Censorship Destroys

There is a transphobic activist group called Collective Shout that has convinced Visa and Mastercard to retract independent creators' ability to make a living from their work on websites such as itch.io! This can and has already impacted small-press, indie authors/artists, and small business creators! Black, brown, LGBTQIA+, women/other diverse genders, and Disabled creators have already been negatively affected by this ready-made compliance. Collective Shout claims it forced Visa's and Mastercard's compliance in the name of "decency" and to "protect women and girls" from "pornographic material", but, we know who it will truly hurt: Black/brown people, POC, women/diverse genders, QUILTBAG+ communities, and disabled communities. 

Best of 2017 - Part Three

NOTE: Here, there be hyperlinks!

In honor of Banned Books Week, which will conclude tomorrow, I am posting my Best of 2017 books that have simply blown my mind (and that's not an easy thing to do, though I feel my tastes are wide-spread enough that I'm often more satisfied than disappointed) and wish to share my findings with my readers and visitors...

Next is The Secret Loves of Geek Girls anthology and The Secret Loves of Geeks a sequel that will be out in 2018!

I was entranced with this anthology from the get-go. I hugged myself while reading this. For all the other books I'm showcasing, I don't really want to name any favorites as I would want ANY of these books I'm speaking about on a deserted island with me. However, this particular anthology not only showcases four pages of an autobiographical comic by Margaret Atwood but the essays and comic-essays by some of the most notable geek/nerd women in multiple industries. 

The Secret Loves of Geek Girls deals with crushes/infatuations, first love, last love, broken hearts, burgeoning sexuality, puberty, college days, divorces, remarriages, first and only marriages, cohabitation, and romance in all its multilayered beauty and ugliness. 

An eye-opening, page-turner that discusses a margin of what romance and the love life of females who identify as geek and nerd. 

The Secret Loves of Geek Girls is edited by Hope Nicholson and foreword by Kelly Sue DeConnick and front cover illustrator Noelle Stevenson artist for the comic series LumberJanes - Please give this anthology a try!

Info on Banned Books Week here: Banned and Challenged Books

To Inspire Girls!

It hurts when I am teaching young women, and a few times, older women, and I see that often, the sense of curiosity has been lost or damaged.
What I mean is that girls often show they want to DO something but family, peers, and society tells them to leave things to the boys and men. 

What was I doing as a little girl? I was playing with my brothers' toys that they outgrew. My sister is an extrovert and appeared to know what she wanted to do.
As a child in the Bronx, I played with a magician's kit, my Xmas gift one year. Another gift years later when I was in Florida, and from big sis, was a chemistry set. I was performing experiments before and after receiving it, which is probably what may have inspired my sister to buy it for me. 

I believe these childhood experiences fostered a hunger in me to learn, to question, to seek out the truth...
Many of the young women I now encounter often yearn for knowledge, or don't appear to understand that they must ask questions. Their excuses range from 'I don't want to be a bother' to 'I didn't THINK to ask'. 

What is going on? Where is the female potential to question and to understand? As a functional human being, it is each individual's responsibility to seek and to learn! Especially us women! As the majority of the world's population, we can contribute so many things to our distinct societies, and yet, many things in those very societies, whether overt or subtle, bar us from doing so.

Why not take the challenge to challenge yourself? Don't just leave it to some, do the world a favor and participate in the human story.... We need ALL the chapters to tell it.

"Firestarter" in 1983

When I saw the movie, "Firestarter", in 1983, it influenced me to the fact that little girls don't have to be portrayed as powerless in modern entertainment.
This movie changed me forever to portray sweet, innocent girls as some of the most powerful beings in my future writings and stories.