Unwritten Curse

[Unwritten Curse]

Hi, friends! My name is Gina and I've been writing fanfiction since 2007. My fanfic "home" has changed a few times throughout the years but I am very happy to have found my way here to HPFT to write and chat with so many wonderful humans.   In "real life," I am a mom of two girls (and three cats), a Language Arts/Creative Writing teacher, an avid reader, and an on-again-off-again yogi. My reading preferences are pretty far-reaching, but I tend to gravitate towards YA fiction, especially if it includes an exploration of mental illness, LGBTQ+ and/or BIPOC protagonists, historical romance, dystopian governments, or dark/horror elements. I also have a love for 19th century women's fiction (which was my focus in grad school) and political fiction. Oh, and poetry! My writing tends to mirror my reading, so you'll find a lot of dark, angsty, romantic fics, though I do try to branch out of my comfort zone on occasion. Feel free to ask me anything!
 

I'm currently focusing my attention on three stories, which I will list in order from shortest to longest.

A LITTLE TOO MUCH
dramione | college au | short story | link

This fic began as a vague idea over a year ago, and was (finally) written into existence thanks to Taylor's "Modern AU" Challenge. It's my for fun fic, because it's not as dark or heavy as my other fics AND it lets me explore my OTP, Dramione. Also, I added the Greek Life element because I was in a sorority in college and my experience was not what the media portrays, so I have a side goal of redeeming Greek Life through Hermione's POV. (And also debunking the glorification of busyness.) I'm aiming for 3-4 chapters total, around 10K words.

Quote

Hermione Granger. Sociology and Political Science major. Member of Pi Delta Nu. Raging against the system.
Draco Malfoy. Psychology major. Member of Omega Psi Delta. Reeking of privilege.
The only thing these two have in common is how much they hate each other. Right?

♢ ♢ ♢

THE POSSIBILITY OF AFTER
amelia bones/fabian prewett | first war | novella
link | pinterest (m)

This fic also started in response to a challenge, though it's been years and I don't quite remember the challenge or who hosted it. I believe the idea was to take a fanfiction trope and rewrite it in a new and interesting way because I remember that I was given "teenage pregnancy" and I thought, oh shit. This fic has become something so much more, though. At its heart, it is an exploration of grief and how you can find your way back after losing everything. Oh, and Amelia Bones is a badass who devoted her life to fighting injustice. (She gives me major RBG vibes.) I'm aiming for around 10 chapters and 30K words.

Quote

In the midst of the First Wizarding War, Amelia Bones and Fabian Prewett navigate grief.
She lost her brother; he lost his best friend.
Together, they might just find themselves.

♢ ♢ ♢

PROJECT AZKABAN
teddy/victoire | next gen | novel
link | pinterest (m)

So this fic is my baby. It began as a question: What happened to Azkaban after the war? The dementors joined Voldemort so obviously letting them return to their posts at Azkaban is a bit problematic. From there, I just started brainstorming and ended up with this massive corruption in the Department of Mysteries meets Next Gen headcanons meets prison experiment. Each chapter is structured with a running narrative of Unspeakable trainees inside the prison experiment as "testers" followed by documents detailing the process of crafting and running the project. I've got 15 chapters written for a total of about 50K words, but with editing and adding scenes, I'm aiming for around 20 chapters and 70-80K words.

Quote

Plans for The Azkaban Project began during Voldemort’s reign. With the allegiance of the dementors in question, Azkaban’s current order of operation was no longer viable. Combining their most innovative studies in Space, Time, and Thought, the Department of Mysteries forged a new prison experiment. But what they thought they could control, soon began to control them.

beautiful headers by kris (a.k.a. grumpy cat)

[beyond the rain]

hey Gina! 

 

1. Did becoming a creative writing teacher change the way you write at all? 

2. I've never read amelia/fabian fic before, but I'm intrigued to say the least! What sort of dynamic is their relationship? 

3. Is there a genre you haven't written yet that you'd like to explore? 

4. It looks like Project Azkaban is nearly finished!! That's amazing!! Do you have any plans for a sequel or a new fic, or will you be focusing more on your other wips? 

5. What has been the biggest change in your writing, or any of your fics from when you started? Has there been a plot point you didn't expect? A shift in characterisation or your own writing style? 

 

[magnifique]

Ginaaaa I'm here to share some love in your writer's journal!!  

So one (1) your headers are so lovely, im crying, the beauty, it is just too real.

tell me more about your love for 19th century women's fiction, what are some of your favorite books/authors/themes from the period!! I'm not super familiar with literature from that era, but I do know a bit, most of my studies have been either 18th century or 20th century, of course, and that's right in the middle so I would love some recs if you have them  

so I have read your Dramione AU (which is so much fun so far omg) and Project Azkaban, bUT I DON'T THINK YOU WERE ALSO A FELLOW AMELIA BONES WRITER !!! so this is exciting and I need to check out that fic as well.

and thus, I have questions:

1. so the fic is exploring the idea of teenage pregnancy - how did you decide to approach it in the sense of like, reinventing the trope i think we've all seen a lot?

2. Why Amelia and why Fabian? 

3. (generally) what is your favorite time period to write in? You've got three different ones here, but do you have a preference or one that suits your style more?  

[Raspberry_cordelia]

Hi Gina!  Hope you're doing well.  Here's a socially-distanced hug  Your writer's journal is fantastic.  I'll have to check out the fics you mentioned, because they look absolutely amazing!  Here to drop of the gift of some questions!

1. What do you think is so compelling about Greek life for the purposes of storytelling, and how do you think it has been misrepresented in the media?
2. I love when people know the favorite colors and foods and annoying habits of their characters.  Do you have any minor headcanons for Amelia Bones, or any of your other characters, for that matter?
3. I found it cool that your Next Gen story technically relates to rebuilding, even though it doesn't occur in the rebuilding era.  I agree that there's probably many decades worth of work to do to undo the damage of the pure-blood supremacist structures of the Wizarding society.  What's your favorite part about writing Next Gen? 

[nott theodore]

Gina!! I didn't realise I was going to be so excited about your writing again just from reading your opening WJ post, but hey presto!  It's happened.

1. First off, piggybacking off Julie's question about your love of 19th century women's fiction - are there any writers from that era that have influenced the way that you write (or even plot)?  And if you could write a modern retelling (or any other form of adaptation) of one of those works, which would it be and why?
2. I love the idea of your Amelia/Fabian story (and also how did I not know you were writing them??).  What are you most excited for with this story and what do you think your biggest challenge will be?
3. I've loved getting to read some of your poetry on the archives as well.  Do you think writing poetry has influenced the way that you write prose at all?
4. When you're working on different projects at once, do you have to be in a particular frame of mind for each story, or can you pick any of them up when you sit down to write?
5. What's the biggest way your writing has changed since you started working on fic?