Hi, all! I'm Georgia. I took my name from the Newsflesh series by Seanan McGuire (writing as Mira Grant). The primary reason I came to this forum is that I was dissatisfied with the writing forum I had previously frequented; not only was it specifically for young writers and my work is definitely for the 18+ crowd, but there were some odd etiquette protocols on that site that I could never understand. I write speculative fiction. I'm currently working on what will likely end up a sprawling multi-book science fiction series about a newly formed interplanetary alliance between sapient humanoid life forms taking on the threat of a bioweapon created by a non-organic race that finds organic life both repulsive and threatening. I also have two stand-alone urban fantasy novels in the works, one inspired by Egyptian mythology about the creature that consumes the soul of evil people after death and one that is a superhero novel involving humans developing psychic abilities at an increased rate and the antihero protagonist uncovering a conspiracy against the psychic population. Well, the last one is more of a deconstruction of the superhero genre than a superhero novel, I suppose. I'm considering setting all of the works I just mentioned in the same universe. The only one I have a finished draft of, sadly, is the superhero novel, and I hope to be posting some of it here. I have some reservations about being on this (well, any) writing forum. I'm really, really queer and neurodivergent, and my writing reflects that. I got a few "your characters are all speshul snoflakes; why can't you write about normal people" comments--or worse--on the last site I frequented, and, quite frankly, those hurt. I'm nervous about having similar experiences on other fora. I also admit that I'm absolutely horrendous at accepting concrit, so I hope that I can improve on that front while on this site. The last site I frequented seemed to encourage "rip it to shreds" reviews, and I'm glad to see that this site is different in that regard. I hope this site provides an environment where I can learn to accept concrit instead of just being rabidly protective of my work.
Hey Georgia Firstly of course, welcome! I'm glad not to be the only other newbie here. Your work sounds quite fascinating and although I'm not too wild about science fiction at the moment, but I'm curious to hear more about your story and maybe even hopefully read it if you do share some of it here. Well I'm strange too and admittedly, one of the main reasons why I wanted to respond was because I was delighted to see the usage of "fora." I've never seen it used before, but it is of course the correct plural for forum. I'm glad to have learned another word!
Welcome Georgia. I cannot speak for the etiquette rules of the prior forum you frequented, but I can say that of the many fora I have engaged, this one is the one that has kept my interest and my attention, hence my level of involvement in its management. We're not a huge place where one is lost in the crowd, nor are we a tiny place where one waits all day for some sort of interaction. We do espouse a rather open policy as regards freedom of expression, a thing that is needful in the act of giving and receiving critique. We do not have a "shred to ribbons" mindset, but we also don't prescribe the manner of critique other than that the critic engage the piece constructively. Constructive criticism can often be blunt. I've received my fair share of such and it was illuminating. You will find my thoughts on the paradigm in this post. Wrey
