Jul 292012
 

(crossposted from The History of BDSM)

About a month ago, I got a comment on my writing promotional blog from an editor at a local book publisher. She had seen my article on Maria Monk in Maisonneuve magazine, and wanted to know if I had any ideas for books on porn or sexuality.

Thrilled, I polished up my book proposal and the two completed chapters and emailed them too her. Then I started chewing my nails.

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Jul 162012
 

My article on Vancouver’s comics society Cloudscape Comics, and their upcoming urban fantasy anthology Giants on Main Street, is now up on Openfile.

Personally, what I took away from the interview for this story was how tough it is for comics artists. You want to work in this particular medium, and there are so many obstacles to actually getting your work out to people so they can see it. The American comics industry is dominated by a Coke-and-Pepsi duopoly. If you want to get your self-produced comics out there, you might be able to get them into one of few remaining direct sale comics stores, or you might be able to get it into Chapters, if they feel like it. Otherwise, you’re better off doing webcomics or self-publishing, but even that makes it hard to get out of a particular subculture. If you’re still determined to do comics, after all that, it must be love.

 

Jul 152012
 

For a limited time, Smart Pop Books has posted my essay “Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse: 21st Century Neo-Gothic” from the essay collection Inside Joss’ Dollhouse as a free read. Get it while you can.

This is one of the first paid published pieces that emerged from my research, and I think it turned out pretty well. I am, according to one friend, “the world’s biggest Dollhouse fan”, and I love it the way you can only love a child that died young after a long struggle.