Mood:
chattyTopic: General
Hiya! My name's Shane.
This li'l ol' blog is getting started mostly because I have a patent love of originality, and it's so VERY original to be starting a blog these days, isn't it?
Eh, don't answer that...
These days it seemed like myself and two of my neighbor's dogs were the only people without a blog, so I've decided to keep this concrete database of my most brilliant and educational thoughts (as well as any good chile-con-carne recipies, if they happen to come up). I do this as a side to my 'main' site on the interweb: I'm the author of the TYPERS novel series (if you're reading this right now then you already know that because you almost certainly came here from there...)
Anywhoo: I figure that this little nook'll serve to dish up a hotbed of my opinions and ideas (who wouldn't love that?). A LOT of the stuff here will be related in some way to my books and the writing process in general, more of an informal brainstorm and 'behind-the-scenes' discussion (and because of this I'll likely be half-trashed on Grolsch when I cobble together most of these entries: pray for coherence, dear reader, pray...)
Other entries will likely be more 'free-floating': by that I mean whatever floats my boat or ticks me off on that particular day. While we're at it I do NOT expect to make this the ultimate site of bloggy goodness: don't expect the moon, folks, but if it's mildly entertaining you can think you've come out on top...
For my first official entry I thought I'd go over the name of the blog itself: Cotton Thistle Clearance. The title comes directly from a theme in my books, but the name is actually born from a very 'prickly' experience I had some years back.
First, the book part: 'Typers' is (loosely defined) a military science fiction series, and anyone who's read my online drafts knows that my fictional military security clearances are given the names of deadly plants ('Belladonna' clearance, for example, is inferior to 'Digitalis' clearance). The highest possible clearance, however, is named for the Scotch Thistle, AKA the 'Cotton' Thistle (it ain't poisonous, but it hurts like HELL when it pinches your bare skin...)
This site kinda gives you (the reader) the highest 'clearance' into my mental processes (stop me if this drippy prose makes you feel nauseous...) so it's an apt name, and the real story behind it is more humerous and embarassing than anything:
Several years back I was on summer holiday over in Scotland (which, if you didn't already know, I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY like...). I was in a place called the Trossachs near Loch Katrine with some buddies. We were wasted ('natch) and did some off-trail hiking. When we finally FOUND the trail again we were separated from it by a wide streak of purple-headed flowers (the eponimous Cotton Thistle) and, long story short, I made a bet that I could jump those spiny bastards in a single bound...
Turns out that I couldn't. I was wearing shorts that day, and that night I was wearing a slimy film of Neosporin...
Back then I certainly didn't have 'Cotton Thistle Clearance' (that's another thing I love, by the way: puns, so live with it, 'kay?) but now I DO have it, for better or for worse. So, there it is. I hope you can enjoy it.
Cheers.
