escritorzuela

• First thing first, I'll link to my author's newsletter. I intend to update it about once every two months, or whenever I have important news. In it I also share some personal updates and recommendations.
• Last year, I shared a teaser for a a project of mine, "Underground Elysium", a quite sui generis dystopian novella featuring a misandrist vampire society. I hope to have a polished draft of the real thing in a few months; then, I'll see how I go about sharing feedback.
• My fandom username is laufire; you can find me in tumblr and in ao3. I likely won't be as active on the first in the upcoming year, but I want to continue my writing streak on the latter, where I recently published my 100th fic (!!!), after finally getting rid of all the prompts in my inbox ^^U. You can see them compiled here.

Now, as to my main fandoms; what you'll see around here the most:

• Detective Comics Comics STILL has me in its clutches. It's terminal, I fear. I read mostly (and write exclusively) post-crisis/pre-reboot canon, though I dabbled in others (DCAU, Batman Returns, the Snyderverse, Batwoman s2... to name a few favourites). Jason Todd is the getaway drug into the rest, but my interests are expansive (other Bats, Arrows, Amazons, Suicide Squads, Talia, Catwoman...). Recently I finished reading all of new earth!Cass comics, and now I'm going through the highlights of Lady Shiva's appearances. During this month of January I also plan to do the same with Duke Thomas (about the one (1) thing I consider a vast improvement in the current continuity), and some key issues from Wonder Woman (1987).
• My own original stories. My stories are largely focused on female characters (and if there's romance, it's likely f/f). This year, and in the short and medium-long term, I'll be focused on my standalone ideas, leaving aside more expansive series. Other than Underground Elysium, the list of the most advanced ideas includes "Chasing Fanny" (pseudo noir story about a medium, a femme fatale, and a sob-sister wannabe reporter), "The Leech of Wonderland" (a cynic take on the historical romance genre involving a naïve young woman and a dangerous suitor), "A Child's Covenant" (a dark fairy tale about a survivor trying to find some temporary happiness before it's too late), "One Over Many" (my take on the "what if one day you woke up and all the men were gone" speculative subgenre), and "All About Eves" (magical realism + historical realism + time travel).

Other interests and fandoms you might see around here:

• Authors & Books: Ana María Matute, Angela Carter, "Beauty and the Beast" (Madame de VIlleneuve), Camilla Andrew ("The Essence of the Equinox", "The Sanguine Sorceress"), Catherynne M. Valente, "Carmilla", Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Dangerous Liaisons", Daphne du Maurier, Devin Grayson, "El cordero carnívoro", Greg Rucka, Hope Mirrlees, "Hymn to Demeter", Judd Winick, Kristin Cashore (Graceling series), Marjorie Liu, Mary Wollstoncraft Shelley, "Medea", Miguel Hernández, Philip Pullman, "Pygmalion", Shirley Jackson, The Locked Tomb.
• Comics: outside of DC, I tend to go for Image Comics (Monstress, Paper Girls, Saga). I want to get more into Marvel, starting with returning to my Iron Man reading, and to begin on Black Widow.
• Films: the Alien franchise, Black Swan, Blancanieves (2012), Colombiana, El verdugo, Jupiter Ascending, La virgen roja, Lust Caution, May December, Pan's Labyrinth, Polite Society, Practical Magic, Sinners, The Handmaiden, The Lion in Winter, The Mask of Zorro, The Terminator.
• Musical artists: Aaliyah, Amy Winehouse, Ani DiFranco, Antonio VIvaldi, Bear McCreary, Christopher Beck, Clint Mansell, Dessa, Ennio Morricone, Fiona Apple, FKA twigs, Florence + the Machine, Georges Bizet, Hole, Julie London, Kate Bush, Lacuna Coil, Mariah Carey, Mägo de Oz, Miley Cyrus, Mirel Wagner, Montserrat Caballé, Nancy Sinatra, Nina Simone, Peggy Seeger, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Queen, Richard Wagner, Rosalía, Serguéi Serguéievich Prokófiev, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Pretty Reckless, Tracy Chapman.
• Shows: the Buffyverse, the Plecverse, Black Sails, Desperate Housewives, Dollhouse, Grey's Anatomy, Killjoys, Nikita, Person of Interest, Reign, Scandal, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Good Wife, The Wire, Twin Peaks (WIP), Underground, Veronica Mars.
• Others: art history, creative writing, photography, history & historiography, criminal and international law, orcas, owls...

After some deliberation, given the issues we've been seeing with substack, I decided to make a patreon page. Everything I plan to post there now and in the near future will be available for free. Ignore the subscription (patreon doesn't let you put it as anything less than one dollar, and you'll save me the potential headache when it comes to taxes lol).

I already published there the short story/teaser for "Underground Elysium", and plan to post there (& crosspost in my other socials) things on the same venue as in my newsletter: monthly samples of my original writing in the form of short stories, flash fiction, or excerpts; and recommendations and in-depth analysis of other people's writing.

And since this will serve as my new sticky post: this journal is public. You don't need to give me access to yours, but know that everything I post here can be read by anyone. As for the stuff you're likely to find here: be prepared, first and foremost, for a lot of detective comics comics. Otherwise:

• Authors & Books: Ana María Matute, Angela Carter, Camilla Andrew ("When the Stars Alight", "The Sanguine Sorceress"), "Carmilla", Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Dangerous Liaisons", Daphne du Maurier, "El cordero carnívoro", "Hymn to Demeter", Mary Wollstoncraft Shelley, "Medea", Miguel Hernández, Philip Pullman, "Pygmalion", Shirley Jackson, Terry Pratchett.
• Comics: outside of DC, I tend to go for IDW (Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees), Image (Monstress, Paper Girls, Saga), and Iron Man (volumes 1 & 3, Doomquest/Legacy of Doom, Fatal Frontier, the current run).
• Films: the Alien franchise, Black Swan, Blancanieves (2012), Colombiana, El verdugo, Jupiter Ascending, Lust Caution, Pan's Labyrinth, Practical Magic, The Handmaiden, The Lion in Winter, The Mask of Zorro, The Terminator.
• Shows: the Buffyverse, the Plecverse, Black Sails, Desperate Housewives, Dollhouse, Killjoys, Nikita, Person of Interest, Reign, Severance, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Sopranos, Veronica Mars.

IceBreaker Challenge! Tell us about yourself. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I'm gonna cheat just a little bit, because really, I find talking about myself extremely difficult. But! Lucky for me, I already had to do such titanic effort when I had to introduce myself on January 1st for my brand new author's newsletter (#selfpromo). So I'm just going to borrow from that section. If you want to read the rest (writing updates, an excerpt from an upcoming story, recommendations), you'll have to click the link :P

( Read more... )

As for an ice breaker... ask me a top 5 [insert anything here] in the comments, and I'll reply!

I am, once more, Trying to Make Blogging Fun For Me (Again) xD

Finding myself more and more frustrated by tumblr* each passing day, I decided to make a new account here. I have another one I haven't used in over a year, paired with my main tumblr. But this (very cool, IMO) username is linked to my original stories & writeblr, and that's one of the things I'll want to talk about more here, as I (re-)develop them.

(*will I still use it? Sure. There's plenty to enjoy there, especially my mutuals & friends. I'll post the occassional gifset or graphic, etc. etc. But between the changes the site's implementing now, and the limitations of the platform itself, I wanted to give old school blogging TM another shot!)

As for what I'll post about here... as I said, things regarding my original stories (and, eventually, actual writing!!) is likely. I rarely feel tempted to go deep into my personal life online, but if I ever do, those will be the only entries locked; other IRL, less personal stuff is a tad more probable (politics, current issues, articles & essays I read...). Although it's much more likely I'll post widely known (and far more obscure) fandom stuff as I go. I love film, literature, all forms of art, and I want to discuss it more here. So you can expect book reviews (I have goodreads and storygraph accounts for that as well), commentary on films & shows, musical recommendations... the works.

For some specifics, in case anyone wants to know:

What I'm reading right now: I'm subscribed to a few substack newsletters to read a few of those classics I've missed out on (Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes, L. Frank Baum's Oz collection...), or re-read old favourites (The Divine Comedy). One of them is The Public Domain Book Club, which posts a new one each month. Right now I'm reading "The Scarlet Letter", and absolutely loving it just a handful of chapters in. I'm also reading a play, "Angels in America", and re-reading a friend's just-published novel ("When The Stars Alight", the first instalment of her trilogy; if that review entices you, I can't recommend it enough). In addition to that I have, unfortunately, fallen prey to DC again, and I'm tentatively reading comics again, old & new alike; right now I'm focused on Jason Todd, but I won't try to lie to myself and swear it'll stop there...

What I'm (soon) watching right now: at the moment I'm on a tv hiatus, but that won't last long. I want to finish the likes of "Attack on Titan" or "Battlestar Galactica" or "Dark Angel" this year, among other shows I started but never got around to finishing it. There are many many films I want to watch and rewatch; at the top of the list of the latter is Pablo Berger's "Blancanieves", one of my favourite Spanish films, since I kind of want to watch more local cinema & ~share it with the world LOL.

What I will be writing SOON: some fic, I won't lie, but I'll talk less about that here (might post links when it's posted). As for original stories, I have a three series that have been near and dear to my heart for years (especially the first two, as the latter is newer; although tbh the former have gone through so many changes as well LOL):

• THE REDSTART'S LEDGER (space fantasy, space opera). In a faraway galaxy already heavily populated before it was colonised by humans, Captain Latoya - pirate, hybrid, daughter of tyrants starts her release from prison in an eventful way. She meets a mysterious and beautiful woman, steals a ship with a faulty artificial intelligence, and goes on the run from the shady organisation that freed her with a new crew of mismatched criminals.
• THE WICKED WITCHES OF TRICKSTOWN (dark fantasy). Early 80s. Everyone in Trickstown, USA, knows their town is cursed, especially three young women: Sadie, a talented witch; Gillian, her complicated best friend; and Denise, the prodigal daughter returning after the murder of her last living relative... where everything points to Sadie as the culprit. / Early 00s. After years apart, the three women reunite in Trickstown, for it is a place nobody can quite escape.
• THE TRAVELS OF SOYOLMAA (high fantasy, futuristic fantasy). In a world of creatures of magic alongside humans born without it, Soyolmaa, an immortal centenarian woman, has lived through medieval times into a futuristic society. Part of a now disolved order of fellow human women turned invulnerable, she's determined to continue honouring its mission of making information available to the masses. Strange adventures, hidden treasures, and historical mysteries interrupt her path.

I have some shorter stories; some are within Soyolmaa's universe, as she's a chronicler, and include dark fairytales, gothic horror, noir, etc., all within that world of fantastical sapient creatures. Others are "All About Eve(s)" (magical realism, set in the 1950s, with fae & time travel); "Beneath the Foam" (historical fantasy & horror, set in Al-Andalus); "A Child's Covenant" (revenge tale, dark fairytale); "Underground Elysium" (political fantasy, born from a harebrained idea about vampires running a protection racket in a zombie apocalypse that I took very seriously), "House of Providence" (gothic horror, mirror twin sisters + identical mother in a quaint house that hides a horrible secret); "The Wings Behind The Stage" (existential horror; an angel becomes obsessed with a play, and the actors, especially the past-her-prime diva, are caught in the crossfire); "One Over Many" (mystery; men disappeared a year ago, but Maude is more interested in the disappearence of one Odette Farrow in that same day).

And some old favourites & fandoms that I never quite leave that you might expect to see:

• Books & Authors: Agatha Christie, Ana María Matute, Angela Carter, "Batman: Under the Red Hood", Camilla Andrew, "Carmilla", Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Dangerous Liaisons", Daphne du Maurier, "El cordero carnívoro", "Frankenstein", "Hymn to Demeter", "Iron Man: Fatal Frontier", Kemy Ashing-Giwa, Marjane Satrapi, "Medea", "Paper Girls", Philip Pullman, "Pygmalion", Shirley Jackson, Terry Pratchett, "Wuthering Heights".
• Films & Directors: the Alien franchise, Ang Lee, "Batman Returns", "Black Swan", "Blancanieves", Bong Joon Ho, "Colombiana", "El verdugo", "Hustlers", "Jennifer's Body", "Jupiter Ascending", "Pan's Labyrinth", Park Chan-wook, "Phantom Thread", Pilar Miró, "Practical Magic", "Princess Mononoke", "Rear Windwo", Ridley Scott, Sofia Coppola, "The Banshees of Inisherin", "The Lion in Winter", "The Terminator", "True Grit", Zack Snyder.
• TV shows: "Black Sails",  the Buffyverse, "Desperate Housewives", "Dollhouse", "El ministerio del tiempo", "House M.D.", "Killjoys", the CW's "Nikita", "Person of Interest", "Reign", "Scandal", "Severance", "Shingeki no Kyojin", "Supernatural" (... in a way), "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles", "The Expanse", "The Good Wife", "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", "The Wire", "Underground", "Veronica Mars", "Xena: Warrior Princess".
• Music artists & Composers: Aaliyah, Amaral, Amistades Peligrosas, Amy Winehouse, Ani DiFranco, Antonio Vivaldi, Aretha Franklin, Bear McCreary, Bruce Springsteen, Christopher Beck, Clint Mansell, Dessa, Doja Cat, Donna Summer, Ella Fitzgerald, Ennio Morricone, Fiona Apple, FKA twigs, Florence + the Machine, Gang of Youths, George Bizet, Hans Zimmer, Hole, Johnny Cash, Julie London, Kate Bush, Kovacs, Lil Nas X, Lyeoka, Mägo de Oz, Mariah Carey, Mirel Wagner, Mitski, Montserrat Caballé, Nancy Sinatra, Nina Simone, Peggy Seeger, PJ Harvey, Portishead, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Queen, Serguéi Serguéievich Prokófiev, Siouxie and the Banshees, The Pretty Reckless, Tina Turner, Tracy Chapman.

I also like to think I'm a moderately talented graphic-maker, so I'M TAKING ICON REQUESTS, if that's something people are interested in (to see my ~portfolio LOL, just look at my icons here).

I also welcome recommendations, especially book & film recs! Adult lit, classics, SFF, horror, mystery... if you love something deeply & want to suggest it, feel free to send it my way.