Category: Stitch Offline

Serious Stitch Stuff

Stitch

So for the past few months I’ve been working as the editorial assistant for a set of professors working on putting out a business manual with Routledge. This morning, the professor in charge of the project sent in the manuscript which means that, barring further complications with the project or him hiring me for another one, I no longer have a job.

Somehow, I didn’t realize that you know… them finishing the manuscript would put my job on hold (or straight up get rid of it) for the foreseeable future. I have I think two more checks coming because of the way the pay period is set up, but that’s all the money I’ll have until the beginning of September at the absolute earliest outside of any freelance jobs or commissions I manage to get and finish.

As I have been using the money from this job to help my family pay for rent on top of paying my own bills, this is kind of terrible.

That being said, if you like any of my writing (and if you’re following me on any of my social media sites or my blog, I should hope you do) here are some ways that you can help me out.

I have A PATREON PAGE that you can subscribe to at one of three different tiers in order to have access to audio posts, short fiction, and lots of stories that center queer characters of color.

You can donate directly to me VIA PAYPAL

Or you can use THIS KO-FI LINK to “tip” me if you read something you like from me and want to throw a little money my way

If flinging money at me isn’t your thing, you can also legit hire me to write or edit things for you.

I have lots of experience with both writing and editing fiction and as long as you give me firm deadlines, I’ll make them. On top of that, my recent experience as an editorial assistant on a Routledge book gives me added experience in editing things like creative nonfiction and business manuals.

If you’re someone running a website (or who knows someone that is) that needs content, I’m also available to write articles on pop culture, race, gender, and superheroes. If you know of a site that needs a Black feminist view on pop culture like the upcoming Luke Cage series and fandom (and is willing to pay on the regular), I’m your Stitch.

If you want to hire me or find out my rates for writing fiction, writing articles, and editing anything here’s my blog’s CONTACT PAGE. You can find examples of my article writing style in posts like THIS and THIS and HERE’S an in-progress page with the fiction I’m posting on my main site (as the majority of my writing is on Patreon). I can also provide you with a copy of my CV if you’re really interested in hiring me for a long-term project or a serious position.

Please share this post with anyone y’all think might be even remotely interested in supporting me, a queer Black writer who looks critically at media, fandom, and feminism, as I struggle to keep doing what I’m good at while taking care of my family.

Urs

Stitch

A Political Stitch

Stitch

Note: if it’s not clear (but it should be), this is a celebration of my identity and my Blackness because February is Black History Month and it’s taken me this long to put my thoughts together.

“I didn’t know you were so… political,” my supervisor says to me on September 11, 2015.

It’s not a compliment.

What it is is a rebuke about the discussion I’d been having (mostly with myself) as I collected information about the Iran Deal and US interference in that part of Asia for a friend’s project. Because apparently, talking about the fact that the United States needs to get out of that part of Asia and stop interfering the way its done for like sixty years is problematic. My voicing that the Iran Deal was a good step forward to all of this was apparently disrespectful on September 11th.

I disagreed then and I disagree now, but what stuck with me was the idea that I suddenly became political that day.

Not when I spoke to one of my coworkers about her focus on making fun of AAVE or when I pointedly shut my office door on a discussion of who had it worst throughout history. Or not even when I spoke about my (a)sexuality with these people I thought were also my friends.

I was apolitical until what I was saying was too much to ignore.Read More »

My First Day of Grad School

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It was amazing!

Straight up.

Our class talked for like 2hrs about race, gender, and what it really means to be an American (spoiler: we talked about the colonialist/imperialist legacy of the United States and how people became American  — aka conforming to social ideals that were not their own — and addressed ideas of “historyless” country and how people swore that people with no supposed history couldn’t have culture).

It was amazing.

I even made two new nerd friends. I’m going to cherish them!Read More »

2015 In Review

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So much happened in 2015. Here’s a quick rundown of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Also included: some of what I’m thankful for in 2015, what I’m looking forward to in 2016, and a list of New Year’s Resolutions!

The Good

  • I was published for the first time! I sold a piece of flash fiction (“Accidental Queen of the Spiders“) to Fireside Fiction and it was published in their August 3rd I may never stop talking about this because this is such a huge deal.
  • I spent from April to September of this year writing about James Bond for The Mary Sue. I got a lot of exposure from it and made many new friends as a result.
  • I’m actually currently doing reviews for Word of the Nerd!
  • I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens and cried forever.
  • I (eventually) got accepted into the Master’s Program for Literature at my alma mater in Miami.
  • I got a car at the beginning of the year. It’s a milestone.
  • I’ve been making inroads in writing and I’ve learned so much from fellow writers throughout the year.
  • I’ve found a community of really cool people thanks to twitter and publishing. Sure, publishing has a lot in common with media fandom in that there are some really powerful and terrible people out there, but I’ve actually met a ton of really amazing and wonderful diverse people, some of whom have taken me under their wings a bit.
  • As of 11:23pm on December 30, 2015, I have written at least 198,175 words in at least 75 different finished files. This number only includes most of what I’ve written between September and December of this year because I wasn’t keeping track of what I was writing until September.

Read More »

Help Zina H make it to grad school!

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Help me make it to grad school!

I’ve wanted to go to grad school since the moment that I graduated from FIU (Florida International University) in 2012. Unfortunately, life didn’t go as planned and I spent the next few years trying to make things work for me in the workforce.

In September, I decided to apply at my alma mater for grad school. I didn’t go with the history department again I decided to go with the English department for an MA in Literature because much of what I’ve been doing in my spare time has revolved around media analysis and looking at things like race and gender.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get in the way I had planned. Instead of being admitted immediately, I was at first told that I would have to defer my enrollment to the Fall 2016 semester while I took two classes (which would’ve come up to over $2000 for the semester) in the Spring. Thanks to the director of the program really going to bat for me, things changed for the better.

Earlier this month, I was given late (and conditional) acceptance to grad school in the English Department’s Literature program. I’m officially in the program and registered for three classes starting next month and I currently have a place to stay with one of my darling professors from undergrad!

Here’s the thing though, while I am 99% sure that I’ll be getting loans to cover classes and bills (and I’ll be looking for work in the area and on campus, as well), there’s still a gap period before any of that will go through and I have no income to cover things like food and transportation (because my car is currently not with me).

I’ve wanted to continue on to higher education from day one and now that I’m so close to getting where I need to be, I really don’t want to have to turn around and give up. I’ve been accepted into a great program at the college and I’ve got a place to stay for the meanwhile.

All I need is a little help to make sure that I can survive until loans disburse and I can get a job in Miami!

Thank you for any help and money that you can give!

[To read more about what the money will go towards, visit my YouCaring page!]

Obligatory X-Mas Post

Stitch

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I like saying that I’m in it for the presents, but let’s be real:

I don’t get up at 5:30 in the morning for stuff. We’re celebrating the fact that almost everyone in our family is together and able to share gifts, positivity, and love. I enjoy watching my niecelings tear into gifts and scream when they see something they wanted all year.

This is the second year that our mom has missed Christmas because she’s still in the Virgin Islands and her absence is missed. We still have her wrapped gift from last year and we’re hoping that she can come back soon.

Don’t get me wrong, the stuff is nice. It’s great. I got some good stuff and I always feel like my family notices me and what I’m into. (The Cassandra Clare book made me ugly laugh for figurative hours because she’s such a huge guilty pleasure for me.)

But I’m also invested in watching J howl when she opens a new type of make up, M mean mugging for the camera, and Tiny T cackling with delight when she gets a new doll. My nieces are getting bigger and bigger every year and I love seeing the way that their interests and reactions change. These are my babies and they’re getting so big. I’ve got to bask in it while I can.

Today wouldn’t be half as fun without my family.

Even if they did wake me up at five thirty in the freaking morning…

So happy Xmas if you’re into that sort of thing (and happy Friday if you’re not). I hope you all get to spend time with the people that you love!

My Ultimate Nerd Secret

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When the bestie (Bianca) and I saw Crimson Peak on Saturday night, most of the trailers were kind of well… blah. Except of course for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer that was packaged with the movie. (The one embedded above!)

That wasn’t blah at all.

I teared up so hard at that trailer that Bianca totally could have used best friend privileges to mock me. It was that intense and embarrassing.
Read More »

October is BIRTHMONTH

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Birthmonth 2014

I’m always incredibly obnoxious when it comes to my birthday.

I’m the baby of the family and my parents’ only child in their marriage (they had other children and other marriages) so I was pretty spoiled as a kid. To be fair, I’m still pretty spoiled when it comes to birthdays.

In my adulthood, I’ve done more and more to celebrate, stretching it out until I went from celebrating my birthday to my birthweek to a whole birthmonth thing where I’m even more inwardly focused than usual. I think it started with the week of my 21st birthday when I still lived on campus and I spent over a week thoroughly taking advantage of what being 21 in the US means. I thought that since it was my birthday, that I shouldn’t have to be constrained to only celebrating a day or a week.

No.

If I’m going to celebrate anything, let it be for the whole month.
Read More »

Selfie Love

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This is a post about selfies, self love, self loathing, and how I learned to see myself for who I was. Like me, this topic is a work in progress and I plan to return to it as time passes.   I have never thought of myself as pretty. Or conventionally attractive. In my mind’s […]

The Waiting Game: Grad School Application Edition

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I’ve wanted to go to grad school since the moment I graduated with my BA back in 2012.

Unfortunately, due to complications (like no real aim or money), my grad school dreams fell by the wayside. I lazed around for a year before getting into education and taking a course to become a teacher — something that I finally realized wasn’t my calling back in April. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, only that I wanted to go back to school. Another history degree (a MA to follow my BA and AA) made the most sense.

But then —

My history degree doesn’t actually let me do much? I can’t work in my field and I don’t teach and well… I have no time to put that history knowledge and research ability into play in my writing the way I wanted to. Read More »

[Rant] Do you even know what the Confederate flag represents?

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wpid-imag4289.jpgYesterday my friend and I saw a guy with a big old pickup truck and a pretty large Confederate flag — so of course we took a picture. Not to name and shame, mind you but to remember that there are people all over that are really weirdly passionate about the flag and what they think it stands for.

—–

I’m fascinated by people who argue that the Confederate flag represents their culture or what America should be or “Southern Pride/Heritage”.

Are they even aware of the basics about what that flag means?

For once, let’s not even talk about race (although I could school you so hard on states’ rights and slavery that you’d get a degree out of it). Let’s talk about the very simple fact that people who supported the confederacy and brandished that flag were traitors to the United States. They seceded from the union and fought against the country, developing their own terrible government in the process.

At the heart of it, the confederate flag is a flag of traitors and slave owners who were throwing an extended fit. That it’s flying in so many public buildings is disrespectful and a travesty. It’s a flag that is indicative of a split so terrible that it started the very uncivil Civil War.

If you’re brandishing it, I’m going to assume that you probably don’t know much about your own history. (I’m also going to assume that you’re at least a little bit racist but hey, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and argues passionately in favor of the Confederate flag’s “noble” history, then it’s probably a racist!)