OK. Enough seriousness.

You want to hear about me? Oh, there's so much to know! I’ll give you a few
highlights.

 As I may have mentioned, I have a Giant Schnauzer named Drax.

 I’m German.

 We have about fifty hedgehogs in our backyard (true) that collect golden rings
and fight Dr. Robotnik (false).

 There's an old church in our village that plays host to a coven of demon-
summoning witches (suspicious, but as of yet unconfirmed).
 I love cosplay.
 I have a dark, Gollum-like obsession with licorice.
 I D&D

 I’m a bit like a magpie. Mentions of ancient treasure always caught my

attention first.
 I'm big on visuals (shocker, coming from an author who hallucinates while
staring at words on a page for hours every day. I know).

Giveaways - I like to support new and upcoming authors. You'll be pointed to all of
the weekly
Obviously, I can't read every short story and novel they create (and neither can you)
but take a gander. Who knows? Maybe you'll find your next favorite author
Updates on my work
This could be cosplay or a new book.
Updates to The Nerd and Geek
Frequent updates -

I'll check back in with you in a few days to introduce myself properly, and then it will be onward
to the nerdy geeky weekly awesomeness. Sound good?
I’ve always known l was different from everybody else. By the third grade, when I
was found reading the Hobbit in class, everybody else knew I was different too. It
only got worse from there.
I didn’t let it stop me, but the constant reminder didn’t feel good. Being called a nerd
or a geek felt far worse. So I learned to keep my passions to myself.

Eventually I grew up, learned a few things about life, and began to have the bare
outlines of confidence.
It wasn’t for long years that I’d let some of my geeky, nerdy awesomeness out of the
proverbial Koopa shell I’d been hiding it in.
You really wouldn’t know it, looking at me now.
People see my pictures on Instagram and Facebook and assume I’ve always been a
paragon of nerd / geek spirit. They talk to me as if that first fantasy novel came
springing fully-formed out of my head, or I was always brave enough to cosplay.
It took me years of stumbling over myself before I was able to reach this point. A lot
of that has to do with the newfound attitude towards geeks and nerds. People finally
caught on.

We are the pop culture, now.

And I must say, learning to live the way you were born to? Accepting yourself and
your passions? It’s incredibly powerful. It’s OK if you’re not there yet, or you haven’t
found the right place to fit in. Maybe I can help point you in the right direction,
though.

I'm a huge advocate for nerd and geek culture.

It's kind of a quest for me. I'm so excited to live in times where fandom isn't just
accepted but celebrated. Still, there's a lot of aspects that are floating, disconnected
from the limelight that Marvel movies and vintage nerd t-shirts enjoy.
Take a look at my website. It's a space where it's safe just to be who you are (if you're
a nerd or a geek).

Replace Art Email with request for pics of Nerd / Geek Shrine. (If you have more than
one, lets see it).

Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite topics in fandom / geekdom / nerddom.

The Shrine.
You may have other words for it. Your nerd shelf. Your bookshelf. It can be as big as
a basement or as small as a book or an action figure.

Hidden or proudly displayed.

I've set up a couple below. Send me a picture of your shrine.

arcnerdandgeek.com/nerd-and-geek-shrines

Introductions aside, beyond this point, you'll be added to the weekly newsletter.
A little preparation for what you'll find there?

Usually, you'll find a few key components:

If you're like me, you get flustered and start speaking really quickly when you realize someone
else likes the same things you do.

I'm from Germany, I'm funny like Fezzik, I love my Giant Schnauzer Drax, and I get super
excited when people make fan references to things I love! More on that in the next email!