Hines’ anthology Invisible 2 about asexual invisibility in speculative fiction. I felt it important to write because I don’t think my experience is a unique one. It was a difficult piece to write because I had to recall a time in my life when I was just surrounded by toxicity and being torn down constantly. I jokingly refer to it as my origin story, which it kind of is in a manner of speaking. I haven’t written much non-fiction, but I do have a chapter in the recent sex-positivity book Embraceable by August McLaughlin (who is just a wonderful, empowered woman) about my experiences growing up asexual. Strangely, these characters were also a comfort to me as a young writer: they may have only existed in my mind, but at least I could feel like I wasn’t entirely alone. Of course, I couldn’t be explicit about their orientation for reasons I will get into later. There are more aces that show up as the series progresses). So when I started writing my own series, I created a couple characters that I could identify with as a reader: strong, badass ace women (Alex, aro-ace, and Isis, Gray-A, are my original asexuals. There simply weren’t any asexual women, much less any asexual feminist authors.
I started writing my own novels after I had trouble finding women like me in the fantasy novels I loved so much. Same goes for being a feminist, though I have always openly identified as such.ĬW: As the founder of Asexual Artists, does your sexual orientation factor into your work as a writer? If so, how? I have fought so hard to get to a place where I’m comfortable referring to myself as aromantic asexual, something I’m proud of, and so I’m unlikely to give that up in the future. Now I tend to refer to myself as an aro-ace feminist author. I have always identified as a feminist author and then, after I came out as asexual and saw how dehumanized and erased asexuals were in the arts, I started referring to myself as an asexual feminist author.
LJ: Oh wow, that’s an interesting question and hopefully I have a good answer. Do you prefer to refer to yourself as an asexual author? As an author who happens to be asexual? Something else entirely? As an asexual author myself, it was a pleasure getting to speak with her about ace representation and her writing journey.ĬW: We’re often taught to use person-first language and I’m curious how this affects how you identify to the writing and publishing community. After attending her “Where are the Asexual Voices?” panel (watch the full presentation on her website), I knew I had to contact her for an interview. She is a feminist writer and author of the Shape Shifter Chronicles. At C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) 2016, I had the opportunity to meet Lauren Jankowski, asexual activist and founder of the asexualartists.
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