The Quintessential Tart

(HA! I didn't even need spell check to fix quintessential! I'm on a roll!)

So this Blogger Crusade is INSANE, yeah? I've had a bunch of new followers (almost 30?), extra comments, and a decent jump in hits, which is mega-cool. I'd like the THANK Rachael for her fantastic organization. I thought though, with a bunch of new faces... that maybe I should introduce myself a little more (meaning less--this is a theme with me... sometimes less is more (clothing) sometimes more is more (most stuff)) properly so you know what you're getting yourself into. Consider this my disclosure statement *cough*

As Writer

I'm dark and mysterious eh? Aren't you frightened? (this is actually a tree I pass on my walk, half dead, half alive, and I LOVE it, but I digress)  Yeah, see... well that's the problem... I have a bit of a disconnect between... the Naked ME and what I like as entertainment. I read, watch and listen to the DARK SIDE *cue spooky music*. I like mystery, suspense, horror, dystopia. Maybe it is that I am sort of annoyingly optimistic and silly and need some balance? I'd like to think though, that I WANT to be Vivian Leigh, but was born Lucille Ball [you know... the wrong kind of crazy]. Whatever the case, the majority of what I've written has been suspense in some form or other (mystery... thriller-wannabe). (though never without a snark, smartass, or ironic character... I like dark humor, too—voice always comes through.) Miss Darkness has written seven books, and edited three, but is just FINALLY getting one of them right (I hope)

Cozy Me

(this is Joel) Here's the thing, though... I write and polish and edit and write some more... improving, yes, but 'good enough'?... not yet—on the suspense anyway...

Cozy Mystery... GOT ONE. Last spring I had a chance to audition for a series with the first 50 pages based on some guidelines the editor suggested, and I GOT IT! It was still a lot of work (and my editor has asked me for some changes, but they aren't that big...), but the thing about Cozies... THIS WORK is like PLAY... there is no effort in keeping in voice when you get to have characters announce “I'm naked!” when that is EXACTLY what YOU like to say! So here I am, alternating voices, because I'd like to do both, but the one that comes more naturally, is the one that worked most easily. Who knew?

And then there is BLOGGIE Me...

(the same voice as the Cozies, largely, but maybe with a swig of rum to kill the inhibitions and a shot of espresso to amp the chaos) This is me as I really would be if my brain in real life could keep up. In actuality, my processor is sort of overloaded, so I speak a little more slowly than is consistent with the spaz coming across your screen... and erm... while I'd like to pretend I'm Jessica Rabbit... once again, I am more Bugs in Drag... except instead of a man dressed as a woman, I am more a woman dressed as a man dressed as a woman (except I'm not dressed)--Oh, I know it's confusing, but you will catch on very quickly.

In my blog life, I'd bet 70% of my content either is about writing or connects some OTHER observation to writing, 10% is sentimental tripe sweetness, and 20% is insanity in my own personal idiom... But even the theoretically non-insane stuff is still... you know... me (aka: insane by normal standards).

And I LOVE the Blogosphere... I first appeared in June of '09 and started mercilessly stalking Elizabeth (which is what I recommend to ANYONE who wants to learn FAST how to do it RIGHT). I have made a ton of friends... real friends... deep friends... friends who put up with me and even LIKE me... I just think the level of info exchanged via blog lets us really know each other a lot better than the other social media... we become people who not only click a button for each other, but really support each other... but what SHOCKED me so much is how much I have LEARNED (because of course I already knew everything, so what was there to learn *shifty*) This is my world and YOU are my peeps!


More ME! *cough*

FOMS: essential to ME, is the fact that I am deathly afraid of missing something (get it? Fear of Missing Something), so I generally participate in... oh, everything... I am currently on pins and needles waiting to hear if my pitch passed me from round one to round two of ABNA (for Kahlotus Disposal Site—a YA general fiction book with a ghost narrator)... I do NaNoWriMo and most big blog events... though not the writing blogfests, as I don't have time to give them what they deserve...

Flag Nut: So one of my stat counters is a FLAG counter, and it makes me SQUEEEE a lot... did it just last night when I got a visit from my 145th country! (Myanmar—cool flag, eh? Though I hear—via some random blog, that it's controversial, as it is new and replaced a loved one... or something)(and Cruella has reminded me this is BURMA, which is another controversy--ACK!  My blog just got political!) I ADORE that people all over the world read this... oh, sure, sometimes the search that brings them here is a little odd... maybe some of them aren't ACTUALLY reading... But I've made good friends in Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Thailand... many many more...


Naked World Domination: This is an effort to achieve world peace by taking over the world and making everyone get naked *nods* (seriously, it totally makes sense if you see the whole manifesto)


so there I am! In a nut shell! (without the shell)

WELCOME ONE AND ALL! (except spammers... especially that annoying American woman hater... sheesh... talk about asking to have your comment deleted:  hello... I am an American woman... *rolls eyes*)


I hope to see all of you around regularly!