Name: Dusky Raptor

Gender: Female

Place of Residence: Somewhere in the Midwest

Blue Skies and Silver Linings is now officially published! Please excuse any tiny typos, I try my damnedest to clean them up, but sometimes, things slip by me! I thank you for your patience in taking the time to read my story regardless!

I encourage and welcome constructive criticism on matters regarding my story. I'm minoring in creative writing over in college, and have a few classes under my belt already. If I can handle the feedback and opinions of my fellows in class, here online should be no different. If you see something that looks wonky, please feel free to let me know! I might have missed it and would like to rectify it as soon as I'm able.

Feedback in a review is always better than no review at all!

Some random facts about me:

-I was active duty military for eight years; specifically, the Marine Corps. I'm a veteran now, but there is a saying that's still golden and true: "Once a Marine, always a Marine." I have experience working in logistics, admin, supply, warehousing, ceremonial narration, and handling clusterfuck shitstorms as a result of my time in the military. I am also preferential to head-shots with a rifle or pistol (I hope to add a bow to that list of weaponry one day soon.)

-I have five cats and they are all little shits. (I still love them.) I have two children and they are also little shits. (I love them too.) I have depression and it is utterly life-draining when it hits, and I have to Adult and Parent, even when I don’t want to, I have to force myself to. That makes it even more draining and sucks the life out of me when I attempt to write. (I apologize if it interferes with updates, but my mental health is a wee bit more important, as is my family’s wellbeing.)

-I am, and always will be, a dinosaur nut. My username is testimony to the shortened nomenclature of dromeosauridae (such as the Velociraptor or Deinonychus), but I'm not opposed to the association to birds of prey either. I am preferential to carnivores, and as a result, will always have a soft spot for Giant Movie Monsters (from the sly Indominus Rex, to the savage Deathclaw, to the massive king of monsters Godzilla).

-I am utterly fascinated and equally as terrified at the idea of giant sea monsters cruising through our oceans, undiscovered and unhindered. As a result, I'm a sucker for horror novels in those settings and with those premises, such as Steve Alten's The Meg series or Mira Grant's horror mermaid novel Into the Drowning Deep. (We currently know more about the solar system and star systems next door to us than we do about our own oceans. We know nothing of the horrors beneath the waves.)

Dark colours are my preferred colour palette, but I venture into the land of Bright Happy Colours from time to time. (My dyed hair is testimony to that.)

-I am currently in college, attempting to get my BA in traditional animation, with a minor in creative writing. I am almost done, and I has an excite to holding a degree in my hand as a result. I hope to secure a job in the video game industry if the movie or television industry don’t pan out. I have a few tattoos and plan on getting a whole sleeve someday.

-I’m an atheist. After a mixture of Christian and Jewish learning growing up, I have come to the conclusion that religion, no matter the scripture or background, just isn’t for me (and it also doesn’t add up, because it’s full of contradictions). It doesn’t mean it’s not fascinating to me.

-I’m a Progressive as far as politics go. It’s not important, not really. I will bite (figuratively) if provoked on the matter, however.

-I haven’t seen my natural hair colour in years since I’ve been dying it ever since I got out of the military. My command saw me not long after and were thoroughly amused at my “My Little Pony-esque” hairstyle. I am thoroughly amused by the grumpy individuals who turn their noses up at me for it, because I like to believe I have ruined their day just for existing.

-I used to play guitar, although I was not very good...at all. (I am passably good at singing, as the women in my family have sang since...forever.)

-Growing up, I have had a veritable zoo: our household has had sharks, eels, iguanas, parrots, ferrets, snakes, lizards, tortoises, a vast variety of tropical fish and shrimp, dogs, cats, and hamsters. I'm still waiting to see if my mother will one day come home with a llama, pony, monkey, or something else of that nature (I wouldn't put it past her, nor my stepfather either. They are an eclectic pair when it comes to animals.)