WELCOME!! TO GENRE EXERCISE!!!

I promise, I will not yell at you in all caps the whole time.

Hi everyone! Welcome to Genre Exercise. 

If you’ve made your way here, chances are you are familiar with me and my general deal; my mise-en-scene. If, however, you just stumbled across me: hi, I’m Maxine Kaplan and I’m the kind of pretentious asshole who uses “mise-en-scene” in a blog post.

I’m also a writer, reader, watcher, gamer, and collector. I’ve written two young adult novels, both published by Amulet Books. They are The Accidental Bad Girl, a feminist noir (Starred Review in Publishers Weekly) and Wench, a fantasy adventure following the quest of chaotic (bisexual, natch) tavern wench to reclaim her stolen inn. I also write visual novels (basically visual choose-your-own-adventure) games for Storyloom. They are in the genres of romantasy, new adult superhero, and sci-fi medical romance. I have graphic novels and adult horror books in the pipeline. I have a closet full of comic books in original slipcases. I watch a lot of Star Trek. I collect antiquarian books (working on a complete set of Collins Crime Club Agatha Christie–the true first editions).

In short, I’m a genre magpie obsessed with the mechanics and machinations of storytelling. 

I also have a lot of hatreds, niche hot takes, and firm opinions. And so we come to Genre Exercise.

This is going to be the place where I lay out in detail why it’s a travesty that Bess Marvin in the CW Nancy Drew show wasn’t fat. The place where I deep dive into the fever dream that was watching Felicity in real time (I am a pre-streaming-era old. I’m sorry.) as it unceremoniously turned into a time travel witch show for its final seven episodes. The place where I celebrate Stephanie Brown as an unsung feminist hero in the DC Comics universe.

It’s also going to be a place where I talk about process. “Craft.” Sometimes. You know, in the rare moments when I have a grip on it.

This is going to be a free newsletter for now. It’s plausible that one day I’ll add a very minimal paid tier, but that’s very, very far in the future. In the meantime, look for an essay every two weeks.

In the meantime, I hope you subscribe to this free look into my brain. It is harrowing to live in, but amusing to visit! Welcome! I also hope you get in touch and tell me what you’re interested in! Because this is, let’s be honest, mostly about me, but also–kind of!--about you, dear reader.

Let’s go.