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Books I Read in 2017 & Think You Should Read in 2018

The 2017 Goodreads clock-in is 119 books. I’m continuing on my quest to read more books from diverse authors and books on my shelves. Though I also needed comfort books, which also meant I finished up some series I’ve been enjoying or leaned on authors who I knew would deliver stories (or had a higher likelihood to do so).

By the numbers — 76 (+9% compared to 2016) were written by women, 54 (+4%) drawn by women, 45 (+16%) written or drawn by people of color, and 28 (+5%) written or drawn by queer people. (The latter two categories may be slightly off.) 19 had been sitting on my shelves for at least one year, which is not a stellar number.

I’d like to say for 2018, I’d like to read more prose. However, I also want to clean off my comics to-read pile, meaning those two goals are at odds with each other.

Here are the books I highly recommend and rated 5/5 stars:

Heartsick (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell #1) by Chelsea Cain1. Heartsick (Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell #1)
by Chelsea Cain

Genre: crime, serial killer, thriller
Recommended for: those who enjoy the PNW rain, the twisty inside

Holy crap, this book was great. I’d wanted to read more of Cain’s writing since her Mockingbird comic, and this didn’t disappoint. The plot features a Portland-based FBI detective who hunts serial killers. The case he’s working on features dead high school girls. But you also find out that the last serial killer he tracked and how he was captured by her and continues to visit her in prison. It gets twisted in the best ways. Continue reading “Books I Read in 2017 & Think You Should Read in 2018”

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Launching My Patreon

In order to help support what I do on this blog, on my comic review site, in my newsletter, and many more places, I’ve decided to launch a Patreon. If you’re like, finally, and where do I go?

Become my patron

Erica McGillivray
Let’s get stuff done. 😀

And now for everyone who’s like, what?

What’s Patreon?

Patreon functions like a subscription to art. If you like what I’m doing, you can support me on an on-going basis and get access to exclusive content. Patreon’s mission is to support creators for their art in every form, especially that which we often publish on the internet for free.

You can set up a monthly subscription to creators on the platform. Most creators, including me, allow you to do as low as a $1 monthly pledge. That’s less than a single issue comic book! 😉 Of course, you can always cancel this subscription at any point. Patreon takes credit cards or PayPal.

In exchange for support, you — the patrons — are given different levels of access, previews, exclusive content, or really anything a creator decides to do. For myself, I currently have four levels: $1, $5, $10, and $20. These levels will have different access to different content. At $1, you’ll get previews of what I’m reading/watching. At $5, you’ll get a follow from me on Twitter, plus $1 level. At $10, you’ll get sneak peeks at what I’m working on, a look inside my process, and likely some cat photos. And at $20, you’ll get to be my librarian, or help decide what I read/review next and get exclusive content, plus $10 tier stuff.

Why am I using this platform?

I’m using it to help me as a creator expand my reach and ability to create art. Recently, I had two major life events that made me decide to try Patreon.

1. I was laid off from my steady, full-time job. This worked as a kick in the pants (motivation) to consider my current path and what I wanted versus what I was doing. This also means the financial support of Patrons, like you, is even more critical to continuing my writing.

2. I’ve written over 800 comic book reviews on my blog since 2007. It’s a great milestone. But those reviews were all published for free, and actually cost me money as I buy the books to support creators I love.

At the end of the day, Patreon is an experiment to figure out if it works and fits into my creative process. If it works to help connect me to my community and enable me to focus more energies on creation, then it will be a success.

If you’re onboard:

Become my patron

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s already starting supporting me! You are the very best. ?

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Books I Read in 2016 & Think You Should Read in 2017

This year, according to Goodreads, I read 110 books. My goals this year were to continue to read more diverse voices and read books on my to-read shelves, instead of buying new ones. By the numbers — 60 (+13% compared to 2015) were written by women, 46 (+19%) drawn by women, 24 (+1%) written or drawn by people of color, and 21 (+8%) written or drawn by queer people. (The latter two categories may be slightly off.) 25 had been sitting on my shelves for at least one year.

Here’s some amazing stuff you should read too:

The Fifth Season1. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)
by N.K. Jemisin
Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, apocalyptical worlds, geology
Recommended for: Those seeking something fresh in sci-fi/fantasy

A pretty amazing storytelling feat about a world where its complete destruction is held off by an oppressed people who can control geology. Jemisin weaves an interesting tale, building a world and incredibly strong characters. I couldn’t put this down, and I don’t want to say much more about the book in case of spoilers. This world is full of women, people of color, and queer people, and this story centers on them, for those looking for stories starring marginalized groups in sci-fi and fantasy. Continue reading “Books I Read in 2016 & Think You Should Read in 2017”

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17 Books to Build Your Social Justice Knowledge

In light of our current climate, I wanted to share some of my favorite books to up your social justice knowledge and walk in someone else’s shoes for a while. This is in no way a complete list. But all these books influenced my thinking and life.

Social Justice books

Non-fiction

Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks

1) This book is FREE, so download it now. 2) hooks addresses intersectional feminism, and her whole entire mission as a feminist is to make previously academic-level rhetoric accessible to everyone. This book is short, easy to read, and speaks to everyone. Continue reading “17 Books to Build Your Social Justice Knowledge”

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My 10 #GivingTuesday Charity Recommendations

There are a lot of great charities out there, but here’s 10 (in no particular order) that I suggest you donate to this Giving Tuesday. A lot of these organizations I either know the people behind them, have been a long time supporter myself, and are otherwise closely connected to what I believe in.

Give thanks by giving back for #GivingTuesday!
Give thanks by giving back for #GivingTuesday!

1. Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation

The first one is for the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, and my friend Joe Hall has put together this fundraiser drive. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are matching this one. OI is a group of genetic disorders that mainly affect the bones and causes them to be fragile and break easily.

2. Feminist Frequency

Feminist Frequency advocates for a more inclusive, intersectional media and increasing cultural conversation around gender, sexuality and race. They encourage being critical of media, and their most famous work is about tropes in video gaming. I also know some of the ladies behind the org, and they’re the raddest. Continue reading “My 10 #GivingTuesday Charity Recommendations”

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Don’t Accidentally Give Credit to Hate Sites

Dear friends,

Thank you for stopping the normalization of Trump and his white supremacists pals. Thank you for keeping posting about fraud, national security risks, personal safety problems, and more. Keeping doing it.

However, you need to stop linking to white supremacist propaganda and re-sharing it on social media from the source in your outrage.

Yes, you should definitely say, “This is really what Steve Bannon, Trump’s Chief Strategist, said. It shows he’s an anti-Semite, who hates women, and gave his platform over to Neo-Nazis and is one himself.” However, don’t link to Breitbart. Please, please don’t link to or share/reshare their content.

Breitbart article sharing
This Breitbart article is misogynistic. 12,000+ people shared it on Facebook, and an unknown numbers in other ways. They got a lot of traffic. Lauren Duca’s tweet though, because it’s a screenshot, will be there forever and the shares she got won’t count as a win for Breitbart.

Why? Continue reading “Don’t Accidentally Give Credit to Hate Sites”

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10 Rules for Surviving Being Laid Off

Being laid off sucks. One moment you’re working away, and the next, you’re being told you’re done. It feels like a breakup. That’s how I’ve described my many emotions to friends and my Spotify recommendations seem to agree. The company I’d been working at for 5 years laid off 60+ people. 80% of my immediate team was let go; 50% of the greater marketing team; and almost 100% were people I knew pretty well and had befriended on some level over the years.

This is the first time I’ve ever been laid off, but I wanted to share some of my survival tips. I’ve tried to steer these away from Moz-specifically, because I’d have these feelings about any job I loved and was at for 5 years. Additionally, Moz’s CEO Sarah and its founder Rand have written several posts on their strategy change and the layoffs, which are much better places to ask Moz-specific questions as they are in-the-know.

1. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.

I can’t repeat this enough — it’s not your fault. Layoffs are always about budget and/or changes in strategy (which usually tie back into budget). Most people affected by layoffs couldn’t have done anything to prevent the company’s layoffs. It wasn’t my fault I got laid off. Even if the inner A+ student, who’d gotten lots of promotions, performance-based raises, and publicity for the company, among others things, rebels against this idea that there was nothing she could do: there wasn’t. Being laid off isn’t the same as being fired. When lots of people are let go, only a tiny fraction and sometimes absolutely zero could’ve affected or changed this fate. Continue reading “10 Rules for Surviving Being Laid Off”

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Community Manager Seeking Dream Job 2.0

As many of you probably know, Moz laid off 28% of its full-time employees. Including me. Including not just my fellow community managers, but many of my closest colleagues, from developers to office managers.

Women at Moz
7 out of 10 people and 1 dog in this photo are for hire!

The story of Dream Job 1.0

What many people likely don’t know is that working at Moz was my dream job. Back in 2006/07, I discovered the e-commerce site I worked on really needed this thing called SEO. I stumbled upon then SEOmoz’s blog and the well-loved Beginner’s Guide to SEO. I dug in. Everyone on the blog seemed so smart , and little did I know that most of them were in the same boat as me, figuring this stuff out. When I started looking for a new job, I thought “wow, it’d be so cool to work at Moz.”

I spent the next two years knocking on various Moz doors. Sure, I applied some other places — but nothing much panned out. Height of the recession and all. Then I landed an interview with Moz in their cramped offices above the Elysian Brewery as they prepared to move to their first Downtown Seattle location. I interviewed with Adam Feldstein and a couple other folks. I was elated to be given the opportunity.

Spoiler alert: I wasn’t hired. Adam told me I wasn’t quite the right fit job-wise, but he thought I’d make a great Mozzer. He encouraged me to apply again.

Most people don’t try again. But I did. For another role on Adam’s team, which I only made it to a phone interview.

Okay, I’d tried. It didn’t work. Instead, I co-founded an all-volunteer nonprofit called GeekGirlCon. I kept reading, learning, and even bravely answering some Moz Q&A questions.

This newfangled social network called G+ launched, and I poked around on it a bit. Followed this guy Rand Fishkin, seemed kind of cool. (Obviously, I knew who he was.) He posted about this hard-to-fill, ridiculous role called Community Attaché. This person needed to have both community building skills and enough SEO chops to help community members. When I was read the description, I thought “holy mother of god, that’s actually a job I’m super qualified for.” Rand asked applicants to email him directly.

I nervous, late-night typed out an email cover letter to Rand. I made some jokes, talked about my skill set, how I loved the community, how I was working to put on this GeekGirlCon convention (outcome TBD at the time), and read it over 100 times. I was sure I’d call him “Fishking,” which to this day, I always type out and then hit the backspace. Continue reading “Community Manager Seeking Dream Job 2.0”

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Why We Need Stories Like Star Trek: Not Really a Review of Star Trek: Beyond

Uhura, Sulu, and other Enterprise crew members trapped together
The crew of the Star Trek: Beyond works together to solve problems.
The future is what we can see. The future is what we dream of. The future is the future we write about in our stories, whether they’re film, books, comics, or another medium. We don’t have to look further than our smartphones, tablets, or heck, automatic sliding doors to see the impact of what Star Trek dreamed up, and we said, you know what, that is a good idea. It wasn’t just tech. The utopia of the Federation put on screen by Gene Roddenberry showed a future about the good and possibilities of humanity when we work together. On Star Trek and in the Federation, there was peace among far reaching cultures and types of lifeforms. There wasn’t poverty, hunger, homelessness, abject hate, or many of the other social ills which plague our world today. Roddenberry and the hundreds of other creators who’ve helmed Star Trek have never explained how this vision of the future eliminated and solved those problems, but the vision is there.

When watching Star Trek: Beyond, I couldn’t help but think of our world right now and how we need this type of story. Beyond’s two predecessor films never felt like Star Trek films because they never layered in the pieces of utopia. (Among other flaws.) Popular culture, right now, is full of stories about the one special hero and the dystopian reality. No wonder we’ve found solace in those types of tales. Continue reading “Why We Need Stories Like Star Trek: Not Really a Review of Star Trek: Beyond”

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Parents-Children: Into My Frozen Heart

Frozen waterfall
Photo by Gilad Rom
A 7am flight out of Boston equals torture for this West Coast night owl who hasn’t been there long enough to adjust to the time zone. (Which is approximately a week for the East Coast and about three days for the UK.) As I’m digging for my book, a young girl with a huge scowl on her face sits down across from me. Instantly, I see myself — particularly my younger self, though in many cases my current self — reflected in her. She has glasses and a mop of long blonde hair looped in a messy bun. She immediately sticks her nose in a young adult book about ghosts. I have the same shoes she’s wearing, only in black and hot pink, instead of gray and hot pink. We’re both wearing bright patterned leggings. She takes a Purell wipe from her bag and cleans down her seat and tray table. When the dudebro behind her neglects to cover his cough, we both give him death glares. She sees me doing this, and I smile at her when our eyes meet for a brief second.

I start to think about how I’m old enough to be her mother — though her parents appear about a decade older than me — and how perhaps I shall steal this one mostly-formed child. Clearly, we could save some money by sharing clothing. She’s at what Sandra Tsing Loh described as the perfect moment in girlhood: strong, confident, prepubescent.

I also obverse her family, noticing how they are focused on entertainment and what to order from the on-flight menus. In my own childhood, no one understood why I love to read more than most things. Why I preferred to write or tell myself stories, playing with dolls or action figures. The girl takes out a journal and a pile of embroidery thread; no doubt, she’s going to make friendship bracelets. And I am uniquely satisfied that the art of friendships bracelets hasn’t been lost only to Christian camps sequestered from cell towers.

For a million reasons, I do not want to be a mother. Continue reading “Parents-Children: Into My Frozen Heart”