Allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Gina Collia-Suzuki, and I'm an artist and writer. I live on the southwest coast of England with my husband and a family of eight female rats, and I write both fiction and non-fiction. I already have two blogs... the first, which I began in the summer, is Floating Along in the World of Japanese Prints, which focuses on my obsession with Japanese prints (the subject of my non-fiction work). The second blog, The Wonderful Demise of Benjamin Arnold Guppy, is concerned with the book of the same name... a tale of blackmail, turnip tossing, and the cold-blooded murder of an incredibly irritating old man. Anyway, this blog will be a place where I can talk about everything not covered by the other two... writing, publishing, perhaps a little painting, reading, and all that jazz.

I was four years old when I started frightening children, or making them laugh too much in class. I was born a writer, so it was natural that I'd make up stories about ghouls and ghosties and send my classmates running off in floods of tears. My English teacher, when I hit ten years of age, said to my mother 'I fear she'll end up published or imprisoned.' Thankfully, it turned out to be the former.

I do have a rather serious side though. I've been studying Japanese prints since my teens, and I was incredibly fortunate to have Jack Hillier, the world-renowned Ukiyo-e scholar, as my mentor. My passion for prints has increased over the years and the study of them still takes up the vast majority of my time. My first book, Utamaro Revealed: A Guide to Subjects, Themes and Motifs, was published in September 2008.

So there you have me. And if you want to find out more about either area of my life then please do click on the links and explore the other blogs.

I also urge you to visit Red Room... where the writers are. It's a great community, and I was a Red Room rising star in 2008, which was very nice indeed.