io9’s Charlie Jane Anders tells us about some s-f pilots:
Genre television is thriving on cable, with shows like Walking Dead and Game of Thrones making waves, but it’s struggling on the networks. Could 2013 be the year that science fiction and fantasy TV strikes back? We got an early look at seven scripts for pilots that are currently filming, or just filmed. Here’s what we found.
Charlie Jane Anders knocks it out of the park again:
Many of us have commitment issues with television, because we’ve been burned so many times by weak or overblown endings. (And no doubt, a lot of us are anxiously praying that Fringe gets the powerful conclusion it deserves tonight.) But there’s no reason to give up on long-form series television because of some past bumps in the road — after all, TV has also given us some powerful endings. Instead, the next time you launch a long-term relationship with a TV show, best to go into it with your eyes open.
Nope, I’m not quoting myself. The above are just a few words spoken to me by Norman Mailer back in the day. (I.e., when he was alive and holding court in Manhattan and I, as a young writer, had just been introduced to him by – I kid you not – an NYPD detective. (No, not one who’d ever arrested him…yet.)
Mailer’s words to me come to mind because of this invigorating article from one of my favorite sites, io9.Com. I like io9 a lot. (Mostly because from time to time they mention me and seem to like me too. Just call me the Sally Field of TV writing.)
…And not just because it’s one of our favorite comics:
Asterix: The Great Unsung Fantasy Hero – by Charlie Jane Anders
When people in the United States talk about great fantasy heroes, it’s all Conan, Bilbo, and Harry Potter. Nobody ever talks about the little French dude with the wings on his head. Asterix the Gaul has a huge following in Europe, thanks to decades of adventures in the Roman Empire and the rest of the world. But he’s never gotten his props in the United States, and few people recognize his importance in the fantasy canon.
The most helpful post of the month so far:
Science fiction is the literature of big ideas — so coming up with an amazing story idea often feels like the biggest stumbling block in the way of your dreams of authorship. Unfortunately, most of us can’t just have Robert A. Heinlein mail us $100 and a couple dozen brilliant ideas. So what do you do?