Here I was, shaking at eighty miles a minute, my voice ready to give out at a second’s notice, and my knees as weak as the first little pig’s straw house. But, I had driven across two state borders, cashed in my coin jar, and waited a few hours in line to be in this very position. I was more than okay. I was terrified.
In front of me sat my idol. Creator, writer, and star of The Guildherself. Ms. Felicia Day. You may have seen her in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blogor guest starring on Supernatural? Maybe you recognize her as Tallis from the Dragon Age II: Mark of the AssassinDLC or the voice of Zojja in Guild Wars 2. Whether via television, gaming, film, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Tumblr, this woman is all over the place. And, if you don’t know who she is, I strongly advice you to check her out.
I could go on so many different ramblings now about how this quirky redhead sparked my passion for writing – how The Guildwas the motivation for me to start writing sketch comedy, leading to my first full-length piece, to the realization that I could make a career out of writing nerdy things, to my college application at Full Sail, to right now – and it’d probably be a pretty interesting article, to be honest.
But, I’m not here to ramble about my first encounter with The Guildor how I was so nervous to meet her at my first game convention ever that her first words to me were about her concern for my wellbeing. I’m here to talk about her new memoir, You’re Never Weird On The Internet (almost).
I think it should be obvious by the first few paragraphs that this “review” – if you can call it that – is going to be far from unbiased. I don’t claim to be Felicia’s biggest fan, seeing how I’m not a stalker, but she has always been a huge motivator for me to keep trekking, stay focused, and be true to myself. You’re Never Weird is no different. However, that doesn’t negate the actual, honest quality of this memoir.
From the very opening pages of Joss Whedon’s foreword, the book starts out with such a casual, “chatting with your best friend” tone that makes you forget you’re alone in your bedroom reading with only a few hours before your alarm is supposed to go off.
Felicia reveals to us stories about growing up homeschooled – if you can really call it that – and discovering her addiction to online gaming. How her life secluded from normal society actually worked in her favor against the pressures of being “uncool.” How she worked her butt off to maintain a 4.0 in college while double majoring, all to just move to LA in pursuit of a completely different field, because she wanted to. This message of staying true to herself and not being afraid to like what she liked with no shame describes the entire theme of the book.
And that’s exactly why you should read it.
Much like the woman herself, Felicia’s book isn’t just a comical manifestation of an odd girl growing up under even odder circumstances. It’s more than just a reliving of her road to success – fun fact: she never even mentions getting casted in Buffy the Vampire Slayer or how she landed the gig for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog. This book is about more than that. It’s about giving hope.
The book leaves you with a feeling of such motivating power that I can’t even begin to speak its praises enough. Felicia’s message of encouragement, perseverance, and liberation flies off of the page to the very last period.
There’s a chance that the reason Felicia’s memoir inspired me so much is because she herself is such an inspiration to me. However, I don’t think that’s one hundred percent the case. There’s no denying the self-empowerment of her words. For anyone.
Needless to say, I strongly encourage you to pick this book up. It’s definitely worth it.
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