Lovely Michelle Mason tagged me in the Reader Appreciation Award and I felt it my bloggerly duty to continue this throughout the blogosphere.
Michelle and I came across each other’s work through The Writer’s Voice competition hosted earlier this year. After we went through that process (and it was quite exciting all by itself), we did a little chatting and I got the lucky treat of having Michelle critique my ms. I was super excited since her novel, DUET WITH THE DEVIL’S VIOLIN, caught my eye immediately when we were competing in The Writer’s Voice. After her priceless feedback on THE FAMILY VYGIL, it has undergone a major revision and has been reincarnated as IN THE MIDST OF MONSTERS. Guys, just a quick tip, if you don’t have critique partners or beta readers for your manuscripts – GET SOME!
Ok, so now I have to reveal seven heretofore unknown facts about myself. Gee, I feel I’m always so forthcoming with ALL of my information (probably much to the dismay of my followers), but there are probably a few nuggets I can dig up about myself. So, here goes:
1. Taking a note from Michelle, there are a few things from high school I could reveal about myself that haven’t been mentioned before. I was salutatorian of my high school and whatever club my high school hosted, I was probably a member of it – Beta, PRIDE, Student Council, DECA, VICA, cheerleading, homecoming court, drama, and that may be it. I’m sure I’ll think of something later and then weep about how I haven’t been in high school for 13 years. Ah, sweet youth.
2. Speaking of cheerleading, I was a cheerleader for two years and if you follow my Twitter account, you should know I’m a HUGE football fan. I was the only cheerleader on my squad that would take off at a run down the sideline to continue cheering on whoever on our team was also running down the field to make a play. Needless to say, I was an odd bird in that group of girls. A cheerleader who actually knew about the game? Yep, that was me.
3. I’m a Romani American, Roma, or the term most people know, I’m Gypsy. This is my actual ethnic background, not a “lifestyle” choice. My mother’s family came to America from England in the early 1900s on the Carpathia (known as the ship who rescued the passengers of the Titanic, my family was not on that particular voyage). I have not had to face too much prejudice or stereotyping as an American Roma, but many Roma worldwide are still persecuted and it saddens my heart and it’s something I feel very passionately about. Shows currently on TV portraying Roma also make me upset because they are nowhere near accurate. It would be like watching the Jersey Shore and then telling everyone all people from New Jersey behave that way, and we all know that’s SO NOT TRUE. If you’re interested at all about knowing actual facts about my people, feel free to ask me. You could also check out Amnesty International’s extensive work on their behalf as well.
4. Ok, so that took a serious turn, is everyone ok? Good. Another thing about me you don’t know. Um, I have a degree in Psychology but did set out to go to medical school which made me take many math and science classes I no longer needed for my Psych degree. I chose not to go that route after my daughter suffered a pretty traumatic entry into the world and made me a little squeamish about hospitals.
5. Speaking of hospitals, I actually don’t work in the field of psychology, but that of medical transcription. So, I sit at my computer all day typing medical reports and then still summon the energy to work on my novels at night. Thankfully, my hands are not riddled with arthritis…yet.
6. I CAN dance. Many people admit freely they can’t dance but not a lot of people say they can. Well, I just can, folks. Good genes or maybe growing up in the South at the height of Tag Team‘s popularity along with other dance hits such as Tootsee Roll and C’Mon ‘N Ride It (The Train) has to be the reason for this. I did not stop my dance skills at that time in history, by the way. I do keep up with the current trends, and I OWN my kids when playing Just Dance. Just saying…
7. And finally, my stepfather is a racecar driver. Again, growing up in the south, dirt track racing was/is very popular and he was/still is quite a legend in the area I grew up in. He had thoughts of going to Nascar when I was younger but I believe the pull of the dirt tracks was just too strong. It was terrifying and exhilarating to watch him race because folks when we’re talking dirt track racing, we’re talking major collisions. The fun stuff everybody else watches the sport for was reason for my entire family to pray the duration of the race. He has broken so many, many bones but you’d never know it because his first priority is always the racecar. I know this is technically a fact about my stepfather but because he’s MY stepfather, I think it counts as a fact about me.
And now I must pass along this distinguished honor to five other bloggers and get their muy interesante facts. And I shall choose:
Nicole Tersigni (I don’t care if you don’t have a blog, answer them in your brain and then just tweet answers randomly – fun!)
I know I’ve tagged some of you, it not all, in these type of blog posts before, but HUMOR me! Nah, if you don’t feel like it, that’s cool. No pressure. But in case you want to, here are the official rules:
1. Explain how you met the blogger who nominated you.
2. You must add the blog award logo to your post.
3. Tell everybody seven things about yourself.
4. Nominate 5-10 other bloggers for this award and let those folks know you did it, because if you don’t, then, well, you get it.
Had fun participating and I hope you guys had a laugh/cry/other emotional response based on my responses 
