Who's There?

Hello and welcome...

Greetings...

Friends, Romans, countrymen. Lend me your ears!

Breathe deep, seek peace...

...all of which is to say, I have no idea how to start this thing. But I’ll come up with something eventually (I hope). But the point of that is just to bring you, dear reader, into this post. Imagine me, your friendly tour guide, or museum docent, inviting you across the threshold of this blog and into a small part of my world (in this metaphor you are apparently a vampire who must be invited in). I’ll start by introducing myself, and then we’ll get into some more interesting things.

Hi! I feel awkward about introducing myself to invisible people on the internet! But here we go...

I am, as the website indicates, A.G. Angevine (you can call me A.G. or just A): a queer writer, actor, and storyteller. I chose the term storyteller because, to me, it feels like it gets at the heart of what I spend my time on this floating rock doing. The things I want to spend my energy on involve using language to tell stories. And the only reason I put such a general spin on it is because my interests/desires are many and varied and it would take up too much room (and be a bit confusing) to try and list them all. But! The essential information you need to know is that I like to tell stories. And I like to think about and consume stories in all sorts of ways. And I like to talk about and analyze and share stories that I am enthusiastic about (and some I’m not so enthusiastic about). I live in the Pacific Northwest, and have all my life. I have two parents and one sibling (who may or may not show up on this page) and one very whiny ginger tabby (who definitely will). I’m a #millenial and will not be apologizing for my avocado toast, or my record collection.

Now, as I mentioned, I am an actor. I have my degree in theatre, with a focus on Shakespeare. And I do really like Shakespeare. That’s probably not going to make up the bulk of my posts here, but it will come up. You have been warned. I have also been a professional stage manager, a director, a costume designer, and a stage hand. I am what one might define as a jack-of-all-trades (a theme you will notice more than once as we embark on this journey together). Currently I am focusing my acting muscles on audiobook narration and voiceover work, which we can talk more about as it progresses.

One of my lifelong passions has been costume design and textile history. This is one of those things that I will almost certainly talk about a lot, as it is sort of woven into the fabric of my being (forgive the pun). The only hobbies that I have actually been able to maintain as hobbies include knitting and sewing, and I have some beginner knowledge of spinning and felting as well. I tell you all this because it’s one of those special interest areas for me (like Shakespeare) that won’t be the primary focus of our time here, but will definitely come up.

Moving on to the Prime Directive...

I am a writer, and my intention is to use this space to talk about writing. Now, let me define that a little bit. When I say I want to talk about writing I mean that I will not only be talking about my own writing (setting aside my massive insecurities... somewhat) but that I will also be talking about other people’s writing. I read (I would say a lot, but the #panini has really curbed that habit a lot) and I like to share books I enjoy. My primary genres for consumption are Fantasy and Science Fiction, though I enjoy some horror and can get behind a good queer romance. But I also really enjoy 19th century literature and, as I’ve mentioned before, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. I’m also a sucker for the Greek classics, and I love me some mythology (of any flavor). I also like TV and I enjoy listening to podcasts (both fiction and non), so I expect those will also make an appearance. There will probably be long rambles about all sorts of stories and techniques and things I think are cool and things I think really suck and whatever else my brain comes up with. So... we’ll attempt to start with 20th and 21st century Speculative Fiction, but don’t be surprised when those other things creep on in.

As for what I’m writing... the current big project is a secondary world fantasy novel that has been in some sort of progress or other for about four years. I am at the stage where I need to be writing a first (or rather zero) draft, but I am struggling. We’ll probably talk about that too. I also write short stories (some of which you can read here) and have a couple more of those in the pipeline as well.

Now, if you’ve made it this far, I would like to offer you a reward:

This is the orange tabby I mentioned before. His name is Calcifer and he is very cute and very whiny. But he’s also a great opportunity to pause and prepare for the next part of this post.

Now, I do want to make one thing clear: I am not going to pretend that I am not political or that I don’t have feelings and opinions about the world we live in. While it’s not the primary focus of this blog, everything we do is political in some way, and my existence specifically has been politicized in multiple ways and I will not shy away from addressing that. I also want to mention that while I have big energy and big feelings and big opinions, I am absolutely aware that I do not know everything and am in a constant state of learning every single day. I have lots of privilege in areas of my life, and have been marginalized in others, and I hope that I can strike a balance in talking about all those things with compassion and awareness. And if I fuck up I am ready to learn how to do better. No, when I fuck up—because I will—I am ready to learn and do better. (Oh, oops. I guess you should also know that I swear, and while I will try and keep it to a minimum, I won’t be censoring my language.)

Lastly, and probably most importantly for me mental health, I do not intend to keep a regular schedule in this journal. And I hope that is not a deal breaker for most of you. It is genuinely hard for me at this time to stick to a schedule, and I want to bring you posts that feel good to create, which means being kind to myself and giving myself permission to write when I feel good about it and leave the shame behind.

So, with those things in mind, let’s begin...