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 on one of my past recommendations. Great! I expect Joe to be thoroughly inundated with questions and comments when the time comes. Show him now mercy! In addition to a special Stargate-related give-away contest open to all BOTM club participants, those taking part in this particular discussion will also have a shot at winning a copy of Before They Are Hanged, the second book in the series.
Thank you to Stargate-fave John Scalzi, an incredibly prolific blogger himself, who was equally kind in agreeing to guest blog for us when we discuss The Android’s Dream, the scifi BOTM club selection for May. By the way, David Hewlett couldn’t stop talking about this book after reading it last year. Read it yourself and impress D.H. with your Scalzi knowledge at the next convention.
Thank you to Dylan who sent us a kick-ass Vosges chocolate shipment that included, truffles, mini bars, and four Mo’s Bacon Bars (milk chocolate, Alder wood smoked salt, and apple wood smoked bacon). I think I overdid it.
Thank you to James Robbins who has been going all out on the designs and concept drawings for Whispers – and clearly having a hell of a time doing it. This morning, we took a stroll through the village set, the entrance to the cave network, the catacombs, the chamber, and the well. Creeptastic. We’ve done a number of “monster” episodes, but we have yet to do an out and out “horror” eppy. You know, the kind that has you sleeping with the lights on for nights to come. That’s what I’m going for.
Thank you to Marty G. who had us spinning in the writers’ room for about twenty minutes over lunch today, trying to come up with a title for the mid-season two-parter. I kind of liked A Smattering of Scenes – but no one else did. So – still nothing. But that didn’t stop him from putting out a first draft of part one.
Thank you to Carl for his continuing patience. We didn’t get around to giving him notes on Tracker today either. Maybe tomorrow. In the meantime – here, have some chocolate.
Thank to you to the fine folks at Amazon.com who finally sent me the balance of my outstanding order: Paolo Bacigalupi’s Pump Six and Other Stories, and Steven Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon. I recently finished Fred Saberhagen’s The Berserker Wars and have been making my way through the Nebula Award Short Fiction Nominees. I really enjoyed Nancy Kress’s novelette “Safeguard” (available for online reading here: http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0801/PBSafeguard.shtml), and loved Ted Chiang’s “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” (available for online reading here: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/fiction/tc01.htm). Check ‘em out if you get the chance. I’m moving on to the novelettes after which I have Poul Anderson’s Tau Zero on deck.
And, most of all, thanks to all of you blog regulars and sometime readers who continually land my daily entries in the WordPress Top 20 (#17 of 100 094 last I checked) and this blog in the WordPress Top 50 (presently #35 of 2 742 121 blogs), beating out blogs dedicated to root beer, Emily Dickinson, and a British pre-school animated series called Pocono – but lagging far behind blogs dedicated to Malaysian politics, funny maps, and cute puppy pictures.
Today’s pics: Books, chocolate, Ivon Bartok, Alex Levine, and Tobias Slezak, Whispers construction.
I’ve got some time before the wife gets home. Quick! Let’s squeeze in some mailbag –
mom2398 writes: “Any sign of Jeannie Miller in Season 5?”
Answer: The Shrine of Talus.
cool writes: “Are we going to see more of Todd the Wraith in Season 5? He always seems to be working on his own, which is interesting since the Wraith seem so hive-oriented. Does he have a Wraith Queen he answers to?”
Answer: Your last question will be answered this season. So far, we have Todd slated for three appearances.
AscendedTauri writes: ” Though you said Louisville and Tenn. are in your Elite 8, but they can’t be because they play head to head in the Sweet 16… I’m assuming you meant Kansas as the other team.”
Answer: Yep. I was writing from memory. I did mean Kansas.
aries1470 writes: ” On another note, if someone wanted to visit the studio’s, how will that be organised? ”
Answer: Sorry, outside of the whatsitcon, we don’t provide set tours.
Heather writes: “Since this will be the first time I have participated in one of your book discussions…do you only want questions or comments the day before F. Paul Wilson joins your blog?”
Answer: I’ll gather the posted questions and comments over the first two days of discussions, send them Paul’s way, and then post his entry and responses whenever he gets back to me.
RW writes: “If you get notes from the network that suggest reworking a script – do you have to follow what they say or could you simply say that you are going to leave it exactly as is. ”
Answer: Well, I like to consider any script a team effort. It would be silly to dismiss any input out of hand. We have received some great notes in the past that have made the scripts better. That said, if implementing the notes will improve the script, I will do so. If I feel they will hurt the script, then I’ll dig my heels in and fight. But it rarely comes down to a fight- more an involved discussion.
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