Consultations

[siofrabunnies]

Need a question answered? Look no further. Down this page, you'll find people who are willing to be consulted to help fellow writers. Just find a person who is okay being contacted with the kind of info you're looking for, and look at how they want to be contacted. I'm sure you can figure it out from there.
 

 If you wish to be a reference:

 Post a reply to the main post. Include the following groups:

 Qualifications: Anything you are formally qualified to talk about. This is where you list degrees or certifications you hold, positions you've held, courses you've taken, languages you speak, etc.

Life experience: What life itself has taught you. Where you come from, what your demographic statuses are, how you grew up.

Writing experience: Do you specialize in a certain genre or fandom? What's your writing style? Do you read every 1960s romance novel you can get your hands on? Go ahead and put it here.

 Other topics I'm knowledgable in: Have you researched a topic in-depth before, or do you have a talent in a field? Maybe you're fascinated about something, but didn't study it formally? What other hobbies do you have?

 How you can contact me: Any way you want. If you only want PMs, that's okay. If you have a chatname or email you're comfortable sharing, go ahead. 
 

 There is absolutely no pressure to list yourself here! Only post if you want to. If you're okay with being contacted, but aren't comfortable with a particular subject, feel free to not include it.

 If there are other categories I didn't think of, or suggestions to make, feel free to tell me.

  

There is also another wonderful place for getting questions answered, especially if you need more specific information. If you have researched a topic and aren't getting anywhere yourself, head over to

little_details at Livejournal. They have a lot of members, and it's a great community. Be sure to check the tags at the side!

 

Comments

[siofrabunnies]

Qualifications: I studied Linguistics in college to the bachelor level. I specialized in phonetics, phonology, semantics & pragmatics and how languages are related, although I also did well in syntax. I've also taken several years each of French, German, and Spanish, although I'm not what I would call fluent in any of them. French is my best language. I know a lot about the language learning process.

Life Experience: I grew up in the Midwest, in Chicagoland and Michigan. My parents are divorced, and a pretty typical small-town, middle class upbringing. I'm also bisexual, and I have experience with bigotry in that regard.

I have Bipolar disorder, and I have quite a bit of knowledge about the disorder and treatment for it, although meds aren't my strong suit.

Writing Experience: I write mostly fanfiction. I started writing in the Tolkien fandom just before the movies were announced, so about fifteen years (I wasn't very goo, then :) ). I've never been formally published, since that's not really my angle. I write mostly shorter fics, and I'm just starting my first novel-length piece. I read mostly sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and combinations thereof. I also greatly love Tolkien, Doyle, Poe, and Douglas Adams and they have certainly influenced my style.

Other topics I'm knowledgeable in: Growing up, I had a huge interest in forensics and serial killers. I was also enamoured with anatomy and biology, although I'm far from a doctor. I'm also pretty well learned in psychiatric disorders other than bipolar, although I have little to no personal experience.

How you can contact me: PMs are fine. My actual writing journal is at siofra_22 (this journal is for the Sims, at the moment). I have anonymous comments enabled over there. I check often, so don't be shy! I really am alright being asked about any of this.

[squeakycat]

Qualifications: I'm a licensed Dental Assistant, so I know quite a bit about the hows and whys of what dentists do, and the various jobs in a dental office/how they tend to operate. I'm also currently attending school as a foreign languages major with an intention of going into interpreting/translation.

Life experience: I grew up in an inner city ghetto in Houston while being a lesbian. After I graduated high school I spent 3-ish years on a family members farm in Central Texas until I was kicked out after said family member's SO found out I was a lesbian, and spent some time homeless as a result.

I also spent a few months in a psychiatric hospital when I was 17 for attempting to commit suicide.
Writing experience: I mostly write fanfiction. I started off in Prince of Tennis before moving on to Hetalia where I'm still at - and currently trying to get back into writing, actually. I've also written historical fiction a couple of times, and probably will again at some point. Reading-wise I tend to pick up whatever looks interesting, though I gravitate more towards historical fiction, Fantasy/Scifi, and non-fiction history books.

Other topics I'm knowledgeable in: I'm a bit of a history buff [as you've probably guessed], particularly in the American Civil War, American Revolution, and Ancient Rome. Outside of that? I know a fair bit about sewing/being a cloth doll artist, and the cattle/small-time meat market industry due to having close family members working in them.

How you can contact me: PMing is probably your best bet.

[inkdust]

Qualifications: I have a bachelor's degree in French with a double minor in German and Religious Studies. My French is very fluent and my German is semi-fluent, mainly due to a limited vocabulary. My grammar is strong. I know quite a bit about French history, especially pre-20th century, and I've read a lot of classic French lit. I didn't strongly specialize in anything in my Religious Studies courses, but I have a scattering of knowledge from the Old Testament to Buddhism to Sufism. I do have some great readings from a course I took called Witches, Ghosts and Demons, which looked at those concepts cross-culturally, and some more from a course on dreams, also cross-cultural.

Life experience: I grew up in North Carolina as an only child, my parents are still married. I went to private school K-12 and then a small Quaker-founded liberal arts college (I do know a good bit about Quakerism). I studied abroad in Montpellier, France for a semester, and I've stayed with German friends for a number of weeks since 2002. My family hosted a Russian exchange student for a year in 10th grade. I'm bisexual and did the whole coming out to my parents in high school thing, and I'm comfortable talking about that. When I was 17 I was diagnosed with very high-functioning Aspergers, so I know some about that but only on the very mild end of the spectrum.

Writing experience: I've been writing fiction my entire life (I'm 23 now), mainly novel-length or trying to be novel-length, a tiny bit of poetry. Most of my work is a mix of literary and speculative fiction, some dystopian elements and some fantasy. I tend to read the sort of thing I write, though I've recently gotten more into mysteries. And I have a special passion for Emile Zola. I wrote one piece of fanfiction in high school and haven't since, but I appreciate it.

Other topics: I'm very interested in language, I'm currently learning Italian. I have a particular interest in comparing grammatical structures, so I've done that a lot with French vs German vs English. I had seven years of piano lessons, can read music and play fairly well. I know how to shelve books in Barnes & Noble, lol. I think that's all that's worthy of note.

Contact: PM is good for now.

Of course I feel like I'm missing something significant.

[lunabee34]

Qualifications: I have a Ph.D. in Victorian literature although I managed to study a great deal of early American literature as well. I am a professor at a state college in the South. So I am qualified to talk about Victorian literature, general writing and literature courses through the sophomore level, teaching at the college level, pedagogical theory, and academia in general. I also studied abroad in both France and Spain as an undergrad and could speak to that experience.

Life experience: I grew up in the rural South and was raised fundamentalist Protestant (Southern Baptist). I have a great deal to say about both of those things if anyone is ever interested. LOL I converted to Catholicism, so I can speak to the RCIA process, as well as the way Catholicism is viewed in the deeply Protestant South.

Writing experience: academic writing, creative non-fiction (personal essay), and fanfic. I got started in Dec 2004 in the Buffyverse and Firefly and moved through the Gateverse and Supernatural after that. I probably read more Harry Potter fic than anything else even though I've never considered myself a part of that fandom.

Other topics I'm knowledgeable about: parenting, pregnancy (particularly high risk pregnancies), working at a collection agency

How you can contact me: PM is fine.

[sarillia]

Qualifications: I'm still working on getting a degree but I'm working on one in biology and circumstances (not failing) have led to me taking some classes several times so I am especially well-versed in general genetics and comparative anatomy.

Life experience: I've grown up in central New York (the state, not the city) in a pretty stereotypical four person family with two happily married parents and an older brother.

When I was 12, I dislocated my knee for the first time and found out that I have unusually weak joints. I dislocated one of my knees at least once every year after that until I was 18. I have since developed osteo arthritis from all the injuries. It's painful for me to walk and I often limp.

I also have severe depression and social anxiety. I have experience with being completely afraid to leave my room to the point where my health was suffering. I also have experience with dealing with professors and college administrators in relation to that problem.

After that I was tentatively diagnosed with fibromyalgia so I can talk about chronic pain and fatigue.

During all this I was in deep denial about being gay/bisexual. I used to be a very conservative Christian and I can offer insight into that mindset as well as what it's like to come to terms with being queer while immersed in that culture. Now I can also talk about being a liberal Christian because I haven't completely walked away from the religion.

Specifically, I'm physically attracted to all genders, so I often call myself bisexual, but homoromantic, so I sometimes call myself just gay if that's what's more relevant. I can talk about physical attraction and romantic attraction not lining up.

Writing experience: I write mostly fantasy. I have a lot of experience with world-building. I especially like coming up with various religions. I'm also very fond of old hard-boiled detective novels, especially Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I did a fantasy inspired by Red Harvest and the typical noir setting that I think came out quite well.

Other topics I'm knowledgable in: I took ballet classes for 12 years (often at least 3 nights a week) until my weak joints and arthritis forced me to stop. I've played the violin since I was 9 years old. I can knit and crochet and spin with a drop spindle (and if you're interested in learning any of these for yourself rather than for writing, still feel free to hit me up for info and tips). I have experience in training service dogs to do things like open sliding doors and fridges and pick things up off the ground.

How you can contact me: PMs are fine and if you prefer email you can use corianderleaves07@gmail.com. I'm also on Skype all the time and love finding new people to talk to and you can ask for my info if that interests you.

[lunabee34]

Oh wow. We have the same knees. LOL Mine popped out of socket so many times as a kid that I now have degenerative arthritis in both knees. :( I hope they have invented Star Trek knees before I hit 50.

[serria]

Qualifications: I currently study Medieval History at an MA level, and previously studied college and East Asia at university. I've been an English teacher for ESL students. I've been a phlebotomist, and I've done direct care/behavioral coaching for people with psychiatric disorders/disabilities (who require 24/7 supervision). I speak Japanese (though not [yet] at a native level!) and am studying French and Latin. I've studied a number of martial arts, and play the piano.

Life experience: I'm American and grew up in Minnesota. I'm generally gay but open-minded. I lived in Japan (Tokyo area), am currently living in the UK and have traveled to a number of countries. I've had a lot of pets, including cats, dogs, rats, ferrets and horses. I'm a vegetarian.

Writing experience: I used to write a lot of fanfiction, but not as much these days. Mostly, I work on original fiction, generally in the fantasy genre. I read a lot of historical fiction, but I like magic too much to deviate from fantasy at this point.

Other topics I'm knowledgeable in: Sewing (I was [am?] a cosplayer), uhhh video games?

How you can contact me: PM

[ljwrites]

Qualifications: I am a practicing attorney with a J.D. from a U.S. law school, so I'm qualified to talk about the the common law system and various federal laws. I've made a particular study of international law and have a B.A. in Korean law, so I can look at law from a comparative standpoint, too.

Writing-wise this means I can check if something sounds "legal" enough and whether court procedures are embarrassingly implausible. I still remember how amused I was playing the first Phoenix Wright game. I also noticed the things they did in subsequent games to clean up their haphazard legal system. Not that fictional legal systems have to be the same as real ones, of course, but legal design has important consequences and can be the subject of stories and backstories in of itself. How they got the lawyers to shut up about the Phoenix Wright legal system is an abiding mystery, for example.

I am a native speaker of Korean so if you want to check anything about the language and culture, I'm your girl. I also speak some Chinese, but not that fluently yet. I can read it pretty well and look up meanings and so on, so I'm just about good enough for making up names.

Life experience: Grew up mostly in Korea, with a year-and-a-half stay in the U.S. when I was little. No one is sure how my English got so good. My mother died about six years ago of cancer, so I can speak to that experience. I'm married and monogamous but have some same-sex attractions as well. I was brought up Presbyterian but have since left the church, and consider myself spiritual but functionally atheist.

Writing experience: I've been writing fanfic since my early 20s, a couple of which have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and one or two other languages I can't remember. I'm proudest of completing a novel-length fic for Avatar: the Last Airbender, which whetted my appetite for original projects. My fanfic has tended to be in the fantasy genre, probably because that's the biggest media market out there.

I actually read significantly more nonfiction than fiction. I regularly read longform articles (my Instapaper account had 900 articles archived the last time I checked--it's probably at least a thousand now) and listen to audiobooks on a range of subjects from the mathematics of chance to conversational differences between men and women.

Other topics I'm knowledgable in: I had some issues with a controlling and overprotective parent and found myself dealing with problems like lack of initiative and anger management. I read a lot of books on psychology to understand and deal with these, gaining understanding that helped me in my own life and in reading real and fictional people. I also informally counsel friends, though I always make it clear this is a friends-talking situation and they should seek professional help for actual treatment.

I'm also highly interested in philosophy and spirituality, and though I haven't had a lot of formal training I can talk about these subjects intelligently and have ideas bounced off me. I'm just endlessly fascinated by people--how they work, how they think, how they organize themselves and live with each other. Fiction is one of the ways I explore those questions.

How you can contact me: PM is good.

[curiosity_jigyasa]

Qualifications: Hi there! Qualifications. I'm a physics student, studying Master's in Physics.
Life Experience: Well, failures, losses of family and friends have taught me a lot. But the biggest thing I've learned is to be kind to everyone and not judgmental about them- what they do in front are not to be misunderstood as their real selves. :)
Writing experience: I've written fanfictions so far for a show in my country. Started writing from two years ago and crave to learn more and more in writings.
Other topics I'm knowledgable in: I love languages and collecting informations about them.

How you can contact me: PMs are cool.

P.S. I hope this community is active now. Would love to explore it.