The Life and Times of Lauren R. Tharp

I was born on January 7, 1985.

I was born with a birth defect in my hip. You know how you're supposed to have a ball and socket...? I didn't have that. Thankfully, Dr. Osterkamp and the miracle-workers at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles were able to fix that! I'm now able to walk and do a lot of other things that should be impossible for someone born with my condition. I'm truly Blessed and try not to take it for granted. I get frustrated sometimes that there are things I can't do, but I always try to remind myself that "Hey!--at least I can walk!"

My childhood was pretty awesome. I got picked on from time to time, but for the most part it was good times.

My parents are both very talented artists.

They did a lot of the special effects for movies back in the 1980s and 1990s.

Currently, my dad works for a Halloween mask company (Don Post Studios). He paints the prototypes and sometimes gets to sculpt the masks as well! My dad also likes to write and has written several screenplays: Danny's Deal, Gorgons, Robo Squad, and Pentagram. They've each been optioned several times, but none of them have been made into movies yet. If YOU'RE interested in turning one of them into a movie, let me know and I'll pass the message along.

My mom sculpts masks for collectors. My mom also likes to paint and often has her artwork displayed in galleries. My mom has had purple hair since 1988. My mom is also an animal lover. She currently has a dog, a cat, 4 hairless guinea pigs, a frog, and a tortoise.

My middle school, I had already stopped growing (my mom blames it on my dad giving me coffee for breakfast). I'm five-foot-three-inches tall. And I was very skinny. I was a little late filling out, but when I did--whoo-boy!

In 8th grade, I spent most of my free time working on a lovely piece of sci-fi that ended up being 109 pages long. It was called The Face of Evil and I'd love to re-write it someday.

I actually enjoyed middle school for the most part.

The picture is of "The Black Hats." That's me in the red shirt. We didn't actually do a whole lot... However, the little boy, Vincent Malouf, grew up to be the lead singer of a band called Corpse Candy. I've known him since he was born. Literally. I was in the hospital that night!

I'll be blunt: I didn't like high school much at all. There were numerous reasons. I'd rather not get into them.

However, there were SOME good things about high school...

I got several awards for my writing including a Golden State Award in Written Composition; and I was also declared the best in my year for 11th grade English. In addition to that, my short stories were nominated "Story of the Month" three separate times in the now defunct Teen magazine. I was also the head writer for my high school's newspaper, the Clark Chronicle.

I also worked at the Clark BBQ Room (sort of like the school cafeteria, but we sold burgers) and got some awards for excellent service. That was nice.

My late teens and early twenties were not very happy times...

I spent most of those years in abusive relationships. One physically abusive, one emotionally abusive.

Not fun.

If you're in an abusive relationship, it can be very, very, hard to get back out. And, if you're in an abusive relationship in the first place, then you probably have Depression and/or low self-esteem (I know I did anyway). I can't speak or give advice for everyone, but I would say that having a good "support system" (friends, family, whatever) is important... But even more important is knowing that you aren't the worthless piece of crap you think you are and that you actually don't deserve to be treated so badly. It took me a while to figure that out. Better late than never. I'm in a wonderful, healthy, relationship with my very best friend now. All's well that end's well.

Also, if you're in an abusive relationship (or if you're Depressed, lonely, or confused), try calling 1-800-273-TALK

I was originally enrolled in martial arts to help me improve my large motor skills (because of my hip surgery, remember?). But, as it turned out, I really liked it!

I was in martial arts for about 18 years. I studied out of the Glendale branch of Fred Villari's Studios of Self-Defense. Master Heroian is an amazing instructor.

I'm aware that the Villari name gets some flak in some of the martial arts circles. However, it saved my life in 2003 when I was attacked (someone tried to rape/murder me and I successfully knocked them out), so I can't complain. Plus, it's fun and good exercise! Not to mention having a slightly "modified" martial arts system allowed a formerly handicapped kid (me) earn a second-degree black belt! :)

From August of 2005 to February of 2009, I worked as an instructor at my dojo. I helped teach the kids' classes.

My "significant other" is named Ramiro Roman, Jr. He's an amazing comic book artist. His official website is a bit NSFW; however, you can get a nice safe "sample" of his work on his DeviantArt account And, if you like it, you can get to his official website from there. His work is very "macabre."

Sometimes Ramiro goes to conventions to sell his comics/prints (like APE or Anime Expo) and I get to go along with him!

I met Ramiro online when I was in high school, we met in person in November of 2004, and we started dating in October of 2007. We've been together ever since.

Ramiro is my very best friend, an all around great guy, and I love him very much.

Well, you had to have seen this coming... My parents are both artists, my guy is an artist... Yeah. I do some artwork too.

My paintings have been up in a gallery (3 times!), I had 2 webcomics (Unlucky in a Tin Can & The Greener Side), I was hired to illustrate a children's book, and I recently had a comic published in a Zine called "Hello, World!"

I'm not a "serious" artist. I just do it for fun.

My DeviantArt gallery and my online comics can both be found on my official webpage at http://littlezotz.webs.com

I could go on forever about my cats. In fact, I already have! I have lenses dedicated to each of them. Go check them out!!

My original cat, Dorian, lives with my parents. He stayed with them when I moved out because a.) it would have been hard on him to relocate him and, b.) he had a lot of stomach problems that require a special (and by "special" I mean EXPENSIVE) diet. I try to go visit him as often as I can.

Ramiro and I own two cats: Robert and Ziggy. Unfortunately, we went out on April 2, 2011 and when we came home, Ziggy was gone. She's been missing ever since. We miss her terribly.

Ramiro's sister's cat also lives with us. His name is Ringo.

I had always dabbled in writing-short stories, poems, and articles mostly-but I had never considered doing it seriously until fairly recently. Sure, I had been hired to "proofread" (i.e. write) some essays for fellow pupils when I was in high school, but that was pretty much the extent of my paid work.

However, in August of 2010, I decided to take the plunge. And now here I am: A professional freelance writer!

I started out getting jobs from the usual places:

Textbroker
Fiverr
CraigsList

I spent my time writing articles, press releases, haikus, and short stories. I also did some proofreading and copy-editing.

But then, in October of 2010, I got hired to work on the television show Champions of Champions Elite. I became the "Official Blogger" for Champions of Champions Elite. I was also put in charge of their Official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

After my stint working for COC-Elite, I ended up doing more in the Combat Sports line of work. I put my journalism skills to the test and interviewed Muay Thai fighters such as ROXY "BALBOA" RICHARDSON and GORAN KARAMFILOSKI.

But I was soon picked up to do weekly articles/contributions for WP PRO BUSINESS. http://wpprobusiness.com As it says on the website, "WP Pro Business is the creation of Adam W. Warner in partnership with a select team of professional WordPress power users." You should check it out. My contributions can be found HERE.

In my spare time, I still accept orders from clients (maybe you?), work on my poetry and fiction, and create Squidoo lenses for fun!