As expected, I spent most of the day in editing working on my producer’s cut of Broken Ties. I trimmed the Previously On segment, made some changes to the opening walk and talk, and was making good progress - until I was stymied by the conference room scene. I considered my options, tried to…
March 30, 2008: Take that greenhouse gases, hillbilly lawyers, and my-way-or-the-highway man!
Hurray!!! We did it! We saved Christmas!!! By all accounts, Earth Hour was a rousing success and the environmental threat posed by carbon emissions finally resolved. Phew, that was a close one. But I for one am not surprised. After all, we managed to defeat acid rain didn‘t we? Those pesky greenhouse gases didn’t…
March 29, 2008: Please, don’t kill the waiter. I haven’t been served my spicy crab yet.
“I was grabbed by the throat and choked”the guy explained. “I used a knife to protect me. I can’t work here anymore!” I turned my head slightly in his general direction only to have Fondy reproach me in French, a secret language understood only by her and me and about 260 million other people…
March 28, 2008: Nominees, Winners, and Not-Losers-But-Not-Exactly-Winners-Either
Allow me to begin this entry by congratulating the folks over at Pyr who are basking in the glow of four brilliant nominations. Our buddy and guest blogger Lou Anders has garnered a Hugo nomination in the category of Best Professional Editor, Long Form. Meanwhile, future guest blogger and long-time Baron Destructo nemesis Joe…
March 27, 2008: WTF? Invitations! An old friend drops by!
They spun and sprang, twisted and twirled, flipped and flopped. Hell, they even capered and cavorted. We stood rooted, transfixed, utterly horrified - and not in a good way. “Uh, less acrobatics,”suggested Will. “Less acrobatics!”shouted Bam Bam. They paraded by once again - creeping, crab-crawling, caterwauling, and staggering around like a bunch of drunks.…
March 26, 2008: Thank you’s all around
Today, a round of thank-you’s are in order. Thank you to Joe Abercrombie who has kindly agreed to do a guest blog for us in May when we discuss The Blade Itself, the first installment in his First Law series. I see that many of you have already started reading/already read the book based…
March 25, 2008: A return to surreality
Our office assistant poked his head into the room, interrupting the meeting to inform Paul: “There’s an alien waiting for you in wardrobe.” As Paul excused himself and headed downstairs, Marty G. said what we were all thinking: “We have the most surreal jobs in the world.” Yep, a return to surreality today found…
March 24, 2008
I’ve finally completed my rewrite of Whispers. A more dynamic tease, a reprieve on a reveal, an alternate division of forces, and Major Teldy gets a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Plenty of new blue pages to collate. The actors will be thrilled. Sadly, both Baron Destructo and Cookie Monster (Clemson? What was he thinking?!) are…
March 23, 2008: My craptastic dinner at Diva at the Met
Sometimes returning to a favorite restaurant after a long absence is like being reunited with an old friend. Fond memories are stirred, new appreciations blossom, and one marvels at the soulful consistencies that have managed to endure. Other times, the reunion is more like getting together with an ex-girlfriend - less happy memories and…
March 22, 2008: Yet another upcoming guest, and the Baron takes out a loan
Executive Producer Robert Cooper dropped me an email this morning, letting me know that he would be delighted to swing by and do an Ark of Truth-related guest blog entry for us. Date yet to be determined, but I’m thinking sometime in late April. For those newcomers to the blog looking to join in…
March 21, 2008: A rude awakening
My French bulldog, Lulu, hates it when I sleep in. In that respect, she reminds me a lot of my mother who, when my sister and I were teenagers, used to rouse us out of bed by serenading us with early morning hymns. Not so much hymn-singing in Lulu’s case, but a lot of outraged…
March 20, 2008: Destructo in the driver’s seat, bloopers in peril.
With 9 of the 32 first round games complete, Baron Destructo is looking pretty good in the inter-office NCAA March Madness pool. While he and his fellow aliens and mutants for evil are enjoying the games from the high-tech comfort of their moonbase headquarters, I hosted a little get-together at my place. Special features…
March 19, 2008: A trip down memory lane.
“I better get cracking!”I informed Alex Levine as I hurried in to unlock my office door. “I have a lot to do today.” “Putting out the revised script, huh?”Alex assumed. “Script? Screw the script! I’ve got to make my picks for the NCAA March Madness pool!” So I settled down, did my research, and…
March 18, 2008: I hate rewrites.
If you were to consult my long, long list of Things I Hate, you’d find “rewriting a script” right up there, somewhere between “world hunger” and “the New England Patriots“. It’s not that I’m particularly precious about my ideas. It‘s just that after spending days upon days going over a script, writing and rewriting…
March 17, 2008: Worst day of 2008. So far.
These are the types of days that make me wish I’d pursued a different career. Something far less stressful or emotionally taxing like, say, mining, teaching at an inner city high school, or working undercover with the DEA as a mule for a Colombian drug cartel. To say that this afternoon’s notes session didn’t…