Get to Know Me Tag

So I saw this over on Jenelle Schmidt’s blog, and it looked like a ton of fun and something you guys might enjoy! Besides that, my first book baby is out in the world now, and new people are finding my website every day. So today, I am going to participate in the Get to Know Me Tag game (Writer’s Edition) and give you all the inside scoop about Selina.

And if you want to participate, I’m tagging YOU. Throw your link in the comments below!

This tag (if I’m understanding correctly) was created by Savannah Grace over at Inspiring Writes, and it does come with a few rules:

1. Link back to the blogger who created the tag (see Savannah Grace’s blog above)
2. Thank the blogger who tagged you (technically I accepted Jenelle Schmidt’s open tag…so thank you!)
3. Share the tag graphic (see the post header)
4. Tag 11 other bloggers (like I said, I’m just going to tag all of you who want to participate!)
5. Don’t feed this tag after midnight-oh wait, that’s Gremlins, you say? Okay, this isn’t really a rule for the tag.

Without further ado, my answers!

vital stats and appearance

Name: Selina J. Eckert

Nickname: I have many, but the most common one is Lina

Birthday: March 4

Hair color/length: I have dark brown hair, straight with a part on the right side. It’s about mid-back length now, but at one time it was waist-length, and more recently it was shoulder-length.

Eye color: brown, like a cola brown

Braces/piercings/tattoos: I had braces until my very last day of 8th grade. No tattoos, but I have my ear lobes double pierced. I usually only wear one set of earrings though.

Righty or lefty: Righty

Ethnicity: Mostly German and Pennsylvania German (PA Dutch…who aren’t Dutch, FYI), also Welsh

firsts

First novel written: I think it was sometime in elementary school, when I was obsessed with Westerns and tried to write my own on folded up computer paper. I made it through Chapter 1 and a drawing for the cover!

First novel completed: Back in middle school, I wrote a sci-fi novel heavily influenced by Star Trek starring a female captain and largely female crew. Even back then, I wanted more female protagonists! I can’t remember the title now, but it involved a scary alien race who lived on a rogue planet named Pitch and ate people…

Yeah, the book was terrible. BUT it was the first thing I ever finished, and I was really proud of it! It still lives somewhere, I just can’t remember where the binder ended up. Because yes, I printed it off and stuck it in a binder and that is the only surviving copy.

Award for writing: None yet, though I was a two-time finalist in Rooglewood Press’s fairy tale retelling contests! I’m going to get those short stories out in an upcoming anthology (hint hint).

First publication: If we’re talking novels, that would be my indie book This Cursed Flame that just came out two weeks ago! If we’re talking in general, I won an essay contest back in middle school for a bank that got published in the local paper. I got a plaque out of it, too.

Conference: As a reader, I went to BookCon in 2018. It was fantastic. I had wanted to go for years and finally had a friend to go with! As a writer, I went to a conference in Philly in I think 2017.

Query/pitch: I started querying This Cursed Flame in maybe 2014? 2015? I can’t remember. But I eventually pitched it at a writer’s conference, got a slightly positive response, then silence in 2017 and pulled it to rewrite and indie publish.

favorites

Novel (that you wrote): Honestly, it’s the one I’m working on now, Sea of Broken Glass. I feel like my answer will constantly change as I write more.

Genre: Fantasy.

Authors: Brandon Sanderson, Rainbow Rowell, Patricia Briggs, Anne Bishop, A. L. Knorr…I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them right now.

Writing music: I don’t usually listen to music, but if I do, it’s typically whatever has been stuck in my head most recently. Or I will just use ambient sounds (thank you Coffivity and Rainy Mood, my two favs). But most of the time it’s silence or the TV in the background.

Time to write: I don’t really get to pick. I write in whatever time I have available, since I work a day job on top of my writing career.

Writing snack/drink: I don’t really snack while writing, but I will drink things like water, milk, soda, tea, and coffee. It really depends where I am and what time of day it is.

Movie: Tangled. Followed closely by Moana.

Favorite writing memory: I think my favorite memories are during grad school when I would get home from school, sit down with my computer, and write ALL NIGHT. I finished 3 novel drafts in like four months. It was amazing. And I’ve never been able to do it again.

Childhood book: The Adam Raccoon series by Glen Keane (yes, the Disney Glen Keane). If we’re talking novel, I did read Treasure Island about six times during middle school, so you do that math. 😉

currently

Writing: Oh boy.

1. Sea of Broken Glass, my YA fantasy sister story.
2. Of the Clouds, my Rapunzel retelling releasing in August.
3. A fairy tale retelling short story anthology.
4. A secret new novel that takes place in PA coal country (think The Raven Boys).
5. AND the next This Curse book: This Cursed Shadow.

Listening to: I am always listening to RED and Twenty-One Pilots. I am obsessed.

Watching: Kim’s Convenience on Netflix. Bob’s Burgers.

Learning: I’m working on the ACES editing certification. I’m also always learning biology things at work. I’m learning marketing and writing for my writing career. I’m learning how to be a better person, sister, daughter, wife. I am learning how to use watercolors better.

future

Want to be published: I am indie published! Check out Amazon (or Goodreads, or any other major retailer)! But I also want to be traditionally published with Sea of Broken Glass.

Indie or traditional: I want to be what’s called a hybrid author. That is, I want to be both indie and traditionally published.

Wildest goal: I’d call this more a dream, but I’d love to one day be a bestselling author.

Final Thoughts

That was fun! It’s so nice to look back on how far I’ve come and where I still want to go. If you participate in the tag, let me know. Otherwise, hop into the comments and tell me some fun facts about yourself!

Thanks for reading!