Fantasy & SF

I’ve been a reader and writer of fantasy and SF (science fiction, or “speculative fiction” to frame the genre in the broadest sense) since grade school, though you really don’t want to see the SF/mystery series I wrote back in fifth grade.  My interests within the genre community have included:

  • Dungeons & Dragons games
    I discovered D&D in junior high, and was an avid gamer for many years.  I haven’t played regularly for quite some time now, but I still try to keep an eye on the game’s development.

  • Fanfiction (or Fanfic)
    As I’ve said elsewhere on this site, I read voraciously, and I number fanfic as one of my reading-interests both for academic reasons and because I find it interesting and entertaining.  And long ago, I wrote a Star Trek/Sherlock Holmes story (“The Adventure of the Unearthly Cat”) which appeared in a singularly obscure print fanzine.

  • Filk Music
    I’m not particularly musical by training or skillset — I can more or less carry a tune, but my best instrument is the stereo and I don’t read or write music as such.  However, I’ve written a significant number of filk lyrics, and at conventions where filking occurs you can usually find me in an open circle.

  • SF Conventions
    I’ve been attending science fiction conventions — initially as a fan, more recently in connection with my writing — since the 1980s, and have served on a number of con organizing committees (mostly but not exclusively for various OryCons).

Those already familiar with the worlds of science fiction/fantasy fandom will easily recognize all these subcultures. But if the above reads to you like a laundry list written in an obscure foreign language, click on one or more of the subject headings above for brief field guides to the relevant parts of the genre community.