Ooh, it was a nail biter. Our May Book of the Month Club pick came down to the very last vote. The results: The winner: The Rich and the Dead by Liv Sepctor. Welcome to Star Island, where Miami’s wealthiest residents lead private lives behind the tall gates of their sprawling mansions. It’s a blissful…
March 15, 2014: Writer? Producer? Llama Farmer? What’s next for me? YOU decide!
Today's bizarre exchange with my Japanese girlfriend: "Even elves need to do peepee, just like everyone else." "No, he just wanted sausage. Currywurst." Well, I am on a creative roll. In the past three days, I've delivered a draft of that Southern Gothic script, wrote the "alternate" draft, got 10 pages into that wildly over-the-top…
March 13, 2014: Genre News! SF, Fantasy, television, and literature!
I received the following news link from about two dozen sources today: Syfy network shifts away from broad dramas and B-movies to its genre roots as it attempts to find the next "The Walking Dead" or "Game of Thrones." Apparently, SyFy is looking to produce a space opera, the SF equivalent of The Walking Dead and Game…
March 12, 2014: Akemi, polls, and personality quizzes!
Whoa. Akemi's turning into quite the cutting critic. The other day, when I asked her if she wanted to watch an episode of Modern Family, she offered the following genuinely apologetic response: "Sorry, but I feeling like laughing tonight. Can we watch Curb [Your Enthusiasm] instead?" Also, yesterday, she crushed my entrepreneurial spirit. We were…
March 10, 2014: A brief history of the Stargate writers’ room whiteboard, February 2007 – September 2009!
March 9, 2014: Vote for our May Book of the Month Club selection!
Here are the nominees: THE MEMORY OF SKY (Robert Reed) Paperback, 624 pages. Diamond is an odd little boy, a seemingly fragile child—who proves to be anything but. An epic story begins when he steps into the world his parents have so carefully kept him from, a world where gigantic trees each house thousands of humans…
March 2014: Eyes! Akemi flexes her culinary muscles! And a little more Book of the Month Club discussion!
This morning, on the drive back home from the farmers market, the conversation turned to eyes. According to Akemi, one of the instructors at her English language school: "Has eyes like Husky!". Clearly, them's some lovely eyes. But, apparently, they don't hold a candle to those of my writing partner. "Munyu Munyu's eyes [her nickname…
March 7, 2014: The T.V. Biz!
Bad news for my writing partner. Apparently, an intimate knowledge of the Home and Garden network line-up and/or those various storage locker reality shows ISN'T going to offer much traction in our upcoming L.A. meetings. According to my agent, one of the first things an executive will ask us will be: "So, what do you…
March 6, 2014: Aeroplanning your next trip? Good luck with that!
The other day, a friend of mine floated the idea of a group trip to Las Vegas. With the proposed dates over two months away, I thought I'd try to book my flight and/or hotel on points. After all, I've amassed an impressive amount on my Aeroplan program, a loyalty program that "THEORETICALLY" allows people…
March 3, 2014: The Book of the Month Club reconvenes! Let’s discuss Terms of Enlistment!
After an all-too lengthy hiatus, our Book of the Month Club is back. Let me get the ball rolling by offering up my thoughts on this month's title... Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are…
March 1, 2014: Yet another personality quiz!
G'head! Take it! Click on the cloud to take the quiz. I got Mario Batali's Apron! What'd YOU get? [gigya src="http://cdn.tagul.com/cloud.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" width="450" height="500" flashvars="id=282143@7&openLinksInNewWindow=true"]
February 28, 2014: Jelly on the mend! Offal showdown! A dying dog’s bucket list! That’s some tasty azodicarbonamide! Whisky shortage! 20 Laughably Terrible Batman Villains!
No word yet on the test results, but Jelly is feeling much better, post-surgery, as you can see - She's bounced back remarkably well, waking me up only once last night and keeping me up for a mere hour (3 a.m. to 4 a.m.) before drifting back to sleep. As always, she thanks you for…
February 26, 2014: Jelly’s surgery day! Update!
Big day today for my gal Jelly. She's in for surgery - and a possible teeth cleaning while she's under. Last month, I noticed a curious lump on her belly and made an appointment to have it checked out. Of course, by the time I brought her in, the mysterious lump had mysteriously disappeared. I…
February 26, 2014: This guy! That gal! And March under-the-radar movie releases to look forward to! Or not!
THIS guy - THIS GUY - - is, of course, former Stargate Executive Producer and writer Carl Binder who called me this morning to catch up. Coincidentally, I was just thinking about him the other day and was meaning to give HIM a call after Akemi inquired: "How's Binder-san?". Well, Binder-san is doing great and…
February 25, 2014: March movie releases to look forward to! Or not!
Again, a big thank you to those who have taken the time to introduce (and reintroduce) themselves in the comments section of this blog. Not surprisingly, a lot of scifi fans among you. Somewhat surprisingly, A LOT of animal lovers as well! 🙂 It's been great learning a little about the individuals who make up…