Mark Does Stuff Review Round-Up: Week of May 26

Hello again, readers and watchers! I've had a normal week on both my review sites while my own personal life is a ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS. I'm writing this up while at WisCon in Madison, WI, and I am also in between homes. It's very exciting and scary, but I find it quite comforting to know that I got all these reviews done so that there's some normalcy in our lives. Anyway, here's what I covered this past week:

Mark Reads

Wizards at War, Chapter 10, Part II: In which I am DESTROYED. 
The Truth, Part 4: In which a new character creates something new for Ankh-Morpork.
Wizards at War, Chapter 11, Part I: In which I truly learn about the Yaldiv and am ruined.
The Truth, Part 4: In which I settle into this book and try to predict things.
Wizards at War, Chapter 11, Part II: In which I realize I didn't know ANYTHING about the Yaldiv.

Mark Watches

Voyager 7x10: In which the Doctor has a crisis and B'Elanna makes a friend.
Voyager 7x11: In which this is REALLY WEIRD. 
Voyager 7x12: In which this episode goes HARD and breaks my heart.
Voyager 7x13: In which a neat episode is ruined by a thing.
Voyager 7x14: In which B'Elanna deals with some bizarre behavior. 

 Thanks for following along! We are VERY CLOSE to the return of reviews for Gargoyles. I can't wait!

Mark Does Stuff Review Round-Up: Week of May 19

Hello, readers and watchers! Another week has successfully gone by in the Mark Does Stuff universe. So what did I cover this time around?

Mark Reads

The Fifth Elephant, Part 19: In which I finish this wonderful, touching book.
Wizards at War, Chapter 9, Part II: In which Dairine arrives and changes everything.
The Truth, Part 1: In which I begin my twenty-fifth Discworld novel. 
Wizards at War, Chapter 10, Part I: In which the war begins. 
The Truth, Part 2: In which I keep trying to guess what the hell this book is.

Mark Watches

Voyager 7x05: In which the show is TOO GODDAMN REAL. 
Voyager 7x06: In which this is really upsetting. 
Voyager 7x07: In which a cool idea has a weird, uncomfortable execution.
Voyager 7x08: In which Harry's promotion is... not really a promotion at all. 
Voyager 7x09: In which the Doctor pursues his own agenda at great cost.

Enjoy, friends! Onwards we go into another week of me losing myself in fiction.

San Francisco: I will be at Writers With Drinks June 10!

I am so glad to confirm that I will FINALLY be able to appear at Writers With Drinks next month!!! The lovely Charlie Jane Anders has been trying to get me scheduled for this event for a very, very long time, and I'm happy to be able to make an appearance!

Image by Audrey Niffenegger

Writers With Drinks is a monthly variety show featuring writers/creators of multiple genres, and it's going to be a WACKY time. My appearance will be on Saturday, June 10. The cost is $5 to $20, with no one turned away, and all proceeds benefit the Center for Sex and Culture.

As is the case every month, Writers With Drinks will take place at The Make Out Room, located at 3225 22nd St. in San Francisco. Doors are at 6:30pm, show is 7:30pm - 9:30pm. More information can be found on the Writers With Drinks website! I'm so happy to have another San Francisco event ON TOP of my appearance at Sarah Gailey's RIVER OF TEETH launch party this FRIDAY. 

Mark Does Stuff Review Round-Up: Week of May 12

Hello, friends! We've got another week of Discworld, Young Wizards, and Star Trek: Voyager that I covered, but there's also a surprise at the end of this. Here's what I did over the past five days:

Mark Reads

Wizards At War, Chapter 8, Part I: In which I try to be prepared for the onslaught.
The Fifth Elephant, Part 17: In which I am destroyed by an antagonist.
Wizards At War, Chapter 8, Part II: In which I can't. Cannot. Is unable to.
The Fifth Elephant, Part 18: In which I am taken out by the biggest reveal ever.
Wizards At War, Chapter 9, Part I: In which I read about a nightmare world.

Mark Watches

Voyager Season 7 Predictions: In which I give my very last batch of Voyager predictions.
Voyager 7x01: In which season 7 starts out with heartbreak and intensity.
Voyager 7x02: In which this show is not okay.
Voyager 7x03: In which the writing for this show is not okay.
Voyager 7x04: In which a cool premise falls apart in the end.

Bonus

Mark Reads Dark Horses: I feel like I should give some context for this. I actually posted it on May 4th, but it deserves highlighting here. Due to a Twitter conversation I had with my friend Wendy, I decided to take some time off from writing to record myself reading a choice selection of this book. It was... very interesting. I didn't know that there was a market for serial killer/controlling horse boyfriends, but hey! You learn something new every day.

Mark Does Stuff is relocating...

...to New York City!

Peace.

A post shared by Mark Oshiro (@markdoesstuff) on Nov 11, 2016 at 11:04am PST

After a failed attempt to move east two years ago, I have a place to stay in NYC, and I'm making it happen! I'll be moving right after WisCon, which is one of the main reasons that I've had to put my Gargoyles reviews on hold. (It is pretty much impossible to pull those off on top of book editing, packing, selling off furniture, flying out to Madison, AND moving across the country). 

This won't affect normal reviews, as I'm scheduling myself to have at least a couple weeks off once I arrive in New York. The only major change is that my P.O. box in Los Angeles will be closed down by May 25 and I will be without snail mail address for a couple months. If you desperately need to send something, please reach out to me by email or through my Contact page. 

I'm thrilled (and, of course, slightly terrified) to be moving to the East Coast. Feel free to use the comments for any NYC advice because I DEFINITELY NEED IT.

I will be attending Readercon 28!

I am pleased to announce another appearance this summer. The lovely folks at Readercon in Boston, MA have invited me to be on programming! My hotel is booked, as is my travel there, so this shall be my first (and hopefully not my last) time attending this convention.

Readercon 28 will be July 13-16, 2017, at the Quincy Marriott, and LOOK AT THOSE GUESTS OF HONOR: Naomi Novik and Nnedi Okorafor!!! I won't know my panel/reading schedule until later, but I thought I'd give y'all a heads up so you can plan accordingly. 

WOO HOO, I'M COMING BACK TO BOSTON.

Mark Does Stuff Review Round-Up: Week of April 28

It'll be a hot minute before Double Features are back regularly, so enjoy this week's set of Gargoyles reviews! You'll know why they've taken a break very shortly, but for now, here are the reviews posted this past week:

Mark Reads

Wizards at War, Chapter 5, Part I: In which Dairine learns more about Roshaun's life.
The Fifth Elephant, Part 12: In which Vimes discovers things.
Wizards at War, Chapter 5, Part II: In which I meet Roshaun's father.
Mark Reads ‘The Fifth Elephant’: Part 13: In which I yell at every Discworld fan ever.
Wizards at War, Chapter 6: In which I yell at every Young Wizards fan ever.

Mark Watches

Voyager 6x17: In which I actually enjoy a Fair Haven episode.
Voyager 6x18: In which this is very weird and very messed up.
Voyager 6x19: In which the last act's twist ruined me.
Voyager 6x20: In which the show tries and... that's about it.
Voyager 6x21: In which I have a lot of fun.

Gargoyles 2x06: In which Broadway teams up with Elisa.
Gargoyles 2x07: In which I can barely believe this happened.
Gargoyles 2x08: In which I take it back because how did THIS happen.
Gargoyles 2x09: In which I lied because how does this show keep escalating.
Gargoyles 2x10: In which I cry for help because this is where I am cliffhanger'd.

Fan Spotlight: Sage

One of the reasons I desperately needed a website like this was to act as a hub for all things pertaining to me. Whenever I wanted to share something cool, I had to do this weird balancing act of finding out where to stick it. Tumblr? Twitter? Both the sites? None of them?

While I've used my Tumblr for posting/re-blogging fan-made stuff, I am now happy that from here on out, I can share with you all the cool things that people have made of the work that I've done. I'd like to start with Sage, who I met at MiniCon recently. While I actually knew more people in Minnesota fandom than many other cities, I was still a bit nervous about being a Guest of Honor at a convention I'd never attended. I had made a few friends at CONvergence last summer, but otherwise, I was aware that I was a bit out of my element in this community. That's okay! I love getting to make new friends! 

I did not expect anyone to show up to my signing on Saturday afternoon because I was such a new face at the con, and because it's hard to have things to sign when all your work is online and your first book isn't even published yet. However, Sage showed up and gifted me with one of the most spectacular drawings I'd ever seen, and I'd like to share it with you:

Image drawn by Sage/Samantha Somers

Not gonna lie: I started crying after I got this. Not only was this likeness stunning, but as Sage started telling me about finding my YouTube readings and deciding to draw a particularly upsetting moment from one of those readings, I felt an immense wave wash over me. I get lost in the act of writing and recording a lot, and I really don't think about the impact I might have on someone else. And here was this incredible person who not only paid to attend a con I was a guest at, but used their remarkable artistic talent to draw me. IT IS SUCH A FLATTERING THING TO EXPERIENCE. Thank you, Sage, for this wonderful gift.

You can find Sage's work on DeviantArt, or you can follow along with the webcomic they draw for, Runner. Runner Comics also has a Patreon you should check out, too!