It's not really a secret to anyone who looks at my bibliography that I write a LOT. I mean, my first book came out in September of 2009: I am still not even ten years into this game.
But what sometimes seems to come as a surprise is the part where not every book can be written the second I think of it. Some books require me to do other things first. They need me to get BETTER.
(This is not me insulting my early work. I still feel that if I had only ever published FEED, I would not have been forgotten. But there are intricacies of structure and form that have taken practice and effort to learn.)
In the past week, I've seen various iterations of two different but connected conversations. Specifically, "women, people of color, and people who are not cis/straight are discouraged in STEM fields" and "women, POC, and queer people don't REALLY like geeky things."
I think it's important--not world-shaking, but still important--to acknowledge that these are different pieces of the same conversation, and that many aspects of one can, will, and does apply to the other.
There are studies--multiple studies--showing that girls are just as interested in STEM as boys at early ages, and are systematically discouraged from those interests as their education progresses.
You know what's fun?
Interviews.
You know what's the worst?
Interviews.
How are both these things true? Come with me for a magical adventure in questions, answers, and "let me Google that for you."
So: if you are a creative professional of any kind, interviews sort of come with the territory. They're an important part of getting the word out, and selling the idea of "you" to people who may be considering picking up your work.
The trouble is, when you do a lot of interviews, you'll see some of the same questions crop up over and over and over and over again. This can get really frustrating, really fast.