Fairy Metal Thunder Read-Along

I'm excited to be participating in the Fairy Metal Thunder Read-Along found here:

http://theunreadreader.com/2012/06/coming-soon-fairy-metal-thunder-read-along-scavenger-hunt.html

Since I've already read the book, it's going to be easy for me to keep up with the hunt. Even chasing around a couple of kids, I'll hopefully be able to post. So long as I get things done early. :)

Here are my answers to the first batch of questions:

1. At the beginning of the story, the Assorted Zebras are just a garage band, but they are expecting to make it big. Who knows, you just might find yourself at one of their concerts someday. Until then, show me your favorite concert t-shirt. It could be a picture of a concert you actually attended or a pic of a vintage tee of your favorite band. Be sure to tell me the story behind the tee.

Concert T Shirt There was this boy that I liked. I remember seeing him at a party, and telling the host to give him my number. Of course, he didn't, so I had to wait for another party to 'bump' into the boy again. The second time I was a bit braver than the first, and gave him my number. We went to a concert (He liked metal. Eep!) and out to a Hitchcock double feature at the Stanford Movie Theater in Palo Alto, and then we went to see The Killers in San Francisco. Tegan and Sara opened, and I couldn't have been more excited, more giddy. The Killers was one of my favorite bands at the time, so I made sure to buy this shirt to commemorate the night. It was the night of our first kiss, and the night we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend. It was April 19, 2005. Four years later our first daughter was born on April 18th.

2. Jason’s mom forces him to agree to do some yard work for Mrs. Dullahan, which wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t rumored to be a witch. Tell me about the worst chore you were ever forced to do. Who make you do it? Bonus points if you have a picture to share of you doing the dirty work.

Worst Chore My cats aren't as mean or as scary as the Dullahan, but their poop is probably as stinky. And I have to change the litter box. I'm supposed to do it every day, or at least every other day. But with a toddler and a relatively newborn, it gets to be a bit much. Sometimes it goes almost a week, and I feel awful about how dirty it gets in there. If only the cats would stop pooping, then I wouldn't have to clean the box, right? So, I guess they're the ones who "force" me to do the work. Stupid cats. ;)

3. Uh oh! There seems to be a jewelry thief in the neighborhood. Have you have had anything stolen from you? Or have you ever lost something precious? Did you ever find it? Make a Reward if Found poster for the stolen or lost item. Convince us to find it for you. Make the reward good!

Reward Poster Speaking of cats, one of mine went missing a while back. It was difficult to explain to my toddler where he was. She spent a lot of time looking for him in the house, no matter how many times I explained to her that he was outside and we didn't know where he was. A few days had passed, and I was worried that we were never going to find him again. One of my neighbors, who I often see out walking her dog, came and knocked on my door. The dog had found my cat, apparently, in a bush around the backside of our condo complex. I went out there with a can of tuna, and after a few hours of coaxing, I was able to get him back into our house.

I never gave the dog his reward.

4. In Faerie, Jason declares himself as Jason the Guy Who Wants That Necklace Back. Weird, but then again every name has a meaning. What does your name mean? What is the origin? Do you go by any kind of nicknames? How did you get that nickname?

Name Meaning "Missy" is my nickname. It's my penname, one that I chose about a decade ago when I was involved with online role-playing. There was a girl that I knew of in college who was named Melissa, but went by Missy. I thought it was a nice name, and started to use it. It's become almost more me than my legal name is, hence my using it as my pen name. I've chosen my mother's maiden name as my last name for my writing, because I think it flows better than my legal name.

Anyway, I never thought about what Missy means. Apparently it means Bee. Where did that come from? Crazy. I don't think of a Bee when I think of Missy. I'm assuming they mean a bumblebee, and not a spelling bee. Still, I think it's bizarre.

5. When Jason gets home from his all night adventures through Fairy, his parents unfairly ground him for a month! Care to share a time you were grounded by your parents for no good reason?

I don't think my parents ever grounded me for no good reason. I always gave them a reason, it was just a different severity of good. One of the worst groundings I ever got was when I snuck out of the house in the middle of the night with a girl who was sleeping over and a couple of my brother's friends. My girl friend and I were Freshmen, and my brother's friends were juniors in high school. We were stopped by the police about a mile from my parents' home, and my father had to come out and get me. As punishment for sneaking out of the house, I was forbid from going to the graduation ceremonies to watch my friends graduate.

I went anyway.