**COPY AND PASTED INTRO** This blog hop is designed to show our readers a more personal side to ourselves. We’ve been challenged by another author/ blogger (somewhat like the ‘ice bucket’ challenge) to list seven interesting facts to help cast light onto that tough writer’s / blogger’s persona we all like to project. But we want to show that behind every story is a story, our story, my story, and like everyone else I have dreams, hobbies, problems and goals. This blog hop is a way to share some of them with you, my readers. **

The rules are that I share 7 Facts about myself, and links to at least 15 blogs that I enjoy reading. If I’ve nominated your blog, please don’t feel any obligation to join in but, if you do, please link back to the blog of the person who nominated you (that would be K.S. Marsden ), share 7 facts about yourself and nominate 15 blogs (or as many as you can).

Without further ado, here are my 7 interesting facts.

1. I am no stranger to the stage. Most people view author’s as reclusive people who shy away from human interaction and hunch over their keyboards and notepads. For me, I’ve been a television news anchor for a local TV station, I’ve starred in theater plays, and have been known to give impromptu but impassioned public speeches.Ironically, I still don’t like to go to parties and can be very anti-social when faced with new people. It takes time for me to warm up to someone but once I do, I can usually be the life of the party.

 

2. I am master of mimicry. If someone describes to me a mannerism of someone whom I’ve never met. I can make a pretty close guess as to what it is they do and then re-enact the movement and sound. Essentially, I am a human sound effects library like Officer Winslow from Police Academy. That doesn’t mean I can do -ANY- sound, but I do have a big selection. Race car sound effects, plane sound effects, police sirens, accents and mannerisms. Many people tell me that I should do voices for cartoons or video games. I’ve tried this, but somehow I seem to lose the magic when it’s recorded.

 

3. I studied Television production at a community college and have a variety of skills in animation and illustration. The trailer animations for my book were all created by me in After Effects with some audio help from a few friends of mine. When it came to the book cover, I served as the director and made clear what my vision was for each book. My specialization in video editing is what helps me to create fast paced stories that don’t waste time on pointless scenes. If it’s not adding something to the characters or story, get rid of it.

 

4. In the past I have had many strange things happen to me. It’s hard to remember them all but I have a few notable stories. The first happened on my brother’s birthday when I was mugged while walking home from a friends house. I saw a teenage boy on a bike slowly pedaling down the street and when I looked back, there were two teens walking behind me. I knew what was going to happen next. I faced forward and WHACK! I was on the floor looking at the two guys saying, “Guys, stop.” WHACK! When I woke up my pockets were empty. I walked home bleeding and confused.The kids were never caught, at least not that I know of. But I think they eventually got busted for something because my suburb has been quiet ever since. Needless to say though, if someone is walking behind me, I always make sure to keep my eye on them. I’d share the time a stranger walked into my room holding a blanket but that’s a story for another time.

 

5. I absolutely love, love, love Chinese culture and aesthetics. One of my favorite open world games of 2012 was Sleeping Dogs which was based in modern Hong Kong. But I also love ancient China with the bald heads and the braided ponytails. There’s just something about those beautiful Chinese palaces and mansions with their gridded railings, pagoda rooftops, and Mandarin style clothing that just leaves me in awe. Do I want to visit? Hell yes! But since I cannot, I indulge in Chinese based films. Speaking of Chinese films I can recommend anything with Jet Li and Jackie Chan in it. But definitely watch IP man for pre World War 2 China. Man from Nowhere for Modern China. Hero or Fearless for China with older aesthetics.

 

6. This next fact will sound totally bizarre but it’s true. Sometimes I feel like a psychic. Maybe not the one that can see into the future and predict who you will marry, but I have had several instances where I’ve said what the other person was thinking. I like to say I don’t believe in psychics, but I do believe in ghosts, so I’m kind of in the middle. Skeptical but also open to accepting it as real. Anyway, in MY particular case I feel that I simply recognize patterns more acutely than others. I process a variety of different information and compile it into a really damn good guess.Some examples of this are: Guessing who someone was going to meet for lunch. Singing a song or saying a phrase that someone was thinking about without any musical triggers. Predicting an outcome to an event. Always appearing at the right time when someone calls my name.However, I attribute these skills not to psychic ability but to simply be able to read clues. From body language to patterns, if you can see the clues you can decipher the future. Or guess, really, really well.

 

7. For my last factoid, I could talk about how I came to develop a fascination with military jets, but nah, too common, too easy. My last factoid is this: I have gone up in a World War II bomber plane and was taken through aerial maneuvers by a stunt pilot. I’d show you the video but I wasn’t able to record the cockpit footage and it’s sadly very boring. Let’s just say that I definitely rolled, flipped, and looped through the sky without losing my lunch. In addition, I have flown a real plane (have the certificate to prove it) and can say with confidence, that if I ever was in an emergency where the pilots were unconscious. I would be able to land the plane under radio guidance from the aircraft control tower.

Well I hope I lived up to the expectation of sharing interesting facts. It’s never easy to talk about yourself but it was a fun challenge to take on. Please feel free to give the following blogs below a look over and enjoy!

Randy Ingermanson author of the Snowflake Method

Tom Hobbs author of Trauma Junkie

J_Ensis book blogger

Kelsye author and blogger The Breakup Girl Series

Anne Leigh Parrish author of What is Found, What is Lost

Cyna blogger

Felicia Day too many occupations to list, but author is one of them!