cartoon ray gun

The Fear of Invention

The first critiques we receive always stay with us the longest and hold disproportionate position in our imaginations.  So it is for me and scientific plausibility. As a child, writing silly, childish stories, I was drawn to science fiction first. I wanted to write about robots and spaceships and aliens. Read more

Cartoon robot looking cute

Procrastitron

Procrastitron is an Autobot… we think? She’s never bothered to paint her allegiance logo.  But she hangs out with the Autobots. Probably because, you know, the Decepticons would kick her out for not doing stuff. Procrastitron is not badly-drawn! Procrastitron is thematic in her simplicity.  By the way, those colored Read more

pink fairy princess with long blonde hair

Pretty

When I was a little girl, I asked my mother, “Am I pretty?” I clearly remember her recoil, her curled lip as she snarled, “Self-pity is disgusting!” I don’t remember what prompted the question, maybe my older sister telling me I was ugly.  “You have to have blonde hair to Read more

A cartoon writer imagines a brown-skinned crew on a spaceship, a cartoon reader imagines they are white.

Assumptions

So, I wrote this story with a black, inner-city protagonist. I based her on a friend of mine and like that friend she is compassionate and witty and willing to do anything for the people under her care. In an early scene in the story, she describes a boy “as Read more

cartoon of a rotary lawn mower

Hairy for science!

I hate shaving my armpits. They’re concave, for one thing.  The skin is sensitive and the razor burn is real. So there I was, in the shower, with razor-burned pits, contemplating shaving them again.  “Does anyone even care?” I thought. That was back in March. I chose not to shave, Read more