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The Strange Tools of Human Communication: The Voice, the Pen, and the Lyre
Posted by Literary Titan

Ruth Finnegan’s The Strange Tools of Human Communication is a wide-ranging and often unexpectedly intimate meditation on how human beings make meaning through more than language alone. Moving from the voice to writing, music, gesture, number, colour, and finally the hand itself, Finnegan argues that communication is not a single channel but a dense, historical, bodily weave. What stayed with me most was the book’s refusal to let speech monopolize the story of human expressiveness. The chapters on Limba storytelling in Sierra Leone, on pictographic systems and cave art, on music’s possible origins, and on those half-conscious forms of signifying that live in numbers and colours all feed into one large claim: we are tool-making communicators, and our tools are stranger, older, and more various than modern habits of thought usually allow.
What I admired most was the book’s atmosphere of intelligent wonder. Finnegan writes like a scholar who still feels genuine astonishment at her subject, and that astonishment is contagious. I was especially taken by the pages on voice, where she moves from the physical instrument of the larynx to the felt power of hearing poetry aloud, and then into her vivid account of Limba oral performance, with its repetitions, pauses, chorus responses, and the sly drama of “the clever cat.” Those sections have real life in them. They don’t just describe communication, they seem to perform its vitality. I also liked the book’s impatience with easy hierarchies. Her defense of pictograms and non-alphabetic systems, and her skepticism toward grand claims that writing alone transformed humanity, give the argument a welcome steadiness.
At the same time, I found the book more persuasive in its concrete chapters than in its more speculative ones, and that imbalance is part of what makes it feel human rather than mechanically “complete.” When Finnegan is close to lived example, to oral artistry, to scripts and inscriptions, to music as a social and emotional practice, I felt entirely in her hands. When she moves into swarming, unconscious intercommunication, or the more mystical reaches of shared consciousness, I was intrigued. Still, even there, I never felt she was being careless. What she offers is less a hard thesis than a roaming, seasoned intelligence thinking aloud across disciplines. The book has the texture of a learned person laying out a lifetime’s thinking, with all the warmth, digression, and oddity that implies.
I found this a stimulating book that enlarges the reader’s sense of what communication is and where it lives. I finished it feeling more alert to sound, script, gesture, ritual, and the patient labor of the hand. I’d recommend it most strongly to readers of anthropology, linguistics, music, oral tradition, and cultural history, and also to anyone who likes scholarship with personality still beating inside it. This is a thoughtful book for curious readers who don’t mind following an original mind down winding paths.
Pages: 257 | ASIN : B0CXVJB1G3
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Posted in Book Reviews, Five Stars
Tags: anthropology, author, book, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, communication, cultural, ebook, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, linguistics, literature, nonfiction, nook, novel, read, reader, reading, ruth finnegan, social sciences, story, The Strange Tools of Human Communication, writer, writing
A Sense of Agency
Posted by Literary-Titan

In We Are as Gods, you present the idea that technological advancements have given ordinary people godlike powers and offer a psychological survival guide. Why was this an important book for you to offer readers?
For the past decade, Pete and I have been writing about exponential technologies and the massive opportunities they create. What became clear over time is that the story isn’t just technological, it’s psychological. The tools we now possess are extraordinary. AI, robotics, biotech, advanced materials, planetary-scale sensors—these are capabilities that, even a few decades ago, would have sounded like mythology. Yet despite living through an era of unprecedented progress, many people feel overwhelmed, anxious, and powerless.
That gap fascinated us. The problem isn’t that the future lacks opportunity; it’s that our brains didn’t evolve for the speed and scale of this moment. So the book became a kind of survival guide for the age of exponential change. We wanted to show readers both sides of the equation: first, the incredible breakthroughs happening around us, and second, the cognitive tools we need to stay grounded, resilient, and effective while navigating them. In short, the goal was to help people move from feeling like victims of the future to active participants in shaping it.
What inspired you to frame modern technology in such mythic or almost biblical terms?
Partly, it’s just the simplest way to describe what’s happening. If you look at the capabilities we now have: curing diseases with gene editing, speaking instantly across the planet, creating intelligence in machines, manipulating the climate system, those are powers that ancient cultures would have described as miracles.
Myth and religion have always been humanity’s way of grappling with forces that feel larger than us. By framing modern technology in those terms, we’re not being poetic for its own sake; we’re trying to help people feel the magnitude of the shift we’re living through.
But there’s another reason. Myths are also about responsibility. In almost every mythic tradition, when humans gain extraordinary power, the real question becomes: do we have the wisdom to use it well? That’s exactly the moment we’re in right now. Technology is accelerating incredibly fast, and the real challenge is making sure our judgment, ethics, and emotional maturity keep pace.
Do you think the biggest opportunity of this era is technological or psychological?
Technologically, the opportunity is enormous. The convergence of AI, biotechnology, robotics, and advanced energy systems is unlocking solutions to problems that have plagued humanity for centuries: poverty, disease, energy scarcity, and access to information. The tools are extraordinary.
But psychologically, we’re not fully prepared for them.
Our brains evolved to survive in small tribes on the savannah. They’re optimized for short time horizons, local threats, and limited information. Today we’re navigating a world of global networks, exponential change, and constant cognitive stimulation. That mismatch creates confusion and fear.
So the real opportunity of this era is psychological adaptation. Can we train attention? Can we regulate emotion? Can we cultivate curiosity instead of anxiety when faced with change? If we can upgrade our mindset to match the tools we’ve built, the possibilities are extraordinary. If we don’t, we risk mismanaging the very breakthroughs that could make the world better.
The final section shifts toward practical tools for resilience, attention, and meaning. Why was it important to end the book with personal strategies rather than just big ideas?
Because ideas alone don’t change behavior.
You can fill a reader’s head with amazing stories about AI breakthroughs or revolutionary technologies, but if they close the book and still feel overwhelmed, you haven’t really helped them. We wanted to leave readers with a sense of agency.
That’s why the final section focuses on tools: things like attention management, cultivating awe, pursuing grand challenges, and building resilience. These are not abstract concepts. They’re trainable skills rooted in neuroscience and psychology.
The larger message is simple: you don’t get to sit this era out. The future isn’t something that happens somewhere else. It’s being built right now by entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, and citizens all over the world. If we want that future to be wise, fair, and meaningful, we need people who are psychologically equipped to participate.
So we end the book where the real work begins, with the reader.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | We Are As Gods | Amazon
In 1968, Stewart Brand declared: “We are as gods—and we might as well get good at it.” Half a century later, that prophecy has come true.
We can rewrite genes, edit embryos, build artificial minds, extend life, and terraform worlds. The old miracles—omniscience, omnipresence, even resurrection—are becoming standard operating procedure. But the real question isn’t whether humanity can play god. It’s whether we can do it wisely.
In We Are As Gods: A Survival Guide for the Age of Abundance, Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler—bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold—return with a sweeping exploration of our species’ next great transformation. Blending hard science with vivid storytelling, they chart humanity’s ascent from scarcity to superabundance—and the psychological, ethical, and existential challenges that come with it.
Across breakthroughs in AI, robotics, genetics, longevity, and consciousness research, they reveal a paradox at the heart of progress: as our external power expands, our inner resilience must evolve to match. Abundance without meaning leads to collapse. Intelligence without wisdom leads to extinction. To thrive in a world of everything, everywhere, all the time, we must learn to wield our godlike powers with humility, creativity, and flow.
Equal parts warning and invitation, We Are As Gods is a map for flourishing in the exponential century. Because the future won’t be built by those who fear what’s coming, but by those who know how to turn chaos into creation.
Abundance is here. Are you ready?
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Posted in Interviews
Tags: Artificial Intelligence & Semantics, author, Exponential Technology, book, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, Business & Money, ebook, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, literature, nonfiction, nook, novel, read, reader, reading, social sciences, Steven Kotler, story, We Are As Gods, writer, writing
We Are as Gods: A Survival Guide for the Age of Abundance
Posted by Literary Titan

We Are as Gods argues that we now live in a world where technology has quietly given ordinary people godlike powers, from AI and robotics to biotech and planetary-scale climate tools, and that the real bottleneck is not the tech itself but our ability to think clearly, emotionally regulate, and act wisely at this new speed. The book walks through how exponential technologies created real material abundance, how our Stone Age brains mis-handle this flood of power and information, and then offers a psychological survival guide that mixes neuroscience, game design, and grand challenges to help readers build agency, meaning, and resilience in what the authors call an age of abundance.
The book is energizing. The stories are vivid and sticky. The opening riff that compares modern breakthroughs to biblical miracles lands hard, and it actually made me pause and look at my phone with fresh eyes. The structure is clear. Part 1 sets the stage, Part 2 shows real companies and projects surfing the waves, and Part 3 shifts into a self-help gear that feels more intimate and practical. I liked the way authors Diamandis and Kotler weave myth, cognitive science, and startup lore. The analogies help. Comparing information overload to a wrecking ball hitting our nervous system is simple, and it rings true. Their explanation of bias and attention feels grounded, and it helped me name things I only had a fuzzy feeling about before.
I enjoyed how bold the style is. The prose comes at you fast, like a live keynote talk poured straight onto the page, and it keeps the energy high. The constant drumbeat of examples gives the book a sense of momentum. Miracle after miracle, chart after chart, and it all adds to this feeling that you are racing through a highlight reel of the future. I still found myself curious to explore a few of the tougher stories, especially in the darker chapters where surveillance, bio risk, and inequality show up and then get lifted by the next hopeful case study. Their strong faith in entrepreneurs and incentive prizes comes across as a clear, confident stance, and while I could imagine an even deeper dive into policy and power, I liked that those themes are at least present, even if they stay mostly in the wings. I finished those sections impressed by the ingenuity on display and energized by the big questions that remain about who benefits, who pays the price, and how we can guide abundance so it feels intentional, fair, and shared.
The discussion of learned helplessness, attention collapse, and victim mindset resonated with me personally. I recognized my own doom scrolling, my own habit of telling myself the future is something that just happens to me. The tools they offer in the final chapters are not completely new, but the way they frame them inside this huge story of accelerating change gave them more weight for me. Agency, awe, and grand challenges sound like big abstract words. Here they come with clear explanations, concrete examples, and a kind of gentle shove that says: you do not get to sit this era out.
I would recommend We Are as Gods to readers who sit at the intersection of technology, leadership, and personal development, and who want a hopeful but not naive story about the next few decades. If you are a founder, an executive, a policy thinker, or simply someone feeling overwhelmed by AI and nonstop change, this book will give you language, metaphors, and mental models that can help you feel less like a victim of the future and more like an active participant. If you want a big, loud, data-heavy pep talk wrapped around some solid psychological advice, this is a very timely read.
Pages: 320 | ISBN : 978-1668099544
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Posted in Book Reviews, Five Stars
Tags: Artificial Intelligence & Semantics, author, Exponential Technology, book, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, business, Business & Money, culture, ebook, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, literature, nonfiction, nook, novel, Peter H. Diamandis, read, reader, reading, social sciences, Steven Kotler, story, tech, technology, We Are as Gods: A Survival Guide for the Age of Abundance, writer, writing
Fantastic! A Celebration of Fans Discovering Doctor Who
Posted by Literary Titan

Fantastic! A Celebration of Fans Discovering Doctor Who is a big, warm scrapbook of memories rather than a straight critical history. Nicholas Seidler brings together more than a hundred fans, plus a foreword from director Rachel Talalay, and lets them answer the same four simple questions about how they first saw Doctor Who, how they became fans, their favorite fandom moments, and what story they would use to introduce someone new. Short scene–setting chapters explain the show, the idea of fandom, and the project itself, then the book turns into a long run of first-person stories that stretch from the early days of black and white BBC broadcasts to the Disney era and Ncuti Gatwa. The closing sections zoom back out again with a reflective essay on what the editors learned, some light statistics, and even an episode guide that anchors all those memories in the wider history of the series.
I really liked the choice to keep the fan voices front and center. The editors explain that they made only light edits and left dates and details as the fans remembered them, even when those memories are a little fuzzy, and that decision gives the book a raw, honest feel. I could hear people talking across a convention table or a pub rather than delivering polished essays. Some stories are just a paragraph, and others sprawl; some are very practical, while others turn almost poetic, and that mix keeps the pace snappy. The four repeating questions might sound rigid on paper, yet they actually work as a frame, and the variety of answers fills that frame with a lot of color. Moments like a fan remembering nightmares about Daleks, or someone hauling VHS tapes from country to country, or another describing a surreal theatre trip with John Nathan-Turner, stick in my mind because the book lets those scenes sit without heavy commentary.
The early chapter about “That Fantastic Moment” argues that fandom is really about connection and small, shared joys, and the “Fantastic Final Thoughts” later on circle back to that point and talk about how these tiny encounters with a TV show can shape a life, sometimes from childhood onward. I felt that through-line the whole way. You see academics, parents, kids, convention organizers, audio drama devotees, cosplay fans, and people who just watch at home, all treated as equally valid fans. The book is very clear that you count as a fan even if you never join a club or attend a convention, and that quiet inclusiveness feels important in a media landscape that often rewards only the loudest voices. On the downside, the sheer number of short pieces can blur together after a while, and there is some repetition because the same key episodes and anecdotes come up again and again. I sometimes wished for more thematic grouping or editorial commentary between clusters of interviews to help shape an emotional arc.
I came away feeling that Fantastic! is less a reference work and more a love letter. It celebrates Doctor Who, of course, but, moreso, it celebrates the way one long-running series can push people to create, to build communities, and to see their own lives a little differently. I would recommend it to long-time Whovians who enjoy hearing how others found “their” Doctor, to newer fans who want to feel part of something bigger, and to scholars or librarians who study fan culture and want a big primary source full of lived experience. If you want to curl up with a cup of tea and listen in on a hundred different “how I fell in love with this show” stories, this collection delivers and then some.
Pages: 295 | ASIN : B0FRNLXDZB
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Posted in Book Reviews, Five Stars
Tags: author, book, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, cultural anthropology, doctor who, ebook, Fantastic! A Celebration of Fans Discovering Doctor Who, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, literature, memoirs, Nicholas Seidler, nonfiction, nook, novel, Popular Culture in Social Sciences, read, reader, reading, social sciences, story, writer, writing
The Cost of Service
Posted by Literary Titan

The Cost of Service tells the story of what it really costs to live a life built around serving others. It moves through the worlds of the military, law enforcement, and ministry with a mix of personal stories, quiet confessions, and raw honesty. The book lays out the emotional and spiritual wounds that often go unseen, and it does so in a way that feels deeply human. It follows the author’s journey through war zones, patrol units, and church pulpits, and shows how each role demands sacrifice from both the one who serves and the people who love them. It is a book about struggle, purpose, loss, and the long road toward healing.
As I moved through these chapters, I found myself getting pulled in by the simple directness of the writing. It is blunt in places and tender in others. The stories hit hard because they feel lived in. I kept stopping to sit with some of the moments, especially the ones where duty pressed up against heartbreak. The book doesn’t preach. It tells the truth, and it lets the truth sit there. I appreciated that. It reminded me that behind uniforms and titles are people trying to hold themselves together while holding everyone else up.
What surprised me most was how much emotion is tucked between the lines. You can feel the burnout, the loneliness, and the long, quiet ache that comes when someone keeps showing up even after they feel emptied out. The writing can feel heavy, but it is the kind of heavy that makes you reflect on how much people give without asking for anything in return. The book pushed me to consider how easily we forget the weight that service workers carry home with them every night.
By the time I reached the end, I felt grateful. This book is for anyone who loves someone in uniform or ministry, and for anyone who wants to understand why service changes a person. It is also for people who have served and may need the reminder that they are not alone in their struggles. I would recommend The Cost of Service to readers who appreciate real stories told with heart and honesty, and to anyone willing to look past the surface and hear the deeper, quieter truth of what service truly demands.
Pages: 120 | ISBN : 9798989359288
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Posted in Book Reviews, Four Stars
Tags: author, book, book recommendations, book review, Book Reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, current affairs and politics, ebook, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, law enforcement, literature, M. Anthony Garner, memoir, military, nonfiction, nook, novel, read, reader, reading, social sciences, story, The Cost of Service, writer, writing
The Spiral Can Be Reversed
Posted by Literary_Titan
The Path from Hell to Heaven is a philosophical and psychological map of the ego, tracing how people spiral downward into “Hell” through fear, shame, and denial, and upward toward “Heaven” through trust, openness, and renewal. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Because ego explains nearly every human collapse and ascent, yet most people never receive a practical map for it. I wanted to translate psychological chaos—fear, shame, denial—into a recognizable model anyone could use, the same way we map complex systems in software or business architecture. This book is that missing human blueprint: a self-debugging framework that moves readers forward instead of leaving them looping in abstraction.
How did you come up with the concept of the two-sided spiral of the ego and develop this into a process that readers can implement into their own lives to find clarity and understanding of themselves?
I analyzed patterns before individuals. Ego contracts or expands; there’s no true neutral. Avoiding truth descends, openness creates lift. The spiral metaphor stuck because it captures momentum and acceleration.
To make it implementable, I structured it as an RPM self-awareness loop:
- R – Recognize the ego state you’re operating in
- P – Pause the automatic reaction loop
- M – Move with intentional correction or openness
It’s diagnostic and reversible, giving readers a clear exit path whether they’re descending or rebuilding upward.
I found the ideas presented in your book relatable and appreciated the actionable steps that readers can take to find their own clarity. What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
The concepts that mattered most to me were:
- Ego itself isn’t the problem → closed ego is
- Narcissism is often unprocessed fear wearing armor
- Pain isn’t identity, it’s a turning point
- Ambition without self-awareness becomes self-sabotage
- Recognition of the loop always comes before the escape
And above all—I wanted a book that doesn’t just sound smart, but gets applied and changes outcomes.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from The Path from Hell to Heaven?
That their ego has directions, and so do they. If they feel stuck, defensive, ashamed, or overwhelmed—it’s a state, not a life sentence. The spiral can always be reversed, rebooted, and climbed. The only real trap is believing the descent is normal and permanent.
This book is a Map of the Ego’s Double Spiral — a journey every individual, family, and society travels between Hell (closed ego) and Heaven (open ego).
Through vivid metaphors and grounded psychological insight, LANOU unveils how pain becomes protection, how protection turns to illusion, and how awakening begins when trust cracks the shell.
You’ll see yourself, groups, and even nations in these patterns:
The wound that starts the descent.
The mask that hides pain through control.
The collapse that breaks illusion.
The trust that starts renewal.
The open ego that frees love and truth.
Structured as a fractal spiral, the book reveals six repeating steps across all scales — from individuals to groups to the world itself. It blends the clarity of psychology with the simplicity of spiritual truth: hell is repetition; heaven is renewal.
Once you see the map, you cannot unsee it.
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Posted in Interviews
Tags: author, book, book recommendations, book review, Book Reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, ebook, ethics, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, LANOU, literature, morality, nonfiction, nook, novel, philosophy, politics, read, reader, reading, social sciences, spirituality, story, The Path from Hell to Heaven: The 2 Sided Spiral of the Ego, writer, writing
The Path from Hell to Heaven: The 2 Sided Spiral of the Ego
Posted by Literary Titan

This book is a philosophical and psychological map of the ego, tracing how individuals, groups, and societies spiral downward into “Hell” through fear, shame, and denial, and how they rise toward “Heaven” through trust, openness, and renewal. It’s written like a guide for self-awareness, where the ego’s descent, wound, shell, mask, illusion, collapse, and denial are mirrored by its ascent through trust, openness, adulthood, mastery, and renewal. Each section builds on the last, connecting personal trauma to collective dysfunction and, finally, to global healing. The language is clear and rhythmic, sometimes poetic, and the structure moves like a spiral itself, repeating ideas but deepening them each time.
I liked how direct this book is and how it pointed to familiar pain without drowning in theory. The writing style blends psychology and spirituality without turning preachy. I could feel the author’s intention: to wake readers up, not to comfort them. Sometimes the simplicity of the prose makes it cut deeper than expected. It’s not a book that flatters, it exposes. At points, it felt like being called out and held at the same time. The “spiral” metaphor worked for me; it explained so much of what people repeat in life, from personal self-sabotage to entire societies collapsing under pride and denial.
The book’s tone is confident, almost absolute, which can feel heavy when you’re already raw. The ideas are strong, but their repetition across individual, group, and world scales sometimes blurs the freshness. Yet even then, I found myself underlining lines, rereading them, and thinking of people I know who live both spirals at once. The message that Heaven and Hell are not destinations but daily states of ego, sticks.
I’d recommend The Path from Hell to Heaven to people who crave clarity more than comfort. It’s for readers who think deeply about healing, leadership, and the way our inner wounds ripple into culture and politics. Therapists, activists, or anyone burned out on shallow self-help would probably find it bracing. It doesn’t tell you what to do; it shows you what you’re already doing. And if you’re willing to face that, it can be liberating.
Pages: 151 | ASIN : B0FT5HM9RS
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Posted in Book Reviews, Four Stars
Tags: author, book, book recommendations, book review, Book Reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, ebook, ethics, goodreads, indie author, kindle, kobo, LANOU, literature, morality, nonfiction, nook, novel, philosophy, politics, read, reader, reading, social sciences, spirituality, story, The Path from Hell to Heaven: The 2 Sided Spiral of the Ego, writer, writing
Have Fun With Your Fandom
Posted by Literary_Titan
How to Celebrate Your Fandom is an interactive guidebook structured around 52 activities designed to help fans of any age dive deeper into their chosen fandoms, showing readers that you are never too old to find your passion. What was the inspiration for the original and fascinating idea at the center of the book?
NICHOLAS SEIDLER: We had an experience at a convention, in which we went to a panel on fanzines, and the presenters at the front of the room were talking about how difficult it is to make one. I was honestly totally disappointed in the panel, because doing a fanzine is as simple as writing down your thoughts on a piece of paper, making copies of it, and sharing it with others who are interested in the same topic. The point of entry should be so simple and available to everyone, but the fanzine editor presenters — in an attempt to make themselves a bit self-important – were giving bad advice to the audience. It actually demotivated the new and younger fans in attendance. After that panel, we had a conversation about how we needed to give fans better advice and encourage anyone to be a part of whatever fandom they are interested in!
STEVEN WARREN HILL: Together, we all became friends through our shared interest in several fandoms. We sought to express our enthusiasm for promoting “best practices” among fans by fostering positivity, encouragement, representation, and camaraderie, while rejecting the negative aspects of certain portions of fandom.
LIBBY SHEA: When I was brought into the project, the original idea for the title was “How to Be a SuperFan.” To me, that felt like we were setting a “higher level” of fan, which could very easily be used to separate and discourage those that may already feel excluded. All I could think of is 8-year-old me being told “Oh, you aren’t a superfan because you haven’t done everything in the book” and that set a negative tone for something that we all wanted to be very positive. So, we transitioned away from putting a label on fans to focusing on how to be more involved in what you enjoy. All of us (the authors) have become friends by being in the same fandom and celebrating what made our friendship as strong as it is, is the core of what inspired this book.
ROBERT WARNOCK: We’ve seen too much negativity in fandom over the years. We wanted to write something that was inclusive and non-judgmental, especially if someone was just starting out in their fandom.
What were some ideas that were important for you and the other writers to share in this book, and how did you come up with the activities you suggest?
ROBERT WARNOCK: It was important to keep the activities at the beginning fairly simple, so we didn’t intimidate new fans. We started thinking of activities in a brainstorming session at a convention.
LIBBY SHEA: Because this is a book aimed primarily at kids, teenagers, and those just entering into the fandom space, we really wanted it to be a guide of how to be an overall positive influence in fandom. So often you hear of fans taking it too far and forgetting that everyone they interact with are still people. The activities are there to give you a starting place. We originally came up with over 100 ideas, but wanted to focus on 52, so that you could do one a week for a year and allow yourself to deep dive into your fandom. They are in order from easiest to (our perceived) most difficult to complete. When coming up with our final list of ideas, we tried to keep in mind what it would actually look like for a younger child to complete them. We kept the ideas generic enough so that if you had limited money or resources, you could still have fun and feel like you’re a part of something.
STEVEN WARREN HILL: Coming up with the ideas was a lot of fun. Some of the ideas stemmed from odd things we did ourselves when younger. Once we had a long list of ideas, we grouped them in several different ways (such as by difficulty, and how much we liked each one) and also eliminated the ones that were too similar to others. As Libby said, we decided the final list should number 52, so they could be weekly goals, adding another functional facet to the book.
NICHOLAS SEIDLER: We also realized that fandom was a very broad topic – and we wanted to give advice that applies to them all. Whether someone is a bibliophile, a sci-fi fan, interested in gaming, likes to cheer for a sports team, enjoys horseback riding, music, or whatever, the advice in the book applies to their interests. We chose to select activities that everyone can do, regardless of ability, and they become more complex further into the book, as a person’s fandom and experience grows.
What are some tips you have for older generations that are just now learning to embrace the world of fandom and feel behind the curve from the younger generations, or even like a fraud for not being involved sooner?
LIBBY SHEA: It’s okay that you found your fandom when you did. It’s not about younger or older, and it’s not about how long you’ve been in the fandom. Everyone walks different paths to get to where they are. What matters is how you show up to engage today. Feel safe and confident in the knowledge that you are a fan now and that’s all that matters.
STEVEN WARREN HILL: I used to bristle somewhat at younger people joining the same fandom that I’ve been in for decades, for the usual flawed reasons, until I realized that without young people joining my fandom, the fandom would just keep aging until it died. We need to remember, first and foremost, that if someone says they are a fan of something, then they ARE, even if they enjoy it in a different way. Conversely, for older people who have privately been fans of something and are only just stepping into fandom, my number one tip is to treat all your fellow fans as equals, regardless of anything, especially their age or the extent of their knowledge.
ROBERT WARNOCK: It’s never too late to get started. Your involvement can be as immersive as you want it to be. Be observant early on in your involvement to get a lay of the land, so to speak.
NICHOLAS SEIDLER: Be your authentic self. If you love something, own it – most people will love you for it. It’s our interests and fandoms that make us interesting.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from How to Celebrate Your Fandom?
LIBBY SHEA: Everyone has to start somewhere. When you finally get to the point of feeling fully immersed in your fandom, embrace others who are just starting out, pass this along to them, and join in their journeys.
ROBERT WARNOCK: That anyone can be involved in whatever fandom they choose, at whatever level they choose.
STEVEN WARREN HILL: That it’s okay to focus on positivity! Not just the positivity of your specific interest, but positivity among your fellow fans and across other fandoms.
NICHOLAS SEIDLER: And have fun. We interviewed over 30 fans from ages 5 to 101 years old (their interviews appear in the book) and that was the advice they each shared with us — have fun! I think that’s what our book is all about.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook | Website
Fandoms build friendships and communities through many engaging activities. With the help of this book, you can learn new ways to enjoy being a fan. Inside are numerous pathways that one can connect with others with similar pursuits! Whether it is through starting a collection, dressing in cosplay, writing a blog, or attending a convention, each of these brings happiness to those who participate.
This book also contains interviews with fans of all ages (5 to 101), who tell their stories and share how they participate in their hobbies. Celebrate your fandom and the things that you enjoy the most! Fun Things to Do! New Things to Learn! Cool Things to Try!
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Posted in Interviews
Tags: activity book, author, book, book recommendations, book review, Book Reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, childrens book, ebook, friendship, goodreads, guidebook, hobbies, How To Celebrate Your Fandom, indie author, kindle, kobo, Libby Shea, literature, Nicholas Seidler, nonfictin, nook, novel, Popular Culture, read, reader, reading, Robert Warnock, social sciences, Steven Warren Hill, story, writer, writing















