The Television Conspiracy

I got the first two chapters done and more or less fixed, with some work on Saturday to finish the process. Now I need to get to the next chapter, and more. I’m still finding my way with this book, not just with the characters and world, but with the working method. Each book/series seems to have its own needs. Is this an afternoon book or a night book — or, rarest of all things for me, a morning book? Is it a sit at my desk book, a patio book, a sofa book, a loft book, or a bedroom book? So far, I seem to have made more progress on my bed. Sitting on the patio was a total wash, but I don’t know if that was just that day or if the book is going to be that way. For me, most books are “silence” books, for which I can’t have any background noise, but I’ve had a few that required music. Some of those have been soundtrack books (scores from movies), some have been classical books, and the Fairy Tale series has required Celtic-ish music in the background. For that one, I can even have songs with lyrics, something I can’t have with anything else I’ve tried writing (I get sidetracked by singing along, but I guess if it’s mostly in Gaelic, it doesn’t register like lyrics).

I may try some music this afternoon and see if it helps or hurts.

In other news …

We had the finale of Emerald City this weekend, and I don’t think it ever really lived up to its promise. It’s like the writers were so afraid of spoiling their own show that they didn’t clue the viewers in on what was happening. By the end, I’d had that “I don’t like any of these people, and I hope they all kill each other” reaction, so even if it does get renewed, I’m not sure I’ll be back.

Then there was the premiere of the series version of Time After Time. I’m kind of so-so on this one. The first hour was too close to the movie, so I zoned out because I’ve seen it before with a different setting and time period. Then I could barely follow the second half because it didn’t make a lot of sense. I like the cast, but I have a feeling they’re going to do that “he’s so sexy because he’s evil, and he’s evil because he’s a poor, sad woobie” thing with the Jack the Ripper character. Their HG Wells is cute, but he looks like he’s about 18, so he’s hard to take seriously. We’ll see how it shapes up as a series. The series promo/preview at the end made it look a lot like Timeless, where they’re going to be chasing this guy around time and visiting various historical periods, and I like the cast of Timeless a lot better.

Meanwhile, Once Upon a Time is digging its own grave by being boring and not making much sense, and not really drawing well upon its potential.

I think the television industry is conspiring to give me more writing and reading time. I did do a lot of reading over the weekend, so I’ll have a big book report tomorrow.