They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Samantha Bryant, who is the author of the Menopausal Superhero series (yeah, that’s right!), and whose latest, Through Thick and Thin, comes out August 20th from Falstaff Books!
What does Samantha love when she’s not writing about leading ladies going through more changes than one? Spoiler alert: new games that are strong with nostalgia, bad-ass leading ladies, tactile board games, and heroes so super she’s inspired to create her own. Interested? Read on to learn more!
I’ve often described myself as an omnivorous geek, someone who explores across a lot of different fandoms and arenas, but doesn’t usually fall deeply or completely into any one of them, so choosing favorites challenged me. What do I really love the very best out of all the things?
Meditative, Relaxing Video Games
In college, I had a pretty serious addiction to Tetris. You know the one with the Russian flavored 8 bit music? Sometimes, when life is especially stressful, I still hear that theme music and rearrange pieces into rows in my sleep. Soothing.
I’ve usually got a game like that going, something I can occupy part of my overactive brain with while the backburners simmer on whatever needs doing. My current go-to for this category is Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch.
We’ve been Animal Crossing fans for years, having purchased the original game for GameCube when our now-grown daughter was five or six. The upgrade in graphics and gameplay in the new version pleases me, while still feeding my nostalgia-comfort game feeling by making it similar enough to the old game. Sometimes, I just wander around the virtual museum, watching the fish swim, and sometimes I pick something I want to make and wander the island picking up stone or tree branches or seashells. The other night, I caught a whale shark, and I am ridiculously proud of that.
Girl-Power Television
I grew up on ’70s super women like The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, and Charlie’s Angels. Some of those shows don’t hold up so well on re-watch with twenty-first century awareness and experience, but they shine in my memory and helped feed my optimism that girls really could do anything.
I’ve been busy raising daughters for these past twenty years, so we’ve sought out stories that make us feel valued and powerful. Over the years, we’ve found a range of kick-ass heroines to cheer for: Buffy, Eowyn, Charlie’s Angels (Drew Barrymore’s version), Veronica Mars, Peggy Carter, Jane (the Virgin).
Animated programs have given me new favorites. The reboot of She-Ra intermixes self discovery with friendship and battle skill to make us laugh and cry within a single episode. Hilda brings us heartfelt inclusivity and emphasizes the need to understand other points of view, but isn’t milquetoast or wishy-washy. Kipo is the post-apocalyptic hero I want to be — thinking outside the box, trying friendship first, and fierce when necessary. Rayla of The Dragon Prince rocks, and we’re rewatching Avatar now and falling in love with Katara all over again.
Board Games with Great Fiddly Bits
Meeples are the best! Ever since my then-boyfriend and now-husband introduced me to Carcassonne, I’ve loved the little colorful wooden people as much as the game itself. I even have Meepillows for my office. There’s an artistry to great game pieces that add a whole second layer of joy to the playing (and a whole tier to how high you’re willing to go on Kickstarter — you probably shouldn’t ask about our collection of themed coins).
Survive won me with wooden sharks and krakens, Azul with the gorgeous Spanish-style tiles, Ticket to Ride with tiny trains, Tsuro with smooth stone pieces that feel lovely in the hand. I also love set pieces like the building levels in Santorini, or the obelisks in Cleopatra, or the trees for Photosynthesis, and the castle walls for Castle Panic. In fact, though we say that we spent most of quarantine building a storage room in the attic for my husband’s game collection (now called The Hoard), a fair number of those were purchased to please me, so it’s maybe not *all* him.
Superheroes!
Lastly, I love superheroes. Starting with Mighty Mouse, Underdog, and Spidey on the Electric Company and running through present day, I’ve always loved the idea of unusual powers and how characters choose to use them. So, it’s no surprise that the little girl who snatched up used comics at Tom’s Book Nook with her fifty cents of allowance money now writes superhero stories.
It’s been a great year for the Menopausal Superheroes series, with two novellas released earlier this year and a new collection of stories out on August 2020. Through Thick and Thin has something for everyone, from feats of superheroic strength to the power of friendship, from romance to frenemies. The opportunity to create my own superheroes and plan adventures for them is my ultimate favorite thing!
Samantha Bryant believes in love, magic, unexplainable connections, and second chances. She loves lonely beaches, untamed cliff tops, and sunlight through the leaves of trees. From Kentucky and living in North Carolina, she left her heart in Alaska. She’s tougher than she looks and softer than she likes to let on.
Best known for the Menopausal Superhero series, she also writes other feminist-leaning fiction. Learn more about her and her work at http://samanthabryant.com or find her on Twitter or Instagram @samanthabwriter
Author Photo by Travis Bryant
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