A Call to Writers

Exactly one month from now I'll be getting on the plane to go to Las Vegas for KillerCon. WHOO!!

If there's anyone out there reading this who'd like to attend the con and meet up there, please let me know in comments or by shooting me an email (or Tweet, or whatever social media poison you prefer). I'm traveling by myself and I would love to hang out with some blogiverse friends... Regardless, I hope I can make some new friends at the con. I don't want to spend the whole weekend by myself.

I'm also wondering if you guys can help me with something. KillerCon is having an on-site writing contest. The convention committee gives the assembled contestants five words, a horror-related topic, a leadoff sentence, and fifteen minutes. The contestants have a sheet of paper and a pen. After the fifteen minutes is up, they compare entries and choose a winner.

I want to enter this contest, but I'm a little nervous about writing it longhand for a couple of reasons. First is the physical side - because of a car accident two years ago, it's very difficult for me to hold a pen for any length of time. Five minutes is hard. Fifteen minutes is torture. But the more I practice longhand, the easier it gets to do.

The other side is how much slower my hand is at writing my thoughts as opposed to typing my thoughts. My typing speed is on average around 90 wpm, so it's a LOT faster to type than it is write longhand. Which means I don't write as well longhand, because it feels clunky and it's difficult to get up to the speed I want to write at.

So here's where YOU come in. I need to practice this longhand coming-up-with-stories-on-the-spot thing. If you will, leave five words, a topic, and a leadoff sentence in the comments of this entry. I'll time myself and try to do one each evening. Since it'll be hard to get more than a page or two out over fifteen minutes' time, I can post the best pieces on my blog. It won't be entirely spontaneous like the contest will be, but at least I'll be getting some practice at quick invention, along with strengthening the muscles in my hand for quick writing.

What do y'all think? Can you help a fellow writer out?

I hope each and every one of you has a fantastic last week of July. :D

Soundtrack of your Life Blogfest

I'm participating in Arlee Bird's Soundtrack of your Life blogfest today. If you get a chance, swing on over to his blog and check out the cool list of people who are taking part in this one.

So I've been thinking about this a lot over the last few nights. Wendy commented that her soundtrack would be super long - multiple CD's, hundreds of songs - and I most sincerely concur. Over the years I've had many "Quintessential B" playlists, and if I put them all together for this blogfest, you'd be reading a LONG time. So, I decided to narrow it down to the top ten songs which I hold nearest and dearest to my heart - at this particular moment in time. I hold no illusions that this list will never change.

Hell, it might change in the next fifteen minutes.

Narrowing it down to ten was hard, but fun. I listened to a lot of music and rejected so many songs... this was a great project, especially since it falls on a Music Monday! I've posted a few lyrics and an explanation for each song, and I hope you guys enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed making the list. Thanks, Lee, for hosting this cool blogfest.

Without further ado, and in no particular order...

The Quintessential B List

The Pixies - Where is my Mind?


"With your feet on the air and your head on the ground..."

Some songs stay with you through your whole life, and I guess if I had to name any one song that was my "theme song", this would be it. I've loved the Pixies since I heard them in high school, way back in 1991... Yep, I'm old. "Where is my Mind?" became a generational anthem when Fight Club used it for its ending credits, but it was one of my anthems long before the movie ever came out.

Night Moves - Bob Seger


"Ain't it funny how the night moves... when you just don't seem to have as much to lose... strange how the night moves... with autumn closin' in..."

My sister once referred to Bob Seger in general and this song in particular as "mother's milk", and I agree. I grew up with Bob Seger and every time I hear this song it comforts me, while reminding me how lonely it is out there for everyone, at one time or another.

Pearl Jam - Oceans


"Hold on to the thread; the currents will shift. Guide me towards you - know something's left, and we're all allowed to dream of the next time we touch..."

I have loved this song from the moment I heard it in 1992, and it is one of the most romantic songs I've ever heard. Helps me remember that love comes from everywhere, and never to give up hope on the people who love you - and the people you love.

Arcade Fire - Wake Up


"And children, don't grow up... our bodies get bigger, but our hearts get torn up. We're just a million little gods causin' rainstorms, turnin' every good thing to rust. I guess we'll just have to adjust..."

Sometimes you need an epic song to help you remember why your life is epic. Try it. Cue up this song. Close your eyes. Listen to the music. Think about your life. You'll see what I mean.

Kings of Leon - Arizona


"And I go... stand up to a giant, say that I'm a fighter... too drunk to remember. Too drunk to..."

The lyrics combined with the soulful Southern rock sound of this song make it one of my new favorite entries in my "quintessential B" list. Every artist needs a song or two they can get inebriated to, right? This is one of mine.

Cursive - From the Hips


"We're from our best when it's from our hips. It's from our hips, we don't give a shit... it just feels good, and that's no sin. It's the only way to feel alive, the closest thing to being born again..."

I love the philosophical thoughts behind the lyrics of this song, and what it says about relationships. When we start talking and thinking, we start screwing things up. Go with what you feel. Your heart knows best, friends.

Gossip - Lesson Learned


"I guess I'm lucky 'cause I learned a long time ago, I used to try to be somebody else but now I know. People like you make me know that I don't wanna be stuck in a scene that only puts me down and judges me."

INDIVIDUALITY IS CLUTCH, people. I am awesome. You are awesome. WE ARE AWESOME. Please don't buy into someone else's definition of who you should be. Ever.

Murder By Death - As Long As There Is Whiskey In The World


"I have loved, and I've lost all that they gave me. They all try to save me, but I'm seein' this thing through..."

Yes, my drink of choice is whiskey. And as long as there is whiskey in the world, things aren't quite as bad as they seem.

The Murmurs - Genius


"She's got something to say to the world. She wants to know if she could tie it up... She's kinda freaky. She's kinda weird. She's kinda freaky... but I dunno..."

Someone very special to me once told me this song made her think of me, and I was touched. Now whenever I hear it I think of that time, and it feels kind of like a theme song for me. I'm eternally grateful to that girl for introducing me to this tune.

Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains


"My brother, where do you intend to go tonight? I heard that you missed your connecting flight - to the Blue Ridge Mountains, over near Tennessee."

I grew up going to the Blue Ridge Mountains - both of my grandmothers, aunt, uncle and cousins all lived in Waynesville, NC - and I have a strong connection with the Blue Ridge Mountains. This song helps me remember their beauty, mystery, and serenity.

I hope y'all enjoyed my list, and I can't wait to take a look at yours! Have a great week, friends!

The Soundtrack of Your Life

On Monday, Arlee Bird is hosting a blogfest called The Soundtrack of Your Life. Here's what he says about it:

This coming Monday June 19th you will have the opportunity to join us in sharing the songs that have special meaning in your life. Tell us the songs that describe what you were going through at different stages of your life. Tell us about the music that tells something about you. Create your own soundtrack and post it on your site on Monday. If you like, tell us why you chose those songs.

I'll be participating in this blogfest, and I'm looking forward to sharing my songs with you. I've actually had many of these "soundtracks to my life" playlists over the years, and I want to go through the ones I have saved and pick out my favorites.

What about you? Will you be participating in this cool blogfest? I'd love to read about the songs you pick to describe yourself.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Along for the Ride

Travel plans are falling into place, and I'm starting to get really excited about KillerCon at the end of August. You know you're still not a grown-up when the question "aisle or window seat?" gets you all giddy.

Window seat, please... :D

I am so excited about the prospect of meeting other horror writers and participating in workshops for the craft. There are going to be authors there to offer lots of helpful insight, and a dealer's room with all kinds of goodies for sale. Two contests, mixers and meet-and-greets, and three nights in Las Vegas! I mean... if that's not daydream fodder for the next few weeks, I don't know what is.

In other news, I'm about 20% of the way through the editing of the MS. I added a handy-dandy progress tracker to my sidebar, if any of y'all are interested.

I'm really hoping I can get this done in my original timeframe, but I just have no idea how long it's gonna take. I keep finding things that need to be rewritten, or added on to flesh out a concept. As I've said many times before, I'm just making this up as I go along, and it's kinda hard to gauge how fast this will go since I've never really done it before.

The work has, however, progressed famously since I realized I needed to scrap almost the entire first section of the novel (about 30 pages or so). I don't lament this at all; I look at the removed section as backstory that I will probably dip into later to beef up other parts of the book. It's good that it's written because it gives me a clear sense of exactly what happened, and that allows me to use foreshadowing and drop little hints here and there as to what's going on.

This is a fun process, but an exhausting one. So far, I definitely prefer composing to editing. But it's a necessary part of the writing process and I am throwing myself into it full-on like I have everything else.

I'm just happy I have you guys along for the ride. :)

"Out of the Blue" Now in Print!

Guess what! My short story "Out of the Blue" is now available in volume 6, issue 1 of moonShine Review!

The story is inspired by the song "Brother" by Murder By Death. I got permission from the band to quote the song in the publication too! How cool is that?

Here's the first couple paragraphs of the story:

The nurse was finishing the scheduled 3:00 p.m. change of my father’s saline drip when I looked up and saw Jack standing silently in the doorway, his eyes locked on the wasted body in the bed. I saw a tiny flutter in Jack’s jaw and knew he was grinding his teeth. It was an old trick we learned as kids – to grind our jaws so hard we wouldn’t cry. The only problem is, it’s hell on the teeth: I’ve got a mouthful of metal, have since I was seventeen, when three of my molars crumbled within two months of each other. High school killed my damn teeth. I was perversely glad to see Jack remembered the trick; I’d been using it a lot lately myself.

He was too thin, and his clothes hung on his body in odd ways, but otherwise he looked exactly as he had six years ago at the Greyhound station – on the day he’d been paroled. That rainy February afternoon was the last time I’d seen him. A lifetime had passed between now and then, and it stretched out in the sterile silence of my father’s hospital room like a highway filled with strange and undiscovered scenery.

The story's about an uneasy reconciliation between the two brothers, and it's probably the most "literary" piece I've ever written. No horror in this one at all - which is NOT par for the course for me. Still, it's a nice little piece and I'm proud of it, and I'm so glad it got picked up by such a fantastic market.

If you'd like to purchase your own copy of moonShine Review, click here or check out the sidebar... I added it to the list of links.

And for those of you who made guesses as to what was truth and what was fiction yesterday... those of you who guessed Gaga were correct! While I did set up the party for Nickleback in April (thanks for noting my tell, Lee, LOL), I haven't had a famous person come bowl at my center since. I loved reading each of your guesses. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!

Now I'm nominating seven creative liar- ahem, writers to continue the blog award! I pass this award on to:

Wendy Ramer
Janet Johnson
Maurice Mitchell
Alex Fleetwood at Hampshire Flyer
Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out
Alex J. Cavanaugh
Ellie at Ella's Edge

I'm excited to hear your truths... and lies!

Pay it Forward Update

Hello all! I announced my very first blog contest, the Pay it Forward Giveaway, on Friday of last week, and I have a couple of updates about it for you!

First, THANKS for all the wonderful comments, reposting, and goodwill-spreading! I've gotten a great response for this so far! I can only hope the two weeks will continue to be as amazing as the first few days of the contest were. In just three days, I received over 200 entries from interested bloggers! WOW!

I also gained 11 followers already - YEAH!! Welcome, new folks! Take a look around! Here are a few entries for you to peruse while you're here. They're some of my most popular posts, and you can learn a bit about me and my blog if you decide to take a gander:

Lycanthropy Awareness (from Arlee Bird's A to Z blog challenge)
A Fine Romance, With No Pages
Clark Kent vs. Superman

11 new people! That means we only have 14 more to go before a MYSTERY PRIZE gets added to the contest! Whoooo!! I think I'm as excited about that mystery prize as I am about the contest itself!

Also, Curt and Shane from Mooks in the Movies have thrown something out there to be added to the Pay it Forward Giveaway grand prize! As you know, the winner gets to choose EITHER a $25 gift card to the bookseller of their choice OR what I like to call an "Author Sponsorship Package" which includes me purchasing your published work (up to a $25 value), reviewing it on the blog and your bookselling website of choice, giving you and your work plugs on my Twitter and Facebook and hosting an author spotlight on my blog for you. Well, Curt and Shane are adding this little gem to that package:

To sweeten the pot, I am offering this. In addition to the sweetness of her prizes, we Mooks will name a character in one of our screenplays after the winner! You heard it right folks! Now, with respect to people's privacy, we will handle that this way:

We can name the character using your first name, screen name, or just a name you really like. We will also post a link to the winner's preferred media here on our blog as well. So, if you are the winner, you get your name used in one of our screenplays, and we will announce you as the winner, with a link to your blog, website, whatever!

How cool is THAT?? Awesome, huh? If you haven't had a chance yet, get on over there and follow their blog! You'll get +7 entries in the contest for it!

Also, Kierah Jane Reilly did her own spin on the Pay it Forward contest here. She started a really neat trend on her blog that's spread out to at least four other blogs so far... can't wait to see how far it goes! And I love your choices for the "In real life hangout", Keirah!

One more thing... the Pay it Forward Giveaway is inspiring another group of writers to compose some Pay it Forward drabbles! If you don't know what drabbles are: they're pieces of flash fiction, written in exactly 100 words. No more, no less. I can't wait to see more about this and share it with you as it develops!

Thank you so much to everybody who's gotten involved with this! I love this community!

The Pay it Forward Giveaway ends at midnight on Monday, May 31st! If you'd like to know more, visit this link for details!

Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorites

When Arlee Bird asked me to participate in the Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorite blogfest, I agreed immediately, mostly because of how much fun the A to Z blog challenge was. (It didn't hurt that this is a wonderful Music Monday topic, as well.) I had no idea how hard making these decisions would be! I kind of agonized over these entries... I didn't know how much music I had that I was unwilling to part with! I was strict on myself and insisted that I only pick one album per artist, and I didn't pick any compilation or greatest hits albums...ok, maybe I'm a little OCD. I hope you guys enjoy my list. Please pardon my formatting... I'm really bad at this whole html editing thing, and I hope the album artwork comes across all right without giving you a massive headache. I linked to at least one of my favorite tracks on each album, so give some of these a listen if you get a chance!

Oh yeah, don't forget to check out the Pay it Forward Giveaway while you're here! There's a link in the sidebar as well. My first ever blog contest is going great so far! I can't wait to see what you guys come up with to spread the goodwill around.

All right, without further ado, here are my Fifteen Fantasy Island Favorites, in no particular order!


Funeral by the Arcade Fire
I mentioned the song "Wake Up" in an entry a couple of weeks ago. That song is on this album, along with Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), and Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels). It's a musical masterpiece with moving, epic tracks I would want to be able to listen to no matter where I was.

Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? by Murder by Death
This concept album tells the story of the Devil coming to a small town in New Mexico. One of MBD's most famous tracks, "Until Morale Improves, the Beatings Will Continue" is on this album. It's classic Murder By Death all the way, and if I have to pick just one of their albums to take with me, this is it.

Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
This is a fun, summer-type album. With great tracks like "A-Punk", I would party on the beach of my desert island 'til the sun came up.

Surfer Rosa by the Pixies
This is my favorite Pixies album, with the cool "Gigantic", crazy-genius "Vamos", and generational anthem "Where is my Mind?" (By the way, I loved that song BEFORE Fight Club. Sigh.)

Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) by Cloud Cult
The song "Journey of the Featherless" is one of my favorite tracks on this album; it sums up the optimism and love of the whole track listing. You should really give it a listen. If you get a chance, "No One Said it Would Be Easy" is amazing, too...


Give Up by the Postal Service
I became a Postal Service fan after hearing the song "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" off this album. The band is sort of emo-punk-techno... hard to explain, but I love it.

The Long Run by the Eagles
A huge influence on my current WIP MS, I can't leave this album out. It has some really great classic Eagles songs, like "Heartache Tonight", "Those Shoes" and "In The City". This was a really hard choice because I love the Southern Rock style of the Eagles so much (even though they're from California, ha!), but I had to go with this album out of all the rest, if for no other reason than "Heartache Tonight"... it's practically the theme song for my novel.


Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
Remember 1984? Members Only jackets? Parachute pants? Slap bracelets? Bruce Springsteen singing about being Born in the U.S.A.? About Dancing in the Dark? Remember Ronald Reagan trying to make this the theme song for his campaign? Yeah, I was only nine, but even *I* remember him getting shut down by The Boss.

Seven and the Ragged Tiger by Duran Duran
Again, I had to go with a childhood favorite. My dad was Bruce Springsteen, but my mom was Duran Duran. She was in love with Simon LeBon, the lead singer. She and my sister followed them around the Southeast one summer! This album always makes me think of being a kid... so it makes me smile. My favorites on this one are "New Moon on Monday" and "Union of the Snake".

Ten by Pearl Jam
...but I had to grow up sometime. This album was my constant companion in my junior year of high school. GRUNGE ROCK HO!! Songs like "Jeremy", "Evenflow", and "Alive" made this album one of the most popular records of the 90's, but my favorite track off this album was "Oceans".



The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails
The song "Closer" is what made this industrial rock album a legend, but there are a lot of other amazing tracks like "March of the Pigs", "Eraser" and "Hurt". I've seen Nine Inch Nails five times in concert, and the tracks from this album are always the ones that satisfy the most.

Violent Femmes by the Violent Femmes
An indie rock classic, with songs like "Blister in the Sun", "Gone Daddy Gone", and "Add it Up". Grab your skateboard and your angsty attitude... we've made a half-pipe out of pineapple trees.

Swamp Ophelia by the Indigo Girls
There are a lot of Indigo Girls albums out there, but I think this one is one of their most well-rounded works. This is a folk-country triumph, with songs like "Least Complicated" and "Fugitive" setting the tone for the rest of the album - a unique flavor of bittersweet triumph.

Elephant by the White Stripes
Jack White... how many ways can you rock us? How many, huh? This album has such great songs on it, like "The Hardest Button to Button" and "Seven Nation Army". I think it's one of their strongest pieces of work.

Synchronicity by the Police
Another remainder from my childhood. I love the Police - their strange mixture of musical movements has enchanted me for three decades. My favorite tracks off this one are "King of Pain" and "Synchronicity II".



Now it's time to scratch some records! We're having a coconut party by the fire tonight... wanna join?

Pay it Forward Giveaway

Hello, friends!!

First, THANKS for all the kind comments on the entry regarding color in prose yesterday! I'm excited so many people liked the idea. And YES, I hit 100 followers! *internet high fives all around* Thank you, everybody!

Second, a story -

I pulled the cash out of the bank envelope. A hundred dollars cash back, just like I'd...

Wait a sec.

Four twenties and a hundred? I checked my deposit receipt and blinked in surprise. It showed the amount I'd asked to be deposited.

Eighty extra dollars...

I've told you a little about my life, enough for you to know I'm pretty damn poor, right? Eighty dollars. SO much money. And in cash... untraceable, I said to myself. I kept seeing the little yellow Community Chest card from Monopoly.

I drove around the block. Take it back or keep it? My brain was yelling for that cash. But my gut and my heart were reminding me of KARMA... and I just couldn't in good conscience keep the extra money. It wasn't mine to keep! Before I could talk myself out of it, I went back to the bank and went in.

When the teller counted her drawer and realized I wasn't joking about an extra eighty dollars in my envelope, she looked at me, pale in the overhead fluorescents. Her eyes were wide. "Thank you," she said in a trembling voice. "You literally just saved my job." She went on to explain that anything more than a $50 discrepancy in a drawer was grounds for instant termination.

She also told me that she had never experienced a customer coming back in to give back money after a mistake had been made. She looked at me as if I'd grown an extra head. Grateful, but wary.

She thanked me again, and I told her if she really wanted to thank me, she should just pass the good deed along. She gave me a little smile and nodded. Who knows? It just might work.

End of the story. Well, that particular chapter, anyway. Or, perhaps it was a prologue? Because I'd like to announce my first-ever blog contest! Flourish of trumpets, please!

The B. Miller Fiction
Pay It Forward Giveaway
So... seems as if doing the right thing has gone outta style. I'd like to try to change that. And I'd like you to help me. First, let me tell you what the prize is ('cause I hate waiting, and I know you do too).

The grand prize for this giveaway is the winner's choice. EITHER a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble (or Borders, Amazon, etc - whichever you prefer) sent directly to your preferred mail receptacle, OR...

If you are a writer with published work available for purchase, I will buy your novel/story collection/chapbook, etc., up to a value of $25. I will also read your work and give a review on your chosen website, as well as a review and a plug on my blog, Twitter, and Facebook fan page. I will go to my local library and booksellers and ask that your work be stocked on my local shelves in Greenville, South Carolina. And, if you're willing, I will do a guest feature on my blog for you, complete with interview and links to your media.

Yes! You're smiling! I can tell! Awesome!

OK, ready to hear the rules?

This will be, like many contests out there in blogland, a multiple-entry contest. Here are the basic ways to get entries:

Comment on this post: +1
New follower: +1
Old follower: +2
Tweet or post on Facebook about this contest: +2
Follow me on Twitter (@bmillerfiction): +2
Become my fan on Facebook (see sidebar): +2
Blog about this contest: +3
Include this post in your sidebar: +3

This contest is called "Pay it Forward" for a reason. I want to support my writing community however I can, which is why my grand prize is one of your books. I'd also like to help some fellow bloggers expand their audience. So, if you go follow any of these blogs, you'll get +7 entries in the contest.

Kierah Jane Reilly
Curtis and Shane at Mooks in the Movies
Dawn at Through the Looking Glass

Write a story or a poem about paying it forward. Post it on your blog, with a link back to this entry. You'll get +10 entries.

Still with me? OK, last thing... do something selfless. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's something outside of your usual routine. Something you have to go out of your way to do. If the recipient of your good deed asks you how they can repay you, tell them to pass the goodwill along to someone else. Post about this encounter in your blog. Link back to this post. Make sure to let me know with a comment (or send me an email at millerb75 at gmail dot com). For this, you will get an additional +25 entries.

This contest will run until the end of the month. I will be announcing the winner on Tuesday, June 1st. I'm also working to get the WIP MS done by the end of the month so we will have cause for a double celebration! YEAH!

I will also be giving away a MYSTERY PRIZE for each additional 25 followers on my blog. Oooooo... You can't resist a mystery, can you?! :D

Don't forget to let me know what you've done to up your contest entries. Post them on this entry or email them to me at millerb75 at gmail dot com. Remember, if you don't let me know what you've done, you won't get the extra entries. If you have questions, comments, etc, feel free to drop me an email.

Good luck, friends! Oh... and have a fantastic weekend!

Reflections on the A to Z Challenge

When Arlee Bird asked me to participate in the A to Z blog challenge for the month of April, I was dubious at first. I was just about to complete my first full month of blogging every weekday and was overwhelmed by the idea of adding an extra day a week to blogging. But I said yes and I'm glad I did.

Over the month, I talked about a lot of different things. My blog posts are almost always off the cuff, and it was fun (if not sometimes harrowing) to figure out what I would write about each day. I talked about writing techniques and concepts, like auditory detail and found stories. I shared how I tempt my muse into my writing room. I also talked a lot about encouragement and not giving up, namely here, here, and here.

I wrote some fun and silly entries... like what I'd rather be doing than working my regular day job, built-in writing x-ray specs, and Darth Disco. I shared personal stories about my family, my town, and myself. I gave you guys an album review.

I talked a lot about the WIP, my first novel, which is nearing completion... how I'm plotting the murder of one of my characters, and how the book is going in general. And I shared a victory with my blog friends when I learned my story "Out of the Blue" is getting published by moonShine Review.

My favorite post for the month, though, was my entry on Lycanthropy Awareness. It was a lot of fun to write and everyone really seemed to enjoy reading a little snippet of horror, especially with the philosophical aspect offered at the end. I'm pretty proud of that one.

I did miss three entries during the month - R, Y and Z - the first because of a road trip, the other two for personal reasons which kept me from the internet. I wish I could've done every letter, but I'm very proud of my accomplishment. I had a great time with this project and would definitely participate in another blog challenge... although one which asks me to post six days a week I might re-think. By the end of the month I was pretty darn burned out.

I also had a great time reading everyone else's entries. Thanks, Lee, for hosting this challenge and asking me and everyone else to participate. It brought us all a little closer together and helped us learn more about each other, and that's an invaluable experience.

Greenville and Google

When I started mulling over possibilities for the letter "G" in Arlee Bird's A to Z blog challenge, the first thing to come to mind was the only thing I want to blog about today.

I love my town.

I mean, I seriously love my town - if Greenville was a woman instead of a city, I'd probably marry her. And I can say this after traveling around and living in other cities, larger and supposedly better cities. I lived in Indianapolis for four years, but I just couldn't stay. I had to come back to my home.

Greenville is an oasis of culture and industry, a sparkling jewel nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Here, art and technology happily cohabitate; on any given night you're likely to find a networking party sometwhere downtown filled with equal amounts of techie geeks and artistic freaks. It doesn't matter here what your specialty is, as long as you're passionate about it. I live in a city filled with people who firmly believe in the beauty of their dreams, and those people strive to help each other achieve success in their chosen fields.

A perfect example of this thriving community coming together to work towards a common goal is Google on Main. Several weeks ago, Google announced their plans to bring Google Fiber to one lucky town in America. Google Fiber is a new, super-fast internet which Google is now beta testing. It's supposed to be up to 100 times faster than broadband internet. Google offered its new service to the community who could stand up and show they wanted it the most - by getting as many people involved as they could, including city and state officials as well as individuals from the general public.

Greenville responded by organizing Google on Main, an event which drew over 2000 people to Falls Park downtown. The crowd was given eco-friendly LED color-change glow sticks, and once twilight fell, we organized ourselves into the letters of the Google logo, creating the world's first and largest people-powered Google chain! (The photo above is an aerial view of our accomplishment. You can click on the picture to get a larger view.) This was an amazing feat considering it was organized in less than two weeks, and the heads of dozens of companies, several city and state officials, and even a senator got involved.

I volunteered at the event with my friend and fellow writer Leigh Green, and the powers that be decided I would be responsible for handing out the majority of the glow sticks. I had a blast helping out. Everyone at the event was happy to be there, and showing them how the LED color-change glow sticks worked was a lot of fun. It felt as if I was handing out happiness! Everyone walked away from me with a smile on their face.

Being in the diverse crowd of techies, geeks, artists, moms, dads, businessmen (and women), teenagers, grandparents, and every other flavor of person you could think of really made me proud of my community and what we can accomplish together when we put our minds to it. Google hasn't made any decisions on where Google Fiber is going first, but Greenville's been noticed by the big guys - we even had Google representatives downtown during the organizing of Google on Main!

Greenville is responsible for making me the writer I am today. I wouldn't be who I am without the town I grew up in. It's influenced my career as an artist in so many ways, and I'm so proud to be able to give back to the community in any way I can. I'm sure I'll be posting more about my city in the future.

What do you love about your town? What makes you proud to live where you do?

If you'd like to give Greenville, SC a hand in winning a Google Fiber poll, click here and cast a vote!