There was no story unlocked when I walked across the Kurilpa bridge this morning, which is a matter of some sorrow to me. I was counting on that moment today, since I’m looking askance at the second chapter of Claw and trying to figure out what’s going to go in there. I know some things, yes: corpses, cheerfully gloomy coroners, a modicum of angst. It’s just the details that go around that I’m struggling with at the moment, writing a paragraph or two before thinking, no, that’s not right, and going back to the well for a new idea. I’m sure there’s something coming, sooner or later, but it isn’t quite there yet. Everything that’s been written thus far is weighed down by the burden of history, calling back to Horn and Bleed, and the thing that made me happy about the draft of chapter one is how much less of that it does than the last time I tried to write this story.
I’m not sure blogging will help solve the problem, but I can’t see how it’ll hurt, either.
Apropos of nothing, I’m going to take this opportunity to direct your attention towards the new ABC comedy, Outland (now avialable on iview).
There are very few television programs that actually make me wish I still owned a television that actually got TV reception these days, and short of someone reviving The West Wing, The Gilmore Girls, or the WWE being broadcast on free to air TV, I rather doubt there’s going to be one that’ll lure be back into the fold. I’ve been one of those curmudgeonly TV-less types for a few years now, absorbing my sequentially broadcast entertainment in one fell swoop courtesy of DVD boxed sets to the point where I now prefer it.
But Outland…well, Outland comes damn close to luring me back, and probably would have if the ABC hadn’t chosen to add it to their online viewer so fast. It’s a very sweet, geekishly joyful series about a Queer group of SF fans. It’s not a perfect show, not by a long shot, but it’s funny and there’s potential there and its a goddamn TV show portraying geek culture (and queer geeks) without being horribly mean about it.
In a world where the nearest analogue to this show is the highly problematic Big Bang Theory, that’s something to be celebrated and encouraged. And should Outland not float your boat, then I’ll just link to this blog full of the 25 most awkward feline sleeping positions and encourage you to make gooey noises at the litany of cute kitties so you won’t hear me talking about how wrong and lacking in taste you are.
I’ve ended up taking a short, unscheduled break from writing newsletters over the last fourteen days. Regular GenrePunk Ninja transmissions will resume
Like many of you, I have good weeks and bad weeks on the writing front. This week has been rocky, and if
Welcome to GenrePunk Ninja supplemental, where I occasionally post foundational essays written before I launched the GenrePunk Ninja newsletter, especially if they’re
2 Responses
It was pretty good for a show that was treading new ground. We have been trained up on canned laughter and I fear that Outland probably had too much packed into it for the general consumer, it required some pretty quick thinking as compared to say Big Bang Theory
I have the belief that the general consumer really isn't as stupid as people like to believe, they're just rarely given a decent choice. Keep producing smart things for people to watch and stop talking down to them as viewers, and eventually they'll come around.