I've been tagged

Cyrus, our eminence grisé:

Well, thanks to Caroline Leavitt, I've been tagged.

What is tagging? Well, it seems to be a form of blog chain letter. According to the rules, I'm supposed to list 7 random facts/habits about myself, here, on my blog. Then tag 7 other bloggers by emailing them and telling them, "tag, you're it." and then link to their blogs. Annoying, yeah. But Caroline is not only a friend but also a brilliant writer, so this gives me a chance to link (again) to her blog. And also to link to some other blogs that I really like a lot.

So... my seven:
1. I read my stories out loud to my cat. Really. She doesn't seem to care one way or another, but it helps me get a sense of flow. (And – yay! – I get a cat reference in.)

2. I'm an incredible homebody and get horribly homesick when I have to travel alone. Even though I have met many, many wonderful people (fans and other authors) at various crime fiction conventions, I invariably spend one night alone in my room, avoiding the bar and/or scheduled banquet, watching TV and talking way too long on the phone to my husband.

3. My favorite low-calorie meal for most of my single years was French cut stringbeans and tomato sauce. (My husband knows this, and won't let me get away with it now, but I hope this still counts.)

... man, when you've written three largely memoir nonfiction books, it's hard to come up with something that I haven't told anyone.

4. In times of stress, I re-read my favorite books from childhood. When our cat Cyrus was dying, I re-read "The Lord of the Rings" and the entire "Chronicles of Narnia."

5. I have a hard time driving and listening to music, at least when it's good. I was working at the Globe the first time I heard Sleater-Kinney's "Dig Me Out." I had to pull over and I was late for work.

6. I collect cat tchochkes. On my desk, I have a reproduction of a Benin leopard, a carved stone lion from China, a Southwestern Native American cat fetish, two winged cats (and a proper Singha Terbit - winged lion - in the living room), and a few other assorted stone, glass, ceramic, and metal kitties. No surprise, really, but did you know this about me for sure? No, you didn't.

(note: my cat fetish is much nicer than this one, but I don't have a photo of it.)

7. Because my mom always assumed that I knew things just by instinct (or whatever) and I was too embarrassed to ask, I learned how to use tampons by reading the box. Cosmetics, too. But you can probably tell that by looking at me.

God, am I going to delete these? Maybe. But for now... well, these sort of qualify as cats & crime & rock & roll.

Now to the tagging part: I tag...

Karen Schlosberg, Karen E. Olson, (who has her next Annie Seymour mystery, DEAD OF THE DAY, coming out soon WOOHOO!) David J. Montgomery (great crime fiction blog), Barbara Vey (a really fun book blog on Publisher's Weekly). And... I think that's enough for now. (Besides, Karen Olson's blog is shared by three other excellent crime fiction authors, Alison Gaylin, Jeff Shelby, and Lori. G. Armstrong. Go check out these wonderful blogs – and Caroline's, too!