It's a Celebration!

This weekend you got to meet some of the people who make my life the crazy, wonderful thing it is. My wifey, Pika, was one of those people. She told you guys how we met. And then I told you all why I wanted you to get to know them.

What I didn't tell you though, is how very involved Pika has been in my writing life from day one. 

She is actually the one responsible for sending my very first query. I was too nervous to do it, so she hacked into my email and did it for me. She's also the one that poured over the contract with me, spent hours helping me get my thoughts in order when it was time to think about cover art, and has spent two years prereading every word I write, whether it's the first draft or the thousandth.

She's awesome like that, and nothing I write leaves the bat cave without her stamp of approval. She always knows exactly what word I can't think of, exactly what I'm trying to say when it won't come out right, and exactly how to get me to back away from the delete button.

I delete a lot. And by a lot, I mean a lot. When I wrote Rapture, one of my serialized fics, there were chapters that I rewrote ten, fifteen times. She never complained though. She read through every one of them, and when I finally had one right, she'd threaten bodily harm if I touched it again.

I'd be lost without her, and I do mean that. She challenges me to think outside the box, to consider things I'd never have thought of on my own, and to keep plugging along when what I really want to do is set everything I've ever written on fire and get blindingly drunk while it burns.

She also keeps me laughing. She's a Flyers fan, and she hates that the Blackhawks beat them like a drum to take the Stanley Cup in 2010. Jealousy is an ugly thing, wifey. She also loves cookies, Gizmo, Transformers, action movies, pretty boys, nerds, Bitey, MPW, and explosions as much as I do. We never run out of things to talk about, mischief to plot, or things to share with each other, whether it's a new plotline, a song we can dance to, or a good rant over politicians, mean people, or people who drive too slow. 

It's frightening how alike we are, but I am beyond blessed to have her hiding in the bat cave with me.  

Today is her birthday, and I need all of you to help me wish her happy. You can find her on Twitter @pkmarita. When you get a minute, hop over there and tell her how awesome she is. Because she is. And I think today is a great day to tell her that by celebrating her.

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!

So happy, happy birthday, wifey, and thanks for everything. Even though you're a Flyers fan, and you don't like Peeps which makes you completely abnormal and possibly not human, you're the best wifey ever and my life would suck without you. We might not agree on everything like the fact that Jack is awful and should outlawed in favor of Stoli, but you'll always be my wifey, and I will always be grateful for everything you've done for me. #tripodneversaysdie

Sempre, even when the road is hard,
A.K.M.