I’ve decided to update my bio, but I won’t tell you about my favorite color, my favorite bands or bore you with some political rant (I save that for my nonfic stuff…) Because let’s be honest – you don’t care and it’s none of your business, anyway.

But here are the basics. I’m a stay-at-home mom right now. And other than a few angsty poems I wrote in my twenties, I always stuck with non-fiction. I’ve always loved how the written word brings clarity to my thoughts, helps me make sense of things. I actually wrote quite a bit back when I worked the nine-to-five grind, and I will likely write a lot more of it when I go back to work… Most of it is dry, businessy stuff, however.

But fiction? Well, that scared the holy f*ck out of me. Until about three or four months ago, when I discovered the fan fiction universe and quickly found myself becoming a voracious consumer of the stuff – a junkie whore, if you will. Like all of you, I’ve come across stuff that is so creative and brilliant, I just sit back and think – someone produced this and put it out there for me to read for free? Simply out of the goodness of their hearts? And then there’s the other stuff… That's not so good... And I was inspired to carve out my own smutty little corner of the fan fiction universe, in hopes that my efforts are good enough to land somewhere on that spectrum. Hopefully, closer to the creative and brilliant end… And if I have fun and become a better writer, that’s fine too.

As for the stuff I like to write about – namely The Walking Dead and Daryl Dixon in particular – I’ve been thinking a lot about why it is that I find both so compelling.

With respect to the show, I came late to the party. Sure, everyone was raving about it, telling me that it was so much more than a gory, slice and dice show about zombies, but it wasn’t until halfway through season three that I decided to check it out. But as soon as I did, well… I was hooked. Maybe it was the Sociology major in me who finds people and how they interact so fascinating. And the whole idea of razing civilization as we know it to the ground – how would we rebuild? How much of our identities are tied to the cues we get from civilization and social structures – so how would we rebuild ourselves if they were gone? And isn't that Daryl's story arc? Ugh… I could go on forever and bore the crap out of you… Suffice to say, I was pulled in to the show. Deep.

And Daryl Dixon, the ultimate sex on a stick? I came late to that party as well. If you’re reading my stuff, you probably already love Daryl and understand why that hot mess is so incredibly sexy. But it took me a while to get there. Some of my friends would pass on the memes, rave about how hot he was, but I’d just scoff. I just didn’t get it. Daryl is dirty, socially stunted and, let’s just say it - he's a bit of an asshole. In addition, the whole redneck, non-cerebral, arm porn, muscly thing he has going for him is not what I generally find myself attracted to. But the man turned me out. I finally got it. The seed was most likely planted during ‘TS-19,’ where he was so stinking cute during the CDC drunkfest (but sadly, no shower scene), took root with ‘What Lies Ahead’ during his night search with Andrea, and sprouted its first leaf during ‘Chupacabra’ – no need to explain that one… By the time he was licking his fingers in “30 Days Without an Accident,” I sat there shivering on the couch with the rest of the fangirls.

But why am I just a little bit in love with him? As much as a sane person can be in love with a television character… Why do I have so much fun writing the man? Why am I so inspired to put him in all these sexual situations? Well, here’s my theory. You know how the scariest horror flicks tend to be more subtle – ex. Rosemary’s Baby, Psycho, The Blair Witch Project (don’t give me sh*t, that movie scared the bejeezus out of me), and every horror flick coming out of Korea? How so much is left off the screen so you’re forced to fill in the blanks with whatever it is you’ve found in that scary little corner of your own mind? And that’s not my theory – I’m not that smart. I just read it somewhere and it resonated with me. Anyway, I think it’s the same with Daryl. The brilliant way Norman Reedus plays him – with few words, guarded facial expressions, gestures that contradict what you think is going on in his character’s head – forces us fill in the blanks with our own particular brand of romantic hero. I don’t know if he or the writers are doing that on purpose, but I have absolutely no doubt that rednecks all over the world are getting a lot more action because of Daryl. And don’t forget all of those exploding ovaries…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my stories. And please let me know what you think. Reviews are so important for those of us who write this stuff. Sure, it’s rewarding in its own right, but it’s also hard work. Reviews – whether they be constructive criticism or a simple, ‘loved it!’ – let us know that someone out there is reading our stuff. There needs to be a bit of a back and forth, some kind of mirror or reflection that lets us know we’re not writing in a vacuum. Remember, if a fangirl writes a piece of fan fiction and no one is around to review it, does it make an impression?