I have always admired women with the strength of steel in their backbones and the courage of their convictions held fiercely in their hearts. So it makes sense that I wrote a roleplaying game about them. A game where you can play women and their children who fight against authoritarianism. A game where the zombies who roam the streets are… Read more →
There’s a phrase going around a lot. People are saying it to make each other feel better, but to me, it’s not making anything better. In fact, it’s making things worse. “We survived Reagan.” My father did not. My father, Michael John Norman, was one of the 388,253 people who died during the initial AIDS epidemic between 1981 and 1995… Read more →
This last year has been filled with a lot of writing, most of it hasn’t been seen by the public yet, but the following things have, and if you’re a Nebula nominator, or someone who’ll be nominating for the Hugo’s the following might be worth knowing about. 1) My piece A Place Out of Time at Fireside Fiction Company is… Read more →
I hear him before I see him. “Fuck you” He slides into my limited periphery, finger thrusting in my face, camera phone lifted at my eye level. “Fuck you” he says again, quickly, forcefully. To me. He moves on to do the same to my husband, with whom I have linked arms. I don’t respond. I let his words roll… Read more →
There’s a lot going on. On Tuesday, I watched in horror, as my nation proved that it does not care for it’s fellow citizens. The list is long: people of color, people with disabilities, Muslims, Jews, women, gay, lesbian, transgender, asexual, queer, queer adjacent, interracial couples. any non-Christians, people with children (this affects your sons as much as your daughters…. Read more →
(TW for violence against the disabled.) I was in Sweden when the news broke about the brutal murder of 19 disabled people in Sagamihara, Japan. I was without internet for much of my time, and so my reaction has been on a delayed schedule. (Still don’t know what happened? The media has been quiet. Here are news articles. Serious TW… Read more →
Celebrating ‘Ghostbusters’ and the Female Gaze By Tara M. Clapper “Ghostbusters” is controversial. Did a disappointing trailer warrant hate for the movie? Did an all-female cast ruin the childhoods of many “Ghostbusters” fans? Will most women like the movie? I liked what I saw and found some of the movie’s flaw forgiving due to the very rare but much appreciated… Read more →
This past weekend I attended New World Magischola, a Wizard College Live Action Roleplaying game. This past weekend I healed the feelings I’ve been having in the wake of some intense hate mail I received for fighting for disabled rights in the gaming community, and for standing up for women and their space in the gaming sphere. This past weekend… Read more →
The usual spoiler warnings apply for the Blind Lady Versus posts. But in this case I didn’t get to finish the game. Oxenfree is the first video game which has outright scared me in a while. it’s a cute game, visually, but the ways in which it manifests the haunting within the game makes you feel as though you’ve… Read more →
When I was at the prom for my high school in my sophomore year, I had a beautiful vintage 1960s strapless dress. It was mint green, and it had a purple velvet ribbon at the hem and little violets we put on the bodice. I felt so pretty, like a princess. My friend who asked me to the prom wasn’t… Read more →
