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?

[Daniel Hatadi]

The bar's hidden? I suppose it's the smoke, the dim lamps and the small amount of neon on the jukebox. It can make it hard to find your way to a booth at times.

So what you want I should pour for ya?

[I. J. Parker]

It's okay, Daniel. I found it. It was a matter of not looking in the right places. This bar thing is nice, but it's gotten so long it is hard to scroll through everything. What this really means is that the site is a huge success. Especially when we are actually talking to each other and not just doing our own thing.

[Chris Redding]

Hi. I'm Chris. My favorite color is purple.
I write romantic suspense and paranormal romantic suspense. My second book will be out at the end of the year. I'm busy learning promotion as my first book didn't have wide distribution nor did I know how to promote. I'm not shy so it shouldn't be hard.
Howdy Dee.
I live in NJ. Not anywhere near the turnpike or the parkway so I coudn't tell you which exit. I have a degree in Journalism from Penn State that I've used for one job back in the 90's. Now I write about killing people.
I'll take a Kir Royale.

[Jane Hill]

Hi... I'm Jane, I live in beautiful, ugly Portsmouth on the south coast of England, and I write psychological thrillers about love, hate, obsession and music. Two published in the UK by Random House, and I'm just putting finishing touches to the third one at the moment. I worked in radio for twenty years before a midlife life-change a year ago. As well as writing, I'm also a fairly new stand-up comedian - for the last 18 months I've been trying to make people laugh in shabby upstairs rooms in smoky pubs.

Having already drunk my life's share of alcohol, I'll be in the corner with a Diet Coke.

You want to know my favourite colour? A very particular shade of kingfisher (pr maybe peacock?) blue. Not too blue, not too green. Is that too much detail?

[012158]

Hi, I'm Steven S. (Houston set), this is a line I use for a discussion group in order to differentiate myself from all the other Stevens out in cyberspace and so forth. I write reviews, mostly for the I Love A Mystery e-zine. I spend most of my time reading mysteries, sometimes a rare foray in scifi. I live in Houston, TX where summer has arrived already, temps nearing 90s with lots of humidity. Other than that, I could use a shot of something right now.

[Bethany K. Warner]

Bethany here, though I know several of the authors of this site have run into my alter-ego, the Word Nerd. My favorite color is probably gray, or grey, because like the different spellings, there are always different shades of that color.

I'm a journalist by trade and a wanna-be novelist. The current project is not really crime (Though the king does gets poisoned. That's a crime, right?). That novel could get summed up into something like: "Sedine swore an oath when she became Guardian of the Crown Prince that she would share the prince's responsibility of running a kingdom, state secrets and all. But when the state secrets include conspiracy and murder, Sedine has to rethink her loyalty and her responsibility not just to the prince, but the kingdom." It's really a fantasy-type story, but not with any of the elves, wizards, etc. I originally wrote this as a short story in high school (yipes, was it ever bad), but the characters have been noodling around in my head ever since. I'm about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through a new version, with a different POV, starting place, and some other changes but with the basic characters and plot points still in tact.

I do like reading mystery/crime books though.

[Marta Stephens]

I've been here a few days, weeks--lost count but just now found my way to the bar. Gin and tonic, please. :)
Ah! Where to start ... I've lived in Indiana most of my life, born in Buenos Aires, my roots are Italian and Spanish--I'm bilingual but if you need a really good translater, that would be my sister. My parents moved to the States when I was four. My first love has been art since the day I could hold a pencil. I taught myself to oil paint--won a few local contest including 5th in the state once. So naturally I Iove colors--most people are afraid to paint their walls in the colors I have, but they do admire my home. My favorite? Purple.

Writing wasn't a life-long dream of mine. I just kind of found my way to it (just like this bar). I'm a Sagittarious, I think luck is our trait. I started to dedicate some serious time to my writing in 2003, began writing my Sam Harper crime series in 2004, stumbled onto a great publisher (I belong to their author forum before they bought out another publishing firm and moved in that direction full time--see, just pure luck) and my first novel, Silenced Cry, was just released on April 23. I don't kid myself; I'm not particularly smart or talented, but when I set my mind on something, I give it my all. What's the old saying? If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

I'm up to my ying yang in marketing and promotion now. Have my first book signing coming up in a couple of weeks and all seems to be doing well. I've been extremely fortunate. One interviewer said that my life has had as many rollercoaster twists and turns as my novel. Ooo she noticed! I'm now working on the second draft of book two which my editor thinks he'll have by December. I really have to get going on it.

On a more person level, I'm married to an increadibly patient man (28 years), have two great children (son and daughter) in college, still work full-time in HR at a local university, and our Boston Bull Dogs run the show. I hope to meet and get to know many of you and add you to my wonderful pool of friends!

My throat is dry now. I'm ready for a refill! :)

[Tiffany Leigh]

Red wine trumps damn near anything else poured into a glass.

My name is Tiffany Leigh. Which is true, or mostly true. That is to say the designation "part-time girl" in my profile applies literally.

I'm transgendered -- a heck of a large umbrella that shades a vast swath of sky even within the community. In my particular experience it means that 99% of my living and working and writing life I present to the rest of the world in 'boy drag.' But in the other 1%, I do dress and present as pictured here.

I have no desire to transition (i.e. be full-time, opt for surgery). I like to blur the line from time to time and love being a double agent. I believe that being transgendered isn't something you "do," but something you are, so regardless of what I wear or how I look, I'm the same person throughout.

I'm a screenwriter. I've been one ever since I could remember but seemed to be the last person to figure out that writing for the motion pictures was what I was doing. I've also been sneaking around with crime fiction. The resurgence in the genre as a whole and especially in its shorter forms has given me more hope (rope?) -- and screenplays sized up to hard-boiled pieces aren't mutually exclusive in terms of form, content, or mechanics.

To use a baseball hitter's metaphor re: my writing, I've only recently felt like I have a clue up there at the plate with regards to it. Which doesn't mean I'll hit a home run, or even make contact. But it does mean when I have an idea what I'm trying to accomplish when I do swing away.

My interests mostly orbit that which feeds my brain and curiosity. I read a ton, and love research, the opportunity to learn. I watch oodles of movies & have a "video store clerk" chip firmly implanted in my skull. I'm slavishly addicted to pop culture and trends and all things new. I like Pop™ and don't believe in the concept of the "guilty pleasure" -- feeling bad for something you like generally means you're concerned with what everyone else thinks or expects.

I despise mediocrity. Jason Robards portrayed Dash Hammett in the movie JULIA and had an amazing critique of Lillian Hellman's (portrayed by Jane Fonda) work: "It's worse than bad. It's half-good." Seeing the glimmers of something interesting or hopeful or honest or talented or clever, buried under tons of slag, is the worst -- in art, life, and everywhere in between.

I'm still flush with the excitement of being a part of a community like CS where I fit in -- as a fan, a reader, and especially a fellow writer. Of course bellying up to the bar isn't the worst place to find your partners in crime. Thanks to everyone who's a part of this.

[Otis Twelve]

And me? ... Well, I just try to write something everyday. A modest ambition... and my modesty is well-earned.

[Sheri Fresonke Harper]

Oh, my gosh, I'm always the last one to make it to the bar. That's because I can't hold my weight in liquor and when I do sip, I forget that I'm not drinking water..whoa. A Singapore Sling goes well, especially in Asia or where ever I can happen to find myself,usually with a golf club in hand. I've played with writing some short stories with a heavy high-tech, high-action pace with lots of steamy emotion thrown in. My novels are usually post-apocalyptic, just give me a reason (not enough cherries) and I'll find a new way to kill everyone, gently though. I don't do much blood and guts and I have a terrible sense of humor that makes most people grimace in agony but a few wierd souls laugh. I, too like green best and want to save the world from folks like me.

[Lilo]

I'll bite, just so you won't be the last (now you're the second to last).

Don't feel bad about not being able to hold your weight in liquor, I'm sure that I can handle enough for both of us.

In crime fiction... I'm a reader only. Sadly, I spend enough time blogging true crime that I don't have time to think any fictional stuff up. That, and I have two top secret (not anymore I suppose) true crime books hidden away out of fear of sending them off somewhere and having someone actually read them.

[Lynette Hall Hampton]

Though I've been a member here for a while, this is the first time I've tried the bar. I usually stay out of those places - no, I'm not passing judgement - it's by necessity, not choice. Alcohol in any form is a poison to my system. A sip of wine almost makes me go limp and a glass puts me in the hosiptal. I've tried a few virgin drinks, but somehow this didn't seem to be the way to go. Most times I sit back and enjoy a diet Coke while friends are sipping the pretty fruitty drinks.

I've been lax about coming to the crimespace site because I've been busy getting a couple of novels ready for publication. Finished the final proof of the next one last week - ECHOES OF MERCY - it's a sequel to my novel, JILTED BY DEATH. It should be available in August. Hope so because my book launch party is planned for August 30.

I'v always been a writer. I wrote my first novel when I was 8 years old. It didn't sell, but it was my start. I kept writing through school and in college. My first sales were non fiction articles for magazines, a little poetry and a few short stories. I continued to start novels (I bet I have a hundred novel beginnings in my files) but I got serious about it in 2000. My first published (mystery) novel came out in 2003. I wrote a couple of non-fiction books in 2004 and 2005, and had a second novel (romance) published in 2006. It was one of those beginnings I had started many years ago and decided I wanted to continue it. My third novel (mystery) will be out next month. I have a fourth one, a different mystery series, with a different publisher and they say it will be out sometime in 2008, but have not given me a firm publication date.

Though writing keeps me busy I still have time to do other things I enjoy. I work 2 and one half days a week, make jewelry, paint (oils), take an occasional trip to the beach, read, and most important of all - play with my two grandchildren.

I've already decided that to get all I want to do completed in this lifetime, I have to live to be 167.