Tor.com content by

Amy Ratcliffe

Review: The Star Wars Craft Book

Do you like Star Wars? Do you like crafting? Worry not, your pleas sent via a hologram message in a droid have been answered. The Star Wars Craft Book is here. Bonnie Burton, lifetime crafter and Senior Editor at StarWars.com, has documented nearly 50 fun projects for both Padawans and adults.

The craft instructions are split into five sections. The book will teach you how to make items such as dolls, a Jabba the Hutt body pillow, an AT-AT herb garden, and a crocheted R2-D2 beanie. Plenty of pictures are included for each craft, and each project is broken down into easy-to-digest steps. Before you dive into the projects, the introduction points out that no Force-sensitive skills are required. Burton reminds everyone that crafts are meant to be fun. Though there are some labor intensive projects in the book that take a day or longer, most of them can be completed in an afternoon. For the most part, you don’t have to go out and get crazy items to start crafting either. If you have any kind craft supplies stash (felt, hot glue, googly eyes), you’ll find that you have what it takes to make a few projects without running errands. Burton covers the necessities in the beginning of the book.

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A Response to the NY Times Game of Thrones Review

When I sat down tonight I intended to write about my experiences with the Game of Thrones food truck last week and meeting George R.R. Martin. Instead I clicked on a review from The New YorkTimes about Game of Thrones. It sidetracked me. The review by Ginia Bellafante feels like a direct slam against a woman like me. A woman that loves Game of Thrones. It feels like a flaming insult to geek girls. It was such a direct contrast of an article from Wednesday that Susan Young wrote for MSNBC about geek girls powering viewership for sci-fi/fantasy TV that I was jarred. Then Iwas angry.

Why did the article get my geek girl knickers in a twist? I encourage you to go read it, but I’ll pull out some highlights:

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A WonderCon 2011 Recap

WonderCon 2011 was a breath of fresh air. (I say that because it was in San Francisco, and the air up there is much nicer than in Los Angeles. Also because it wins the Goldilocks Choice Award that I just made up for conventions. It wasn’t too big, it wasn’t too small… you get the idea.) This convention is run by the same folks that put on San Diego Comic Con and APE, but in contrast to Comic Con’s frantic atmosphere, WonderCon was an ideal mix of laid-back and busy.

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Visiting the Star Wars LEGO Miniland Opening

On March 31st, LEGOLAND California opened their very own Star Wars Miniland. Star Wars and LEGO bricks are two of my favorite things, so I knew I had to visit the park in the next few months. Something much cooler happened instead—a member of the 501st Legion – Southern California Garrison invited me to attend the grand opening ceremony with them. I replied, “Yes,” in a professional manner and squealed with excitement as soon as I hung up the phone.

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Four Reasons to Love Stargate SG-1

My name is Amy, and I love Stargate SG-1. There, I said it. I’m not positive why, but when SG-1 comes up in conversation I hear myself listing qualifiers. It’s not in a “come to my fandom” way either, it’s like I’m making excuses. It’s time to stop that nonsense. SG-1 is an entertaining show, and I am a proud owner of all ten seasons and the movies.

As with most things, I came late to the party. Though I enjoyed the movie, I didn’t think the story could extend into a television show; I was wrong. I started watching just before the seventh season aired. I don’t think I’ve ever watched six seasons of a television show so fast.

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