Thank you much for the e-vite. It is quite an honor to get an invite from the Big Daddy Thug and you have quite an e-mag.

Hi Todd! Thanks for adding me to your line-up of friends. I look forward to finding out more about you and your work. I hope you’ll check out my new thriller, IM, about a serial killer preying on gay men using Internet hookup sites.

Hi, Todd. Thanks or the friend invite. I noticed your comment about Thuglit in the obscenity discussion, and agree with you. I'll check out the site when I have a few stray minutes, and may have a story to send your way.

Thanks for the invite. God Bless you.

Thanks for the add! I use the "f" word when appropriate, (once or twice per novel) and always catch flack for it. I suppose it's all relative...I've been told I swear like a sailor if I'm in the right mood! Ah well...best of luck with your cursing controversies.

My first trip to Japan was when I was still working as a circulation clerk at a busy, busy library. I was teaching English on my lunch hour to a Cambodian woman who had survived the horrendous carnage in her country. She had never fully recovered from its effects. From there I branched out to teaching English to Japanese women whose husbands were in the US on four-year working visits to the United States. My students were extremely well-educated--some with PhDs, so teaching them was a joy. I taught for free, but I requested that the last ten minutes of class be used to teach me Japanese. Believe me, I will NEVER learn the language well, but I keep plugging away at it.
Those teaching stints snowballed, and I found myself in Japan at 52. What a blast! The library where I was working had 5 sister cites, one of which was Gotemba, Japan, so I decided to go "on my own dime" for a visit. My late husband had the bright idea for me to go to the head librarian (new at the time) and to the mayor (also new at the time) to act as a representative of the library and to visit the mayor of Gotemba (also new). So be creative in what you aspire to do because I am here to tell you that you can figure out ways to feed your passions. There is an organization in Japan, or it was still in existence in the 1990s when I visited a second time, The Welcome Inns of Japan--not sure if I remember the name exactly, but if you check with the Tourist Bureau in Japan, you can get free information with the list of members. I stayed for $39 a night with green tea included. The members live in their private homes but allocate rooms for tourists from all over the world--a step up from a youth hostel and safer, too. The owner of the "inn" had six rooms--upstairs, Asian style, downstairs, Western. I stayed upstairs because I believe in going native in any country to which I travel.

Do not give up your dream. Just think outside of the box.

thanks for the add. Thanks for the language discussion. I like your style. - sophie

True . . . but it wasn't easy being a Met fan in the early 60s, either. And, boy, were they bad then.

Thanks for the invite Todd. Hope to have more language discussions with you in the future.

Thanks for the add--I'm a fan of Thuglit (writing and design--love the brass knuckles, by the way).

I'm honored, Big Daddy Thug. Hope we can meet at a con over a bottle of chianti (or bourbon) some time soon!

Don't worry. I won't tell anyone.

Welcome, friend.

I've been a part of several online writing groups and I love reading new writers. Most of what I've read from newly published authors has been very good, and the occasional mistake in what is primarily good copy gives me courage. No other profession, not even the medical field, attempts perfection as a goal. It takes a lot of editing to even come close.

Hi, Todd - Thanks for the invite, and thanks also for the website,which I just checked out. You're in the exclusive company of about 100 other online thugs, wonks, obsessives, and malcontents who have found their way onto my bookmark list. My site isn't as interesting as yours, but it's got some stuff for writers on it -- check the Writers Resources section and the Blog Cabin at www.timothyhallinan.com.

Thanks for the invite, Todd. I too am a ThugLit fan. Hoping to have something worthy to submit very soon.

I see you're originally from New England. Whereabouts? I'm the opposite - born in NY, raised in NE (greater Boston, NH, and ME).

Hi Todd - thanks for the invite :)

Hiya!
Glad to be your friend.

Thanks, Todd! Good to meet you.

Thanks for adding me to your list. Denis

Interesting logo, but I've never seen anybody try to light a cigarette with a peeled banana before.

Just kidding. So you're the thug-lit guy?

Now that's an intersting logo.

Your kidding about kung-fu and monsters, right?

Jack

Eh, I read Clive Cussler while he was writing the books.

Hi Todd,

Looks nowt like a banana - Tsk....Jack.....

Hey Todd--Thanks for the friendship. I LOVED your thuglit site. Wow, what a brand! You've got it all, baby.

Have a great weekend!

Great space, Todd! Looks like it's all goin' on here!
All the best,
Donna Carrick
www.donnacarrick.com

Thanks for the invite Todd! I'll be sure to submit something soon again to Thuglit!

Thanks for the friend invite. Checked out Thug Lit, impressive website. Next time I have something suitably Thuggish hot off the press I'll think of you. That knuckleduster logo rocks.

Thanks for the invite. Will be checking out ThugLit. I like the T-shirts, by the way.

Happy Holidays!

www.persiawalker.com

Thanks for your comment on my PW review, Todd. They say you never forget your first...

Thanks for the invite Todd. Love your site. I'm a huge Charlie Huston fan. He's signed at the bookstore where I work a couple times and is a helluva guy.

Glad to know I'm not the only nutcase who's taking on three jobs. I think it's some kind of sickness.

You know I love the one-eye concept for avatars, but what happened to the smokin' banana? :)

Good one, Todd. No wonder you write fiction.

Thanks for the invitation, Todd!

Thanks for the invite, Todd. One of your thugs tried me and failed. Sorry for the carcass cleanup. Heh, heh, no I'm not.
I live to fight another day.
Great site. I almost worked up a sweat.

Thanks for the invite - nice site. Cool friends - E :)

Thanks for the invitation, Todd. Does this make me a thug? I always thought I was better behaved than that.

Hey Todd,
Thanks for the invite. Nice to meet up in another network. Good to see you're keeping busy with it. I have a hard time keeping up.

Thanks for the invite. I first heard of your magazine on Charlie Huston's website.

Hey Todd, thanks for the invite. Thug Lit - count me in!

Hey Todd, great work! I gave it 10 thumbs up!
Congratulations on your hard work. Best of luck.
Donna Carrick
www.donnacarrick.com

Todd, congrats on making the semi-finals! I will head on over there today and vote!
Good luck,
Liz

Hi Todd, thanks for the in-vite. And happy holidays! Russ

"The city's got a class line as sharp as a glass scalpel and wider than Paris Hilton’s legs. "
Hell of a line, love it. Good luck, it's a great chapter, can't wait to read the rest.
Michelle

Thanks for the invite, Todd. Happy Holidays.

Hey, Todd, thanks for checking in. Cheers for the holidays. JMW

Thanks for the invite. Now I'll go read your chapters. Happy New Year.

Read chapter two. Gonna be a good book: excellent voice and great metaphors. Good luck. Oh yeah, Gather.com, for some reason or other, wouldn't recognize my crimespace sign in so I'll read the book when you go to market.

Hiya, sorry for taking so long to reply but I've been on holidays. Happy New Year and happy writing.

Todd, how did you end up doing on the contest? I haven't been following.