Tynan Drake

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Writing about trauma, recovery, mindfulness, empathy, & neurodiversity through the lens of surrealist, existential, fantasy/speculative fiction.


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About
Tynan
Drake
Other
Non-binary transgender. Pronouns: they/them
United States
18-29
Writing Experience
41
32, 30
46, 51, 55, 61, 62
Writing Interests

I'm interested in a CP who will give their honest and respectful thoughts about my writing. I'm not looking for encouragement or validation that my writing is "good," I want to actually improve my skills. My biggest concerns are whether my writing is conveying the ideas I want readers to understand, and that I'm not misrepresenting any communities or cultures I include in my writing.

I'm happy to engage in brainstorming and general creativity or craft exercises. Mostly I'm looking for critique partners who are interested in regular and long term engagement with writing, creative discussion, and other related activities.

I write long serial fiction and transmedia storyworlds as much of my early influences were epic fantasies.

I mostly write fantasy with some sci-fi and horror elements. My writing focuses heavily on existential and contemplative thought and often includes surrealist themes. My favorite thing about writing fantasy is worldbuilding, particularly in the development of complex cultures and histories (and how these may change, be misrepresented, and misunderstood as time passes). My writing always includes elements of trauma and recovery and I attempt to use my writing to advocate for mindfulness and acceptance of mental health care. I write about neurodiverse (autism and multiplicity mostly) and LGBTQ+ characters. In my writing I attempt to celebrate diverse lifestyles and worldviews. Though much of my writing does have themes of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic narratives I try to write from a perspective of hope rather than futility.

I'm also interested in transmedia storytelling and plan to expand upon the storyworlds in my novels through other forms of media such as podcasts, comics, short film animation, and interactive media.

I am willing to at least consider anything within the genres of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, however I will not accept any requests for works that are intended to be degrading towards any persons regardless of race, sexuality, gender identity/expression, mental/physical condition, culture, religion, nationality, etc.

I will also not review work if you refuse to give trigger warnings. I write about trauma and I understand the importance of writing about various experiences. However it is not only disrespectful to not provide trigger warnings, but it actively endangers the health, well-being, and lives of people with trauma and PTSD. I will not reject work simply because it includes traumatic content, but trust me the shock value will not add anything beneficial to your story. Please respect this and provide any and all trigger warnings (no matter how trivial they may seem) that are relevant each piece of writing you ask me to look at. A single unexpected trigger event can have consequences for weeks which disrupts my daily life, making college, work, and interpersonal relationships more difficult than they already need to be. Providing trigger warnings means that I am able to mentally prepare for what I am going to read which not only protects my own health but also allows me to actually fairly evaluate your work and therefore provide more beneficial feedback.

Anyone who violates this trigger warning request will never again receive any feedback from me, including for the first piece sent. This is a serious matter that impacts my health and daily life and I have no time to waste on toxic people who won't respect that.

Fiction:
Octavia E. Butler: "Blood Child and Other Stories," "Parable of the Sower," "Fledgling" (dystopian, sci-fi, and fantasy)
Kazuo Ishiguro: "Never Let Me Go" (dystopian sci-fi)
Alan Brennert: "Moloka'i" (historical fiction)
Stanley Crawford: "Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine" (humorous fiction)
Ursual K. Le Guin: Pretty much everything she wrote
James Welch: "Fools Crow" (historical fiction)
Leslie Marmon Silko: "Ceremony" (historical fiction)
E.E. Knight: Age of Fire series
Laurell K. Hamilton: Anita Blake & Merry Gentry series, "Strange Candy" (fantasy/horror)
Patricia Briggs: Mercy Thompson series (fantasy)

YA:
David Clement-Davies: "The Sight," "Fire Bringer," "Fell"
Edith Pattou: "East"
Kathryn Erskine: "Mockingbird"
Patrick Ness: "And the Ocean Was Our Sky"
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes: The Kiesha'ra series
Poetry:
Angela Jackson-Brown: "House Repairs"
William Evans: "Still Can't Do My Daughter's Hair"

CNF:
Eula Biss: "Notes From No Man's Land: American Essays," "The Balloonist"

Podcasts:
Night Vale Presents: "Welcome to Night Vale," "Dreamboy," "Adventures in New America," "Alice Isn't Dead," "I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats," "Good Morning Night Vale"
"Mission to Zyxx"
Aaron Mahnke: "Lore"

Movies & TV shows:
The Matrix storyworld (including transmedia content)
Atypical
Black Mirror
Steven Universe
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix version)
Rick and Morty
The 100
Dark Matter
Balto
RENT
Coco
How to Train Your Dragon movies & Dragons tv series

My worldview on life is that it should be experienced, and so I tend to take the opportunity to engage in just about any experience I can. I love to travel and learn about various cultures, especially the opportunities that allow me to learn from niche or socially divergent groups. I've been to furry conventions and burning man regional events. I've done fall time camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and visited Molokai where I spent the majority of my time learning about local cultures, history, and customs. I've hung out around BDSM and various pagan community crowds and in general am an advocate for various lifestyles, worldviews, and communities that promote mindfulness and reject toxicity. I studied Creative Writing in my undergrad with a focus on fiction and am currently working on a Masters in CW and Emerging Media. I'm a pretty open book so if you have any questions, or are curious about anything I've experienced feel free to ask.