Betrayal and conflict

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend." (William Blake)

Betrayal can create the strongest conflict in any type of story. It fuels a wide range of emotion from anger to depression. It can take an otherwise average character and turn them into a vengeful hero, heroine or villain.

There are a lot of great examples of betrayal and its aftermath in one of my favorite television shows: Once Upon a Time. From a young Snow White's innocent betrayal of a secret, to Rumpelstiltskin's manipulation of, well, everyone, to get what he wants... the show is ripe with examples of betrayal and conflict.

In a television series, it's a bit easier to deal with conflict because as a writer you have plenty of time and room to play out a storyline without it feeling forced or rushed. In a novel, however, it isn't quite as easy. Your space, as it were, is more limited. If the betrayal is too unforgivable, but you need the character to forgive, as a writer you have to craft the story very carefully.

I've written characters that have betrayed one another or seemed to (Jason and Sabrina in SECRETS AND SHADOWS). I have characters that betrayed themselves through addiction (Ian in DREAM WALK) and other bad choices. Then there are characters motivated to become heroes by a betrayal of some sort (Camille in DREAM WALK).

Finding that balance between the desire for justice and the need to forgive -- it's a conflict as old as time. What act or action is just too unforgivable? It depends a lot on your characters, the story itself, and how you handle it. Telling a secret is more forgivable than, say, infidelity, which is likely the most difficult conflict in any romantic relationship, be it fiction or reality.

Now I need to get back to my work in progress (wip), and another betrayal of sorts: withholding the truth. Telling the one you love a lie is a big no-no in the romance world. It creates mistrust and can destroy a relationship unless, at some point, the one lied to is willing to forgive. Will she? Won't she? I'm not telling... but just remember I do write romance, and there's always a happy ending.

~~Meg Allison
 Sultry romance cloaked in suspense...
Sweeter stories laced with laughter.
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

My name is Anya, and I'm a TV addict...

I try really hard not to get addicted to TV shows, but unfortunately I have an addictive personality and when something tweaks my curiosity, engages my soul or just flat out entertains me, I can’t resist. Not to mention if it has anything to do with one of my many other addictions, like history, real estate, policing, decorating, crafting, animals, travel, the supernatural etc. etc. etc.

With three jobs and a family to look after (now including a five-month-old puppy, which is like having a two-year-old toddler) you can see where I could have some issues. Even though I try to restrain myself, when unable to fight the allure I write during the commercials, flipping between true-crime, design/renovation/real estate, travel and nature shows. Oh, and at this time of year I don’t miss a NFL game if I can help it!

Strange, maybe, for a girl who grew up in a country that at the time had one television channel and was under embargo by the US, so saw mostly very old British shows and truly ancient B movies. But perhaps that’s the very reason television became so important to me once the offerings widened. I was amazed so much of what I read in books could be translated to this visual medium. Even better, as a dedicated multi-tasker, television left my hands free, fulfilling my need to be doing at least two things at once. BONUS!

My first real addiction was Star Trek TNG. Back in Jamaica, post embargo, it was one of the few US shows the local channel could afford. By the time we got a season it was at least a couple years old, and they would bump it for things like Cricket World Cup, much to my annoyance. Then the world changed…we got one of those flying-saucer sized satellite dishes, and I found a feed out of Colorado that showed TNG EVERY NIGHT! BRWHAHAHA. I was sewing for a living at the time, and at eleven p.m. I could be found in front of the TV with a cup of tea and my handwork, ready to get my Star Trek fix. Even to this day I can’t resist it, although I think I’ve seen all the syndicated episodes at least three times…many more if Worf is featured. (Mmmm, Michael Dorn…)

I don’t think I’ve ever found another show that totally sucked me in that way, but I guess it’s like your first love…no matter how it ends or whether you move on, there’s a special place in your heart for your first. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t shows I find almost irresistible, because, believe me, there are.

Case in point—last night.

I’ve been sick since last weekend with one of those viruses you think is “just a cold” until it morphs into laryngitis, an upset stomach and an elephant that sits on your chest. Every last ounce of energy was sucked away, and I missed two days of work. Determined to get back out today, I decided to go to bed early last night…

But oh, there’s a re-play of The Voice, and I’d missed the first part of that particular episode, so I thought I’d watch it. Despite having seen the second half, I ended up watching it too. At that point, the smart thing would have simply been to turn off the TV and go in to bed.

Yeah, right.

Couldn’t resist flipping on the TV guide, and saw CSI was coming on. If it were an episode I’d already seen (I mean, at this time of year why wouldn’t it be?) I would have gone to bed, but it wasn’t, and it looked really interesting, and I just HAD to know whether Doc Robbins’ wife was cheating on him or not…

Ummm…you see my problem?

And now I’m fretting about one particular new show starting at the end of this month, already afraid I won’t be able to resist…

Anyone else looking forward to Elementary, the reimagining of Sherlock Holmes with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu? It looks so good, I’m terrified there may be another addiction in my future…

Anya Richards

Journeys Through Seduction

13 SF/F TV Shows

It's a good time to be a fan of paranormal, fantasy and SF TV! Or a bad time, depending on how much you appreciate being glued to the tube. Back in the days before the ubiquitous 3000 channels of cable, you were lucky to get two or three stations clearly. Options were limited. Now, television watching is splintered into many channels, many methods, many preferences. You can watch it live on the aforementioned 3000 channels; you can tape it and watch later; you can stream it online; you can Hulu it; you can Netflix it; and so on and so forth.

What this means for fans of speculative stories -- like we all are here at Beyond the Veil! -- is that you actually have choices! Just ten years ago, I'd make lists of the (US-aring) shows that included speculative (SF/F/paranormal) content in a newsletter I used to edit. I could actually come up with a relatively complete list every year, with measurements of that show's sf/f and romantic content. Today, my own arsenal of shows on my TiVo plus ten minutes of web surfing provided me a list of names probably four times as long as what I used to report on...and it was just the tip of the iceberg.

So I thought, since today is Thursday, I'd list thirteen shows with a brief explanation of their premise and then a relatively neutral measurement (1-10) of their sf/f content and their romance content.

1) Lost Girl: The world is inhabited by a race of Fae who feed on or otherwise utilize humans while not letting humans know the Fae exist. Light Fae don't kill humans; Dark Fae are happy to kill anyone. Heroine Bo is an unaligned succubus torn between Light and Dark. SF/F content: 8. Very urban fantasy-style worldbuilding with Fae powers usually being crucial to each episode. The world of the Fae is the main world explored. ROMANCE content: 8. Bo as a succubus has a lot of sex and there are a number of romances on the show, both with Bo and her Fae or human friends. The romance is always there, simmering.

2) Warehouse 13: A secret branch of the government collects supernatural "artifacts" and stores them in a hidden warehouse to keep them from ruining the world and stuff. Main characters are the warehouse agents and others involved in the operation. SF/F content: 7. Steampunky/science fantasy. The agents are sent after various artifacts each week that could usually destroy the world if not controlled. ROMANCE content: 4. Not the main focus of the show, although the plots do sometimes touch on romancey relationships.

3) Alphas: Superpowered humans live amongst us, and a secret group involved with the government is trying to keep a lid on the ones who are destructive. SF/F content: 6. While the alphas' abilities get used every week, there is a huge dollop of human drama and interaction as well. ROMANCE content: 5-7. Some of the characters have romances, and judging by Season 2, which just started, these threads may become more influential. Season 1, I'd have said the romance was more like a 3-4 influence on the show.

4) Haven: A spooky Maine town (are there other kinds?) is inhabited by people with dire abilities and/or curses (the troubles), usually not in control of them; the police, who have abilities/curses of their own, realize that it's getting worse. SF/F content: 5. This show is mythology-heavy, with the characters' and towns' backstories influencing many episodes, and the backstories are troubles-laden. ROMANCE content: 7. The first two seasons, the characters dabbled in romances, but a swing at at the end of the last season showed that romance may be taking center-stage in the new season.

5) Being Human: Paranormal roomies live together and try to pass as human, or at least not kill people. SF/F content: 8. Like Lost Girl, this show has an urban fantasy vibe, but darker and angstier. The characters' non-humanness and other nonhumans frequently influence episode structure. ROMANCE content: 8. Finding love can be hard when you are tempted to eat people. This doesn't feel like the kind of show that will have a lot of HEA love stories, though!

6) Supernatural: 2 extremely good-looking demon-hunting brothers repeatedly go to Hell and back as they strive to save the world and each other. SF/F content: 7. Human foibles and personalities are not given short shrift, although the Winchesters do spend a majority of their time fighting supernatural evil, each other, etc. ROMANCE content: 5. The important relationships in the show are more familial, although legions of fangirls squee (with good reason) anytime the brothers engage in romantic escapades. Note: I haven't watched the show since Season 4 and may be off on this proportion.

7) Grimm: In a world where paranormals try to exist in secret amonst humans (anyone sense a theme yet??), special "Grimms" can see who's paranormal and have made it their purpose in life to take them out...until our hero, a Grimm, comes along. SF/F content: 7. Our hero confronts various realities of this hidden paranormal world in every episode as well as his heritage, which comes with a healthy dose of mythology and bigger story arcs. ROMANCE content: 4. Hero begins the show in a healthy relationship for the most part, but that relationship is tested by his secret knowledge.

8) True Blood: In a world where paranormals have started outing themselves to humans, a batch of characters in Louisiana continually find themselves in the middle of blood, sex and chaos. SF/F content: 9. This show, based on the Charlaine Harris books, is about what it's like to exist as a supernatural with a few humans thrown in for balance. ROMANCE content: 10. That's sort of what the show revolves around. Sookie's nookie. That and vampires biting people.

9) Game of Thrones: Fantasy-medieval setting and large cast of characters, all striving to coexist, or rule, the smallish kingdom where the majority of the cast lives or wants to live. SF/F content: 4. Much of the setting is medieval/historical, but more threads of the supernatural have begun filtering in. ROMANCE content: 4. While people, mostly females, get naked constantly on the show, all the romances feel doomed, and the main emphasis seems to be on the political struggles, with sexxoring mixed in to screw, haha, stuff up.

10) The Walking Dead: Post-zombie apocalyptic world where the survivors have to avoid or kill the zombies and keep from killing each other as well. SF/F content: 4. I gather the zombies are the only supernatural element. ROMANCE content: unknown. I don't watch the show, but I haven't heard that the romance is a draw.

11) Falling Skies: Post-alien apocalyptic world where the survivors have to avoid or kill aliens and keep from killing each other as well! SF/F content: 5. The fact that aliens took over Earth and kidnapped and harnessed kids and continue to kill humans has a huge influence on the plots, although the other aspects are more survivalist. ROMANCE content: 3. The relationships and human dramas do not revolve around romances, although there are romantic aspects I wouldn't want to spoil.

12) Doctor Who: Time-traveling beings who can reincarnate as different actors as needed take on human companions in their quest to protect the timeline and Earth and stuff. SF/F content: 8. ROMANCE content: 4. I do not watch Doctor Who, so if you want to fill in these blanks, please do!

13) Vampire Diaries: Angsty teens, old vampires who look like teens and other supernaturals mix it up in a small town, complete with lots of mythology arcs. SF/F content: 7. ROMANCE content: 8. I do not watch Vampire Diaries, so if you want to fill in these blanks, please do!

NEW SHOWS FOR 2012:
Arrow - new
666 Park Avenue - new
Beauty and the Beast - new
Defiance - new
Revolution - new

So what glues you to the tube? Anything? Nothing? Want to do a brief rundown on any shows I missed?

Jody Wallace
When is an alpha not an alph-ass?
Pack and Coven: http://www.jodywallace.com

Gibbs vs. Longmire

Our theme for the month centers around characters and threw me straight into the horns of a dilemma.  Who is my favorite character on television right now, Gibbs or Longmire?

Well, let's see.  Mark Harmon plays Gibbs as quiet, reserved, dedicated, intense.  Robert Taylor plays Longmire as quiet, reserved, dedicated, intense.

I guess it's a good thing they're not on television at the same time.  NCIS was voted "America's Favorite TV Show" and has just been renewed for the 10th season starting September 25, 2012.  (Wikipedia article "NCIS", accessed 08/01/2012.)  It airs on Tuesdays nights on CBS.  Longmire is a new show on A&E and airs on Sunday nights; episodes are available on the A&E website.  

Shows that I really love (Firefly, Dollhouse, Alcatraz) don't seem to stay around on television very long.  It's rare that I fall in love with a "popular" show (I loathed Seinfeld, for example).  I'm pleased that NCIS is being renewed and am enjoying going through the episodes through Netflix.  The season finale of last season was a doozie (I won't type the spoiler here, but fans who saw it will be with me when I say I'm on the edge of my seat to find out what happens).  

Longmire is a little different.  It centers around a small-town sheriff who lost his wife and his focus, but is now getting the focus back.  Set in rural Wyoming, it involves the local Cheyenne tribe as well as encroaching Mexican drug cartels and Amish families.  I like its twist on the traditional police procedural and how it portrays different cultures with a penetrating and more realistic eye than I've seen done previously.

What about you?  What's your favorite characters to watch this season?

Premature Burial, TV-Style

By this point, it should be no surprise that I watch television. Lots of television--in particular, lots of non-network shows. Aside from Castle, which I watch for Captain Tightpants--er, Nathan Fillion, the last time I hung around for a continuing series on on ABC, CBS or NBC was Chuck.   And face it, if I'm watching Castle for Captain--I mean, Mr. Fillion, it's really all about Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which brings me to the real subject of this blog: the Graveyard of Great Shows.

I realize TV shows have a natural lifespan.  I miss Buffy, for example, but by the time we said goodbye to Sunnydale and the Hellmouth, we'd explored just about every aspect of high school as horror movie Joss Whedon could imagine.  Star Trek's first run ended after three seasons, but with thirty years of movies, follow-up TV series and reboots, I think we've gotten our money's worth.  Eureka hasn't achieved that kind of second life, but we did get five years of science fiction lite, which is more than anyone can expect of the Syfy Channel unless you're talking Stargate.

But that's the point.  Syfy and other "off-brand" networks show a deplorable tendency to kill a show before it's time.  What's worse is not all of those wonderful, quirky and, sometimes, groundbreaking shows make it to DVD or Netflix.  With that in mind, I thought I'd torture myself--and you--with some of them.  Yes, I'm evil that way.

Adderly: Super spy V.H. Adderly (Winston Rekert) is sidelined by an irreparable injury to his left hand. He's reassigned to the Department of Miscellaneous Affairs in the basement of the blandest government building in existence. His boss, Melville Greenspan (Jonathan Welsh), is the ultimate in prissy, pusillanimous, pettifogging bureaucracy, but with the aid of romance- and adventure-loving secretary Mona Ellerby (Dixie Seatle), Adderly manages to get in trouble--er, save the day, regardless. The players and the set-up were a wonderful mix of humor and derring-do, but what really made the show for me was how they showed the mind-exploding absurdity of government work in all its glory. Nobody's ever done it better.

The Chronicle: This one's almost as old as Adderly, and is yet another case of the SciFi Channel (yes, that old) giveth and the SciFi Channel taketh away.  In the days when The Weekly World News ruled the supermarket check-out with stories about Bat Boy dining with President Clinton, The Chronicle let us in on the fact that all the monsters and aliens covered in the tabloids were real.  For me, the individual characters took a back seat to the concept and ensemble, but heck, shouldn't every newspaper receptionist have tentacles?

Deadwood: HBO's paean to the Wild West.  The plot was supposed to revolve around Sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) attempting to tame the mining town of Deadwood, South Dakota, while conducting a complicated affair with heiress Alma Garrett (Molly Parker), against the background of George Hearst's exploitation of the Comstock Lode. But the real reason I watched was Ian McShane's amazing turn as the aptly named Al Swearengen, swearing and cussing and sexing and fighting the civilization of the frontier with tooth and claw.  Bad language never sounded so good.  I didn't even care he was a sixty-year-old playing a man in his thirties.  Well, not much. ;-)

Firefly: There were only fourteen episodes and one theatrical release in what Joss Whedon intended to be a long-running serial about renegades and refugees in the Final Frontier, but this is one of those cases where the myth keeps growing.  It doesn't hurt that it showcased Captain Tight--er, Mr. Fillion at his most buff as Mal Reynolds; Gina Torres as the spectacularly intelligent BKC Zoe Washburne (intelligent being something all too rare among BKCs); Chuck's Adam Baldwin as a boy named Jayne, Jayne Cobb; and Ron Glass as Derrial Book, who I first watched in the ancient sitcom Barney Miller and have enjoyed ever since.

Forever Knight: Vampires, doomed romance and police work--oh my!  IMHO, nobody ever did it better.  Geraint Wyn Davies may not have been as pretty as Rick Springfield as Nick Knight in the original TV movie (or the guy in Moonlight with the derivative character name) but dang, he had one of the all-time great TV vampire nemeses to play against: Nigel Bennett as late night vampire DJ Lucien LaCroix.  Supporting players John Kapelos as Detective Don Schanke, a pre-Andromeda Lisa Ryder as Detective Tracy Vetter and Ben Bass playing Alice Cooper look-a-like vampire Javier Vachon (who first appears combing the victims of an airplane crash looking for his burnt hand, which he promptly reattaches--Score!) amped the fun level even higher.  But I confess another reason for liking this series.  Several friends got book deals out of it, both directly as a result of the franchise and in collaboration with Mr. Bennett.  That's a win Win WIN from my point of view.  My only warning is don't watch the last three eps.  They brought the series to an absolute conclusion (oh yeah!), but so much more could've been done in that world if the budget and ratings had been there.

Highlander: Yeah, you know this one would show up.  Immortal guy Duncan McLeod (Adrian Paul) chops off Head-of-the-Week with his shining katana roaring the catch phrase that continues to resonate everywhere from The Colbert Report to Suits: "There can be only one!"  (So they said it in the movie, first.  The immies and kimmies of the series were a lot cuter.)  Personally, I think Duncan's story was so OVER! by the end of the series.  What gripes me that the producers never took up the promise of a spin-off featuring Methos (Peter Wingfield)--there can be only one, and it has to be Methos, because he has the best Kronos (Valentine Pelka) flashbacks--and instead turned bubbly thief and adventuress Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) into a depressed Duncan clone.  :-P 

Human Target: Mark Valley played Christopher Chance, a former assassin who makes himself a human target to protect people.  The series struck a lovely balance between high stakes adventure and just plain fun.  And like everyone else, I adored Jackie Earle Haley as Guerrero, the ultimate assassin...with glasses.  (I don't make this stuff up!  Honest!)

Invisible Man: One more headstone in the ever-growing SciFi/Syfy cemetery.  Thief and three time loser Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca) is given the chance to work for the government with an invisibility gland implanted in his brain.  Ably supported by the delightfully paranoid Robert Albert Hobbes (Paul Ben-Victor, who also starred in another wonderful bygone show, In Plain Sight), the two navigated super villians and life in the underpaid, under-appreciated federal bureaucracy.  (Yes, I did work for the government.  Why do you ask?)

Sanctuary: Think Warehouse 13, only with monsters instead of artifacts as the weekly MacGuffins.  Stargate stalwart Amanda Tapping played Dr. Helen Magnus, a sharp-dressing 157-year-old with a passion for high heels.  She also got to snog with Highlander favorite Peter Wingfield as James Watson and Christopher Heyerdahl as John Druitt (the second of two regular roles he played, though most people didn't recognize him under his "Bigfoot" make-up, including me).  There was a conclusion of sorts in the last episode before Syfy abruptly decided to pull the plug, but there was so much up in the air, I wish the producers would return to the show's webisode roots and give us a coda.  Pleeeeeeeeeeease!  Magnus had just kissed naughty vampire Nikolai Tesla (Jonathon Young), for crying out loud. 

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne: SAJV was the first true Steampunk series sinc Wild Wild West and ranks as my ultimate, all-time heartbreaker.  The conceit is the young Jules Verne (Chris Demetral) actually lived the adventures he later wrote about in the company of Her Magesty's secret agents Phileas Fogg (Michael Praed in Victorian clothes) and his second cousin/secret crush Rebecca (Francesca Hunt as another wonderful portrayal of an intelligent BKC--always a favorite of mine) on the luxurious airship Aurora.  The first season had everything.  Time travel!  Cyborgs!  Dirigibles!  Leather corsets!  Dixie Seatle (remember her from Adderly?) as a Wild West madam with the proverbial heart of gold!  Bad CG in high def!  Screen-steaming sexual tension!  Michael Praed in Victorian clothes!  (Yes, I'm obsessing.  You got a problem with that? You should be glad I don't bring up the wet tights and tunic shot from Robin of Sherwood.)  And then...nothing.  The show vanished.  You can't even find it on DVD.  Seems there are legal issues that make the old Maverick woes look like child's play.  Sob.

Michael Praed in Victorian clothes, I tell you.  You should be crying, too.

#

Television Bites!

I must admit, when it comes to T.V., I lean toward the same genre that I write, paranormal. It's action-packed, full of suspense and a little eye candy doesn't hurt the ratings.
Vampire Diaries has Stefan and Damon, although I am personally partial to Damon. His smart-ass comebacks and crooked smile give new meaning to the bad boy persona.









Supernatural has it's own pair of brothers and the plot leans toward the messier aspect of the paranormal world.





Yet my all-time favorite show is still Home Improvement.



When work gets stressful and all the news seems bad, it's nice to escape reality for a while. The paranormal genre entertains my dark side and Home Improvement satisfies the need for happily-ever-after. Its the ying and yang of my television world.

Reality Shows!

My Guilty Pleasures – Reality Shows!

Now hold up! Regardless of the title of this post, I am not about to expose all my guilty pleasures. First of all, that would be waaaaay too many and take far more space than I have here. Secondly, ya’ll don’t want to see some of that stuff anyway. Therapy would send you (and me via your lawsuit) into the poor house.

But as television goes, however, I am willing to divulge my guilty pleasures. I, dear readers, love drama. Oh, not the kind of drama you see on Law and Order. Naw, the scripted drama just doesn’t cut it. I want, I demand, I crave reality shows.

Yep, I’m one of those people. From Big Brother to all the Housewives spin-offs, I love watching real people be real. I’m not above saying how much I adored watching Nene and Kim (Housewives of Atlanta) go at it on the bus. I will not deny how much I gasp (excitedly) to see Abby Lee (Dance Moms) yell at the kids and their moms. I almost salivate when Jerseylicious comes on. Not only because I’m eating one of my other guilty pleasures─hot buttered popcorn with melted cheese on top─but because I am a reality show junkie.

But why do I lust after shows like Most Eligible Dallas and Flipping Out? How did this happen? Like many of you, I grew up watching great classic shows like I Love Lucy and Laverne and Shirley. I loved the antics of sitcoms and how everything was tied up into a neat little package in thirty minutes. I loved that everyone got along─at least at the end. I wanted to be just like Lucy.

No one ever thought of following “average” people before that show. Why should they have? What did normal, every-day people do that we didn’t all do day in and day out? How interesting could a show about my neighbors be? A reality show would’ve been laughed off the network. And why do we now seek confrontation? Did we finally grow tired of “nice” shows and developed the need to feed the darker side of ourselves? Has the darker side of me been released?

I’m not sure how reality television came about. Did it start with Survivor and then move on to the seamier side of life? Did showing viewers a new kind of game show start us down this road? Is watching reality television a legal way to snoop on your neighbors? I haven’t got a clue.

And frankly, my dears, I don’t give a damn (Sorry. I couldn’t resist) why I like these shows so much. I don’t care if some people think I’m crazy. I don’t care that my husband won’t stay in the same room when I’m watching Theresa flip a table. The only thing I really care about is that I’m not anything like the people on these shows. And you know what? I thank my lucky stars for it!

So? What about you? Come on out of hiding and ’fess up. Are you a reality show junkie too?

Murder, anyone?

Let me just start by saying that I really don't like reality shows. Sometimes I will find myself watching -- fascinated by the penchant some people have of making total fools of themselves for the world to see.

Personally, I prefer make believe. My favorite form of television entertainment? For years and years, it's been the weekly mystery/crime drama. If they can add a bit of humor, all the better.

I remember tuning in every week to watch Columbo or McMillan and Wife, and others in the NBC Mystery Movie night. These die-hard favorites often included intrigue, danger, some quirky characters, and a car chase or two. I loved Columbo and his wrinkled raincoat; his seemingly inept manor that put every bad guy and gal at ease. I thought Susan St. James was wonderfully cute and perky while she tried -- in an almost Lucille Ball fashion -- to help her husband solve crime.

But I was young. And, in all honesty, so was television for all intents and purposes. The weekly crime drama has evolved. Blood and gore abound... plots are a bit more twisted and not always so easy to figure out. But I do still love a good murder. ;) My favorites, however, are the ones where I have to figure it out along with the show's resident 'detective' -- whether that person be a mystery writer, cop, or forensic scientist*.

*Although, really, how many pathologists head out in the field to question suspects? Ummm, I'm thinking not many.

I love puzzles. I adore discovering those clues right along the hero (or heroine) on the small screen. I thrill at being able to piece it together and, sometimes, figuring it out before the professional sleuth does. With some shows that task is often difficult -- and those are the ones I watch more often.

So, while I still need a bit of mindless, silly comedy from time to time, (Thank you, Disney Channel); and something educational at rare moments (ala The History Channel) -- the crime drama is still my special fave.

Monk, sadly, is gone, except in reruns. But I still adore:

NCIS (the original, not the LA version. Sorry).

Other favorites include: Castle (love the character interaction);
Flash Point (fast-paced and often riveting);
Psych (much silliness and Shawn's dialog tends to wear me out.);
The Mentalist (sort of a 'grown-up' Psych?);
The Closer, a must-see every week (Again, love the characters!);
Bones;
Warehouse 13 (rarely murder involved, but I love the sci-fi aspect and the characters).


I suppose it really comes down to which shows have characters that fascinate me? Entertain me? Characters that I care about?

This life-long fixation is why I like to include a bit of mystery in my novels. It keeps me, and the reader, involved with a story.

Do you like mysteries? Crime drama? Or do you prefer to laugh your way through television viewing?

~~Meg Allison

Indulge your senses...
http://www.megallisonauthor.com

Turn on, Tune in, Drop by: From Guilty Pleasures to Classic Genre Television

“Classic” television is our topic du jour. I ought to talk about what makes television great. But I’m not. I’m going to talk about what television I loved when I watched television, back in the days when you actually had to get up off your arse, walk across the room, and change the channel manually. Man, was I excited when we got a snazzy push-button television!

(Not So) Guilty Pleasures

Every fall, post premier week, I get pulled into a slew of conversations about everyone’s new guilty pleasures of the season. Inevitably this leads to the admission that I don’t have any. Don’t get me wrong, I watch TV, I watch A LOT of TV. In fact I watch more television than anyone else I know, (will admit to). I just can’t find it in myself to feel guilty about it.

Between new and returning shows, my household watched some twenty-one guilt-free hours of primetime television last week. With this week’s new shows, that number will increase to twenty-five hours; add in October premiers and it could reach thirty hours. That’s more than a full day of shows and it doesn’t count any of the news programs I watch faithfully, or the half-hour comedies he watches online.

By November that number will change again as certain shows fail to live up to expectation and others are abandoned by their networks, leaving us somewhere around the twenty hour mark, but let’s say twenty-four just to stay positive. Twenty-four hours of television a week—that’s a part time job—and one only made possible with the use of a DVR and 32 inch monitor that makes Hulu worth watching online. If we watch that much television and will admit it, how much are others really taking in and crossing their fingers about?

I have to admit that over half our television time is combined with computer time which is how much of this is possible. I do research, check email and social sites and even write as a show sparks an idea or a deadline looms on the horizon. I’ll also read or workout during commercial breaks and scenes with characters I don’t particularly like, so a lot of multitasking to be had. Perhaps that’s why I don’t feel guilty about watching television as whole. We also watch zero “unscripted” reality television which doesn’t leave a lot to feel guilty about.

I know things like Survivor and The Bachelor are edited and slightly scripted, but I make the distinction because we do watch fully scripted/narrated reality shows like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network, nature and science shows on Discovery and the eclectic mix of mental phenomena that is the History Channel and History International. All of these shows have a research basis as details and desserts make their way into my stories, but we love them because where else can you discuss the merits of brining and the likelihood of parallel universes on the same weekend with the same confidence in each topic due to the easily digestible facts broken down and served up for maximum retention? If only school had been so accommodating. *smile*
I think as a household of readers, who talk primarily to other readers, we stand out for our watching habits because few people do both so robustly. But if you look at the abundance of paranormal fiction and sci-fi/fantasy that we read, the paranormal fiction and sci-fi/fantasy that we watch makes more sense. We also watch House and a rather startling number of procedurals, but personally I find a fantasy element to the technology and mental prowess used to solve cases, so it fits right in from my perspective.

I think the difference between television being a guilty pleasure and pleasurable hobby is whether or not you feel you should be doing something else instead. We don’t give up other things to watch and since we extend from fan into fandom with many shows, the conversation is just starting when the show ends for the hour. We’re invested in many of the series the same way we are in the books we read and the conversations, theories and story inspirations that come from our shows make every hour seem worth it.

Now I have had my guilty moments. Supernatural is a favorite show and one I’ve heard others describe as a guilty pleasure since they watch less for the story arc and more for the attractiveness of the main characters. I watch for both so I don’t feel that hour is better served elsewhere. However, the twenty-plus hours spent in a two day marathon of season 5 in preparation for season 6…yeah, I so should have been doing other stuff and it felt wonderful! Besides, my season 5 dvds didn’t show up until the 22nd, what was I supposed to do?

So how much television do you all watch? Do you have any guilty pleasures you tune into every week? Do you feel more guilty about the time you spend watching TV than the time you spend reading? And should guilt ever play a factor in any pleasure that’s healthy and doesn’t take from family, friends and productivity?

Ooh, What's On Tonight Ramble ~ Done

~X

Education by Television

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
~ Groucho Marx

I think Groucho would have become very educated if he had to look at the 2009 fall TV line up. I'm looking the network choices over, and finding very few shows to get excited about.

That means more time for writing and reading though! My silver lining.

So what am I looking forward to? It's a short list. First, a few returning shows.
- Castle on Monday - and I admit I watch it for Nathan Fillion more than the writing. He'll always be Captain to me. Unfortunately this show isn't Firefly, so I'll probably only remember to turn it on a few times during the season.
- I'll TiVo NCIS on Tuesday and watch it later in the week with hubby. It's about the only show we both watch.
- The Mentalist on Thursday. Ok, so there are two shows hubby and I both watch. This one we'll also TiVo to watch together later.
- Dollhouse on Friday! I'm having an "ugh" moment seeing Fox is leading into it with a pair of sitcoms. Hopefully Summer Glau can chase my fears of imminent cancellation away.

Wow. One show I'll actually plan to watch, one I'm Eh about, and two that are on there to be 'date shows' with the hubby.

Maybe there's something more exciting in the new shows? Don't get too excited.
- V (ABC) Premieres: Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 8/7c. Notice that the new show I'm most excited about won't be here until November. From TV Guide :

Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell stars in this reimagining of the 1980s sci-fi miniseries and series as FBI counter terrorism agent Erica Evans. She is the first to discover that, beneath the skin of a presumed friendly visiting alien race, they're more sinister than anyone imagined. Evans' son, Tyler (Logan Huffman), sees the Vs as an opportunity to make mankind unite with a common goal while news anchor Chad Decker (Scott Wolf) wants to advance his career by getting an exclusive interview with the aliens' leader, Anna (Morena Baccarin).

Am I letting nostalgia get in the way of judgment? I loved the original miniseries. Even bought the novelization, and held onto it until college. The diretoor and cast have a lot of geek cred, so I'm hanging onto my high hopes for this one.

- Eastwick (ABC) Premieres: Wednesdays, Sept. 23 at 10/9c From TV Guide :

The producers of this fantasy series about suburban witches, which stars Rebecca Romijn and Lindsay Price, hope the third attempt to bring John Updike's novel to the small screen will be the charm. The big-screen version, The Witches of Eastwick, was a major success in 1987.

I liked the movie ok, but always thought there was more potential here than a 2 hour movie could catch. So I'm going to give this one a shot. And, witches. Fun times.

- FlashForward (ABC) Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8/7c From TV Guide :

ABC has high hopes for this series, centered around a bizarre event that allows millions of people to briefly see flashes of the future. What do they see? What does it mean? And should people be worried if they don't have a future? Watch to find out, we don't know, and yes.

The hype around this one reminds me a bit of the hype around Heroes. And Heroes was fun for one season. Ok, for most of one season, they actually lost me about 2 episodes from the end. Maybe ABC has found a similiar spark with this one?

- The Vampire Diaries (The CW) Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 10 at 8/7c From TV Guide :

Brooding high school newcomer Stefan (Paul Wesley) can't get his mind off classmate Elena (Nina Dobrev) — perhaps because the two of them were deeply in love 130 years years ago. Yeah, Stefan is a vampire, and so is his reckless bad-boy brother, Damon (Lost's Ian Somerhalder). This one also features a special guest appearance by massive amounts of fog.

Vamps. They're hot, they're now, and they may be getting close to being overdone. Unlike HBO's True Blood (which you'd think would be marketed to adults only with all that blood and sex) this show is aiming for the high school crowd; think Twilight fans here. Will the show have any appeal outside the 15-18 demographic the network usually aims for? I'll tune in once or twice and give it a shot.

And that's it for me. One new show I've got as a don't-miss, and a few I'll give a shot. There's a few more on cable that look interesting (Stargate Universe being the big one), but again - a lot of yawns across the listings.

Have I missed something? Is there a show out there that you're especially excited about and think I should give a try?

I'm looking at one bright spot out of this. Maybe I'll be able to find time to get to a lot of great books that have been waiting on my TBR pile for far too long.

Smallville Addiction

Finding family together time that makes both a 7 year old girly-girl and a 15 year old too-cool-for-his-sister happy is a challenge. There's not much they have in common, other than their gene pool, and even there they seem to be swimming in opposite ends. One is over in the deep end doing dolphin flips and the other is spiking the volleyball over the net and yelling "Eye of the Tiger!" when no one can return it. I'll let you guess which is doing which.

But a month or so ago we stumbled on something that has kept all three of us entertained for an hour a day. Smallville, the television series that tells the story of Clark Kent's teenage years, has given us a happy meeting place.

The violence level is mild enough that my daughter can watch without me worrying about nightmares. Most of the sexual tension is kept to heated looks and the occasional kiss, although there was a Clark-gone-bad episode that my son and I saved for a day it was just the two of us watching.

My son can completely relate to the high school angst and drama. He's old enough to catch some of the nice asides in the dialoge (Clark: If aliens came to Earth, don't you think they'd find someplace a little more exciting than Smallville?)that show up a few times each episode.

My daughter is totally caught up in the Lana / Clark / Chloe love triangle (we're only up to season 2). She doesn't "get" a lot of the inside humor and points, but the relationships are the hook for her.

I'm enjoying the series, even while I'm sitting there laughing at some of the stories. We all laugh together about how many people Clark has saved from car accidents / explosions, and how many episodes in a row someone has said some version of "Clark, it's not your fault." There is little that is subtle about this series. But it has turned into a bit of a character development class, and my son and I especially have had some great conversations about how both script and book authors use some of the same devices - foreshadowing, character development, cliff hangers, plot moving grand revelations.

We're watching the episodes in order(yay Netflix!), and I've resisted the temptation to peek ahead online or watch the current season that is in repeats Mostly I'm just glad I've found something that for an hour a day lets us all do something together, each getting their own bit of enjoyment out of the time.

If you've seen Smallville, what do you think of it? Melodramatic good vs evil, or an entertaining view into the past of one of our favorite superheroes?

Another cliffhanger!?!?

It seems to be part of the television industry code for writers: "If you create a cliffhanger, they will return."

Honestly, it's true, but the initial reaction I've been having lately is one of extreme annoyance. TWO of my favorite show have ended their seasons with an unfinished storyline. Possibly more since I've missed a few episodes of others and we don't TiVo.

For SUPERNATURAL it was the tantalizing picture of Dean and Sam standing there, watching as the supreme evil being rose from the earth. For CRIMINAL MINDS it was when one of its leads came face-to-face with a masked gunman. Final sound: a gunshot, then fade to black. A very effective device, btw, and one I was not expecting in the least.

Besides wanting to throw the remote, a part of me wondered if the television industry thinks we are really that fickle? Do they really believe we won't return to a program unless there's a mystery we have to solve? At first I think 'NOT!'...but then the writer in me overcomes the viewer. Um, yeah, I do see the value in keeping fans on the edges of their seats. Doesn't mean I have to like it. ;)

Back to SUPERNATURAL, which is somewhat my guilty pleasure. Both Jared Padalecki (Sam) and Jensen Ackles (Dean) are extremely good-looking -- and much-younger-than-me guys. My favorite character? Dean. Definitely. Add to that the entire realm of supernatural boogeymen (and women), a rockin' soundtrack, and lots of gore... It's not a show I watch with the family. My kids don't like the blood and my dh isn't a big paranormal buff. So this show is mom's time. My little escape. And now I have to wait months to find out just how these two characters will defeat Satan? Ugh!

Well... let's keep this in perspective. As a writer I do understand the inclination to leave people hanging. You want to keep them reading; to keep them watching; to keep them wanting and needing more. I suppose part of my annoyance comes from distant past and such moments as when DALLAS fans raced to their televisions for that first season episode after another season explored who killed Bobby Ewing... only to see Pamela waking up to find Bobby in the shower... alive and well once again. A dream? Are you freaking serious?!?!?

But a cliffhanger done well is a whole other animal. For television, it works -- it annoys, but it works. However, I'm sure I would never use such a device at the end of a book. That just seems too cruel.

Hmmmm, then again...

13 Paranormal Television Shows

Like most of my fellow bloggers here at Beyond the Veil, I'm drawn to paranormal stories--writing them, reading them...and watching them! This is a great time in the history of the boob tube if you like to watch boobs (on reality tv) or supernatural dramas the rest of the time. I haven't done any kind of official, data-based calculation, but during prime time hours, there seems to be a higher proportion of television shows with supernatural elements than I can remember. It helps that there are a lot more channels to choose from than when many of us were growing up. When I was a kid, we got three channels and the only thing with fantastical elements involved an island and a mysterious, handsome man who could work magic. No, I'm not talking about Lost, I'm talking about Fantasy Island and Mr. Roarke!

Anyway, it's a good time to be a tv and paranormal fan. Here are 13 paranormal programs my husband and I usually try to watch whenever we get a chance.

1) Heroes: First on my list because I just watched the latest episode! This show is jam packed with characters, plot twists, grey areas and fast-paced action and while it has a dearth of non-blonde female characters, I enjoy it quite a bit. Paranormal factor: high. Romance factor: inconsistent. I heard there was supposed to be some shockingly awesome sex scene this year, and although I've seen a sex scene, it wasn't shocking or awesome enough, so I'm still waiting.

2) Pushing Daisies: The quaint, thoroughly enjoyable fairy tale with likeable characters and fantastical sets is set in a pastry store called the Pie Hole. It features two lovers who can never touch or the female will drop down dead. What's not to love? Paranormal factor: medium. Romance factor: high and sugary bittersweet.

3) Supernatural: It's way low on the romance and way high on the spooky with a heavy dose of brotherly love and extremely attractive male protagonists thrown in. Usually I give it two thumbs up, when it isn't give me nightmares. Paranormal factor: medium to high. Romance factor: inconsistent to low, but whenever it involves one of the brothers removing their garments, I'm in favor.

4) The Sarah Connor Chronicles: How did John Connor of Terminator fame turn into the man who was the savior of the human race? It was all thanks to his mum, of course. The show has a touch of sophomore slump but it's very high octane and is sprinkled with just enough humor to get you through a typically tense episode. Paranormal factor: medium to high. Romance factor: Pretty low.

5) Chuck: The supernatural elements are space age instead of paranormal, but it's consistently enjoyable, consistently funny and even surprises me sometimes. This season seems to be playing the romance between the main protagonists as very star-crossed. Paranormal factor: low. Romance factor: medium.

6) Lost: We've been watching this twisty psychedelic island caper since day one and honestly don't know much more than we did when we read the previews. However, we keep coming back for more anyway! Paranormal factor: low to medium. Romance factor: medium to please can Kate just make up her mind now?

7) Battlestar Galactica: The darkest and most bleak television series I've ever managed to keep watching. I'm so thankful the final season is at hand. They've discovered Earth and all that's left is the final Cylon and all the rest of the WTF elements. Paranormal factor: high. Romance factor: medium but kind of twisted.

8) Eureka: This summer season delight gets way too little credit, with a super genius town full of freaky, competitive scientists who nearly blow up the world once a week. Everyman and jokester Sherriff Carter has to save their genius butts each time. It's rarely dull and doesn't even make sense, but who cares? Funny stuff. Paranormal factor: medium. Romance factor: low to medium.

9) Stargate Atlantis: Recently canceled, I hear, but we will bid the last of the Stargates a fond farewell when it goes. Set in the Pegasus galaxy, it's a nerd boy's wet dream of how brainiac Rodney McKay was almost cooler that Colonel Shepherd. But who'll get the girl? Paranormal factor: high. Romance factor: as unsatisfactorily done as the original Stargate.

10) The late, great Buffy/Angel: Included here because it's now continuing in the comics as Seasons 8 and "After the Fall" respectively. Buffy was one of the first big splashes of the urban fantasy craze that has proliferated on bookshelves everywhere. It's a staple and doesn't need description, although I'm finding the comics don't seem to be headed in a direction that will lend itself to any kind of happy ending, which makes me nervous, because this *is* Joss Whedon we're talking about. Paranormal factor: high. Romance factor: high and angsty.

11) Fringe: Arguably, since it involves "science", it could be left off this list, but it's fringe science and weird things frequently happen. FBI (or CIA, I forgot) Heroine lost her illicit boyfriend and to save him she got involved with a crazy scientist, his brash, prodigal son, and a scary conspiracy to overthrow the world. I will . Xfiles meets CSI. I admit, I only watched 2 episodes of Fringe and wasn't impressed, but you're welcome to try and change my mind in the comments! Paranormal factor: low, since it's "science". Romance factor: undetermined, but sparks were obviously meant to arise at some point between the sad heroine and the brash son.

12: Sanctuary: I haven't had a chance to see this one yet, but Amanda Tapping's part of the cast plus a dude who looks like Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), so I'm in for the first several episodes, at least. Seems to have something to do with people who chase down paranormal creatures and give them....sanctuary? Paranormal factor: probably high. Romance factor: It's the SciFi channel, so probably low and awkward.

13) Smallville: Young Superman resists his destiny ad nauseum. This is the last show on my list, even after shows that have been cancelled or that I haven't seen yet, in order to express my disdain for the current quality of the show. And that's all I'm sayin'. Paranormal factor: medium. Romance factor: soap city.

What do you think of the proliferation of paranormal television right now? Which ones do you watch that aren't on this list and what do you think of these or any others? Let us know in the comments!

Jody W.
http://www.jodywallace.com/
SURVIVAL OF THE FAIREST--Available now, Samhain Publishing


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Mac N Cheese for Writers

Saw a blog recently about Reality TV and writers, the thesis of which was that reality TV has a lot in common with romance novels because it tends to have assorted "ordinary" characters, a hook and an HEA (and HEA for somebody, albeit not necessarily somebody deserving). The original blog entry was more detailed than that, but I couldn't help thinking about it when I chanced upon a program on FoodTV last night about 5 chefs competing to make the best mac n cheese. In all honesty, I didn't WANT to be up near midnight with thoughts of mac n cheese in my head, but I was hoping the program would bore the baby to sleep and I could either write or sleep myself. Instead, I got sucked into the drama and characterization and remained intent on the screen even after the baby konked out.

The 5 chefs were:

1) Young chick with v. short dark hair who loved local food and organics. She wore a barrette in her hair and seemed confident in her ability to win. In the confessionals chosen for viewing, she criticized the judges more than once.

2) Slightly older chick with v. short dark hair who seemed gloomy. Luckily for viewers, she did not wear a barrette to avoid confusion with #1, but she also seemed confident she would win. She was not always pleased with the judges and questioned the choices of other contestants.

3) Young man with a buzz cut and piercings who seemed enthusiastic and frazzled by the whole process. He did not act as if it was his right to win, though he did have a few stinging things to say about the judges.

4) Older dude who didn't have much personality but apparently owned a restaurant. He seemed very efficient. He made the least impression on me but won the competition.

5) Older lady who was full of good cheer and seemed to be having a fantastic experience -- she was a self identified Southern cook and used lots of collard greens. I wanted to go to her house for dinner.

You can tell which chef was my favorite, which one I was rooting for. #5. Why? Because she didn't criticize the other contestants, because she seemed to be having a good time, and because she lacked pretention. At least--in the confessionals we were shown.

As a writer, I found it interesting to observe how these confessionals were used to create character. I'm sure there was countless footage that wasn't used. With hours of stuff to pick through, the creators had to choose which comments to share, what character traits to emphasize, what scenes to give airtime, and so on, taking into account the format of the show and the need to display certain elements like the judging process. The time was divided amongst the participants, too--yet another restriction on what footage could and couldn't be used.

The creators leaned towards action and reaction scenes to build interest and plot. They liked sound bytes where the character in question was being angry, passionate or funny. There wasn't a lot of "Gosh I like cheese, let me tell you about my love for cheese" type stuff. They only showed action, such as chopping, stirring or tasting, if there was additional action or reaction to go along with it, like a character voice-over saying how he or she was frantic at that point or a judge staring at the chopper while voice-overing that so and so was painful to watch.

In the end, I came away from the show with a relatively clear idea in my own head what these characters' personalities were, for the most part, even though I started watching about 15 minutes into the program, missing what I'm sure were the introductions.

How as writers can we hone in on just the right scenes and snippets to display character in our novels?

1) Remember that viewers want to see action.

2) They also want to see reaction.

3) Include crucial plot scenes (like judging) and write them in a way that makes them feel important (add voice overs, quick scene cuts, tension, background music, facial expressions, etc.)
4) Make sure all scenes work doubly hard, with voice overs (deep third POV, perhaps?), chronological tension and layers.

5) Be aware of the characters' more prominent personality traits and focus on those. In a novel characters might grow and have arcs, but in the hour tv show, the creators were careful to select confessionals that portrayed the chefs consistently. My favorite, #5, was cheery in all her scenes, even when she was in round 2 and making her gourmet mac n cheese with all the little fiddlly bits and sauces. The less likeable contestants were consistently gloomy or snarky or competitive in their confessionals.

Characterization can make or break a novel...or a TV show. And that's my important sounding pontification for the day.

Jody Wallace
http://www.jodywallace.com
SURVIVAL OF THE FAIREST--Available now, Samhain Publishing

New Amsterdam

There's a new paranormal show on TV this week - New Amsterdam, on Fox. I settled in to watch the pilot with a mix of eager anticipation and unsure expectations.

It took a pretty long time for this series to make it to screen, even for notoriously slow production schedules. First ordered back in late 2006, it's been 15 months before it made it to air. Hence my uncertainty. Was this something they had in the can, and only pulled out when the writer's strike forced a shut down of new productions?

I was happy to find that New Amsterdam is a solid show. A mix of para and regular detective work, it blends the two and while bringing some nice charaters to life. The rookie partner could use some freshness, and there's more than a bit of cliche in the cop side of the scripts.

John Amsterdam, played with an unexpectedly boyish charm by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is immortal. Rewarded (or is it punished?) for saving a young Native American woman from death in the early 1600's, he now walks the streets of New York - formerly New Amsterdam - while he waits for The One.

The One, of course is his one true love. For John, time has ceased to take a mortal toll on him. Only after meeting his One will John again become mortal.

There are some neat moments in the first two episodes where John interacts with his descendants. And over the course of four hundred years, he's picked up a skill or two that help with his everyday life.

The plot arcs of the first two episodes were a nice blend of cop procedural, and John's suddenly inspired search for The One. If the show can keep the nice balance they hit so far, they could have a new hit on their hands.

Some of the best "wow" moments are in the credits, as time stop photography effects show as a plot of wilderness on an island grows into New Amsterdam, and evetually New York as it is today. I had fun rewinding that part on my DVR, and watching it again at slow speed.

Overall, I'm giving New Amsterdam a grade of B. If the writers can tighten up the cop side of the show, I'll be eagerly looking for this show on the TV schedule for the rest of the season.

Survival TV and the Writer's Imagination

The most interesting part of the show "Survivor" to me, back when I used to watch it, was when the castaways would create shelter and find water and food. When they did, that is, because more and more they ceased to do so--and I was done with the show. Imagine my surprise when my daughter and I were watching the Discovery Channel the other day and I realized there are several programs that discuss survival techniques -- from "I Shouldn't Be Alive" to "Survivorman" to "Man Vs. Wild". While "Man Vs. Wild" is enduring a blaze of controversy regarding just how much roughing it the host does, I found myself fascinated by some of the environments and situations the rather attractive and expressive Bear Grylls encountered.

I don't think I'd ever get stranded in the Everglades or the Sahara -- God forbid --but what if I wanted to write about it or something like it?

There's all kinds of research you can do when you're writing and worldbuilding. There are more accurate sources of survival information than television programs if you want to picture your hero and heroine fleeing from the bad guys across the Costa Rican rainforest or getting some pirate booty (hee hee!) on a deserted island. However, there's nothing like visual images of unusual and exotic landscapes to get your internal sensors flickering.

For example, when Bear trekked across the subarctic lava fields of Iceland, as far as the eye could see, there were large black rocks and sand and scattered moss. It didn't look like any part of Earth I'd ever seen, not that I've seen a lot -- but still. Definitely fodder for science fiction or fantasy settings. And then he came across an ancient lava tube, an oval cave through the earth where one could find shelter, hot springs or, well, death, considering Iceland is a geographically volatile area. He added some semi-scientific details about how the water inside the lava tubes had been filtered enough to be more drinkable than on top and showed viewers how to make a torch out of sticks, T-shirt strips and animal fat.

To check out more cool lava field/tube/Iceland photos, I found the photo I included here on this fella's page: http://www.simonho.org/Photos_Ice.htm

In another episide, we watched Bear slog through the Everglades. He demonstrated how one might build a platform in a cluster of trees as well as how to put a fire on top of the platform. Then he cooked a cooter (turtle) and squiggled his way out of quicksand. Or maybe the quicksand was in the Sahara episode, where he also snarfed down a scorpion, constructed a dew trap and sheltered in a rock bed during the cold desert night. I do not think, however, we'll be watching the episode where he tauntauns a camel. I could have done without some of the animal and insect munching scenes -- Fear Factor has never, ever interested me. It would have been enough for me if he'd have pointed out what was and wasn't edible, though I understand people do like to see it live.

No matter how realistic Bear's adventures actually are, they definitely contained things that activated my writerly imagination. The characters in my next book might not dine on treefrogs, but they may need to make a makeshift minnow net or navigate a bleak, alien terrain.

After Bear's show, there's a National Geographic program on about the Octopus Volcano on Stromboli Island. Dang, that sounds a lot tastier than a cooter!

Jody W.
A SPELL FOR SUSANNAH--Winter 2008, Samhain Publishing
http://www.jodywallace.com/ * http://meankittybox.blogspot.com/

Paranormal Marathons and the Future of Television

DVR is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, it goes Modern Medicine, Harnessing Electricity, DVR, Sliced Bread, and Everything Else. While dealing with illness, deadlines, and the rest of life, my DVR stacked up five weeks worth of Supernatural and Blood Ties for my weekend viewing pleasure. Yay. Now where I love to catch my favorite shows every week rather than go longer between fixes, there is something supremely satisfying about a good preternatural marathon.

Following the adventures of Sam and Dean on Supernatural as they battle the forces of hell on earth, well, it makes my job seem rather relaxing in comparison. The show has everything you could want in a good urban fantasy; preternatural beasties, handsome heroes, sex, violence, and a frantic deadline as Dean’s deal with a crossroads demon bears down on them and his one year to live winds down. Add in an ever-expanding gray area of what exactly is good and evil and--who is on what side--and you have the makings of a wonderful series exploring the human condition through inhuman characters and situations. All while providing lovely eye-candy in the form of the Winchester Brothers and the inhuman hotties they track down on a regular basis.

The Lifetime series Blood Ties is another orgy of otherness that is a personal fave and one I’m oh-so-happy to have caught up on. Here we have another exploration of what it means to be human as seen through the non-human lens of vampire Henry Fitzroy and the supernatural forces he and human private detective Vicky Nelson track down each week to bring to justice. But the monster-of-the-week isn’t the most compelling thing about Blood Ties for this watcher. This, as the fact it’s on Lifetime might give away, is a show about relationships above all else.

Vicky has a past relationship with her former partner on the police force, Mike Celluci. The on-again/off-again relationship is given long term distance when Vicky quits the force due to her degenerating eyesight. The two are brought back together when her new enterprise as a private detective takes the sudden supernatural twist of a demon seriel killing in the city. Just as they rejoin one another’s lives, Henry enters Vicky’s life as the only one willing to believe what’s going on because he himself is part of the preternatural community of things that go bump in the night.

The attraction between Henry and Vicky is obvious from the beginning, as is the fact that Mike wants what he and Vicky once had, along with what they never quite achieved. It leaves Vicky caught between two men and her own fear of commitment. Watching her try to have both without committing to either is worth the price of admission alone. Meanwhile, Henry and Mike develop a begrudging respect over time and the mental dance between the three of them makes for the best scenes in the series in my opinion.

Shows like Blood Ties give me hope for the future of urban fantasy and paranormal romance on television. It’s a story we’ve seen a thousand times yet placed in a paranormal setting that makes it new again. Its success could open the doors even wider for new and varied shows proving there really is something for everyone if studios are merely willing to take the chance. (And it doesn’t hurt that the better UF/PR does on television, the more likely we are to find viewers seeking books while their shows are on hiatus and that means more readers for us. But really, it’s the future of television I’m looking out for, honest.)

With more and more shows deviating from the mainstream each season, and more finding their audiences each fall and summer, I think we’re at the tipping point of taking over the airwaves the way UF and PR are taking over the bookshelves. I know that the statistics say we have fewer people reading, but the shows out now are shaping the imagination of future readers and I can’t help but think that there’s a middle ground between the watchers and the readers that will soon be hit upon. It’s a great time to be paranormal and there are great shows displaying the value of what we love for all to see.

Okay, back to soaking up a few episodes before heading out for the vampire shift at work.

Paranormal Marathon Ramble Done

~X

MOONLIGHT TV Pilot: Review

I never saw Forever Knight (didn't own a tv at the time), but I'm familiar with the premise -- vampire PI wants to help people, not eat them. Angel I did watch and enjoyed it. Also Blood Ties, in which the vamp isn't exactly a PI but he's the right hand man of one.

I've seen this comment made other places online, but when did vampire PI's become as commonplace a premise as, say, loud, fat husbands and their hot wives for sitcoms or passels of lawyers/doctors/cops for dramas? Ok, maybe not as commonplace as those, but it's not like you see any vampire beauticians, statisticians, or fat, loud husbands with hot werewolf wives.

Regardless of the possibility it would be derivative, I caught the pilot episode of the latest vamp on the block, Mick St. John in Moonlight. My overall assessment would be that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as Painkiller Jane and I'd watch it again, particularly if I need something to blog about! However, it never rose above the formula that prior shows tweaked and twisted into very watchable programs.

Quit reading here if you don't want to be spoiled!

The show opens with a snarky mock interview of the hero explaining what it's really like to be a vampire. This infodump gets some basics out of the way but it's telling instead of showing, quite literally. The technique -- and the subsequent and frequent voice overs -- have gotten very mixed reviews. Naturally we discover the hero buys his blood instead of sucks it and loves to help people with his heightened vampire senses, which allow him to smell the past and glimpse the future -- this basically means he gets hints of what he needs to know in order to track people down or find out what went down. In a later scene he contrasts himself with his best friend Josef, saying Josef wants him to hunt the villian in order to hide all knowledge of vampires from the public, while the hero just doesn't want the baddie to kill anyone else. Isn't that sweet? Mick seems to have few if any base impulses, unlike Angel, who was always going on about what a horrible person he was in the past.

That being said, Mick is still broody, never missing an opportunity to tell us in his monotone voice over that "sixty years is a long time to go without the touch of another" or to stand on a rooftop in a long black trench, silhouetted against the lights of the city. Is it even legal to make a vampire show or movie without such a scene? I'm not sure. He also drives the Angelmobile. Maybe it's not the exact car Angel drove, but it was a long black convertible sedan. It might as well have been. I wonder if there's an Angel puppet in the glovebox?

As for the relationship aspects, there are heavy romantic overtones between the hero and the heroine, for the paranormal romance fan. The story begins with him fixating on a blonde reporter doing a webcast. He sees her on the computer and jets to her location. We know he didn't jet there as a bat, because his infodump assured us he can't turn into a bat, but he gets there within minutes. Thematic piano tinkles when he catches sight of her, implying she's an important person. Maybe a....vampire soul mate? Reincarnated human lover he's got to save this time around? Only time and his rather cheesy flashbacks will tell! After she sneaks some photos of a supposed vampire killing, they engage in witty repartee and he disapears.

On to the investigation, which Beth, the heroine, pursues with vigor and Mick does as well since whoever is murdering girls is making it look like a vampire is doing it. It may or may not involve a creepy anthropology professor who thinks he himself is a vampire (a vampire of loooooove!), though you know it's never the person who gets fingered up front. Except when they get fingered in such an obvious way you're supposed to think they're a red herring, and they're really evul. I did get a chuckle out of one scene where the heroine claims her name is Kate (shout out to the blonde police detective from Angel she resembles?), last name Nelson (shout out to Vicki Nelson of Blood Ties?) Apparently there is a shout out to the show Veronica Mars in the name of the college, as well, but I didn't watch that program.

The hero doesn't demonstrate many vampire abilities throughout the episode, except when the heroine turns her back and he whooshes away while she's mid sentence. Because that's what vampires do. He runs fast, freaks the pseudo villain out with his vamp face, which resembles a husky dog, and punches the villain to the top of a streetlight pole. There were some vampire secondary characters who seemed non vampy as well, part of their strategy of blending with humans. Angel never mingled with regular humans much, mostly just people who knew who he was. An entire network of vampires trying to stay hidden in what Josef points out is an age of DNA and fingerprinting has potential, if the show goes there.

All in all, it was enough that I'll turn Moonlight on again Friday night and see what happens next. Maybe I'll even review it here, if anyone's interested?

Jody W.

Paranormal Television Shows for 2007

Every fall for years, I've scanned the television line-up in hopes of seeing the kind of shows I like. There would be years where nothing really piqued my interest. As evidenced by my participation on this blog, I like romance and I like paranormal. Combine the two, and I'm a happy viewer (or reader). This isn't to say I like any willy nilly combination -- I've never been a fan of soap operas, for example -- but once the current paranormal craze gathered speed, back in the Buffy days, I've never watched so much television in my life.

If I'm not careful, I'll be adding a bunch of new shows to suck my writing time dry this fall. Have you noticed aliens have taken over primetime television? If not aliens, then vampires. Ghosts. Robots. And of course, those Heroes. To supplement current offerings like Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Ghost Whisperer and Heroes, the new season's line-up boasts a slew of devils and time travelers for fans of the paranormal. This trend has been with us for a while and doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.

New shows include:

Bionic Woman
Chuck
Journeyman
New Amsterdam
Moonlight
Reaper
Pushing Daisies
(And, technically, Cavemen, but feel free to join me in pretending it doesn't exist.)

Returning or already returned shows include:

Dr. Who
Stargate Atlantis
Jericho
Lost (Maybe it's paranormal...maybe it's not!)
Supernatural
Smallville
Heroes
Ghost Whisperer
Battlestar Galactica
The Dead Zone
The 4400
Eureka
Flash Gordon (please cancel...)
Painkiller Jane (this heinous show...)

Did I miss any? This doesn't even include reality programs like Ghost Hunters and John Edwards.

I've heard a lot of theories about why shows like this are so popular, ranging from societal reactions to 9-11 to the turn of the century to cyclical Jungian influence. Whatever it is, it's taken hold of our collective imaginations and has resulted in some of the best and some of the worst television in recent memory.

Are you giving any of the new shows a chance to be your best...or your worst? Hubby wants to see Bionic Woman and Journeyman. Maybe I'll tape the pilots and give everyone here a thumbs up or thumbs down, yes? In advance, I can definitely give a thumbs down on Flash Gordon and Painkiller Jane. Yikes!

Jody W.