I won! Uh...this is like work, or something...

I’m really behind on mentioning this, but Jodi Lee, editor, writer and artist extraordinaire, has nominated me for a Kreative Blogger award last week.

I was all happy until I realized that I have to turn around and nominate seven other bloggers plus seven mystery writers. Picking the other bloggers will be no sweat. (Though it does sound a bit like picking boogers, doesn’t it?) Even though I just finished bitching about uncreative bloggers, my rant does not apply to everyone, just a select few people who try too hard to be helpful.

No, my real issue is picking seven mystery writers. I haven’t read real mysteries since my teens, so this felt like a major pain in…well anyway, it occurred to me to just do what Jodi did, and bend the definition of Mystery in order to complete the list. Before I get to those Mr. Ee folks, let me nominate seven bloggers who I visit regularly (after the cut):

S.D. Hintz — What to say about the head honcho of Skullvines Press, or his bizarre posts on The Bloody Bog? Well, for one thing, S.D.’s missives are unique, but sometimes, they’re unique in that short bus kinda way. Always entertaining, but sometimes leaves me shaking my head and saying, “He’s not right.” Yes, ME, declaring someone else isn’t right is fucking scary. And yet, I keep going back to see what else he posts.

Jerrod Balzer — The other half of the Skullvines Press team runs a diverse blog, covering pop culture, urban legends, his home life with his wife, and his creative efforts. Jerrod is also one of two rock jocks on The Metal Crypt.  He’s hilarious when he gets on a roll, and I check out his show and his blog all the time.

Michele Lee — Michele is a blog writer and a book reviewer with blunt honesty about the books she reads. Regular readers know I’ve been hyping Michele’s book, Rot, but she’s also released a lot of short fiction, many with GLBT themes. I really enjoy her short fiction for keeping me guessing, and I generally don’t like short stories. So this is really saying something that most of her short fiction blows me away.

Maurice Broaddus — Maurice’s blog is a fine example of a writer who blogs about more than just promotions and writing advice. He does those too, but in between are thoughtful posts on family life, spirituality, and general observations about people. Definitely worth checking in with regularly.

Naomi Kramer — Naomi is a serial fiction writer working on the site Nomesque Fiction, the author of the uproariously funny novella Dead(-ish), and the promoting powerhouse behind Free Fiction Online. She is extremely creative and versatile in her writing, and like me, she likes to experiment boldly. Her Nomesque site is a regular stop for me, and has been for a while.

Louise Bohmer — Editor, writer of The Black Act, possible faerie, and a darned convincing Betty Page look-alike, Louise’s blog isn’t updated nearly enough for my liking. But Louise is currently devoting her time to promoting for Daverana Enterprises, so this is understandable. Still a good blog to check out every now and then.

Brian Keene — You probably don’t know this guy, because he’s only got a few credits with Leisure, Marvel, Horror Mall…okay, I lied. You’ve probably heard of him. (Brian was also lightly killed in one of my stories under an assumed name.) Brian’s blog is an eclectic collection of amusing rambling missives, promos for his work, recaps of his misadventures at cons, and free serial fiction. Yeah, that’s right. He gives out freebies.

And my selected mystery writers are (mostly dead, mostly):

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, Agatha Christie, Robert B. Parker, Stephen King Neil Gaiman, and Michelle Lee.

Yay! I’ve done with the nominations. Now I can get back to drinking dark and stormies and plotting to take over the moon. (Should be much less resistance to my domination there, I think.)