General Information
Important Links
Message Board Membership & Story Ratings Important Links About The Petulant Poetess Support The Petulant PoetessWriters' Resources
Punctuation Guide Writing Fan Fiction Harry Potter Resources Dictionaries Beta ResourcesMeet the Hard-Working Admins of The Petulant Poetess
The administrators on The Petulant Poetess are authors or editors in real life, on this site or out in the Real World. They are also accredited betas and have passed intensive training here, behind the scenes. Nearly every single admin has experienced posting a story to an archive other than The Petulant Poetess. It is through this collective experience that we fine-tune our service to you, the posting author. We know what it is like to be asked to make corrections, and yes, we even know what it is like to have a story rejected.
The admins work diligently with English grammar and punctuation rules, both American and British, to provide solid and consistent direction and guidance to all authors posting to the queue. Being as consistent as possible is important for our newer authors who are still developing grammatically. This should not scare away the more seasoned writer who is well-acquainted with the rules of English grammar and punctuation, as we strive to work with these authors in order to have a plethora of well-written stories that will inspire our less experienced writers.
The current administrators of The Petulant Poetess are listed below. Feel free to link through to their profiles and see what they have written and contact them via the Contact link if you like.
The Petulant Poetess supports the scheme set by Perfect Imagination and encourages all admins be accredited by their standards.
TPP Staff
astopperindeath
Queue Admin (P.I. Accredited)
BrenaMarie
Undersecretary
Clairvoyant
Queue Admin (P.I. Accredited)
Dreamy_Dragon
Co-Minister of the Department of Magical Cooperation
juniperus
Social Media Witch (P.I. Accredited)
karelia
Head Admin and Public Relations (P.I. Accredited)
linlawless
Queue Admin
lyn_f
Head Admin (P.I. Accredited)
Meladara
Co-Minister of the Department of Magical Cooperation
nagandsev
Queue Admin
notsosaintly
Site Owner and Webmistress
silverdoe
Undersecretary
WriterMerrin
Head Admin (P.I. Accredited)
History and Credits
The Petulant Poetess was brought into existence by NotSoSaintly on April 3, 2005. It began as a completely unmodified version of eFiction 1.1. However, it became clear almost from the beginning that certain modifications were necessary, whether it was to fix a bug or simply because it lacked many features. NotSoSaintly taught herself php, css, and a little bit of javascript, which followed naturally due to a familiarity with html and a working knowledge of creating and hosting websites. Since the site's inception, the software has been regularly modified and optimized and continues to undergo improvements to this date. Because of this, the software has become something more of an original creation, using Rebecca Smallwood's eFiction 1.1 as a foundation—a program without which this site would never have been born. As of October 1, 2005 the programming had been individualized to a point that it was given an official name: eFic Pandemonium. eFic Pandemonium is a program that is exclusive to The Petulant Poetess. Other sites may incorporate similar ideas, but the program files have never been and will never be shared with anyone else.
A note from NotSoSaintly, owner and progenitor of The Petulant Poetess:
I created this site not only for myself, since writing fanfiction has become a hobby of sorts, but for all the authors and readers out there who wanted a moderated fanfiction website on which to post and read where the admins were communicative and helpful. My initial goal in offering this site was to help writers learn how to grow in their craft. Many writers, myself included, are using and have used fanfiction as a way to practice and try different techniques before submitting short stories and novels to publishers out in the "real world." Therefore, I felt it was essential that the admins who volunteered their time on this site be as helpful and encouraging as possible in order to guide these writers on to loftier goals. The other thing I hoped to accomplish was to offer a friendly place for more seasoned writers to post. These stories serve as inspiration for the novice and intermediate writer, driving them to strengthen their skills.
The Poetess skin was the original skin, the site's "birthday suit," if you will. I have been asked occasionally if I do indeed have pink hair, most times jokingly. The answer is a resounding "no," I do not. Oddly enough, I have come to identify with that picture, as I have come to identify with The Petulant Poetess as "my baby." The Poetess, Professor, Goblet and GraphicLite skins and color schemes were created with PhotoShop and CSS coding. TarahFae, authoress and artiste extraordinaire, created the graphics and color scheme for the Patronus skin at my request (and a lot of begging). TarahFae was more than happy to do it for me (I think), and I have set Patronus as my personal skin and have not changed it to this day. Thank you, TarahFae, for giving The Petulant Poetess something to always remember you by! More skins may appear in the future as time and creativity allows.
I say this often, but I believe I cannot say this enough: my door is always open. If you have a complaint, a comment or a suggestion, there are several ways to contact either myself or one of the staff. We have the Forums, the link for which may be found in the menu at the top of every page. We have The Petulant Poetess Yahoo Group where you can chat with others and share favorite stories and review and discuss stories you've read. We also have The Petulant Poetess LiveJournal Community open to everyone where story updates will be posted as well as other site events. If you prefer private correspondence, visit the Help Page and contact the Help Desk. Someone will answer your question within 24 hours.
Additional References
It is my opinion that when one is editing, one should have some reputable resources to refer to. More than trying to keep a standard on this site, I am trying to be consistent. Any story that goes through the validation process is carefully screened to be consistent. I do not want to offend anyone by disparaging their choice of reference, but there are a few that just do not hold weight with me. I suppose all rules at one time or another have been someone's opinion, though.
That all being said, I try my best to follow "facts," and I try to be flexible when it comes to differences in American-English versus British-English. I can only learn so much, so all of you from other English-speaking countries, I do have to apologize. I wanted to list the resources I currently have in my library so you all have an idea what kind of resources I am consulting when I am validating a story and what I consider to be reputable.
- The Cambridge Guide to English Usage © Cambridge University Press 2004
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition © The University of Chicago 2003
- The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition (Strunk & White) © Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc. 1972
- Fowler's Modern English Usage, Revised Third Edition © Oxford University Press, Inc. 2000
- Merriam-Webster's Manual for Writers & Editors © Merriam-Webster Incorporated 1998
- The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage © The New York Public Library and The Stonesong Press 1994
- Chambers Perfect Punctuation © Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. 2005
- Chambers Effective Grammar © Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. 2005
Please Note: Do not quote Eat Shoots and Leaves to back up your claims. While the author does quote some rules, the book is essentially for entertainment purposes and is not considered a reputable reference. (Using this "reference" will only serve to irritate the Headmistress.)