Okie From Muskogee: Rachel Atherton explores new worlds

Jul. 29—Galaxies far, far away fascinate Rachel Atherton.

She recalls having a "Star Wars" wedding complete with light sabers and a minister dressed as a Jedi. She wears a "Star Trek" uniform in her Facebook profile. A Darth Vader figurine she got on her honeymoon stands on her desk.

"It's not hard for me to get swept up in a whole new universe," she said. "If something has a captivating story and solid characters, I'm a goner."

Atherton said her parents loved the science fiction and fantasy classics. So did she.

"My mom and I really loved the Harry Potter books, we would read those when we got together," she said. "Then my dad introduced me to 'Lord of the Rings.'"

The different movies hit the theaters when she was a teen.

"I can't remember to say a single sentence in Spanish, but I still remember how to say Hello in Klingon and Elvish," Atherton said.

"Mae govannen" means well met in the Elvish lingo from "Lord of the Rings" and "qapla'l" is how the Klingons of "Star Trek" say victory, she said.

Atherton likes getting others interested as well. As a teen coordinator at Muskogee Public Library, Atherton helped coordinate several Mini-Cons, where people gathered to celebrate fantasy and pop culture.

Creative writing is another way Ahterton explores new worlds. She's taking creative writing classes through Northeastern State University. NSU's literary journal "The Talon" published one of her poems. She said she is writing a historical fiction book set in Oklahoma.

"It's about a group of young kids who want to find Belle Starr's loot," she said. "There is so much history here. That leaves a lot to write about.

"When I started researching for my novel, I learned about a lot of different things — ghost towns, places that were inundated by Lake Eufaula, Belle Starr, Bass Reeves, Ned Christie."

Science fiction challenged her imagination

Rachel Atherton grew up loving "Star Wars" and "Star Trek."

"Something about Darth Vader really captivated me," she said. "You have Anakin Skywalker. I can talk about that for hours about the tragic hero, and then his eventual redemption arc, a hero's journey."

Atherton said Skywalker began as a Jedi and became Darth Vader after being seduced by the Dark Side.

"Then, later on his son, Luke Skywalker, convinces him there is still good within him," she said. "And he saves Luke from the evil emperor."

She also gets into the different "Star Trek" shows."

"It's the characters that make it — Spock, Kirk, Bones. and later, in 'The Next Generation,' Picard is such an amazing captain," she said. "I think I prefer him to Kirk. Kirk has such a cowboy attitude whereas Picard is more of an intellectual. He seems to make decisions in a more well rounded way."

MPL Mini-cons benefit from her sci-fi love

Atherton shared her love of fantasy by helping at Muskogee Public Library Mini-Cons.

"You need to get people who are really excited about the different fandoms and bringing people together," she said. "Especially someone like me who can just talk about Star Wars for 20 minutes without shutting up. Those kind of people with that real sort of passion who want to put on an event for other people to come and meet others to make connections."

The gatherings take a lot of organizing and planning. At the 2022 event, young adult author Elise Cova did a panel and paper craft artist David Landis taught how to make characters.

"We had a bunch of different people showing up in Cosplay," Atherton said. "There was a big show-up for Marvel. and Anime has a huge fandom. There are actually a lot of people in Muskogee who are Anime fans. There was girl who showed up covered in fake blood. She actually won a prize for her costume."

She loved how people came together.

"We had crafters who did medieval crafting," she said. "People would get T-shirts and come to the events and get stamps in their books."

Atherton has used creative writing in her jobs

"A lot of the writing I picked up and used for events and programs at the library," she said. "When I was the teen coordinator over there, I did a lot of marketing for events and writing different little skits for library events."

She also helped former MPL librarian Jeremy Jackson write the MiniCon program for several years.

"I was able to plan a lot of that out," she said. "At last year's MiniCon, the booklet you received when you went in there, I wrote a poem about the library that was featured, along with a fantasy map of the library."

Atherton said she also uses her creative writing background to write grants for Neighbors Building Neighborhoods.

"The creative writing is helpful, even as I have to be a little more technical about how to write things," she said. "It helps me learn how to spin things and how to stretch things to fit in ways I otherwise would not have thought about without a background in creative writing."

She said creative writing helps her find a better way of phrasing and describing things in a proposal.

"Instead of something that just reads like it's from a promotional brochure," she said. "It's something that will have a little voice to it and have a little uniqueness for potential funders. If you have a little voice in what you're writing, it helps you stand out , It gives you the impression that you care about what you're writing about. You really do want funding for this cause and you feel strongly about it."

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE AN OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE?

"My family is from here. My parents met here. I moved back here to be with my mom's family and we've always had things like 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' and Harry Potter and 'Lord of the Rings' sort of bonded us together. Me and my mom and dad."

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT MUSKOGEE?

"I like the friends that I have met here, that I have made here. I like the history in this area. But the people here are great."

WHAT WOULD MAKE MUSKOGEE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

"More hobby stores. I used to work at Hastings when it was still here."

WHAT PERSON IN MUSKOGEE DO YOU ADMIRE MOST?

"My two best friends, Angel Ford and Devon McKay. I met them while working at the library, and we had a lot of similar interests in TV shows, movies and books. They were eventually bridesmaids at my wedding."

WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE THING TO HAPPEN TO YOU IN MUSKOGEE?

"Definitely my wedding, which was in the back yard of my in-laws' house. It was a 'Star Wars' theme. Basically, I walked down the aisle to the 'Imperial March' and I had a bouquet with a light saber handle. My wedding party all had light sabers that they wielded over light saber battles. My friend Jeremy Jones married us. He was dressed up like a Jedi. That was a lot of fun."

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

"I play a lot of video games. I read. I watch TV, movies."

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP MUSKOGEE IN 25 WORDS OR LESS?

"A place with more culture to it than meets the eye at first glance, where there's lots of friends to be met and memories to be made."