My name is Jennifer Lee Rossman, and I am a queer, autistic, and disabled science fiction writer from Binghamton, New York.
Quite a lot of information in that sentence, huh? That’s what I use in my official author bio, when I submit stories. Tells you everything you need to know about me. So the rest of this page will be filled with pictures of narwhals
What? I’m being told I shouldn’t do that. I disagree, since narwhals are the best thing ever. They are whales, which are awesome, and also in unicorns, which are awesome and sparkly. But whatever. Let’s talk about me.
Let’s start with the name. Jennifer Lee Rossman. Rossman, by the way, it’s pronounced like the Friends character. The best Friends character, because he was a paleontologist. Okay. Maybe I like dinosaurs a little bit more than I like narwhals. But anyway, my name. I don’t mind being called Jen or Jennifer. And I’m not gonna lie; most of the reason I use my middle name in my official author name is the fact that my full name is an anagram of “more ferns, ninja eels.”
So now we move onto queer. I know not all LGBTQIA people like that word. I do. So what does that mean for me? I am bisexual. I'm also… not really a girl. I don't know what I am. I experience gender dysphoria sometimes but usually I am OK with being female. I call myself a dude-girl sometimes. My pronouns are they/them.
Autism! Yay! I am self diagnosed. I went through evaluations and I definitely had autistic tendencies but we did not have enough proof from my childhood to diagnose me because… paperwork basically. I don’t think like most people. This is very evident when I try to write non-autistic characters. So I think I’m about done writing non-autistic characters The autistic ones have always been my favorites anyway.
Disability. The thing everyone sees first about me. I have used a wheelchair since I was very young, I have scoliosis, and my limbs don’t bend right. I have spinal muscular atrophy, And while this is a very important part of how I see me and how I see the world, it is one of the more boring parts of my life in my opinion. I dictate most of my writing and sometimes my phone misunderstands me. I take great care in editing my stories, but I don't always pay that much attention on my blog.
I am a writer of science fiction and fantasy stories and books that make my grandma say “well that’s interesting.“ They are weird, usually sweet, usually acceptable for children. Most of my characters are either queer, autistic, or disabled in some way. Some of them are more than one of these things. Some of my earlier work didn’t feature characters that were “different”. But the more comfortable I am with myself, the more comfortable I am writing characters like me.
And finally, Binghamton. I moved here in March 2019, about a month after I moved out of my mom‘s apartment. I live in a group home, and my life is different and scary and exciting and fun. I have had adventures, moving out after 28 years of living with my mom, and some of those adventures will undoubtedly find their way into my stories.
I will close this page with photos from my most recent adventure: I went to a pride festival. Oh, and would you look at my shirt… I found a way to have pictures of narwhals on my About Me page after all!
