Russian Translations of Hey You and SNAFU, and wow, art.

Ailine (go fangirl her, now) has just finished Russian translations of:

Hey You (Russian) (Hey You (English))

and

SNAFU: Situation Normal, All Fucked Up (Russian) (SNAFU (English))

This is on top of translating Beg Me For It (Russian) (Beg Me For It (English)) and the drabble series (Russian) (the drabble series (English)). She's also working on Death Eater Rock, and the rest of the series.

If that weren't enough, she's also drawn these beautiful pieces:

Ron and Draco in Sex, Drugs and Death Eater Rock
Ron's sensual and possessive smile here. The piece has an intimacy and just glows.

Draco portrait in SNAFU, I think, or at least that's what I see.
This chiaroscuro portrait is stunning. Draco's dead eyes after what he's gone through, capturing the moment where he steels himself to face his father.

She has two other pieces from Beg Me For It here.

I'm... if it doesn't sound too sappy... honored. That's the only word to describe it.

On reviews.

These days I'm not very good about reviewing stories I read. I have a tendency to just stick them on a rec-list and make my contribution that way.

Should One Reply To Reviews?
When I reviewed my first story, the author graciously got back to me about a week later. (I think it was keelywolfe but don't quote me on that.)

I was surprised because I hadn't expected a reply. I figured emailing the author was like sending a letter to the editor: into the Abyss, but at least you expressed your feelings. I wrote detailed reviews in the early days, several paragraphs (sometimes pages) of con-crit - and always sent a direct email as I wasn't about to critique a story publicly.

One author updated her abandoned fic with two or three chapters in response. Reviews really do have an impact.

It was so gratifying to hear from the author that I resolved to reply to every review I received, especially when I learned that not everyone did. It seemed... mannerly. I also found that once someone replied to my review I felt warmly about them and their stories.

( Yes, I'm definitely in the camp that feels it's best to reply. But Must one reply to reviews? )