Leah Wilson's Blog, page 5

Things We Loved This Week #5

In this week’s Things We Loved This Week we share (spoiler alert)…the things we loved! Read on for our pop culture recommendations including giveaways, a Mare of Easttown think piece, and a Ghostbusters Twinkie recipe.

Loki finally premiered on Disney+! We’ve been eagerly awaiting Tom Hiddleston’s regular presence in our living rooms and its good to finally see him.

There’s something strange…in these Twinkies. We observed Ghostbusters Day earlier this week (the film premiered 37 years ago on Jun...

The Con-a-Sutra Sweepstakes!

We’re celebrating the June 29 release of The Con-a-Sutra with a special sweepstakes. The winner will receive an original piece of art titled “Animal Xing,” created for The Con-a-Sutra by famed comic artist J.K. Woodward! The illustration is 12 x 18″, ink on cold pressed cotton watercolor paper.

left: digitized art as appears in The Con-a-Sutra, right: original drawing (the prize!)How to EnterFill out the form below by midnight CST on June 30, 2021. U.S. residents, 18+ only. See the Official ...

Smart Pop Classics: How Harry Potter Fanfic Changed the World (or at Least the Internet)

In the Smart Pop Classics series, we share greatest hits from our throwback essay collections. This week, Heidi Tandy (aka Heidi8) time travels back to the early 2000s and shows how much attitudes around fanfiction have changed in her essay “How Harry Potter Fanfic Changed the World (or at Least the Internet)” from Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World.

I used to be terrified of Warner Bros.

Recently, I asked a friend to re-send to me a cease-and-desist letter that her fansite had receive...

Things We Loved This Week #4

In this week’s Things We Loved This Week we share (spoiler alert)…the things we loved! Read on for our pop culture recommendations, including convention news and bug rankings.

Starfleet Is… featured in this interview! Robb Pearlman, aka our Editor in Chief and author of the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Is…, shared why Trek fans are the best and what Starfleet means to him over at The Portalist. Robb says, “I’m not a Vulcan, so it’s hard for me to not get emotional about this. If I’m honest, Sta...

Meet the Team: Cover Designer Brigid Pearson

Our Meet the Team series spotlights members of the Smart Pop family through a Q&A designed to reveal the depths of our nerdy, pop culture–loving souls. Today, we’re joined by cover designer Brigid Pearson.

What do you do at Smart Pop? 

I make the book covers. One of the best things about Smart Pop is the variety of subject matter. Everything from a Walter Mercado book (glitter!!) to Star Trek (space!! The final frontier!!) to TV series cookbooks. Also, I get to use ALL the fonts.

What are your f...

Smart Pop Classics: Zombie People

In the Smart Pop Classics series, we share greatest hits from our throwback essay collections.  This week, Brenden Riley explores the complicated nature of personhood in his essay “Zombie People” from Triumph of The Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman’s Zombie Epic on Page and Screen .

She’s not your mother anymore.”
—Ed, Shaun of the Dead

“I don’t want to be walkin’ around like that.”
—Roger, Dawn of the Dead

“Keep your funeral, dear. Timmy and I are going zombie.”
—Helen, Fido

Zombie stories scare u...

Things We Loved This Week #3

In this week’s Things We Loved This Week we share (spoiler art)…the things we loved! Read on for our pop culture recommendations.

Preview of a Bob Ross documentary. We can’t wait for Netflix’s new documentary about the beloved painter and man behind the meme. Bring on the happy little trees!

Voting for the Best Hollywood Chris. Nerdist’s Oscar Week nominations put our decision making skills to the test. How do you choose just one Chris to rule them all? (P.S. We’re a little preoccupied with Chri...

Smart Pop Classics: The Politics of Mockingjay

In the Smart Pop Classics series, we share greatest hits from our throwback essay collections.  This week, in her essay “The Politics of Mockingjay” from The Girl Who Was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy , Sarah Darer Littman uses her experiences as a political journalist to draw some alarming parallels between war in Panem and in our world that may change the way you think about not just Presidents Snow and Coin, but also Peeta, Gale, and even Katniss.

Mayb...

Things We Loved This Week #2

In this week’s Things We Loved This Week we share (spoiler art)…the things we loved! Read on for our pop culture recommendations.

Set phasers to fun. [NSFW] The Mary Sue shared their thoughts on The Con-a-Sutra and it made us feel warm and fuzzy: “This book isn’t really a guide to get the stereotypical media image of a loser nerd laid, it’s more of a walkthrough on how to add more spice to what nerds are, most definitely, already doing.”

Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. Just trust us on this one. E...

Smart Pop Classics: Happiness Under Glass from Coffee at Luke’s

In the Smart Pop Classics series, we share greatest hits from our throwback essay collections. This week, in her essay from Coffee at Luke’s: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest , Jill Winters compares Stars Hollow to a snow globe, a picture perfect place full of eternally content characters . . . and Lorelai Gilmore.

RORY: It’s a Friday night. We should be out, I don’t know, partying with the homies.
LORELAI: Our Stars Hollow homies are all in bed by now.
(“Keg! Max!” 3-19)

It always looks l...