Congratulations to epicyclical, who has made the leap

If you're on my friends list, there's a good chance you've heard this already. If not, I'm glad to announce some good news.

I ran across Cassie Claire (epicyclical's) fan fiction several years ago pretty soon after I first entered Harry Potter fandom. Everyone was talking about Draco Dormiens, and after I read it, I realized why. The first chapters were a little rough, but she was clearly getting better and better the more she wrote. Cassie's work was unbelievably funny, and she had honed irresistable characterizations. I was impressed by all sorts of aspects of her writing. I wanted to see more.

I did something that I've done only extremely rarely (I can count the occasions on one hand). I sent Cassie an e-mail and told her, "Very good fanfic--in fact, professional quality work. It shows me that you should think about moving on to your own original work, because you've got the raw talent that tells me you could become a successful pro. If you need encouragement, take it from me. As one who's sold books, I'm telling you that you can make the leap, if you want to."

I received a very nice answer back, and Cassie and I chatted periodically over the years about her hopes. I was so pleased to learn that she took what I had said seriously, and she was trying to do something about it. Not only did she have the talent, she had something that would-be pros need even more (and which is even rarer): she had the drive to succeed.

I finally met her at Nimbus, and I found her to be just as lovely in person. I surprised her by showing her my tattered copies of Draco Dormiens and Draco Sinister and asking her to autograph them; I believe I was the first person to ever ask for her autograph (and boy, won't those be worth something some day).

I'm not Cassie's only fan. Her popularity has grown by leaps and bounds, spurred by her hilarious LOTR Very Secret Diaries and now thousands of people are absolutely panting to read the end of Draco Veritas. But it's been coming pretty slowly, because happily Cassie's been working on something else, and now the news is out: epicyclical has sold her book. Better than that, with the aid of bgliterary acting as her agent, she has sold three books, a YA trilogy to McElderry Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Cassie, I'm so proud of you--and so delighted to be proven right. You are going to have a fantastic career. Congratulations!