Those of you who know me know I’m a TV addict. I always have been. Yet, when I was working full time in the State Capitol and started seriously writing, I gave up television for THREE YEARS. It was difficult, but I love writing and books more than television, so it was worth it. Once writing became my full-time job, I added television back into my schedule. With kids, it’s even more fun … though because of my deadlines I often have numerous shows recorded and have to play catch up. Here are the premieres I’ve put on my calendar… Read More

There are some television shows that are as good — and in some ways better — the second time around. For example, I just finished watching all three Seasons of PERSON OF INTEREST with my 13 year old son. I’d already seen them, but was happy to watch them again. The second time around so many little things came clear, reminding me that the creators and writers of that series are damn brilliant. Whether they had it all planned or not, I have no idea. Any details that I might pull out for later in the series, I don’t realize… Read More

I’m back home after my mini-tour. I blogged about that last week, and all-in-all, I think it was time well spent. Except for the writing part. Usually I can write when I travel, but that’s when I fly to a conference and am at the same hotel for five days straight. I set aside writing time on a schedule so I know I’ll always put in my hours — the time changes depending on what I need to do at the conference, but I usually work either four hours in the morning or four hours in the afternoon. This helps… Read More

One of my favorite workshops to present is on the Villain’s Journey. I took the title from a paragraph in Christopher Vogler’s THE WRITER’S JOURNEY that said, in short, that the villain is the hero of his own journey. When I read that years ago, everything clicked for me. If I always kept that concept in front of me when I wrote, character motivation was clearer. It wasn’t just the villain and the hero who were on a journey, but every other character who crossed their paths.

I’ve been a fan of GRIMM since the first episode. It had a rocky start, but thankfully TPTB gave it more time, and by the second half of season one, the ratings shot up and the show was renewed. Like CASTLE, GRIMM has among the best writers on television today. The actors on GRIMM are not as strong or seasoned as CASTLE, but they’ve improved. (Except for Silas Weir Mitchell, who rocked from the first episode.) They were mostly relatively unknown (unlike Nathan Fillion) with no major leading roles. The beginning was a bit rough, I think, because the ensemble… Read More

Three years ago, I discovered a new show that I absolutely loved. GRIMM. What if fairy tales weren’t fiction? What if there were people who could change into monster-like creatures? What if they weren’t all monsters but, you know, the resident clock repairman or the bridge builder? After six episodes, ratings were low and every television reporting website I frequent (there are many) said it was on the cusp of being cancelled. That it could go either way. I thought for sure it would be gone — networks do that, you know. If a show they demo doesn’t meet XYZ… Read More

Over the last few years, television has shifted from being a Fall Premiere Event where all the shows began, and summer was the time for re-runs. That system is no more, as many networks, both network and cable, now have three premiere seasons — Fall, Winter and Summer. JUSTIFIED, for example, will start in January or February of 2014; LONGMIRE will start in May or June. This makes it a lot more fun for television addicts like me to have new and exciting programming all year round. However, this fall has some amazing programming, and so far? The networks are… Read More

Over the last few years, television has shifted from being a Fall Premiere Event where all the shows began, and summer was the time for re-runs. That system is no more, as many networks, both network and cable, now have three premiere seasons — Fall, Winter and Summer. JUSTIFIED, for example, will start in January or February of 2014; LONGMIRE will start in May or June. This makes it a lot more fun for television addicts like me to have new and exciting programming all year round. However, this fall has some amazing programming, and so far? The networks are… Read More

Wow. Just wow. There are so many great shows on television today that I can’t possibly talk about them all, but I wanted to share my thoughts on some of the season finales and how they worked … and didn’t work. Warning: there are spoilers. Do not read if you don’t want spoilers. Got it? Or skip around … I identified each show in the heading, so skip those you don’t want spoiled.

One more week and COLD SNAP will be done. It’ll need revisions and copyedits, but the story will all be there — if all goes well. Last night, I wrote a new prologue. I had one already drafted, but it nagged me … I just didn’t like it. It didn’t show my heroine, Elle Santana, the way I wanted. She has a very strong motivation for doing what she’s doing, and the original prologue didn’t show that. The new one does — a teenager she’s been helping dies in her arms of a drug overdose after being thrown from a… Read More