Even though I am the SPACE Pirate Queen, I can still appreciate the music of land pirates. Wolfbeard O’ Brady, the captain of The Dread Crew of Oddwood, took time out of sailing the high seas and making music to answer questions for our blog. Gizzy B and I have seen this band perform a couple of years ago and their fun energy have always made an impression on me. They were out of control, stomping around and played great pirate-y music. Imagine my surprise when one of the band members has been reading our blog all this time! I was happy to do an interview with them. Besides, us pirates have to stick together.

These pirates are not only hot but they make great music. Take a listen on their Facebook.

Where did the name of the band come from? What is the origin story of  The Dread Crew of Oddwood? Tell me more about each of your pirate tales and history.

The Dread Tale of Oddwood begins in 1735, a time of endless bounty and exploration. It’s a long and adventurous epic that tells of how the Dread Crew was brought to the present through temporal rifts in the Atlantic Ocean, and how we started playing our music for American audiences in 2008. While it is too long to recount here in explicit detail, you can read the whole story on our website.

So for giggles, I asked Andrea Lewis who she thought were the top 5 best couples in Degrassi: The Next Generation.  The list below might be short but I think Andrea tells us why these relationships were the most memorable.

When you’re done reading, comment below and tell us who are your favorite couples were on Degrassi.

Read the interview: Andrew Lewis of ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’

I met Rebecca at Geek Girl Con 2011 in Seattle and she is so funny and talented. Rebecca created the popular web comic, Little Vampires, about little 7-inch (or less) vampires who try to be as fierce and frightening as the big vampires. Except, they are just too darn cute. Rebecca illustrates art and creates all kinds of merchandise to sell at different conventions around the country. She talks about her project and her convention experiences below in her spotlight interview. Trust me, this woman is the person to ask when it comes to sitting at a table at convention’s exhibit halls.

DEFECTIVEGEEKS: Tell us about your web comic ‘Little Vampires’ and what inspired the concept? Why did you start this webcomic?

REBECCA HICKS: The Little Vampires webcomic is about a group of miniature monsters that try really hard to be big and fierce but fail spectacularly at it. The focus of the comic is their misadventures, but it’s also about their friendship with Wolfie (a little wolfman), Frank (a little Frankenstein’s monster), and other little monsters, none of whom sparkle. There is no sparkling. Little monsters, big fun, no sparkling. Unless they cover themselves in glitter.

If you were a fan of Degrassi: The Next Generation growing up then you remember Andrea Lewis. She played Hazel Aden the snotty sarcastic popular girl who had a sweet side. Since ending her role in Degrassi, Andrea has taken the world by storm. From releasing her album; 5-4-3-2-1, to starring in the Nickelodeon movie Spectacular! and launching her website ThoseGirlsAreWild.com —this girl has done it all. We also get to hear a little bit about the pilot show she is working on based on her popular website. Through this pilot, Andrea shows us that’s it’s okay to be a fun and silly girl. You don’t have to conform to what society deems as normal behavior for a women. That is something that I think Defective Geeks and Those Girls Are Wild Ladies have in common. Were all just trying to have a good time.

Below I talk with Andrea about being on Degrassi and the plans for ThoseGirlAreWild.com.

We are excited to present to you a guest blog written by author, Piper Maitland, about her main character from ‘Acquainted With the Night.’ – an epic story about immortality and the fate of mankin. There are very frightening vampires and very sexy characters. Read more below to find out what her book is about.

Contest! We are also giving away ONE copy of her book. TO ENTER:  Leave a comment with your e-mail/twitter/facebook or any way we can contact you if you are picked as the winner! Contest ends Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011.

Without further ado, please enjoy Piper Maitland’s blog.

Caro Clifford: the Flawed Heroine

“Well behaved women rarely make history.”
–Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, historian and author

Grey isn’t a color you will ever see in Greek Orthodox art—medieval artists lived and worked in a black-and-white world. But shades of grey are vital when it comes to building a modern fictional heroine. When I began writing Acquainted With the Night, I wanted Caro Grimaldi Clifford to be a fundamentally flawed heroine. She doesn’t always say the right thing, nor does she always act heroically. I knew it would be risky, but I was tired of playing it safe with my characters. As Caro came to life, her personality traits became layered, with room for her character to grow in the second book.

Many of you may know Kristin Kreuk from her role on the hit show Smallville. Since then, she had been on the hit series Chuck, Ben Hur, and starred in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. I recently had the pleasure of conducting a phone interview with Kreuk to promote her new movie Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy.

Kreuk plays the character Heather, an unhappily married young woman who decides to explore the world of raves and then meets and falls in love with Lloyd, played by Adam Sinclair (click here for his interview). In this interview, Kreuk talks about her character, what the story meant for her, and the importance of finding yourself to find happiness.

Just like her co-star, Kristin Kreuk was absolutely charming and a delight to interview. She was sweet, thoughtful, and also has great taste in superheroes! I swear, everybody from this movie is so cool. Read the interview and find out for yourself!

by Lisa Foiles

Look, I know what you’re thinking: “Lisa Foiles isn’t qualified to write a Top 10 list! She’s only good at Top 5 lists, like on her Internet show called ‘Top 5 with Lisa Foiles,’ which was awesome until she canceled it and made all of her fans super cranky!”

Well, I’ll have you know that the number ‘10’ is, mathematically speaking, twice the number ‘5.’ So, in mathematical terms, this list could potentially be TWICE as awesome as one of my normal Top 5 lists. Sure, there’s no silly video and you have no idea if I’m wearing a cute outfit while typing this or not, but I assure you – Comikaze Expo has so many awesome events and special guests to talk about, this list practically writes itself.

photo by Comikaze Expo

Sit back, relax, pour yourself a non-alcoholic beverage if you’ll be driving or are a child, and get ready to purchase wheelbarrow-loads of $12 Comikaze tickets, because this list is the most convincing piece of “journalism” you’ll read all day:

#10. Comic books, comic books, comic books!

Comikaze is ALL about comics: The event will have a DC presence, as well as all of the best indie publishers. We’re talking over 200 vendors! That’s a significantly large 3-digit number! And with Comikaze’s $12 tickets, you’ll have plenty of moneyz leftover for shopping.

There’s been a lot of buzz in the nerd community about Los Angeles’ newest and most kick-ass comic book convention, Comikaze Expo. The woman behind the legend is Regina Carpinelli, a real life Wonder Woman and she has been working non-stop (seriously… non-stop) to make this convention mind-blowing-ly awesome.

I started talking to Regina by chance when they contacted Defective Geeks because they picked up one of our cards from Fortune Cookie’s artist alley table at Anime Expo. Right away she embraced our team and our blog like we were old pals and we met her in person at San Diego Comic Con this year. She has kept us involved with Comikaze ever since and we love her for it. Can I just gush for a moment and say what a funny and energetic lady geek she is?

Comikaze Expo is going to have an epic first year and we think you better be there with us. You bet Team Defective Geeks will be representing. For now, get to know Regina a little better and read our interview with her.

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How did you come up with the name of the convention? What’s the story behind the octopus logo? Do you wish you could have a real, giant octopus as a mascot during the convention?

CARPINELLI: We chose the name “Comikaze” for a few reasons. We feel that there is only ONE “Comic-Con” and it lives in San Diego. A lot of other shows use the name Comic-Con to ride the coattails of San Diego’s success, but they are in no way affiliated. We have a lot of respect for SDCC, but we wanted to create something unique; we are our own brand. The name Comikaze makes perfect sense, since we planned on doing a full on LA Invasion. We pretty much “Kamikaze’d” the geek world – we just came out of the blue!