SONG OF THE DAY: “LONDON CALLING” – THE CLASH (In Honor of Paul Cornell’s US Novel Release Day!)

So, I was lucky enough to get an advance review copy of Paul Cornell’s new urban fantasy novel, London Falling, the story of a group of cops who end up getting the power to see all the supernatural goings on in London. I’m about halfway through it, and will be reviewing it officially for NerdSpan, but my early review is…it’s awesome. Seriously. You all already know I’m huge fan of Cornell’s work, but this is the best thing of his I’ve ever read (and in case you doubt my objectivity, come find me and I’ll tell you what the not-so-great things are). If you’re curious about the novel and you live in the US, you are in luck! The UK has had the book since December (and if you’re in the UK and haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for?!), but the book is released in the US TODAY! Hardback, e-book (DRM-free from Tor!), etc, etc. So pick up a copy this week! If you love urban fantasy, or just good stories that have fast-paced plots but are still very much character-driven and emotional, you won’t be disappointed. Promise.

And in honor of this book’s release, today’s Song of the Day is “London Calling” by The Clash. Enjoy!

*** DON’T FORGET THE POUND BY POUND PLEDGE DRIVE – RUNNING APR. 5TH 2013-APR. 5TH 2014 ***

Teresa’s L.A. Firsts: DISNEYLAND

It’s been a great couple of days! I found out I was going to be in the Monstrous anthology (a fact which Paul Cornell was kind enough to mention on his blog. Thanks, Paul!), and I got to help my good friend, Heather, celebrate her birthday while going to The Happiest Place on Earth for the first time!

That’s right – after a year and four months of living in L.A., I finally went to Disneyland for the first time. And I couldn’t have had a better first experience!

An old friend of my sister’s, Jimmy, is a musician at the park, and met up with me to sign me in. He hadn’t seen me since I was about four or five years old! So, we had a fun time catching up.

Me and Jimmy. A lot’s changed since I was in nursery school!

We, along with Heather, the Birthday Girl; Alex, her beau; and Dave, their friend who is a photographer at the park and signed them in, started heading down Main Street! First stop – getting our buttons!

My “1st Visit” Button! It’s official!

Me and the Birthday Girl, wearing her birthday button!

Now, I’m a generally happy person and tend to describe myself as a “twelve-year-old boy trapped in the body of a 33-year-old woman.” But I have to say that at first, I didn’t see what the big deal was. I mean, I’d been to Disneyworld in Florida before, as well as to other theme parks and amusement parks…but people here talk about Disneyland as if it’s a religious experience. When we first started walking around, I thought to myself “It’s cute and everything…but it’s just Disneyland. Whatever.”

We started in Adventureland with the Jungle Cruise, then did the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion…and I started to feel the Disney Spirit. By the time Alex had to move the car and Heather and I decided to do the “Baby Rides” while he was gone (the teacups, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Dumbo), I was fully in touch with my inner child! I don’t know how he did it, but Walt Disney managed to create a place where you can’t help but embrace the childish wonder inside yourself. By the time of the castle fireworks show at the end of the night, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of magic and hope, and despite the sky being a bit overcast, I “oohed” and “ahhhed” at every burst of color in the sky (and at Tinkerbell flying over the castle in a harness! Yeesh! I hope she gets paid extra for that!)

Teacups!

The view from Dumbo.

You know, I’ve never seen this movie. But the ride was adorable!

Speaking of childish wonder, I’d forgotten exactly how much I loved the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? when I was a kid, but when I got to Toontown, I felt immediately giddy!

Toontown!

Oh…my….God…it’s….DIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Spying on Jessica Rabbit.

Taking “blowing up your spot” to a whole new level!

But it wasn’t all childish wonder. There was some genuine, grown-up adventure to be had, too! The Indiana Jones ride was awesome! The Matterhorn was surprisingly frightening, if only because I was genuinely worried that my head was gonna get lopped off! And we loved Star Tours so much, we went on it twice!

C-3PO gets our Star Tours flight ready.

But we all know R2-D2 does all the work!

Rocking my extremely stylish Star Tours flight glasses. I love how the dude behind me is trying to not be photographed. GOTCHA ANYWAY!

And the food…OH, THE FOOD! I ate WAY more than I thought I would…

The fried chicken at Plaza Inn is God’s Fried Chicken. And for the HUGE amount of food you get, it’s the one place where you don’t feel like your meal is overpriced!

Gibson Girl ice cream rocked our socks!

And we can’t forget the “celebrity sightings!” We met Woody from Toy Story, Goofy as he led the New Orleans band, and over at California Adventure, we went to Cars Land and met DJ, Lightning McQueen, and my car boyfriend, Mater! Sadly, the wait for the Cars ride was too long for us to get on before closing, but it looks AMAZING, and will definitely be a priority for my next visit!

Woody was such a gentleman!

No matter how dreary the day, Goofy knows how to brighten things up!

Going our way?

DJ knows how to get the party started!

Of COURSE Lightning McQueen would be too busy to stop for a photo…

Mater and I have a deep, true love.

We had a HILARIOUS experience with Mater! Once he found out it was Heather’s birthday, he started singing her The Birthday Song…but couldn’t remember the words.

After a quick tour of California Adventure (complete with an awesome fountain light show and Muppets in 3D), it was back to the Disneyland park. Because no trip to any Disney park is complete without a ride on Space Montain!

It was an awesome day with great friends – and I’m already looking forward to my next trip!

Yup. My face here pretty much sums up how I feel about this ride.

GIRLGAMER POSTS: Catching You Up On INKED!

Poor little neglected blog! Don’t worry, I’m back to take care of you…

I’ve had some GirlGamer.com posts go up since I last wrote, so I figured I’d pimp those out to the comic fans out there! Check out the links below:

THE KICKSTART: The Werewolf of NYC: A piece I wrote about my talented friend, artist Edwin Vasquez’s, latest comic project, The Werewolf of NYC, and its (now successful) Kickstarter campaign.

INKED: The Adventures of a Comic-Con Girl: I have too many talented friends doing amazing things! This piece is about my pal Dana Braziel-Solovy’s first comic, The Adventures of a Comic-Con Girl, which is now on Issue #3.

And my most recent INKED column at GirlGamer, which posted today:

INKED: Saucer Country: My review of the Vertigo series, Saucer Country, written by my Older Brother in Writing Across the Pond, Paul Cornell.

Now, get out there and buy some comics! Support indie titles and local comic shops!

Twelve Posts Of Christmas #1: Ode to Pasteles

When I steal, I steal from the best. Paul Cornell has been doing The Twelve Blogs of Christmas for years, and they’re something I always look forward to. I also very much like the idea of them, giving your readers special gifts/opportunities/insights for the holiday season. Now that this blog is going on two years old, I thought I’d start a version of that tradition here. I hope Paul doesn’t mind.

My friend, Heather, made me rice and beans tonight, which I haven’t had in a long while! As it’s close to Christmas, it got me thinking about the specifically Puerto Rican food that my mom would make (around the holidays and otherwise), and I thought I’d share that meal and the memories associated with it w/you for my first Christmas post. So, without further ado…

PASTELES

Let me just be perfectly clear about this. I hated pasteles. Hated them with a fiery passion. They were gross, and ick, and yuck, and made of every tuber (yuca), banana-like fruit (green plantains), and other gross vegetables (olives and capers) I hated. My mom would be all, “But they’re a Puerto Rican food!” And I’d be all, “Well then, Puerto Rican food is disgusting!” What mystified me more than the fact that someone would wrap something this gross in a banana leaf and call it dinner was the fact that my dad and brother could not get enough of them!

Because they are so labor-intensive, my mom only really made them once a year. One big batch around Christmastime that seemed to last through the New Year. And while I hated pasteles and never ate them, I loved helping her make them. You see, my job was to help her grate the veggies.  Luckily, while I didn’t like eating them, using a grater on yuca and green plantains was hella fun! So, she’d sit me down at the table with a big pot and a pile of vegetables and a grater and I’d get to work as she did other stuff in the kitchen. And we’d talk about stuff. Or not; sometimes there would be music on. Or her novelas on Univision. But even if we weren’t talking at all, it was one of the times I felt closest to her. And it also made me feel important. After all, if I didn’t do my very important job, there would be no pasteles for anyone! It would ruin Christmas! I was an elf, and my mom was Santa Claus. (or, I was a camel, and my mom was one of the Three Kings if you wanna get really Boricua about it)

So, thank you, Mighty Pastel. You may taste nasty, but you helped me find closeness with my mom, and I guess that’s something.

For those of you who want to try your hand at this culinary “delight” (the quotes are mine. Remember, some people actually love these things!), I’ve included a recipe below, courtesy of Food.com. While there are as many pastel recipes as there are cooks, this one seems the closest to how my mother made them. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Yield: 16-20 Pasteles

• 1/2 cup lard or 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon annatto seeds
• 1 1/2 lbs lean pork , cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 lb pork fatback, cut into 1/2-inch pieces or 1/4 lb bacon , strips cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 -3 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 medium onion , coarsely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper , seeded and coarsely chopped
• 6 small sweet green peppers , seeded and coarsely chopped (aj?es dulces) (optional)
• 2 medium tomatoes , seeded and coarsely chopped
• 4 leaves fresh culantro , coarsely chopped (or cilantrillo, or both)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas (reserve the liquid)
• 1/3 cup pitted green olives , sliced into thin rounds, with 1 tablespoon liquid
• 1 tablespoon capers (optional)
• 2 cups raisins

Ingredients for the dough

• 2 large green plantains
• green bananas
• 2 lbs yautia (taro root, malanga, dasheen)
• 1 cup broth , reserved from cooking the filling
• 1 tablespoon salt

Ingredients for the wrapping

• 1 lb frozen banana leaves, spines removed or 1 lb fresh banana leaves , cut into 12-inch squares spines removed
• 20 sheets parchment paper , 12-inch x 18-inch (If banana leaves are not available, parchment paper may be used for entire wrapping)
• string or butcher s kitchen twine

Directions:

1. Add oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the annatto seeds and heat for one minute to release their orange color.
2. Remove from heat and drain the oil into a separate container.
3. Discard the seeds and return half of the oil to the skillet.
4. Return the oil to medium-high heat and add the pork and bacon. Brown for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, small green peppers, tomatoes, culantro, and oregano, and sauté for another 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the chickpeas and olives (with their respective liquids), capers, and raisins.
7. Cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 40 minutes. When done, uncover and allow to cool.
8. Drain the broth into a separate container and set aside.
9. Make the dough by peeling the plantains and the bananas, first cutting off the ends and running a knife tip lengthwise along one or more of the ridges.
10. Insert and run a thumb just beneath the cut peel to lift and remove it. Peel the yautia.
11. Place plantains, bananas, and yautia into a large bowl of salted cold water to prevent discoloring.
12. You can grate them using the fine side of a hand grater, or instead, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces for the processor.
13. Fill 1/3 to 1/2 of the food processor or blender container with the cut vegetables, slowly adding broth to form a smooth, porridgelike mash. It should not be runny.
14. Transfer the purée to a large bowl. If you run out of broth, substitute water as needed.
15. Stir in the salt and the remaining annatto oil.
16. Place a banana leaf on a sheet of parchment paper.
17. Drop a scant 1/2 cup of the dough onto the center of the leaf and spread it several inches all around with the back of a spoon.
18. Drop 2 tablespoons of the filling a bit off center. Fold each long side and then the ends toward the center.
19. Slide the encased leaf toward the long edge of the parchment and wrap again.
20. Fold end flaps over.
21. Tie two pasteles together, with folded edges facing each other.
22. To cook, put a batch (4 to 6 tied bundles) into a large kettle of salted boiling water and cook semicovered at medium-high heat for 30 minutes.
23. Turn the bundles over and cook 40 minutes more
24. When done, drain them well, remove the strings and wrappings, and serve hot.

30 Days of Doctor Who – Day 7

Day 7 – Favorite Episode

“Human Nature”/”The Family of Blood”

My favorite episode of Doctor Who is actually a two-parter by one of my favorite writers, Paul Cornell. “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” tells the story of The Doctor and Martha hiding from a group of aliens that have attacked them, needing The Doctor’s Time Lord life force to stay alive. In order to escape them, The Doctor hides out with Martha in 1913. The trick? In order for The Doctor to be untraceable to this family of aliens, who can smell out his life force, he contains his Time Lord essence in a fob watch that he entrusts to Martha, and lives a life for three months as a human being named John Smith. He has a career as a teacher at an all-boys school, he falls in love with a woman named Joan Redfern, and he lives a life of quiet wonder that The Doctor never gets a chance to have. Meanwhile, he has entrusted Martha with his life, which she protects with hers as she lives a humiliating life as a maid watching the man she loves fall in love with someone else.

I love this story, because we get to see The Doctor live as the species he so admires. It isn’t just that he falls in love – though his relationship with Joan is beautiful and heartbreaking – but that he gets to be human. He gets to understand what that really means.

I love this story, because we get to see how strong Martha is. So many people see Martha as weak because of her feelings for The Doctor, but it is her enormous heart and the way she owns her feelings so fearlessly that make her strong. When she believes in something, she will fight for it. This first big mission of hers guarding the fob watch (and The Doctor’s existence as a Time Lord) prepared her for evangelizing The Doctor later on in order to defeat The Master. This story shows Martha at her best.

I love this story because The Family of Blood is frightening, and yet, really charming. The way they refer to each other as “Son of Mine” and “Father of Mine”; the way the son sniffs around like an animal for The Doctor; the way they kill people and use the bodies to walk around and communicate.

I love the little runt of a boy who ends up helping The Doctor and Martha, and though he isn’t the best in military training along with the rest of the boys in school, he ends up fighting in the war when he’s older and becoming a war hero.

I love that The Doctor makes the most difficult decision of his life by choosing to give up his humanity. And I love that we get to see him at his most ferocious. He punishes each member of the Family of Blood by giving them exactly what they wanted: immortality. But he gives them this in the coldest way possible, and it sent a chill up my spine to watch him be that way.

Also, there were evil scarecrows. How could you not love evil scarecrows?

So there you have it, “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” are my favorite episodes of Doctor Who. Incidentally, the episodes are based on Paul Cornell’s Docotr Who novel, also called Human Nature, for those who care to read it!

My Reviewing Ethos

When commenting on Paul Cornell’s blog the other day, I mentioned the fact that I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the way he ended his Batman & Robin storyline. While I love the new villain he created in The Absence, I thought that how she turned out in the end was a bit of a cop-out. I mean, I got the point, what with her name and all, but… Well, I’ll write a separate review here another time, as this wasn’t really meant to be a review post.

The point is that Paul thought I’d ended up reviewing the issue positively, despite my reservations about it, in this week’s Best Shots Rapid-Fire reviews at Newsarama, and he commented back to me concerned that I’d written a positive review against my better judgment, saying “I would encourage you to say what you really think, even if you know the author. Most of us don’t take negative reviews from friends badly.”

I appreciated him saying that, but I’ve since corrected him: first, by telling him that another reviewer wrote the positive review he mistakenly attributed to me.  Second, by telling him that I’m not afeared of him or anyone else, and that if he ever writes something I think is crap, the world will know, as my Reviewer Pen is ready to slay and demolish as much as it’s ready to caress and coddle. (I kind of want a huge Reviewer Pen now, a la Gorilla Grodd’s Battle Spoon, or The Absence’s Scissors!)

But what he said got me thinking about how I approach my reviews. There’s definitely a method to my madness, but it’s not something I’ve ever sat down to think about before, and I think it’s something worth thinking about. So, for those of you who are interested, here are my thoughts:

1) I am someone whose natural setting is to give the Benefit of the Doubt. I give people I meet The Benefit, why wouldn’t I give works of art The Benefit, too? The way I see it, someone was trying to accomplish something and worked hard (even if the end product doesn’t show it) to create something. That is a brave act, and so I will always look for something to like about it. I’ll talk about that first before delving into the work’s failures.

2) When I review, I consider that even if something isn’t “my cup of tea,” there are people out there who like what I don’t. So I keep that in mind, and often say “I’m not a fan of this particular thing, but if you like this character/kind of story, this will be right up your alley.” I try not to review based solely on my personal taste, but based on how effectively someone did something for their target audience, which I may or may not be a part of.

3) That said, if I think something is really bad, or it bored me to tears, I’ll say so with no hesitation. Sometimes, works are just unsuccessful at what the creator was trying to do, and that needs to be pointed out, both to warn the audience and to alert the creator that Hey, this shit was boring. Write something else. I’m a writer myself, and I know how much it stings when people don’t think that every single word you wrote was brilliant. I also know that I can handle criticism, constructive or otherwise, very well. Because even non-constructive criticism is coming from an honest place of I didn’t like this, and it’s up to me to figure out why and if I care.

**EDITED post comment 3:21AM 1/15/11**

4) Given the choice, I would rather review something I feel strongly about than review something that elicits a “meh.” Of the two extremes, I would rather use my space as a reviewer to promote something I LOVE rather than tear down something I HATE. Why give something you hate extra press?

One of my proudest moments in reviewing was giving the comic American Vampire what was seemingly the one bad review it got. And do you know what? Scott Snyder saw that review, said he was sorry it wasn’t my cup of tea, but that he hoped I’d check out his other stuff, and then he friended me on Facebook.

So it’s clear to me that writers, whether I know them or not, can totally handle it. But excessive bad reviews are just as bad, to me, as overly-indulgent reviews. I don’t love everything I read, and I don’t pan everything I read either. Most of my reviews will highlight the good and mention the bad, if there is any. I try to be very balanced. This way, when I DO have an extreme reaction either way, it means something.

Comprende?

TOP SEEKRIT PROJECT REVEALED!

At long last, I can finally reveal the “Top Seekrit Project” I’ve alluded to all over the internet.

I’m going to be published in my first anthology available in stores.

Wait. It gets better.

It’s an anthology about Joss Whedon.

Wait! It gets better!

It’s from the same publisher and editor who did Chicks Dig Time Lords.

WAIT! IT GETS BETTER!

I’ll be sharing book space with not only some of the finest female sci-fi writers around, but I’ll also be sharing book space with Jane Espenson and Juliet Landau.

DID I MENTION IT’S A BOOK ABOUT JOSS WHEDON?!

It’s called WHEDONISTAS: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them, and it will be released to the general public on March 15, 2011. The list of titles and contributors (listed below) looks amazing, and I’m so thrilled to be a part of it! It’s going to be officially launched and available for purchase at the Gallifrey One convention in L.A. in February…

…so guess who’s going to her first Doctor Who convention?! (Hint: IT’S ME!)

Getting to be a part of this wonderful book is not only great in and of itself, but because it taught me something very important about Writing Life; something I’m going to share with you right now, so lean in and listen closely.

It pays to grow a pair of ovaries. (or balls, if that’s what you’ve got to work with)

Fretting, in the parlance of Kaylee Frye, seems to be a favorite pasttime for a lot of writers I know. Fretting over how their work isn’t any good, fretting over what people are going to think of their work, or say about them. They fret so much that they forget that a big part of writing is communicating. You know, with the world.

(That means people.)

They polish and polish their work, which one always has to do, of course, but they do it at the expense of sending it anywhere. I’m not saying send out crap. I’m saying that you should seek out opportunities where you know you’ll be able to shine! Seek them out and submit the best work you’ve got at that moment. Make the world aware that you’re a writer. Write things to show people, because I tell you, I’ve learned a lesson first-hand that I’ve heard Neil Gaiman and Brian K. Vaughan talk about: nothing makes you a better writer like being published. That sounds like a douchey thing to say, I know, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve posted a post somewhere, looked back at it and gone “ohnowaitaminuteIwanttochangesomethingACK!” But my inadequacies are out there for all the world to see. And you know what? I remember what I think I did wrong and use it in the next thing. I try and learn from comments left and feedback received from editors and readers. And then I keep writing. The world is my writing workshop – I just have to summon up the nerve to show up.

I got to be in Whedonistas, because I jumped on an opportunity. Or, rather, I created one for myself. I got word that Whedonistas was in the works from the Twitter feed of a favorite writer. As I loved Chicks Dig Time Lords, I checked out the link to this book and noticed there was no contributor list. I thought, I write. I love Joss Whedon. Maybe there’s a place in this for me! So, I tracked down the editor’s email address and wrote to her to ask. Because the worst she could’ve said was “no,” right? Thank goodness I wrote her immediately, because it was a week before her deadline! Even after I sent in my essay, I was half expecting that she’d send it back, because it wasn’t up to snuff. Then there was talk of a contract and a payment and it hit me…someone actually thinks that something I’ve written is good enough to be between the covers of an actual book. One that’s going to be available at Barnes and Noble, for crying out loud!

And I SQUEED like the Happiest Little Fangirl Alive.

Then I had to shut up about it for two months, because it wasn’t being officially announced until today, and it KILLED me. So I’m thrilled I can come clean now!

So, the moral of the story is: Grow a pair of ovaries. Create opportunities for yourself. And pre-order a copy of Whedonistas.

That last one really wasn’t a moral, but still. DO IT. You’ll not only get my fabulous scribblings, but those of all these ladies, too! Check it:

WHEDONISTAS:

A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon

By the Women Who Love Them

Edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Deborah Stanish

 

Introduction – Lynne M. Thomas and Deborah Stanish

The Girls Next Door: Learning to Live with the Living Dead and Never Even Break a Nail – Seanan McGuire

Ramping Up for a Decade with Joss Whedon – Nancy Holder

Outlaws & Desperadoes – Sharon Shinn

An Interview with Jane Espenson

My (Fantasy) Encounter with Joss Whedon (And What I’ve Learned from the Master) – Jeanne C. Stein.

The Ages of Dollhouse: Autobiography through Whedon – Sigrid Ellis

A Couch Potato’s Guide to Demon Slaying: Turning Strangers into Family, Buffy-Style – Heather Shaw

Smart Is Sexy: An Appreciation of Firefly’s Kaylee – Laurel Brown

Teething Troubles and Growing Up – Caroline Symcox

Transgressing with Spike and Buffy – NancyKay Shapiro

Brand New Day: The Evolution of the Doctor Horrible Fandom – Priscilla Spenser

“We’re Here to Save You” – Elizabeth Bear

Imperfectly Perfect: Why I Really Love Buffy For Being a Pill Sometimes – Mariah Huehner

My European Vacation – Kelly Hale

Romancing the Vampire and Other Shiny Bits – Lyda Morehouse/Tate Hallaway

An Interview with Juliet Landau

I Am Joss Whedon’s Bitch – Maria Lima

Going Dark – Jackie Kessler

Joss Giveth – Jaala Robinson

The Kindness of Monsters – Sarah Monette

Shelve Under Television, Young Adult – Jody Wurl

The Browncoat Connection – Dae Low

Late to the Party: What Buffy Never Taught Me about Being a Girl – Racheline Maltese

How an Atheist and His Demons Created a Shepherd – Meredith McGrath

Older and Far Away – Jamie Craig

Why Joss Is More Important Than His ‘Verse – Teresa Jusino

Let’s Go to Work – Catherynne M. Valente

Something to Sing About – Jenn Reese

Malcolm Reynolds, the Myth of the West, and Me – Emma Bull

Teresa’s Tuesday Round-Up: 10/19/10

What’s up, homies?! Told you this feature would be back. In fact, the reason why it hasn’t been here is because NYCC ate me alive, and I’ve been writing my face off. Here are the scribblings that made it to the web within the past week:

GEEK THEATER REVEW OF CIRCUS OF CIRCUS: OCT. 14! Head over to Pink Raygun for my review of a creative, intriguing theatrical adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

NYCC PANEL SPOTLIGHT: IMAGE COMICS WRITERS PANEL: OCT. 14! Check out my write-up of one of the most entertaining and informative writing panels I’ve ever been to at a con over at Tor.com!

BEST SHOTS RAPID-FIRE REVIEWS: OCT. 14! Check out my latest rapid-fire reviews at Newsarama. I review Knight & Squire #1 and Superior #1.

CAPRICA: S1.5, EP 10 – RETRIBUTION: OCT. 14! My Tor.com review of the most recent episode of Caprica! (And, you’ll be watching the new episode TONIGHT, right?)

So, October 14th was a really big day for Teresa Jusino, huh? Comic Con was over on the 10th, and I was banging out these articles all while I recovered from three consecutive late nights of daily con write-ups. BOO YA! I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself this past week. There is more NYCC coverage coming – in fact, my NYCC Panel Spotlight of the James Marsters panel hit today – as well as the review of tonight’s episode of Caprica.

That’s a lot of scribbling to keep up with! If you want to always be in the loop, go on and “Like” my Facebook Fan Page!

Also, don’f forget that my short story chapbook, ON THE GROUND FLOOR, is available for purchase! Click the link to the right, and get your copy today!

Lastly, keep your eyes peeled here. There will be big news and new endeavors announced soon!

Paul Cornell, and Dazzler, and Vampires, Oh My!

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep a running record of what I’m up to on this blog, because it’s all happening so goshdarned fast!  And before you mention Twitter or Facebook, it’s hard for me to keep a running record there, too, because most of the time I get caught up in conversations with other people.  There’s just SO MUCH GOING ON!  But I’m here now, right? 

So, an interview I did with Paul CornellAction Comics (Lex Luthor, what?!) and his first-ever television pilot for a show called Pulse, which is airing on BBC3 was posted on Pink Raygun today!  It’s to promote both his taking over writing duties for in the UK TOMORROW NIGHT AT 9PM.  So, you know, if you’ve stumbled onto this blog and live in the UK, check it out tomorrow night – or you can watch it online right now.  Either way, let BBC3 know what you think of it.  Especially if you like it!  I’m counting on you lot, as you have to get it to series first before I can see it on this side of The Pond.  Woot!

In other Pink Raygun scribblings, you might want to check out my Comics Round-Up for the Week of 5/26!  Marvel (get it?) at how I lavish praise on Angel and Batman whilst simultaneously ripping Dazzler and the Mystery Society new ones!  If you’re looking for new comics to read, this weekly column of mine would be a great place to start!

And lastly, there’s my most recent Doctor Who review!  There was no new Who on BBC America this past Saturday, because of the holiday, but you can jump in on the conversation in the comments under my review of “The Vampires of Venice” at Tor.com!

Enjoy!

I’ve Survived Doctor Who Week!

Amy (Karen Gillan) and The Doctor (Matt Smith) in the new TARDIS

This week nearly killed me, and it’s all The Doctor’s fault.

A computer virus attacking my borrowed PC didn’t help (I’m currently on my housemate’s Mac).

I got, literally, about 15 hours sleep TOTAL this week, due to all the writing I had to get done for Tor.

Sunday, I spoke with PAUL CORNELL, which was awesome.  He’s a great guy with really insightful things to say about genre stuff.  However, it was shortly after that that my computer went completely haywire.  So, I transcribed the interview – a LONG one, which took two days to do – and emailed it to myself.  Of course, this meant that I had to use another computer to actually format and post it.  My housemate’s Mac doesn’t have MSWord, which I need to preserve certain formatting when uploading it to Tor.  So, I had to go in to my office early to both work on formatting and transcribing that interview, but also writing my first post for Doctor Who week – a review of the book, Chicks Dig Time Lords.  So, I was up late dealing with computer issues and transcribing, then had to wake up early to get to the office early to get work done before my day job started at 10.  That was pretty much my entire week, made even more difficult when the computer virus made it so that I can’t even open programs anymore, so I had to go to a nearby friend’s place and borrow a flash drive to take my important documents off so I could keep posting to Tor on time.  The week was made more difficult still, because I was trying to cover some of the Doctor Who events going on in NYC, so my days looked like: wake up early to write at office after having stayed up late to write the night before – day job – Doctor Who event – get home after 10PM to do more writing – get up early and do it all again.  By Friday, I was a WRECK, and got to work an HOUR AND A HALF late because I’d overslept.  My BOSS’ PHONE CALL WOKE ME UP.  *sighs* There’s really no excuse you can give for being an hour and a half late.  Thankfully, my boss didn’t give me a huge hard time.  However, that almost made it worse, because I was expecting to get reamed out, and wasn’t.  So I was walking around tense all day waiting for something to happen that never did.  What made it worse is that my boss and I had plans to see a Broadway show that evening (Million Dollar Quartet, which is great!), and she even bought me dinner!  I don’t know if she just wasn’t that upset about it, or if she was and knew that it would be more of a punishment to let me stew in it all day…

But anyway, that was my week this week.  I didn’t have time to do much of anything other than go to work, go to Doctor Who stuff, then come home to write.  Now, don’t get me wrong!  Going to the Doctor Who stuff was cool.  Getting a chance to interview STEVEN MOFFAT?  Also very cool.  Getting to see the premiere of Doctor Who on a big movie theater screen was amazing.  I just wish I were awake enough to really enjoy it!    Still, it was my own doing.  It was my bright idea, not Tor’s, to try and do a Doctor Who week at all.  And therein lies my problem.  I always have great ideas, but am apparently shit about knowing exactly how much of myself it will take to execute them.  I always assume Sure!  I can totally handle that! And then I realize, while I’m in the middle of it, that I can’t.  This is something I need to work on.  I need to figure out how to plan better.  Otherwise, my own ideas are going to kill me.

So, all of this is to say that there’s a lot of writing of mine from this week that you should check out!  Sadly, I didn’t even have time to READ the comics I bought this week, let alone write my weekly Comics Round-Up for PinkRaygun.com, but I will be back to that this Thursday, don’t you worry!

DOCTOR WHO WEEK:

COUNTDOWN TO DOCTOR WHO: Chicks Dig Time Lords!

COUNTDOWN TO DOCTOR WHO: Moffat’s Women – The Women of The Library

COUNTDOWN TO DOCTOR WHO: The Doctor in NYC! Apple Store, SoHo

COUNTDOWN TO DOCTOR WHO: The Paul Cornell Interview

COUNTDOWN TO DOCTOR WHO: The Steven Moffat Interview

Something else I did this past week was record my first segment for a podcast!  That’s right, yours truly will now be a semi-regular fixture on Ian Cullen’s SciFiPulse podcast!  My segment is called A Jusino Sci-Fi Odyssey, a name almost as epic as I am!  If you’d like to listen to my PODCAST DEBUT, it goes up live TODAY at 5PM ET!  You can check it out HERE.  Once it airs, you’ll also be able to listen to it later.  My segment, in which we discuss Doctor Who as well as the Brian Wood/Becky Cloonan comic, Demo,  is sandwiched in between the main comic interview this week, and a segment called “Wayne’s Comics”, which is, um, self explanatory.  I will be the burst of geeky estrogen in an otherwise testosterone-addled broadcast.    Hope you enjoy!

And now, I’m off to meet one of my best friends’ new baby for the first time and have brunch with some of my favorite people!  Not a bad way to spend a sunny Sunday!  Have a great day everyone!