Okay, so I'm totally impatient and have to tell you NOW ... #AtoZChallenge

I was going to wait until the beginning of the A-Z Challenge to reveal this. BUT. I'm sooooo impatient. And I have to tell you now.

All my music, from 1998 until 2011 is now available to buy (very cheap) online from HERE. You can also listen to all tracks the entire way through for free.

I'm so excited to be able to put all my music out there. It's been sitting on my shelf, lonely and neglected for years.

Also, you must know, that during the challenge, I will choose a random commenter every two days, to receive a FREE DOWNLOAD of one of my albums. Your choice!  That's THIRTEEN winners. Tell your friends?


Just comment on my A-Z posts from this Sunday until Monday April 30th, for a chance to win. 


Check it out at jessicabell.bandcamp.com!

Singing into toothbrushes with socks stuck in my top ... yes, today I tell you a secret ...

Remember when you were a kid, and your favorite song would play on the radio, or on TV Hits, or on Rage (Australian music video show), and you'd grab the nearest object that resembled a microphone and perform to yourself in the mirror, striking poses that would probably only suit KISS?

Remember?

If you were female, you'd also probably smother your lips in red, stick some socks down the front of your top, or even better still, find some cardboard to make pointy cones to stick down your top instead ... Express yourself! ... Vogue, Vogue ...

If you were male, you'd be touching and grinding your groin while attempting to simultaneously do the moonwalk, or painting your face and declaring that you were trying to mimic army disguise when your dad caught you out and gave you a concerned look ...

Remember?

I do ...

I would also sleep with my Walkman (yes, WALKMAN, with those heavy headphones that resembled earmuffs), close my eyes and envision myself on stage performing Alanah Miles', Black Velvet in the raunchy fetish gear Cher sported with her tattooed butt showing ...

Yes. I did.

Now, last night, I didn't go as far as sticking socks down my top (I think my breasts are quite decent, so really, there was no need ...), nor did I sing into my toothbrush and strike poses in the mirror, but I did lie in bed listening to music, acting out the moves in my head, that I'd make on stage, pretending to be a famous rock star and all ... hehehe ... but you know what the best part of last night's little party in my head was? It was TO MY OWN MUSIC!!!

Hahahaha ... yeah, that was fun ... I should probably let myself do that more often. I had a pretty awesome night ...


PS: I have an hour-long radio interview (in English) this Thursday at 4:30 pm, on Kokkino 105.5 FM, where the entire soundtrack to my debut novel, String Bridge, will be played in between questions. :o) I'm excited! (and flippin' nervous) Hopefully those of you outside Greece will be able to access its online streaming ...

So how was your weekend? Got any secrets you'd like to admit to? ;o)

Today is my One-Year Blog Anniversary and I'm giving away ...

... ONE OF THESE!

The first person to choose the one lie out of the seven statements below will win. So which out of the following is false about me?

1. When I was a kid I used to climb the fig tree in our back yard and sing to the plum tree opposite it to make the plums more purple.

2. Between the ages of 0-5 I was VERY blonde.

3. I can't wear the same long-sleeved top twice in a row if it was touching my skin, but I can wear short-sleeved tops twice in a row. Hmm, yeah, I'm weird like that.

4. I was thrown out of ballet school for making up my own steps. I then started jazz-ballet and told everyone I was taking tap lessons.

5. Being a guitarist, singer and songwriter, I never learnt how to read sheet music, but I can read guitar tabs.

6. I learnt German for six years, but now all I can remember is "Der hahn ist tut."

7. I used to make beaded jewelry. I still have a huge box of unused beads shoved in the back of my wardrobe.

So which is it, folks? Which one is THE LIE?

Good luck! I'll announce the result tomorrow!!!

PS: Today is Kathara Deftera in Greece (Clean Monday), which is the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent. Traditionally people fly kites today. If I weren't still sick, I'd so go. Who wants to fly a kite for me? ;o)

I was a goth, yes I was. I was punky, yes I was. I was into metal, yes I was. I was also a bit weird, yes I was. Obsessed with how I looked, yes I was. But somewhere in between then and now I changed, and don't really care how I look anymore. Is that a crime?

Now, before I show you my teen photos, I just want to let you know that Bryan Russell is posting one of my flash fiction pieces on his blog, The Alchemy of Writing, today! So do me a favour and shimmy over there, after here, to take a look. It's a quick read, only about 400 words, so it won't take you long :o) If you'd like to learn more about Bryan, you can also head over to Matthew Rush's abode to read an interview with him.

Also there are two awesome Blogfests coming up that you really don't want to miss!

Nicole Ducleroir's Bernard Pivot Blogfest, which focuses on getting to know each other better. Sign up. It's fun and easy.

And Arlee Bird's A-Z April Challenge. I participated in the A-Z last year and it was a riot! Check it out!

Ok, here's me being brave and giving you a glimpse into my late teens, very early twenties. I changed the way I looked a lot, and really liked to go OVERBOARD with dressing up! Oh man ... tell me again, why am I showing you these?

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Nineteen 

Twenty

Twenty-one

Me, last year, boofy-haired, a little more chubby than I used to be, lazy to put make-up on or dress up, but hey, that's me and I'm happy to be me. I'll be 30 next month, and can't wait to see what this new decade brings!

Have a great weekend, everyone! See ya on the flipside!

Taking the day off. Tune in tomorrow instead!

Due to signing up for the Significant Other blogfest tomorrow, I'm taking today off. In the meantime, here's a photo of me using a felt pen as a microphone.

Have a great day!

It's difficult to write about the truth, isn't it?

As many of you know I'm trying to write a memoir. Not very successfully I might add. These are the problems I'm facing:

One: I embellish a truth so much that it ends up turning into fiction.

Two: I can't distinguish between the truth and my 'idea' of the truth.

Three: I cry out of frustration, grief, and memories that I thought I had gotten over, and then stop writing because it hurts. If this keeps happening I'll never get it written.

Four: I have a vague memory of some things but the details are so blurry I can't possibly write about them truthfully, but have to in order to tell my story properly.

Five: Are my opinions of the past valid? Or are they overreactions?

Six: Are some of my memories made-up memories that I created in order to overcome things as a child? Such as believing something someone did was more horrible than it actually was so that I was allowed to 'hate' them?

Seven: I am so used to making things shine in fiction, that I don't know how to use the same skills with the truth and they come out dry and bland.

So. There are my seven deadly memoir sins. Has anyone ever experienced the same thing? Very interested to hear opinions from Karen Gowen and Karen Walker here as they too have written memoirs.

PS: The Stray Branch, a literary journal, has just accepted my poem EMPTY for its bi-annual print publication in 2012, the Fall/Winter issue #10 Vol 7. Yikes! What a wait. But certainly very pleased! :o)

PPS: Um, I think I'm losing track of followers. I've also got a terrible feeling that I've neglected some of you - as in NEVER stopped by your blog to leave a comment. If that's the case, I'm SO SO SO SORRY! Also, if that is the case, please please please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me. Tell me to get my butt into gear and make my way over, ya hear? I want interactive blogging here, so neglecting people is just not my intention. So please speak up if I've lost touch! Thanks *curtsy*.

You wanna see 'THE' eyebrows? Watch this ...

Here is a video clip that shows 'the' famous eyebrows. It was made in 1985. I was four. Mum is wearing sunglasses in the beginning, so you'll have to wait till she takes them off. Also, if you can manage to watch it till the end, you'll see me reaching my arms out toward the camera, in the red sparkly costume I borrowed from my neighbour. I was so uspet that the clip wasn't in colour. I so wanted my red costume to sparkle ... but it was not meant to be ...

I grew up with awesome FEEDBACK ...

Amplifier feedback, silly! Screeeeeechaaaweeee!!!!!!!!!!

I was just twelve when this video was made. My mother is the singer/guitarist, my father the bassist. Got no questions for you today, so thought I'd share a little of my past. Enjoy!

If anyone is interested in seeing or hearing more, you can find stuff here.