Nonfiction Portfolio
Tor.com | June 21st 2022
Murderbot: An Autistic-Coded Robot Done Right
As an autistic lover of sci-fi, I really relate to robots. When handled well, they can be a fascinating exploration of the way that somebody can be very unlike the traditional standard of “human” but still be a person worthy of respect. However, robots who explicitly share traits with autistic people can get… murky.
Simplecast | Oct. 27th 2022
I Have a Podcast—Now What the Heck Do I Call It?
Titling a podcast is an art form in and of itself. Not only should your title communicate the tone, genre, and plot of your show, but it also needs to communicate what makes your show unique compared to the hundreds of existing shows in the same genre. […] Oh, and try to make it short enough to fit in a Twitter handle while you’re at it.
Discover Pods | Feb. 18th 2021
Stop Making People Out Themselves for Art
Over the past few years, there’s been a push for more stories about marginalized characters created by artists who share their identity. In many ways, that’s a very good thing […] However, there’s a dangerous way it can manifest: when “we should uplift stories by marginalized creators” turns into “stories about marginalized characters can only be told by marginalized creators.”
Discover Pods | Oct. 26th 2021
Writing Mentally Ill Characters in Horror (Without Ableism)
Mentally ill characters are few and far between in fiction. Fortunately, they’re very common in horror, one of my favorite genres. Unfortunately, they’re almost always the villain. The “psycho” serial killer. The axe murderer with “multiple personalities”.
Discover Pods | Oct. 22nd 2021
How The Magnus Archives Helped Me Love Horror Again
The year is 2009. It’s a weeknight, maybe one or two in the morning, and I’m sitting at the family computer in my pajamas. The computer is just off the kitchen, which is just off all of the bedrooms in the house, so I’m sitting in the dark out of a worry that lights would wake my mom up.
Discover Pods | Aug. 17th 2021
Avoiding Podcasting Burnout When You Love Your Work
It’s no secret that podcasting isn’t the world’s most lucrative business. […] Yet there are, without a doubt, a large number of independent podcasters who accept that they’ll probably never make money from their podcast but want to create it anyway. Why do they do it if they know it won’t make them money? Simple: a love of the art.
Discover Pods | Dec. 16th 2021
Why the Podcasting Community Sucks
Last September, my stepdad passed away […] It’s made me reevaluate my life and what I focus my energy on. As I’ve taken a long, hard look at the discourse that permeates the podcast industry—particularly the fiction side, where I have the most experience—I came to a startling conclusion:
Most of it is completely pointless.
Discover Pods | May 29th 2020
How to Make Your Podcast More Accessible Using Transcripts
As podcasts are a strictly audio medium, the idea that deaf people could be into podcasts never occurs to many hearing people at all. But, just as many deaf people enjoy films and television as long as there are subtitles, many people enjoy podcasts as long as there are transcripts.
Discover Pods | Jan. 28th 2021
Twitter & Podcasting: When Professional Lines Blur
Right now, there isn’t one physical location where podcast creators tend to flock. But people are people, and people crave community, and people crave connections. Lacking a physical space to socialize with each other, it seems only natural that the field would find an online space to congregate. That space, for better or worse, is Twitter.
Simplecast | June 27th 2022
Pride in the Margins: 10 Podcasts Featuring Queer People of Color
A list written by several Simplecast writers promoting ten podcasts—both fiction and nonfiction—created by or heavily featuring queer and trans people of color. C.N. contributed blurbs for FANTI and Flyest Fables.