Tammie - Graffiti Artist

I’m quite an oddity having lived my entire life the area of one city – Portland, Oregon – and if the politics of the U.S. were different (we may have a democrat in power, but the conservatives are scary in promoting their rhetoric), I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.  As it stands I’m an overly typical Portlander.  I commute using my collection of bikes; when I drive it’s in a Prius; and I love microbrews, coffee, and organic food, but there’s always room for a donut.

I’m living my life with my husband, David, who – like any good husband – annoys the hell out of me sometimes, but is a wonderful (and cute) guy the majority of the time.  We share our home with a herd of animals including three cats (although two are so fat it might be more correct to say five cats), a toothless dog, a grass-mowing guinea pig, and a rabbit that attacks the vacuum.  

Writing is something I’ve always enjoyed and several years ago I was bored enough at my job to write a book (yes, while on-the-job, it was REALLY slow there) that made it all the way to the back of my closet.  Ideas for novels came and went but I never believed I could do much about them.  Finally I sat down and wrote yet another book, typed it out, edited it, and prepared it for publishers and agents.  

I received all negative responses, but I also found out something else…people will pay you to write about stuff you know.  Brilliant, especially since I’m a smart alec and still haven’t learned that I don’t know everything.  After the rejection of my novel by so many people, the rejection of article queries doesn’t faze me a bit.  My work has found a home in several magazines, a pet anthology (Pets Across America 2009 – available soon), and of course, Powder Room Graffiti.

I haven’t given up hope of making money from my fiction, but I have an unfortunate tendency to write in a genre that isn’t a top seller right now – horror.  Try as I might, even if I start out with a happy idea, it somehow turns evil.  Too much Stephen King as a kid I think.  My tales aren’t gory, but they always seem to end up with some type of twist that propels them away from the mainstream or the literary.  

I’m currently completing another novel and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will earn fewer rejection letters.

When not writing I’m slogging away at my day job as a research scientist while fantasizing about quitting to write full-time, traveling as much as financially possible, and waging my constant battle against the slugs in my garden.

Contact me:  painterwrite@yahoo.com