[close] Here’s the official third-person bio: A writer and editor for a decade, Ariel Meadow Stallings has been published in print and web publications including ReadyMade Magazine, Seattle Weekly, and Movies.com. Offbeat Bride is her first book.

Here’s me rambling about myself: I started writing for public consumption in 1997, first for a small women’s zine in San Francisco, and then for Lotus, an electronic music magazine published out of Los Angeles. I worked my way up from event reviewer to contributor to regional editor and I became Editor in Chief of Lotus in 1998. I spent almost three years documenting America’s rave scene (laugh all you want: Lotus had 30,000 readers nationwide and was an unmitigated niche success) before hanging up my editorial glow sticks in early 2001. That same year I attended the Columbia Publishing Course at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Since then, my writing has been loosely focused on cultural trends, entertainment, women’s stuff, and technology.

A geek at heart, I had my first internet date in 1992, built my first website in 1996, and started blogging in 2000. I’ve been up to my elbows in social media and web geekery ever since. I’ve founded blogs for companies like the Walt Disney Internet Group and Jobster.com, and pay my bills as a copywriter, clacking out copy touting squirrel-deflecting bird feeders, software, newspapers, nose hair trimmers, and just about everything in between.

I’m also a commentator on lifestyle topics. I’ve been interviewed by NPR’s Marketplace, The Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, the BBC, Bust Magazine, and Seattle’s KUOW radio. My projects have been written about by publications including The New York Times, Newsweek, and The Guardian. You can see my press clips over here.

I was born and raised on Bainbridge Island in Washington state, and I live in Seattle with my extremely patient husband, Andreas, and a small dog named Sassafras. [close]