I have been writing stories since first grade. Speculative genres are my passion, although high fantasy and classic science fiction hold special favor. In my freshman year of college, I was introduced to anime, manga, and cosplay, and enjoy going to geek and anime conventions like (Re)Generation Who and Katsucon. I have a B.A. in English from Penn State and works as a public library assistant and freelance editor. From October 2012 to October 2013, I was a content contributor to Geek La Femme. I've also written several articles for the comic book e-newsletter Scoop.
My various amateur talents include sketching, swimming, sword-fighting, and playing the ocarina.
I post new entries on The Cat’s Cradle and upload a new chapter of fan fiction on alternating Mondays (unless otherwise stated on Twitter). I currently live and work in Pennsylvania with two brothers and six felines.
In light of recent developments in the comic, gamer, and cosplay worlds, I plan to do a series of entries about “fake fans” and how established fandoms treat newcomers, women, and minorities. This first entry is the Comics Edition, wherein I focus on the comic book community.
How do you decide if someone is unworthy to be part of your fandom? How do you label someone a poser, a noob, or a fake? Whom do you invite into a fandom and why? Whom do you reject and why? What are the criteria to go from noob to knowledge-master? How does someone graduate from being a “fake geek girl/boy” or “fake fan” into a “true fan”? Is such a thing even possible?
I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about how unfriendly the nerd culture can be to newcomers, or even to established members if they start commenting on flaws with the status quo… especially if those members are women. (Yes, #GamerGate, I’m looking at you.) It seems like there are two prevailing extremes: either the fans are portrayed as the most friendly, knowledgeable, welcoming group around, or they are seen as the most close-minded, antagonistic, sexist group alive.
So far, I’ve been fortunate to escape the fake geek label, but a lot of people, especially women, haven’t been so lucky. And I have yet to learn of a standard for judging someone’s relative geekiness. Is it the number of comics you read? The variety? The age? The popularity? Do you have to be super-obsessed with one particular facet of comics or do you have to have the entire history of Marvel and DC, or every plot contrivance of Batman on the tip of your tongue to qualify as a true fan?
I saw this Reading Habits tag on Natacha Guyot’s blog and thought I would also take this little survey. You are welcome to do so as well!
“My Books” by Starsister12
Question #1: Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
I can read pretty much anywhere at home, but there are a few places I gravitate towards. The first is the side of my couch farthest from the door, right under my reading lamp. The second is back in my library on my window seat. I also enjoy reading outside on the porch or even at the kitchen table, but those tend to not be as comfortable, especially during the winter.
Question #2: Bookmark or a random piece of paper?
Whatever is handy. I have tons of bookmarks but they tend to live in a neat stack in my desk drawer, so I usually end up stuck with whatever paper I can scrounge. The one thing I will NOT do is bend a page corner to mark my spot. *shudders*
Question #3: Can you stop reading anytime you want or do you have to stop at a certain page, chapter, part, etc.?
Eh, I can stop wherever I need to, but I prefer to stop at the end of a chapter. If I can’t do that, I try to reach the end of a section or paragraph, or the bottom of a page. That way I can pick up the action easier when I return.
Question #4: Do you eat or drink while reading?
All the time. I usually drink water or tea (hot or cold) and I favor sweet snacks, or anything else that I can easily munch with one hand with the other turns the pages. I also read while eating on my lunch break at work.
Question #5: Can you read while listening to music/watching TV?
No. If I really try I can read while someone has music going, but it’s hard for me to focus. And forget the TV; I need to either shut it off or leave the room. I prefer silence and no one else in the room in order to get the full experience. (Cats, however, at welcome, even encouraged, to sit on my lap while I read.)
Question #6: One book at a time, or several at once?
I used to be a one-book-at-a-time kind of gal. Now I often have several going at once. I prefer to have nonfiction or short story collections for work because they can be devoured in small chunks. Novels are better for home because I have larger swathes of time to devote to them. If I book deeply engrossed me, I will read it straight through without break. If it isn’t holding my attention as well (which isn’t a good sign), I’ll start up something else to vary things.
Question #7: Reading at home or everywhere?
Anywhere. I would sooner leave the house without my keys, wallet, or clothes than forget my book.
Question #8: Reading out loud or silently in your head?
Silently in my head. I actually don’t “hear” words when I read, so I can get through books very fast. Alas, my retention of said book often does not extend beyond recalling whether I liked it or not. It also makes reading aloud difficult because I don’t feel the rhythm that the words are supposed to have, or the inflection or pronunciation. And my eyes travel faster than my mouth, so I often get tongue-tied if I try reading aloud.
Question #9: Do you read ahead or skip pages?
I never skip pages. Okay, except for the feasts in Brian Jacques Redwall series. Because those bore the pants off of me. And I don’t skip ahead unless I’m getting really bored, and even then, I just flip through, letting my eyes catch a sentence or two before going back to my spot. I never used to do that, but sometimes I need a little premonition to keep going.
Question #10: Breaking the spine or keeping it new?
I try very, very hard to keep my books in good condition. A lot are old library books I got from sales, so many already have broken spines. However, I am not a fanatic. After all, books are meant to be read and as long as they aren’t deliberately abused, I understand a little spine-cracking. However, this only applies to my own books. If I lend my books out to someone, or if someone lends me a book, I expect to have it back (or to send it back) in the exact condition I received it.
Question #11: Do you write in books?
Only nonfiction books that I own, mostly related to writing. And I still have some old text books with my notes in them.
I’m going to tackle some stereotypes present in modern fiction that I think are dangerous when used irresponsibly. Any entries part of this series will be labeled as “Dangerous Stereotypes.” The next entry on this topic is about the Bad Boys stereotype, which can be read here.
There is a nasty and detrimental stereotype in fiction: the depiction of scientists.
In most instances, scientists are portrayed as too smart for their own good, too naive for their own good, or outright diabolical. The threat in the story often arises from the hubris of scientists messing with something they either don’t fully understand or think they can control. In such cases they are often called “mad” or “obsessed,” driven to complete their work, no matter the cost to themselves or to others.
Or, if the scientists aren’t deliberately malicious, they end up being naive to the extreme, not understanding how their research or experiments could be used to malicious ends. Even if the scientist realizes his mistake (for they are almost always male), he tends to keep going “in the name of science” or is totally ineffectual at stopping the misuse of his work. And if the scientist himself is absent from the story, the technology he created, often a robot with artificial intelligence, remains a danger, such as Superman’s foe Brainiac or HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The examples of the evil/mad scientist stereotype are myriad: Hojo from the video game Final Fantasy VII. Rotwang from the movie Metropolis. Victor Frankenstein, creator of the quintessential monster in Mary Shelley’s masterpiece. Almost any antagonist in superhero comics. Pick a 1940s or 1950s horror or science fiction film and you’ll find that the monster or threat is, more often than not, the result of science gone wrong.
Even real people, including teens and children, who are not certified scientists, but who have an interest in that direction are often stereotyped as strange, anti-social, unattractive, and ultimately dangerous individuals. They are often marginalized or bullied until, in a fit of childish pique (or well-planned retribution), they fight back the only way they know how: with science and technology. And in the end it’s up to the handsome, charming, muscle-bound male hero to save the day by blowing things up. Seems like a bit of a cheap shot to me. But why haven’t we moved beyond this rather lazy piece of character creation?
Sorry everyone; there isn’t going to be a more substantial update this week because I’m finally indulging in a vacation. However, I wanted to give a quick update (which will hopefully post on Monday automatically like it’s supposed to) on some things that are going on:
1) On Friday, August 8, 2014, my first autonomous article for the online magazine Scoop was published! It’s called “A Brief History of Steampunk” and I had a blast writing it. Steampunk is such a rich and fairly new genre, and I hope I managed to interest both newcomers and experts alike. Many thanks go to Mark and Jeff for giving me this opportunity.
2) Since “Okami Amaterasu” is complete, I’ve chosen a new fanfic project to work on. My Final Fantasy VII story, “Hidden Light,” has been languishing for several years while I puttered around with other projects. But now I’m ready to get back to it and complete the story. (The rest of it was already mapped out back in 2009…I just needed to write it!) It features Vincent Valentine, one of my first bishonen crushes, and my FC Hikari, who was originally designed as a prototype for my Mariner Sequence character, Marella. Thankfully Hikari and Marella have evolved into different people, but they share a lot of traits, and was my first experiment with writing a mentally damaged character. Chapter 10 is already up, and you can expect Chapter 11 to be posted Monday, August 18!
3) I’m hoping to feel more relaxed and recharged from my vacation. The last few weeks have been a bit of a struggle. Time to regain some equilibrium.
Click HERE for the Audio Edition! . .
This is a little exercise that David Greenshell shared with me the other day. Take a few minutes and watch the video below. DO NOT SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED!
Hello, world! It seems like writers spend a lot of time soul-searching in Angst-ville (myself included) so I wanted to share some good news!
1) ARTICLES!
(click image for link)
I got some articles published! Fellow writer Mark Squirek is a columnist for the online newsletter Scoop. He asked me to do a pair of articles for his column, “Cover Story,” which discusses the cover art of various comic books. I got to pick any two covers I wanted and write about them! I chose Space Family Robinson #23: “Menace from Uranus!” from 1967 and The Chronicles of Arcea #1: “The Athame” by Vyrhelle. Many thanks to Mark for asking me to write for Scoop and to Mr. J.C. Vaughn, editor at Gemstone Publishing, for taking a chance on a new writer. Also, my deepest gratitude to my friend Karen; editing all of those art papers paid off! Working with Scoop has been a lot of fun, and I hope I’ll be able to continue writing for them.
Feminism is not a dirty word. (I actually read a book recently with that statement in the title, and I stand by it.) A lot of people shy away from the term “feminist” because they think it means “insane man-hating career/sex obsessed woman (who may or may not be a lesbian.)” Even I’m careful hen using this term, lest my meaning be misconstrued. While such people do exist, they are the extreme end of the spectrum and have no bearing on what I consider feminism. That is, that women should be treated politically, socially, and economically as equals to men.
Fantasy and science fiction are wonderful because you can break so many stereotypes. With a lot of realistic fiction, especially in historical fiction, there are certain limitations, certain expectations and roles that people play that can be difficult to change without losing a sense of authenticity. But science fiction is usually set far into the future, often on other planets. Fantasy deals in alternate realities and fairy tales. The potential to explore and turn traditional gender/racial/economic/sexual roles upside down is all around! And I’m sorry to say that a lot of writers who deal in science fiction and fantasy don’t take advantage of that potential.
Since a lot of fantasy is set in medieval look-alike worlds, we tend to get medieval values. Women are passive objects to be won while men do all the fighting, rescuing, political maneuvering, and pretty much anything else interesting. Science fiction often has male military leaders, male soldiers, male explorers… Women are very often not present at all, or, if they are, they get regulated to sexual roles or are presented in a very wooden or unrealistic manner.
Obviously this isn’t the case for every fantasy or science fiction story. And I should point out that while there is nothing inherently wrong with having characters fill traditional gender roles, that shouldn’t be the only role that they can play. (And that goes for men as well as women.) Older science fiction and fantasy often get a pass from me because the social mores of the time necessarily colors the way the plot and characters are presented. But even in modern stories, I rarely see the envelop pushed.
A huge thank-you goes out to Endless Edits who nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award! Please check out her site! I was actually nominated for the award a few years ago when I was on Blogspot, but I’m happy that my new and improved blog has been nominated as well!
There are a few rules for accepting the Liebster Award, they are: thank your nominator and link back to their website, answer your nominator’s questions, leave 11 facts about yourself, nominate 5 or more blogs with under 200 followers and give them 11 questions to answer.
So, here are the 11 questions that E.E. posed to me:
At some point during the world-building process, writers run into the issue of faith. What do your characters believe in? What is their religion, if they have one? What religions are present in the world you’ve created and how do they affect that world? Fantasy is usually not a godless place; in fact, it’s rift with religious ideas.
Fantasy books traditionally have polytheistic leanings because… well, it’s easiest. The pantheon of gods and goddesses is often very active in the world, and special priests or priestesses known as “clerics” or holy warriors called “paladins” can call directly on their patron god/goddess for help in battle or healing. It’s often indistinguishable from magic… but the source is divine. Krynn from Dragonlance and Faerûn from The Forgotten Realms are two massive fantasy worlds with hundreds of books that have very active and localized pantheons. In these worlds, there is no question about the existence of gods and goddesses because the effects of their power can be very clearly seen. The afterlife of heaven and hell or somewhere in between is very, very real.
Recently, a friend and fellow writer told me they felt discouraged about writing. They were upset about so many people being unable to spot the differences between a good story and a bad story. Real gems languish in dusty corners while insults to the English language fly off the shelves. And not just books, but movies too. Their question was: “If people can’t tell the difference between good and bad stories, why put forth the effort of crafting a really good story?” Thinking out the rules of the world, creating three-dimensional characters, filling plot holes to make a seamless narrative…all of that takes work. And if people don’t notice and don’t care, then why bother?
The Cat's Cradle : On Hiatus! 