I’ve received two more blog awards: the Honest Scrap award from Regan Leigh and Jamie DeBree, and the Picasso Award from Kelly. Thank you, ladies!

The caveat to receiving these awards is that I must share ten random facts about myself. I’m sure these will be old news to close friends, but I’ll try to pick at least semi-interesting tidbits to share. Let’s see…

1. I’m fascinated by fringe science, the paranormal, and the supernatural. More than anything else, I’m intrigued by extraterrestrials, especially stories of close encounters. The result? Unidentified.

2. You can sort of see this in my author photos, but I’m tattooed. I have a chest piece, a full back piece, and tattoos on the back of my neck and behind both ears. I have plans for a small tattoo on my right wrist and a half-sleeve on my left arm.

3. When someone asks me where I’m from, I’m not sure how to answer until I know what they mean. I have a different answer for where I was born, where I attended high school, where I attended university, where my parents live (neither of whom now live in any city where I grew up, which frequently changed) and where I live now. Sometimes someone is asking about my ethnicity, which is yet a different answer– I’m from a mixed-ethnicity household. And no, I wasn’t a military kid.

4. I’m a bit of a neat freak. I find clean, organized spaces comfortable and soothing. Fortunately, my husband feels the same way.

5. I don’t like window shopping. I find it boring just to look at merchandise with no intention to buy. Unless we’re talking about books. I can browse the aisles of any bookstore for hours.

6. I’m a nut for unsweetened iced tea and espresso drinks. My drink of choice: soy or nonfat latte, extra hot. No sugar or fancy flavors, thanks!

7. I love anything macabre, strange, or dark. New Weird? Horror? Yes, please. Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic fiction? Dystopian societies? Gimme. You wouldn’t necessarily know it by meeting me, either; I’m quite happy and optimistic.

8. I live and breathe storytelling. It’s almost all I think about. I’m always working to improve my craft, and I’m committed to success in this career. I won’t ever give up.

9. I’m a very spiritual person, but my views on the nature of reality don’t really fit into any one pre-existing religious or philosophical tradition. I derive many of my spiritual ideas from reading books on physics and cosmology.

10. I collect gemstones and minerals. I’ve loved them since I was a kid, and now my collection is huge. I have no idea how many I have, but I’d say a couple hundred at least.

If you’d like to share some interesting facts about yourself in the comments, I’d love to find out more about my readers!

I’m supposed to pass these awards on to other bloggers, so let’s see. I’ll list six people and you can choose which award you’d like to have. List ten facts about yourself when you post the award.