When I was a grade schooler, geek culture as it exists today hadn’t been invented yet. (Science fiction and its fan community had been invented, but not in the forms we know nowadays – its demographic was relatively narrow, its interests more tightly focused, and its very existence not widely known outside its own membership.)

That started to change in the mid-1960s, largely as a direct result of Star Trek, whose audience made a spectacular fuss when the show was cancelled. In turn, the success of the series in syndication made the movie and TV industry realize that there was, potentially, serious money to be made from SF viewers and readers – and over the next several decades, the available supply of – and demand for – SF and fantasy fiction in all forms has grown exponentially. In effect, the nerds and geeks among us have won the culture wars (Genre romance is still ahead in print publishing, but for practical purposes, the biggest money in movies, television, and gaming is solidly parked in the SF/F sector.)

That said, some of the more organized and specialized parts of the larger fan community remain something of a mystery to those not actively involved. This site is meant as of a field guide for some of the more esoteric parts of fandom, and is aimed primarily at those just wading into these subsets of the fannish world. It is not comprehensive – for example, I’ve omitted discussing anime or manga because it isn’t one of my own interests, and I’ve not touched on comics as such because my knowledge in that sector is years if not decades out of date.

• Dungeons & Dragons games
  I discovered D&D in junior high, and was an avid gamer for many years.  I haven’t played regularly for quite some time now, but I still try to keep an eye on the game’s development.
  
• Fanfiction (or Fanfic)
  As I’ve said elsewhere on this site, I read voraciously, and I number fanfic as one of my reading-interests both for academic reasons and because I find it interesting and entertaining.  And long ago, I wrote a Star Trek/Sherlock Holmes story (“The Adventure of the Unearthly Cat”) which appeared in a singularly obscure print fanzine.
  
• Filk Music
  I’m not particularly musical by training or skillset — I can more or less carry a tune, but my best instrument is the stereo and I don’t read or write music as such.  However, I’ve written a significant number of filk lyrics, and at conventions where filking occurs you can usually find me in an open circle.
  
• SF Conventions
  I’ve been attending science fiction conventions — initially as a fan, more recently in connection with my writing — since the 1980s, and have served on a number of con organizing committees (mostly but not exclusively for various OryCons).
  

• Sherlock Holmes
  Yes, Holmes & Watson technically belong to the mystery genre – but over the years, both fan and pro creators have introduced him to Dracula, James T. Kirk, the Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Lovecraft’s terrifying Old Ones, and all manner of other monsters and aliens. (The Star Trek connections are particularly amusing; James Moriarty twice nearly took over the U.S.S. Enterprise-A, and a case can be made for Holmes being a direct ancestor of Mr. Spock.)