A warm love bytes welcome to author Erica Kudisch joining us today on Riptide’s blog tour for her new release “Don’t Feed The Trolls”.

Erica talks about internet friendships and brought with her a giveaway to participate in!

Welcome Erica 🙂

Hey nerds! Erica Kudisch here promoting my novel DON’T FEED THE TROLLS, a genderqueer romp through internet drama. And if you keep up with the blog tour and its bonus DLC, there’s a $50 prize package achievement for you to unlock. Have fun!

 

Internet Friendships and shit like that

 

When my wife and I were determining how many members would be in our respective bridal parties, we wanted equal numbers, but had something of a disparity. See, my wife has a large family, and is very close with her cousins, and she knew that if she didn’t let all three of her female cousins plus her sisters and her best friend be her bridesmaids there would be hell to pay. But I have a small family, and definitely couldn’t come up with six same-generation relatives who would stand on my side of the chuppah. So, after accounting for my two living siblings, my bridal party lineup consisted entirely of close friends.

 

And all of them were friends I made on the Internet.

 

It’s only fitting–after all, the Internet is also how I met my wife!–but it only occurs to me writing this that those close friendships are indicative of so many different times and places in my life. One I’d known for fifteen years, longer than any other friend in attendance at the wedding; we’d met first on a Gundam Wing message board back in the geocities days, and became friends through a fantasy game she’d run on AOL Instant Messenger. Another two I’d met through other mutual Internet friends at conventions, owing to our mutual love of dead gay video games, and got to know them online, only meeting up IRL when proximity afforded us the opportunity. The fourth I got close with when I was looking for summer odd jobs, when she took advantage of her extensive network of friends and connections to help me get by, and eventually we teamed up on creative projects offline. And there they were, Team Erica, a ragtag bunch of complete and utter nerds to support me on my wedding day. Thanks entirely to the magic of the Internet.

 

The friendships in DON’T FEED THE TROLLS were some of my favorite parts of it to write, for this reason. For all that the Internet can be a wretched hive of comments, criticism, and callout posts, it’s cemented the most lasting relationships of my life. And I’ve noticed something particular about Internet-fostered friendships; they’re built on taking a person at their word. And that trust is central to the stories we’ve told each other through the years.

 

About Don’t Feed the Trolls

Gaming while female is enough to incur the wrath of the dude-bros, and they’ve come for me. Instead of fighting back, I’ve created an alternate account. Male name, male pronouns. And I’ve met this girl. I’ve always liked girls, and Laura’s adorable and smart and never gives up, and she likes me back. Or rather, she likes the man I’m pretending to be. But I can’t tell her I’m a woman without the mob coming after her too.

And besides: I might not be a woman, not really.

The truth is, I don’t know what I am anymore. I’ve spent my whole life being told how I’m supposed to act and what I’m supposed to be, but none of it feels right. And my lie is starting to feel truer than anything I’ve ever been.

There’s a convention coming up, but the closer it gets, the more I have to choose: lie or fight. But if I don’t stand my ground as a girl, am I letting the haters win?

Then again, those aren’t the only two ways to live.

 

Available from:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

 

About Erica Kudisch

Erica Kudisch lives, writes, sings, and often trips over things in New York City. When not in pursuit of about five different creative vocations, none of which pay her nearly enough, you can usually find her pontificating about dead gay video games, shopping for thigh-high socks, and making her beleaguered characters wait forty thousand words before they get in the sack.

In addition to publishing novellas and short stories as fantastika-focused alter-ego Kaye Chazan (What Aelister Found Here and The Ashkenazi Candidate, both available at Candlemark & Gleam) Erica is responsible for the BDSM musical Dogboy & Justine, and serves as creative director and co-founder of Treble Entendre Productions.

She also has issues with authority. And curses too fucking much.

Connect with Erica:

• Facebook: Erica Kudisch
• Instagram: hardhandmaiden
• Tumblr:  shitmywriterwifesays.tumblr.com
• Twitter: @EricaKudisch

 

To celebrate the release of Don’t Feed the Trolls, one lucky winner will receive a $30 Riptide credit and a $20 Steam gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 8, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!