Drag Queen Cleo is NOT Happy...

"You DARE forget me???"

See, it seems I have been forgetting to bring ‘her manliness’ with me on various jaunts. Even telling her that Cleopatra’s Moon, the story of her daughter, Selene, won a Crystal Kite award from our awesome Southern-Breeze SCBWI region did nothing to lift the cold steel of her rage.

I mean, look at that face. Seriously, she is not happy.

“But it’s the Crystal Kite!” I told her. “Recognition from writers and artists whom I deeply respect! Isn’t it wonderful? Isn’t it fabulous?! Aren’t you as excited and honored as I am?”

“It matters not at all,” she uttered through clenched teeth, “if the attention is not on ME!”

Ah.

So I reminded her that I had, indeed, brought her with me to the Georgia Junior Classical League convention where I gave several workshops related to her life and to ancient Rome. This mollified her a bit, especially when I showed her the photo of her legion of admirers bowing and uploading pictures of her magnificence to their friends.

The queen liked being worshipped at JCL.

But when I inadvertently mentioned the writer’s retreat I recently attended—whereupon I had forgotten her at home—her rage returned.

And so, with her expressive man-hands, she read aloud a new law she had written calling for my death should I ever forget her again.

“Geez, isn’t that a little harsh?” I asked, rubbing my throat.

“Not at all,” the great queen said.  “I will not be ignored.”

And with that, our little queen turned on the heel of her painted-over combat boots/sensible shoes, and sashayed out of the room. I may have been wrong, but I’m pretty sure she called me “an unwashed, uneducated, plebeian unfit to even shave her back.”

"It's right here in black and papyrus: ignore me again and you die!"

Which I gotta say, really, really hurt. Because I thought I was getting pretty good at that job.

In all seriousness, I’m “over the moon,” about the Crystal Kite award. We have a tremendous amount of talent in our Southern-Breeze region and I’m really humbled and grateful to see Cleopatra’s Moon get recognized. Thank you to all my SCBWI friends!

You rock and rule!