The Bar

[Daniel Hatadi]

Most forums have a post that serves as an entry point for new members, a place for them to introduce themselves. At Crimespace, that post is The Bar.

As a way of starting it off, I'll introduce myself.

My name is Daniel and my favourite colour is black. Half Romanian, half Croatian, I was born and bred in Australia, the country I've spent most of my life in. Got a degree in Computer Science and by day I'm a programmer in the shady field of gaming. Yes, I program poker machines. This does not mean I carry around a Bat-utility belt and rush over to clubs when people don't get paid. It's an office job, plain and simple. I stare at computer screens all day.

By night, and during my lunch hour, I write. Mostly crime, but I'm not afraid to venture outside the genre if the story I want to tell goes that way. Even then I'd say my fiction straddles the border between crime and other genres. I've only been writing solidly for about the last three years, the first two of which were spent on a comedic P.I. novel set in Sydney. Like many writers, that novel was my journeyman piece, in that it taught me how to write a novel (which is not to say I've stopped learning). Also like many writers, I don't think I want it to ever see the light of day.

I've since moved on to a novel that if I had to describe in one sentence, would sound something like this: "An unwilling hitman becomes part of a crime syndicate that reaches back to turn-of-the-century Sydney." Part crime thriller, part historical dream sequence, with elements of the supernatural. I'm about two thirds of the way through the first draft and I'm getting a big kick out of writing something more serious.

A few short stories of mine are floating around the net and I have a list of those on my profile page. In the interest of brevity, I'll leave it at that.

Now. Who wants a drink?

[Maxine]

Hi Laura, we sound similar then -- I live in England and love reading crime fiction, particularly European works in translation. I'm not 30 though, more like 150. A friend of mine who has also recently joined Crimespace, Karen, has a great website called Eurocrime which lists and reviews lots of European crime novels.

[Laura Root]

Hi Maxine, I have to confess that I discovered this place via your blog, which I discovered via the links on the Eurocrime website :).

[DADavenport]

Hello! My name is Deborah. A Macallan's, straight, if you please.

I'm older enough to know better and young enough not to give a damn. A Southern gal to boot, with Scottish and Cherokee mixed in this stew I call DNA. I'm in-your-face with a dose of diplomat thrown in. My favorite color is blue. And I've never met a dog I didn't like.

I am an emerging writer, just feeling my way around. Wrote a few things for Flashing In The Gutter which helped me identify an ability to catch people's attention...many here had some nice things to say about them, for which I am eternally grateful! I have my first print piece, in an Australian anthology, due out in July.

I'm glad I found this watering hole and now I need to get off this stool and explore. Nice to meet you!

But most of all I am a reader and a fan. The ezine world has introduced me to alot of you and I was thrilled to find this watering hole to stop by and tank up in.

[Newt Love]

Hau, I am Lakhota nDn mixed with Scott. Nicetameecha.
Toksa ake, newt le miye lo.
(until we talk again, i am newt, speaking only for myself)

[Iain Rowan]

Hello. My name's Iain Rowan, and I write stuff. That's Iain with two i's, which is fine to write but makes people look at me funny when I say it in conversation.

I've written a lot of short stories, in a number of genres, but crime fiction has taken its rivals out into a lonely and unlit place, and as a result in the last couple of years has accounted for most of what I've done. I've not been writing much short fiction in the last year, because I've been writing a crime novel called 'One of Us' instead. At the moment I am rewriting chunks of it, which I will finish doing by Easter, I will I will I will.

I have a blog, and writing here is yet another handy excuse for not writing in it. Thanks, Tribe, for the invite, and Daniel for setting this place up. Nice to meet you all.

[Toni McGee Causey]

Name's Toni, and we are so not talking about how old I am. Married, two kids. I'm still sort of getting used to the concept that I'm someone's mother. (They already live on their own and have jobs. I don't know how that happened. I think they were two and six yesterday and then bam. Jobs. Geez.)

I can't pick a favorite color--I've painted since I was in third grade and how the hell am I supposed to pick one?

I'm Cajun-Scotch-Irish, with a little Italian and Chickasaw thrown in, or as my mom put it, "Not a quiet bone in my body." Quiet is over-rated.

I write crime/caper (comedy), Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day and the first book is out this May 1st. I tell people if Elmore Leonard and Janet Evanovich had a bastard love child, it would be Bobbie Faye.

I am not like my character. Do not believe the rumors. I do not blow things up. (Usually.)

You can see the book trailer type videos here.

I dance. Really well. Which is why I don't drink a lot, because there would be much dancing. On the bar. And then I'd be drinking your drinks. Apparently, I am a very happy drunk.

[John DuMond]

Hi. My name is John. I live in Albany, NY (because someone has to, and it might as well be me). I currently work as an investigator. Previous jobs include security manager, store detective, soldier, and archaeological lab technician. I'm currently working on my Masters in Criminal Justice.

In 2002 I read Elmore Leonard's KILLSHOT. From that point on I was hooked on crime fiction, especially the hard-boiled stuff. I'm also a serious film buff and I watch way too much TV.

[Lori G. Armstrong]

Howdy, I'm Lori. My favorite color is black. I'm of German and Scandinavian descent and a 4th generation South Dakotan - both sides of my family. Pisses me off when I introduce myself to new people at a conference and they tell me they're "sorry" that I live in South Dakota. About that time I whip out my permit to carry concealed. Seriously. My husband is in the gun business. We've been happily married 21 years. We have 3 smart, talented and gorgeous daughters, ages 17, 14 and 10.

My first book in the Julie Collins mystery series was published in 2005, book #2 in 2006. I just turned in book #3 and it will be out in Nov. 2007. My mysteries are PI fiction - at this point - a little dark, a little funny, hopefully always entertaining. I also write really really steamy-make-you-blush erotic romance under another name and have 3 books out. I'm part of a multi-author blog and I'm thrilled to be at crimespace because the myspace thingy scares the crap out of me. I am SO not computer savvy, the thought of working on my own websites gives me hives - ooh, and you won't be seeing a nifty trailer from me on any of my books anytime soon, either. Unless I can bribe one of my daughters to create one, but that usually entails me forking over cash, and since I'm with a small publisher, cash is hard to come by...you get the picture.

Pour me a beer, barkeep. I ain't picky about the brand, just as long as it's cold.

[Thomas O'Callaghan]

We meet again! In a bar no less. I'm Irish. And being so, seldom find myself in such establishments. Whod'a thunk? Enjoy the beer. Barkeep. Two fingers of Paddy's, please. And don't be a chemist when you pour it.

[Newt Love]

Hey! When you say "...don't be a chemist when you pour..." what's "chemist" mean? medicine dispenser (pharmacy) or someone overly into precision measurement, or what?

[Newt Love]

hau, I am Lakhota - Scott mixed. I have lots of relatives on and off Rez in the Dakhotas. I am glad you live there, where there is more land than concrete and asphalt. I might have been there too, except my sweet Nance is a confirmed Marylander.

[Julie Morrigan]

Hi folks, I'm Jools. I live by the seaside in the north east of England and I'm married to a man who looks like Martin Clunes. I hadn't realised how often I wear black until I wore something different and people commented. I went back to black.

I'm liking the look of this place - so many writers I already know I like to read and a whole bunch more I intend to check out just as soon as. At this rate I'll run out of time to write...

I write about business: training workshops, stuff for the web, workbooks and the odd proper book. That's work, and I do it as Julie Lewthwaite. The fun stuff, the fiction, I write as Julie Wright (my family name). I've had stories in Bullet and Flashing in the Gutters, amongst others, and I'm hoping to see my stuff in some new places soon. Wish me luck!

Thanks to those people who've befriended me (I need looking after!), and to Tribe for the heads up about the site. No doubt I'll get acquainted with a whole lot more folk as I go along, something I'm looking forward to.

Meanwhile, if the bartender's around, I'd like a pint of beer, please. We can get onto the single malts later, perhaps a little Lagavulin. Perhaps a lot. Cheers!