georgiacooked - Tumblr blog

[georgiacooked]

have you ever drawn ashildr/lady me?

I haven't! But have some quick doodles~

[georgiacooked]

Our good friend Jonathan Harker is getting ready to leave for his business trip, Mina Murray is picking out a new journal, Lucy Westenra is charming a gaggle of smitten suitors, Abraham van Helsing is wrapping up his lectures, and Castle Dracula is prepping the guest room for a very long stay.

Which must mean that Dracula Season is here again!

 ‘Dracula Season’ being a catchall term for the voracious reading, memeing, writing, illustrating, analyzing, and general fun-having that’s ensued since Matt Kirkland’s project, Dracula Daily, caught on with us back in 2022. The Substack had already been running before then, but it sparked a conflagration as time went on and readers old and new to Bram Stoker’s Dracula—the actual novel, not Coppola’s fanfiction—devoured it in a way that scratched an itch none of us knew we had. Stoker wrote the book in epistolary fashion, clumping sections together as needed for the pacing without perfect adherence to chronological order. Matt went ahead and put all the events in order and proceeded to set up a lovely chain of emails that delivered entries on those correlating dates.

This style of organization and pacing turned out to not only make the virtual book club that much easier to engage with, but left space in-between to stew on the story and relate with the characters themselves. Every day of waiting in the book feels weightier when you have to pace and sweat and worry in tandem with poor Jonathan trapped in the castle or Lucy wasting away or Mina running out the clock before she loses the fight for her own humanity. And while we sat with the story or the lulls between Dracula Seasons, some of us found ourselves craving more of that ghastly gothic horror goodness to the point that we figured:

“Well. Why don’t I make something?”

And then we did! Tons of creative works have been churned out in the wake of Dracula Daily’s high. I figured that while we’ve still got a bit of time to wait for May 3rd, we should check out all this new stuff in the meantime. (Plus a handful of neat stuff that just clicks with the Dracula itch overall.)

So, in the interest of Dracula Season pregaming, let’s take a look at…

FICTION

Blood of My Blood – A recent addition to the Dracula Bad Ending AU pile, and definitely one of the most harrowing and addictive group-produced narratives I’ve ever come across, Blood of My Blood is the dramatically gothic currently-WIP work of @ibrithir-was-here and @animate-mush’s devious design. Give or take a heap of other fascinated folks (hello!) adding ideas to put more Horror into the Horrors that our cast has to face. The premise:

The Transylvanian climax went fatally sour and the Harkers were forced to shelter with Dracula himself, including their half-vampire son, Quincey. Cut to two decades later, and Quincey finds himself out in modern London, smitten with Lu, adopted daughter of Arthur and Jack, and diving into certain bloodstained old documents that detail the real history of how his parents came to live in the castle. Said revelations coming not a moment too soon, as a storm is coming for him straight from the Carpathians…

Dracula Daily Sketch Collection – An array of illustrations that captures every entry beat by beat, the Dracula Daily Sketch Collection by Georgia Cook, alias @georgiacooked was dished out over the course of the last Dracula Season. Some of the most fun character designs out there.

Fanfiction Spotlight: BlueCatWriter – With a whopping 99 works devoted to the novel Dracula (so far, the number may have gone up since I blinked), @bluecatwriter is one of the most prolific and talented fanfiction scribblers out there. Romances, nightmares, and overlaps between the two seem to crop up the most, give or take a crossover. Seems fitting that those blue paw prints have contributed to BoMB too.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlefolk – An ongoing comic in which all your favorite characters from the Classics section get together and tackle some perils ranging from the mundane to the monstrous. Started by the amazing @mayhemchicken and posted on @lxgentlefolkcomic, this series is a love letter to beloved Victorian era lit, with a spotlight on the two couples leading the League. Namely, the Harkers, ala Dracula, and the Nortons, ala Sherlock Holmes,’ “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Mina and Irene are the driving investigative and steering forces here, and still deeply in love with their likewise-infatuated husbands, just like in their canons! What a concept! Alan.

Without spoiling the full character list, just know there are going to be a ton of familiar faces roaming around before you finish reading the first arc. Said arc having conveniently wrapped up just a few days ago! Give the comic and its bonus silliness a look if you’re in the mood for a new comfort-adventure epic.

Re: Dracula – Probably the most well-known and incredible thing to come out of the initial Dracula Daily wave. This podcast is a full audio drama that follows the same format as the Substack, with episodes coming out in time with the entries themselves. And it has an unfairly cool soundtrack. They have a Tumblr with @re-dracula, a site and a Patreon to check out before the series kicks up again on May 3rd. (Also, keep an eye out for their next work, an audio drama in the same style with Carmilla.)

The Soldier and the Solicitor – Another treat from @ibrithir-was-here, this one involves a bit of time travel trouble. Quincey Harker has stumbled out of World War I and into the same dark forest where his father once fled for his life…then runs into the man himself, on that same night. Jonathan Harker, young and starved and lost, who has no choice but to trust this stranger while the Weird Sisters are at his heels…despite said stranger having no shadow. It’s a tasty emotional trek, already complete on Tumblr, but now it’s turning into a Webtoon. While Ibrithir is juggling a number of other stories, she’ll be redrawing spruced up versions of the comic and adding a few new scenes as things unfold.

Substack Stack – You know what’s better than one emailed-out public domain book club? A mountain of them. Just. So, so many of them. You’ll see that a lot of these are finished, but some are still ticking along. Either way, they’re all great picks if you’re craving some more old school lit to fill the void between undead emails.

Frankenstein Weekly – Frankenstein

Jekyll and Hyde Weekly – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Voyage of the Nautilus – Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Letters from Watson – Sherlock Holmes

The Invisible Mail – The Invisible Man

Letters from Bunny – E.W. Hornung’s short stories of the eponymous Bunny and Raffles

Letters Regarding Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster short stories, including the novel, Right Ho, Jeeves

…

……

………

…The Beetle Weekly – The Beetle (NOTE: Do Not Read This.)

The Vampyres – A novella I finally wrenched through the gears of self-publication as of March this year. Starring a petite but powerful paranormal cast, The Vampyres, centers on an unscrupulous undead fellow who finds that the revenants of the world are being mowed down by an entity known only as ‘Quinn Morse.’ Between trying to save his neck and figure out where the shadowy bastard came from, the Vampyre in question crosses paths with a new paramour and handy human shield in the form of a grieving Good Samaritan. He’s even polite enough to invite the Vampyre into his home while he’s in dire straits! Surely this will end well. All the info is available here and a little author site is over here.

What Manner of Man – This is the one made for everyone who started out hoping there’d be a real love story with our good friend Jonathan Harker and the Count when he was at his most charismatic. Where that sea of wonders dried up into a mire of horror, What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling keeps things firmly on the romantic tracks. This Substack stars the letter-writing priest Father Victor E. Ardelian as he finds himself meeting with one enigmatic Lord Alistair Vane. It isn’t long before interest turns into intrigue and intrigue into undead intimacies.

The entire novel has been completed—along with multiple epilogues in the author’s Patreon, allowing readers to choose for themselves just how the uncanny romance plays out in the end—and the Substack now has a number of other gothic goodies piling up in the meantime.  

NONFICTION

Dracula Daily: A Unique Reading Experience: This one comes courtesy of @realwomenofgaming. It’s a short and sweet piece that amounts to a fun snapshot of the entire Dracula Daily ride. A cozy couple-minute read.

‘Dracula Daily’ is the One Substack You Need a Subscription To: Features my favorite Matt Kirkland interview. @mattkirkland, if you’re still floating around on here, thank you for dispatching our vampire newsletter again this year.

Dracula Daily is Tumblr’s hottest new book club: Alright, the ‘new’ part is worn out by now, but this one is still a delightful article to swing back around to. Two years on, this Polygon piece is a time capsule of those early months when people outside our bookworm bubble realized we were all happily receiving letters from our favorite classic gothic horror blorbos.  

“How Mina Murray Became Dracula’s Girlfriend” – Princess Weekes, if you ever read this, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am sending oceans of love and millions of rewatches to your video essay. If you haven’t seen it yet, “How Mina Murray Became Dracula’s Girlfriend” is one of the most refreshing and well-made breakdowns of both the title subject and numerous other issues that have proliferated in the public view of Dracula’s cast and plot as adaptations endlessly warp or outright bastardize the actual novel. An incredibly cathartic watch.  

Literary play gone viral: delight, intertextuality, and challenges to normative interpretations through the digital serialization of Dracula: A mouthful of a title for an even more elaborate article about the Dracula Daily phenomenon. This one is a full-on study that analyzes just what happened within the big bloodsucker book club surge and how its ‘wandering reading practices’ enriched the experience for participants.

 “The Undying Undead: An analysis of the Dracula Daily community for a theory of online community formation and interaction” – We have a thesis on here! Look at that! @sirangelothebestest’s MA thesis used our vampiric book club as the bones for a massive brick of an academic piece that definitely deserves a look.

…And I think I’ll go ahead and cap things here.

This isn’t everything I got recommended, but if I had squashed all of it in here, I think folks’ eyes would start to fall out of their head. I hope you can find something cool to comb through here. Or, if there’s something great I overlooked, tack it onto the list! We’ve got just two weeks to go until we’re off with Mr. Harker. Let’s enjoy our respite before those castle doors close behind us.

[georgiacooked]

hi just wanted to say I really love your artwork I have the ace and leela ones on shirts and loads of the stickers from redbubble. love them so much!

Thank you so much! I adore seeing my bobbles out in the wild. I'm so glad you enjoy them!

[georgiacooked]

ARTBOOK UPDATES

The first round of Dracula Daily Sketch Collection hardbacks have been sent to their owners, meaning everyone who ordered from the UK should very soon be receiving their copies.

Prepping now for overseas postage! Everything's packaged and addressed, just sorting customs and we'll be good to go.

I've unfortunately discovered a few issues with a couple of the next round's books, and have had to ask for reprints of several copies, but I'm hoping that should be fixed ASAP, and all books should be on their way shortly!

[georgiacooked]

hi :D congrats on the book! how did you get into writing for big finish, if you don't mind me asking? did you submit work/samples to them and they gave outlines as to what they were looking for, or was it more like pitching specific story ideas?

Thank you so much!

I was recommended by someone, to start with! I already had a few published stories people could easily find online, along with a website to house them, so one of the Producers contacted me to ask if I'd write them something Ghostlight-esque, because they knew I already wrote stories in that vein - Which is how The Haunting Of Bryck Place, the interlude I wrote for Seven and Ace, ended up happening!

After that they were kind enough to give me a chance writing a full script (The House of Masks, for the Eleventh Doctor and Valarie) and here I still am!

Unfortunately you can't pitch blind, for legal reasons. But if you're looking to write for them, I'd recommend either entering the Paul Spragg competition BF runs every year (even if you don't win, you'll end up on their radar) or, like me, getting some totally non-DW-related pieces out there. A good portfolio, and proving you can hit deadlines/deal with quick feedback, is an excellent base!

[georgiacooked]

what's it like writing for dr who / big finish?

It's great fun! I've been a Doctor Who fan since the revival, and a fan of Big Finish since 2020 (Slightly late to the game, but I'm catching up while writing scripts!) so getting to write for characters like the Eleventh Doctor, and especially the Gallifrey gang, is a dream come true!

My usual brand of writing leans more towards horror prose and narrative podcast work, so it's always nice to shake things up with sci-fi audio dramas. And I've gotten to work with so many lovely actors because of it!

Unfortunately I can't say anything about the Fifteenth Doctor book until it's out, but that was also a lot of fun!

[georgiacooked]

Soon

[georgiacooked]

Once again I have to appreciate that on Tumblr the most anticipated event of the year is a 6-month-long book club and/or listening party of the novel Dracula. Just regular old Dracula the actual novel not a retelling or a TV series just the unabridged novel itself

[georgiacooked]

The cat's out of the bag: I'VE WRITTEN A BOOK! A BOOK FOR THE FIFTEENTH DOCTOR! THAT YOU CAN BUY IN SHOPS AND EVERYTHING in June!

Words can't express how excited I am! I've been sitting on this for a while. It's the longest thing I've ever written, and I can't believe it's almost here. It's has been such an adventure!

FIND OUT MORE HERE

Available to preorder now, but out on June 13th!

[georgiacooked]

(It's been a not-great mental health week, please excuse the lacklustre painting)

Anyone else remember/watch Shoebox Zoo? Because the power this show held over 9-year-old me, let me tell you. The INSANELY star-studded cast. The bizarrely high number of major character deaths. The scramble to include EVERY Edinburgh landmark in the first season. Loved it. Obsessed. Crimes would have been committed for toys of this thing.

[georgiacooked]

ART BOOK UPDATES

Here they arreeee! They have arrriiiiived! Just in time to start counting down to the next time loop May 3rd!

Two boxes of the Dracula Daily Sketch Collection have just arrived at my door, meaning I can now start checking them for any issues and begin prep work for sending them to their new owners!

Thank you all so much for your patience. I'm so excited to get these babies on their way again!

[georgiacooked]

hey sorry we put your good friend jonathan harker in a time loop. yeah he’s about to leave for his business trip again. but at least he’ll send you emails

[georgiacooked]

Pre-orders for the Dracula Daily Sketch Collection hardback are officially closed!

Thank you so much to everyone who ordered a copy, liked/reposted the order link, or simply showed interest. Your support means so, so much to me.

Buckling down now to make sure I get everyone's copies sent to them in a timely manner! Wish me luck!

(The order's already been sent to my supplier. If I can get these out to everyone by May 3rd, I'll be so pleased!)

I'm hoping to reopen hardback orders later in the year if everything goes well with this first round, so if you'd like a copy and weren't able to get one this time around, I'll keep you updated!

Remember you're still able to purchase a paperback copy at any time over HERE

[georgiacooked]

Totally forgot to mention on release day, but another Big Finish box set featuring an episode written by me dropped on the 26th of March! This time we're on an adventure with the Twelfth Doctor and Keira Sanstom. Look at that cover! Isn't it gorgeous??

Also another opportunity to write on the same set as my partner @fiotrethewey. I feel so lucky!

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE HERE

Box set details below:

Agent who?

When the Time Agency faces its greatest threat, Keira Sanstrom knows there’s only one man for the job. But saving the universe is one thing. Keeping Agent Doctor in line is a far more impossible mission…

3.1 Sunstrike by Georgia Cook His clients have conquered millions of worlds. His weapons have ended billions of lives. But his private resort has the sort of security system that only trillions of credits can buy. Not even the Time Agency can bring the Quartermaster to justice.

Which is why Keira’s enlisted a new recruit. The Doctor has faced many villains, but this time, he’ll have to become one…

3.2 Never the End Is by Ben Tedds come to collect. Every day, pilgrims seek absolution at the Basilica of Mariazell. Like the painter who sees impossible things. Or the stranger who remembers people she’s never met. Or the Time Agents trapped in the town that time forgot.

But Christoph Haizmann will have no absolution. Once, he made a deal, and at last the Devil has

3.3 You Only Die Twice by Fio Trethewey This time it’s personnel.

[georgiacooked]

Throwing a spotlight on my favourite Doctor Who/Big Finish character(s) today, with my newest sticker sheet!

Featuring the renegade Time Lord, the Eleven (and Two, and Eight, and Nine, and Twelve, and The Union...) These guys are the reason I fell in love with BF, so it only felt fair to give them a sheet.

Only drawing the regenerations we've met so far, because I'm not that flush with time.

[georgiacooked]

IT'S THE FINAL DAY TO GET YOUR PREORDERS IN!

End of day, last time-zone, April 1st.

ART BOOK UPDATES:

The final proof copy for the bulk hardback order of The Dracula Daily Sketch Collection just arrived, (after some binding/spelling errors to fix in the first one) and I couldn't be happier with how it looks!

So excited to start prepping the first wave of orders! Remember you have until the first of April 2024 to order a copy from HERE

[georgiacooked]

PREORDERS END IN TWO DAYS (END OF APRIL 1ST)

Thank you so much to everyone who's ordered a copy so far! I'm so excited to start getting these out to you.

ART BOOK UPDATES:

The final proof copy for the bulk hardback order of The Dracula Daily Sketch Collection just arrived, (after some binding/spelling errors to fix in the first one) and I couldn't be happier with how it looks!

So excited to start prepping the first wave of orders! Remember you have until the first of April 2024 to order a copy from HERE