Category: Opinion

How Does It Feel to Write an Authorized DOCTOR WHO Novel?

We haven’t had an official woman Doctor yet, but here’s some insider info from a woman Doctor Who writer.

A Word from the Woman Behind Doctor Who: Dark Horizons
By Jenny T. Colgan

www.randomhouseNow I don’t want to diss in any way what is clearly the best job in the world – truly, if you’re a fan, like me, the very first time you type the words “the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS” it is very difficult to stop yourself from squeaking from excitement. But it can be quite odd being a female sci- fi writer sometimes.

Me to the the Big Bosses at the BBC: Can I write a Doctor Who book please?
BBBBC: Are you going to put snogging in it?
Me: NO!
BBBBC: Do you promise?
Me: Totally.
BBBBC: Because you know your other books have a lot of snogging in them.
Me: I’m a professional writer, long- steeped in the lore, history, and magic of the Doctor and his adventures. I would never do that.
Me: pause
Me: Unless it’s a David Tennant Doctor book.
BBBBC: It’s not.
Me: Fine then. Absolutely no snogging. None. read article

ORPHAN BLACK Gets Overthought – Brilliantly

In other words, we agree with just about everything in this article we ran across on The Mary Sue. And why not?

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CLONES ARE PEOPLE TOO: THE SCIENCE AND SCIENCE FICTION OF BBC AMERICA’S ORPHAN BLACK
by Isabella Kapur

As BBC America’s Orphan Black heads into its second season, many critics have focused onTatiana Maslany’s supremely impressive feats of acting and the many compelling female characters as the draw of the series. If you haven’t watched the show, you’ve still likely heard that the lead actress plays no fewer than seven distinct characters, just in the first season. However, Orphan Black also stands out as a piece of science fiction, and it does so in a very relevant manner. The series is a distinctly modern science fiction story and focuses on two crucial themes: individuality and gene patenting. By posing serious questions about humanity,Orphan Black serves as an effective analogue for real life events, which elevates its science fiction status. Read on to find out how the show is reflecting our society, perceived stereotypes, and why they’re way ahead of the sci-fi game. read article

Kathy Fuller: 5 Ways You’re Accidentally Making Everyone Hate You

So what does the above title have to do with writing?

1) The article is written by David Wong, a writer/novelist/my-book-is-now-a-movie-guy that I could easily hate, but because of this article I understand why I don’t have to.

2) The writing biz, whether you’re slaving in Hollywood or slaving in Ismay, Montana, (pop. 19) is filled with EGOS. The only way to avoid dealing with EGOS is to never let your writing see the light of day, and of course that’s not what you’re going to do. So navigating those EGOS while you pitch, produce, refine, get rejected, wallow in self-pity, then do it all over again is key to survival. read article

Herbie J Pilato: Do Men “Watch” While Women “View”?

132997-103rby Herbie J Pilato

In the last few months, ABC’s female-geared morning chat-fest, The View, has been experiencing a changing of the guard of sorts (or at least of hosts – i.e. Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck have left the show).

All of which has inspired a few questions:

Do men “watch TV,” while women “view television”?  Is it more feminine to speak fancier and more masculine to utter opinions in shorter sentences?  Is that how that works when it comes to small-screen screening in particular? read article

Why a Failed Pilot Actually Means Success

The baxic premise in the following article is that there’s no stigma to failure in the television industry, and if you buy that, then you can sit back and enjoy the read.

But we have it on good authority from Our Beloved Leader, LB, that the premise is a little off because, as LB told us while swimming through a pool of the money he made writing pilots none of us have ever heard of, “Hey, the phone definitely stops ringing after you’ve failed. It even happened to me – after I’d written about a dozen unshot pilots in a row.”

A dozen? read article