Let’s face facts, the 21st century, for all its other faults, is a great time to be a nerd. And if you’re as lucky as I am, you have a significant other who is kind of a nerd too. Or is it a dork? Or a geek? It’s hard to tell these days. So, being the writer that I am I do what all writers do (and everyone else) and I looked it up. The results are mixed to say the least.

From the good folks at Dictionary.com (saving papercuts since you realized you no longer own a paper dictionary)… A dork is an “out-of-touch person who tends to look odd or behave ridiculously around others.” That description at least partially fits me. But my wife, not so much.

How about a nerd? “Socially awkward, intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsensical hobby or pursuit” – again, I’m two for two but this has no bearing on my better half.

Geek? This is a longshot for both of us – or so I thought. “A digital technology expert or enthusiast (A resounding ‘no’) … who has excessive enthusiasm for and some expertise about a specialized subject or activity”  This is only true for my wife and the subject of her affection is cats and how to have five of them in a single house. She has taken her affinity for felines to outrageous extremes. Once upon a time we took cats (note the plural) from Alaska to England. They had to quarantine for six months. It cost, quite literally, thousands. When we lived in the Azores for a time she would collect strays and have them fixed at $60 bucks a pop. Because she likes cats does not mean that she hates dogs. She cheered for John Wick through two movies because of that puppy. So, yeah, she’s a cat geek.

Not to belabor the point too much, but this century so far has given us a tremendous amount of content, and my luck stems from the fact that she reads fantasy, she watches science fiction and is down for comic book based movies. In fact, it’s Friday as I write this and I haven’t yet watched the latest episode of WandaVision, but she watched it this morning. And she’ll happily watch it again with me when I’m done this. Earlier this month we binged season 3 of Star Trek Discovery, and we’ve had marathon sessions of The Umbrella Academy among a list of other stuff that you might not expect a couple married as long as us to watch. Although I will admit she doesn’t care about Star Wars too much, she loves the Mandalorian. So yes, there is a little nerd-like girl in her. She will argue with you that Star Trek is better than Star Wars. But she’ll do it with a glass of wine in one hand and a cat nearby and in a dis-arming British accent that will leave you wishing you were taking her side in the argument. It’s just something I’ve learned to accept.

In the end it doesn’t matter what label you choose, if you feel the need to choose one at all. The Sci/Fi Fantasy genre is expansive and gets more so with every person who sits down and commits their thoughts, their questions and ideas to paper or film. There is a lot of great stuff out there; some really good stuff; and to be fair, some not quite ready for prime time stuff as well, but it all has its own place in the genre at the moment and if you’re willing to open up to different ideas and styles, you’ll probably find there’s more to like than you might have thought.

Call me what you will and call my wife whatever you think you might be able to get away with but at the end of the day, I’m happy to be living now to see the genre I love gathering adherents in every medium.

Happy reading.