Basically, I am one of those rare beings: a female wargamer. This is primarily due to a grade school game club and a club monitor who showed me the wonderful world of Tactics II, the Avalon Hill classic. Mr. McGrath, wherever you are, may the gods of battle favor you.
I briefly did the college thing, just long enough to spend a lot of money and just short enough to get nothing in return. From there, I went to Uncle Sam's call in the Air Force, and was less than amused to find it more of an Air Farce. After five fun-filled years of dancing to the Bureaucracy Tango and watching the fun of Desert Whatever, I combat-evaced myself into the civilian world. Unfortunately, this was the civilian world of Germany. Lovely country; just too bloody many Germans.
After a charming stint as a hotel electrician (read: fix whatever needs fixing), I dragged myself back to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Strange. In the space of a year, I worked as a nanny, a telephone surveyist for the Missouri Dept of Health, an apartment maintenance handy-person, and a floral delivery driver. I then settled into a four-year stint doing tech support for a major software company that became increasingly Dilbert-like, until the company collapsed under its own weight. I now do a variety of computer-related tasks for the University of Missouri.
I've discovered, however, that my one real talent is apparently in the area of military tactics. Not a bad thing, until you remember that female tacticians are less than common, and have a slightly smaller acceptance rating than Dan Quayle. Such is life. Sue me. In the immortal words, "I yam what I yam." Still, it's turned out rather nicely. SSI seems rather appreciative of the FAQs I've done for Panzer General and Allied General (in the words of one of their folks: "You did that FAQ? You rule!"), and have even seen fit to incorporate the latter of the two in the Sony Playstation version of the game. Amarillo Design Bureau, the makers of Star Fleet Battles, has published my race, the Peladine, in Stellar Shadows Journal #1, and has seen fit to cast and sell over a dozen miniatures that I have either kitbashed or built from scratch. All in all, a very big happy for me.
Despite popular belief, however, I am not just a wargammer. I also am a big fan of RPGs, with a particular focus in White Wolf Games' "World of Darkness" setting. In addition, I am an avid reader, enjoy biking and hiking, have been known to dabble in herbalism, and am a dedicated Pagan (with tendencies toward Wicca). I have been known to attempt art and engineering projects (my defunct college major was architecture), though nothing to write home about. Finally, I am a cat afficionado, and miss my cat Zaknafien a great deal...though I'm starting to believe that my new cat, Avril, is Zak reincarnated.