Review of A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema

The blog She Treads Softly has a rave review of A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema. Take a read, and browse the extensive archives of book reviews while you're there.

Comic-Con 2015 Day 0: Up Against the Wall

The trip down to San Diego was pleasant and uneventful. I took the Gold Line down to Union Station, where I caught the Amtrak down to San Diego. We had lucked out in getting the Town and Country hotel, which is right on the trolley, thus saving us considerable time and money. Once at the hotel we got in the first of many lines - the one to check into our hotel.

When we checked in, the clerk said that our room did not have a view, and were we OK with that? We assured her we were, but we weren't quite prepared for what "no view" meant.

The view from our balcony

After Erik and I had a good laugh and sang a rousing chorus of "Is There Anybody Out There" from the Wall album, we caught the trolley back to the convention center to get checked in. Again, we waited in a line (quelle surprise) but emerged victorious with my first ever Comic-Con Creative Professional badge. Check it out.

My badge! 

Usually I have no interest in Preview Night, but we went in briefly so I could visit Booth 5627, William Wu Books, and see my book available for sale. And there it was!

Just $15! What a bargain!

By this time we were very hungry, so we left the center and went in search of food. The Old Spaghetti Factory had no wait (have never seen that before during con) so we took advantage of the situation and ate ourselves silly on pasta and garlic bread. Then we went to Ralph's to get snack supplies for the next few days, and retired to the hotel to jump in the pool for a bit.

Tomorrow: The quest for Hall H and  panels for Doctor Who and Con Man!

Off to San Diego for Comic-Con!

This time tomorrow I should be arriving in San Diego for Comic-Con, where I'll be joining more than 100,000 of my nerdy brethren for four days of geeking out, attending panels, and standing in lines.

I'm particularly excited because my book A Nerd Girl's Guide To Cinema will be on sale at exhibitor booth 5627 (William Wu Books). Stop by, take a look at the book, pick up some free postcards and bookmarks, and who knows, you may see me there too.

I'll also be trying for the Doctor Who, Con Man, Hateful Eight, and Ash vs. Evil Dead panels, and doing my usual shopping.

Look for updates each evening! And lots of this:

Find out what A Girl Who Loves Horror thinks of A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema

A Girl Who Loves Horror has her review of A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema. Take a look!

A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema hits the shelves!

I am pleased to announce the release of my first nonfiction book, A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema.

For those of you who know me for my novels, here's some background: I've been in love with movies nearly as long as I've been in love with fiction. And the movies that I enjoy the most are ones that are … how shall I put it … odd. I chalk it up to seeing movies like The Last Wave and Phantom of the Paradise when I was young and impressionable. Those movies tweaked my psyche in ways that could never be undone.

I started writing movie reviews back in the early 2000s for the Horrorview website. And a few years ago, I got the notion to do a book of movie reviews; my inspiration came from reading review books by Joe Bob Briggs and Pauline Kael, and especially Danny Peary's Cult Movies and Guide for the Film Fanatic books.

A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema has reviews of 200 movies in a variety of genres from art house oddities to grind house horrors and everywhere in between. It's available in both ebook and paperback.

A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema - The List, Revealed!

Calling all film geeks! My movie review book A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema will be out at the end of the month. To whet your appetite, here is the final list of movies that will be covered.

Alice, Sweet Alice
All That Jazz
Altered States
American History X
A*P*E
The Arena
The Bad Seed
Bad Taste
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Beyond the Door
The Big Red One
The Black Dahlia
Black Sheep
The Blob
A Boy and His Dog
Bubba Ho-Tep
Burn After Reading
Caligula
Cannibal Ferox
Carnival of Souls
Carrie
The Changeling
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
A Christmas Carol
The Company of Wolves
Conan the Barbarian
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Countess Dracula
Creepshow
The Curse of the Cat People
Damien: Omen 2
Day of the Animals
Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Daybreakers
The Dead Zone
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats
Death Race 2000
Deception
Demoniacs
Destroy All Monsters
The Devil's Advocate
The Devils
District B13
Django Unchained
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Edison Force
El Diablo
Equinox
Event Horizon
Excalibur
The Exorcist III
Fair Game
Fight Club
The Final Conflict
The Fisher King
Fist of the North Star
Flesh + Blood
Flesh Gordon
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Freaks
Frogs
Galaxy of Terror
The Gates of Hell
Glengarry Glen Ross
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Gothic
Grindhouse
Gymkata
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
The Hand
Hell of the Living Dead
Henry and June
Hercules and the Captive Women
High Anxiety
The Hills Have Eyes
I Spit on Your Grave
Ice Castles
In the Mouth of Madness
The Incredible Hulk
Ironclad
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Jacob's Ladder
Jaws
Joe Versus the Volcano
Julie and Julia
Kill the Irishman
King Kong (the Peter Jackson version)
King of New York
Kingdom of the Spiders
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park
L.A. Confidential
Lair of the White Worm
Laserblast
The Last Wave
The Legacy
Long Weekend
Lord of the Rings (the Ralph Bakshi version)
Lost Highway
Macbeth
Mad Monster Party
Mandingo
Marathon Man
Marnie
Massacre in Dinosaur Valley
Master of the Flying Guillotine
Matango
Meet the Feebles
Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus
Miami Connection
Mortal Kombat
The Naked Kiss
The Naked Prey
National Lampoon's Animal House
The Negotiator
Night of the Lepus
Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)
Nightmare Alley
The Ninth Configuration
No Country for Old Men
Nude for Satan
The Omen
The Painted Veil
Pennies From Heaven
Performance
Phantom of the Paradise
Phase IV
Pink Floyd: The Wall
Piranha 3D
Poseidon
Possession
Prophecy
Psychomania
Rain of Fire
Ravenous
The Reaping
Red Sonja
The Ref
The Reflecting Skin
The Replacement Killers
Repulsion
Requiem for a Vampire
Romeo is Bleeding
Ronin
The Room
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Roxanne
Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom
Scanners
Seconds
The Sentinel
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Seven
Shark Attack 3: Megalodon
Shoot 'Em Up
Sideways
The Sign of the Cross
The Silent Scream
Silver Bullet
Slither
Slugs
Snakes on a Plane
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Somewhere in Time
Sorcerer
Spirits of the Dead
Stanley
Street Kings
Suddenly, Last Summer
Super
Surviving the Game
Suspiria
Tales From the Crypt
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
The 13th Warrior
Tideland
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tron
Tron: Legacy
The Truman Show
Turkey Shoot
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Under Siege
Under the Skin
The Unseen
Valhalla Rising
The Valley of Gwangi
The Visitor
WALL-E
War of the Gargantuas
Watership Down
What Have You Done to Solange?
Whisper
White Noise 2: The Light
Witchfinder General
Wizards
Wolfen
Xtro
Yellow Submarine
The Yellow Wallpaper
Zabriskie Point

The guide also includes a list of 200 more movies worth watching, from The Abominable Dr. Phibes to Zodiac. Stay tuned for the official release date!

Cover reveal: A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema

Finally! Here is the cover of my forthcoming movie review book, A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema.

The book will be published in late February. Stay tuned for official release date!

Today in Nerditry: 40th Anniversary showing of Phantom of the Paradise

Last night at the Cinerama Dome was a 40th-Anniversary showing of Phantom of the Paradise, and yours truly was there. In addition to seeing the movie with a full house of enthusiasts and even a few cosplayers, I got a nice limited-edition lithograph and a t-shirt. After the movie was a Q&A hosted by Edgar Wright, with Paul Williams, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham, two members of the "Juicy Fruits" band, and the movie's editor. And to top it all off, at the end I managed to get my issue of Cinefantastique that has Phantom on the cover signed by Paul Williams. This evening has special resonance for me, as Phantom was one of the key films that warped my psyche at a young age and made me into the nerd I am today. It's significant that Phantom was the first film I reviewed for Horrorview, and that review will be included in my upcoming A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema.

What's up my sleeve for 2014

The good news is that I've got a lot of irons in the fire for 2014.

The bad news is that most of them are not in a state where I can talk about them right now.

Let's just say that I'm going to be a busy girl this year. Considering setting up a caffeine IV drip.

But one thing I can talk about is my first nonfiction book: A Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema.

Inspired by my stint as reviewer at Horrorview, I'm putting together a book of 200 movie reviews. My thinking is that you don't need me to tell you to see Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings, but maybe you do want my opinions on some of the more oddball movies that might pop up when you're browsing Hulu or Netflix. There will be cult classics, interesting failures, direct-to-video oddities, and much more. There'll be a heavy dose of the horror, sci-fi, and thriller genres, but also a little bit of everything: martial arts, anime, film noir, European art-house, silent films, and so on.

I'm currently into the home stretch for writing reviews, and an illustrator is at work on the cover (I've seen the roughs, and this is going to look fantastic). I'm aiming for a release this autumn - further details as and when!

Update: The Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema

It's been a while since I mentioned my book of movie reviews that's in progress, but now I have an update on The Nerd Girl's Guide to Cinema. I have 3/4 the quota of reviews designated for the book, so we're definitely on the downhill side. I'm already getting things prepped for the cover art.

Those of you who've read my reviews at Horrorview know that I'm fond of horror and other genre films, not to mention oddball films and cult classics. Is there a particular film you'd like to see my take on? Leave a comment and let me know!