Strange but true. When someone says bio, I immediately append logy and answer, "Yes, I am both a human and a girl." I suppose referring to my 24 year-old self as a girl isn't politically correct nowadays, but then, I've never been in any hurry to be a grown-up. Grown-ups are those responsible types - accountants, lawyers, those chaps that shove potentially flammable liquids in cars to make them go vroom vroom. I'm not that. I'm not actually sure what I am, but my faded keyboard tells me it involves the CTRL C and V keys. Copying and pasting is the sincerest form of insanity.

Situated roughly a third way down and a little across on one of those inflatable atlases, you can sort of find me in the upper right hand corner of the middle of South Africa. If you have watched the Sum of all fears, then according to Jack Ryan, people speaking English with a bad accent are actually speaking South African. This is not true. Just thought I'd clear that up. The man in the movie was actually speaking... English with a bad accent. South Africa has eleven official languages and not a one of them is actually called South African. You get ten points if you can correctly guess how many of those languages I can speak? Yes, you'd be right. I can speak English with a bad accent.

My penname, Roonblah, has truly interesting roots. Apparently, one of my ancestors decided they liked the surname Rooney. I like it too, which is why I prefer it to my actual first name, Claire. I guess I was just scarred by the Breakfast club and years and years of people saying it like they have a pinched nose. As for the blah part... blah is one of my favourite words. It is also an adequate indication of how much I like to waffle, as in, meander around a point without actually making one. You might have noticed this little quirk already.

I've wanted to write for years. But writers, to me, were always those deep, faraway-looking fellows that were forever jotting notes in interesting looking leather-bound books, or having philosophical debates over a cup of coffee at poetry readings. Boy, am I glad I was wrong. Writer's come in all shapes and sizes, and unlike rocket science, anyone can do it. It was that little misunderstanding of mine that kept me from attempting to get those stories stuck in my head out of my fingertips and into the great beyond.

That is why I'm truly grateful for places like Nuns with Pens, Gumboot Mafia, The Editing room and Agora. They aren't just places to post stories, but a whole family of people who, whether intentional or not, encourage, inspire, teach and keep the creative fires burning. My head might be the caboose, the web the train-tracks, but everyone I've met along the way in the past eight months has been part of that great big steam engine that keeps puffing, "Of course you can." I can think of no better thing than for a new writer to fall in with such a great community. I hope everyone who reads this and the newsletter can have the same experience.

More links
Desperately seeking something - my own little haven on the web
Crawlspace - the Crawlspace newsletter with oodles of topical articles

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