ZOMG Amazing News: I’m Moving

Metamorphosis is coming.  I was invited to blog over at Wired Science. There is a HUGE amount of blogging talent out there, and they chose … me.  This is evidence that there is a real readership for news and comment writing ranting about insects, agriculture, and nature. Exciting!

I won’t be moving anytime soon; probably not until late August. I’ll keep all of you posted.

I would really love to hear from all my readers HERE, in this survey.
What do you want me to write about? What burning insect questions would you like to see answered?
(Please note the “Bug Girl Will Not Diagnose You guidelines; if you really have a “burning issue” you may want to see a doctor for some ointment.)

I started out as a pretty rough writer, and over the years you’ve let me learn in public how to do this bloggy thing. I’m still learning, and I still have a long way to go. The vast majority of people I’ve met online are fabulous, and it makes me so happy that you are part of my virtual community. Group Hug!

Below the fold are more personal thoughts about this move with animated gifs and cursing, for those who are curious.

When I first got this news I was:

And then:

and then I started to process things a bit more:

So many people around me are writing amazing shit. Go look at Ed Yong’s long read about insects and phytopathology on cocoa. This post about spider behavior by one of my new colleagues at Wired. So many, many more excellent science writers online.

Who the hell am I kidding?
I can’t do this! I don’t know anything about writing!  Right now I am having a massive attack of Impostor Syndrome, Writer’s Block, and random panicky consumption of mass quantities of ice cream. I’m sharing my panic because I think making my freakout public might be helpful to others. (Honestly, serving as an object lesson to others is really my primary purpose in life.)

Writing online is hard. People are mean.
And now I’m going to go on a much bigger stage, and potentially fail in a much more spectacular way. WITH MY REAL NAME.

Yep.  You Heard me.  My name is Gwen Pearson. I’m going to start using it, so if you see someone outing me, it’s ok. I don’t work for a state government anymore, so I can use my real name without fear of losing my job.  You all have been so wonderful at helping me protect my identity when there were issues with my employer over the past 6 years.  Thank you so very much, everyone.

I don’t have to worry about an employer anymore…because I’m not employed. I’m hoping this move to connect my two identities doesn’t make that a permanent condition. I have no idea what’s next for me, but I’m super honored to be a cog in the Wired machine, no matter how small.  And I’m super geeked to have your support for what is, really, just me being obsessed and excited about insects online.  Apparently nerdy passion for science can take you interesting places.

I think this quote from Simon Pegg sums my online career up pretty well:

“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection.

It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult.“

I’ve said all along that my autobiography will be titled “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.” This will be Chapter Twenty-Two. Here’s hoping that Huge Tracts of … Geekery are enough to see me through this next adventure. I hope you will all come along with me for this ride, even if it ends in flames and tears.

Thank you.