Did you know that I was once asked to pose for Playboy? It would have been a little sidebar piece, along with some of my erotica books, back when I was in my early 20s. I waffled and waffled before finally saying no. Given that they would have airbrushed me to glossy perfection, I think I may regret not having that pic when I�m 80. Ah well! Probably better not to have it out there now, though, given that it�d likely be disconcerting for my students to run across. I'll stick to character pin-ups instead.
Now, many of my characters are not the pin-up types. But there are a few who I think would find the entire thing distinctly amusing. I waffled for a while between them, but in the end, I really couldn�t resist the urge to ask Lee to draw my fierce warrior / hacker genius catwoman. By day, Kimsriyalani�s a nerdy compsci grad student; by night, she stalks the park looking for unsuspecting men to seduce. Okay, she only did that the one time, and she was having a really bad night and needed to work off some rage, but still. (Story here: �The Night Air� http://www.mamohanraj.com/nightair.html)
It�s all reminding me of the early days of the net, when I would hang out on FurryMuck, generally playing a human girl who looked a lot like me, but surrounded by sexy catpeople, dragonpeople, etc. Okay, they weren�t ALL sexy, but lots and lots of them were. This was also the era when I was reading a lot of Phil Foglio comics (XXXenophile) and Elfquest. At twenty, I would have killed to wake up in an Elfquest graphic novel.
Lee�s a terrific artist, and I�m really looking forward to seeing what he comes up with � we�ve have some great conversations about the design, and I think we�re aiming for a combination of playful and fierce. Kimsriyalani would be pleased. And I�m delighted to have a chance to help Clarion out. I loved teaching there, and just think it�s so great for the field. Can�t wait to see how the calendar turns out!
What an interesting idea. Why not a male character, just to shake things up?
I think, if I’m remembering right, that there will be a male character in the calendar this time. 🙂
One male, eleven female? And this is the first time they’ve had even one? Is this really an initiative you want to support? OK I’m off my soapbox now.
Personally, I like and enjoy pin-up calendars. So I’m just fine with supporting it. If you don’t like it, feel free not to buy it.