20 Random Things About Me
1. I am a graphic artist at a daily newspaper. I design ads and send down plates to the printer.
2. I have worked at a newspaper for most of my career. First I was the news and feature editor at my high school newspaper called The Sphinx. I worked for thirteen years at the Riverfront Times in St. Louis, MO. And I have just passed thirteen years at my hometown newspaper where I currently work (for the second time) called the Morning Sentinel.
3. I designed a logo for a soap opera star’s personal business.
4. I used to be called the grandmother of Mike and Carrie Days of Our Lives fan fiction. My screen name back then was Bradygirl. I wrote a lot of fan fiction.
5. Writing fan fiction got me confident enough to write my own story. I spun off my original characters into a series I called The Legacy. Me and another lady (screen name Spirit) each wrote our own stories under The Legacy banner. I wrote a story called Bulgarian Underground and she wrote one named Message from Paris. I have spun off a number of stories from my original character base. Most of my stories are on their own blogs currently.
6 The stories I write are about spies which is why my screen name now is tonispywriter.
7. I write reviews for books through NetGalley. They are mostly for cozy mysteries.
8. I only began writing after I allowed myself to do it badly. I told myself that if it was bad, no one would see it but me. And that opened me up to allowing my muse to flow.
9. My town has an annual Balloon Fest and one year I designed the logo for it.
10. I learned to read tarot from watching YouTube videos.
11. I had a lot of videos on my YouTube channel. Now I just post a random video about my cross stitching.
12. I sing in my church’s worship team. I am an alto and sing most of the time in harmony to the other singers. I have been in some sort of choir since I was in 6th grade when my music teacher said I wasn’t good enough or didn’t have a strong enough voice to be in the choir, My asthma held me back then but it doesn’t hold me back now. No excuses for doing what you love. Don’t let someone tell you that you can’t do something.
13. I have been cross stitching since I was in grade school when I did a kit that pictured a mouse on a candy cane. I have been hooked ever since.
14. I have known how to crochet for a long time but only rediscovered it recently.
15. I am a bit OCD and when I get interested in something I go all out. I have all kinds of stash from all my interests over the years. A few years ago I donated two truck loads of books to my local used bookstore.
16. MacGyver is my hero. He makes you take what you have and use it in unique ways. And that is a theory that has really helped shape my life.
17. I have been a planner addict in the past even though I don’t have a ton to schedule I think I like the paper crafting part of it most. Stickers makes planning fun.
18. We had to submit a portfolio to get into my graphic design program in college. I barely scraped though by the skin of my teeth. Then I got the award for most improved after my first year.
19. My first real big job in a newspaper was in the mailroom. I stuffed Parade magazines into the Sunday paper. When they discovered that I could do layout since I did it in high school, I moved up to “paste up”. That was back in the day of line tape and wax. Today we do things so much differently than we did back then.
20. My first job was at Pizza Hut. I quit after four months when I got a job at my local movie theatre.
21. I have been in musical theatre for most of my high school years. I acted and sang in ten musicals/plays in 3 years.
22. My dance parter in show choir in high school is now a Tony-nominated Lyricist and probably one of the most creative people I know.
