Gatekeepers
When I start sending out invitations, I'm never quite sure who is going to say "Yes".
After all, I'm asking people for a favor - on behalf of the competition, I am asking them to read the entries and cast votes that will help determine how a season is going to play out.
Some people say "No". Others say "Yes", but something comes up.
I'm happy to say that there were quite a few "Absolutely"s this time around, and all of them seemed to enjoy themselves.
So - thank you to the contestants for not embarrassing us. ;)
But since this is the "Gatekeeper post", it's time for me to let you know who they were - and give you a moment to thank them for their time. Some of them may pop in and comment about their process and things they noticed as they were reading. None of them are going to say "I voted for you""didn't" (or shouldn't) but it's always interesting to get a look into the thought process.
This time around was a mixture of Old Friends of Idol, some folks working professionally in the writing field, one actual Survivor, some of my personal favorite writers (and people), and a mixture of all these things.
So without further ado...
Your GATEKEEPERS were:
joeymichaels, who can also be found at http://sadclownrep.com/
zia-narratora (AKA Tea!) who can be found tumblr: http://teaberryblue.tumblr.com/
My Captain America-themed fancomic, The Saddest Avenger: http://thesaddestavenger.tumblr.com/
My Ao3 Profile, which has a couple of my Idol entries on it: http://archiveofourown.org/users/teaberryblue/profile
blergeatkitty You can find some of her non-LJ work at: http://previously.tv/author/jessica-liese/ and http://robhasawebsite.com/author/jessicaliese/
The very much missed in these parts Myrna-Bird
karmasoup who everyone here knows. Although you may not know about her film work: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3993951/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Michelle Evans. Who doesn't have a LJ - but writes some really fantastic music reviews: Nine Bullets: http://ninebullets.net/archives/author/michelleevans
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/michelle-evans/1a/656/777 is a good starting point for some of her other credits over the years
Someone called whipchick:
"Allison K Williams (whipchick) has written for National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, McSweeney’s and Travelers’ Tales. She's a winner of the Mark Twain Humor Writing Award and The Moth StorySLAM, and serves as the social media editor for Brevity. All of these plaudits are merely dust on the shoes of her real achievement - winning Idol Season 8. She can be found at www.idowords.net and www.unkindeditor.com."
Kathy Sleckman who you might remember as a contestant Survivor: Micronesia and various related charity work and all-around opinionated person. :)
There were many who thought they would see witchwife still around in the competition at this point. You probably would have had Life not taken her out. But you can also find her at http://jottify.com/writer/lancaster
You may have also seen elledanger who was certainly doing quite well before bowing out early.
There is also the always fantastic fourzoas who may be an Associate Professor and "Director of Writing and Teaching" at on the university level. :) Maybe she knows a thing or two.
Coming from my own past is Jack Foster. He was the guy who introduced me to the work of Amos Tutuola, one of my favorite authors. These days you can find him working on http://www.recklesseyeballs.com/ and his upcoming comic GUN, which looks like it's going to be fantastic!
I don't really have to introduce kathrynrose. If you have been a part of Idol this season, or for the last couple years, you already know her and love her. (or at least know her. :D)
You can find Season 7 winner amenquohi all over the place (she has been blogging for a few major outlets) She is currently running two sites: "One for the G-PG related parenting stuff (info on my newly published book and blogs at elliedelano.com) and I'm also publishing Adult Novels now under the name Britt DeLaney. You can find info on my books and other projects at BrittDelaney.wordpress.com. "
misstiajournal is an active LJer who runs a really cool community http://vintage-ads.livejournal.com/ that you should check out
pixiebelle is an old and dear friend of Idol as well as being a former contestant with her own Publishing Company http://www.feypublishing.com/ ! You can find her own work Www.kristenduvall.com and www.facebook.com/kristenduvallwriter I can't even begin to tell you how proud of her I've been, and I'm really happy that she agreed to be a Gatekeeper!
Another Gatekeeper falls into that category as well: belgatherial of Solar Wyrm Press http://solarwyrm.com/
If you have heard stories of Season 4 and 5, there is one name that you may recognize. rm Great writer. Great person. (she wrote some things that I may excerpt in the comments. But I'll cut and paste her bio info) "I write both fiction and non-fiction about the intersection of fame, pop-culture, private lives.
For those interested in non-fiction writing about pop-culture, visit http://www.lettersfromtitan.com. My most recent essay is "Castling" in Mad Norwegian Press's anthology, Chicks Dig Gaming.
For those interested in LGBTQ romance, visit http://www.avian30.com. My Love in Los Angeles series,co-written with Erin McRae, is published in ebook and paperback by Torquere Press. We also have forthcoming works with Dreamspinner Press and Cleis.
You can also find me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1015335.Racheline_Maltese"
If you read the Internet, who may know Elizabeth Hawksworth. If you don't, you probably know her from Idol. But these days she's all over places like HuffPost. But if you want to read her stuff before it goes viral, check out elizabethahawksworth.com.
Last, but not least, there our second place finisher from Season 8. She went on to do a few things. You may have seen them or heard about them when she's been on various news outlets. She's our own Darlena Cunha and you can find her at places like Time.com, WashingtonPost.com, in the opinion page of your local newspaper and of course at parentwin.com
Thank you to our Gatekeepers!!
After all, I'm asking people for a favor - on behalf of the competition, I am asking them to read the entries and cast votes that will help determine how a season is going to play out.
Some people say "No". Others say "Yes", but something comes up.
I'm happy to say that there were quite a few "Absolutely"s this time around, and all of them seemed to enjoy themselves.
So - thank you to the contestants for not embarrassing us. ;)
But since this is the "Gatekeeper post", it's time for me to let you know who they were - and give you a moment to thank them for their time. Some of them may pop in and comment about their process and things they noticed as they were reading. None of them are going to say "I voted for you""didn't" (or shouldn't) but it's always interesting to get a look into the thought process.
This time around was a mixture of Old Friends of Idol, some folks working professionally in the writing field, one actual Survivor, some of my personal favorite writers (and people), and a mixture of all these things.
So without further ado...
Your GATEKEEPERS were:
joeymichaels, who can also be found at http://sadclownrep.com/
zia-narratora (AKA Tea!) who can be found tumblr: http://teaberryblue.tumblr.com/
My Captain America-themed fancomic, The Saddest Avenger: http://thesaddestavenger.tumblr.com/
My Ao3 Profile, which has a couple of my Idol entries on it: http://archiveofourown.org/users/teaberryblue/profile
blergeatkitty You can find some of her non-LJ work at: http://previously.tv/author/jessica-liese/ and http://robhasawebsite.com/author/jessicaliese/
The very much missed in these parts Myrna-Bird
karmasoup who everyone here knows. Although you may not know about her film work: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3993951/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Michelle Evans. Who doesn't have a LJ - but writes some really fantastic music reviews: Nine Bullets: http://ninebullets.net/archives/author/michelleevans
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/michelle-evans/1a/656/777 is a good starting point for some of her other credits over the years
Someone called whipchick:
"Allison K Williams (whipchick) has written for National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, McSweeney’s and Travelers’ Tales. She's a winner of the Mark Twain Humor Writing Award and The Moth StorySLAM, and serves as the social media editor for Brevity. All of these plaudits are merely dust on the shoes of her real achievement - winning Idol Season 8. She can be found at www.idowords.net and www.unkindeditor.com."
Kathy Sleckman who you might remember as a contestant Survivor: Micronesia and various related charity work and all-around opinionated person. :)
There were many who thought they would see witchwife still around in the competition at this point. You probably would have had Life not taken her out. But you can also find her at http://jottify.com/writer/lancaster
You may have also seen elledanger who was certainly doing quite well before bowing out early.
There is also the always fantastic fourzoas who may be an Associate Professor and "Director of Writing and Teaching" at on the university level. :) Maybe she knows a thing or two.
Coming from my own past is Jack Foster. He was the guy who introduced me to the work of Amos Tutuola, one of my favorite authors. These days you can find him working on http://www.recklesseyeballs.com/ and his upcoming comic GUN, which looks like it's going to be fantastic!
I don't really have to introduce kathrynrose. If you have been a part of Idol this season, or for the last couple years, you already know her and love her. (or at least know her. :D)
You can find Season 7 winner amenquohi all over the place (she has been blogging for a few major outlets) She is currently running two sites: "One for the G-PG related parenting stuff (info on my newly published book and blogs at elliedelano.com) and I'm also publishing Adult Novels now under the name Britt DeLaney. You can find info on my books and other projects at BrittDelaney.wordpress.com. "
misstiajournal is an active LJer who runs a really cool community http://vintage-ads.livejournal.com/ that you should check out
pixiebelle is an old and dear friend of Idol as well as being a former contestant with her own Publishing Company http://www.feypublishing.com/ ! You can find her own work Www.kristenduvall.com and www.facebook.com/kristenduvallwriter I can't even begin to tell you how proud of her I've been, and I'm really happy that she agreed to be a Gatekeeper!
Another Gatekeeper falls into that category as well: belgatherial of Solar Wyrm Press http://solarwyrm.com/
If you have heard stories of Season 4 and 5, there is one name that you may recognize. rm Great writer. Great person. (she wrote some things that I may excerpt in the comments. But I'll cut and paste her bio info) "I write both fiction and non-fiction about the intersection of fame, pop-culture, private lives.
For those interested in non-fiction writing about pop-culture, visit http://www.lettersfromtitan.com. My most recent essay is "Castling" in Mad Norwegian Press's anthology, Chicks Dig Gaming.
For those interested in LGBTQ romance, visit http://www.avian30.com. My Love in Los Angeles series,co-written with Erin McRae, is published in ebook and paperback by Torquere Press. We also have forthcoming works with Dreamspinner Press and Cleis.
You can also find me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1015335.Racheline_Maltese"
If you read the Internet, who may know Elizabeth Hawksworth. If you don't, you probably know her from Idol. But these days she's all over places like HuffPost. But if you want to read her stuff before it goes viral, check out elizabethahawksworth.com.
Last, but not least, there our second place finisher from Season 8. She went on to do a few things. You may have seen them or heard about them when she's been on various news outlets. She's our own Darlena Cunha and you can find her at places like Time.com, WashingtonPost.com, in the opinion page of your local newspaper and of course at parentwin.com
Thank you to our Gatekeepers!!