My Favorite Things with F.T. Lukens

They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with F.T. Lukens, whose latest book, Monster of the Week, comes out tomorrow from Duet Books!

What does F.T. love when she’s not writing about myths and folklore in the modern world (pixies and werewolves and Sasquatch, oh my!)? Spoiler alert: angels and demons working together for a common cause, an Arthurian re-telling from a different point of view, local legends in North American folklore, and what FT promises is the funniest comedy on television. Intrigued? Read on to learn more!

Hi readers! I’ve very excited to share a few of my favorite things with you on Speculative Chic. It was very difficult to narrow my favorites down, but I went with things that currently make me happy. Special shout out to Star Wars and Spider-Man. Though they aren’t featured on this list because I’m sure they’ve been covered by others before, they are two of my favorite things, and deserve a special mention based on my wall of Funko POPs alone. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and maybe find something new that you also might enjoy. If you do, please hit me up on twitter and gush to me about it.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

I discovered this novel when I was a teenager in the 90’s. Born of a collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, it’s the story of an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon, Crowley, who are best friends and want to stop the end of the world. Basically, they’re the Odd Couple of the Apocalypse. The book is hilarious and silly and everything you’d expect from Prachett and Gaiman. It’s also, surprisingly, a love story. There’s the love that both Aziraphale and Crowley share for the world of humans — a world they want to save because they love living in it. The love between them, as friends or as more depending on how you read the text, that spans from the Garden of Eden to the end times. The love that the antichrist, Adam, has for his friends and his family and his village. Between the deeper themes, and twisty tangled plot, and the humor and the prose, it’s one of my favorite books of all time.

Imagine how delighted I was when there was finally a mini-series. Good Omens was almost a movie back in 2002, but it fell through. There was a radio drama produced in 2014 which was good, but not the visual media many of us fans craved. But this year, Amazon created a glorious adaptation. With excellent acting by Michael Sheen and David Tennant, and with dialogue and plot lifted straight out of the book, the mini-series is just as witty and wonderful as the novel. The first thirty minutes of episode three are *chef’s kiss* — aka the best thirty minutes of television I’ve seen in a long time. The development of the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley over the millennium is my favorite aspect of the book and is my favorite aspect of the series as well.

As one reviewer put it “Good Omens is, at its heart, a cosmic gay rom-com.” Which makes it a book and a series that I will be revisiting for years to come.

BBC’s Merlin

I’m a sucker for Arthurian literature. I love the sword and sorcery of it and will devour any adaptation I come across. I love Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. I love the Merlin mini-series that starred Sam Neill as Merlin. The young adult novel Once and Future by Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Capetta is the top of my TBR list. I’ve laughed uproariously at Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And, because of an Arthurian lit class I took in college, I’ve read all of Malory, Monmouth, and Chrétien de Troyes.

But out of all the different versions, it was the BBC’s Merlin that became my favorite. The character of Merlin always intrigued me in the stories and this series is from his point of view. It begins with Merlin and Arthur as young adults. They meet when Arthur is prince of Camelot, not yet king. And through events beyond his control, Merlin becomes Arthur’s manservant. Also, in this version, Uther has outlawed magic. Each episode is basically Merlin saving Arthur via magic, but keeping it hidden lest he lose his own head. It’s very Smallville in that regard. Over the course of the series, Arthur grows from a selfish brat to the king of legend, and Merlin matures from gangly, bad-at-magic manservant into the advisor and friend to Arthur. The unfolding of the legend, and seeing how the series handles different plot points, like Merlin’s father (demon or human?), the Sword in the Stone, the Lady of the Lake, and the Knights of the Round Table were the highlights of the show.

Some episodes are hilarious and cheesy. Some episodes are poignant. And some are devastatingly sad. The series finale made me cry buckets. But the show also spawned an active fandom that continues despite the series’ end in 2012.

Merlin holds the top spot in my collective of tv shows that I call “shows I love because of my questionable taste in entertainment.” This list includes Highlander, Teen Wolf, Andromeda, Brisco County Jr. and a ton of others.

Crytpids and Cryptozoology

I have only learned recently that not many people know the word cryptid. I didn’t realize it until these past few weeks when I’ve been promoting my newest book and several individuals have stopped me and asked just what the hell I was talking about. Cryptids are creatures that haven’t been proven to exist by scientists but also haven’t been disproven. Most cryptids have a few sightings or folklore attached to them, like Bigfoot. Cryptozoology is the study of these creatures.

When I was a small child, I had a bit of an obsession with the Loch Ness Monster, partly because there was a roller coaster in the amusement park in the town where I grew up named The Loch Ness Monster. Since then, my curiosity in cryptids has only grown, and the more I research, the more I find and the weirder they are. Have you heard of the Pope Lick Goat Man? How about the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp? The Ozark Howler? North American folklore is a wild ride, my friends. I highly suggest looking into your local legends. You might find something neat and creepy in your neighborhood or you might find a festival celebrating that creature. We have a Bigfoot Festival in Western North Carolina which includes a 5k called The Bigfoot Chase. And that just makes me ridiculously happy.

Schitt’s Creek

This is my non speculative entry in my favorite things. But, if you think about it, a story about a ridiculously rich family losing everything and being forced to move to a small town could be speculative. Maybe? I mean, Moira Rose, portrayed by Catherine O’Hara, could be classified as a cryptid. She’s hilarious and constantly questions her own existence so, it fits?

Anyway, Schitt’s Creek is a master class in character development. Over the course of the last four seasons, the Rose family — consisting of patriarch Johnny, matriarch and soap actress Moira, and their kids Alexis and David — have transformed from self-absorbed out-of-touch socialites into only a slightly dysfunctional family. With a whole cast of witty and zany characters that make up the town, Schitt’s Creek is the funniest half hour on television. No doubt. Hands down. And I’m not the only who says so. The show has developed a devoted and vocal fan base. Come for the humor and jokes but stay for the characters and the relationships. That’s the core of the show. Be it Moira and Johnny’s rock-solid marriage or David and Stevie’s hilarious friendship or Alexis bumbling her way through romances, the relationships are real and heartfelt. The most romantic moment I’ve ever seen on tv comes from season three when one character serenades another with Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best.” I won’t spoil it for you, because it’s a moment that must be appreciated with context, but it’ll make you cry. I promise.

The fifth and final season will air in 2020, so you have plenty of time to catch up before then on Netflix. And after, you’ll join all of us fans in mispronouncing words à la Moira or using David and Alexis gifs in almost every tweet.

F.T. Lukens is an award-winning author of young adult fiction who holds degrees in Psychology and English Literature. A cryptid enthusiast, F.T. loves folklore and myths, specifically the weird and wonderful creatures of North America. She also enjoys sci-fi and fantasy television shows, superhero movies, and writing. F.T. lives in the mountains of North Carolina, a perfect area for sasquatch sightings, with her husband, three kids, and three cats. Her novel, The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic, won several awards, including the 2017 Foreword INDIES Gold Award for Young Adult Fiction and the 2017 IPBA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Best Teen Fiction. The sequel, Monster of the Week, is out October 15th, 2019.

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