Get this. Someone thinks I'm strange. Well, duh.

Fresh on the heels of my spectacular win at Harley May's blog for the book NUMB by Sean Ferrell (I can't stop plugging this book, he'd better send me extra cupcakes), I discovered I was nominated for the Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits Award by brilliant writer S.S. Michaels at Slush Pile Hero. I have no idea how she came to this conclusion that I deserved an award for being... odd. Shut up.

So, to claim my award, I'll shake my bad thang and post it with pride from her website:

Cate Gardner’s story collection ‘Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits’ is forthcoming this October from Strange Publications. In honor of her new book Cate is holding a contest for the Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits Award. You can find out about the award and see the prizes here.

Without further ado, my own strange seven. Not as grand as the Magnificent Seven but I suspect they were just showing off.

• Beth Bartlett at Wisecrack Zodiac because I love astrological rhyming.
• Amy Mullis at Mind Over Mullis because I can't get that cat yoga column at An Army of Ermas out of my head. My lawyers will be contacting you soon.
• Harley May because she thinks I'm pretty. Aaaaaaaaand, she's weird. Oh yeah, I went there.
• Angie Mansfield. I can't decide between her talking Jade plant, Fred, and the Zebra Rag. Both equally fascinating. It's nice to see a girl letting the voices in her head take over once in a while.
• Melanie Avila - she speaks for her dog. Yeah. I thought so too. (Disclaimer: Owen is the cutest puppy next to my two dogs I've ever seen. Yes he is. Yes he iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis).
• Jason Tudor because no list would be complete without the author of Galactic Milk and the illustrator of the Zombie Tarot.
• Adam Slade at Editing Hat because my daughter and I can't stop laughing over his recent release, The Reaper's Tale.

And the rules of this award, because there's always a catch (from Cate's blog):

1. Add the logo of the award to your blog post.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you (don’t mess with strange people).
3. Nominate seven other blogs telling us why you think the recipient is strange enough to deserve the award.
4. Leave a message for those nominated on their blogs.
5. And, if you email catephoenix(at)gmail(dot)com and tell her you’ve received the award for your strangeness, she’ll enter you in the biggest kick-ass Strange Men competition ever. Details over at strangemeninpinstripesuits.com (click on the award link on the home page)