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adoptedwriterHere's the prompt: "Identity: the fact of being who or what a person is.
The internet and our online identities are a vastly interesting subject as the inherent anonymity that comes with creating a fannish identity can let us show the most intimate parts of ourselves with the relative safety and comfort of being behind a screen. Some of us have no problem connecting their fannish identity to their real life identity, while others may have more than one fandom account to keep each fandom identity separate. Now we ask everyone here to take a look at themselves and share some of what makes you … you!
Here are some questions to consider as you dive into this topic (these questions are only meant as prompt points and are not required. Please share what you are comfortable sharing): What does your username mean? How is it pronounced? What's your origin story? Is it fannish?
What is your default icon about? Does it have personal meaning? Why did you choose it? What is it from? Tell us anything else you want to share publicly that would help people know how to interact with you. Preferred pronouns? Do you have a first language other than English? What does "fannish identity" mean to you?"
My username is "adoptedwriter". I am an adopted person, and I am a writer. Simple as that. Back in the LJ days, my cousin encouraged me to join up and start writing whatever with her circle of pals. I did. Then I met more LJ friends as time passed. At the time, I was very involved w my kids' needs and activities, (not complaining), but it meant that I would not have much free time or funds for joining RL social groups. I did and do not mind having (writing) pals from diverse age ranges and walks of life. What better way to "test market" some of your writing than to have variety in readership, ya know? You can't just preach to the choir if you want more opinions or to even spread your messages and causes.
Anyway, I mentioned that I am adopted. Back in the late 1980s, (before I had my kids), I searched for and found my biological family. (No Internet, mind you!). It was quite a feat considering microfiche at the public library was still the only trending tech.
During all this search and initial reunion time, I was coming to terms with who I was and who I might have been and discerning between the two. Basically, It felt and still feels as though I lived in an alternate universe only instead of actual fiction. Either universe could have been RL had certain events and choices occurred or not occurred in 1961-62! This is the foundation for a cool story! Am I right?
As my kids got older and more aware of my adopted status and what that means to them, they began to ask me lots of questions about who is who in the family tree. (Actually we have more of an orchard!) My kids have never known life any way but with a blend of biological and birth family. They never lived in The Before and The After as I have. I began writing down my story about being born and relinquished for adoption in 2002 as a way to explain everything and everyone who mattered and why to my kids. I was also looking for a way to preserve the memories of my deceased grandmothers and dad who raised me so that my daughters could know them better. The more I wrote, the bigger my project grew, and it turned into a real book. It took till 2010 to finish the 1st draft because again, being a worker and a mom left little time for extra "fun" for myself. I kept editing more and more plus learning about how to either get the book published / accepted by an agency or do the self-pub thing, which was just beginning to gain more acceptance in the author-verse. (I work in education where self pubbing is still looked upon as less than desireable, but whatever...One day that thinking will change.)
So back to the questions: You have my username back story and meaning. Is it fannish? It is if you're considering what I have become an expert at writing about: being adopted. I now have 2 memoir books and a blog at Wordpress. I use the blog to review other adoption books, films, etc. Occasionally I write about adoption topics, and believe me, there are more adoption topics out there than most people (not adopted) realize! There is plenty of adoption fodder to keep me going. LOL Have I written fiction or fan-fic regarding adoption? Not so much. Maybe one day I will. I need the right push or spark. It will happen when it happens.
My 2 memoir books are available at Amazon. They are AKIN TO THE TRUTH, A Memoir of Adoption and Identity and AFTER THE TRUTH. The 1st book is about growing up adopted and how that felt as a kid, teen and YA. The 2nd book is about life as an adopted adult and how adoption has impacted my marriage, work life, friendships and parenting...plus my adoptee life in reunion with my biological family.
Adoptee-type characters I used to identify with (and still do): Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Madeline form the Madeline children's book series, Pip from Great Expectations, Randall Pierson from This Is Us, Casey Brown from the movie Candleshoe, Saroo from the movie Lion...Even Jon Snow from GOT is fascinating to me these days...(in more ways than one! ; ). I also identify with lots of homeless animals both from fiction and in RL. Currently I have 4 kitties.
OK my icon: That's my perfect little grandbaby. I came up w an online "code name" for her: Honeybee. Little did I know, someone in the family actually bought her a bee outfit! So there you go!
Languages: My 1st language is English, but I am fluent in Spanish.
Pronouns: I'm female, so her/she are fine.
Fannish or not, this is my story. This sounds like an interesting group to write with.
The internet and our online identities are a vastly interesting subject as the inherent anonymity that comes with creating a fannish identity can let us show the most intimate parts of ourselves with the relative safety and comfort of being behind a screen. Some of us have no problem connecting their fannish identity to their real life identity, while others may have more than one fandom account to keep each fandom identity separate. Now we ask everyone here to take a look at themselves and share some of what makes you … you!
Here are some questions to consider as you dive into this topic (these questions are only meant as prompt points and are not required. Please share what you are comfortable sharing): What does your username mean? How is it pronounced? What's your origin story? Is it fannish?
What is your default icon about? Does it have personal meaning? Why did you choose it? What is it from? Tell us anything else you want to share publicly that would help people know how to interact with you. Preferred pronouns? Do you have a first language other than English? What does "fannish identity" mean to you?"
My username is "adoptedwriter". I am an adopted person, and I am a writer. Simple as that. Back in the LJ days, my cousin encouraged me to join up and start writing whatever with her circle of pals. I did. Then I met more LJ friends as time passed. At the time, I was very involved w my kids' needs and activities, (not complaining), but it meant that I would not have much free time or funds for joining RL social groups. I did and do not mind having (writing) pals from diverse age ranges and walks of life. What better way to "test market" some of your writing than to have variety in readership, ya know? You can't just preach to the choir if you want more opinions or to even spread your messages and causes.
Anyway, I mentioned that I am adopted. Back in the late 1980s, (before I had my kids), I searched for and found my biological family. (No Internet, mind you!). It was quite a feat considering microfiche at the public library was still the only trending tech.
During all this search and initial reunion time, I was coming to terms with who I was and who I might have been and discerning between the two. Basically, It felt and still feels as though I lived in an alternate universe only instead of actual fiction. Either universe could have been RL had certain events and choices occurred or not occurred in 1961-62! This is the foundation for a cool story! Am I right?
As my kids got older and more aware of my adopted status and what that means to them, they began to ask me lots of questions about who is who in the family tree. (Actually we have more of an orchard!) My kids have never known life any way but with a blend of biological and birth family. They never lived in The Before and The After as I have. I began writing down my story about being born and relinquished for adoption in 2002 as a way to explain everything and everyone who mattered and why to my kids. I was also looking for a way to preserve the memories of my deceased grandmothers and dad who raised me so that my daughters could know them better. The more I wrote, the bigger my project grew, and it turned into a real book. It took till 2010 to finish the 1st draft because again, being a worker and a mom left little time for extra "fun" for myself. I kept editing more and more plus learning about how to either get the book published / accepted by an agency or do the self-pub thing, which was just beginning to gain more acceptance in the author-verse. (I work in education where self pubbing is still looked upon as less than desireable, but whatever...One day that thinking will change.)
So back to the questions: You have my username back story and meaning. Is it fannish? It is if you're considering what I have become an expert at writing about: being adopted. I now have 2 memoir books and a blog at Wordpress. I use the blog to review other adoption books, films, etc. Occasionally I write about adoption topics, and believe me, there are more adoption topics out there than most people (not adopted) realize! There is plenty of adoption fodder to keep me going. LOL Have I written fiction or fan-fic regarding adoption? Not so much. Maybe one day I will. I need the right push or spark. It will happen when it happens.
My 2 memoir books are available at Amazon. They are AKIN TO THE TRUTH, A Memoir of Adoption and Identity and AFTER THE TRUTH. The 1st book is about growing up adopted and how that felt as a kid, teen and YA. The 2nd book is about life as an adopted adult and how adoption has impacted my marriage, work life, friendships and parenting...plus my adoptee life in reunion with my biological family.
Adoptee-type characters I used to identify with (and still do): Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Madeline form the Madeline children's book series, Pip from Great Expectations, Randall Pierson from This Is Us, Casey Brown from the movie Candleshoe, Saroo from the movie Lion...Even Jon Snow from GOT is fascinating to me these days...(in more ways than one! ; ). I also identify with lots of homeless animals both from fiction and in RL. Currently I have 4 kitties.
OK my icon: That's my perfect little grandbaby. I came up w an online "code name" for her: Honeybee. Little did I know, someone in the family actually bought her a bee outfit! So there you go!
Languages: My 1st language is English, but I am fluent in Spanish.
Pronouns: I'm female, so her/she are fine.
Fannish or not, this is my story. This sounds like an interesting group to write with.
Candleshoe
Date: 2019-07-08 04:41 pm (UTC)I'm impressed with tracking down family history in the pre-internet days. I have a friend who tried that for years with no luck. She finally successed at finding her birth father through modern DNA testing. She matched with a distant cousin which gave her the lead she needed to trace up and down the family tree until she found the man who'd lived in the right town at the right time.
Re: Candleshoe
Date: 2019-07-08 07:41 pm (UTC)Re: Candleshoe
Date: 2019-07-08 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-08 06:09 pm (UTC)I'm not adopted, but I think about this a lot too. Other people's choices, both before and after we were born, shaped our lives in ways that we had no control over and can never fully know the consequences of. If my parents had lived just one block north, I would have been a different school district and grown up with an entirely different group of kids. Even seemingly insiginficant decisions can have enormous ramifications. I can imagine how this truth would feel even more intensely present in your life as an adoptee.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-08 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-09 12:25 pm (UTC)