This is Halloween

Halloween is and always has been special to me. I accept that part of this reason is  the proximity of my birthday (10/27) to the holiday, but I think it’s more than that.

My parents always let me throw Halloween birthdays, which were big shindigs for all my friends. These took place in our unfinished basement, a sufficiently spooky place on its own, made doubly so with the addition of dim lighting and lots of fake spiderwebs. There was bobbing for apples, cupcake decorating, races to mummify your partner in toilet paper, a showpiece cake that my mom and I had decorated together, and costumes. Oh, the costumes!

Dressing up was, if you ask me, the centerpiece of this entire event. My mother had taught me how to sew from a young age, so we were always making extravagant costumes, from the 1950s poodle skirt girl to a colonial-era gown to a Victorian ghost. Costumes were mandatory at my parties, and my friends were always willing to humor me.

There was something transformative about dressing up, and I think I knew this even from a young age (I had moments of great wisdom among my otherwise plentiful naivete). Changing one’s appearance, even if just for a few hours is a free exploration of ourselves and of otherness, both at the same time. It is freeing to become someone – or something – else for an evening (but please don’t do that subtly racist thing where you dress as a Native American or someone “Oriental” or we are going to have to have a talk about culture vs costume).

This year, I get three chances to dress up: once for my birthday dinner (pirate captain), once for Halloween to give out candy (bird kigurumi onesie), and once for a Halloween party on 11/3 (Jester). I will happily take that opportunity to be someone else for an evening. Won’t you?

Mischief Managed

About once a year, I drive myself entirely crazy by working on a costume for a few weeks. Usually, it’s for the Maryland RennFest and this year was no exception. My D&D DM and good friend Moira and I decided to do adapted version of characters from the D&D livestream Critical Role. Moira took on the ambitious design of the lavender-skinned Tiefling Blood Hunter, Mollymauk, and I made the reticent blue-skinned Tiefling Clreric, Jester. We decided NOT to do body paint for a day at Faire because we don’t hate ourselves.

There are some things I wish I’d done differently, but after 7 hours of hand painting that dress, I’m pretty content with how everything turned out.

 

Happy Halloween!

Who’s got two pirate thumbs and is ready to give out candy to kids tonight?

THIS GAL

Writing Solid How To Articles

One of my many side hustles (as my friend, J, has taught me to call them) is writing some freelance informational articles for the website LoveToKnow.com, which is a resource for lots of articles about work, life, hobbies, and more. The articles are generally penned by writers with a good deal of experience in the area they’re focusing on, giving readers more than just a mish-mash of googled fasts strung together.

As for me, I write most cake decorating and food pieces, though I sometimes grab costuming or plus size assignments as well. I have a strong background in cake decorating, having learned the art from my mother when I was twelve and then later having worked in bakeries and attended culinary school for baking and pastry. I’m also a former award-winning competitive costumer thanks to the sewing chops that my mother also taught me when I was young.

Many of my articles feature a step-by-step set of instructions on how to recreate something shown in a photo. This can be harder than it sounds! Without the time or money to create tutorial videos myself (they’re generally not part of the payment for the gig), I have to rely on my words to explain some fairly abstract ideas about making something out of nothing.

When it comes to How To for How To, I’ve got some tips.

• Write about what you know. I know, I know, isn’t that what every writer is supposed to do? (And, if so, how do you explain fantasy writers? ANYWAY.) But when creating an informative How To article, please do not fake or fudge what you know how to do. Your readers will not appreciate being deceived and neither will your editors (who, remember, probably decide whether or not you get paid).
• Have an editor that you trust to catch your errors. Many of these sites are so small that they don’t have an editing staff; if this is the case, have a friend look over the instructions to help you spot if you missed a step or if something is unclear.
• Lists are your friends. Generally, I lay out tools and ingredients needed in a bullet pointed list (be specific with measurements, quantities, and maybe even link your readers to where they can buy the item) and my instructions in a numbered list.
• Be clear. So clear. Crystal clear. This is the hardest thing! Explaining abstract things – like how to create a quilted look on the fondant icing of a layer cake – is not easy! It takes a critical eye, concise language, and constant vigilance to avoid jargon that might confuse the reader. This is another reason I really recommend having someone who is unfamiliar with the material check your work,. If they can follow it, you’re on the right track.
• Humor can be welcome (depending on the tone of the site you’re writing for), but try not to be cheesy. Adding “a can-do attitude” to the list of supplies is a little much. I don’t recommend it.
• Cite your sources! Takes you back to high school and college, right? Well, all these years later, it’s still the right thing to do (plus, then, you’re covering your own backside about plagiarism). Not only does it give credit where credit is due, it makes you look even more knowledgeable and believable to your readers.

I Like to Drink and Dress

Some of my favorite events of the year happen in the fall: DragonCon in Atlanta, The MD RennFest, my birthday, and Halloween. Do you know what these things have in common? For me, they usually involve getting dolled up in a costume and drinking together with other friends in costumes. Pirate garb is a common theme for most of these events and DragonCon, being an everything-pop-culture-convention, may result in wearing any number of strange outfits from comics, video games, or movies and TV.

And also more drinking.

It’s a great excuse to see friends who I only get to spend time with a few occasions every year, and to do so in silly outfits, beer in hand. Here’s my crew representing Parks and Rec.

I also like to stuff my poor, long-suffering husband in a costume most years and this year I think he liked his comfier-than-normal Jedi outfit. I think he had fun with this one.

I managed to meet the Lead Writer of the Dragon Age series, Patrick Weekes, who is a sweetheart and a half. He has what I think might maybe be my dream job (a team writer for a video game franchise AND a freelance novelist). I should have picked his brain more!

The weekend after DragonCon, we celebrated a friend’s birthday at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. RennFest days usually involve parking our butts on a bench at one of the taverns and drinking the day away. We are simple creatures, after all.

Gosh my friends are pretty!