The witty and fabulous Kate Lowell just tagged me for the Very Inspiring Blog Award. Thanks Kate. I’ll try to live up to the high standards placed upon me (cough cough.) I’m supposed to share seven facts about myself. Er, that is, things I can share in a public forum. Then list the blogs and sites I find inspiring. Also things that can be listed in public. Ahem:
1. I share a variant of my given name with a famous fictional murder victim and a hard rock/metal band. This makes me smile, which proves I am not normal.
2. I like werewolves more than vampires, but artifacts more than werewolves.
3. I wrote my first short story at age 6. My first experience with censorship followed rapidly. The censorship was fully justified.
4. When I was 13 my family aimed my obsession with jewelry-making at my fear of fire, by way of a tiny little butane/oxygen torch. This was a valuable life lesson in many ways.
5. I am a long-time fan of the Canadian prog-rock band Rush.
6. If I was an elf in Tolkien’s universe, I’d be a Noldo. See items #2 and #4.
7. I looked for my ‘tribe’ for too long, before I realized that tribes are not as important as being a citizen of the world. I meet the most interesting people that way.
Writing and publishing sites I visit often:
AbsoluteWrite.com The site that helped me get published properly.
Sales Rank Express The site that helps me follow my sales progress.
The Erotic Romance Blog The site that taught me how to pick romance publishers.
Loose Id’s publisher blog
Carina Press’s publisher blog
The Galaxy Express (romance in science fiction)
Locus Magazine: science fiction and fantasy publishing news
Tor USA: one of the best SF&F publisher blogs around
Writers I follow (a small selection out of several hundred):
Alex Beecroft writes brilliant historical romances from a M/M slant.
A collection of writers who inspire and uplift me whenever I hear SF&F geeks complaining about sex in books, much less gay sex.
Lynn Flewelling’s journal, in which she is unflappably nice, deeply funny, and often profound.
General news and art sites:
The Long Now Foundation: how to think for the long-term future
The Arts & Letters Daily: how to learn what is happening now
Artists Books 3.0: because I do love artifacts.
F**kYeahBookArts: because these lunatics also love artifacts and book arts.
Thanks for the shout out! Does this mean I have to do the meme now?
Heh, if I was an elf I’d be a Sindar, so I shall eye you nervously and fade into the twilight.
But not before asking if your blog has an RSS feed. I’ve looked, but I can’t seem to find it to follow.
Follow the meme only if you want to, Alex. I assure you I am quite housebroken, and much less likely to start wars than the average deranged Deep-Elf. As for RSS, I’ll tinker with that this week, and let you know if I get it running.