Felicia Day

I was laughing so hard in parts of this book that I cried, and then Felicia had to make me cry for real at the end. C'mon, there's no crying on the internet.

Felicia Day's memoir is about her desultory education and her equally unplanned path to creative success. There's a lot of insight here about what it feels like to be doing work that you're not invested in, and also what it feels like to be doing work that you're over-invested in, and why you might be doing either of those things.

There show more were a lot of moments in Felicia's young life that I recognized, despite not being home-schooled. A bizarre amount of moments. I don't game (and thank goodness for Felicia's description of her first steps into WoW and how hideously unfun it was), but I definitely remember finding the internet, and fandom, and HELLO, AWESOMENESS. show less

Felicia Day (1) is awesome, (2) relatable, sometimes painfully so, and (3) makes me want to love myself for who I am while still striving to be a better person. And that last one, that's pretty damn important.

It's hard enough being a girl without also being a geeky girl in today's world, where you feel you have to hide your geeky interests from other people, but at the same time feel like you're not always welcome in the boy's clubhouse. Felicia Day understands. She's been there. She's done show more that. And honestly, it's great to remind myself to embrace who I am, and that most of fandom is just happy you're there and having fun.

I love her frank discussion about her social anxiety and depression, because I've also been there, and it sucks monkey balls. It's also inspiring to see her get through it and become stronger, more self-aware, and sure of herself. She shows that it's okay to screw up, to be less than perfect because those are the moments you learn the most and which temper who you are.

And lastly, her book just spoke to me, in a way that only someone with a shared experience can. I'm a little younger than her but still, we were the first Internet generation, forging social connections over the new-fangled World Wide Web, finding life-long friendships over common (geeky) interests that persist to this day and are stronger than many IRL friendships that faded or ended abruptly because you realized the other person was a self-absorbed back-stabbing user who saw you as an afterthought to their supposedly awesome and perfect life. AHEM. Anyway. (Sadly, this has happened more than once in various iterations. I'm more protective of my own personal emotional boundaries now.)

When I was reading, I thought it was odd that Felicia skipped or glossed over many of her acting roles, which is how I first met her and continued to meet her: from Buffy, to Dr. Horrible and Dollhouse, to Eureka and Supernatural. But it clicked that this wasn't a Hollywood memoir in the usual sense. Instead it was about her personal journey to get comfortable in her own skin and make a career and life out of her geekiness.

EMBRACE YOUR WEIRD.

Thanks, Felicia. I'll do my best. show less

I've never read a book like this. In that, I've never read a book where the author would admit to things like this. Gaming addiction, crippling anxiety, unapologetic weirdness, it had it all. I maybe would have rated this a 4 star but honestly, she had me hooked. It's cringey, but only in its relatability. I recommend this book for those who fall in the venn diagram of geeks, procrastinators and the oddballs. Also, this is the most realistic view of writing I have ever encountered. ("I show more rewrote something, and then sobbed for three days.") show less

I only know Felicia Day from The Guild but I find her so funny, charming, and sweet, so when I needed a short audiobook to listen to while doing chores around the house, I settled on hers. I don't know what I was expecting -- Hollywood gossip, I think? some gossip about kissing Nathan Fillion?!?! -- but this memoir instead felt like a plea for some to understand her humanity.

Which isn't a bad thing, but is certainly heartbreaking.

In these post-Weinstein days, it was impossible for me not to show more hear it as that. Being an actress introduced harassment into her life (she shares more than one icky story of casting harassment), but her connection with gaming and the "geek" world meant an increase in horrible harassment and threats. When she weighed in on #gamergate, it just got worse.

I'm just a nosy fan who wants to know more about her and her baby (and if she's co-parenting with anyone!) but after hearing about how one fan broke into her house and her address was published online, I can appreciate why she's so secretive.

The opening on her memoir focuses on her childhood, and her "weirdness". I put that in quotes because I honestly don't think she's all that weird; she's got a slightly unusual childhood, but as an Air Force brat, it wasn't unlike that of others I knew growing up. When introduced to the internet, she dove into online games, and found a community there. (Full disclosure: when I was introduced to the internet, at about the same time, I found a community of horse-loving tweens, and spent years writing what I now realize was thoroughbred racing fanfic. Seriously. We imagined we owned the great famous thoroughbreds of history -- occasionally other famous horses -- and wrote stories about our adventures with them. Anyway...) All this to say: her title is accurate.

While she doesn't dish on Hollywood, Day does share a wealth of detail about the making of The Guild and her creative process. (As I'm struggling with my novel, I found these portions so helpful/moving.) She also writes openly about her mental health, too, and the impact illness and depression had on her life. (I just want to smish her.) There was a dearth of tawdry details, which I can appreciate, and yet, I really wanted at least one tidbit about her dating Nathan Fillion. (In the Book Tour section, she addresses this specifically -- she felt weird about sharing stories about famous people she's worked with, which is classy. Sorry I'm vulture, Felicia!!)

Day is the reader of her own book, which is wonderful, because I love her voice. The audiobook comes with a PDF of the illustrations/photos so you can snerk along.

Day and I have the literal same birthday (year and everything), and I couldn't help -- despite her frequent requests to refrain from doing such a thing -- from side-by-side comparisons. Her grit (overused trendy word right now, I know, but it really is one of the things Day has in spades), dedication, and talent are breathtaking. show less