This will eventually have a lot of answers to a lot of questions I get asked all the time; more coming as I think of additional ones.
*Have a question? Leave it below and I might add it to this page!
Who ARE you? My name is Kristina Horner, and I have been making things on the internet for a long time. From my very early days of Neopets and Fanfiction, to my wizard rock band The Parselmouths, to making YouTube videos and starting the collab channel Fiveawesomegirls to my nerd rock back ALL CAPS to my web series Job Hunters to my gaming channel Team Hypercube... I’ve done a lot. Go here to find out about all my various past projects.
Are you sure you’re not that girl from Superbad/Easy A/the mermaid from Pirates 4 etc? No. I’m Kristina, see above. It’s nice to meet you.
When/where can I read your book? I haven’t published anything yet! I’m sorry – I know I’ve been literally doing NaNo and talking about writing for over a decade now, but I spent most of that time learning and practicing, and I wouldn’t want to put a book out before I knew I was ready to do so. I am working more seriously on a project I think might be “the one” right now, but these things take a long time so I have no guesses as to when it might be available. I will post all over social media when that day comes, however – you wont miss it.
In the mean time, check out the Books and Writing page on my blog for updates and for short stories I have shared on this blog.
Can you give me any writing advice? Should I do NaNoWriMo? You should absolutely do NaNoWriMo, if you like writing. It’s changed my life entirely, and it’s one of the things I look forward to the most each year. I’ve made many, many videos about writing and participating in NaNo, and the ‘best-of’ list is here.
The Internet is a big, noisy place – what is the BEST way to stay in touch with you? Honestly? Probably either this blog, or my newsletter. No matter where life takes us, random-person-on-the-internet, we’ll always have my newsletter to bring us back together.
I want you to post a giveaway of my product or review it in one of your videos/blog posts! Sure! Please email me at kristinamakesvideos@gmail.com with details about your product and rates.
Can I mail you something? What’s your PO Box?
Sure! It’s: 10002 Aurora Ave N. #36 PMB 141, Seattle, WA 98133
I want to start vlogging; do you have any tips? Sure! Here are a couple:
Think up a list of video ideas (even something as simple as a single word for inspiration) and pick a static background to help make your videos a bit more iconic. Be sure to talk about things you’re passionate about, try to cut down on dead air and “ums”, and upload frequently! At least once a week is usually a good starting place. Beyond that, I would say practice makes perfect, and watch a lot of other YouTubers you admire for inspiration. There’s really no right or wrong way to do YouTube, so think about your goals and make sure to reach out to other YouTubers in a similar place to you to make connections and find buddies for things like collabs. Subscribers aren’t just going to come to you – make connections, comment on other people’s channels, and look for fun events and groups to join to meet people are get yourself out there.
What equipment do you use for making videos? I have the Canon 60D DSLR camera with a 17-50mm f/2.8 Tamron lens for vlogs/music videos. Sometimes I use a Sony Alpha a5100 for handheld, simpler videos (usually for travel), but recently I have also been defaulting to my iPhone 6 for quick vlogging. I edit my videos on Adobe Premiere Pro and I alternate between Mac and PC computers.
Where do you buy your costumes? I don’t buy them, I usually always make them! I tend to make just about everything from scratch, but I will buy key pieces here and there when it makes sense. Like shoes. I do a lot of painting of shoes because ain’t no one got time to learn how to make shoes.
Can you make me a costume? Probably not. I’m sorry. I work a 9-5 job and barely have time to make my own costumes the way it is, but there are plenty of other people online who take commissions!
Where do you buy your wigs? Most of my wigs come from Arda, but I venture out to other places if they don’t have what I need. I’ve also bought wigs from WigisFashion, Wigaholics, and regular old eBay.
What’s your favorite TV show/movie/video game/anime/book?
TV: Parks and Rec, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bob’s Burgers, Adventure Time, Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Battlestar Galactica, Gravity Falls, Stranger Things, Firefly
Movie: Across the Universe, Tangled, Easy A, Moulin Rouge, Hook, Wreck it Ralph, all the new Tinkerbell movies
Video Game: Dokapon Kingdom, most Pokémon games, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Castle Crashers
App Game: Mini Metro, Tap Titans, 2048, SpaceTeam, Disco Zoo, Framed, Dragonvale, Neko Atsume, Pokemon Go, Lifeline, INKS, My Horse Prince, AZZL, bit bit blocks
Anime: Madoka Magica, Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon, Yuri on Ice, Angel Beats, Tenchi Muyo, Rosario + Vampire
Book: Harry Potter (too many others to list)
I tend to talk about all the things I like on my YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe to follow my videos! If you have a specific question, you can send me a Tweet, or follow my Goodreads for up to date reading recommendations.
What character do you play on World of Warcraft? I do play World of Warcraft, though my account has been on hiatus for awhile! My main is a human mage, and my two favorite alts are a night elf hunter and a human monk.
Kristina, YOU went to the University of Washington… should I? I’m going to be honest with you — I transferred to UW as a junior, so I only went there for 2 years. Those two years were at a peak of my involvement with wizard rock and YouTube, so college got put a bit lower down on my priority list sometimes. I went to my classes (which were all pretty good) and I liked my professors (for the most part) but I wasn’t really involved in a ton of extracurriculars or anything. I was lucky enough to make friends with my housemates (I moved into a college house with 5 other people which was a ton of fun) and through them made a whole network of great friends here in Seattle, but I didn’t actually make many friends in my classes. I think UW probably has some great clubs and things set up for making friends easily (also I’m sure living in the dorms helps) but I’m afraid I’m not much help on that front. Overall the campus is beautiful, the University District is amazing (I lived there for another 2 years after graduating) and overall Seattle is a great place to live and full of awesome people. I didn’t particularly get the most out of UW as I could have, but living in the area has offered me a lot of great experiences and opportunities anyway.
I’ve visiting Seattle soon! Where should I go?
1. Pike Place Market: There are tons of things to do and buy and eat around there! It’s a fun open air market to walk around/check out vendors/see the flying fish/experience Seattle. It’s also home to Seattle’s famous gum wall.
2. Space Needle: This costs a lot of money to go inside, but is honestly just as cool to admire from the outside. The Space Needle is an observation tower in the heart of Seattle that was built for the 1962 World’s Fair (it’s 605 feet tall!). I’ve always thought it looked like a space ship waiting to blast off, and that sci-fi charm fits right in with our weird city. Plus, if you just want to look at it from the outside, you’ll already be right in Seattle center and can check out the giant fountain, which is AWESOME when it’s running in the summer.
3. MoPop: The Museum of Pop Culture is one of my personal favorite things in Seattle, so I’d definitely put it on your list of things to check out. This museum is not only totally funky from the outside, but it houses exhibits around themes like Horror Movies, Fantasy and Science Fiction IPs, and upcoming video games. It’s also usually got at least one rotating exhibit, which has been things like Star Wars costumes, Battlestar Galactica, Jim Henson, Rube Goldberg and Hello Kitty.
4. Fremont Troll: This is an actual giant stone troll under the big bridge in Fremont. Totally free and always awesome to take pictures in front of, though it’s a little bit of a trek from downtown. If you make it out there though, Fremont is a really funky little borough with cool shops/bars/restaurants and worth checking out.
5. Seattle water front at the pier: This is another fun area with touristy shops and restaurants, as well as the brand new light-up “Great Wheel”. Plus a well-known old curiosity shoppe and a carousel – and who doesn’t like carousels, come on. This is walkable from Pike Place if you don’t mind stairs.
6. Gasworks Park: Beautiful, right by the water, with all sorts of crazy colorful pipe things all over the place. People tend to fly kites there in the summer too, which is fun to watch or participate in, if you’re into that.
7. Hiking: Seattle is extremely well known for its hiking. Look up some hikes on alltrails.com and don your hiking boots, because you’re missing out if you don’t hit at least one while you’re here. Discovery Park is great and right in the city, but there are some phenomenal ones a bit further out if you’re willing to drive.
