So…about that tag line:
Writer.
I have been writing ever since I learned to read, though my early efforts were as bad as you’d expect from a four year old! I have published one novel, City of Rain (available from Amazon and Lulu) and a lot of fan fiction, some awful, some – I hope – not too bad. You can find my fanfic at archiveofourown.org
Movie lover.
I visit the cinema at least every week and watch movies at home, too. I have quite wide-ranging taste but I do avoid comedies. While I love superhero films, my favourites – the ones I re-watch most often – are Wreck-It Ralph and Dante’s Peak. Doesn’t mean I think they are the best movies ever. Those are just the two I gravitate to when I need a lift, or am too tired to watch something new.
Feminist.
Look, I can be a card-carrying man-hating bitch if you want me to be, but that’s not being a feminist. Feminism is about equality for everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, race or whatever. I sincerely believe that this benefits everyone, not just women.
But I will not concede that my knowledge, my skills, my experience, my feelings or my opinions are somehow worth less because of my sex and I will treat mansplaining with the contempt it deserves. I don’t try to explain racism to people of colour or transphobia to non-binary persons. Don’t try to tell me what sexism looks like if you identify as male. (And if that makes me a man hating bitch then I wear the title proudly.)
Secularist.
I believe in freedom of belief, but I also believe that religion has no place in government. God wasn’t elected and a person’s private beliefs should be just that – private. There may be something of a grey area where faith influences ethics and morality, but the point is that freedom of belief means that the adherents of one belief shouldn’t be allowed to impose their religious rules on others. Right and wrong exist apart from that. In a truly free society people can make choices that make other people uncomfortable. I could never have an abortion but I will defend to the death another woman’s right to do so. Her body, her choice. I love eating meat but I have no problem with others being vegetarian. I won’t have cigarettes in my home but if someone wants to pollute their lungs in their own space that’s up to them. If a person wants to end their own life with dignity, they should be free to make that choice – just as another person is free to choose the opposite. We have little enough true freedom. These rights are important.
No frelling apologies.
I will not apologise for believing what I do or being who I am. This does not mean I refuse to engage in debate, nor does it mean I won’t apologise if something I write is hurtful or mistaken. I am human and I am fallible. I won’t respond to trolling or abuse, but if I express myself poorly or am just plain wrong, I’m happy to be told so.
About this blog
This is my 111th attempt (or thereabouts) at blogging properly. I will write about what I’m reading (books and comics), possibly what I’m writing (fiction) and what I’m watching (mostly movies, occasionally TV). I may also say stuff about my day to day life but that’s not all that interesting. Some posts are cross-posted to my other social media, but not all.
Copyright: all photographs (except covers and posters used to illustrate reviews) are my own and not for re-use elsewhere. My words are published under a Creative Commons license, as detailed below.
This blog (excluding photographs and other images) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.