It kind of does tilt toward the left, actually.

Erika is a wheelchair user, novelist and crime-fiction fangirl who lives in Phoenix, but has left her heart in San Francisco and her spleen in Baltimore.She hopes for creative success or the chance to wash out the coffee cups in the writers’ room at HBO. Other goals include celebrating the election of a Senator for whom she voted, world peace, and the chance to direct.Feedback is her strongest addiction. Feed the craving at (my alternate e-mail)

I LOVE that one, Erika. Bet it nets you some good email from readers, too!

I love that one Erika.

That's even better, erika. (But lowercase "senator".)

Thanks, everyone.

The second one definitely rolls more smoothly. Perhaps you're not as liberal as you thought.

It sounds horrible, but it's been so long since I created a fully original character that I don't remember how I did it. Generally I get a story idea first, then I think of what kind of person might get sucked into that situation or who might be most affected by the situation. I'm very grateful that I have a knack for coming up with characters quickly, at least as far as interesting personality quirks. Eventually they coalesce on the movie screen in my head, and when I'm really on my game I can just take dictation from what they're get up to on their own.

I'm terribly lackadaisacal when it comes to various writer's exercises. I find myself resenting the time I could be writing, because if I was in the mood to write, I'd be writing what I want, not an exercise. Exercises feel too much like the little assignments you got in English class, and they make me twitchy.

Do take into account that I'm a remarkably lazy writer who has a reputation for not updating her stories very often.

I don't do any writers exercises; drabbling somtimes but that's it. Everything I write starts with characters, so basically I just follow the tricky buggers down the road.

erika, bebe. you do good bios.

Long lunch (2.5 hours) with Ruth Cavin. She seems to want New-Slain Knight. Then dinner and four hours of conversation with Daymond at the bar at the Algonquin. They've got a fantastic hotel cat named Mathilda (blue-point Birman who strolls about and gets fawned over and is given caviar as her bedtime treat) and I have three hours of tape on Daymond's history.

I am ded like a ded thing and sick as a dog. But a good trip, so far.

Long lunch (2.5 hours) with Ruth Cavin. She seems to want New-Slain Knight. Then dinner and four hours of conversation with Daymond at the bar at the Algonquin.

Good news! Sorry about the dedness and the sick, though.