Tag: Geekery

Both Geek and Girl

Both Geek and Girl

These days, women have to fight to defend their position in the ‘geek sphere.’ Women are either quizzed or ridiculed the moment they express an interest in something. Women are accused of being ‘fake geeks'(for what reason I can’t imagine). And there are endless discussions on the portrayal of female characters in movies, games and …

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Persistent Creativity

Persistent Creativity

In high school, my friends and I loved Sailor Moon. It was in the midst of revived popularity, largely because the end of season two had finally arrived in America, followed by seasons three and four. Sailor Moon was, in many ways, my gateway to writing. It’s one of those worlds that inspired many writers …

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Ye Olde York

Ye Olde York

Our first experience with York in England was a both lacklustre and whirlwind. We stopped briefly on our way to Edinburgh on a family road trip. We only had time to catch lunch and visit the Jorvik Viking Centre before we hit the road again. My husband and I both agreed we wanted to see …

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The Tower of London

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is an interesting bit of living history. Though it is no longer a royal residence, and is no longer maintained by the crown, it still plays an active role in the kingdom. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is still housed there, as are the Yeomen Warders (better known as ‘Beefeaters‘). Though …

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Getting Inside a Character’s Head – Part 1: Questions

Getting Inside a Character’s Head – Part 1: Questions

Characters are central to any story. If your characters aren’t interesting, no one’s going to spend 100+ pages reading about them. Interesting characters are three-dimensional; there’s more to them than their appearance and motivation. Just as your world should have pieces that move unseen in the background while your characters are elsewhere, every character should …

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The Admonitions Scroll

The Admonitions Scroll

When we learned we’d be leaving England, we decided to see as much as we could before our departure. Flying across an ocean is expensive, and our new destination was even further away than we started. Atop our list were more trips to the British Museum. We had visited the exhibits for all of our …

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World Building Basics

World Building Basics

World building is a topic to which entire books have been devoted. If you’ve ever played a pen and paper role playing game, the core books are simply presentations of world building results. The game designers have provided you the backbone and elements required to tell a story. I wrote recently about the world building …

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Highlights

Highlights

When we finished our tour of the British Museum Enlightenment gallery, a mini museum of its own, we headed toward a special exhibit centred around the Vikings. I wasn’t fond of the way the British Museum laid out their special exhibits. It seemed random and lacklustre compared to a place like the ROM, which tends …

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The Mystery of the Ogopogo

The Mystery of the Ogopogo

Did you know the Loch Ness monster has a little brother? Apparently he lives in a lake in British Columbia. Actually, I’m sure Nessie has many ‘siblings’ that inhabit many lakes across the world. These creatures are known as cryptids (part of the pseudoscience referred to as ‘cryptozoology’). That is, creatures which have been suggested, …

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Shiny and Chrome

Shiny and Chrome

I’ve made my feelings about Mad Max; Fury Road loud and clear; I love it. I would put it on endless repeat, if I could. We went to see it twice, which is something my husband and I rarely do. But we loved the original Mad Max, and we loved Road Warrior even more (you …

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