SUPERNATURAL, 2, I Lurve You

Obsessed.

Soooooooooo obsessed with this show right now. I am a puppy dog at my mail box, waiting for my next Netflix SUPERNATURAL DVD to be delivered. It's pathetic. What has my life been reduced to?

The second season is the same...but different. There's a lot of deeper stuff going on besides the first season's urban legend/folk tale layout. Now, the mythology is really coming into play, and it has delivered some extremely satisfying (and obsession-worthy) moments. There's a lot of characterization and, dare I say even a more mature brand of storytelling?

Yes, the season does include a retread of THE OTHERS/THE SIXTH SENSE with the episode about the ghost who doesn't know she's dead. But you know what? That episode was still awesome, and it went for broke on the emotional scale. And the episode with the female werewolf? That wasn't me getting a lump in my throat at the end when Sam had to kill her.
(sniff)

And I can't even tell you the highs and lows I experienced during the two-part finale. Sam. OH, SAM! And Dean's sacrifice? Give me more Kleenex! I couldn't believe what was happening, and major hats off to the writers, creative team, and actors for kicking ass here, having the juevos to go where they went. TV--hell, storytelling--doesn't get better than this: a mix of great action, pathos, and epic stakes.

I just watched the beginning of season three last night, and I have to say that I already hate Ruby and Bela. I don't know how long they're going to hang around, but I want Bela gone. When I found out Ruby was a black-eyed pea, I was more accepting of her, but I can't stand her smugness. Bring back Jo.

However, I have to say that Ruby does have a very functional part in the mythology--she can help Dean. Damn it, that means she's going to hang around.

I'll be back to report when I finish season three, which is way shorter because of the writer's strike. Then I've got lots of catching up on hulu.com for season four....

HEROES/CHUCK, 2/23

Awesome! As in Captain Awesome. He has returned, and I am happy. As for HEROES? Gotta tell you that I drifted off and I missed the last fifteen minutes. Ooops.

CHUCK

* An ALF shirt! On little Morgan! And how great was the kid who played the young Chuck, even though he was in shadow? (Also, it's good to see that Chuck has always been a hero. We should have known that. :) )

* LOL about the stalking and the Stalk-N-Van. Okay, I shouldn't be laughing at all, but still. Funny.

* It's the Captain himself! Missed you and your open towel, dude.

* "Still...could be her brother."

* From the back of Captain Awesome when he was chatting with Chuck in Chuck's room, I thought he was wearing a puka shell necklace. But, alas, it was not the case when we got a front view. Isn't Captain Awesome the perfect puka candiate though?

* OH GOD--Jeffster! will be the band from hell. Please tell me we get to hear them at the wedding.

* "I'm settin' up to rock you hard."

* I'll bet shirtless Captain Awesome can make angels cry.

* Awwwww...did you see that smile on Chuck when he found Morgan in the trunk?

* Heh!!! Toto's "Africa." Admit it--you got all grinny when Jeffster! hit the chorus, too.

* "Anna Woo, I lu(huh)like you...."

* Hand holding with Chuck and Sarah. A moment of squee for me.

HEROES

* First twenty minutes: we have people basically sitting around and talking (even in HRG's memories). Shouldn't these revelations be more exciting?

* In black and white, the hunter guy looks like Nosferatu.

And...yikes. That's all I wrote for HEROES. Sorry.

I'm coming to the end of Supernatural, season 2 (three episodes away from the finale), so I'll be giving you my thoughts on that soon. Then I'm diving into season 3 because I've got to catch up before this current season ends! Winchesters for-evah!

Sunday, Sunday

Here I am, just about to write the last chapter of the first BLOODLANDS book for Ace (the post-apocalyptic urban fantasy). It should be a short scene, but it's an important one. So...I'm gearing up.

Then I'll be polishing that sucker and getting it in before its March 15 deadline. What a relief to know that I have plenty of time with it.

Afterward, it'll be time to hop into the sixth Vampire Babylon book, DEEP IN THE WOODS. It'll round out the London trilogy, which starts with A DROP OF RED (book four, March 3) and continues with THE PATH OF RAZORS (book five, August).

Meanwhile, I do worry about all this news about book distributors going under and interuptions in the delivery schedule to stores. I worry about the state of the industry itself. But too much worry sucks so much energy out of a person, so I try not to worry, too.

Go with the flow, I guess, right? That's the only way to play it. :O

Chat Tonight at the Knight Agency Site: Melissa Mayhue

Just wanted to tell you all about the chat tonight in the Knight Agency chat room! Melissa Mayhue, who writes a time travel series focused on Scotland, will be there to answer your questions and to give away her entire series to some lucky winner. It starts at 9pm eastern time, and if you click here, you can get instructions about how to enter the chat, etc.

Have fun!

HEROES/CHUCK 2/16/09

Those listening closely to the soundtracks of CHUCK and HEROES tonight no doubt noticed The Talking Heads on both. So how appropriate is it to say that last night's viewing = same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

In other words, CHUCK had several laugh out loud as well as heart-tugging moments and HEREOS...well, didn't.

CHUCK

* Things never turn out well with a CLOCKWORK ORANGE opening combined with voice-over instructions given by some guy who sounds like Jigsaw. Good luck, Chuck!

* Someone went to town with the blush on Lester tonight.

* "There's gotta be someone, somewhere having an even worse Valentine's Day." Cut to Casey, drinking and getting really excited to receive a mission transmission.

* OMG--Emmitt and his toupee want to get Big Mike laid! Didn't expect that. Nicely done, toupee!

* Favorite moments? The Internet Hotness Conversion Factor. Cuteness with Chuck, Sarah, and breakfast. Chuck doing the speed walk of shame down the neighborhood.

* "Charles Carmichael always comes quickly."

* "We pooched it."

* Awwww. My heart--it breaks for Chuck and Sarah. Again.

* "You're bangin' my mom?" Bwah!!!!!!!

Next week, all I ask to see is the return of Captain Awesome.

HEROES

Only a few comments, but I have to tell you that I stopped taking notes about forty minutes into it. However, I am interested to see what happens next week with an HRG centered episode....

* The dummy streak continues as Claire puts her blind trust in the anonymous "Rebel." (But I'll put my money on the idea that "Rebel" is HRG.)

* I like the interaction between this kid and Sylar; the boy seems to know how to walk a fine line with his mentor.

* I'm beginning to wonder how HRG ever caught any "heroes" with the Company. These days, he's just barely more capable than Inspector Clouseau (unless he's purposely letting underwater-breathing comic book store guys push a novel rack onto him in order to effect a grand escape. But even if HRG is Rebel and he's putting on a show of cooperation with the "bad guys," that doesn't explain his ineptitude back with Sylar in the previous volume.)

* Love the addition of Moira Kelly. Here's to hoping she doesn't get Anders-Belled in four weeks.


And there 'tis!
BTW, I'm four episodes in to SUPERNATURAL, season 2. All I can say is...daaaaaannnnng! How did it get even better than season 1 already?

A Bit of Good

I had a bit of a break over an extra-long weekend that I spent with good friends, so I'm sorry about the lag in blogging. However, before tomorrow's HEROES/CHUCK blog, I wanted to pop in here to post something awesome I saw in the news.

Here's a link to an article about a man who gave a ton of money to his employees after selling his business; the bonuses were in appreciation for a job well done. I'm posting it because, in these times, with cretins like Madoff running around, it's great to read a story like this....

HEROES, 2/9/09

It’s weird that I used to have a lot to say in these recaps, but not anymore. At any rate, it was a decent episode. Surprisingly (for me, at least), the most interesting parts involved Sylar. Who would’ve guessed?

* Is Claire’s ‘tude really wearing thin on anyone else? She used to be intriguing.

* So Sylar is back to being a bad seed? A nasty force of nature who wasn’t made evil but born that way? When he compared himself to a tornado or flood, that was my impression, but it’s funny because about eight episodes ago, we were getting all this stuff about how life shaped him.

* “Well, he’s not.” A most awesome line reading by Zach Quinto. Bravo!

* “And I let you live, WHICH…is kind of a big deal for me.” Another point for Quinto!

* And…that’s all I have to say. There’s nothing to note, really, about the island romping. Nothing about the aftermath.

I miss CHUCK.

Romance/Paranormal Fans, This Might Be a Group for You!

Steph Kwan of the Bookaholics Romance Book Club has been really wonderful about promoting my Vampire Babylon books. Right now, she's highlighting FIRST BLOOD, but come March, A DROP OF RED, Vampire Babylon, Book Four, will be the feature. To check out this fantastic club, you can go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bookaholics_Romance_Book_Club/

Great stuff!

Vampire Babylon, casting "the movie"

I told you guys about that cool site, My Book, the Movie, and my Vampire Babylon casting suggestions have been posted! Please check out the suggestions for Dawn Madison and the gang over at
http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/2009/02/chris-marie-greens-vampire-babylon.html

Thanks!

CHUCK and HEROES, 2/2/09

They're baaaa-ack!

It's been a long wait...even though the last episodes aired in December. Still, it seems like forever when you're wondering what the heck Chuck, Sara, Casey, and the heroes have been up to. So let's see, shall we?

CHUCK

First off, I must tell you that I didn't get a hold of those 3-D glasses. Is it just me or were they pretty hard to find? Anyway, I can't comment on the 3-D effects, but that's a good thing, because the episode still worked awesomely without the gimmicky stuff to carry it. In fact, I was even thinking that NBC is foolish for the programming decision to air a sub-par episode of THE OFFICE after the Superbowl instead of this CHUCK episode. Now, I love THE OFFICE, but even its most loyal fans would have to admit that this last episode was not its strongest. If I'd never seen the series before, it wouldn't have persuaded me to ever watch it again. However, this CHUCK episode had it all: 3-D to draw in the kids, a lingerie-clad Sara for the guys, and a rocked-out hobbit for all the geeks. Oh, and it was funny. Soooooo funny. If NBC had wanted CHUCK's audience to grow, this would've been the perfect opportunity. (No wonder NBC's ratings are in the toilet with these kinds of programming decisions, huh?)

On to the best of the rest:

* I love how the episode begins with the "big issue" from the December cliffhanger. Way to check in with continuity and not keep the true blue fans in suspense any longer!

* The clock on the bottom of the screen, counting down the grenade, was sweet.

* Yay for Dancing Lil' Spy Man bopping out to CHUCK's theme song. How I've missed you lil' man! I do my dance and everything.

* OMG--a hobbit, Chuck, and Willy Wonka all combined.

Since there are way too many great lines/moments, I must list the greatest of the great:

* "Chuck, this isn't a dream. This is a nightmare."
* Rock star metabolism
* The Molly Ringwald underpants challenge
* "I'm a man. For God's sakes, I'M A MAN!"
* Chuck's accent, disappearing or not
* The urinal cake
* "I'm losing con-swesh-nez..."
* "You know my name. We've made love before."

Last comment: I'm surprised Chuck came out with his concern about Sara shooting the man so soon. I like how they got straight to the heart of the matter and have decided to let Chuck develop from there, because it's fertile ground for continued conflict. Chuck does seem pretty isolated now.

In short--welcome back, my lovely CHUCK!

HEROES

I'd heard a lot of flack about this chapter before it even aired, but I actually thought this new chapter was more interesting and focused than the norm.

* Good start with that awesome Russian-named guy--Zeljko Something? I'll always remember him from BLACK HAWK DOWN, but he was great in DAMAGES and TRU BLOOD, too.

* Hah--Ando's costume! Ando-cycle!

* I like how the former heroes have channeled their need to save via other endeavors--Hiro as oracle and Peter as a paramedic.

* "Sylar is dead." Surely Mama isn't that silly.

* Okay, why did I think Mohinder had lost his powers?

* Second okay--for some reason, I thought Peter was done with absorbing powers. It's been a long time since December, I guess.

And...that's all, really. I'm a tad confused about the technicalities, but the episode moved well, and that ending action scene was good.

So until next week, have fun!

Casting the Book as a Movie

Fairly soon, I'll be on a really great web site called "My Book the Movie." I was asked to cast the roles for my Vampire Babylon books, and that was a surprising challenge. I suppose I work more from a "blank slate" casting process while I'm writing these books, meaning that I really didn't have anyone particular in mind when I wrote the characters (except for one, which you're going to see when the post goes live).

I don't have the date for the post yet, but I'll be telling you when I do know. Meanwhile, if you enjoy the Vampire Babylon series, you might want to think about whom *you* would've cast as Dawn, Kiko, Breisi, Frank, Jacqueline Ashley, and The Voice....

To introduce you guys to this very cool site, click on http://mybookthemovie.blogspot.com/. Right now, they're featuring BLACK MAGIC WOMAN, which I "blurbed" about a year ago. (What I mean is that I read an advanced copy and gave a pithy recommendation for publicity purposes.)

Have fun with the Superbowl today, and I'll let you guys know when that post goes live!