Doctor Who – Letters from Titan

Upcoming dates

Two quick items:

1. Starling now has a release date, and will be out on September 10, 2014 from Torquere Press.

2. I’ll be in LA over the coming very long weekend, enjoying some decent weather, a couple of meetings, hiking (apparently), and a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll — all while occasionally skulking around Gallifrey One. At 3pm on February 15th, I’ll be speaking on the “Experiences on Demand” panel with Barbara Hambly, Jesse Alexander, Kim Rogers, Justin Olson, and Sarah Mertan; we’ll be talking about the changing structure and delivery of screen-based entertainment thanks to game changers like Netflix. Will I have slept or will I have watched all of S2 of House of Cards? If you’re there, come say hi.

Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It

I’m really happy to finally get to post about Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It, edited by Sigrid Ellis (Chicks Dig Comics) and Michael Damian Thomas (Apex Magazine). It’s being released on June 4, 2013, already seems to have great buzz, and has one of my essays in it.

While the stuff I write is always personal on some level, my piece in this volume touches on a lot of things I tend not to talk about in public (yes, those exist) — including being Sicilian, wanting to be a boy, and the age of AIDS — because they’re just too difficult, too close, and too specific in my day-to-day life.

The through time and space nature of the Whoniverse, however, and Jack Harkness’s long-life on 20th century Earth have meant, however, that I couldn’t get away with contributing to this volume without telling my story in ways I’m a lot less practiced at, which is an opportunity I’m incredibly grateful for.

I think this volume is going to be incredible. It contains work from a lot of people I know, and a lot of people I know of, and I’m super excited to get my hands on it.

You can pre-order it at Amazon and other major booksellers, and it will also be available for early purchase at Wiscon.

Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays on Themes, Characters, History and Fandom, 1963-2012

This snuck up on me because it’s been such a long process but Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays on Themes, Characters, History and Fandom, 1963-2012 is finally shipping from McFarland. I have a piece in it on “Narrative Conﬂict and the Portrayal of Media, Public Relations and Marketing in the New Doctor Who,” which, because of the time lines involved in academic publishing, covers the ninth and tenth Doctors, most of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The whole collection is full of really awesome stuff from fans who are also academics/academics who are also fans, and I’m really excited to finally get to read it. While I wait breathlessly for my contributors copy, you can order it from McFarland’s website at the link above.

Gallifrey One: Schedule

It’s not even February yet, but there’s no time like the present to start obsessing on my annual trip to Gallifrey One (February 15 – 17, 2013). I’ll be getting in late Wednesday night and probably won’t be consistently close to con until the opening ceremonies on Friday.

I’ve got just one panel this year, called “Love and Monsters” (details below) and focusing on the way we often engage with properties we love by talking about how much we hate them. This is, I suspect, slightly apropos after my recent appearance on Fandomspotting as the person who actually likes Glee.

Do feel free to say hi if you see me around, even if we haven’t met before. I am always juggling a lot of weird things when I’m out there, so if I need to dash, please don’t take it personally. I’ll be promoting Doctor Who in Time and Space and maybe some other stuff if I’m allowed to discuss those projects by then. As ever ribbons reflecting some particularly terrible in-jokes and rose-flavored macaroons may be on hand if you’re very, very nice.

See you in a couple of weeks!

Love & Monsters: Doctor Who fans love a party, in person or online… but when has it gone too far? We have online communities galore, but why do people continue to discuss shows they admittedly don’t care for anymore? Why do they keep watching even if they haven’t enjoyed it for years, and how long should they stick with it? Is it unfair to heavily criticize a property while the other viewers are still enjoying it — or is it, as others claim, a necessary part of the fan process? We’ll take up the debate about when fandom goes too far, and when it’s stopped being fun. (Friday 9:30pm Program B – Lisa Carroll, Mike Doran, Tammy Garrison, Shelley Hunt, Racheline Maltese)