Hello there! My name is Talia Franks WHOMST MAY I BE, YOU ASK?
I am an intuitive person who finds joy in creating and building community with effort and intentionality. I’ve been told I’m quirky, and I know that I bring my unique experiences and critical points of view to every table.
I believe in the importance of language as something that can be used to both heal and harm, and that we need to be critical of the ways that we use language precisely because it can be weaponized in such a manner, particularly in literary and fandom spaces, which is where I have the most expertise.
I’m a writer, producer, designer, translator, and above all a creative who likes their feminism intersectional and their entertainment diverse. As an aspiring polymath (basically a nerd) I use every day as an opportunity to make real world magic a reality.
What do I value?
CREATIVITY. EQUITY. INTUITION. JOY. KNOWLEDGE. COMMUNITY.
(I tried to find a way to make that into a cute acronym, but alas, it just doesn’t work in English. Such a pity.)
In every project I undertake and in all of my writing I center these six themes. I follow my intuition, I strive for equity in all situations, I work in community with others, and I create things that bring joy to myself and to all I encounter.
What do I create?
At my core I am a writer. I’m never more comfortable than when I have a pen in hand, though I’m getting pretty good with a set of knitting needles, when I need to take some time to relax. Writing is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of my creating, however, as I am also a cosplayer, a podcaster, and a creator of chaos. My services page provides information about the types of contract work that I typically provide to clients, including web design, audio production work, social media marketing, and more.
At present I am co-host and executive producer of The Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Podcast, a retroactive, deep dive Doctor Who analysis podcast in collaboration with my friend Lucia Kelly.
My publications page leads to external writing for outlets such as Nerdist, Cambridge Day, Black Nerds Create and others, alongside internal essays and posts. Word-for-Sense and Other Stories began as a blog where I posted 1-2 times a week for about 2.5 years. Previously my posts had a heavy focus on book reviews and academic content, as I started the blog the summer before beginning the final year of my graduate program while working in an internship at a publishing company in Boston.
My current series of posts is The Percy Jackson Project, where I am reading through all of Rick Riordan’s Demigods books as an adult. Occasionally I will make additional posts regarding fandom properties or poetry.
The publications page also includes a list of and links to podcasts I’ve been featured on, information about my own podcasts, recordings of panels and readings, information about past appearances that were not recorded, and information about upcoming appearances. All of this information is also available on my appearances page.