Ooookay. I've been officially blog-tagged on my other blog by two fellow bloggers in the past month now, so I can't avoid it. For those of you who haven't heard of it, when you're blog-tagged, you provide a link back to the tagger, list five things about yourself that most people don't know, and then tag five more bloggers.

I can do this.

So, my respective taggers are the very impressive Cooper Dragonette (who's been a full time artist for a year now and does some pretty $%^& amazing work - way to go Cooper) and Tracey Costescu (I think I even spelled her last name right), a portrait artist from Canada (but we'll forgive her that).

So, without further ado, five amazing things about me most people don't know.

1. My name was not originally Maggie Stiefvater, or even Margaret Stiefvater, which is what it is now legally. I had my first name officially changed when I was sixteen and full of angst, and my last name changed to its now unpronounceable form when I got married. Looking back on it, it all seems like a lot of paperwork to go through to get a name as unsexy as Maggie Stiefvater. I think if I had it to do over again, I'd have to go with Cleopatra McGowan or Milky Way or Cookie-Dough Rocks.

2. I'm an introvert. Though most people can't tell when they meet me in person and most of my friends deny it fervently, I don't really like socializing or vapid conversation. My idea of a hellish conversation:

Person: How are you doing today?
Me: So-so. I wish my car had leather seats.
Person: How about this weather?
Me: Uh.
Person: I've got to go shopping now. Christmas is just around the corner, you know!
Me: Uh.
Person: It was great talking to you!

It seems to me that if you open your mouth, either moths should fly in or something interesting or important should come out to make the action of opening your mouth significant. Anyway. Yes. Me. Introvert. I have taken the always fascinating Myers-Briggs test and always come out INFJ. (If you take it, don't read your personality results on that first page, which is boring as all get out. Read them here.)

Though the INFJ personality page starts with "INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals" I dunno about that gentle bit . . . seems to me my moth statement negates the gentle statement.

3. I speak enough German to get into trouble and read enough Latin to do the same. Once, when I was in college, I was working for a little down-town tourist hotspot, and some German tourists came in. They did that annoying foreign thing of wandering around the store pointing at things and saying "look how cheesy that is" and "everything is way too expensive" and basically "this is all crap" in their own language. Too bad I spoke German. As they breezed out the door, I called "Schones Wochenende (have a good weekend)"(there's supposed to be an umlaut in there but darned if I know how to type it). Two seconds later, the guy came back in and practically fell over himself apologizing for their behavior. Most awesome foreign language experience of my life.

Only awesome foreign language experience of my life.

4. I'm an incredibly picky eater and I have a problem with a lot of condiments. I hate A1 and yellow mustard. Bell peppers are another non-food that I refuse to eat. I don't know why some people think that they're a good idea -- because they ain't. Also, chili with beans. Or raspberries. Or . . . actually, it would be faster to list the foods I do eat.

5. I don't wear jewelry. I'm not really a girly girl. I had my ears pierced for a few weeks until I got tired of having to mind how I pulled off my shirt. Once, at a craft show, I saw a necklace that I would wear. I was amazed. I went back to my booth to contemplate if I should give into this strange urge to purchase it, and when I went back, it was sold. A Sign, surely.

Anyway, so five totally worthless things you now know about me!

Now, since I tagged seven artists for my last blog tag, I thought I'd turn from my usual artist blogging friends and tag some writers instead. I don't know if all my tagees will play, but I'd be charmed if they did. I'm going to go for:

Melissa Marr: author of the excellent YA fantasy WICKED LOVELY and moderator of the wonderful urban fantasy writers' community Fangs, Fur & Fey. I always read her blog because she seems to have a weirdly idealistic worldview like I do.

Cyn Balog: author of upcoming FAIRY LUST and new critique partner (I'm reading her latest work in progress and she's reading mine . . . no spoilers but it's got a great concept!)

Mark Henry: author of upcoming HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAMNED, because his blog is hilarious, as is he, and because he sent me encouraging e-mails back when I was having sailing rough blogging waters. (warning to the faint of heart, his blog, interstate 95 during rush hour, contains swearing and zombies).

Jackson Pearce: author of upcoming the really fascinating sounding AS YOU WISH. Because she's charming, funny, and thought my dogs were cute.

Carrie Jones: author of TIPS ON HAVING A GAY EX-BOYFRIEND, because she's also funny and a fellow Flux author.