Okay. I may not love where I'm presently living and I may hate the weather and the Toronto traffic but, boy, am I looking forward to production on Dark Matter's first season. Yes, of course I'm thrilled that I'm about to start prep on my very own show, but experience has taught me that, at the…
October 17, 2014: Prepping for the Toronto move! And a modest mailbag!
That's it. We're out of time. Ready or not, we are on a plane and Toronto-bound tomorrow morning. I'm super anxious about flying with the dogs - but have done my best to prepare them for the four and half hour in-cabin flight. I spent an hour on the phone with Air Canada, making the…
October 16, 2014: Dark Matter! Casting! The Ramp-up! Oh, and my birthday!
So now that it's official, I can finally talk about my new show, Dark Matter, and my plans for the series and this blog in the lead-up to season premiere (sometime in 2015). As most of you know, while I was working on Stargate this blog offered fans a peak at the inner workings of the…
October 15, 2014: Dark Matter!
Big news! I'm not crazy after all - http://tvline.com/2014/10/15/syfy-acquires-dark-matter-graphic-novel-adaptation/ http://www.gateworld.net/news/2014/10/stargate-producers-bring-dark-matter-to-syfy/ So I DIDN'T imagine the whole thing. Unless, of course, this is also part of my elaborate, ongoing hallucination and those url's actually link to the live cam of a cat hotel in Cornwall. But, just in case, I'd like to thank a few of the…
October 1, 2014: Your readerly recommendations!
Unlike last year's anemic tally (a mere 65 books read) this year has been a very good one for reading. I've surpassed my goal of 120, finishing up my 140th book last night. I don't know how busy prep will keep me once I hit Toronto, but I think I can easily hit the 150…
September 4, 2014: The Game Plan!
Today, I completed a first draft of episode #12 in which the various arcs we develop over the course of the show's first season converge in a story about identity, loyalty, and friendship, culminating in a shocking conclusion that sets the stage for an even more shocking finale. It joins my first draft of episode…
August 12, 2014: My June Reads!
These are outrageously overdue. Capsule reviews of my June reads. And there were a lot of 'em... LAGOON by Nnedi Okorafor When a mysterious object crashes into the waters off the coast of Lagos, the lives of three strangers are forever changed as they become intermediaries between humanity and an alien race. A mix of…
August 5, 2014: Top 12 Superheroines in Need of the Big Screen Treatment!
With the news that Sony is fast-tracking a superhoine movie that will hit the big screen before the turn of the decade (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=41823), I thought this would be a good time to weigh in with my suggestions for My Top 11 Superheroines in need of the big screen treatment! Just in case the studios were wondering...…
August 1, 2014: Bookly Matters and Birthday Wishes!
I have a feeling that working on scripts for this new show is really going to put a crimp in my rapid-fire reading pace. Last year, I read a paltry 65 books. I was so embarrassed that I set a seemingly lofty goal for myself in 2014: 120 books! At the time, I figured it…
July 30, 2014: Fade in…humor!
It NEVER gets any easier. Inevitably, the jubilation of convening with your fellow writers and hashing out a terrific story is extinguished by the prospect of having to actually write the damn script. You sit down, type FADE IN and then...What? Oh, you know what the scene is going to be (You just broke it the other…
July 28, 2014: 12 down! 1 to go!
Another day, another story. This episode, like episodes #7, 9, 10, and 11, was envisioned as a tough one that would take a couple of days to break. But, like episodes #7, 9, 10, and 11, we ended up breaking it over the course of a single day. And that leaves us with one final…
July 24, 2014: 10 down! 3 to go!
Today, we finished breaking episode #10 of my new SF series. It's a little rougher than the preceding stories with a few TBD's, but it's great fun and ends with a jaw-dropping sequence that will no doubt have this blog buzzing when it eventually airs. Can't wait until next year? Want a hint as to…
July 23, 2014: My favorite spaceships!
While we're on the subject... SUPER DIMENSIONAL FORCE MACROSS ANDROMEDA ASCENDANT STARBUG SERENITY THE BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO VORLON CRUISER MOYA STAR DESTROYER ASGARD SHIPS THE BEBOP ANCIENT AURORA CLASS BATTLESHIP THE ARCADIA THE USS SULACO THE MILLENNIUM FALCON THE DESTINY USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701 THE NOSTROMO KLINGON BIRD OF PREY ROMULAN WARBIRD
July 22, 2014: On ships and such!
Another day down, another story done. That makes 8 out of our 13 first season episodes broken in less than three weeks. I feared today's episode would prove tricky, but I got in early this morning and hashed out a rough outline. My writing partner, Paul (aka Captain Logic) had surprisingly few problems in the…
July 18, 2014: The Highs and Lows of the Writers’ Room!
The thing I miss most about my days on Stargate is the writers' room: the camaraderie, the laughs, the heated discussions and, every so often, the occasional creative accomplishments. Don't get me wrong. It was hard, sometimes frustrating work but, when all was said and done, they were productive sessions that generated some great television.…