Welcome to the Scream Shed

Are you really a writer if you don't write anything? Maybe, maybe not. But I've decided to stop asking myself that question and just write. 

I needed a new space though. Inspired by a blogger that I read every day, who decided there years ago to write something for her blog every day and who has also written 3 non-fiction books, and who recently wrote that the world needs more atypical writers, people who are still figuring things out as they write, as well as podcasters I have admired as well as exchanged emails with or even met in person, I decided to create a new space for me to write about the things that interest me, the things that go on in my head, the things I want to discuss and share with other people, the things I'm still trying to figure out. 

So what are this interests and who am I?

In no particular order...

Horror movie enthusiast : I would like to write about horror from a personal as well as academic, feminist, intersectional viewpoint. I am still trying working on how to do that but I have inspiration from podcasts like Faculty of Horror, The Horror Podclass, and Scream Scene; books like House of Psychotic Women; web sites like Graveyard Sisters and Dangerous Characters. I have loved horror movies since I was a kid and am just now finding a community in it. I hope to find a voice. 

Pop culture : While I love horror (movies as well as TV shows and literature), I also love pop culture in general. I know about way more movies and TV shows and books than I have ever gotten the time to actually watch or read and like to be able to converse on the topic with most people I come across. I also have an interest in how pop culture influences our lives, changes in popular culture throughout the decades based on changes in the larger culture, pop culture through a feminist or intersectional or academic lens, etc. Yes, yes, yes, I already hear my step-dad saying, "Why can't you JUST enjoy the movie?" Well, because this is me enjoying it. 

Mental health issues : For as long as I can remember, I struggled with mental health issues: depression, bipolar, borderline. The first two are fairly well controlled with my current medication. The final one is something that I have gone through therapy to help and, while I continue to work on myself, I may never fully get to where I want to be. I am also intrigued by how the human mind works, how we cope with things, etc. 

Polyamory/ Consensual Non-monogamy : For over a decade, I have been either single or in relationships that were somewhere on the non-monogamous spectrum. I am nowhere near perfect in it. I have a great deal of theoretical knowledge that can sometimes fall apart when faced with the reality of real people and real life limitations. I am trying though. I keep trying. And I'm just trying to figure it all out. 

Kink : I'm in a weird place with all this but it is still an interest and I hope I can still write about it even if I'm in a weird space with it.

Issues for and in the queer community : I'm bisexual / pansexual. I'm interested in inclusion and being thoughtful about my actions and working to check my privilege as a white cisgendered allosexual straight-passing woman. 

Racism : As a white woman, I want to work against racism as well as promote the voices of people of color speaking for themselves instead of me feeling like I can or should speak for them. 

Parenting : I co-parent with my exes. We were a triad, 2 women, 1 man. We had two children while together, one child biologically mine and one child biologically hers. My exes still live together. While we can be flexible with it, we do try to keep set days for when I have one or both children and vice versa. The children are in preschool. I still feel like I am still figuring out this parenting thing. 

Relationships of all sorts : They're complicated. Sometimes I might want a place to talk about them or issues that happen in relationships. This is going to be a sticky wicket though. Part of why I'm attempting to make a fresh start is because I may have been too confessional in my previous blog. I want to be able to explore issues that come up while walking a line in not making people in my life who may be involved in the situation feel upset or like I am disclosing too much about them. There may be a learning curve here where I don't publish those things until I feel I have a handle on it. We'll see how that goes. Page Turner from Poly.Land, the writer who's efforts to post every day on her blog has inspired me to do the same has several posts about writing about people in your life including this one. I'm hoping to find my own way, with the help of people with more experience. 

Why “the scream shed"? A friend gave it to me in a tipsy list of new blog names. It stuck for me because it's like "she shed," except me screaming at horror movies, screaming at people in movies and TV and books and real life doing stupid things, screaming at myself in real like doing stupid things, screaming into the void. 

So …

Welcome all. Thanks for visiting. 

Please come back soon.