And Some More Explanation

I'm making a change in this blog, partially because no one seems excited about asking me questions and partially because the blog itself hasn't been interesting to me for some time. So, I'm shutting down the "Ask Me Anything" portion of this; however, for those with burning questions, feel free to ask at Rocket Scientist which will remain as a blog for anything that isn't writing (Rockets and Dragons) or manga/anime related (this blog).

For those of you wondering about the new name, an otaku is a "Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, or video games" according to Wikipedia (those of you who are otaku likely didn't need that explanation). It's kind of odd that I'm one given that I didn't grow up on this, am not the target demographic (I read/watch almost exclusively shoujo manga/anime) of a teenage girl. And, of course, I'm both a novelist and a rocket scientist, neither of which I think most people associate with otaku-ness. Though I could be wrong. I don't know any other otaku personally.

Those who've known me for some time will attest that I do get caught up in obsessive interests from time to time. Some are just research projects (which is why I'm exhaustively expert in this and that and completely ignorant in many other things). Some are a fascinations with something that I need at the time, much like one deficient in a nutrient will crave foods that contain it.

Why am I doing this? Well, for one thing, I've developed a real passion for manga and anime over the last year or so and I wanted some place to talk about it. I, in fact, wrote a long series of manga and/or anime related posts on Rockets and Dragons, but it distracts from the novel writing discussions. I'll be moving those, over time, to here and adding more. I'll also dupe the manga list I had over here over here and update it as items transfer. If you click on any of the links to begin with, you'll find yourself at my other blog. Eventually, that will change.

I will also be adding new reviews of manga I've checked out, items of interest in general (like the irksome dissolution of Tokyopop in the middle of two of my gotta-have-'em-all series) and some monologues on what I've learned from manga/anime. Because I feel I do learn, have learned, many things my prose was missing. Knowing me, I'll want to pick apart why I'm so very very interested. I suspect my obsession will only start to fade when I've sucked out all I can from the genre, but I'm obviously not there yet.

I have no planned order so it might be a mix of old and new. Perhaps whimsically random. Or my sense of order might take control. Don't know yet. It's still a work in progress (as the header - this is a place holder). More on a plan if one ever materializes.

For those of you rolling your eyes and rushing to remove this from your blogrolls (go ahead - no sense making yourself miserable on topics that don't interest you), be grateful. My last two inexplicable obsessions were Brendan Fraser and Nelson Eddy.