Origin Story: “Most People Would Have Started a Blog”

One fine day in February of 2010, an opinionated and at times overly verbose geek discovered within herself an intense hatred of Stargate Universe. So intense was this hatred that it would not be contained and demanded to be written down. Four thousand words later, the demon had been released… but it insisted on a wider audience. And yet, where, oh where, did one go to publish a 4000 word diatribe on why the crew of Destiny needed to be immediately shoved out an airlock?

This geek had once been lucky enough to be part of the sort of publication that would have considered 4000 word essays on random Syfy shows not only acceptable, but to be encouraged. It was called The 11th Hour Web Magazine, was an ongoing concern in the halcyon, Buffy-filled days between 1999 – 2001, and had been a spiritual home to dispossessed and thoughtful geek women whose only other sources of genre news, information and commentary at the time were mostly ill-spelled and simplistic fanboy sites that wouldn’t shut up about Seven of Nine. “Sci-fi, fantasy, horror and other stuff chicks dig” had been The 11th Hour’s catch cry -- yet one male, David Rosiak, had also been on the editorial staff. It was he that delivered himself of this sage piece of advice, mere days post-SGU rant: “If the publication you’re looking for no longer exists, make it yourself.” And thus, Geek Speak Magazine was born.

An early version of the Geek Speak logo.

Oh, it didn’t happen overnight. There were assorted programs to learn and logos to design and a crack staff to assemble. But it was then, in that moment of nostalgic hubris, that Geek Speak came into being.

So there it is. Our origin story… without even a single radioactive spider bite or mythological parent to show for itself. And yes, it’s true -- as Geek Speak’s Editor at Large Kate Nagy said recently -- “Most people would have started a blog.” But where would have been the fun in that?

The Top 13… Most Popular Geek Speak Pieces (So Far)

1. After the Fall: Charmed (wow, Charmed fans sure are loyal)
2. Dead and Doing It, a look at 20 vampire romance series
3. In Friendship False, answering the question: How many Facebook friends can a fake person gain in one day?
4. No One Gets a Free Pass, an interview with David Weber
5. Love Letters to Liad, a celebration of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s Liaden Universe®
6. The Top 13… Superheroes Without Superpowers
7. Geek VS Geek: Alien VS Predator
8. The Monster Mash-Up, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and beyond
9. The Top 13… Confusing Movies of All Time
10. Book Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
11. Inspiration is Everywhere, an interview with Lois McMaster Bujold
12. Strangers No More, We Sing, a primer to filking, by Special Guest Contributor Seanan McGuire
13. Geek VS Geek: The Twilight Saga Movies

Narrowly missing the Top 13: Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!, The Top 13… Geek Gifts, Geek VS Geek: Buffy, Season 6, The Hollywood Geek: The Circle of Hell, So Lost Right Now, Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Everybody Can Do It, Everybody Has a Past, and Book Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Our Longest Piece

11,173 words
Dead and Doing It, by Rachel Hyland and Kate Nagy

Our Longest Review

3,654 words
Undercovers, “Jailbreak” (01.04), by Geonn Cannon

Our Most Controversial Piece

Sara Paige’s Top 13… Pop-Culture Witches caused some consternation among Wiccans who somehow didn’t get her Buffy reference, and Kate Nagy’s Top 13… Genre-Themed Songs enraged fans of both The Jonas Brothers and defunct British popsters Busted by leaving their anthemic “Year 3000” off her rundown. Also, Wesley Crusher haters deluged us with vitriol over a positive review given to Wil Wheaton’s Star Trek: The Next Generation memoir Memories of the Future, Vol. 1, and our frequent (yet not gratuitous, surely?) use of salty language has bestirred more than one sweetly innocent reader into gentle protest.

Our Most Praised Piece

Strangers No More, We Sing, hands down. The AVP debate, the SGU debate, In Friendship False, Dead and Doing It, the reviews of Halo and Unearthly, and everything Liad-ish have also seen a lot of love.

Most Bizarre Spam Received in the Mailroom

In default! Gone. And I young lady the, misconstrue the bus, the fossil halfwit! [Link to some online dating site] Clara Hyummel kicked in irritation nor gullible stool. My sin, Alya, overlooked! Underestimated. [It goes on like that for a while, and there’s some coarse language and adult themes. And THEN…] On the ceiling crackers tossing some bodily: [another link] it does not decamp, not a spider the make an estimate of of a cat, and his passing, Clara had created, and then some time sighting control things fireballs. What to do now? - Clara buhnulas in a spiritless rocking-chair, [link to a lesbian dating site] with his leather-covered elk legs on the tabulation and began to squeeze up. - Do nothing, Alya. He was probably already in Meline. And there he finds himself Archmage.

Huh.

<<<COMMERCIAL BREAK>>>

INTRODUCING...
The Geek Speak Store!

Go on. Check it out. All the cool kids are doing it. (Okay, we acknowledge that is a bald-faced lie.)

THE GEEK SPEAK STORE For when you really have just too much time on your hands.

Here you will find Geek Speaky T-shirts, cups, tote bags and so on... even mousepads. (Does anyone even use a mousepad anymore?) All in the finest of Café Pressian styles. Available NOW!

<<<END COMMERCIAL BREAK>>>

Cast of Characters: Our Crack Staff

Rachel Hyland
Status: Editor in Chief
Nationality: Australian
Joined Geek Speak: Issue 1, March 2010
Because: Well… I started it.

First Piece: Geek VS Geek: Why I Hate Stargate Universe

Best Piece(s): I think I had the most fun writing In Friendship False, my 24-hour mission to get as many Facebook friends as possible for a completely fake person; I’m also very proud of the intense research my collaborations with Kate Nagy on Dead and Doing It and The Monster Mash-Up required. Although, I will say that my admittedly vicious review of the truly dire Halo was immensely satisfying, and this month’s General Knowledge piece, Charity Without Sacrifice, just felt good to do. It’s not often I am made to feel so virtuous by merely surfing the web. (Then again, I’m usually just looking up Stargate fan fiction.)

Favorite Piece(s): So, so many! I think it’s going to have to be a six-way tie between the A-Z of Geek Speak; Kate Nagy’s Top 13… Genre-Themed Songs; the Alien VS Predator debate of Will Cashin and Malcolm Matthews; Cathy Thomson’s Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!; Rachel Day and Brad Crammond’s deliciously random debate on love in genre; and K. Burtt’s amazingly comprehensive and exhilarating trip through the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8 comics. Oooh, and Geonn Cannon’s deservedly merciless Undercovers reviews! And Jason Murdoch’s rant about fake movie martial arts! And Cassandra Chin’s Cosplay pieces! And The Hollywood Geek columns! And so on. What can I say? I love it all.

Geek Speak Memories: The interviews! The reviews! The Special Guest Contributors! The deadline panics and discoveries of new, awesome stuff. I must say, I also really enjoy receiving our readers’ comments. My favorite one is probably this one, from reader Cally Carmen, in Issue 7: “I love you, geek speak, but your articles are SOOOOO LONG. Don't you know we're the ADD generation?” That filled me with a quiet pride, because, yeah, they are SOOOOO LONG. And that’s what makes us special, Cally!



Kate Nagy
Status: Editor at Large, Staff-Writer
Nationality: All-American
Discovered Geek Speak: This story has a backstory. I first met our distinguished Editor-in-Chief when I was an occasional contributor to the late and lamented The 11th Hour. We went on to collaborate on a couple of pieces for a different ‘zine, and then fell out of contact when I started doing other things like having babies and raising toddlers, which shockingly enough ended up being an extremely time-consuming endeavor. A few years later, when my kids were a bit older, Rachel and I reconnected on Facebook, and when she e-mailed me that she was starting a new magazine and did I want in on the ground floor, I replied “Sure!” I thought that I’d maybe contribute a book review every few months or something. “Great! I’m thinking Editor at Large,” she promptly replied. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Joined Geek Speak: Issue 1, March 2010. Actually, even before Issue 1, I edited the Top 13…Genre Parodies preview piece, so I’ve been around pretty much from the start.
Because: A moment of weakness.

First Piece: A review of Lynn Kurland’s A Tapestry of Spells.

Best Piece(s): My two favorites: The Top 13… Genre Heroines Who Kick Ass, Literary Division was a blast to research and write, and it came together just the way I wanted it to. And if you had told me even a year ago that I would ever spend three solid weeks scoping out vintage photos of Jensen Ackles wearing brick pants or Josh Holloway’s forgotten “metrosexual” decade, I would have politely suggested to you that crack is wack, yo. But I did it, and the result (Everybody Has a Past) turned out to be probably the most fun I’ve ever had as a writer.

Favorite Pieces: I particularly appreciate the interesting, revealing interviews with some of my favorite writers, and of course special mention needs to be made of K. Burtt’s book review in the person of a fourteen-year-old girl. (I can attest that he is neither fourteen nor female.) If pressed, though, I’d have to admit that Dead and Doing It is my all-time favorite, if only because it was through that piece that I became acquainted with the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a favor for which I’m not sure whether to thank Rachel profusely or begin plotting an elaborate revenge.

Geek Speak Memories: When I first started writing for Geek Speak, I had never heard of the Liaden Universe®, had only a passing familiarity with the Bechdel Test, and actively avoided anything that involved vampires. Now, I have a stack of Liaden books next to my bed, I apply the Test to everything I watch or read (most things fail pretty miserably), and while I still haven’t gotten around to Twilight, I can name all of the Black Dagger Brothers and their shellans and preferred sexual positions. Please, nobody tell my mother.

From Badass Wicca-gate to the interesting theory that vampires are like lemons to pissing off one of my favorite authors with my very first interview question to desperately (and unsuccessfully) scouring the Internet for photos of 70s-era Jonathan Frakes in full Captain America array to “That’s Rhage with an ‘h’” to the terrifying realization that so many music-loving geeks adore The Jonas Brothers, even the iffy times have been good, and the good times have been great. Geek Speak: Year One has been one awesome ride, and it has been an honor to be a part of it.



K. "Doctor of Jocularity" Burtt
Status: Associate Editor (Not in Chief), Staff-Writer
Nationality: America(n), F*** Yeah!
Discovered Geek Speak: I've known about Geek Speak since the inception (errr... of the magazine, not the movie).
Joined Geek Speak: Issue 1, baby!
Because: In order to ensure certain photographs do not ever come to light, I graciously accepted the ultimatu... er... the offer to write and edit for the 'zine.

First Piece: First piece was a modified previously-written review of the Redwall book series (RIP, Brian Jacques). First all-new original review was of the bestest show EVAR, Firefly. (Sigh, I miss Firefly...).

Best Piece(s): Based upon the comments I received, I'd probably have to go with that which released my inner 14-year old girl, the recent book review of the YA-paranormal-romance Unearthly in Issue 11. Running a close second would be my anti-Harry Potter rant from the Geek VS Geek debate in Issue 3. I never pass up an opportunity to complain about HP (and will continue to do so, every time I re-read the books).

Favorite Piece(s): Gosh, where to start? The kickass interviews with authors that I've actually heard of and read regularly? The intriguing behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood with The Hollywood Geek? The many geek arguments? Well, I'd have to say that my favorite part is either a) being introduced to a wide-range of books/movies/other assorted geek-esque things that I hadn't known of before... or... b) the wide range of opinions expressed. I must admit to being highly amused when encountering a review that I disagree wholeheartedly with (though I will refrain from specifying examples, for fear of large objects getting hurled with great force toward my head). All part of what makes this magazine so much fun.

Geek Speak Memories: At an actual, in-person meeting of the Geek Speak editorial staff (take that, oceans! You thought you could keep us apart!), amidst all the geek discussions, the thoughts on the future of the magazine, and overall mirth and jocularity of the event, what was the main conclusion that this epic meeting of the minds reached? That Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Board Game really kind of sucks.



Sara Paige
Status: Staff-Writer
Nationality: American
Discovered Geek Speak: Through K. Burtt, if I remember correctly. I believe his words were "Rachel's trying to relive the 90's. Come join."
Joined: Issue 4, June 2010
Because: I had written reviews for The 11th Hour, and wanted to work collaboratively with K. and Rachel again.

First Piece: Blood, Death, and Sex, a True Blood Episode Guide (with David Baldwin and Rachel Hyland)

Best Piece(s): Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 6: A Compelling Metaphor. I had a lot of angst about that season pent up and it felt good to organize my thoughts about why I really liked it while everyone else seemed to hate it.

Favorite Piece(s): I am a fan of all the writing on here, but I have to say February's Top 13… Paranormal Romance Clichés was not only great to work on, but made me laugh so hard I cried a little bit. Probably because I love to hate to love it, and it hit all the right spots.

Geek Speak Memories: Every time I press the "Send" button on the e-mail that submits a new article, I always close my eyes and silently apologize to Rachel in advance. Then she's so supportive and wonderful about it! It's nice when someone thinks you're great for no reason you can fathom.



Cathy Thomson
Status: Staff-Writer
Nationality: Australian
Discovered Geek Speak: I have connections way high up in the organization.
Joined: Issue 5, July 2010
Because: I'd had a close encounter of the vampire kind.

My First Piece: First feature was Comic-Con Confessional -- the dazed and confused thoughts of a terrified first timer at the 2010 San Diego Comic Convention.

My Best Piece(s): Patriotic-me wants to pimp my Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! article here -- because, let's face it, everything Australian is AWESOME.

My Favorite Piece(s): In Friendship False -- hilarious because it's sooo true.

Geek Speak Memories: The late nights with mugs of cheap wine, scrambling to finish to deadline. The fun I have scrawling out high-speed notes while watching shows to review, then next day trying to interpret my own handwriting. How many of my witty comments and responses have been lost forever to poor penmanship?



Rachel Day
Status: Contributing Writer
Nationality: British
Discovered Geek Speak: I was approached by Rachel and asked if I wanted to write for the magazine.
Joined Geek Speak: Issue 1, March 2010.
Because: I liked the concept and, honestly, someone wanted me to watch TV I love and write reviews about it -- who can resist that?!

First Piece: Geek VS Geek: Why I Love Stargate Universe.

Best Piece(s): My Airwolf review -- simply because I love Airwolf and I think that came across, although my Doctor Who review of "Vincent and the Doctor" comes a close second.

Favorite Piece(s): Ooh, that's hard! The thing I head for first most months is the Geek VS Geek feature, so kudos to all contributors on that (possibly the Twilight Movies geek stand-off is my favorite). I also loved the A-Z of Geek Speak because it was fascinating to see what everyone else had chosen and really showed the vast range of the genre.

Geek Speak Memories: I can't believe it's been a year! Thanks for inviting me and letting me stick around!



Brad Crammond
Status: Contributing Writer
Nationality: Australian
Discovered Geek Speak: Through a friendship forged in trivia with the illustrious Editor.
Joined Geek Speak: Issue 1, March 2010
Because: I always hoped I would one day be cool enough to write for an e-zine.

First Piece: A review of Underworld.

Best Piece(s): It's a hard one because I'm normally critical of my work but I quite like my Spider-Man review.

Favorite Piece(s): I really love Rachel Day's defense of love stories in genre movies in the last issue; it almost made me change my mind. And I love Project Film Geek as a fellow tragic for bad movies (I'm the guy who loves DOA). Apart from that I'm just generally in awe of the people who write all the TV reviews.

Geek Speak Memories: Far and away my favorite part of writing for Geek Speak is my correspondence with the Editor in Chief. Since I'm typically a week late with submissions, or otherwise disorganized, I love the chiding e-mails Rachel sends out. It makes me feel like one of her charges, the way that she manages to sound lovely with this threatening undertone. Exactly like Mary Poppins.

Continued...