As we creep up on the first day of fall and the temperatures start to take a turn for the chilly, don't Fridays just feel a little....you know....spookier? Like maybe you should be fortifying your stockpile for the inevitable zombie apocalypse? Or at least drinking cider and watching Hocus Pocus?
I know it's not just me, because Lauren Grimley has also been feeling it. Particularly after she found out that the her novel, Unforeseen, is going to be released in paperback the Friday before the full moon. That's why she decided to host the Freaky Friday Blog Tour and was nice enough to ask me to participate.
You probably all remember Lauren from when she last hung out here, confessing all her guiltiest of pleasures. Today she's going to dish on all the things that push her to the loonier side of life. So, check it out and then come visit with me over on her blog, On Writing, Life, and Other Misadventures!
My Loony List
When I found out my book’s paperback release fell on Friday
September 28th, one day before a full moon, I couldn’t resist taking
advantage of it. Full moons and fantasy writers just seem to go together like
writers and lame similes. And as a teacher they hold a particularly special
place in my heart. Think crazy X 22 (the average class size) + teenage
hormones, and you have my classroom come next Friday. Don’t believe the
scientific studies that set out to disprove it; full moons make kids, and most
other living creatures, crazy. And sometimes those kids and other living
creatures drive me crazy (crazier?).
So rather than confess all the strange habits that make me
crazy, as Kelly so honestly did on my site, I’m here to warn the world about what
drives me bonkers. After all, those of you who know me, already know what makes
me nuts, and for those who don’t, maybe I can get away a little longer
convincing you I’m sane. Or maybe not.
1. Loud chewing. Mouth open, mouth closed, it doesn’t
matter; if I can hear someone chewing across the table, it drives me nuts. I
know that most people can’t help the volume at which they chew, beyond closing
their mouths while doing it. I know some foods are louder when consumed than
others. I even know that my own chewing is often audible. Still, the soundtrack
to digestion grates on my nerves.
2. Odd! punctuation…in, emails; and other notices? I’d like
to blame the English teacher in me for this one, but I think no matter what my
college major was that weirdly punctuated correspondence would irk me. I’ve
worked for two great bosses since leaving college. I admire and respect them
both, but each has had a punctuation habit that I couldn’t quite fathom. The
first was an obsessive exclamator!!!! (Yes, I just invented that term, but it
gets the point across!!!) I think passion is wonderful, but one exclamation
point normally does the trick…Then there’s the ellipsorator…Who uses ellipses
like they’re going out of style…I can’t quite figure this one out…But I do know
it’s a bit annoying!!!
3. Untied shoelaces. When I see an untied lace, I can’t help
but foresee imminent disaster. Perhaps this is because I am klutz who couldn’t
walk more than five steps before tripping over my own untied lace, or perhaps
it goes back to my days working in a daycare when my six-hour shift was
consumed with potty trips and shoelace tying. Either way I have one word for
all you untied lace wearers of the world: Velcro.
4. Mysterious Facebook updates. Social media is the place
you go to share your mundane life with your ‘friends.’ It is not meant to be
the internet’s version of mystery theater. If you want to share, share. If you
want to keep to yourself, keep to yourself. If you want to post something vague
and mysterious so that everyone will beg you for details, you need to get a
therapist to help you deal attention-seeking issues. Or maybe you need to write
a mystery novel.
5. People with more pet peeves than patience. Okay, so I’ve
just rambled on with an entire list of what makes me loony, but overall, I’m a
pretty easy-going person. Everyone’s allowed his or her own loony list, so long
as we understand that our pet peeves are our problem. Though I do occasionally
point out untied laces to my students and gripe to friends about other’s odd FB
updates, I don’t expect the world to change so I can be less crazy. If the
world can handle my quirks, I can find a little patience for other people’s.
Hopefully this first Freaky Friday post was more
entertaining than nerve-grating! Thanks, Kelly for having me.
Bio:
When Lauren Grimley isn’t chasing people around offering to
tie their shoes, she’s writing or teaching in central Massachusetts. If she finds free time beyond
these activities, she’s likely to spend it on a beach with a book and bottle of
wine close by. Her first novel, an urban fantasy entitled Unforeseen, was e-published this spring and is being released as a
paperback September 28th. The second book in the series, Unveiled, is off to the publisher, while the third is being
dragged, kicking and screaming, from Lauren’s imagination.
Links to learn more
about Lauren and her projects:
Personal website: http://www.laurengrimley.com
Twitter @legrimley: http://twitter.com/ - !/legrimley
Links to Unforeseen and “Unknown” (a short from
later in the series)
Amazon:
Unforeseen http://amzn.to/Iyas63
Smashwords:
Unforeseen http://bit.ly/KESWTO
Barnes & Noble
Unforeseen http://bit.ly/M7v5MK
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