Hello, friends, and welcome to season three’s last EarperView! You know, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you rats, you make a smoothie. When life has a missing EarperView and you’ve promised three for the week, well, you improvise. So I give you an EarperView written from the viewpoint of the true Earp heir…Willa Earp.

Tell us a little bit about your non-Earper alter ego.

I have no non-Earper alter ego. I was raised by an alcoholic father who groomed me for Heirhood since I was young, and then I was kidnapped by a Revenant, then it was the treehouse for a while, and then some time at the commune. Then back home with the sisters, all to end with…well, I’d hate to give away the end of the story. Let’s just say I’m pretty Earpy. The Earpiest Earp around, some say.

SHUT UP, SOME WOULD SAY THAT.

How did you find Wynonna Earp and the fandom?

WYNONNA EARP WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT ME.

This fandom is pretty rad, though. Lynn Rachels is the best of us, am I right?

Is this your first fandom?

No. I was very into Lost Girl at the commune. One of my sisters there wrote the best Valkubus fanfic.

What is your favorite fandom memory?

When Megan stitched me. Oh, that’s right. She never did. She only stitched my sister. And Waverly. And Doc. And that ginger cop. And that cop and Wynonna’s sister together. And then for Christmas. And Nedley. And the show runner and creator. And a bunch of words. And KIERSTEN, my favorite barista. But never the true Earp heir.

What is your favorite con memory?

Meeting Emily Andras, former show runner of Lost Girl. She was so excited to meet me, too.

What is your favorite Wynonna Earp/Earper activity?

Making Waverly put herself into dangerous situations and thinking it was her idea. “Waverly, walk on the ice. Get your stuffed animal.” “Waverly, walk on the beam or I’ll tell on you.” Good times.

What has Wynonna Earp come to mean to you?

That bitch stole my gun and my title.

Are there any pictures you’d like to share of your Wynonna Earp experience?

Yes. Here is one of me with the former show runner of Lost Girl at a con.

Here we are having a dance-off. Obviously I won, because I am good at everything.

Here are some a gays trying to take a photo, but I made it better by showing up.

Sweet potato or Yukon Gold potato?

I thought this was a serious interview. What kind of a question is this? Also, do you ever wonder how a potato feels when it’s in the ground?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you Fandras?

Tamsin.

Describe why Fandras is a thing in 7 words or less.

She makes even the worst characters sympathetic.

What is your favorite Earp sisters moment?

Probably with Willa and Wynonna in the barn, where Willa reminds Wynonna that she’s not alone anymore. I also like when Willa and Wynonna attack everyone with guns and where they go drinking at Shorty’s. Oh, and when Wynonna hit me on the head with a chamber pot.

How have you Earped your life?

Coconut oil. We used it for everything at the commune.

What’s the Earpiest thing you’ve ever done?

Bobo Del Ray.

 

Well, everyone, many thanks to you for reading this week’s off-the-cuff EarperView. Many thanks to Nedley’s Office for the photo assist, and to her, Heidi, and my Earper fantasy-football league for assuring me that this wasn’t a horrible idea! I hope it brought a little chuckle to you, and I’ll see you all on Twitter for the finale (and some of you in real life!).

I do want to take a moment to thank everyone who reads these EarperViews and especially the people who very kindly agreed to do one this season. Your trust in me and willingness to let us get to know you a little bit better is something I take very seriously, and I hope it shows. I’m so grateful, I love doing these, and I hope they brought you a little joy every week.

That being said…I’m looking forward to a break. I’ll see you guys in season four.

Hello, friends, and welcome to finale week’s second EarperView! Today we get to know Shelley Scarrow, AKA the genius who brought us one of the most moving and entertaining episodes of television I’ve ever seen, “Jolene.” I am continually impressed by her writing ability, and when I met her and the other writers at EH Con, I told them how cool it was that it felt like someone could see inside by brain.

But Shelley isn’t just a writer. She’s one of the funniest people I’ve seen on Twitter (so says the Angela Lansbury gif exchange we had last week), and she is always down to talk about yarn. I had my wife crochet a hat for the writer’s room mouse that I brought to EH Con, and I was embarrassingly excited to give it to her. She’s also extremely supportive of the people around her, including random bloggers and recappers who just feel lucky to be in her orbit. If you judge people by how they treat others, well, Shelley is the best of us.

After Lynn, of course.

Tell us a little bit about your non-Earper alter ego.

Just a small-town girl, living in a lonely world. I’m from farming stock in Southern Ontario, about an hour from Detroit.  My background’s truly blue-collar, so I didn’t know ‘writer’ was a job, even though I’ve always been word- and story-obsessed and spent my entire childhood buried in books and plays. I knew ‘actress’ was a job, if not always practical, but my family was very supportive and let me go to theatre school. That’s where I very quickly discovered that I was NOT cut out for acting, but I learned a lot about reading scripts and writing and producing — also how to build corsets and weld.  I still love all these things.

I’m married to another writer (don’t do this, it is a terrible idea) and we sorta alternate between writing jobs and looking after our sons. So sometimes I am full-time stay-at-home mom, and sometimes I’m on the crazy-demanding TV production treadmill for 80 or 100 hours a week. The contrast is dramatic but I don’t often get bored, and that’s a giant plus for me because I have the attention span of a Revenant.

(That was jokes about the ‘lonely world’ part. Who could be lonely when there’s all these Earpers around and I work in the FUNNEST WRITING ROOM ON EARTH?)

How did you come to write for Wynonna Earp?

The first professional writing job I got was on Degrassi. It was through that job that I met Brendon Yorke, and we worked together for several years. He’s so funny and a really great friend, and I met Emily through him, just at parties and all that. Then she got hired at Instant Star (starring: Tim Rozon!), which was produced by the same company. We did a season on that together and just became really close. After we left those shows, we would try to get each other on whatever we got hired on. Because a) it was fun and b) I think our brains play really well together.  Being sympatico is big, intangible part of the job. I like to be on a show where I feel like I can read the showrunner’s mind at least 75% of the time – and be utterly shocked the other 25%, and that’s where I’m at with Emily.

I wrote a freelance script on the first season of Wynonna and I would tell anyone who would listen that it is the most fun I’ve ever had writing anything. When Emily asked me about Season 3, I said yes before she could even finish the sentence. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.

How does the Wynonna Earp fandom compare to any other shows you’ve worked on? Is it the same level of involvement, both on your part and on the fandom?

I think you guys have to know that there is NOTHING like Earpers. But I guess I have to answer anyway. 😉

During the early years of Degrassi, there was a bit of fan engagement but they were really only interested in the cast. The writers were just people who were messing up their favourite characters (and they would gladly tell us so at any opportunity.) I actually began to stay away from fan engagement and continued it on other shows, because lots of times the people who are posting just want to complain or mock. It really gets into my head, and it gets harder to write instead of easier.  You feel restricted by the horrible things you can hear people saying about the words before they’re even written.

But this show, thanks be to Peacemaker, is the COMPLETE opposite, I feel like the fan excitement and love is fuel for the creative process, rather than a harsh brake on my creativity. I love to think about how we’re going to get people fired up/disbelieving/excited/turned on/throwing Cheetos at their screen every week.

What is your favorite fandom memory? What is your favorite con memory?

They’re the same. Definitely watching Episode 304 at EH Con this summer. As a TV writer, you so often get ZERO reaction back. But there I was, sitting in a hotel ballroom, coated in boob/flop sweat from doing the panel, with hundreds of INCREDIBLE fans. They were laughing and cheering and booing and so excited. And it was so exciting! We writers just kept punching each other in disbelief. I would love another opportunity to watch with fans. It was an unbelievable rush. 

What is your favorite Wynonna Earp/Earper activity?

I love live-tweeting every Friday night! It’s like a huge party to look forward to, only you don’t necessarily have to put on pants. Plus I like to do themed snacks (nerdity-nerd-nerd-nerd.)

What has Wynonna Earp come to mean to you?

Love.

For Emily and Brendon and Noelle and Caitlin and Matt and Christin. For the bold stories we get to tell. For the amazing cast who makes Every.Single.Line.Better! I have no idea how they do that. For the dedicated producers and directors and crew who go WAY above and beyond for every episode.

And after ‘Jolene’ aired, I’ve been sent so much love from people who saw their own mental health struggles reflected, and I’ve felt tremendous waves of love for people who are still fighting their Jolenes. It’s been both scary and the most gratifying writing experience I can think of to share those very personal things.

Are there any pictures you’d like to share of your Wynonna Earp experience?

I was so hopped up and excited at EH Con that I forgot to take many! But here is Noelle and Emily drunk in an elevator and that sums a lot of it up.

And here are some photos from when I did the Fangirl Fun Run, which was a huge treat for a running AND Earping nerd.

Here are some pictures from the writing room, including my bulletin board, my work coffee mug, and a lineup of drinks I often have in front of me.

Sweet potato or Yukon Gold potato?

I was working on a show in Northern Ireland not that long ago. (NI is my ancestral homeland, though I’d never been before.) I ordered the vegetarian lunch from the catering truck, and then added some sides of whatever and sat down on the crew bus– and then realized that my plate had five different kinds of potato on it. Potato stew, mashed potato, potato salad, potato rolls, and (blush) maybe even a few chips.

And what I discovered is that this is the EXACT RIGHT AMOUNT OF POTATO. So – all the potato, all the time.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you Fandras?

87.6428.

Describe why Fandras is a thing in 7 words or less.

Contractually obligated to say it isn’t BUUUUTTTTT…

What is your favorite Earp sisters moment?

Well, it’s still to come! It’s in Episode 311, at the end of the first act, and you’ll know it when you see it. Wynonna pulls out a quote from her shitty dad, one that I heard a lot in my own childhood. The truck’s in the scene.

That was my favourite one to WRITE anyway. There are too many beautiful ones to pick from otherwise, though I am partial to the moments Waverly and Wynonna had with Alice in the Season II finale, when they were a fierce little all-female family for only the tiniest moment. It was so stuffed with emotion that I was really REALLY mad at Emily. In the best way.

How have you Earped your life?

I really like seeing all the clever stuff that fans make, and shopping Earpily is my second favourite Earper activity. My backpack is COVERED in pins, my office is full of beautiful stitches and other crafts from talented fans.

What’s the Earpiest thing you’ve ever done?

Freaked the fuck out when I met Dom and Kat. I was very sweaty and scattered and they were so huggy and nice and pretended not to notice that I was stammering like a loon.

What Revenant murder would Karen and/or Georgia choose to cover on MFM?

I think Karen would deep-dive into what is arguably ‘the original sin of Purgatory’ and do the whole murder of the Clootie boys at the hand of Wyatt Earp. I’ve always wanted to know more about the Clootie boys, especially now that we’ve seen Bulshar, and I think she’d dig up some cool shit on who they were.

I think Georgia would choose something more recent historically and ‘stickier’ dramatically. Maybe the barber with the blade who can be in the mirror, or Mama Olive? I feel like she always loves a good solid horror element?

What does each person in Purgatory choose to do when it’s their turn to pick craft night?

Okay. Now this is all I ever want to talk about.

Waverly is easy. She picks something new and exciting every single time. The one constant is that there is always a glittery or sparkly component. The projects are always elaborate and seasonally themed and nobody else ever finishes theirs. This month, she wants to do a hand-painted Halloween cookie jar. Hers would look like a wise owl with star-shaped purple sparkles in his eyes. Most everyone else’s would just have an obscene phrase painted on it. I think fate might get in the way of this plan. Somehow.

Wynonna, in contrast, keeps trying to convince everybody that layering shots beautifully counts as a craft. It doesn’t, but her nights are always really fun.

Doc is surprisingly cool – did you know that cowboys and sailors were both really interested in small handcrafts? Long nights of travel are conducive to making. He’s a decent hand at tooling leather, so he’s pulled that skill out when pressed to contribute to craft night. Jeremy still sometimes wears the personalized cuff he made at Doc’s night. Doc can whittle too (fastest hands in the west) and he’s keeping that skill in his back pocket in case somebody makes him do another night. He’s thinking about wooden spoons.

Nicole is the queen of the outdoorsy Scout-style craft and can whip up useful paracord bracelets in a flash, as well as campfire starters and lanyards. It’s efficient; she’s always got the right amount of supplies and clear instructions.

Jeremy’s love of science is very real, so he’s had everybody mixing up custom lip balms and scented bath bombs.

And Kate is actually very skillful with a needle due to her aristocratic Hungarian upbringing. If called upon, she can whip up a set of rose-embroidered dowry linens with your initials embroidered in each corner. She likes to add little obscene touches to keep them from being too pretty – a liver, or a corpse beetle in the corner.

Mama Earp’s turn involved everybody decorating bras with googly eyes and tassels and went from humiliating to raucous hilarity in less than five minutes.

Nedley’s granny taught him to crochet dishcloths during the summers he spent at her trailer, but nobody’s managed to pull this knowledge out of him yet.

Um. I could keep going but I’m not sure my speculation on Bobo’s ability to make beautiful hair wraps is interesting to anyone but me.

 

Um, I think you’re wrong, Shelley. I would love to hear about Bobo’s ability to do hair wraps, and I’d take it a step further and say I bet it came about because of his relationship with Willa.

Anyway, thank you so much, Shelley, for playing along! We as a fandom are so grateful to have you as a writer for this show we love so much.

Everyone else, I’ll see you back here on finale day with the last EarperView of the season!

Hello, friends, and welcome to the first of this week’s EarperViews! Today we get to know Christin Hanly, the script coordinator and secret keeper for Wynonna Earp. Plus, we have her to thank for a lot of content in the Purgatory Case Files! I had the pleasure of meeting Christin at EH Con and stupidly did not ask her to take a photo with me, but we chatted a bit and watched a couple of panels sort of together, and let me tell you, she is just a lovely human being.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed at how lovely everyone associated with this show is. Christin is just as lovely in person as she is on Twitter, and she’s just so great on Twitter. She shares all sorts of behind-the-scenes photos with us and adds to the rich detail of this show that we all love. We are so, so, so lucky to have you, Christin, and I hope you feel that every single day.

Tell us a little bit about your non-Earper alter ego.

I grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (a tongue twister of a city), but have moved around quite a bit.  I’ve lived in NYC, Toronto, and now I live outside Calgary. I’ve been working in different aspects of film and television production since I was 15! (So… a very long time…)  I took a few years off a while ago to own and run a cupcake bakery but now I’m back doing what I love best – storytelling. In my down time, I like to cook and bake, garden, travel, and watch TV and movies.  I have too many cats (3) and they’re some of my favorite people.

How did you come to be the Script Coordinator for Wynonna Earp?

A lot of luck, some hard work, and the support of coworkers!  I moved to Calgary in 2014 and started working as a PA, then in Production Offices.  A few years ago I was coming to the end of a show and heard Emily needed an assistant through a coworker.  At that point I had seen season one and had even done a few days as a Locations PA on the season one set but had never officially met Emily or Brian Dennis (our incredible producer).  I sent in my résumé, called everyone I know that worked on Wynonna Earp to put in a good word for me, and then went in for an interview. From there, I started with a little light Script Coordinating and assisting Emily, and by the end of the second season I was writing the Purgatory Case Files.  

What exactly does a Script Coordinator do?

Script Coordinator is a fun job because I act as the go between for the writers and the production team.  Emily sends me a script and I track story continuity, track anything that will need to get cleared (like new character names), and format it so the Assistant Directors can make schedules and the crew can use the scripts.  It’s a lot of keeping track of things and helping. I’m also involved with the Art Department and Emily lets me do some of the writing you see on screen for things like blood contracts, diary entries, and memorial plaques.  It’s a fun mix of creativity and organization that I really enjoy.

How does the Wynonna Earp fandom compare to any other shows you’ve worked on?  

I have had the good fortune to work on a bunch of different shows and no other fandom compares to the Earpers.  They are such lovely, kind, genuine, and talented people. I’m so blown away by the drive to make this world a better place through kindness that this fandom has embraced.  My heart bursts every time I think of Earpers.

Is it the same level of involvement and interaction, both on your part and on the fandom?

Not even close!  I only work on the show for 8 months at a time, but I Earp all year round.  It’s so much fun to see reactions to the stories and the characters and I love that I get to be involved with that. Before Wynonna Earp, I didn’t really tweet and now I’m on more than I should be. The other really cool thing that I love about our fandom is how deep they dive.  They’ve opened up a lot of new perspectives on the show and are so thoughtful in their analysis. I also really love how diverse the fandom is. We’ve got people from all around the world who do all kinds of different jobs and have lots of really interesting hobbies.  It’s so cool to see what they’re up to.

What is your favorite fandom memory?

I have a few, but the first time I met Earpers will always be close to my heart.  I went to the Calgary International Film Festival last year for the Wynonna Earp panel.  I hadn’t seen Emily or the cast since production ended, so it was great to see them again and see how excited the fans were to be there.  I went with Paige from Seven24 [ Editor’s note — PAIGE!! ],  and we hid in the back and then I went to the Earper meet-up afterwards and met some really wonderful Earpers.  It was such a special event.

What is your favorite con memory?

EH Con filled my heart with so much love and joy.  I was nervous going there and didn’t know what to expect but was so blown away by the kindness of everyone attending and the thoughtfulness of the organizers.  I tried to meet as many Earpers as possible and really loved spending time with different people. It felt like such a safe space and I’m so very glad I went.

My favorite memory from EH Con was watching the episode live with everyone attending.  Watching the reactions to the episode was so special and I don’t think anything will ever be as cool as that.  I heart Earpers so, so much.

What is your favorite Wynonna Earp/Earper activity?

Earping on Twitter.  It brightens my day to see so many lovely people interacting and generally being nice.  If you look at my timeline you would see kindness, humor, and people cheering each other on.  I love all the theories that fly around Twitter after each episode and have to try so hard not to say anything spoilery when people ask me questions.

I also really love posting my behind the scenes pictures.  I’m such a fan of all the thoughtful little details the different departments put into our show, and I’m really excited to be able to share it with the Earpers.

What has Wynonna Earp come to mean to you?

Family.  

Are there any pictures you’d like to share of your Wynonna Earp experience?

A whole bunch.

I loved seeing all the cosplay at EHCon. Here’s Christine (@tine_mclaren) killing it.

This is Lindsay on her set visit.

Christmas episode shenanigans with Paige (@seven24films).

I love this picture Petra (@dutchstarbuck) took at EHCon.

Cat Zimm (@cimzim) is the best of us.

It was such a wonderful treat to meet Patricia (@PatriciaOgura) and Sarah (@Viking_Elf) at EHCon. They’re part of the Wormhole Whisperers and did some serious deep dives into the Purgatory Case Files.

Sweet potato or Yukon Gold potato?

Garlic parmesan fries with truffle aioli.  I know.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you Fandras?

Hard 10 but don’t tell her because I like my job. [ Editor’s note — your secret is safe with me! ]

Describe why Fandras is a thing in 7 words or less.

Emily looks-for-the-best in all-of-us and inspires-people-to always-do-better.  

What is your favorite Earp sisters moment?

I just adore the love story between Wynonna and Waverly and there are some absolutely fantastic moments, so it’s very hard to choose.  In Season 2 when Wynonna finds out she’s pregnant and Waverly tells her she’s there. She doesn’t try to placate Wynonna; she just wants her to know she’s always going to be there for her no matter what.  It really resonated with me. I also really love in Season 3 when Wynonna has just given Peacemaker to Bulshar and she and Waverly are sitting in front of the fireplace catching up. There’s so much love and understanding, and we know they’ll always be there for each other.  I love that.

How have you Earped your life?

Wynonna Earp inspires me to dream bigger.  I am so inspired every day by Emily, the tea,m and the Earpers and it makes me want to be better and do better and encourage others to do the same. [ Editor’s note — I couldn’t agree with this more. ]

What’s the Earpiest thing you’ve ever done?

I turned my sister into an Earper.  Lindsay always makes an effort to watch the shows I work on but doesn’t usually enjoy them.  After Lindsay watched her first episode of Wynonna, she texted me to ask if she was supposed to like Doc Holliday as much as she did.  (Of course I said YES!!!) She devoured the first two seasons in a week.

During season three production, I asked if it would be okay to bring Lindsay for a set visit and was really excited when Emily and Brian said yes.  We don’t do a lot of set visits so it was really special that I got to do it. She came to set on the last day in the studio and we toured Shorty’s, the Homestead, and a few other sets.  I introduced her to the cast and crew that were there that day and she was beyond excited but played it cool as a cucumber. She watched as they filmed a scene and had so many spoiler-filled questions.  Being able to share that with her meant the world to me.

Now that she’s all caught up, she texts me after each episode to ask me questions and talk to me about the episode.  In our busy lives, it’s really nice to have something that we can share together.

If you could write any of the characters’ biographies, who would you choose and why?

On Season 2 I got to do some writing for the website so I actually got to update all the character biographies!  It was a lot of fun figuring out all the little details and changing the existing bios to reflect their growth through the seasons.

If I was to write a totally unauthorized biographical book for one of the characters… I would write one about Wynonna.  We know a lot about her from the show, but there’s still mystery surrounding her time before she returns to Purgatory. I’d like to know more about her adventures in Greece and what led her to be the person she is today.  Wynonna is so smart and strong willed and has been through A LOT but she’s still soft where it matters and that’s the kind of hero I want to read about right now.

 

Christin, thank you so much for letting us all get to know you a little better, and thank you for your part in this show that has come to mean so much for all of us.

As for everyone else, I’ll see you back here on Wednesday for another EarperView!

Hello, friends, and welcome to the penultimate week of EarperViews! I can’t believe the season is almost over. We have a special treat today, because we get to learn more about the human behind one of my favorite pin companies, Demons and Donuts.

Continue reading →

Hello, friends, and welcome to another EarperView! The subject of this week’s is Cat Zimm, and I was so happy when she agreed to join me for this (and maybe for another thing that is still a secret but that you’ll probably find out about someday). Cat is one of those people that I think I have probably been at all of the cons with but just recently got to hang out with and know better, and I’m so, so grateful.

Cat is the one of the rulers of Earper cosplay, and I wish I were 1/100 as creative as she is.

I think Cat’s superpower is that she can make anyone she’s talking to feel safe. Warm. Comfortable. As you may know, cons are a bit anxiety-producing for me, and I have benefited from Cat’s healing personality more than once. Also one time I live watched with her, and she didn’t get mad that I kept striking her in excitement, so that was nice. Continue reading →