A couple weeks ago, Steven Symes passed on the Versatile Blogger award to me. If you don’t know Steven, who writes non-fiction and also paranormal fiction (despite being a skeptic), please check out his blog HERE.
Now, as part of this blog award, I’m supposed to share 7 little-known facts about myself. This had me scratching my head. I’m such a big blabber, is there anything I haven’t already told you?
I asked my family: “Hey, guys. I’m supposed to share 7 unknown things about myself on my blog. Any suggestions?”
Bob: “I think you’ve pretty much told everybody everything. I can’t think of what you could have left.”
Gina: “Maybe you should make stuff up. Tell them you’re a wrestler in your spare time.”
Gabbey: *ticky, ticky, ticky ticky on her keyboard* (She is working on her epic fantasy novel and ignoring us.)
Okay, so let me give this a go …
1. Oooh, how about this? My teenage daughter is writing an epic fantasy novel. This summer, I really, really want her to spend some time reading the blogs of authors on craft and story-telling. Gabbey is a talented writer — probably more talented than I was at her age. And she has aspirations of being an agent or editor. I think blogs are an excellent way for her to learn and make a few connections.
2. I write a lot about my dog, Sorcia, so most people probably don’t know I’ve always been a cat person. I’ve had cats all my life, and I can name them all. (Frisky, Mystery, Topaz, Regan, Pyewacket, Strider, Smokey, Gimpy, Claudia … finally Maui, the smartest and most personable cat I’ve ever had. Maui broke our hearts when he was killed on the road outside our house a few years ago.)
3. As an addition to #2 above, I was always scared of dogs. Barking made me flinch. Growling made me burst into tears. It was grief over losing Maui that made us suddenly decided to get a dog, and afterwards I wondered if we’d lost our minds! The first time I was left alone with Sorcia, I had a moment of panic. She looks like a wolf. She could eat me, I thought. I got over my fear pretty fast, though.
4. I also blog about skiing, so you might not know that I am a terrible athlete. I can’t swim with my face in the water because I never mastered rotary breathing. I only recently re-learned how to ride a bike — and had to unlearn the art of peddling backwards to brake, because that’s the only kind of bike I ever had as a child. I can’t throw a ball (or catch one either). Let’s not even talk about swinging a bat, a racket, or a club.
5. I met my husband at a murder mystery dinner party. I received a last minute invite because one of the girl attendees dropped out. Lucky for me.
6. The first album I ever bought was Blue Oyster Cult: Fire of Unknown Origin. I can still sing along to all the songs.
7. Um … I’m a wrestler in my spare time. No. I can do better than that. How about this? I was so frightened as a child by the urban legend of Bloody Mary — you know, the chick who will scratch your eyes out if you say her name three times in front of a mirror in the dark — that even to this day I avoid looking into a mirror if I get up in the middle of the night. So, when Georgia McBride asked me to write a short story for her 2013 Month9Books anthology of legend retellings … guess what I picked?
At this point, I’m supposed to choose 7 bloggers to pass this on to. But I was always leery of chain letters (guess I could have used that as one of my seven things). So instead, I’ll just invite you to share a little known fact about yourself in the comments!
How excitign that you met your husband by such happenstance! That must be fate.
Little known fact about me: I’ve never eaten a pickle in my life lol
I love that you met your hubby and a murder party.
I’m blanking out about little known facts about me. Hmmm. I have a scar in one eyebrow because when I was a kid, I was leaning forward on my chair’s two legs and it slipped out from under me. I hit my head on the corner of a broken table. At school. π
I love that Gabby is so into writing. What a wonderful connection for the two of you. π
I did know about the murder party, but I still think it’s way cool!
One last thought: Gimpy… *titters*
Bloody Mary was freaky (Still, is *shh*) Glad to hear your daughter is into writing. I’m sure that makes you proud π
I feel the same way about chain letters. π Awesome that your daughter is writing too. So is my preschooler. He makes me write the words down – he’s working on a series about Sleeping Beauty (his teenaged sister who is sleeping).
Aghhhh, the Bloody Mary story still creeps me out too! And yay cat people. Thanks for sharing your 7 things. π I also wanted to say that it is great your daughter is writing a novel, and I think one way to learn more about being an agent or an editor would be to do an informal interview. She can e-mail an editor or agent and just let them know she wants to know about their career path and stuff…sometimes they respond back. Just a suggestion. I know editors and agents are hardpressed for time but I am just trying to think of ways for her to broaden her search beyond reading blogs about it π
I can so relate on the non-athlete stuff. I was always picked last for teams. *sigh*
That is so cool that your daughter is writing an epic fantasy!
I hate chain letters too and I also blab about everything. Here’s a little known fact that not even I knew until this weekend…I’ve been wearing the wrong bra size my entire life! Who knew? I certainly didn’t!
I didn’t know any of these things so I learned a lot. Yay for your girl wanting to agent or edit and WRITING too. That’s very cool. You need to write about meeting your husband at a Mystery dinner party! That is so funny.
Bloody Mary always scared me too! And I love stories like yours with the girl dropping out of the party, which totally turned out to be fate. π
Pyewacket! I love it!
Let’s see. A little-known fact about me: I took belly dancing lessons. (Years ago… before I actually HAD a belly.)
Well, now we know more about you. That’s awesome your daughter enjoys writing, too. That’ll keep her busy this summer.
LOL. We write about the things that fuel our emotions, eh? Congrats on the award, and what fun facts!
Oooh, what a fun post, and I loved the comments too. Like Susan, I belly danced in college, and like you, I am a cat person (still afraid of dogs), am sooo not athletic, am scared of bathroom mirrors, and spent a lot of time at murder mystery parties. I even wrote one or two.
Now for my own unique fact – I am named after Kris Kristofferson.
As you probably know, I am also a huge dog lover. Once you get to know them, they are a part of your life forever.
One little-known fact about me is that I moved 27 times during our marriage, and our four children each went to four different high schools – and still turned out okay!
Thanks for the kind mention. I’m a big dog person, always have been. Cats, on the other hand, I haven’t had much luck with the feline pets. I am a big fan of the Bloody Mary mythology since it is one of the most readily available and interesting examples of modern-day scrying. π
I was terrified of Bloody Mary when I was a kid, though we called her Black Aggie. More or less the same nightmare!
How cool it is that you met your husband at a murder mystery dinner party! Now that’s one “how I met my significant other” story I haven’t heard before.