Serenity 2?

In a special double-issue of SFX Magazine, Joss Whedon addresses the possibility of a sequel to the Firefly movie Serenity, which has become something of a hit on DVD and Blu-ray:

As far as Firefly is concerned, that will always be unfinished business. Serenity was a Band-Aid on a sucking flesh wound. I think every day about the scenes that I’ll never get to shoot and how badass they were. It’s nice to know that people still care about Firefly but it’s actual grief that I feel. It’s not something you get over, it’s just something you learn to live with.

While I understand Whedon's grief, I wouldn't let it prevent me from working on a sequel if a studio put up the money. Yes, there will always be an unfinished feeling to Firefly, but as dramatic as Joss's quote sounds, he has worked on Serenity comic books since the movie. If he thinks about unfilmed scenes as often as he says, you'd think he'd jump at the chance to film some of them.

As much as I'd like to see a sequel, I have to accept the possibility that Joss's heart isn't in it.

My View of Private Eye Fiction

Today on Do Some Damage, P.I. novelist Dave White brings up the currently popular slacker P.I., saying the P.I. has changed, not died as critics claim from time to time.

As a longtime reader and editor of P.I. fiction, I commented:

The P.I. novel and protagonist are flexible by nature. Because the investigation is private as opposed to official, a character in any walk of life can do it. The only quality needed is the determination to stay on the job (or go back and finish the job after licking one's wounds).

There have always been and will always be characters looking into things as a favor to others. That's the private eye in essence. Only someone who has a narrow view of the P.I. to begin with (usually Chandler's model) would say the P.I. is dead.

Quick TV Takes

Here are the new shows I've watched midway through this first week of the broadcast TV season:

Monday 10PM - "Hawaii Five-0" - I'm still a "Castle" fan, but I was curious about this re-imagining from the writers of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek. The original Five-0 was too by-the-book for me despite its exotic setting. I like this version despite a far-fetched slam-bang opening gambit. See my full review here.

Wednesday 10PM - "The Defenders" - I'd rather watch Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell in Vegas than Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney wherever "The Whole Truth" is set. Reviews are mixed, but I think this show has the potential to deliver the feel of a Paul Levine novel, and you know I'm there for that.

Tonight's "S@#! My Dad Says" looks meh, but I may blink at it between "The Big Bang Theory" and "Bones". I'm a fan of Shatner and Nicole Sullivan, but I think the concept has the life expectancy of that show about the GEICO Cavemen.

Morality in Fiction (and Reality, For That Matter)

Yesterday on Do Some Damage, Steve Weddle asked whether characters have to be moral/have morals.

I don't think anyone, real or fictional, can live by a man-made code (as opposed to genetic predisposition). All man-made codes get broken now and then, so why define them? I prefer to find out about a character as I read, by the way he reacts to what's thrown in his path. Characters/people can say (or codify) whatever they want. What they do when the chips are down defines them.

If a character is around for enough stories or books, his range of behavior gets defined anyway. No person will take any conceivable action anytime. A specific person is limited to a set of actions based on what he wants or values most in life. The trick for writers is to make each situation feel new so audiences can't be sure exactly what characters will do in response.

I do want to believe in heroes, but an act is most heroic when one doesn't have a code dictating action. In the thick of things, people often don't reason out the consequences. They just act based on everything they've been taught or experienced, and what happens happens.

You may have heard how Mark Harmon saved two people from a burning car near his house some years ago. Harmon said his wife, Pam Dawber, called for help and he just reacted. He has said if the car had exploded and he died, the story would have been about how he rushed in with little thought and get himself killed.

"Allow myself to introduce...myself."

With a line from Austin Powers, I direct you to my self-interview on Nigel Bird's blog. Thanks again, Nigel.

"And we sang dirges in the dark..."

Inclined to grieve in private, I sometimes forget my words can help others grieve. In that spirit, I offer the following poems:

"Limbo"
"Mickey Spillane"
"My father's last breath"
"More Than Anything"

R.I.P. David Thompson of Murder By The Book

Houston's Murder By The Book has confirmed Assistant Manager David Thompson died suddenly yesterday. David was the first bookseller to take a chance on The Lineup: Poems on Crime, and we had been in talks for his Busted Flush Press to help The Lineup gain greater distribution. My condolences to David's wife McKenna, David's friends, and family.

The Week Between

This is the week when most summer shows go on hiatus, about the only week I'm not reviewing an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Burn Notice, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, or Psych.

You can still get my take on Season 1 of NCIS: LA on DVD at Crimespree Cinema, and this Thursday I interview myself on Nigel Bird's blog, answering such questions as "When do you find time to write?"

September 11

I consider myself lucky to have been miles away from the World Trade Center nine years ago today, but I felt and still feel the utter helplessness of having been attacked without warning. We can't let this fear paralyze us. The noblest thing we can do in the face of it is help each other, like the passengers of Flight 93. We all have the ability to look past what divides us, and 9/11, along with so many other experiences, has taught me we never have the time we think we do. Start today.

TIED IN edited by Lee Goldberg

Though they weren't the first tie-ins I read, my interest in the business and craft of tie-in novels took off with Lee Goldberg's Monk series. At the time, Goldberg was already known as the writer of Diagnosis: Murder novels based on the Dick Van Dyke TV series he produced. Goldberg has since co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, whose members contribute to Tied In, a book of informative essays and interviews.

The book will appeal most to fans of tie-ins and those looking to get into the business, but it's also worth a look to anyone with an open mind about tie-ins. I especially enjoyed the essays by Lee's brother Tod, a journalist and literary writer who jumped at the chance to write Burn Notice novels; Jeff Mariotte, delving into the vast array of trivia a working tie-in writer must know; and Burl Barer, explaining how novelists create deeper motivation for characters whose lives are only partially shown onscreen.

Bones to Pick with Rizzoli & Isles

I'm actually quite a fan of Bones veteran Janet Tamaro's TV series from Tess Gerritsen's books, but I couldn't help rolling my eyes several times at last night's episode. In short, Dr. Isles comes across a murder victim with whom she surprisingly shares DNA. She reasons he is none other than her half-brother, making her long-lost birth father a hardened criminal. Sound familiar, Bones fans?

Sure, there are key differences between the two TV characters, but this part of their backstories and the emotional baggage it brings is identical. I haven't read all the Rizzoli & Iskes books, but I would guess Maura's background was jazzed up for TV, just as Brennan's was. I would have liked to think someone worked on Bones would take special care to dodge such striking similarities. I'm reminded of the sameness among all of Robert Parker's series. I'd like to think Parker could have gone to greater lengths to distinguish his series from each other, but maybe he didn't do it because he couldn't do it.

There's still hope the long-lost father arc will be downplayed or dropped. If it becomes a throughline for Rizzoli & Isles, I'll pass, having already watched five seasons of Bones.

Can you hear me now?

I've installed Skype on my computer, so other Skype users can voice-chat with me free. I plan to use it for interviews and fun. My Skype ID is gerald_so.

Catch-up

I haven't blogged much as I got busy the last week of August tallying the scores and notifying the poets from The Lineup #4's unsolicited batch of submissions.

I also upgraded my Ubuntu from Karmic Koala to Lucid Lynx, my smoothest upgrade to date.

Last night, my friend John Ricotta and I saw The Expendables, which we knew wouldn't be what we hoped, but we still had to watch—a la Indiana Jones and the Nuke-Proof Refrigerator.

Best exchange:


CHURCH (Willis)

to BARNEY ROSS (Stallone) about TRENCH (Schwarzenegger)
What's his fucking problem?

BARNEY ROSS

He wants to be President.