​It's summer, which means family road trip season for this Geek Mom!  We've spent an inordinate amount of quality time in the car this past week, which means I've had to find ways to keep my little geeks entertained.  We generally love audiobooks, so I decided to dig up one of my old favorites and see if the next generation will enjoy it as much as I did!
 

​If you haven't read these books, I can't recommend them highly enough!  I was unsure if Asprin's worlds and words would hold up over time, but meeting these characters again after so many years was like greeting old friends.  My kids were absolutely entranced as well, and getting to see Skeeve, Aahz (a scaly green Pervect), Tanda (an olive-skinned Trollop), and Gleep (Skeeve's delightful baby dragon) through their eyes was absolutely charming!
 
Listening to this book reminded me of how I fell in love with quirky fantasy novels.  I can almost see a direct line from my love affair with Asprin's books to my admiration of Terry Pratchett, and later my love of Harry Dresden and other urban fantasy!
 
Another Fine Myth is not a long audiobook - the unabrigdged version from Audible runs under six hours - but the narration is fantastic, and when it ended my son asked, "When can we get the next one?!" So this was definitely a win, and we'll be enjoying many more adventures with Skeeve and Aahz in the near future!

by Brooke

Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology._

The nonprofit provides girls in the 6th to 12th grades with education and mentorship in the realm of computing. The group runs programs and clubs across the U.S. to teach programming, web development and design, mobile development and robotics. 

Interested in joining the program, starting a local club, teaching some courses or getting your company involved in Girls Who Code? Learn more here.

Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program:
 
Calling all future computer scientists! Girls Who Code offers a free 7-week summer program for girls in the 10th and 11th grades in a list of cities across the country.

The application deadline for the program is March 1st. 

If you’ve seen this illustration:

Or drooled over this art:

And you wanted to buy this shirt:

Congratulations, you are part of Karen Hallion’s growing fan club!

Here at Geek Girls, Inc. we are HUGE fans of Karen’s work. We recently had the exciting
opportunity to interview Karen about her work and her love of everything geeky.

15, definitely.

I can’t write to save my life. I struggle with coming up with even small descriptions of my work. When I do those designs, I put a lot of thought into how best to merge the two stories to create a new one.  Fans are so protective of their Disney and Doctor Who, I want to respect that and the two worlds that have already been created, as well as respecting the characters and their stories.  But, it's fun to play "what if.”

Well, about five years ago, I lost my job. Up until that point, I had been doing a lot of mermaids, geisha, and art nouveau work in my spare time when I wasn’t teaching and had already started to think about trying a freelance career in art.  When I lost my job, I looked around at some of my favorite artists and I thought, “I am going to focus all of my efforts to make this work as a successful career.” I started doing some pop culture designs and ended up subbing some work to Tee Fury, which was my introduction into t-shirt design, and it kind of took off from there.

When my work began to make its rounds on t-shirt sites and Tumblr, it wasn’t until I was complimented at my local Whole Foods while wearing one of my shirts that I fully understood the reach of my artwork’s success. When I said that I had designed it, not only did they know who I was, but the cashier jumped in too to say they knew me as well.  It is an odd feeling, but that was the first time I thought, “I am doing okay!”

Working as an illustrator can be very solitary. I am alone at my desk most days and nights, so I love the social aspect of conventions and the chance to get away from my hermit-studio world to be somewhere new.  I also love the traveling and I love meeting other artists and trading stories.  The best part is meeting fans of my work although sometimes that itself can be overwhelming.  Being asked to take a picture with someone, or sign their shirt, or their arm (which happened once as they had tattooed my work and wanted to tattoo my signature!) is equal parts amazing and scary at the same time. They are always fun, if not exhausting, and usually after 3-4 days I am more than ready to go back to the quiet of my studio.

Social Media really is an artist's best friend these days. I know artists who don’t have a lot of followers and it can feel like they are posting their art and no one is seeing it.  But I got one of the biggest breaks in my career from something so random. I did this silly design which was a parody of Wil Wheaton.  His son saw it on Twitter, and showed Wil.  Wil contacted me and we made it into a shirt for charity.  Hank Green, who is friends with Wil, saw my work and contacted me to sell some shirts with his company. A few years later, when he was looking for an artist for his game, he asked me. You never know what opportunities will come your way, so just keep putting your work out there.

Thank you! It's so hard! But it's so good for me.  If drawing fan-based illustrations is like eating ice cream, creating original characters, for me, is like eating my vegetables. It's challenging, and a struggle, but it is making me so much stronger as an artist, and is so worth it in the end.  And, once I got the hang of it, it has gotten much, much easier. Still I have so much more work to do on this project that it is currently a little overwhelming to think about, but everyone's response has been so great, that helps.

I sell at a number of sites and am pretty active on social media. 
TeeFury:http://www.teefury.com/karen-hallion 

Society6: http://society6.com/KarenHallion(also pillows, mugs, etc)

TeePublic: https://www.teepublic.com/user/KHallion

DFTBA: http://store.dftba.com/search?type=product&q=karen+hallion

We Love Fine (licensed Lucas, Marvel, Hasbro, Cartoon Network): http://community.welovefine.com/profile/8832

Threadless: https://www.threadless.com/catalog/?keyword=karen+hallion

Spoonflower (fabric, not shirts): http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/karenhallionart       Once purchased, people can do whatever they want with it, including making something and selling it. :)

Coloring Pages can be found through Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/KarenHallion

Calendar: thetinkerspacks.com/collections/calendars/products/2016-hallion-calendar

DA: http://khallion.deviantart.com/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/khallion/

Tumblr: http://karenhallion.tumblr.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/karenhallionart/

Twitter: @khallion

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHallion/

​Parents and teachers: Find information on helping your future engineer learn about the field here.

​Engineers: Want to be a part of the EngineerGirl role model network? Sign up for the Directory of Women Engineers here.

by Brooke

​Our editors believe everyone should have the opportunity to level up - especially when it comes to education!

Beginning in January 2016, every month we will feature a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of girls’ and women’s learning opportunities in the U.S.A. and around the world. We will also feature people doing amazing things in the fields of STEM, writing and the arts.
 
So keep an eye out for our cool new learning stuff under the “Learn & Thrive” column!
 
If you’re ready to support teaching initiatives now, have a look at this article from December highlighting 5 education nonprofits you will love:

​ ‘Tis the Season for Giving: Help Future Geeks with these 5 Education Nonprofits
 
Happy New Year!

All we want right now is NO STAR WARS SPOILERS!!!

​On the 12 Days of Geekmas, my true loves gave to me:

​12) Idris Elba Running

11) Sherlock Piping

​10) Time Lord a-Leaping

​9) Hiddles Dancing

​8) Mutants Grinning

​7) Mark a-Plying

​6) Six Men of Marvel

​5) One Smouldering King

​4) Gosling as a Nerd

​3) French Firemen

​2) Two Adorable Guardians

​1) Eric Northman in Front of a Tree

by Brooke
​​The holidays are a time for giving – and I don’t mean handing over our hard-earned cash to Disney for more Star Wars merch. My fellow geeks, ‘tis the season to proudly share our lives with those in need.
 
Looking for a way to end the year by making a difference in a young geek girl’s life? Here are 5 nonprofit organizations that are doing wonderful things for girls’ and boys’ education in the USA and around the world, and how you can help.

She’s The First
 
She’s the First supports 568 female scholars in 11 countries by providing the academic tools and mentorship they need to advance their education.
 
Mission: “She’s the First provides scholarships to girls in low-income countries, fostering first-generation graduates and cultivating the next generation of global leaders.”
 
How you can help: Sponsor a scholar by donating directly to her cause, help the organization raise funds and awareness, or shop at the She’s the First store.

Girls Inc.
 
Girls Inc. is a network of local nonprofit organizations that serves 140,000 girls across the USA and Canada. The programs assist girls in achieving academically, leading healthy lives, managing money, navigating media messages and discovering an interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
 
Mission: “Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, providing more than 140,000 girls across the U.S. and Canada with life-changing experiences and solutions to the unique challenges girls face.”
 
How you can help: Donate or volunteer for your local Girls Inc. office, or help the Public Policy Office at Girls Inc. advocate for policies that will protect girls’ rights.

Child Empowerment International
 
Child Empowerment International provides educational programs and health care for children in war-torn areas.
 
Mission: “Our mission is to challenge the cycle of poverty in areas of civil unrest through empowering and educating marginalized children.
 
How you can help: Give to help cover costs of disaster relief and care, sponsor a child, or plan a volunteer trip.

Khan Academy
 
Khan Academy creates online video classes in math, science, economics, computing, the arts, and even test taking. The programs aren’t just for children - anyone can watch the educational material for free! The information is continuously being translated from English into various languages.
 
Mission: “To provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.”
 
How you can help: Donate to keep Khan Academy running, help review curricula or help translate the classes into your native language. More information here.
 
Happy Giving! 

I have six nieces and nephews ages 4-22 to buy for this year. Usually everyone gets "books from Aunt Lauren" (thank goodness they are all readers) and I have systematically introduced them to all of my favorite books and series over the last 10 years. It's become a tradition that we all enjoy.

This year I decided to switch up the theme from books to graphic novels/comic omnibus. There have been some great titles out there lately, and it's time to try and start them on the path of not only book readers, but comic lovers. (BTW - they don't read our blog, so hopefully my gift secrets are safe with you all!)

​It's Ugly Sweater Time!
 
Christmas, the magical time of year where you can do all sorts of weird ass traditions and everyone pretty much accepts it as normal, like Ugly Christmas Sweaters! To further embrace this odd tradition I have dug through Etsy to find some amusing and awesome examples of geeky ugly Christmas sweaters.