Politics, Gaming, Feminism and Persona

When I first started my blogging presence, I knew I wanted to take a more professional tack on it because of my career goals. I had been using LiveJournal for years, but didn’t really start thinking about a persona until I landed a job at an SEO consulting firm. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was knee-deep in keyword research and learning how to use and implement Google Analytics.

My day job isn’t the only thing that affected my persona. If you’re following along, you also know that I have a background as a writer, musical performer, amateur artist and photographer and as a gamer. It’s no secret that my tastes run dark. I’d rather be fighting zombies in a game than worrying about running a fashion shop. (Although, I do love fashion. I blame the uniforms I was stuck in for eight years.) However, if I had to point to one thing that’s influenced how I portray myself online more than any other, it is looking at the business of writing and being a writer.

The reason why I’ve done that, is because I haven’t always had the best experiences in the professional world when I reveal my game designer and author side. Where I live, a lot of businesses are very, very conservative. As a female who loves genres and gaming, I have encountered some resistance in the professional world. Other women gamers have expressed their fear that I should “hide” those interests because of the rampant stereotypes associated with gamers. And yes, there have been a few instances where religious people have indicated I will be going to hell for my love of all things dark. Sadly, I am not the only one who has encountered that attitude, either.

Striking a balance between a job and my creative endeavors has been a challenge, because I’m the type of person who is very passionate about almost everything that I do. Fortunately, I am now finding myself in a place where I can relax about some of these things, because I’ve been able to develop enough relationships with other people that the stereotypes don’t even enter their minds.

In many ways, these are the reasons why I’ve “held back” talking about some of the things that define me. Now, I’m getting to the point where I can’t do that and expect growth. There are a lot of people who have told me, once they hear what I want to do with my work and the profits thereof, that I need to focus on my own promotion. In order to do that, though, I have to balance my other need – to help other creative professionals learn business. Fortunately, there is a way for me to do that. Several people have approached me to start teaching workshops, and that is something I will be experimenting with.

Growing pains are a good thing, but they are also uncomfortable for me. At some point, I know I will have to express things that are uncomfortable for me to talk about. I don’t “want” to go in-depth into politics or feminism, but I feel that I have to with some topics, just so you understand where I’m coming from. Mind you, many of these subjects come up on panels and whatnot, too. A five minute discussion in a public forum is not enough time for me to discuss my personal views, but it is just long enough to leave an impression in your mind. Sometimes, that’s going to be a good impression, and sometimes that’s not. Unfortunately, that means that the minute I start discussing what my views are some people are going to be turned off by that. I’ve come to that crushing realization that not only can’t I please everyone, but everyone is not a potential reader. I would love to be a generalist to reach more readers, but based on who I am and what my beliefs are, that may not be the case. But what do I know? Still have to go on the journey, no matter how much trepidation I might have.

Right now, those impressions don’t matter as much just because many of you are probably not familiar with my writing or game design. Public figures who already have a persona often get more leeway when they talk about politics or feminism because there’s enough people out there who will still buy their books, watch their movies or listen to their concerts. I’m nowhere near to that yet, which is both good and bad. I have a lot more freedom to make mistakes than a public figure might, but I also have to keep that professional appearance in check because of my career and the work that I do.

Regardless of what happens from here on out, I feel that this part of my life is something that I want to share with you because I know that many of you are in the same boat that I am. If anything, I hope that you keep in mind that I am always open to other people’s opinions provided that you don’t present them as an absolute. Just like there isn’t one path to becoming a published author, there definitely isn’t one way to be.

If there was, I sure as hell wouldn’t have anything to write about.

🙂

August 14, 2010
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Guest Post: What’s in an Alien Alphabet? (Or Why Some Languages Are Really Fonts…)

While I was away at GenCon, Apex Book Company posted the next installment of my series on creating an alien language. This installment was a lot of fun to write, because I addressed the difference between creating an alien alphabet and designing a font, in addition to quite a few resources that you might be interested in checking out.

Part of the goal behind writing this post, is that people tend to confuse an alien font with a fully-develope alien language.

Here’s a quote from the article:

in many ways, your alien alphabet is a complex key that will serve as the building blocks for everything else you will do. Keep in mind that the order of the letters, symbols and numbers may or may not matter to you. The English alphabet, for example, doesn’t mean anything semantically when you put the letters in their proper order. The alphabet only becomes a crucial part of a language when you identify what the letters represent, combine them into words, or rank these words in alphabetical order. As a result, you have a built-in system to place permutations of letters, phrases and sentences into lists.

So, the first thing I’d like you to consider is to ask yourself if you know what an alphabet is. Well, I can tell you what it isn’t – it’s not a font! –SOURCE: Creating an Alien Language: What’s in an Alien Alphabet?

The article is really in-depth this time around, so if you have an interest in the topic be sure to check out Creating an Alien Language: What’s in an Alien Alphabet? on the Apex Book Company Blog.

August 11, 2010
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My New Guest Series at Apex: Creating an Alien Language

Blogging for Apex Book Company has been a lot of fun, in part because I get to talk about things that interest me and loosely relate to things that I’m working on as well. I decided to write a series of posts about creating your own alien language, in part because I have to do the same thing for a project I’m working on. The first post is entitled Creating an Alien Language: Your Language, Your Rules and discusses the key points I consider when I think of language.

Here’s a peek:

What is a language? Break the concept down to its barest components, and all a language really is, is a meaningful sequence or pattern based on understanding a unique key. Once you determine what that key is, you can create any language that you want. That “key” can be based on text, numbers, sound, color, shapes, non-verbal cues like movements of the body, etc. It can be exceptionally complex or incredibly simple, too. –SOURCE: Creating an Alien Language: Your Language, Your Rules

I hope you find the time to follow along and chime in with your thoughts. This will be an ongoing series for a few months, be sure to tune in for next time.

🙂

June 18, 2010
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New Guest Post at SFWA: Social Media and Your (Lack of) Privacy

This month, I decided to discuss the issue of privacy from my perspective at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America blog. This is a very in-depth article that addresses the issue from a few, different perspectives. I felt that this particular topic was pretty timely, given the fact that Facebook has been publicly bashed for its recent privacy updates.

Here’s a sample of the article:

No doubt, many — if not all — of the social media business models that are out there include the collection of your data or content. Anonymous data allows a website to personalize your experience and make every attempt to provide you with relevant choices. It also allows web designers to understand how you interact with a particular page so that they can improve their design efforts as well. In fact, if you’ve ever used Google Analytics you’ve probably benefited from the collection of anonymous data by viewing how different people interact with your website. “Public” data, as defined by data that is attached to your name or persona, is another story entirely. — SOURCE: Social media and Your (Lack of) Privacy

Regardless of what side of the privacy fence you’re on, I do hope that you read about the issue from multiple perspectives and come to your own conclusions.

To read the full article, visit Social Media and Your (Lack Of) Privacy.

June 7, 2010
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My Guest Post at Apex: Are You a Believer or a Skeptic?

This month for Apex Book Company I posture the question “Are You a Believer or a Skeptic?” and provide some online resources for you to explore.

Here’s a quote from my article:

As a skeptic, I find myself unable to get into a science fiction story when it doesn’t offer me any explanation as to why things are happening. I also have a really hard time getting into stories that are poorly retrofitted into an existing setting, because I look at continuity as being an important part of a creator’s ability to suspend disbelief.

Be sure to check out the article and provide your two cents. Read Are You a Believer or a Skeptic? at Apex Book Company.

April 19, 2010
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