Superhero Faith Zepher Herbert

CN: Body Image, Fat shaming

I stopped by Dreamer’s Cards and Games in St. Louis Park last weekend. Cute little store: Tiny selection of comics and games, pretty large selection of Magic cards, and half the store dedicated to a playing area. I was browsing their comics selection and my gaze snagged on…wait…is that a FAT FLYING HAPPY-LOOKING FEMALE SUPERHERO!?

Continue reading “Superhero Faith Zepher Herbert”

Superhero Faith Zepher Herbert
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Political Correctness Is Not The Issue

CN: Donald Trump (because I’m giving him his own content note), political rant

I have NPR radio call-in outrage again.

It was a political story, and the caller didn’t say anything new. Maybe it was the way the host introduced the self-identified Republican by thanking him for his bravery for calling into public radio (WTF? – don’t encourage that tribalistic BS), maybe it was the verbal swagger of the guy as he ‘splained stuff to us “pretty leftish” listeners. Continue reading “Political Correctness Is Not The Issue”

Political Correctness Is Not The Issue

New Fiction: Career Change

CN: Torture, Colonization

I am so tired, but I roll my shoulders and re- focus on the task. I got this.

It’s my fault. I was the one who decided that reading until I got sleepy would be the answer to last night’s restlessness. That never works; I just stay up late reading. Maybe I should grab a protocol manual next time. That should do the trick. Continue reading “New Fiction: Career Change”

New Fiction: Career Change

Yay All of You!

So it’s pretty exciting to hit 100% of your first Kickstarter goal within two days of launching.

We’ve reached $5,245 and 146 backers! Thank you to everyone who’s donated. And an equally big thanks to everyone who likes the potential that they see in The Orbit and who’s shared the news of our launch. This is amazing.

Of course, we’ve 29 days left to continue fundraising and reach our stretch goals 😀

First Stretch Goal: $8,000 – An online conference dedicated to the topics we cover. We know you can’t always come see us when we talk, so we’ll bring the talks and panels to you.

Second Stretch Goal: $10,000 – An ebook compilation of some of the best writing The Orbit’s authors have to offer.

Third Stretch Goal: $14,000 – This is the level where we bring in a designer to help make the reader experience at The Orbit the best it can be. We’re pretty happy with what we’ve done in house, but professionals are professional for a reason.

Thank you Thank you Thank you

Yay All of You!

Oh…hello!

Wanders in, looks around. Reaches out an index finger and pokes the new walls and the neat blue logo. Giggles and shuffles through the list of bloggers; Much writers. Very talent. Wow. Pulls up the Mission Statement and finds herself nodding emphatically as she reads along, even though she’s seen it many times before today. Skims by the Tech Issues tab, glad it’s there but hopes that it won’t have to be used to excess. Thinks to herself, “This is going to be gooooood.”

A black and white self-portrait of moi, holding a napkin with the words "Hello Orbit! Good to be here!" scrawled on it. Oh and a stick figure shouting "Yay!"

Oh…hello!

Caucus Was Hell

CN: Photos and descriptions of crowds and close quarters

I get a special giddy excitement from large crowds, but I’m weird that way. Caucus was a big circus for me. Except for that one length of hallway where we were stuck for about 15 minutes and I couldn’t get any phone reception.

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Caucus Was Hell

New Fiction: Anyone But Me

I get to live forever…well…for a really long time. That was, after all, the crux of the deal. It’s why I sought Jonas out. And like the fool he knew I would be, I hadn’t asked him what the catch was. Don’t get me wrong – there would have been a catch even if I had asked. I know what happens when you make deals with the devil, ask favors from genies,  wish on a Monkey’s Paw. But that’s part of their magic – they make you think you’re the one – the one person in all of history – who could game the system.

“Ugh. Are you thinking about our deal again? Boring!”

I hate him.

Jonas circles around me again. “So, who’s it going to be this time, Shalini?”

Continue reading “New Fiction: Anyone But Me”

New Fiction: Anyone But Me

Christian Humanism and Jay Bakker on Atheists Talk

We have an interesting guest on Atheists Talk radio this morning: Jay Bakker, a Christian, pastor, theologian, and the son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. I’m the host for this show, which means I’m not doing the active interviewing part (that’s all Travis Peterson, president of Minnesota Skeptics – Go Travis!), and as a result I’m typing this in the studio as Jay and Travis are speaking.

Travis and Jay spent the first two segments of the show talking about Jay’s experiences growing up as the son of the Bakkers and in the shadow of the PTL (Praise the Lord) Club TV show. Right now, Travis is asking Jay why, after all of his experiences and struggles, he’s still a Christian. Good question.

[Oops – I got distracted with listening to the interview – I’m a shitty live blogger, lol. You’ll have to catch the podcast to hear Jay’s answer]

So, show’s over – and just when it started to get extra interesting, darn it!

Jay and I started to debate about the definition of Humanism in the last two minutes of the show. We continued speaking off air for a while, but we didn’t reach a resolution.

Continue reading “Christian Humanism and Jay Bakker on Atheists Talk”

Christian Humanism and Jay Bakker on Atheists Talk

Writing for Readers vs. Writing for an Audience

I’ve started writing short stories and reading them at an open mic. I’m becoming aware that there can be a difference between writing a short story that I would like to be read by a reader, and writing a short story that I intend to read out loud for an audience. I find myself trying to  balance two competing urges: Writing a story and writing a script. I want to write a story that can be read on its own, and I want to perform a story for an audience.

For instance, today I struggled with wording that went something sorta kinda like this:

“You don’t have to do that.” His voice dropped lower. “I could make it go away.”

If I was writing that for a reader, stating that his voice dropped lower is essential – I’m not aware of many ways to tell you that his voice dropped lower without telling you that his voice dropped lower.

But I was writing this knowing that I would probably perform it, and I don’t want to say “his voice dropped lower” – I want to actually drop my voice lower when I’m reading his line. To help me remember to do that my short story now has notes that I’ll want to rewrite after I’ve performed it.

“You don’t have to do that.” (drop voice lower) “I could make it go away.”

I want that visual cue, because if I forget to lower my voice during the reading, I might deliver a different message to the audience than I intended when I was writing it. Which probably wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Or – also from a performance/live reading perspective, I could just leave it as the original:

“You don’t have to do that.” His voice dropped lower. “I could make it go away.”

…and then fluctuate my voice to drop lower as I’m reading “His voice dropped lower.” I’m guessing this is how audiobooks and author readings work.

I do actually find this all to be quite exciting and fun. It’s not stressful; this is more like:

 

Image is the "do ALL the things!" meme (allie brosh - excited cartoon person holding a broom and punching the air in excitement) with the text "Play with all the possibilities"

Any of you writer-type people run into this? If so, what have been your thoughts?

Writing for Readers vs. Writing for an Audience