: About Me

I am a sociology student living in San Francisco, CA and a hobbyist mechanic. Although I worked in the banking industry for approximately 5 years and I have also received some minor awards for creative writing, the majority of people I encounter regard my automotive interest as the most intriguing aspect of my personality. This is basically because I'm female, but I can hardly hold that against them. Typically women who 'like cars' seek out guys who own nice cars or guys who work on cars; I just simply cut out the middle man. Where did I learn this rarely feminine craft? Besides being a general tom boy from having four brothers, my oldest brother and father are mechanics. After spending years holding the flashlight or fetching the torque wrench, I realized I had picked up a few things and I wanted to give it a try myself.

Despite this one quirk that accounts for raised eyebrows from clerks at magazine stands in the airport, I am essentially a typical introverted intellectual. The appeal of working on cars as a hobby is the relaxation, solitary problem solving, and sense of accomplishment. I get these same feelings from writing screenplays, short stories, rants about whatever suits my fancy, and books (I've never actually finished writing a book though, so scratch the sense of accomplishment from that one).

I am also an occasional broadcaster on www.Justin.tv/charity_challenger, a channel on a live video website. I collect donations for charities from viewers by doing silly stunts, and I've had an overall audience of approximately 8,500 people. I'd prefer writing to encourage people to donate for charities, but that has certainly never been as effective as the broadcast, so for a good cause I have put my shyness and insecurities on the back burner.

I hope you enjoy my articles, or if not, I hope they at least channel you to perspectives you hadn't previously considered.

Cheers!

My passion is ...

muscle cars, preferably non fuel injected

I know too much about ...

how I know nothing at all

My parents always told me ...

don't spend all your youth trying to earn money.

My childhood ambition ...

to become a character in a movie or classic novel

My favorite memory ...

seeing my Camaro for the first time.

Why I write ...

books were the only friends I could bring with me during our many cross country moves.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

listening to the rain fall as though I've never heard it before.

My first job ...

was working in a library. Years and years later, it is still the best job I've ever had.

My best moment ...

leaving an emotionally destructive relationship, when I finally chose myself over what everyone else thought.

My inspiration ...

Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind, and John Lingenfelter

Creative Writing > Novel Excerpts Novel excerpts: Artists

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My hand hovered pensively over the telephone. 3,635 miles flown to reach this moment, to acquire vulnerability, to request forgiveness from the only man who ever loved me. I knew what he had said behind closed doors and beyond cold shoulders. His criticizing words watched even now, whispering to themselves as I tainted the white handset in his lavish hotel. My eyes scanned and judged these surroundings; it was just like him to pay extra for marble floors in a lobby. I could imagine him appreciating the craftsmanship needed for the intricate designs as he searched for meaning in the fibers ...

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