Creating a New Judged Awards

[hobgoblinn]

I've been corresponding tonight with someone who wants to organize a new judged fanfic awards in the Harry Potter fandom. I've judged a bit now, enough to know what it's like from a judge's side, but I've never seen what the mods do behind the scenes to make assignments, tabulate scores, distribute comments (if they do), and all the other housekeeping duties involved. I also can speculate a bit, but I don't really know all the details that go into selecting categories, taking nominations, limiting noms, etc.

I do know, however, that I have several people on this very f-list who do have this experience. Besides "Don't do it!" what would you say to someone just starting out? And where else would you suggest we go to learn more from people who know?

Thanks.

In other news, we're all packed. This time tomorrow night, I will be in a tent. Probably with mosquitos. In the rain. Because you know how you can predict it will rain on any given weekend? Check to see if Troop 8 will be camping. If the answer is yes, then yes. It will rain. Buckets, probably.

And Ch7 of In Loco is to betas, and I will be working on Ch8 writing longhand in a notebook when I'm not redirecting teenagers. Can't wait.

Comments

[nemaihne.livejournal.com]

http://tinyurl.com/5g72wz

Just trying to help... :D
Have fun this weekend.

[manny-maarie.livejournal.com]

Sorry, don't know about judging and such...

hahahaha, you know, I think people can tell if its going to rain stimply by the fact that they go camping. It always, always, always!! rains when I go camping, and I have plenty reports from different people who support my theory that the cosmos hates camping.

Yay, beta! I should really get writing on my fanfiction again...just got a reminder message from a fan who asked if I had abandoned the story...*sigh*

This time tomorrow, I'm going to be in a car heading for Denmark! Woop! Hope you will enjoy your trip as much as I hope I will enjoy mind.

Best of luck with the weather.

[emelye-miller.livejournal.com]

This is off topic, but, I just wanted to let you know that YOU SUCK.

I'm now hooked on Buffy/Giles. It's so, so wrong and yet, I can't stop reading it.

I hope you're happy. ; )

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Snort. So, That's where my B/G enthusiasm went. I see. Some great writers in that ship, huh? How'd I turn you on to them, though?

I started reading before I'd really had a chance to see them as Father/Daughter, so that element doesn't squick me, and I see a balance of power and of complementary abilities that would make an equal relationship possible. Plus Angel is teh Lame....

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

That is outstanding. Thanks for the link. might need it if I go whitewater rafting with them in May.....

[emelye-miller.livejournal.com]

Oh, I got curious after you mentioned how much you enjoyed the character interaction and decided to read a few stories. Frankly, I like how a romantic relationship forces them to resolve their issues and it seems to bring out really good Giles characterizations. I think the Buffy writing suffers a bit overall, but I'm not gonna lie, the better B/G stuff is pretty hot.

And Angel is not lame, he is superb. So there. Nyah.

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Angel was better in his own show. And he wouldn't have been bad if they hadn't spent so much time setting up the relationship, only to tear it apart almost immediately to give him his own show. Oddly, while I enjoyed Angel in some ways better than BtVS, I have never much been drawn to read or write fic in that universe.

What have you been reading that you've liked? And where?

[emelye-miller.livejournal.com]

Let's see, I've really enjoyed A Mile in His Moccasins by Gileswench and a lot of what I've read has been at the Gileszone archive. I've recently discovered a few others but I haven't had much time to peruse since.

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

Well, a lot of classics are on this archive: http://www.vampirecows.com/odd/AUTHALL.html

I especially recommend vatwoman, tweedempress, rari cross (Teacher's Pet),JK Phillips (who has recently updated her old wip and is taking up her keyboard once again-- she even answered an email from me, quite graciously), Pythia, Gabriele Schulz, Gail Christison, antennapedia, gileswench. Believe it or not, when I started reading fanfic and took an interest in Giles, I read everything on this site-- everything that didn't put me off a paragraph or so in due to grammar, punctuation or really bad writing. I found some more selective sites later. But I'm not sure a lot of those are even still around.

I should go through and make a recs list like clavally did: her HP recs corrupted me into that fandom, particularly the SS/HG part of it, but she had a bunch of classic Buffy fics listed as well: http://clavally.livejournal.com/84329.html

Oddly, looking through these now, I realize I haven't read (or can't remember) a lot of them. Anyway, enjoy your new timewaster. And, er, sorry.

[emelye-miller.livejournal.com]

You totally should do a fic rec list. BTW - What HG/SS fics have you read and enjoyed? Since you're being so gracious, it's only fair that I make sure there are no gaps in your reading list as well!

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

I've only recced a couple on my journal, it looks like, at least before I started posting to the_new_library. And I should warn you, I read fast and compulsively, so a novel length fic may last me only a few days. I tried (but did not finish) all of the recs on clvally's list, and branched out to favorites from there.

Here are some that leap to mind, in no particular order:
Hinge of Fate - Ramos
Unfinished Business - Ramos
Once more with feeling - Ramos
Into the North - Kailin
Tidings of Comfort and Joy - StormySkize
Fire and the Rose - Abby
Falling Further in (The Transformations Quartet of the Potterverse. You should read Kris Walhberg's very long epic, even though it will never be finished-- it's That Good. See the link off ODD.)
Roman Holiday - Anna
A Law to Herself - Shiv5468
Pawn to Queen - Riley
Heart over Mind - Reagann
pretty much everything on the http://www.obscurusbooks.org/ archive, even if I didn't like all of it equally
The Prefect's Portrait

Then there's the stuff I'm reading now--Zeegrindylow's De Profundis, Chivalric's Unkissed, The Apprentice and the Necromancer, Sage, Second Life, all the other good fics on hg_ss digest now in progress. That enough of a book report for you? I also read pretty much everything nominated for the classic hg_ss awards round before voting, and did not read or vote in the one that ends in another day or so. Bad hobgoblinn. Bad.

[emelye-miller.livejournal.com]

Looks like you've got a good smattering of the classics in there. I also recommend Cloak of Courage by WendyNat, What E'er Therin Is Promised by Deeble, and Vanity by Wartcap. If you're at all interested in reading some well written, non Mary Sue Snape/OFC, I can't recommend The Knight Errant Chronicles by Guernica highly enough. Fast reader? KEC is some 819,000 words long and still going. Also fab is the Death Eaters at the Malfoy Estate by Grindylowe. She has her own site so you'd have to google it. Everything else I've rec'ed is on sycophanthex.

[hobgoblinn.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I've seen Vanity, but I've read the other two. I'll check the other OFC fics, too-- I generally avoid those like the plague, though tambrathegreat's "Forgiveness" is shaping up to be quite wonderful. Thanks for the recs. Were there any you didn't know?

[emelye-miller.livejournal.com]

I haven't read some of the newer ones on your list though I have been checking in on Second Life from time to time. Hinge of Fate was the fic that got me into SS/HG and has been a favorite of mine for years. When I joined fandom, PtQ was still being wanked about so naturally I had to read and see what the crap was up with this story that had everyone foaming at the mouth. Funny now how tame it seems in comparison to fics that have been written since, but that's fandom for you.

Do check the others out. DEATME is a satire bordering on crackfic at times, but the resolution of the story is surprisingly tender. KEC has a really unique universe of its own that is absurdly easy to get swept up in.