Meet the Failcrew – Alina Chimanovitch-Leigh

В некотором царстве, в некотором государстве, жили-были…

*needle scratch*

A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away…

*sigh*

Remember that bit where the teacher goes, “Ok, now we’re going to go in a circle and everyone is going to say a few words about themselves”? My hatred of that bit is second only to my hatred of “You speak *language*? Say something in *language*!” Therefore we will skip that bit and go straight to some actual questions!

What is your role in Made of Fail Productions?

I’m in charge of the incest. What? If you saw the Google search terms that lead people to Second Time Around, you’d feel like it took over your life too.

What I actually mean is that currently I blog my reread of A Game of Thrones for Second Time Around. I also have a hand (and a voice) in Galilea and have been a guest as a panellist on Episode 46 of Made of Fail.

My favourite duty is actually being Noel’s understudy when it comes to squicking out Dayna.

What fascinates you the most about your fandoms, or fandom as a whole?

Probably their self-perpetuating nature. I feel like it’s hard to just be part of one fandom on the internet, because eventually, you’ll get sick of your fandom friends talking about other books or shows or games that they enjoy and you end up checking it out. One day, you’re happy in your little Harry/Draco corner of the Net and before you know it, it’s 5 am and you’ve spent all night reading Gaeta/Baltar fanfics.

If you were part of a starship crew, what would your position be?

Communications officer. Hopefully, this alternate, space-travelling me would not have my laziness and wouldn’t let the languages she learned lapse from disuse.

I’m fluently bilingual (Russian is my native language; I speak English just as freely, I actually think in both depending on the context), but I also studied French (which I still speak decently), Spanish, German, and Japanese. More than just languages, I’m used to bridging cultural gaps. I’m married to an American (himself a product of a multi-cultural home) and all the family dinners pass in two languages with me providing simultaneous translation. When my family immigrated, I was at that awkward early-teen age that made me old enough to retain most of my birth culture but young enough to assimilate a lot of the new. At its best, this means belonging to two cultures. At its worst, it means belonging nowhere at all.

What do you do when you’re not online?

Sleep.

What is your dream job?

Copyeditor for Harlequin. I am currently an editor, a Production Editor officially, but copyediting, proofreading, and layout are all part of the job. It’s at a non-fiction legal publisher, though, and it’s all very dry and largely uninteresting. I didn’t grow up wanting to work in publishing, but after a year of studying commerce at a post-secondary level, I realized that what I really want to do for the rest of my life is be in a quiet corner with some books, that’s all.

What is your greatest pet peeve?

Just one? I’m such a peevish person, though…

Grammatically speaking, though Kevin covered the one that really sets my teeth on edge, I’m also bothered by “off of” (it’s just “off”)and the hypercorrection of “someone and me” to “someone and I” (sometimes “and me” is the correct thing to say; take out “someone and” and see which one fits).

Alina can be followed on Twitter (@LJmysticowl) and LiveJournal (mysticowl)

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