Lez Geek Out!cast

Andi and Lise RAVE about the book Dread Nation by author Justina Ireland, which is billed as YA but really, EVERYBODY should read it. It's an amazingly evocative tale of American race relations set against the backdrop of the Civil War but with a twist—zombies. Or, in the parlance of the times, "shamblers."

From the book description:

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society's expectations.

The book deals with race, racial hierarchies as defined by skin color, and how a zombie apocalypse didn't re-align race relations, but rather simply grafted them onto a new backdrop. The protagonist (Jane) is amazing and the story is well-crafted and you're swept up in it immediately. READ THIS BOOK.

Justina Ireland's website

Dread Nation is published by Balzar + Bray (imprint of HarperCollins)

Here's the Amazon link

https://lezgeekoutcast.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/lgo_361.mp3

Andi and Lise totally fangirled over Amanda McLoughlin, but they still did manage to chat with her about one of her cool-ass projects, "Join the Party," a collaborative storytelling and roleplaying podcast in which four friends create a story together, chapter by chapter. Everyone from seasoned players to total beginners can enjoy this Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, with adventure, intrigue, drama, magic, and the chance to follow diverse characters.

According to the Bello (podcasting) Collective, Join the Party has "gargoyles, robots, queerness, political intrigue, and a whole lot of sound design." JTP also has introductory episodes to teach new listeners how to play D&D, and they also have interviews with innovators who are pushing the game forward.

Amanda McLoughlin is a producer, founder of the production collective Multitude, a business builder, and old-school internet creator from New York who some of you may know as one of the co-hosts of the fabulous mythology, folklore and legends podcast, "Spirits."

Hit the link to visit the awesome:

Join the Party

Other D&D podcasts you might dig:

The Adventure Zone

Venture Maidens

Dames & Dragons

This week Lise and Andi lose their collective minds over the movie Ocean's 8 because: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rhianna, Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, and Anne Hathaway. Also, they both LUUUUV a good heist, and Ocean's 8 delivers AND passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.

The writing is tight (SO important in a heist plot!), the woman power is stellar, the humor is spot-on, and holy crap the chemistry between the cast and especially Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett…Andi is shipping them hard. Ocean's 8 is part of the Ocean's franchise, and Bullock's character is Debbie Ocean, sister of Danny Ocean.

Plot summary:

"Five years, eight months, 12 days and counting -- that's how long Debbie Ocean [Bullock] has been devising the biggest heist of her life. She knows what it's going to take -- a team of the best people in the field, starting with her partner-in-crime Lou Miller [Blanchett]. Together, they recruit a crew of specialists, including jeweler Amita [Kaling], street con Constance [Awkwafina], suburban mom Tammy [Paulson], hacker Nine Ball [Rihanna], and fashion designer Rose [Bonham Carter]. Their target -- a necklace that's worth more than $150 million."

Ocean's 8 website

This week, Andi and Lise rave about the comic Raven the Pirate Princess, a spinoff of the Princeless series, both written by Jeremy Whitley and, in the case of Raven, arted up by Rosy Higgins and Ted Brandt.

This is Volume 1, a compilation of initial issues (chapters) 1-4, in which Raven Tsingtao, the daughter of a pirate king, is double-crossed by her brothers. Her father's legacy was supposed to be handed down to her, but her brothers poisoned him against her and now she's looking for a pirate crew to reclaim her legacy and get revenge on her brothers. Follow Raven as she auditions potential crewmates, meets other strong badass women, and prepares to find her brothers.

Andi and Lise rate Raven the Pirate Princess, as A—Awesome! Not only in characterization and storyline and art, but in diversity (many different body types, backgrounds, ethnicities, and races) and Awesome in potential queer rep. Raven is most likely a lesbian, and there are a few other characters who probably identify that way, too.

Find it at Action Lab Comics and Amazon.

Want more info? Check Keri Crist-Wagner's piece at BookRiot and Mey Rude's observations at Autostraddle.

Lise has gone off the rails without Andi this week, and brings in author Nita Round to geek out about one of her favorite subjects of late: D&D!!! For those not in the know, D&D stands for Dungeons & Dragons and is a fantasy-based role-playing game.

Nita and Lise talk about their experiences playing the game, the sorts of hi-jinks that happen when you get cranky wizards together with clueless clerics, and games devolve into one long attempt to barbecue their way across a fantasy landscape.

Nita Round (and her fabulous books) can be found at nitaround.com.

More about D&D can be found at the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons website.

This week, Andi interviewed two of the creative forces behind L.A. Web Series, a currently 2-season web series available on YouTube that follows a chance meeting between two women one evening in L.A. and what kind of connection they forge in the night they spend wandering around the city before Landon has to fly back to the UK in the morning.

Emma Maddock plays Landon in the series. She is an actress originally from Manchester, England, who was also a producer on the series.

Alexandra Swarens plays Avery. She is a writer and actress originally from Sacramento, California who wrote the series and also directed it.

Here they dish on their backgrounds and on filming the series, and provide some advice on creating content. They also spill a bit about new projects they're working on.

You can find both seasons of L.A. Web Series on YouTube.

Find Emma Maddock on Twitter (@Emmaddock) and Instagram (@maddock94) and the L.A. Web Series on Twitter (@LAWebSeries).

Alexandra's Twitter account is at @ASwarens.

Andi and Lise totally geeked out over the SyFy series Killjoys, which is about to enter its fourth season. It's an absolutely delicious space opera that explores all levels of political intrigue and its effects on personal relationships.

Killjoys, in the show, are galactic bounty hunters that operate in a four-planet system called the Quad, which is beholden to "The Company," which in turn is tied to a group of families called "The Nine," who have worked hand-in-glove with the Company to leverage political and cultural influence. It's a hierarchical society based on class ties, but also blood and political ties. The Company has, of course, extended its greedy and often corrupt power grabs all over the Quad, stripping areas of their resources and leaving godawful pollution and crap in its wake.

This is the backdrop for an intriguing maelstrom of excellent storylines!

Andi and Lise highly recommend this show.

Catch it on SyFy.com and Amazon and DVD on Netflix (check your country's listings).

ClexaCon with guest Ashley, ClexaCon attendee

Andi and Lise are both on the ground at ClexaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada and they chat with con-goer Ashley about her experiences at the event and what it means to her and to queer representation.

ClexaCon met in Vegas April 5-9, 2018.

ClexaCon with guest Anna from The Lesbian Review

Andi and Lise are both on the ground at ClexaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada and so is Anna from The Lesbian Review, who also attended last year. Andi and Lise chat with Anna about ClexaCon then and now, fandoms, and how important queer representation is and the role ClexaCon plays in that.

ClexaCon met in Vegas April 5-9, 2018.

Andi and Lise love themselves some Lost Girl, the paranormal urban fantasy series that launched in 2010 and ended with Season 5 in 2015. The series follows main character Bo, a succubus, in her quest to find her true origins, but she's buttressed by several strong secondary characters, both human and fae. The show's premise is predicated on there being two worlds – fae and human – and the former attempt to stay hidden from the latter while dealing with conflict between light fae and dark. The show is full of strong women characters and includes strong positive LGBTQ rep. Bo is considered bisexual and engages with both male and female love interests.

Andi and Lise agree the show is full of great, strong characters, excellent writing, great plots, and explorations of moral ambiguity with regard to the conflicts between light and dark fae as well as how individuals engage with both sides.

The show is currently available on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the U.S.

And check out the Waystation podcast, all about Lost Girl.