Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Forums

...but I'm Canadian, so I'm erring on the side of politeness.

I'm Kat van Loon (first name is short for Katje, which is Dutch and confusing). Reader, writer, knitter, crocheter, baker, Cylon, witch. Massive geek.

I grew up reading...well, everything, but sci-fi and fantasy were my faves. Mom has a huge library (about 10,000 books) and I'm slowly catching up (I've got about 1,000 so far). I'm sort of terrible at writing reviews, because either I love books and ramble like a tumblr-user on a sugar-binge at 2am or I hate them and mock them relentlessly (like a tumblr-user...on a sugar-binge...at 2am). If I feel meh about books I don't bother reviewing. I'm trying to get better, however, and actually working on honing my reviewing skills so my reviews are still entertaining but also more coherent.

Hobbies include drunkenly livetweeting terrible films, shaking my cane at youngsters who are on my lawn, and attending my fiance's burlesque performances, whenever he actually gets off his butt to participate in them. (We are both incredibly lazy.)

User of LibraryThing, Shelfari, and GoodReads. Trying to up my usage of LibraryThing in particular, as it's the only one that's not (fully) owned by Amazon at this point. Anyway, I always like making new friends, so if any of you are on those sites feel free to send me a request.

I think that's the pertinent stuff. Happy to be on the site, and hopefully I can add something to the discussions. 

-Kat

PS: Is the "reading list" on BookTrackr a "to-read" list? Want to be sure I'm using it correctly, and I couldn't find that particular piece of info in the FAQ or BookTrackr guide. 

Hello Kat, and welcome to WWEnd!  Thanks for introducing yourself - it's always nice to know a bit about other members.  I definitely encourage you to jump right in.  It sometimes takes a bit to get folks going but we've got a great group here and I'm glad you decided to join us.

I'm looking forward to reading some of your reviews and I'm guessing they're better than you imagine which is almost always the case in my experience.  WWEnd is a great place to hone your reviewing skills and if you join the Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge you might even get payed for it!

A bit about me: Name's Dave, and I run this site with 3 of my best friends for fun in our spare time.  It seems like I'm reading less and less these days (life and WWEnd take up so much of my free time) and I've been accused of being a collector rather than a reader.  It might have something to do with the 150 books on my desk that I'll likely never get a chance to read.  I'm in the process of converting my pedestrian mustache into a more distinguished handlebar which absolutely terrifies my wife.  I like all kinds of genre fiction and am contemplating added a bit more Steam Punk to my diet and perhaps a vest and bowler hat to go with the more eccentric soup strainer.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the site and I encourage you to click around a bit to see all the cool stuff we have to offer the genre fan.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh, the Reading List is a "to-read" list.  Happy reading!

Thank you! It's funny, I actually followed the WWEnd Twitter account a while ago, but hadn't realized there was a forum/members section for me to join until today. I am a silly goose. ^_^

Well, there's some incentive! I'll definitely start writing reviews, then, and posting them (in whole or excerpted + linked form) here. I have joined the WoGF Challenge; hoping I can get it done (I read very slowly these days; 10 years of University has fried my brain). 

Dude, handlebar mustache? Awesomest thing ever. And it'll go fantastically with a Steam Punk outfit. :D

I'm a bit of a collector more than a reader these days too, so you're not alone. I can't stop buying books, yet I never seem to have the time to read them. Working on a non-fiction pile currently; hoping to be able to squeeze in a few fiction books soon.

Lovely to meet you, Dave! 

Yay! Glad to know I'm using it correctly. 

Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I'm sure I'm going to love it here.