About

About

Hi, my name’s Naomi and I’m a 40-something trans woman book blogger. I mostly read science fiction and fantasy, though I have also been known to dip into the pulp, noir, crime, and thriller genres at times.

I’ve been an active book blogger and reviewer for a few years now, and recently decided to add a few semi-regular columns to the site, including a jaunt around Michael Moorcock’s multiverse, and a look back at past Hugo Award winners. I have a few other ideas I’d like to explore, so please feel free to subscribe to the site using the widget at the bottom of the page to keep up with all the latest developments.

I’m a first generation Star Wars fan, and a second generation Star Trek fan, and was one of those presumptuous nerdish readers you find in almost every school. My first taste of fantasy was The Hobbit, back when my age could still be measured in single digits, and since then I’ve devoured thousands of SFF and genre-adjacent works.

Hare Warrior from Oathsworn Miniatures, painted by me sometime in 2017.

Given my early esoteric tastes, it will hardly come as a surprise that I’m also a tabletop gamer, with both DM and player experience in a wide range of role-playing games starting with RuneQuest, Dungeons & Dragons, and Traveller back in the 80s, through to … well, basically the current versions of those same games. I’m also a regular cast member in The Campaign Trail D&D actual-play podcast.

I used to be a regular tabletop wargamer, mostly thanks to my days working for Games Workshop retail, but these days I do most of my wargaming on a computer, specifically in one of the many Total War games. I still occasionally pick up a paintbrush and splash a bit of paint on a figure or two, but not as much as I’d like to.

I’m also a bit of a writer, with a couple of published short stories under my belt many years ago, and an out-of-print cyberpunk short novel that I keep meaning to rewrite and republish. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not great at sticking to a single project, so whether I’m ever going to get something finished or not remains to be seen. Maybe one day. Until then, you can find some of my more palatable short fiction right here on this site.

Shimmer cat, the one who seems to mostly be in charge of the house.

I’m currently living in Sheffield with two cats and two humans, though don’t ask me where exactly I sit in the social hierarchy. I suspect the cats are actually in charge. In the past I’ve also had snakes, fish, dogs, rabbits, rats, a tortoise, and an iguana. Oh, and a pet Leopard Slug.

Social Media Links

If you’d like to get in touch with me, whether it’s to ask a question, offer some feedback, or just to tell me how utterly amazing I am, you can do so through the handy-dandy and super-simple Contact page.