I took this one kind of seriously, which you can tell by the fact that I corrected the typo where I wrote "lfantasy". (Briane Pagel)

It was a dark and stormy...

When in the course of human events...

It was a pleasure to burn...

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit...

Dang it, why are all the good openings taken?

I:

Technically, that's me.

... am Briane Pagel -- the e is silent, let's get that out of the way right off the bat, so my first name is pronounced not Bree-ain like many people try to say it but instead, just plain the plain old ordinary way:

"Bry-If-You-Are-Reading-This-You-Owe-Me-Twenty-Bucks."

It's from an old English word that means "Now you know to be careful what you read."

Where was I? Oh, yeah:

Stuck in a clock. No wait! That's not right. Or me! This is me:

I'm the one on the left. I'm not JUST a superhero, but also a writer, of many things and insofar as it matters to this blog, of (occasionally) science fiction and fantasy stuff.

Some of my sci-fi works include Eclipse:

which is about an astronaut named Claudius who may or may not have gone into space, may or may not have killed his entire crew, and may or may not now be drifting aimlessly while waiting for a rescue that may or may not never come.

Here is a sample from that book:

Blood

Blood

Blood

So it's maybe a little different than the stuff Isaac Asimov wrote.  As for fantasy, the things I write are more of the speculative fiction variety, things like the After,

 in which Saoirse dies in a plane crash (oh, um SPOILER ALERT!) and wakes up in Heaven-or-something-like-it, a place where everything is just the way you want it (unless what you want is not to be there). With the help of William Howard Taft, Saoirse tries to find a way through an increasingly confusing existence.

So: things like that.  I'll be contributing here from time to time, posting bits of stories, reviews of stuff I read, thoughts on sci-fi/fantasy issues of importance, like whether or not Superman has autism or what kinds of ghosts are the best kinds of ghosts.  (Does horror count as fantasy? I think so, maybe, so I'll probably do stuff like that.)

I'm also a publisher -- of my own stuff and others, so check out my page tab up there for details!

Introduction to Lauren Jankowski

Hello!

My name is Lauren Jankowski.  I'm a fantasy novelist and a lifelong genre feminist.  I majored in Women and Genders Studies and was particularly interested in gender performance in Classical Mythology.  I'm quite passionate about genre feminism and want to see more diversity in genre, both in characters and the authors who create them.  I've written three novels, all part of my series "The Shape Shifter Chronicles," which features strong empowered women as protagonists.  My books can be found on Amazon, Smashwords, and CreateSpace.  I'm currently hard at work on my fourth novel and hope to release it some time next year.

I'm a huge Tolkien fan.  Some other fantasy novelists I adore:  Ursula K. LeGuin, Lloyd Alexander, Angela Carter, Kurt Vonnegut (though he doesn't really fall into any genre), Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Atwood.  I also have a soft spot for the horror genre.  I'm an animal lover and when I'm not writing or researching (rarely ever), I'm spending time with the fur-kids.  I am afflicted with wanderlust and dream of the day I can travel Europe again.

That's about all I can think of for now.  Thanks for reading.

Introduction to this Blog and to Sandra Ulbrich Almazan

Welcome to Indie Writers Monthly! We are a group of independent science fiction and fantasy writers who've come together to support each other and share our love of this genre.

I'll start off by introducing myself. I'm Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, a lab tech by day and science fiction/fantasy author by night. I currently have three stories out in my SF Catalyst Chronicles series and several unrelated fantasy short stories available. You can find complete descriptions of these books on my personal blog and my website. I'm also on Twitter and Facebook. My interests include science, the Beatles, crochet, and improv comedy. I'm married to my college sweetheart, and we have a six-year-old son.

I'll step back and let the rest of the group introduce themselves to you. Best wishes for a 2014 filled with joy, wonder, and lots of books!