G33K Out with Angie Fiedler Sutton

Los Angeles native Jeri Westerson writes a Tudor series, the King's Fool Mysteries, and a Sherlockian pastiche called An Irregular Detective Mystery. She wrote fifteen Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Mysteries, a multi-nominated series. She also wrote several paranormal series and standalone historicals. She has served as president of the SoCal chapter of Mystery Writers of America, president and vice president for two chapters of Sisters in Crime (Orange County and Los Angeles), is a member of the LA Sherlockian scion of the Baker Street Irregulars, and a founding member of the SoCal chapter of the Historical Novel Society.

On April 25, 2024, the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California, was the home of the 40th Writers of the Future Awards and 35th Illustrators of the Future Awards. I wrote up the event for The Geekiary, but there were some interviews that didn't quite make the final cut. So, consider this a 'behind the scenes' extra for the Awards.

J. Caroline Toy (she/her) is Learning Experience Manager in the Center for Learning & Teaching at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and Adjunct Professor in the College's humanities Core. Her research and teaching focus on religion, popular media, and fan cultures, specializing in how fans use types of ritual and narrative practices that are traditionally associated with religion. Trained as a scholar of folklore and religion, she is also interested in religion in public space and protest in the United States, and changing rural and urban experiences of place.She has published in venues including The Journal of Fandom Studies, Transformative Works and Cultures, Understanding Religion and Popular Culture (2nd ed.), and the Humanities Commons, and has appeared on the Mugglenet podcast Reading, Writing, Rowling (now Potterversity). Caroline is a huge (HUGE!) Doctor Who fan and a lifelong Trekker, has an "It's complicated" relationship with Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and will try basically any mystery novel. When not geeking out, she paddles dragon boats and spoils her cat, St. Alia of the Eighteen Knives. You can find samples of her work at Academia.edu.interview, acafan, J. Caroline Troy, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, religion, Neil Teixeira

This episode's guest is Andrea Davis. Her background is in the film & television industry where she's worked on both television series & movies, from creating/designing costumes & specialty wardrobe, building sets & displays and making props. Additionally, she has crafted numerous costumes, accessories, props and set pieces for commission work. She has a degree in Fashion Design and is a La Cordon Bleu trained chef.

This episode's guest is Michaela Weissburg, an LA native. Mickie and I worked briefly together at a media organization in the YouTube space.After working in the field for 6 years, Michaela's experience in VFX production management has given her depth as well as breadth of knowledge. From zombies, to vampires, to aliens, to dragons, there has been no shortage of cool stuff for her to work on.And while not all of it is exciting, she takes pride in her small efforts to create a product that ends up being greater than the sum of its parts. It all starts with a story, a lot of teamwork, and a little bit of magic.

This episode's guest is author, screenwriter, and lapsed academic J.M. Frey. She has a BA in Dramatic Literature and an MA in Communications and Culture and has discussed all things geeky through the lens of academia.J.M. grew up in the comic book convention circuit, consuming copious amounts of scifi and Japanese TV, spending all her pocket money on manga, and honing her skills as an award-winning cosplayer. And all the while watching her fellow fans – which later became the basis for her academic studies in theatre, performance, sociology, anthropology, and gender.J.M.'s also a professionally trained actor who takes absolute delight in weird stories, over the top performances, and quirky characters. She's played everything from Marmee to the Red Queen, Jane Eyre to Annie, and dozens of strange creatures and earnest heroines as a voice actor.

This episode's guest is Myke Dodge Weiskopf. I met Myke through KCRW's Independent Producer program, as he's the senior producer in the Music Department. He's been publicly writing, thinking, and obsessing about music since age 13, when he published his first fanzine on a hand-me-down Apple IIe and a dot-matrix printer.He is the founding producer of KCRW's Lost Notes (which I reviewed on my website), and – as he writes on his website -- makes beautiful and atmospheric audio stories. A love of sound is the fundamental through-line in his life and work. When he's not producing audio, he's an avid outdoorsman, and has worked as a fire lookout under the US Forest Service and volunteered on backcountry trail restoration projects deep in Los Padres National Forest.

Josephine Green Zhang is a storyteller who aspires to empower characters to rise above their circumstances and create their own happy endings – with a special focus on misfits and flawed, funny women. Josephine has been a tv writer on Season 2 of Hulu's "Dollface" and on Seasons 2 and 3 of "First Wives Club" on BET+. She has also developed an unproduced, animated action kung-fu fantasy for Netflix and written two unproduced feature films for Universal. She is a rotating podcast host for WGA's Third and Fairfax -- interviewing other TV and feature screenwriters about their journeys and work behind the scenes. And when she's not geeking out on story, she is otherwise chilling with her dog, cat, and husband near Pasadena, California. (Recorded prior to the writer's strike.)

This is one of the interviews I did on June 21, 2022, when I participated in the Alzheimer's fundraiser "The Longest Day", although we had to do a redo because the audio was unsalvageable.Chivaun Oldes is a 30-something wife and mother of two. She is a craft enthusiast, dabbling artist and pet lover. A self-identified 'ball of anxiety,' she is a mental health awareness advocate and creates children's stories to help bring understanding of mental health disorders and diagnoses to young minds.

This is one of the interviews I did on June 21, 2022, when I participated in the Alzheimer's fundraiser "The Longest Day". Jennifer Shiman is best known for being behind the hilarious 30-Second Bunnies Theatre, a Flash animated series of shorts that ... well, re-enact movies (and some TV episodes) in 30 seconds, but with bunnies. When COVID hit, she stopped that and started work on a middle school graphic novel called World's End Detective Agency. We talk about both projects, how the pandemic changed how she does things, and how she approaches her work. See full show notes at www.angiefsutton.com.

On June 21, 2022, I participated in the Alzheimer's fundraiser "The Longest Day". This had me livestreaming interviews (with the goal of them winding up podcast episodes) from 6 am to 9 pm. I interviewed all sorts of fun people, and got a lot of good content out of it. One of the interviews was with Sean Cawelti, the artistic director of the Rogue Artists Ensemble in Los Angeles. We talk about what being an artistic director is like for him, his work as a puppeteer and designer, and how he (and the industry) pivoted when COVID struck. See full show notes at www.angiefsutton.com.

In October 2021, I attended the ceremony for both the 2020 and 2021 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Award. I did a write-up of the event, which you can read on my website. However, there were some great pieces I got via audio that didn't transfer well to the written word, so I wanted to do an extended edition. It also includes some snippets from the ceremony itself, which you can watch in its entirety here. So, consider this a 'behind the scenes' extra for the Awards. Visit my website for full show notes and to contact me with feedback.

I can't believe this podcast has lasted 50 episodes, nor that it's been going strong since (technically) 2013. The past 8 years and 50 episodes have been varied, and also sporadic. I discuss the history of the podcast, the current situation with COVID, and my thoughts on where I want it to go in the future. Visit my website for full show notes and to contact me with feedback.

Jody Lynn Nye is a fantasy and science fiction writer that has been active since 1987. I met her thanks to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards, where she's been a judge since 2016. She has over 40 books and 120 short stories published, and is still going strong. We talk about the contest, her writing inspirations, and more.

I first was introduced to the artwork of the artist known as Another Well Kept Secret thanks to Tumblr and Sherlock. Her artwork shows a stylized humanity with very animated features - and she has a romantic flair that shows that love is indeed at the heart of everything she does. Her real name is Kelley and she's from Tennessee. She's been on my list to interview for a while, but got bumped up partially because she's been upping her commissions to help offset the current economic downturn the virus has caused so many. We talk about her art, her being open about her asexuality, and her interest in Sherlock Holmes and Good Omens. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Alex DeVore is a culture editor for the Santa Fe Reporter. Additionally, Alex is the guitarist for the punk band Fibber: he's played music for over 20 years, but Fibber is a relatively new creation. We talk about his writing, why he plays (and plays punk specifically), and gaming as a medium and art form. For complete show notes, go to my website.

While living in Kansas City, I volunteered with the all-volunteer performing arts magazine KC Stage. We covered not only theatre, but any of the performing arts -- which included the surprisingly strong independent film scene (partially thanks to the, and faculty member Kevin Wilmott). Additionally, I also (unsurprisingly) participated in a lot of geeky and sci fi activities and helped out with the all-volunteer website SciFi4Me. So, when I heard Kansas City native Sav Rodgers had made a documentary in connection to a TED Talk about the movie Chasing Amy, I was understandably confused as to whether I knew him thanks to KC Stage or SciFi4Me. The thing is: I don't think we ever actually met in person prior to this interview. I interview him about his TED Talk, being a queer filmmaker, and connecting to Kevin Smith. Head's up: there is some minor cursing in this episode. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Back in February, I attended my second Gallifrey One convention here in Los Angeles. While there, I managed to snag 30 minutes of time with animator and artist Alisa Stern, the woman behind the YouTube web series Doctor Puppet. We talk about what got her into animation, why she chose to do a Doctor Who-based series, and what's next on her plate now that she's decided to wrap it all up. For complete show notes, go to my website.

This is the third episode in my ongoing series where I interview women in the geek community about what their experiences were like, and their history as a fangirl. Cerberusia is one of the women I had originally interviewed back in 2014, when I was visiting London. I had been working on an article on fan fiction for the company I was interning at, and had reached out to Tumblr to find people outside of my fandom areas to quote. Since she was based in the UK (Oxford, to be precise), I asked if she would be interested in a further interview. Obviously, time has passed since that interview, and so when I decided to get back to doing these, we agreed to redo the interview. We have a great discussion about what it means to be a geek, how she fangirls, and the future of geek culture. For complete show notes, go to my website.

I've attended the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards several times now. In fact, Episode 22 of this podcast was covering the 2017 ceremony. Attending this awards ceremony is always fun, and this year was no different. This was the 35th annual awards ceremony, and the them was Retro Robotics. The keynote was a 'Science Fiction 101' by journalist Ed Hulse. Illustrator Bob Eggleton was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, who is also the artist of this year's anthology. Andrew Dykstal took home the Grand Prize Writer Award, and Aliya Chen took home the Grand Prize Illustrator Award. Meanwhile, Alice Wang, who won the fourth quarter illustrator award, became the youngest winner to enter and win. Finally, one of the winners, Preston Dennett, submitted 47 times prior to winning this year, earning 12 honorable mentions over the years. While as with all red carpets my interviews here are brief, I did manage to snag contact information for a couple of the people I talked to in the hopes of getting longer interviews with them, as I did with Kevin J. Anderson and Nancy Kress last year. I also have some excerpts from the ceremony itself. For complete show notes, go to my website.

I first heard about what is known as WhedonCon back in 2016, when I wrote an article for SciFi4Me about it changing its name. It, like GallifreyOne, is a Los Angeles-based con that I first heard about once I moved here. Since that initial article, I'd kept my eye on it and started seeing posts from one of the people who run it in some of my other geeky groups. Marsia Powers is a Los Angeles real estate agent by day, Whedon fan by ... well, by all free time? She not only helps manage the con, but she also helps run the fan sites Whedonopolis and Fandomopolis, which you may have noticed I've written for occasionally in the past year. I set down with Marsia and talked about Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon, being a fan, and WhedonCon. For complete show notes, go to my website.

This is part of a new series of episodes that will be me playing around with audio. These episodes will be produced on no particular deadline - just when I have the time and energy. They also will be published on my feed at times that don't compete with the (somewhat) regular schedule of G33K Out. And, so you can skip them if you want, they will all start with the title "Contents May Vary". First up: friend of the podcast Angelique Jurd writes male/male romance, and last year had released a fun short story for free. Knowing I wanted to delve into playing around with audio, I asked if she would be open to me attempting to do an audio version of the story. She agreed. Here's the story description: Jay tells himself that he doesn't mind spending Valentine's Day alone. Again. His friends, however, have different plans and insist on setting him up on a blind date at a gay vegan cooking class. Jay agrees on the condition that if he goes, they'll leave him alone in the future. He doesn't count on the blind date being tall, gorgeous, and very nice. In fact Aaron may be just what Jay needs.

I've been a fan of the Reduced Shakespeare Company (and their podcast) for a long time. In fact, I jokingly refer to Austin Tichenor, the one who does the weekly podcast, as the 'honorary godfather' of G33K Out, as that podcast was one of the many influences on G33K Out, and its predecessor Stage Savvy. If you're unfamiliar with their work, the RSC has been around since 1981, and started with a variation of what's now know as The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) at various Renaissance fairs. They've been touring their latest production, William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (Abridged), including a stop in Los Angeles. I sat down with Austin Tichenor and Reed Martin of the RSC. We talked about being an actor and playwright, how things have changed when they first started, and the various details of working together and doing comedy. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Petrea Burchard is an actor, author, audiobook narrator, and voiceover artist. We met at a writer's group we both belong to, when Petrea did a presentation on audiobooks. As someone who listens to audiobooks when I have time in-between listening to podcasts, I was already intrigued. But when she said she was the original English voice of Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo, she had me hooked. Petrea has written two books, has narrated the Westwick Witches mystery series, and has done both stage and screen, among other things. We talk about all of this, and more. For complete show notes, go to my website.

For my second roundtable, we discuss shipping -- and some of the taboos that come out of it. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Fangirling is an art. I talk to one of the women behind the podcast Your Biggest Fangirl, Victoria Male. For complete show notes, go to my website.

In the second of my ongoing series where I interview women in the geek community about their experiences, I talk to Baker Street Babe Sora Reyes. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Hansi Oppenheimer is a filmmaker who has considered herself a fangrrl since at least the age of 6, but wanted to explore what it meant to be a woman in fandom. What was originally going to be a feature film turned into the ongoing YouTube documentary project, Squee! The Fangrrl Project. I sat down with Hansi and talked about what it means to be a fangirl, her approach to creating the documentary, and where she wants to go from here. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Nikola Tesla is considered by many geeks to be an unsung hero of the 20th century. The inventor of alternating current and many other ideas that we now use regularly, the man is hardly known outside of the geek realms outside of in a vague way. Composer Aaron Guzzo was fascinated by the man, and decided to write a musical based on his life. I sat down with Guzzo and discussed the musical, his process as a composer, and how he got from Indiana to Los Angeles and how that helped bring the musical to life. For complete show notes, go to my website.

There’s been a lot of talk in the last few months about the toxicity in the Star Wars fandom, specifically in the backlash against The Last Jedi. How it connects to women and people of color in fandom is not an accident. So, I got together with some women to discuss the female perspective on the issue. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Back in June, I attended the red carpet premiere for the short movie about Ulugh Beg, and had a chance to talk to some of the people involved. For complete show notes, go to my website.

On June 7, I was lucky enough to attend the red carpet for the series finale of the Netflix show Sense8. Much of the cast was there, and there was a sense of sadness and hope as I interviewed them. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Tom Smith has been filking since the 1980s, and has a loyal fanbase ranging around the world. He’s been recognized by Dr. Demento and Larry Niven, and more. He’s been nominated (and won) a boatload of Pegasus Awards, which recognizes excellence in filking. We talk about what got him into filking, how he deals with the world today, and his process for writing music. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Back in 2014, I decided I wanted to start a series of interviews with women in the community to discuss what it was like. I finally am getting around to producing some of those interviews. Supriya and I met, as mentioned in the interview, thanks to a Facebook Sherlock fan group for those in Southern California. At the time, she worked for Geek and Sundry, although now she works for DeviantArt. Originally from the Silicon Valley area, she moved to Los Angeles to look for work. We talk Harry Potter, Reddit, and other topics. For complete show notes, go to my website.

If you know me at all, you know I've been a fan of Doctor Who for most of my life. I’ve written about it extensively on this website. So, when I had the chance at a ticket for this year's Gallifrey One, I jumped at the chance. Here are my thoughts. For complete show notes, go to my website.

In February, I had the chance to attend the red carpet premiere of Living Among Us, a movie shot in the style of a documentary that assumes vampires are real and just made themselves public. (Yes, I do bring up the similarities to What We Do In the Shadows, although as the trailer shows, it’s more in the vein of Blair Witch Project.) While there, I interviewed a wide range of people, both there as part of the movie and just to support it. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Last year, when I attended the 2017 Writers of the Future Awards, I got a chance to interview author Kevin J. Anderson, who was one of the judges. Alas, the audio went to The Bad Place, lost in the ether. However, he thankfully was happy enough to do a phone interview with me later that month. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Last October, I got to yet again attend Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con, formerly known as Comikaze. My second time attending, this time I only went one day. This convention, now in its sixth year, was Los Angeles’ first major comic convention. As with any convention, there were plenty of panels, celebrities, and artists and vendors to go about. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Back in April, I attended the 2017 Writers of the Future Awards. While there, I was lucky enough to connect with author Nancy Kress, who was one of the judges. Author of 27 novels, 3 books on writing, and many, MANY short stories, she’s won 6 Nebulas and 2 Hugo Awards. I managed to do a phone interview with her, where we talked about her writing process, the differences between science fiction and fantasy, and her advice to new writers. For complete show notes, go to my website.

On August 22, in partnership with the online fundraising platform Omaze and Make-a-Wish, there was a live tribute to him. Hosted by Chris Hardwick, Extraordinary: Stan Lee boasted a wide range of celebrities coming out to honor the creator. I managed to get on the red carpet and get some interviews down with some of them. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Back in late April, I attended the 2017 LA Times Festival of Books. The largest book festival in the US, this free annual event celebrates the written word. With panels on a variety of topics, readings and interviews with authors, and even music performances, there’s always something for everyone. This was my third year attending. While I was there, I interviewed many of the people in the various vendor booths throughout the festival. For complete show notes, go to my website.

"Hey: it's that one guy!" It's the cry of many a character actor (so much so that it's got its own page on TV Tropes, and for actor Stephen Tobolowsky, that's fine with him. Appearing in over 200 films and/or television episodes, you may know him as the insurance salesman in Groundhog Day, the substitute teacher Sandy Ryerson in Glee, or from any number of various roles. In 2014, I had the chance to interview him. He was going to be at that year's LA Festival of Books. He's coming back to this year's LA Festival of Books, promoting his newest book, My Adventures with God, and so I thought it was a great chance to bring this interview out from storage. For complete show notes, go to my website.

On April 2, I attended the 33rd annual Writers of the Future Award ceremony. With a dragon gracing the red carpet and the stage. the ceremony had a keynote from the co-founder and president of Dragon*Con Pat Henry, and presented this year's Lifetime Achievement Award to Mike Resnick. The 12 writers and illustrators received this year's awards, with Jake Marley winning the Golden Pen Award for his submission "Acquisition", and Michael Michera winning the Golden Brush Award for his illustration that went with C.L. Kagmi's story, "The Drake Equation". The podcast combines some of the interviews I managed to get while attending and excerpts from the award ceremony. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Marco Beltrami is no stranger to composing movies in the sci fi and superhero world. His first major breakthrough was doing the score for Wes Craven’s Scream, and you may recognize his music from such genre favorites as Hellboy, Mimic, The Faculty, and even worked with Philip Glass for the 2015 version of Fantastic Four. He's been nominated for an Oscar for his scores for both 3:10 to Yuma and The Hurt Locker. In early March, I had the opportunity to interview him over the phone about his latest project Logan, the latest — and possibly last — Wolverine movie starring Hugh Jackman. For complete show notes, go to my website.

While at the 2016 Wondercon, I also had the chance to talk with some of the people at another panel, "Streaming Success: Behind-the-Scenes of Your Favorite Binge Worthy Shows". The panel discussed the original content of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and some of the people that work on the various shows produced by them. My associate Hope Donoghue and I first talked to James ("Jimmy") Levine and Sean Callery. We then talked to David Van Dyke, VFX producer and (at the time) vice president of Shade VFX (he's now president). For complete show notes, go to my website.

Last March, I attended WonderCon here in Los Angeles. I (and a few others) covered it for SciFi4Me.com, and I had a lot more content that I never had time to do anything with. One such item was a chance to meet up with some of the guys that were on the "High Scorers Panel: Star Composers of the Video Game World". The panel was, obviously, music composers for video games talking about their work. I managed to get a chance to interview some of them before the panel. I first talked to Gordy Haab and Niels Bye Nielsen, and then I talked to Bill Brown and John Kaefer. For complete show notes, go to my website.

Last September, I covered an agent’s roundtable event for Camera Angles. The event was part of the Emerging Cinematographer Awards, a way to bring advice for how to make it in the film industry to the award winners. The chair of the awards is cinematographer Jimmy Matlosz, and he gave the up and coming honorees some great advice during the event. I sat down with Jimmy at his home to discuss what exactly a cinematographer does, his work process, and his latest project. See the accompanying article here.

On September 7, I had the opportunity to attend the red carpet for the world premiere of the parody science fiction film Unbelievable!!!!! Written and directed by Steven L. Fawcette, the movie stars or has cameos from 40 Star Trek actors, and follows the adventures of four astronauts, one of which is a marionette. I had the opportunity to interview several of the cast and crew of both the movie, as well as the Star Trek universe. See the accompanying article (with photos) here.

Ash Vs. Evil Dead is getting ready for it’s second season, and was one of the many panels at the 2016 PaleyFest Fall TV Previews event. I had the chance to attend the red carpet for the screening of the first episode of season two. I interviewed guest stars Lee Majors, Ted Raimi, and Michelle Hurd, and then series regulars Dana DeLorenzo, Ray Santiago, and Bruce Campbell. See the accompanying article (with photos and video) here.

From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series is entering it’s third season on Netflix and on the El Rey Network. The series is based off the movie of the same name, and follows the adventures of the Gecko Brothers as they take on vampires and other forces of hell. I had the chance to attend the red carpet for the screening of the first episode of season 3. I interviewed Diego Gutierrez (executive producer), Sarah Minnich (Florinda), Marko Zaror (Zolo), Danny Trejo (The Regulator), and Maurice Compte (Brasa) about the show. See the accompanying article (with photos and video) here.

This year, I was able to attend the genre panels and screenings of PaleyFest Fall TV Previews. For my first event, I got to attend screenings of Son of Zorn and The Exorcist, both on Fox this fall. I decided to do something different this time around, and try a video version of G33K Out, and do a mini review of the shows. The sound's a little loud in this trial, so apologies. See the accompanying article (with video version) here.