All Aboard For the Wild Hunt

So our beginning posts are going to be introductions and a bit of chit-chat so you get to know us a little better. So...here's me, in a (non) nutshell! I've got  along bio, so pull up a chair and I'll try to keep from being boring. ;)

I’m New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn.  In April 2012, I won a Career Achievement Award in Urban Fantasy at the Romantic Times Convention.

I have over 65 books on the shelves, and I write urban fantasy and paranormal romance, including the Wild Hunt Series, the Fury Unbound Series, the Indigo Court Series, the Otherworld Series, the Bewitching Bedlam Series, and a number of others, as well as metaphysical nonfiction books. AND...I just got my rights back to my Whisper Hollow Series, which I'll be starting up again!

I wrote for traditional publishers for twenty years, from 1996 until 2016, and now I have moved into being an indie author to give myself more freedom. I'm loving the new ride. It suits me well and I find so much more freedom this way.

And yes, I’m a shamanic witch and am considered an elder in the Pagan community, having been in the Craft since February 29th (yes, leap year day), 1980.  I walk an eclectic path and consider my life to be a blend of teacups and tattoos–the former in my china closet, the latter on my skin–I’m a heavily inked pagan priestess.

I collect teacups, teapots, Old Country Roses china (Royal Albert), antlers and skulls (of the non-human variety), daggers and crystals.  And of course, my bookshelves and my Kindle are overflowing with books.  I cannot pass up a book sale and my TBR pile is huge, both on my Kindle and on my bookshelves!

I’m a theatre major, a 1983 graduate of the Evergreen State College (Olympia WA).  I started college when I was fifteen, skipping high school.  I took extra time to finish because of money considerations and a hiatus when I was 17, to hitchhike to California where I lived with one of my sisters for a brief time. I've lived in a converted school bus before, where I slept with a hatchet by my head because I was out in the middle of...well, nobody could have heard me scream. I look fondly back on those days, even though they were hard.

On Beltane, 1993 (May 1st) I married Samwise and we’re still very happily married. We are the parents of four cats. Our four senior girls went over the Bridge a few years ago and we still miss them terribly, but we now have three wonderful girls all around 11 years old, and our l’il boy Apple. We reside in the Seattle WA area.

Because so many people ask, you pronounce my first name this way: Yaz-mihn (NOT Jasmine–it’s a “Y”, not a “J”) and our last name is pronounced: Gal-eh-norn. The accent is on the first syllable.

Interesting trivia: Samwise and I created our last name together after we got married. At first, he took my last name, but I decided I didn’t want to be stuck with my stepfather’s last name forever.  So we decided to construct a name that would be ours alone and that would mean something to us.  We created our last name out of the Elvish in LOTR. Galenorn means Green Tree in Elvish, went to court, and legalized it. And yes, Samwise is his *real* name.

A few random facts:

• I suffer from multiple food allergies, Histamine Intolerance, and MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) which can make life hell. I blog about it at times, and include allergy-friendly recipes on my personal blog.
• My favorite animal: Cats
• My favorite books: Watership Down, Rebecca, Lord of the Rings, Anything by Ray Bradbury
• My favorite Anime: InuYasha
• My favorite movies: Oh man, too many to mention. Rebecca–absolute favorite. But the list of the ones I love is HUGE. Alien/Aliens; Terminator/T2; Tremors; almost anything Hitchcock; Thor; Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion; Conan the Barbarian (with Arnold); Doors; Indiana Jones; 2001; Andromeda Strain; the Mummy movies; Sleepy Hollow; Dead Poets’ Society; One Hour Photo; Eight Legged Freaks…and the list goes on and on…
• My favorite groups: GARY NUMAN FOREVER!!! Um…okay, now that that’s out of my system, add in: Black Angels, Shriekback, and the Kills for my top four. Also: the HU, Hedningarna, Faun, Mark Lanegan; Beck; Ladytron; Rob Zombie; Jethro Tull; Devo; Asteroids Galaxy Tour; Android Lust; Thompson Twins; Bowie; Nirvana; Nine Inch Nails; Marilyn Manson, In Strict Confidence, Gabrielle Roth; Tangerine Dream; Air; Doors; Amanda Blank; and so….many….more….
• Random Passions: volcanoes, dinosaurs, mummies, magic/witchcraft, sex, makeup, fashion
  

So, currently I'm working on THE ETERNAL RETURN, book 10 of my Wild Hunt Series, and I'm gearing up for Samhain--the Pagan festival of the ancestors/dead. And I'm playing Creativerse--a building blocks game on Steam. :) 

So, Tell me a little about you--what do you like to read? What are you up to? Come on, don't be shy! ;)