Hello, everyone. It's that time again. I am pleased to introduce another Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Sarah Kuhn.
Who are you?
Sarah Kuhn. Writer, geek girl, and Hapa heroine. I also cosplayed as Sailor Mars once.
What are you?
Half Japanese, a quarter German, a quarter English, and a giant bundle of anxiety.
Where are you?
In a Los Angeles coffee shop with my laptop and my Salt-N-Pepa/TLC playlist. I'm also on Twitter pretty much all the time, especially if I'm on deadline: @sarahkuhn.
Where are you from?
McMinnville, Oregon - which is mostly known for being the filming location of the '80s Helen Hunt classic Quarterback Princess. I was an extra. My mom always liked to claim you could see my little legs swinging from the bleachers during one of the big football game scenes.
What do you do?
I write a lot of things. I'm the author of the forthcoming Heroine Complex trilogy, starring Asian American superheroines, for DAW Books. The first book will be out July 2016, and it's all about Evie Tanaka, personal assistant to the world's most glamorous superheroine. The book features demonic cupcakes, supernatural karaoke battles, and frequent mentions of spam musubi. You can read the first three chapters here: heroinecomplex.com/excerpt.
I also wrote the geek romantic comedy novella One Con Glory, which is in development as a feature film, and I'm currently writing a story for the comics anthology Fresh Romance, as well as a few indie film projects. And I'm helping produce an LA comedy festival spotlighting Asian American talent at the end of August: comedycomedyfest.com.
What are you all about?
I want to write stories where geek girls and women of color are the protagonists and get to be awesome doing lots of different things. I wrote a book about Asian women being superheroes because reading something like that as a kid would have blown my mind. It's hard for someone to believe they deserve to be a protagonist when they never see themselves at the center of the story. It took me a long time to believe someone who looked like me could be the center of anything.
I also love comic books, romance novels, pugs, and Michelle Yeoh in The Heroic Trio.
What makes you angry?
Racism. Sexism. "Allies" who insist on being the loudest voice in the room. Geek dudes who try to keep women out of the nerd space. People being disdainful toward teenage girls and the things they love. Unison clapping. The fact that my mom lied about that Ewok dying in the climactic battle scene of Return of the Jedi.
