Wordfest Presents….Sam Maggs!

This last Wednesday, my fellow blogger Emily and I had the chance to attend Wordfest and hear author, writer, host, feminist, and geek extraordinaire, Sam Maggs in conversation with Shelley Youngblut, General Director of Wordfest. If you read my last post, you may know that in addition to writing for many publications across the internet like the Mary Sue and Hello Giggles, hosting the Cineplex preshow, and writing for a video game company, Sam recently just released her first book: The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks. Through the book Sam provides a beginners guide to the realm of fandoms, comics, conventions, and all things nerdy all while advocating for inclusivity and encouraging girls to take pride in their interests, proudly showcasing to the world their unapologetic selves.

At Wordfest, we were able to learn the process that came into play when publishing the book as well as how the idea first came to be. To give us better perspective, Sam compared the writing process that goes with a non-fiction book, such as her own guide for rookie geeks, versus a fiction book or novel, which she hasn’t yet attempted to take on just yet. When writing a fiction book, the author must complete a full rough draft of the manuscript before pitching it to several publishers, all of whom will take quite a long time to make a final decision, all of which will be followed by several more months or even years  of preparation before the book is ready for the shelves. However, when writing a non-fiction advice book, authors only have to conjure up the first few chapters in preparation for the pitch. Once the idea is taken up by an agent and publisher, you have just a couple more months ahead of you to finish up the book, edit and fine tune the writing, and wrap up the whole production before the book is ready to be sold. In Sam’s case, she was reached out to by her agent via twitter who inquired if perhaps she would be interested in publishing a novel, to which Sam responded “Pffft. Me?? Sure…I’ll write you a ‘book'”. Once she was able to comprehend the opportunity, Sam of course happily agreed and decided to write about what she knew best: how to be a fangirl! After writing and submitting the first couple chapters to a publishing company, Operation Fangirl was a go. Despite the process progressing much faster than Sam and her agent initially anticipated, their hard work paid off and now the lovely Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy is available for the learning and reading pleasure of all!

Another thing Sam discussed was her exciting new job at the video game company, BioWare. Based in Edmonton, BioWare is known for being one of the most progressive and innovative game companies in the industry, widely known and loved for games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Just a couple weeks ago, Sam was hired in an assistant writing position in which she will be able to create and weave the story of her very own video game as well as cross over into fiction writing! Although she couldn’t reveal all too much about the game as it was still in the earliest of stages, Sam did give us some interesting details on how she was able to create the character of her dreamy video game boyfriend. She also expressed how she was so happy to be a part of a video company that reflects her own values and priorities. For instance, one of the duties that go hand in hand with her new position is going through the story line of the game and counting the number of males and females in each level, ensuring that the ratio is fair and equal, as not to misrepresent either gender.

During the event, we were also able to gain some exclusive new details about Sam’s upcoming October release: Wonder Women! Wonder Women describes the stories of 25 game changing women over the course of history. Sam emphasized that the book told the stories of not only the average heterosexual, cisgender, and Caucasian female, but rather a diverse selection of women, including queer women and women of colour, whose accomplishments are not often recognized and appreciated by the majority of the population. She discussed an issue very important to me and that is the fact that most mainstream social studies and history education offered at schools is very narrowly focused and oriented through a more eurocentric perspective. However, with Wonder Women, Sam hopes to change that and give credit to those who have been marginalized, underestimated, dismissed, and overlooked. In fact, she actually gave us a preview of the story of Anandi Gopal Joshi, the first ever female Indian doctor. I myself am an Indian woman, and before Sam told us her story, I really had no idea about the amazing work that this woman did and to be able to hear about her trials and tribulations as an eager, determined, and extremely intelligent Indian woman during the late 1800s was such an eye opening experience. I personally can’t wait to hear more stories like it when Wonder Women comes out in October!

After a couple more excellently thought out questions from Shelley Youngblut, the floor was open for an audience Q&A! The questions varied so widely, ranging all the way from how Sam dealt with the questioning of her geek cred as a woman to her favourite comics to even her first fandom. Due to her lovely personality and the low key and relaxed event setting, fans were really able to connect and interact with Sam, carrying out friendly and casual conversations as though they were old friends. At one point during the evening, a young girl even shared her personal experience as a fangirl in a sometimes male dominated world of geekdom, expressing how lucky she was to have geeky male friends who treat her as an equal rather than undermining her for her gender. Actually, I also got to introduce myself to Sam when I asked her about her favourite clone from Orphan Black (It’s Cosima, if you’re wondering, same as me!) which was very exciting!

Overall, the event was interesting, engaging, and an absolute pleasure to attend. Again, I would just like to thank the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, Wordfest, and of course, Sam Maggs, for giving me the opportunity to learn something new and hear the perspectives of such inspiring and amazing individuals. Also, if you haven’t already, I definitely recommend checking out The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks. I will be counting down the days till the release of Wonder Women and really can’t wait till Sam is back at Wordfest later this year!