Greetings Friends!
I presume if you came all the way out here to my website, you’re looking to find out more than the anonymous ‘canned’ biography. So, okay… Here’s the dirt. Who -is- this crazy lady who writes doorstoppers about genetically engineered super-soldier angels and unapologetically breaks all of the rules about book length, characters and genre?
Question: Which is better … Star Trek or Star Wars?
Me: They both rock! Let’s give Captain Kirk a lightsabre!!!
I live on the Utopian sandbar known as Cape Cod with my wonderful husband and three beautiful kids, plus an older daughter who did a stint in the U.S. Army (go ARMY!!!) and two fantastic step-kids.
I ‘published’ my first book in the fourth grade, a horror novel called ‘The Spook Cellar’ about a black cat and a chicken that went into a spooky basement to battle a ghost. Alas, it went out of print when I lost my one-and-only crayon-illustrated copy, but my second book, called ‘Buffy and Miffy’ still survives. That book was also about a black cat and a chicken who overcame prejudice to become friends. They say ‘write what you know,’ so I guess it won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out I had a black cat and chickens at that age! I also won my first literary award that year for best fifth-grade poetry statewide. I still remember the poem even though the paper copy has long ago been lost:
A coyote is a wonderful thing,
That has pups in the spring.
A coyote has a needle nose,
And doesn’t sit around and pose,
A coyote, so pretty, is not a pet,
But he’s one of God’s creatures, don’t forget
Yeah … in addition to a black cat and chickens, I had a shepherd-collie mix named ‘killer’ who looked like a, guess what? [*Audience whispers ‘A coyote…’*] I still have my five shiny silver dollars someplace, which back then was a lot of money. It encouraged me to keep writing and stay in school which, given my family background, wasn’t a given.
Like many of you, I was picked on when I was younger, so now my three youngest children and I all study USA Urban GoJu Karate with a wonderful Sensei who tolerates my occasionally hijacking class to reality-test the action in a battle scene. I’ve earned a second-degree black belt, but really, I’m not that scary (picture a frumpy middle-age mom wielding sais). It was on my bucket list and, hey, I really enjoy it?
A girls gotta have her pretty, shiny deadly things…
Writing is my therapy, the way I grind axes and cope with societal issues that strike me as unfair. I plead the fifth about any resemblance my characters may have to actual, live people…
So, that’s enough about me…
If you have a question, or just want to say “hello,” just send me an email at anna_erishkigal@yahoo.com and I’ll get you squared away. I love hearing from y’all, and I -do- write back.
My BLOG “Musings from the Underworld” is here.
If you can’t find the MENU, just click HERE to get to my BOOKS page.
Be epic!
Anna Erishkigal
P.S. If you’re a first-time visitor, I suggest you snag whatever goodie I’m offering up as an incentive to sign up for my NEWSLETTER. At the moment I’m offering up a free copy of ‘The Watchmaker.’ You’ll only hear from me when I have a new release or something interesting to share, usually my research into whatever story I’m writing, special offers, contests, and fun stuff that you will enjoy. I HATE spam, and promise to keep your information private.
Legal disclaimer: Anything you say here can and will be used as cannon fodder for a future story. Your psychotic ex-boyfriend, your annoying neighbor, your unusual pets, and your geeky hobbies will all find their way into one of my stories. I –can- be bribed to name a character after an especially obnoxious person and then kill them off, severity of suffering dependent upon how much the person deserves it. Smote by Archangel? Eaten by Moloch? Death in battle? Public humiliation? Trampled by horse? Exsanguination [*I’ve been looking for an excuse to use that word*].
Uncreation by the Dark Lord costs extra…