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<font face="verdana">
<font color="red">I was just curious: on what subjects do you write outside of the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre?</font>
Not that terribly much anymore, to be honest. Most of what I used to do in other areas came by way of journalism...used to work for the LA Times, the LA Herald Examiner, San Diego Magazine, TIME Inc., the LA and San Diego Readers, Writer's Digest and others...varyingly as columnist, contributing editor, special correspondent...doing features, reviews, columns, interviews, that sort of thing.
At the moment, in my copious spare time, I'm writing a medieval play (which I've been working on for quite some time, and will which probably continue to take a good long time to finish because it's that kind of play) and I'm about 150 pages into writing a mainstream novel, which I figure I'll be able to finish during the coming writer's strike (which doesn't cover prose).
One of my mainstream stories to come out recently is "We Killed Them in theRatings," which though horrific isn't technically a horror story.
jms</p></font>
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: power of RANGERS TV movie question
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red> So, my question is: is there any possibility another TV movie is going to be more than a pleasant but light romp in the Bab 5 universe? Isn't the whole format of a one hour and a half movie just too short to have both plot and character investment? </font>
As you noted, we did it on B5, we can certainly do it here as well.
jms
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Subject: Re: Congrats to JMS and a question
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>My question concerns a completely different series from Japan that a friend of mine told me about after I got him into B5. It's called Serial Experiments: Lain and it really seems to be as special and thought-provoking to its fans as B5 was here. I was wondering if you had ever heard of it or seen it </font>
No, wasn't aware of it...and as noted here elsewhere, I've tried to get into anime, but just can't seem to pull it off. So I doubt I'll be checking it out anytime soon, though I'm glad you found it cool.
jms
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<font face="verdana">
<font color="red">I would not list that at all except that I am a writer (two short stories published so far) and your work has inflenced my mine greatly. As such you are a bit of a hero to me, and I confess to being a bit weak-kneed at the thought of writing to you.</font>
Sometime at a convention remind me to tell about how I was when I first met Kirk Douglas. Or Norman Corwin, of whom you speak later....
<font color="red">I have been studying collections of your posts through the Babylon 5 production process and I noticed you mentioning Norman Corwin as one of YOUR major influences. My local library does not have any of his works, so I must find the books to buy.</font>
Most of Norman's books are out of print at this point in time, though some can be found on Ebay.
My best recommendation to you is to go to the following site:
http://www.lodestone-media.com/corwin.html
This site has some of his most seminal work in radio drama available for sale, ranging from very early to very recent; you can also purchase his scripts to some of these productions.
Understand that Norman is a writer's writer. He has a mastery of language and image and dialogue that is utterly beyond anything I could ever hope to achieve. This is a man who has been a primal source of inspiration for people like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Ray Bradbury, Charles Kuralt, Carl Reiner, Rod Serling and hundreds of others.
I would particularly recommend to you "13 by Corwin" and "On a Note of Triumph."
He is a poet, a statesman, an asker of questions, a modern Jeremiah...trust me on this one: without exaggeration, he's one of the best writers of the 20th (and still going in the 21st) century.
jms
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<font face ="verdana">
<font color="red">What's the name of your upcoming fantasy graphic novel? I've seen both "Delicate Creatures" and "Elegant Creatures". Thanks.</font>
Delicate Creatures.
jms</p>
<font color="red">I'm a huge B5 fan, and one of the aspects of the show I always liked was its realism -- political, scientific, and psychological. But the one area in which B5 is consistently unrealistic is its fight scenes. For example, the jumping spinning reverse crescent kick seems to be a standard maneuver on B5 (I recall seeing it at least 3 times), even though, in real life, fighters who try that sort of thing consistently get knocked on their butts. And then there is Sheridan's fight with Boggs in "Ceremonies of Light and Dark", in which Boggs' deranged war buddy stands still and lets Sheridan pull his fist back and punch him in the face repeatedly.
This observation is not intended as an indictment of any of B5's creators. It just strikes me as odd that a show that is so believable in every other sense is so off-target (as it were) in its fight choreography.
</font>
I actually tend to agree with you, in that the fights tended after a while to have a certain similarity in moves, something that I expressed during the making of the series but in the hurry of production it never quite got addressed as I would've liked. So I agree with your criticism.
jms</p>
<font color="red">I heard a rumor that the main reason there won't be any new Crusade episodes is that the cast can't be reassembled.
</font>
Untrue.
<font color="red">
I doubt this is the reason, since SFC will probably want to wait for the ratings breakdowns first, see how things are going to go, then crank up new episodes if it looks good.
</font>
That would certainly be the more logical approach.
jms
</p></font>
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<font face ="verdana">
<font color="red">Assuming that "Legend of the Rangers" leads to a new TV series, wouldn't the events you'll tell there meet or coincide whith those depicted in "Crusade" in the short term?</font>
Logically speaking, yes.
<font color="red">How are you going to manage that?</font>
With incredible elegance.
jms</p>
<font color="red">I finally got my hands on a complete set of Captain Power episodes, and been enjoying the first few episodes. One thing stuck me about the credits though - you've always described your job on the show as "story editor", but you're credited as "executive story consultant". Isn't that an insufficient title given the work you did?</font>
Because the series operated under Canadian content rules applicable at that time, that was the only title that could be given to an American.
jms</p></font>
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Subject: Re: Attn. JMS - What's Your Reason For Putting War Zone 2nd to Last?
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>What's your reason for putting War Zone next to last? (as opposed to last, which would sort of separate it from the rest)</font>
'Cause it's dumb and I never much liked it...?
jms
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Subject: Midnight Nation #6 is Out
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Just to let folks know it's there...we've reached the halfway mark on the Midnight Nation storyline.
jms
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS: Censoring
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>Picked up MN #6 yesterday, and noticed that certain choice words that had not been censored in the past had just that done to them. Was that you, an editor, or an errant letterer?</font>
Yeah, I noticed that as well...hadn't asked before what the heck's up with that...I will, though.
jms
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<font face="verdana">
<font color="red">With the on-again, off-again trend of remaking old TV shows as big-budget Hollywood movies (Charlie's Angels is a good recent example) do you fear that 20-25 years from now, somebody might do a Babylon 5 movie?</font>
Not if I'm still alive to get it done right.
If I'm not alive, don't tell me.
jms</p>
<font color="red">I've seen a lot of nay-sayers around on web boards cursing you, and saying that Marvel should instead find a writer who really knows Spider-Man. So just for the record, how long have you been reading Spider-Man comics?</font>
Since number one. I kinda bailed during the late 80s 'cause the book got kinda wonky, but I was there at the dawn of the age of Spidey-kind....
And there's a great review at comic book galaxy that should help folks calm down a bit:
<A HREF="http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com/bang/jeff_asm30.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com/bang/jeff_asm30.html </a>
jms
</p></font>
