So. I wrote a book. I tried to do this once before. It was a gritty, noir-ish detective story, undoubtedly born out of repeated viewings of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Sundays spent watching Mystery! with my mom. I wrote two pages, sketched out a cover design, decided that the whole thing would take way too much time, and went back to playing The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary. My hopes of being the first second grader ever (ever, I tell you) to write a book fell to the wayside.

It took twenty years for my patience to improve, but I finally did what seven-year-old me could not. This time around, I went for science fiction, a more constant love of mine. My younger self had a lot to learn about her genre preferences, but she was right about one thing — books take time. And as I’m about to set off on the hunt for a publisher, I need a little more to get it right.

Lots of people want in on Joss Whedon’s upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. television show on ABC but perhaps none more than Adam Levermore. He created a short comedy film to act as his resume for production designer on the Avengers spin-off series. And they should really hire him. I mean, besides the fact he pulled this together in two and a half weeks, it’s the eye for detail. “Everything that isn’t part of the building or being worn by the actors was my design work, and I think it really shows what I can do to bring a unified, coherent feel to a fictional world,” he writes. Of course it does help Levermore to have Mythbusters’ Grant Imahara playing himself and Whedon cohort Amber Benson in the mix. The short also stars Taryn O’Neill, Stephanie Thorpe, Andrew Seely, and Yuri Lowenthal. Seriously, give the guy the job already or let him in for an interview at the very least

Oh, I forgot, it was written by Amy Berg and there’s also a Bear McCreary score. I mean, come on!

(via Adam Levermore)

It’s being billed as a subsititue for those who can’t make it to Comic-Con this year. National Geographic Channel’s Comic Store Heroes follows three staffers of Midtown Comics in New York as well as their customers and every day comic book fans, on their road to New York Comic Con. The comparison is evident – is this another Comic Book Men? Thor Parker, the Social Marketing and Events Director for Midtown, and I are here to tell you “no.” Why am I joining in the conversation? I’m one of the fans featured in the special airing tomorrow, July 13, on the National Geographic Channel. Hit the jump to hear what Parker and I have to say about the special, the evolution of geek culture, the comparisons with CBM, and lots more! 

Attention all artists/designers out there. The wonderful t-shirt company WeLoveFine.com is holding a really cool contest at the moment. They want to see what kind of imagery you can make out of Marvel villains and they’re offering a grand prize of  up to $2,500 to the best design. And oh yeah, they’ve asked Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston and I to judge the contest. Hit the jump for details! 

Jane Espenson has a resume that makes most writers (myself included) very jealous. She’s worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, Torchwood, Dollhouse, Game of Thrones and Warehouse 13 just to name a few. I recently added a new high point to my geek life when I got to speak to Espenson on my podcast with Alan Kistler, Crazy Sexy Geeks. We spoke about her new gig on ABC’s Once Upon A Time, her marriage equality web series Husbands, how young women writers can break into the industry and more! Hit the jump for some highlights.

Okay, so we hesitated to post this because one of our editors is actually in this video by comedy band Ninja Sex Party (Dan Avidan and Brian Wecht) and knows that comedy band in her actual, real life. (That editor = Me.) But since it started blowing up all over the Internet (and showing up on The Daily What, where it will not be ignored, Daniel), we felt it was cool to post it, but also because has dinosaurs, lasers, and science in it. So watch this video, and find out how much more enlightened your day will be once you’ve witnessed a Real Live Dinosaur Laser Fight!

(And props to the animator, EGORAPTOR!)

(The Daily What)

Whoa! Jimmy Fallon totally mentioned The Mary Sue in his monologue Monday night, (right around 2:10 in this video). We missed it the first time around because when it aired some of us were performing a dramatic reading of a pornographic TMNT fanfiction in Chinatown, then went home and watched Metalocalypse instead. And others of us just moved and have no television.

But there are so much more lady nerds than you think, Jimmy! Unless this is just payback for that time I chased you down the street …