Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Meet Kendall Ashley (@Kendall_Ashley). She’s a freelance writer with a pen full of sass, spunk, and geeky pride. Her passions of Star Wars, gaming, Doctor Who, and Supernatural are all funneled into her blog, Distracted Blogger, where she keeps us updated on the goings-on of her life.
But on top of that, Kendall also contributes regularly to Nerdophiles, Outright Geekery, Cinema Blend, and The Mary Sue, just to name a few. Our favorite writings of this Lady Geek include the five characters she’d invite to her Thanksgiving table, when she showed us the First Look at Katie Cassidy as the Black Canary (beware: Arrow spoilers in that link!), and all of her recaps of The Walking Dead.
So, thinking of becoming a freelance writer but need some advice to jumpstart your career? Wondering what Kendall would title her memoir? Read on!
Q: How did you discover your passion for writing?
A: I’ve always loved writing. I honestly don’t remember a time where I didn’t love it. I’ve never been great at expressing my emotions verbally, so I think I just naturally gravitated towards journaling, and that kind of mushroom clouded into a love of writing in general.
Q: What’s your advice for fellow lady geeks considering a career in freelance writing?
A: Make yourself available, and be willing to work hard. Freelance writing is a tough gig. When you are just starting out, it can be frustrating to find a ton of exciting–but unpaid–opportunities. Just keep working, keep building your writing portfolio, and keep networking with other writers and editors. Your hard work will pay off!
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: Leslie Knope. I’d love to get to talk to her about random life and career stuff. I feel like she’d be fun and supportive. What would I drink? Depending where we went to get a drink (bar or coffee shop), I’d either drink a chai latte or a hard cider. Love both of those drinks!
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: I was (and still can be) a super perfectionist who was very concerned about the opinions of others. So I’d tell myself to not be so stressed out about making everyone else happy, and to go easy on yourself. It’s okay to pursue your passions, and it’s okay to have no clue what you want in your future. Just focus on doing your best right now.
Q: What’s the title of your memoir?
A: “It Sounded Better In My Head”
Emma Bauer is a Being Geek Chic Contributor. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, dog lover, tea drinker, art appreciator, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @emmalynnbauer
Kicking off April’s Lady Geeks is Jill Pantozzi (@TheNerdyBird), a lady with a huge amount of geek cred. For starters, Pantozzi keeps a personal blog over at Has Boobs, Reads Comics. On her blog, she’s interviewed the likes Arthur Levine, co-editor of our beloved Harry Potter series, and Helen Slater, “Supergirl” actress from the ‘80s, just to name a few.
Pantozzi also provides witty commentary on topics such as the evolution of Neville Longbottom, the less-than-stellar debut of Spiderman on Broadway, and connections between Jurassic Park and Justice League.
Impressed yet? Did I mention Pantozzi was profiled on National Geographic’s Comic Store Heroes, a comic book documentary centered on NYC’s Midtown Comics? Yeah.
Oh, and we can’t forget to mention yesterday’s big news. Pantozzi and a plethora of other cool ladies’ 2012 anthology Chicks Dig Comics
was nominated for a Hugo Award yesterday.
Finally, Pantozzi’s the Associate Editor of The Mary Sue, the blog we know and love as “A Guide to Girl Geek Culture.” Ps: Don’t read The Mary Sue? Give yourself a quick slap on the wrist and head over there now! Or, perhaps after you read Pantozzi’s interview with Being Geek Chic…
Q: What has led you to your passion?
A: I almost feel as if I was destined for this path from birth. We can blame my mom for starting me off with the original Star Trek when I was very young but I always had an affinity toward geeky pursuits. Originally I was headed toward a regular, boring journalism career then I found out I could write about Doctor Who and comics for a living and I was sold!
Today, I get my geek rant on over at The Mary Sue.
It’s all about the Academy Awards and there general dislike of or refusal to award any geek-centric movies with the big golden statues in recognizable categories.
Here’s a snippet, but be sure to go read the rest and let me know if you agree:
History shows us that the Academy has little to no appreciation for geek-centric films. Here’s a list of notable Academy Award snubs for context:
Go read the rest here.
I’ve talked about this before around here in the form of resumes and cover letters. I’ve gone more in-depth for The Mary Sue. Go read it!
Are you leveraging your geek status as an asset to potential employers?
Think of it this way: being a geek comes with certain general character traits, which can be positioned to your advantage when looking for a job. For example, being a geek goes hand in hand with being knowledgeable and people often rely on other geeks as a resource for information. Every office needs a go-to person and very often, the go-to problem solver is the geek sitting in the cubicle to your left.
So here are two big questions: does your resume reflect your geek cred? And are you promoting your geekiness in your cover letters and interviews?
Read the rest here!
The Lady Geek of this Week is Jamie Frevele, Associate Editor of The Mary Sue (to which our very own Liz contributes!). Look for her soon on Boing Boing!
Frevele was kind enough to answer some questions. You lady geeks will love reading her answers. She’s witty, humble, and very funny. Read on! And don’t forget to follow Frevele on Twitter: @jamielikesthis.
Q: What has led you to your passion?
A: My 30s! I had all my current passions in my 20s, teens, and childhood, but for me (and many others), the age of 30 felt like a deadline. For what, I don’t know – achieving fame and fortune? Getting married and having a family? But I pushed aside a lot of my passions to try to achieve something that I thought I should be doing. By the time I got a little older, I realized better what I really wanted to do rather than what I thought I needed to do. And I also just stopped caring. And that left a lot of room for enjoying myself and all the things that I’ve always really loved that I had once thought might be a waste of time. Like cartoons. I always loved cartoons, then went through this “phase” where I thought I was too old or too cool for them, because I was going to be a journalist/Oscar winner/talking head and no one will take me seriously. Obviously, that’s completely ridiculous. It took a long time to just like what I like and accept that it was okay, but now I can tell people that it’s not worth giving up on your passions to force yourself into a different mold. Wave your freak/geek flag high, kids.
Also: glorious dumb luck.
Q: What inspires you in the world?
A: It sounds obvious, but humor inspires me. If you can get someone to laugh, you have done what is nearly impossible these days: you have earned their attention and focus, and then their approval, after you’ve surprised them. No one is surprised by anything anymore, and when you can get people to laugh at something – like really laugh – you have given them a free moment of meditation. All they’re doing is laughing. Not checking their phones, not watching something else. Just laughing. And sometimes, the most obvious things will make us laugh – because, people, we cannot just stop and smell the roses anymore. We have to stop, smell, take a picture on Instagram, tweet it, and then see if anyone responded for the next seven hours. Also: get off my lawn.
Q: First time you realized you were “geeky?”
A: Oh, early on. Though it was more like, “I know I’m not like these other straight-laced squares.” Because of the whole “Oh, she’s too little to understand all these adult themes and dirty jokes” thing, I was introduced to a lot of rather insane stuff when I was really young. Like Unico, The Last Unicorn, Yellow Submarine, etc. Weird cartoons. Very weird. But l dug them, and by the time I was in grade school, I was writing fan fiction, which no one else I knew did. I filled notebooks with stories that no one was allowed to read, through high school. As a little kid, I played with my brother’s action figures, loved Ghostbusters and TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), combined He-Man and She-Ra with ThunderCats, stuff like that. I made it a goal one summer to watch the live-action TMNT movies every single day, from the day school let out until it started again. That’s…not normal. But it’s not dangerous, and all that fan fiction I wrote eventually turned into original stuff. Or parodies. I was also into horror and gore from a very early age, and also things being scientifically/medically accurate.
Q: What would you tell you 13-year-old self?
A: I could seriously write a book to my 13-year-old self. I feel like I’m totally still that girl, I just figured out how eyeliner works. I would tell myself that 1. It’s okay to not have a boyfriend. In fact, it’s better. Believe me. I’ve been to Disney World alone, and it’s the bomb. 2. All the stuff you were crazy about as a kid is going to serve you incredibly well, so don’t be embarrassed about it. Two words: Robot Chicken. 3. Being popular means absolutely nothing. Being an asshole is a waste of time. Be a friend. A good one. 4. You have it so easy because you’re not on Facebook. 5. I’m sorry, Jamie, but contacts will not instantly improve your social life. And you need to stop wearing leggings immediately. It’s 1993, and they are done. Yes, you will wear bell-bottom jeans, and you will also wear leggings again. You will swear you’ll never wear either, but you will wear both. You totally will. Don’t argue with me – it’s going to happen. I was there. 6. Your boobs will not show up until you’re 19.
Q: “I admit it—I’ve never seen/read/experienced: ____”
A: Star Wars! I mean, I have watched about 80 percent of the six movies exactly one time, but I barely know anything about it. I have nothing against it, it just never stayed in my radar enough for me to watch it. I’m also not into comic books, even though I appreciate them so, so much and have a lot of admiration for that method of storytelling. It can be really, really gorgeous, impactful [is that even a word?] work. And the characters – I love Marvel. So much. But I honestly don’t know why I never got into comic books. Too much time spent with my face in a notebook, writing fan fiction, I guess?
Do you know someone worthy of Lady Geek of the Week? Send her name and her website (or blog or Twitter account) to [email protected].
(Photo credit: Zack DeZon)
Post by Emma Bauer, who works as BGC’s official intern. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, history scholar, tea drinker, fashion devotee, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic. On twitter: @emmalynnbauer
