We're really fortunate to have Bonnie Ruberg join our happy band of ne'er-do-wells. Ordinarily when an author joins us I try to write some witty commentary about the subject matter that she is going to cover. But since Bonnie is perhaps the leading (and definitely the most interesting) writer on sex and virtual worlds...well, let me just say that all the earlier drafts of this announcement were likely to get me divorced, fired, or jailed. So let me use her own bio to announce her, and just say "welcome" from all of us here at Terra Nova central command:
"Bonnie Ruberg is a video games writer who specializes in sex and gender issues in both virtual worlds and real-life gaming communities. She's a regular commentator for The Escapist, a contributing journalist for Wired.com, and a reviewer for The Onion A. V. Club. She has also done work for Gamasutra, Slashdot, and GameGal, among others. Her sex-related ponderings can be found at her games blog, Heroine Sheik.
As far as her personal MMO addictions, she mostly sticks to Second Life, where she enjoys dabbling in (and spying on) online sexuality. As in real life, she is a virtual redhead with a problem with authority. She is also currently on a quest to find the perfect pair of kinky SL boots. Much of her game writing deals with virtual worlds; the most recent thing she's published that deals exclusively with an MMO is a Wired piece, "Cyberporn Sells in Virtual Worlds." She is also in the process of putting a longer piece on male MMO transvestitism. When not gaming, or writing about gaming, she's a student at Bard College working toward her degree in Creative Writing and Gender and Sexuality Studies."
Since I'm neither married, employed, or-- aww, damn. Welcome Bonnie; I have no idea who you are, but that just adds to my curiosity.
Posted by: Michael Chui | Jan 15, 2006 at 18:28
Well, we can't say *ding* if you stick mostly to Second Life, so how about: may your rezzing be speedy and your prims not drift.
Posted by: Jim Purbrick | Jan 15, 2006 at 20:08
Bard College? You wouldn't happen to have come from Simon's Rock College of Bard before that, perhaps?
I maintain that between Simon's Rock and Second Life, I've heard about or seen more about sexual preferences/kinks than I'll ever need.
Posted by: Elle Pollack | Jan 15, 2006 at 20:26
Yay! Welcome, Bonnie!
Posted by: Cory Ondrejka | Jan 16, 2006 at 00:45
This is going to be good :)
Posted by: ren reynolds | Jan 16, 2006 at 02:50
Terra Nova: The one-stop-shop for all of your Intellectual-Discourse-About-Virtual-Worlds Needs!
Posted by: Lanky | Jan 16, 2006 at 10:40
Hi to all, and thanks for the welcome!
Elle, of course I know Simon's Rock. Though I think Bard would still win the kink award... ;-).
Posted by: Bonnie Ruberg | Jan 16, 2006 at 12:02
Once Bonnie's posts are crawled by Google, TN might find itself with an even more diverse audience! :-)
Posted by: Scott McMillin | Jan 16, 2006 at 12:51
Welcome Bonnie! And I echo Ren's thoughts : p
Posted by: Mia | Jan 16, 2006 at 14:52