting of A Priceless Gift II as explained, I have no plans to complete it.

With this decision, I left behind many many hours of enjoyment in this fandom, but alas, it took a darker turn for me. It was a hard and extremely painful decision for me to make, but I know in my heart for the preservation of my work and my sanity, leaving was the right choice. I have moved on to a new fandom interest of House MD, where I will continue to write fanfiction and produce other fan works. If you are also a fellow House MD fan, welcome to my new world!

Take care,

Lani
 

Hope you enjoy our new look!

Take care,

Lani
 

I'll be the first to admit that this past year or so has been so full and hectic for me that I would've laughed if anyone had tried warn me what was coming.

Amongst all this, I regretfully say, I lost my love of READING fanfiction and haven't actually read anything in quite a good few months. On the other hand, I lost the time to WRITE a lot also. I've been plodding along and trying my damnest to keep my head above water, but fandom did wane for me. 

I have never stopped writing. In fact, I have LOADS of WIPs that I will finish sooner or later. But a hard lesson I've had to learn in fandom is you need to read and write fanfic in your own time and to your own schedule as real life permits. As much as I would love to jump at every review along the lines of "UPDATE SOON OR I'LL KILL YOU" or "I'VE BEEN WAITING SOOOOOOOOO LONG FOR UPDATES. UPDATE SOON OR I WON'T EVER REVIEW AGAIN", I need to remember that first and foremost, I'm in fandom for ME; for MY love of HP fandom and writing in general. As I said, learning this and learning not to take every little comment to heart has been a long road for me, and on more than one occasion, I've nearly pulled the plug on it all.

You all know my biggest bone of contention was ever promising to write A Priceless Gift II. This will come. I just can't say when. I do appreciate those how understand who hard it is to write something you feel forced to. In cases like this, you never offer your best work and always end up like you've proffered a substandard product. This is why I haven't worked too much on APGII. I want to do a good job of it. I want to write it, but I also want to do the best job on it my readers expect of me. Until I'm ready to tackle it again, it's just going to remain a WIP.

Having said all that, every now and again, I receive the most amazing emails from people that remind me why I joined fandom in the first place, and why I ever decided to post my own work to the big wide (and often fickle) world that is HP fandom. Over the past couple of days, I received two of the most wonderful emails that just have helped me inject some life into my fandom interest. While I won't post the names of the people who emailed me, I would just like to publicly thank them from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to tell me how much they appreciate my work and why...



Hello,

I have been milling around The Restricted Section and I happened to pass by something that you wrote (the two worlds series) and i found them mildly amusing (ok bloody hilarous) and as is my habit begain to read your other stories. Finding them all really funny in varying degrees and sweet to boot.

Then I got to No Chances and Only One Chance and indeed funny they were but also coma inducingly sweet, I was addicted at once. You made me cry (i feel like such a girl). By the end of the 1st chapter of the 1st story i loved the characters and what you had done with them you hooked me that quickly and I wanted everything to work for them.

I just needed to Thank you for writting this and to tell you that it was such a pleasure to read.



Well, first of all, HI!! {identifying info removed}

I have read just about every one of your H/D stories, and they all so brilliantly rock out loud! I just don't know what it is about H/D slash and us women... but my husband has learned to shut up about it because I just can't get enough! You are truely a talent, and I adore your writing! I still can't believe how some people would write or comment any of your stories in a negitive way. I mean any story, or creative thought that comes from anyone, is special. Somebody saying, 'Hey, I don't like this', to me, is saying 'I don't like the way you think'... which is ignorant!! Then again, that's just me! XD

I just wanted to say hi, make sure you know that your words are appreciated by alot more people than you realize, and to make sure you know that I have spent the last week on your page!! (Happily, I might add!) I hope all is well, and take care of yourself!!

*HUGS*

In other news, I got this email this afternoon from the creators of the new project hpqfac. Basically it involves HP fanfiction writers signing up to be sponsered to write fics and the sponsership money goes to AIDS researchs. The email was asking for writers/artists and sponsors to sign up for the project.

Needless to say. I signed up!

I just wanted to pimp this project because it seems fabulous. Many people are putting in a lot of hard work for this, and it's for a good cause.

For more info, visit hpqfac or http://www.deatheatersanonymous.org/hpqfac/

Take care,

Lani
 

Firstly, just about everything was put on hold for me recently for my wedding. I got married overseas in Scotland on 5th August, and we had an absolutely perfect day. Thank you to all those who emailed me and sent me their best wishes for this. Unfortunately, when I got home, I was faced with a massive backlog at work and also the task of catching up on five weeks of missed university.

To cut a long and boring story short - real life has bitten, and is still biting, me on the arse. I have written the odd thing here and there, but my writing has been put on hold for quite a few different reasons which I would prefer to keep private. I have university exams again in six weeks time, but following that I have another three month break, which I just cannot WAIT for. I need a rest and I feel I've very much earned it over this last year.

I know many, many of you are waiting for my fic updates, and even more of you are 'desperate' for the sequel of A Priceless Gift to be released. Unfortunately, at this point, I don't have anything good enough to post and I have no plans of actually focusing on my writing again until I finish my yearly exams. I don't have the luxury of massive amounts of spare time because I work part-time and also have a full-time study load. My job is also no walk in the park, and being newlywed also has some time consuming perks ;)

The reason I haven't been overly visible in fandom is because I don't want to get anyone's hopes up when I am not able to deliver the goods. I pride myself on trying to write and post good quality fics, and I don't want to fall in the trap of just posting crap because people want to see me putting up ANYTHING. I won't do this. This isn't why I write, and it isn't why I get pleasure from fandom. I hate when other people promise and don't deliver and I will never fall into that trap myself.

I know all those many months ago immediately following posting the end of A Priceless Gift that I promised the sequel would be out shortly after. This is the only time I ever promised anything, which things happened and made me unable to deliver, and its come and bite me on the arse. I pay for this by receiving nasty and demanding emails from people wanting to know where the sequel is and because of this I will NEVER promise something will be written again. I will write it when I am able, and that is all I can promise you all just now.

I do apologise for this. When I first entered fandom as a fic writer, I was so optimistic and wanting to please people with my writing. Gradually, I did learn both the pleasant and nasty sides of fandom. Thankfully I have never been the victim of flaming or gossip BUT I have received rudely worded, demanding, and unpleasant emails - all of which have gradually made me lose slight pieces of my fic writing passion. I will return and it will be in the near future, but this must be when I am ready again. It won't be because people are writing me emails saying "OMFG POST APGII RIGHT NOW!" So please, if you have written me emails like this, you now know why I never replied.

For now, I have had the utmost pleasure of being involved in my Post-Hogwarts Harry/Draco Roleplaying Game on LiveJournal, beyond7years. I started this a few months ago and we've been nothing but a complete success. This allows me to nurture my passion for writing in small bursts when I have time, and it's also allowed me to interact with a lovely bunch of people and have fun in the process. We've recently opened a website for our RPG http://www.beyond7years.com and are always looking for new people to come and join us as players. I play Draco over there and I must admit, it does allow me to get in touch with my inner drama queen! :)

To wrap up, I can promise that I will be back. I can also promise that APGII is about halfway written and I am very happy with it so far. Once I get my exams out of the way and wade through my backlog at work, I will have more time to devote to myself and work on getting my H/D fandom passion back. In the meantime, if anyone would like to email me, please feel free: lani@lanisfanfiction.com I may not always have time to reply immediately, but I will try my damndest to get back to you eventually. But again, if it's just to ask when APG's sequel is coming out, you have your answer here in my note, so please save yourself the time of writing.

Thanks again all of you for your massive amounts of support. It's been a year since I posted Summer Rain, my first ever fic, and the response I've had to my writing since then has been unbelievable. You're all amazing. Thank you so much.

Take care,

Lani
 

Harry is an obnoxious and horny drunk - many people are! Draco knew this, but did he try and stop the drinking? No. Because despite his dignified exterior, he actually likes Harry being all over him and a little rough and ready. I thought I indicated this with Draco's urging of Harry during their wet-wall encounter and his amusement of Harry's behaviour with his "I suspect that will come when he has a spare hand to shove up my kilt" comment. You have to remember also, that Harry and Draco got together via a drunken encounter, so Draco likes Harry being like this towards him. Draco was a bit peeved at having his arse flashed or being groped at the urinal, but he actually really got off on how possessive and "affectionate" Harry was with him. With Harry being a rare drinker, Draco doesn't experience this behaviour often, so when push came to shove (pardon the pun), Draco was actually really in to it. This does reflect in the fact Draco didn't - or had no intentions to - push Harry away. I mean honestly, if he had been truly upset and bothered by Harry's behaviour, don't you think he would make sure Harry knew it? ;) Harry would never have gotten beyond the grope on the dance floor; Draco would've loudly and clearly told Harry to back off.

So, I don't actually agree that Harry's behaviour was so totally awful to cause Draco to want to leave him! These two love each other, guys. Some people seemed to have missed that point. They had issues in their relationship that needed addressing, but it certainly wasn't grounds to break-up! I've seen drunks behave much worse than Harry did that night. You need to give him a little credit. I also don't agree that Harry's behaviour at the wedding would've been cause for DRACO to be the denier of sex for a week. The issue was actually that Harry felt Draco took him for granted, and I'm surprised some people missed this. It was irrelevant WHY he felt he was being taken for granted. He was feeling like that, and Draco couldn't deny it, and actually agreed in the end. It's an issue that comes up in many relationships - Sex versus Love. Before, they had never actually stepped into the "committed relationship" status, even though they had been together for three years. THAT is what the basis of the story was. I feel Harry was quite entitled to deny Draco at this point - even though he did, admittedly, do it when he was upset and feeling unwell. It got the result he wanted, didn't it? ;) 

A short story like this is always just a mere snapshot of the lives of the characters. You need to piece together their history from comments and indications in the story. A lot of one-shots I have read could never be taken on face value because they just wouldn't make sense. A writer does just assume on some level that the reader will understand that these characters DO have a history beyond the tiny glimpse portrayed in the one-shot. It is certainly my style of writing and won't ever change. You can only put some much into a short story. This fic was only supposed to be about half the length - I am wondering what the reviews would be like if I did do that *laughs*

Anyway, that's just wanted I wanted to explain. I thought I brought this off it in the fic, but I must've missed something!

Thank you all for the brilliant reviews :) On a whole, the feedback I've gotten from this fic has been astounding :) 90% of my readers understood my point, but for the other few, I did just want to explain my own thoughts and view points on the situation.

Take care,

Lani
 

Before I say anything else, I just wanted to tell anyone who is interested that after a bit of a Google search I have located Eneada’s blog: http://www.diary.ru/~eneadart/

She has posted on there as recent as April it seems. There is new HP stuff, but no new H/D as of yet. It has all her old manips if you have the patience to scroll back through the entries. It looks like this is where she posts first when she does anything new, and the fact that it has been recently updated is a good sign! Here’s hoping she releases more H/D stuff in the near future :)

On a more personal note, as you all know, I am getting married on August 5 in Scotland. What I haven’t really mentioned is that between now and then, I actually have a very hectic time coming up. I have exams at the beginning of June (which I will need to begin studying for very soon), then a 5 day residential school at the end of June. I fly out to Scotland on July 13. Between now and then, I have all my wedding plans to finalise.

I know some of you are groaning now and waiting for me to say I won’t be writing until after the wedding. This isn’t the case :) I will be writing… BUT…

Yes, the inevitable ‘but’. I have decided to put A Priceless Gift II: Fatherhood on hold for now :( I know this is going to cause upset amongst some of my readers, and I am very sorry for this. Unfortunately, I’m just not in the frame of mind to work on writing it at the moment. The amounts of demands I’ve had for it have caused it to become a chore for me to write rather than an enjoyment. Weekly, if not daily at times, I get people emailing me wanting to know when I will be posting it. With life becoming as busy as it is going to be, I need to spend my writing time writing what is working for me at the moment. Right now, that is not APGII.

In saying that, I may just get a muse to write it and will post it obviously if I do. But for now, officially I will say that I won’t be posting this until after my wedding in August when I have the time it needs to focus on it. Until then, I will be writing one-shots and/or novellas and I also have another novel-length in the works. What gets posted at any one time is what I have had the feeling to write.

I adore meeting my readers and having you guys email me :) The only thing I ask of all my readers just now is to not email me anymore asking when I will post APGII, because I will just reiterate what I said above.

Now that that negative news is out of the way :) I can confirm I have three “Two Words” fics in the works that I hope to get finished and posted soon. I also have a birthday fic on May 9 coming for wannabedesigner, starring Drunk!Horny!Possessive!Harry entitled No Sex For A Week. I’m looking forward to finally posting something again and having a bit more time to actually spend writing! :)

SOOOO many of my Friends had birthdays during my hiatus. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone :) I’m so sorry I missed your special days. I hope you all had a lovely birthday!

And now, at risk of this post turning into a novel *laughs* I got my present of Draco’s wand from my dear friend and Yahoo! Group Moderator ceeceedraco!! Here are a couple of pictures:

Take care everyone :) Thanks for being so patient during my time away.

Lani

I am actually working on A Priceless Gift II: Fatherhood :)

I'm going to get stuck into it whenever I have some spare time, and aim to get it done around the beginning of May. Again, please don't hold me to this, as this is merely an AIM :) I've had my friend CeeCee read over the first portion of it, and she gave me wonderful feedback :) I think I really did just need a bit of support and reassurance with it to get me going again. I think the incessant string of people asking me when it was going to be/why hadn't I done it yet really shot my muse down in flames with this fic - this is the first time something like this has happened.

APG and TCBY were really dear to my heart. But the sequel went from being an exciting challenge for me to almost being a dark cloud hanging over my head when I wasn't able to complete it in the time frame a lot of readers thought it should be done in. One reader even went so far as to accuse me becoming one of his or her "peeves" because they had waited SO LONG for APGII. "AGES. Since Christmas" they stated, failing to remember that I actually wrote novel-length TCBY since APG and Christmas. This was the icing on the cake for me, and I basically lost my motivation of it for awhile.

Its made it clear to me that I really do need to write what feels right at the time, to the exclusion of anything else. I understand a lot of readers are excited about APGII, and it IS coming, but I won't ever promise a sequel to a novel-length again. I don't want to disappoint anyone, and I don't want to be hassled about it.

I don't ever profess to be like JKR, but some readers forget that with her busy life, it takes two years for her to write a novel, so I think some of us fanfic author's are doing bloody good to produce novel-lengths in much shorter time frames. I'm sure I can vouch for other fanfic authors when I ask that people just bear this in mind before thinking of demanding pieces of writing from fanfic authors. We don't get paid for our writing. We all have real life committments away from fandom. Many readers demand quality fics to read, but quality takes time and effort. If you want quality, please give us author's time to produce these standards.

95% of my readers are fantastic and supportive *HUGS YOU ALL* You all have wonderful and encouraging comments to make to me, and please know I cherish every word. Its just the other 5% that can really be trying. I don't mean to ramble, but I just felt some of these things needed to be said.

Fingers crossed that I can get some spare time to get stuck in to APGII :) I REALLY want to get this out to you all, and I can only hope it will be all that you expect, and hopefully more!

Take care,

Lani

Now that I am back working on it again, I thought it was time to give you all a little information about it

There will be EIGHT PARTS, and each part will deal with different baby milestones, while still continuing with the APG storyline:

Part 1) Newborn
Part 2) From six months
Part 3) From one years
Part 4) From two years
Part 5) From three years
Part 6) From four years
Part 7) From five years
Part 8) Epilogue: to Hogwarts

Each part will have approx 3-4 chapters, meaning the whole story will be approx 30 chapters. In very loose calculations, the fic will be around 80,000 words.

In answer to a few reader questions regarding APGII:

- Yes, we will see Lily going to Hogwarts, but it will only be dealt with in the Epilogue

- No, I haven't decided whether Lily will have a sibling. Sure, it's a possibility, but I'm leaning towards no at this point. Which also means, no, I have decided how the sibling would come about (ie. whether Hermione would surrogate again) I am very much preferring Lily to be an only child at this point

- No, Draco's job will not be an issue any longer. This was effectively dealt with in APG.

- Yes, we will see more of Pansy and Blaise in APGII. I'm not going to answer whether Blaise will be a shit again.

- No, I'm not going to say at this point whether there will be a battle with Hermione for Lily's custody. You're just going to have to have a little faith in me.

- No, Harry and Draco don't have another wedding to make up for their interrupted one. The tied the knot and that's all that matters to them... that is not to say there won't be SOME SORT of large celebration occurance

Ok, I think that's enough for now! Also, I'm not obviously not going to give a timeframe. It's coming, and that's as far as I will promise. As I progress with it, there will be a cookie or two in preview

Take care,

Lani