Buffy, Blue Magic, Werewolves… oh my!

This week’s BtVS rewatch on Tor.com is a grab bag of fun (but not so crucial) episodes like “Inca Mummy Girl” and “Lie to Me.” I’m going to do this periodically–gather up a few of the smaller building blocks of each season’s arc, rather than try to inflate each into its own towering essay. If one of these is your favorite, go add a comment! Tell me I’m a cad for ignoring your special eppie!

Seriously, the fannish discussions that have spilled out in the comments threads on these rewatches have been every bit as cool as the posts themselves. Right now, for example, we’re debating whether the early episodes had too much of a YA feel, and which TV shows (of the non-soap opera variety) were the first to do season-long arcs. Gardner Dozois has suggested The Fugitive. Anyone got anything earlier?

I’m a few weeks ahead on these posts, so my mission this week is to rewatch “Phases.” Which, I realize in retrospect, had an undeniable influence on my one werewolf story, “The Cage,” at least to the extent that there’s a baby werewolf mentioned in the Oz story.

It’s now 35 days until the Blue Magic release. I’m thinking that, if you happened to be planning to buy it from an actual bookstore, it’s probably not too early to ring them up and ask them to bring in a copy for you. (I tell you this not to pressure, but because in Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto, people wrote me to say they had to wait a few weeks after the official Indigo Springs release to get it in a local store. Ordering in advance may help.) Or, if you’re local, there’s going to be a launch at the UBC Bookstore downtown… and I have a date: April 19th! Anyone who can make it is invited. Friends of anyone who can make it are invited! I will get back to you all on a time as soon as I’ve confirmed it.