Letting My Geek Show

Anyone who reads my books (at least the shape-shifter and demon slayer ones) knows I've got a bit of geek in me. Okay, a whole lot of geek. I love books and movies that border on the edge of the unknown, that take us on an adventure far away from real life, some more than others.

But geek always had such a negative label, one placed on me way back in Junior High by thoughtless kids who didn't have themselves figured out, let alone me. Being a geek was akin to being a social outcast in school and I was nowhere close to that.

I was absolutely sure they had to be wrong. It wasn't like I talked about Star Wars or that watching my dad got me hooked on my first computer game. There was no way those kids (the ones who weren't even my friends) knew I loved superheroes or that I'd had been convinced as a child that I'd grow up to be Wonder Woman.

Because geek had such a negative connotation, I refused to believe it. But far worse than that, I let those kids make me think it wasn't okay to be myself. I spent a long time hiding little things about myself that I was conditioned in junior high to believe made me uncool, less likeable, or just plain weird.

But I'm not that same self-conscious, uncertain, people-pleasing girl I once was (unless I'm having a bad writing day, but that's an entirely different post). I know now that being a "geek" only has a negative label if I let it.

And to truly let me geek show, I'm going share my wee addiction to video games. I'm not just talking about playing Super Mario Bros, like where you start out playing against your kids and then catch yourself turning the Wii on when you kids aren't there or even home. No, I'm talking about more hardcore gaming, like running around shooting everything that moves with a clueless "spray and pray" approach of winning on Black Ops II. At least that’s the game currently feeding my addiction.

It started out with killing zombies in Black Ops (what? doesn't everyone want to get in on the action after watching The Walking Dead?) and then with Master Chef’s encouragement, I moved onto the regular online gaming scene. Forget carpal tunnel from typing. Do you know how sore your hands can get from trying (and failing) for the tenth, hundredth, thousandth time in a row to kick your significant other’s ass at a video game?

What about you guys? What’s your geeky little secret?