/brings in a papasan chair and a platter of cookies/
/hands out cookies/
/curls up in papasan/

You invited introductions and far be it from me to go against years of scientific research informing us that people love to talk about themselves. Nobel prize worthy findings indeed.

I've come because my occasional writing partner melissima keeps mentioning you and sending me links to your blog. I trust her taste and while I don't read many blogs I'm friending yours in an attempt to glean some of the inspiration and edification she seems to find in your writings.

I think we've crossed paths a couple of times when you read my Criminal Minds fic. It's not my primary fandom so I don't play in that sandbox often, however I do have a great affection for Morgan/Garcia - fueled by this most recent story arc of course.

A brief history of time Emma...
I have previously been paid to write non-fiction in my field, decided in 2005 to try my hand at creative writing as a way of breaking a writer's block, discovered an insatiable muse in the process and have written approximately 5-600 short stories since then. (For an amateur I am thought of as freakishly prolific. I have no idea how I compare to professionals.) I use my powers for good now /crosses heart/ and work with other authors to spur their creativity and defeat writer's blocks. I am totally and completely untrained, much to my embarrassment, but I've decided to graduate myself from the learn by doing school and enroll in the teachings of established writers in an attempt to learn the actual craft portion of this craft.

My LJ is fic only so I don't anticipate you will friend me back. (A personal LJ exists yet is woefully empty.) I did want to send my greetings and offer my gratitude for this blog since it has been meaningful and helpful to someone I care about.

I brought my comfy chair. I'm ready to settle in for a good read.

Thanks...

Hi,
I'm Chris, and I don't know what else to say except that I admire you. Oh, and my recent NaNo finish *drum roll please* ;) was a dark fantasy, the first time I'd ever written a fantasy. It was fun, and strange, and exhilirating, addicting . . . yep, all of those at the same time.

I'm just going to sway on the hammock for a bit and soak up the good vibes. If I have a question later on, is that okay?

Hi, here via autopope & have been reading your blog sporadically for a while. I'm more an avid reader than anything writerly.

Hi, I've been haunting Amazon for your book 'New Amsterdam' for the past AGES (haven't bought it yet because I live the poor student life and silly things like food take up valuable book money) and it mentions a paperback coming out soon?
If so when(!) and will it be published in Australia (...in particular Galaxy bookstore Sydney...?)
I cant wait to read more of Sebastien de Ulloa and Jack and this fascinating creature Abigail who I havent met yet!

Hi! I was directed here by inamac. *pets the man-eating plants* Hope you don't mind if I friend and lurk. :D

Greetings!

Finally found your blog through some circuitous route that escapes me just now. My husband and I were at Penguicon this year, when you and truepenny helped us to smash through our several-year-old writer's block in the worldbuilding panel. (For which I still humbly thank you both!!! :-> After the panel, I went outside and spent the next several hours out on the hotel lawn, writing feverishly. Happy Days!)

In addition, I too, have been owned by a Queen of the Universe (passed now, alas, although with cats, one never knows). She was a prize-winning (with her previous owner) Lavender-tipped Siamese, and like many a beauty queen, she took pains to see that you never forgot that.

Anyhoo, I have taken the liberty of passing along your 'Cat & Monkey' tag to several of my friends, who were most amused. Any chance of some sort of formal, book-like tale of these Journeys someday? It would be quite the hoot.

Happy Hollydays and Musings to you!
-Katrina

Hi.

Instapundit linked this page and I followed from there.

I write science fiction and always like to hang around writers to see if I can glean some insight into process or attitude or maybe even something I don't know to look for to help me go from writing science fiction to publishing some day. Hopefully not too far off.

If nothing else it's always encouraging to be able to say, "Wow, she's having the same problem I do."

It all seems less hopeless and less lonely that way. I hope you don't mind me hanging around. I promise to make extra efforts at company manners.

J.Pascal

When I met you at WisCon I was surprised by how much we had in common, but your icon for this post seals it -- I have a print of that same Froud painting in my living room, and have admired it in person at Brian and Wendy's farmhouse in Devon. And then I see, scrolling down, that you use my beloved Ben J. as an icon too, well... Anyway, I just linked your "They must need bears" post on my page, after reading it on Scalzi's "Month of Writers." Thanks for a beautiful piece. Looking forward to The Stratford Man!

*knock knock* Mind if I come in? What with John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton both saying nice things about you recently I just had to come and read :)

Wandered over here from Wil Wheaton's blog. Not much to say yet other than I love your Man from Uncle icons. Where did you find them?

Hi there. I'm pretty sure our paths have crossed in some other people's journals over the years, but I'm here right now because aquaeri suggested that you might remember how long a middle-aged guitar beginner should expect her fingers to hurt. (My teacher doesn't remember.)

A general introduction: Hi, I'm hobbitbabe. LJ is my main on-line hangout, although I also dabble in Facebook and Flickr and last.fm. I came to the internet about 15 years ago with USENET, mainly alt.polyamory. I live in Canada and my current or recent passions include writing, reading, listening to alternative rock music and playing guitar, quilting, playing ice hockey, and watching good television on DVD.

I only just realized that you do not have me listed as a friend. :(

I'm so glad I popped over from crimnalxminds. I haven't read any of your stuff, but I've definitely heard your name in sci-fi circles. I go to a conference in Florida every year - IAFA - and I might be going to the con in Calgary in the fall. Really nice to meet you online!

I found you through a link on someone else's LJ because of the "presumptious cat" posts and am tickled to find out that you are also a writer. My shameful confession is that I have heard of you but have never (to the best of my knowledge) read your work. I hope to correct that someday.

I seem to be 'collecting' writers lately, which is wonderful from my perspective. I am, as I head into my sixth decade, attempting to write a story. I have no illusions about my chances or talent, but it is something that seems to entertain my friends. Reading the journals of writers is also teaching me about the craft.

I probably will not comment much, but I will enjoy reading your words - especially about the cats.

Hi there! I am a chronic lurker, and can't even remember how I found you in the first place, though I suspect it was as a result of Annonymous, somehow. Thought the few entries I read were damn interesting, so I invited myself on board. I'm trying to train myself out of chronic lurkerdom, but generally I'm the one standing out back listening closely and not contributing. Sorry.

I hope to avoid all man-eating plants. Do they also like women, or am I safe?

Just sort of skimming through your blog (and don't ask me how I got here, 'cause I'm not totally sure myself), I see a MfU mood theme, Criminal Minds fanfic, and a mention that you're listening to Emmylou's The Pearl. "Self," I said to myself, "you need to friend this woman and then go back for a closer look at her LJ (sometime when you're not supposed to be working)." So I'm friending you. Hi!

I apologise - I was (am) very drunk. I did not mean to be offensive or aggressive. Alcohol does this to me. I'll try and keep quiet in future...

Hi, I'm Dave. Found this while working through the Don Maass client list and thought that I recognised the name from the John W. Campbell Award a couple of years back. Not got round to reading anything yet but I certainly will once I've got through my current crop of material. An acquaintance is hoping to be picked up by Don real soon.

As to me, I'm a Paramedic based just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland. I used to be in the Army but my days as a cold warrior are long behind me. I enjoy a nice mix of fiction but I always return to SF/Fantasy.

Hi,
I'm Sophy, Z.S.Adani. I've found your blog on your website after I read "Blood and Iron" and "Whiskey and Water". Am looking forward to the other books in the series, but especially to the Stephen Bathory and Matthias Corvinus volume. I'm currently reading "Undertow", and enjoying it.

I probably could and should have introduced myself before, but I've been lurking around reading your blog since... um, almost forever... somewhere slightly before when the Jenny books were published, I think. Didn't have a LJ until recently, though, so I never made it as far as to comment. I can't remember how I found my way here, but you probably wrote something clever somewhere else and I followed the trail here.

I'm a PhD student (computational neuroscience), science blogger, and sometime freelance journalist. Possibly also a future writer, but with slow enough progress that I do not merit the title yet. I am not English or American, but use the language(s) for reading, writing and other work far more often than my native Swedish.

I read almost only SF, fantasy and related, at a current pace of some measly 60 books per year, which means I barely manage to stay on top of what's happening in the genre. I passed the book-time-money dividing line some time ago: I suddenly have more money to buy books than time to read them, which is a sad thing indeed.

It makes me unreasonably happy that "Lime Green Sweater" lives at the top of your journal.

Saw your post to TammyPierce about Penguicon and I went exploring. I'm a librarian so I always enjoy discovering new authors. I'll look for your books!! Hope we can meet at Penguicon next weekend. I'll have to add your presentations to my long list. Too many choices, but I suppose that's a good thing.

I'm delurking to say hi, and let you know that I've enjoyed your blog so far.

The cover for All the Windwracked Stars is gorgeous, and I will be pre-ordering the book. From your excerpt on your fiction blog, it looks awesome and intriguing.

I'm a fellow writer, by the way, but unpublished right now. Hoping to change that. :)

Cheers,
E.

Found you through surfing the wave of friendsfriends, saw a mention about climbing and lo and behold, my internet ears perked up and there was much clicking.

I friended you for your many interesting posts of climbing, and after reading all those actually looked at your profile and realised that hey, you wrote the Jenny Casey series! Which is awesome! I didn't know you had an LJ! More awesome!

So, um. yeah. I would've just lurked, but that seems to always bring connotations of spiders and mildewed spaces; therefore, here is my polite declaration that I am, in fact, not trying to be creepy. Which might have failed on the polite aspect and I believe is now verging on the babbling aspect. Regardless - nice to meet you! :D