JMS Speaks (again)

<font face="georgia">RE: Southern Baptists and B5
<font color="red">Which Southern Baptist site?</font>


I've been going through my notes trying to find the thing again...and came across some intersting, related items. Here's a church, the Shepherd's Care Ministtries, that uses G'Kar's quote about the future:

http://www.findthepower.com/inspirat...opicFUTURE.htm

About that quote, if you do a google search on "it is always born in pain," you'll find any number of sites where it's used for a memorial or epitaph. (It's also used, without attribution, on a number of other sites, kinda giving the impression that they came up with it on their own.)

There are a number of sites that look at B5 from a buddhist point of view, such as

http://www.hundredmountain.com/Pages..._babylon5.html

If you do a search for Babylon 5 and theology, or Babylon 5 and Buddhism, or religion, or christianity, you'll find the most fascinating stuff...and the most fascinating thing of all, for me at least, is that so often these sites from different or even competing religions use the *same quotes* and each gets something different, and something the same, out of them.

We live in fascinating times.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Just had the unusual experience of seeing some VHS tapes of B5 "dailies" from WWE. </font>

Hmph....

<font color="red">At the end of the tapes were short lengths of sound-only footage, over which ran a title card marking this as a "wild track". It all seemed to be there intentionally, but nothing in the tapes I saw/heard sounded useful at all. So.. what's a "wild track"?</font>

If there was trouble on a particular line on camera -- an actor couldn't remember it, or there was bad background noise, or other complications -- you pick up just the audio for those lines at the end of the scene. You do it in the same place because it means the background ambience will be the same, so it'll mix better when you drop it into the production track. Otherwise, no matter how you tweak the background, it never sounds quite the same. Nine times out of ten the line will fit pretty well in the actor's mouth on camera because they're still in the moment, and when it doesn't quite fit the picture, you just play it on his/her back.

jms

<hr width="75%">
RE:Lou Welch
<font color="red">I was wondering if he was offered a part on the credits, or whether his part was just to be expanded. If the former, it just boggles my mind that someone would refuse that. Even if you do get typecast (not likely for that particular part IMO) being a co-star on a show has got to look good on your resume not to mention your bank account.

So, was he offered a job in the credits?</font>

Truth is, I don't remember. But even if I did, I don't generally discuss an actor's private business terms unless there's an extremely valid reason for doing so.

So if I did remember, I'd say it's private; but I don't, so it's moot.

jms
<hr width="75%">

RE: Why is it J. Michael Straczynski
<font color="red">Actually, it's mainly to sneak up to the startling Straczynski part gradually.
And because it doesn't scare the cat. ;-) </font>


That's actually more or less correct.

BTW, for those who've been asking about Rising Stars, if you go over to

http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=13

you'll get a pretty good answer.

jms
<hr width="25%">
Never, ever do this again. Not to a man in my condition. And I didn't even HAVE a condition until I read this.

jms

<font color="red">It's because it has better balance: 1 syllable, 2 syllables, 3 syllables rather than 1 syllable, 1 syllable, 3 syllables.

You see, as ever, it goes back to the Minbari's obsession with the number three. Three words, with a total of six syllables. What is six, but three factorial ( 3! ), which is 3 z 2 z 1. Also, 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 - amazing! And take into account that 1 appears in both sums - yes, you guessed it - "the one" ! You see - more Minbari numerology in there!!

The Minbari connection is even more remarkable, when you do a quick numerological analysis on both forms you suggested:

-----------------------------------------

J MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

J 10
10 SUB-TOTAL
M 13
I 9
C 3
H 8
A 1
E 5
L 12
51 SUB-TOTAL
S 19
T 20
R 18
A 1
C 3
Z 26
Y 25
N 14
S 19
K 11
I 9
164 SUB-TOTAL

225 TOTAL

2 + 2 + 5 = 9 = 3 x 3
-----------------------------------------

JOE M STRACZYNSKI

J 10
O 15
E 5
30 SUB-TOTAL
M 13
13 SUB-TOTAL
S 19
T 20
R 18
A 1
C 3
Z 26
Y 25
N 14
S 19
K 11
I 9
164 SUB-TOTAL

207 TOTAL

2 + 0 + 9 = 9 = 3 x 3
-----------------------------------------

At first sight, it seems that both forms are in fact Minbari-linked, with the totals collapsing down to 9. However, closer analysis shows that the first form must be the ideal candidate. If you take the first word from each form, you get J (10 summed letters), and JOE (30 summed letters).

Rewriting these in Bolloxian form, you get:

(1) J = 10
(2) JOE = 30

Substituting (1) into (2), you get:

(3) 10OE = 30 = OE = 3

Now, as we know, Joe is a great wordsmith, so it is obvious that that OE can only refer to the Oxford English dictionary. And in this context, it is obvious that (3) is telling us that we are talking about the 3 volume _Shorter_ Oxford English Dictionary. Since J is shorter than JOE, then we can only conclude that the first form is correct.

Just as an addendum, look at the numerical positions in the alphabet of JMS:

J 10

M 13

S 19

Cam you see the pattern? Yes, the differences are:

J 10
\
3
/
M 13
\
6
/
S 19

There you go again. Three and six, both multiples of three. And what do you get if you add them up?
3 + 6 = 9 = 3 x 3.
Unbelievable!


I hope that this answers your question.</font></font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Maybe. But consider this: The "final work" in these cases is *not* the script, it is the collaborative effort of *dozens* of people from the writer to the grips, all of whom work for the studio, and all of whom are using the studio's money to produce the *actual* "final work"</font>

That's as may be. But the Berne convention was specifically put into place to protect *writers* as the authors of the story. A grip is essential to the making of the movie; a grip is not the author and makes no claims in that regard.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">OK, so forgive an ignorant question on my part. Who owns the script of, for instance, "Value Judgements" (which was never produced) or "Grey 17 is Missing," (which, AFAIK, has never been published), or "Day of the Dead" (which has been published on its own) or "The Coming of Shadows" (which has been published in multiple books)? Do JMS or Neil Gaiman or Fiona Avery own the scripts they wrote for the show or does Warners?</font>

Under the WGA Separation of Rights provision, the studio owns the characters and the concept, but the writer owns the physical script and can do with it whatever he/she wishes, so long as in doing so no copyrighted images are used on the cover of, for instance, books containing those scripts.

Granted it would be better if the rest of the folk who worked on the picture got a *share* of the actual copyright, rather than a diminishing residual, but this is not exactly the same situation as an author's relationship with a publisher.

<font color="red">And who gets residuals? Producers? Writers? Star actors? Guest stars? Any of the production staff?</font>

Residuals are not a part of ownership or copyright; they are deferred compensation, if the film or tv series does well, they benefit, if not, they lose. Everyone on your list gets residuals except production staff.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Joe, I saw Babylon 5 for free</font>

Yes, and no. Technically, yes, you saw the show for free...in that *you* didn't have to pay for it directly.

But the show WAS being paid for, by the advertisers (and subjecting you to the commercials is the price *you* pay for the show.)

The actors are being compensated every time that show runs, via residuals, as opposed to somebody putting up episodes on the net.

(In point of fact, I saw a post recently where somebody was talking about uploading and downloading B5 episodes, and why it was okay to do because the studio had made their money on it, why give the money grubbing guys any more? Except, of course, that the actors, writers and directors don't get the big bucks, they get residuals when the show plays. Which makes me ask...if you like the show, and the characters, and the actors who *played* those characters, why would you take away the few bucks they make in residuals by putting their eps on the net?)

jms
<hr width="75%">
Remembering that the average novelist makes less per year than the average grade school teacher, if 2000 copies of a book are read or downloaded online instead of purchased, that loss of $2-3,000 can make a huge impact on the writer's financial life.


<font color="red">I agree that you should not be posting or copying peoples works without permission. However, I am curious how you made the above statistic.</font>

This is hardly news; this has been covered in any number of magazine articles and books about writing, from Publisher's Weekly on up and down the line. And it's not limited to prose writers; the Writers Guild of America noted recently in a report that only about 2% of its members earn $100,000 or more per year; most earn maybe $15-30,000 a year, meaning only about one or two sales at tops, and sometimes not that.

Prose advances on fiction (and nonfiction) have not even kept up with inflation. Where they were about $3,000 for a first novel about 10 years ago, they're still at or near that number.

jms
<hr width="75%">
In other words...and don't take this the wrong way, but it's the fact...you've been to the zoo, but you've never had to be the monkey in the cage. Your understanding and empathy for the situation is delineated by which side of the cage you're standing on.


<font color="red">With all due respect, Joe, your reply to Lyle is both profoundly arrogant and *wrong*.

To suggest that someone who holds a "day job" to survive (like probably 90% of all the artists, actors and writers in the world) while pursuing their creative endeavor in the precious hours outside of 9-5, is somehow less of an artist than someone who has been fortunate enough to turn their art into a paying profession (with, I might point out, the concomitant compromises that come along with commercial success) is both fallacious and condescending. </font>

Yes, it would be, if that was what I had said. Or even what I had suggested.

Let me read that over again...hmm..."less of an artist"...wait, let me scroll back a second, and go back to the original message, because I'd hate to be wrong about something as monumental as this, and check again...hmmmm.....nope, nope, it ain't there.

This is what's called "reading something that wasn't ever said or implied into what someone else said."

My point, which everybody else here seems to have gotten but you, is that a person who does something as a hobby, has a different perspective on that practice than someone who makes a living at it. Are you saying this is not so? I don't think you'd find anyone north of Papua, New Guinea who would go along with that premise.

So: no, I didn't say it, didn't imply it, didn't suggest it. And pretty much all the other replies I've seen here tend to bolster the sense that you're the *only* person who came up with this one. Because you have a tendency to do that, and to try and hammer me with stuff, usually unprovoked.

I hope that you will be as enthusiastic in your retraction of your accusation as you were in the making of it.

It would certainly be a refreshing change of pace.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Just wondering how far you had gotten with the outline for future Crusade stories. We all know about the ones that were up on bookface but did you have even a rough sketch of how the Crusade story would have played out over the next few years?
Are you looking at ways of continuing the story in comic, book, miniseries, series form?</font>

No, because Warner Bros. owns Crusade.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">And when B5 went only to one cable station (TNT followed by Sci-Fi) instead of multiple syndicated stations did this not lower the revenue potential of residuals? </font>

Not in the way you mean it, but it would take WAY too long to explain the details.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">My question is, should copyright extend past the death of the author, and if so for how long? If it were up to you? While I agree that the author should receive compensation for his works through his old age, is it part of society's obligation to provide for the author's heirs? If so, for how long? </font>

Well, that's really the rub, isn't it? If copyright means ownership -- and technically it does -- then it really shouldn't be any different from passing along anything else one owns to one's family. It's a part of the estate, same as the old rollaway desk and pictures of the family dog.

Society's obligation? Seems like we're again looking at the wrong end of the microscope. The Bush administration is inches away from *totally* repealing estate taxes, so you carry the burden of that lost revenue in what you as an individual pay. (Sidelight: the Democrats said, at one point, "look, tell you what, why don't we just exempt the first hundred million dollars from estate taxes, but if you get over $100,000,000, you have to pay some taxes." The Republicans dismissed it out of hand, not one person went for it. Kind of tells you where their proirities are, doesn't it? This ain't about helping poor farmers keep their farms. And whenever they've used that line, btw, it's been shown afterward that not one farmer could be produced who lost his farm due to estate taxes.)

Corporations earning billions of dollars incorporate overseas and pay zero taxes...you and the rest of society are picking up the check on that one. Personally, I'd be more concerned about that than the average novel, which earns only a few thousand bucks a year. There aren't many Steinbecks among us right now.

So yeah, I do think the period should extend beyond the author's life. Fifty years is a goodly amount of time, but if it were to be peeled back a bit from that, say to 20 or 30, I'd be okay with that.

One sidelight to this thing...most writers working at a certain level these days incorporate, and all their works are owned/copyrighted by the corporation, not the individual. So all Harlan's works are (c) the Kiliminjaro Corporation, and mine are (c) Synthetic Worlds, Ltd. Which means that the works are copyrighted for *the life of the corporation*, not my life.

jms
<hr width="75%">
Re: Attn JMS: "Superman: Birthright"

<font color="red">Get it. Read it. You'll know why. </font>

Got it. Haven't yet. Will.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">I've noticed that when it comes to comics, it seems wherever JMS goes Fiona Avery follows shortly thereafter. Between the ASM annual, her RS mini-series, and others, a great many jobs seem to be found for her.</font>

Let me jump in here for a second....

Every writer tends to follow every other writer a bit as they first start off. The reason I was able to first write a Teen Titans Spotlight was that I knew the guy who was the editor of the book; ditto for my other first comics. You go to people you know, usually friends. That's the gatekeeping process.

Guys do this all the time, whether it's the British mafia of Moore/Morrison/Gaiman or others. Moore also mentored Gaiman, and brought him on to write the comics he was involved with, such as Miracleman. But nobody every mentions that, it's when the other person is a female that suddenly some people have a hard time with it.

Everybody goes through a learning curve when they enter a medium; Moore, me, Neil, Fi, the first few years are rocky. That's the nature of the craft.

Top Cow and I rely on her for the RS follow-ups because she knows my universe very well, and has learned to kind of write in my style, so there's a certain level of consistency there. She's doing the book in part because I asked her to do so, because I wanted someone there I could trust.

She's also done and doing a great deal of work that has nothing whatsoever to do with me. She wrote for Earth: Final Conflict, she created the No Honor book which she is currently adapting as a series for television for Gale Ann Hurd (which again has no connection to me), she's just finished off two novels, has published stories in magazines that have nothing to do with me...she's doing just fine on her own.


jms
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">It's not as if I said she was a bad writer, or a tag-along, or kicked my puppy when we were both little. I'm honestly curious about any resistance Fiona is encountering.</font>

Aside from this discussion...none that I'm aware of.


jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Is there a point where a book *should* enter the public domain?</font>

Ultimately, yeah, I think so. I think that at some point, a work of art must pass from the hands of the creator to the hands of the world, so that it can be remembered and propagated and cherishd.

What that point in time might be, is what the lawyers are still trying to define.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Question -- what are the benefits of setting up your copyright with a corporation? I can sort of sketch out why, but from a theoretical point of view, not from having done it. Can you spell out why you and others do it this way?</font>

I already answered part of this in the message you cite, where I noted:

So all Harlan's works are (c) the Kiliminjaro Corporation, and mine are (c) Synthetic Worlds, Ltd. Which means that the works are copyrighted for *the life of the corporation*, not my life.

So if the corporation survives for 170 years, that is the life of the owner of the copyright, and it belongs to SWL for 170 years. Now, the odds of that actually *happening* are about zero, but that's the theory. They can also be assigned as a corporate value and transferred. It also separates out who owns what in case of lawsuit. If you are sued as an individual, the properties owned by the corporation are generally protected.

jms
<hr width="75%">
Corporations earning billions of dollars incorporate overseas and pay zero taxes...you and the rest of society are picking up the check on that one.
<font color="red">Of course you are anyway since corp are legal entities and any taxes they pay don't just spring up from nowhere. They are taken from us in higher prices, from the shareholder's equity (and with very few exceptions the vast majority of the stock is held outside of the Inherently Evil board of directors) or wages.

If you want to tax them for extra rev., go ahead and do it. Don't try to sell it like you are stopping the robber barons because all you are doing is taking money from one of these three pots. </font>

First, what you have to understand is that what doesn't get paid in taxes ends up in huge dividends to members of the BoD and to the CEO...millions of dollars in bonuses that might otherwise have been paid in taxes.

Second, you have to look at the long term trend in taxation of the last fifty years. At one point, about fifty years ago, corporations made up about 70% of the tax burden, while individual taxpayers, consumers, made up about 30%. Over the decades, that has shifted until it's nearly inverted...with corporations paying about 30% of the overall tax burden, and consumers paying the remaining 70%. Specifically because the corporations have received so much in tax breaks, corporate welfare, and other writeoffs that billions of dollars simply go untaxed.

You're right, if it doesn't come out of one pot, it comes out of the other...only in this case, that pot is your wallet.

As for higher prices...there's a limit which people will generally accept for some items, and in truth, you're getting gigged for higher prices anyway. When Michael Eisner took over Disney, he raised the ticket price at Disneyland so that it brought in millions more that year in revenue. And as it turns out, his bonus that year...was exactly equal to what had come in through the jacked up ticket prices.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">I meant that only as the difference between potential and reality. Potential would have had B5 only 4 seasons long and maybe syndicated scattershot across the countries various TV station. The reality had it being 5 seasons long and continually syndicated since 1998 on an individual superstation that is seen by a wider audience.

The critics would latch on to the "potential" revenue lost to actors residuals by B5 only having exclusive rights to one station. The reality means B5 has had continual exposure with occasional efforts to add in new blood. This could mean when it is given to the open market, more stations will latch onto it for broadcast.

Of course, this was my interpretation of the matter. The writers and actors have a better position to form an opinion on the matter since the results affect their livelyhoods.</font>

It doesn't really work that way.

You're paid on the rerun qua rerun, not on the number of stations carrying it. WB makes a deal with whomever...a syndicator, a cable network, somebody...and that organization pays X-dollars per episode for the right to show it for the length of that contract (usually about 3-5 years).

There's a slightly different residual formula for cable vs. syndication, but rather than get bogged down in that, let me get to the point.

If an episode runs on a thousand stations or twenty, the residual is the same, a percentage of the purchase price of the episode. So the number of stations really doesn't matter.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">... the real question is... would JMS like to stop eating and paying his bills, just to get Crusade back.</font>

Thing is, of course, there's zip that I can *do* that would achieve that result. I can stand outside WB and hold my breath until I turn blue, but that's about it. If a network were to come to them and ask for it, that's one thing...but the studio owns Crusade, and without a compelling marketplace and an interested buyer, there's nothing they can or will do in the matter.

(Which goes to the note some people post asking why I don't write in this area anymore, do I not care about it. Yeah, of course I do, but WB owns it, and if I went otf and started writing stories in that universe I'd be infringing their ownership.)

<font color="red">Frankly, I dont like the idea of going to a convention and seeing a bag of bones with the name tag, JMS attached to its breast.</font>

Which, actually, is not that different from the real thing....

jms
<hr width="75%">
Just a little story, a day in the life, as they say....

You'll remember, when last we gathered, I mentioned that a number of feral cats and kittens had settled onto the property. (And I think I've found a group that can help with them.)

Anyway...on Thursday morning, about 9:45 a.m., I heard a caterwauling from behind the house. I went back to see what the heck was going on, and the cats scattered from where they'd gathered. As soon as they were gone, I found out what they were going on about...a mewling was coming from one of the landscaping drains.

Understand: around the house are a series of vertical 4" landscaping drains, which usually have covers on them. Designed to carry away water, they go vertically down about 2 to 2 and a half feet, where they T into a series of smaller (maybe 3") PVC tubes that evacuate the water out into the street.

When I looked down the vertical tube, which had somehow lost its cap, I saw a kitten, maybe 4 weeks old, two-thirds of the way down the tube, where it had fallen. I reacted instantly and reached in to grab the kitten, shoving my arm into the tube as far as I could reach...and I could just barely touch fur. I tried to pull my arm back for another try...and found that I was stuck. Badly. It's worth mentioning that, at this particular moment, I was alone in the house. I fought, twisted, turned, and after several minutes finally got my arm free.

When I looked back into the drain tube...the kitten was gone, somewhere in the T that went off in different directions. I could hear him mewing down there.

I called animal control, and they sent someone over...unfortunately, it was just one person with a stick and loop, which wouldn't do any good because he was at very least a few inches around the corner of the T. And the animal control people don't dig for liability reasons. By the time she'd arrived, the kitten had stopped mewing. She suggested that perhaps he had made his way out the street-side drain already, but in any event, there was nothing that could be done until they knew a) if he was still in there, and b) where in that maze of pipes he was.

At this point I had to leave to take care of some appointments that couldn't wait or be postponed, though I continued to worry. I kept hoping he'd made it out.

I got back to the house around 6:00 p.m. or so, went back...no sound. I leaned into the long tube, and...well, mewed. Over and over. I'd just about given up, and was ready to assume he had indeed gotten out safely, when I mewed one last time...and from deep underground, he mewed back.

He was still in there. I think he must have gone to sleep or been too scared to respond earlier. Now he was calling back in a big way. And the sound was coming from between that tube and the one nearby which was a sheer drop to a second maze of tubes beneath.

Frantic, I put blocks at the other tubes in an attempt to keep him from going any further, then called every plumber in the phone book. Nobody got back to me; it was, remember, the night before the 4th, and they wanted to start their vacations. Finally, desperate, I called the Fire Department, and after several who couldn't help, I found one that would.

So around 8:00, the bigass fire truck pulled up in front of the house, and out came the fire captain and three of his guys. They went to the drain area, and the captain said, "Sir, do you confirm there's a cat in there?" I confirmed, and they went to work. They dug out the original vertical tube, pulling out a small cypress in the process, taking turns, breaking two shovels but still going Even the captain got in there to do his share of the digging.

Finally, having cleared away the dirt around the tube, we're talking about a hole nearly three feet deep and as wide around, they removed the vertical tube and put in a mirror to check the lower tube (which was, again, only about 3" wide).

No kitten. He'd either gotten past the blocks, or -- my worst suspicion -- had fallen down the intersecting tubes that would have taken him even deeper underground. And he'd gone silent again.

Since there was nothing else that could be done at that point, they headed out. Figuring that the kitten must still be mobile if he was able to get out of there, I stayed at the hole from 8:30 until 11:30 p.m., never taking my eyes off the hole, putting out cat food and lights to try and attract him if he came this way again.

Nothing.

Around midnight, the mewing came back again, weaker than before. He'd now been in these underground tubes, meant to carry away water, for nearly 15 hours. It was dark above and no doubt pitch black beneath.

I went back to the phone book. Called everybody I didn't call the first time. Finally, a 24 hour plumbing service sent out a guy at nearly 1 a.m. When I explained the situation, he said he might have to tear up the pipes, uproot another tree, and it was gonna cost a lot. I said do whatever you have to. Seeing how determined I was, and that it was a kitten, he knocked some of the price down, and started digging.

After half an hour, he had the idea to call his brother who had a snake-camera, the kind you fish in to look at obstacles. Didn't know if he was home, but tried. Got the brother, he came out, joined the effort. Kept putting the snake in and looking around. The video carmera showed nothing, though we could still hear him. It had now been sixteen hours.

Finally, they shouted and I ran to the display. I could see the outline of the kitten, on its side, half in water. It had to raise its mouth above water to mew. The kitten totally filled the pipe, meaning there was no way it could turn around, it could only go forward. And that's what it had been doing for sixteen hours, going forward in the pitch blackness and the water, crawlling blind. It was now deeper into the maze, but at a point where if it backed up, it would eventually get to the opening dug by the fire department. But that was nearly 20 feet back. If we tried to dig, he might scoot forward and get clear...and if he went further, he'd be under concrete, and the end was blocked by roots. If we lost him this time, he'd be gone for good.

So we started bonking him in the nose with the snake camera. He put up a heck of a howling at this, but he backed up. Inch by inch, bonk by bonk, we backed him up for twenty feet.

Finally, he was getting near enough to the opening for me to see the red light of the camera lighting the tube. I dived into the freshly-dug hole face first, shoving my hand into the pipe in hopes of snaring him when he came this way. I knew I was only going to get one shot at this, and if he squirmed past me, we'd be screwed. It was now 2 in the morning, and there I was upside-down in the mud, hand shoved into the drain, with every imaginable mosquito and insect crawling over me, biting, stinging...I'm pretty sure I saw a black widow spider crawl over the back of my hand. But there was no power on earth that was going to get me to pull my arm out of that drain; I missed him once, I wasn't going to miss him again. The water was also backing up around the kitten, and I could hear him gurgling, choking.

Suddenly I felt his back feet brush my hand. I grabbed hold for all I was worth, resolved not to let go, and began pulling. To give you some idea how tightly he was jammed in there, as I pulled his fur dragged the pipe on all sides, making a shuuuuuuppppp sound as I pulled him out, worried that I might injure him by the angle I had to use.

With a final pop he came loose and up into my arms, covered in mud, soaking wet, shivering, but he was OUT goddamnit. The guys were so moved that they agreed to come back the next day for almost nothing to fix all the pipes and even replant the trees.

We bundled him up in a towel and got him to an all night emergency vet's office, where he was diagnosed with extreme hypothermia. Another couple of hours and he wouldn't have made it. He would've lost too much body heat.

He stayed at the vet's for 48 hours, getting warmed up, checked out, getting his blood work and vaccinations done, they checked his fluids and rotated his tires...and he's fine. His name is Buddy, for what I said when I got him out, over and over, "you're okay, buddy, you're okay now."

As I type this, covered in little bites, with the garden more or less back as it was, he is in one of the guest bathrooms, sleeping soundly on a warm towel, surrounded by small toys and big bowls of food and kitten milk. The one thing I've found I can't do is turn the lights off. He's scared of the dark, and probably will be for a while. He's the sweetest tempered kitten you've ever seen, with gray-blue eyes, long black and white fur, and he's just happy to be alive.

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to keep him or let him go for adoption when the other cats and kittens are taken, but the main thing is he's okay. The little buddy's okay.

A day in the life, as they say....


jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">Anyway, as I sit here tearing up just a little, I have to add that I'm with Jan -- I think he's yours. You saved his life; now you're responsible for him, right?</font>

Thing is, I'm pretty much catted out right now, I just don't think I can take on another.

jms
<hr width="75%">
Re: Attn. JMS - Why Do *You* Like The Twilight Zone (1959) ?

<font color="red">Over on another group I already gave my answer (probably won't be up 'till tomorrow AM). Just wondered what *you* like about it.</font>

The ingenuity of the stories, especially for that time, the quality of the performances, and more than anything, the quality of the language, which was and is amazing to behold.

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">So I'm curious, if you're still reading this thread, and given your comments about what made the original TZ special, what you think of the new series.</font>

Haven't seen it.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">IIRC, development season should be starting around now. Any plans on dusting off "Polaris" and/or "World on Fire" and pitching them again?</font>

Polaris is still making the rounds, so we'll see what happens on that front. "World on Fire" is not do-able anymore because the events of the world caught up with the story. (Essentially, it was about the events leading up and following America getting into its next war, starting with an attack on New York. Very eerily, nearly everything that was in the script and the planned series has now happened, so the show is now a moot issue.)

<font color="red">What's happening with your other projects - new, old , TV, comic, play, audio drama or anything else?</font>

I've put my play "Among the Ruins" on a back burner for now, because it got too clever for its own good, too slick, almost self-consciously so...it needs time to season and develop the right kind of maturity.

Comics: the first issue of Supreme Power comes out August 6th, and it's going to be a terrific book. And Spidey continues apace, I'm just about to start writing issue 500, a 38 page monster that culminates a three-issue arc that encompasses much of Spidey's history and some things that should be real surprises for people.

TV: I'm making the network rounds with the people at Marvel Productions, pitching a new series, but that's all I can say about it for the moment.

Audio: I've finished the 20 short scripts for "The Adventures of Apocalypse Al" for a company that will be distributing them either late fall or early Spring 2004. It's a very, very funny series.

Other than that, working on a novel, making the pitch rounds for Midnight Nation as a feature, and taking some down time after finishing season two of Jeremiah last month.

jms
<hr width="75%">
I'll also post this in a separate thread, because I'm not sure what will show up here first, but in the interim....

I've previously mentioned my new book from Marvel, called Supreme Power. I just got a note from Marvel mentioning that the cutoff for orders is going to be this Thursday, July 17th (also my birthday). I genuinely think that Surpeme Power may be one of the best things I've done in the comics field, maybe the best to date, and I just want to put out the word to any Babylon 5 folks out there who don't normally read comics, and encourage them to check this one out. This is a great book for people who don't generally go for comics, a strong character story from end to end.

Anyway, once the orders for issue #1 are filled by the 17th, they won't be taking any additional orders, and Marvel doesn't do reprints anymore. If you miss issue 1, you'll have to wait for the trade, which could take six months or more. So I wanted to let everyone know that this is your last chance, 'cause this is almost certainly going to sell out and be impossible to find afterward.

As I've noted here before, I don't usually go to this length to promote something I'm doing -- I've really not spoken a lot about the Jeremiah series for Showtime, or the B5 quote book, or other projects -- but I'm making an exception for this one because I truly believe this is something extraordinary, in large measure thanks to the amazing artwork by Gary Frank, who also penciled Midnight Nation.

You can get more info on the book at:

http://www.diamondcomics.com/news/news.asp?ai=5386

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazi...30616-five.cfm

And for a peek at issue 2:

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/onsale.htm?id=1150

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0306/05/

So: long story made short, July 17th is the cutoff date for orders at comic shops. Just so's nobody can say later they didn't have fair warning on what Marvel thinks may end up being the book of the year for them.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Ok, sir, just want to hear your explanation for this little number (realaudio)...

http://209.15.18.249/captainpower/vi...ize.ram</font>

Apparently someone's taken out some additional life insurance.

jms
<hr width="75%">
http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/174658

Just a head's up for anyone who might be coming by...I'm ONLY going to be doing panels/talks on Saturday and Sunday, and my ONLY autograph session, at which the last of the Sleeping in Light scripts with deleted material and suchlike will be availabale, is Saturday at 3:30.

Because 2003 was our 10th anniversary, this will be the last time that the SiL scripts will be available at conventions.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">I noticed on the S.D. Comic-Con web site that they anticipate your autographing to be on Saturday from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. Are you autographing on other days as well? If so, do you know the schedule?</font>

As far as I know, that's the only one.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">What's your general policy with autograph sessions? Are there certain items you prefer to sign, or prefer not to sign? Will you sign two or three items, or just one? And will you personalize autographs?</font>

In the past, I've always had a simple policy: put it in front of me and I'll sign it. But the problem lately has been, as I've gotten more known in comics, the dealers have been taking advantage of this. They'll show up with stacks of 20-30 at a time, I'll sign them, then they'll get in line again, and I'll sign a hundred or so, which they just go out and re-sell at marked up prices.

So this year I may cut it back to maybe ten per, or somewhere around there. Because it's not fair to make the honest fan with two things to have signed wait behind a guy who doesn't care either way to get his 30 or 60 copies
signed.

Y'know?


jms
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

</font>

<font face="georgia">If you're a fan of the matrix, copy this into your inernet browser so that windows media player will open it.

mms://wmt-od.stream.ne.jp/ntv/hkzkt/hkzkt10.wmv

nuff said.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">When will you be selling the autographed SiL scripts, Saturday only?</font>

Yes. For whatever reason, the auto session didn't show up in the program book, so I hope folks can find out about it.


jms
<hr width="75%">

For those who will be at my talk on Saturday, or know someone who will, Warner Bros. will be there with a film crew to interview fans and tape material for the season 5 DVD, which at my request will have a whole section on the fans, since that has always been an important part of the show.

So if you're at the con, you may want to be sure to come by to get into a little slice of B5 history.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">OK, it looks like B5 is gonna go the distance (all 5 seasons) on DVD, crusade is still in "being considered" limbo, and rumors are flying thick & fast on Jeremiah.
</font>

It's my understanding that if the sales continue as they have for B5, they will indeed release Crusade on DVD.

I read on the net -- was never informed by MGM -- that Jeremiah will be coming to DVD in January or February of next year, and season 2 begins September 19th on Showtime.

<font color="red">What about the other B5 movies? I suppose Call To Arms might reasonably go in a Crusade set to bulk it up but that still leaves Thirdspace and River Of Souls. Are there any whispers/hints you can give on the possibility of them finding their way to DVD?</font>

If things continue, I think it very likely from what they've said.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">...bad news about Jeremiah... IF there is a third season, JMS won't be attached. Seems he's having a bit o' problems with MGM, which leads him to the "life's too short" argument....</font>

There was a lot in that article on the Pulse that was really badly reported, things were misphrased, two different sentences were put into one, sections are wholly incomprehensible...it's just a train wreck of a piece.

However, even though the article totally misstated the sentence so it didn't make any sense, the last phrase is correct, in that I have zero desire to return to a third season of Jeremiah. Showtime was great, no mistake, but MGM has overall been the most heinous, difficult and intrusive studio I've ever worked for. I've worked for, and had great relations with, Viacom, Universal, Warner Bros., and a bunch more. But I will never, ever, work for the present administration at MGM.

I didn't know why so many other writers had a problem there and never wanted to go back. Now I do.

jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">Joe, could there even *be* a third season of "Jeremiah" without you? I don't know how this works--i.e., whether MGM owns the show and could conceivably bring in someone else to keep it going.</font>

Sure, they could definitely do so. At the end of their day, it's their show, and if there should be a season three, they would have no choice but to bring someone else in.

As an aside...none of this should be taken as a diss of the coming season. I honestly think that the second season is miles better than our first season. It's more consistent, takes more chances, it's really a very strong season.

Thing of it is, you look at the quality of the work, and the amount of blood on the floor in getting to that point, and have to decide if the one is worth the other. The process is hard enough without others making it even harder than it has to be.

And there we are.
jms
<hr width="50%">

<font color="red">A couple of purely selfish questions, if I may... Did MGM's intrusiveness affect the Jeremiah story the way that TNT tried to affect Crusade? </font>

No, but not through lack of trying.

<font color="red">Did/does/will the second season end with a cliffhanger?</font>

Yes and no.

<font color="red">Why, when they've got somebody who's proven that he can tell a whopping good story _and_ handle their money responsibly, can't the studios just leave him alone to *do* it???</font>

It's not something I understand either.

jms
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)
</font>

<font color="red">Correct me if I am wrong, but did TNT want more sex and violence in Crusade?</font>

Yes.

<font color="red">I read this from every news source out there so it must be true.</font>

Well, the one does not necessarily follow from the other....

<font color="red">How is it that a studio after seeing your work on Babylon 5 could have so little faith in your work? </font>

It wasn't a matter of faith in my abilities, it was that they wanted one kind of show, I wanted to do another, and there was no common ground we could stand on.

<font color="red">Couldn't they see where the story was going?</font>

Yes, but it wasn't where they wanted to go.

<font color="red">Are they totally out of creative mindset?</font>

One assumes.

<font color="red">Couldn't they see future profit in the series? </font>

Networks don't get future long-term profit, they only get what the ads bring in first run (and reruns on their network). Only the studio reaps long-term profits.

<font color="red">After all of the series box sets for Babylon 5 are all out will Crusade be released on DVD? </font>

My unofficial understanding is that this will be the case, yes.

<font color="red">And, if the sales go exceptionally well is there hope of reviving Crusade? I know that WB owns B5 but is there a chance?</font>

Thing is, Crusade wasn't a show that went many seasons and then disappeared with a strong fan base and a recognizeable name, both elements necessary to a revival. It was shot through the head while still in its metaphorical cradle, and didn't have the time to acquire either of those.

So, bottom line, I really don't think it's ever going to happen. And the more time passes the less likely it continues to become.

<font color="red">If Crusade will never be revived will there be any future B5 projects?</font>

That's a whole different subject, and there may be a few things in the offing there, but I'm keeping a low profile on this in case it doesn't go anywhere, which is so often the case with TV and such.

jms
<hr width="75%">

I haven't really commented on this because others have addressed the specifics quite well, I think. Of the projects cited, only two of the TV projectrs ended with enmity, Crusade and Jeremiah. I'm on good terms with SFC with Rangers, good terms with WB on the same basis after B5...the problem with Rangers going down had nothing to do with personalities or difficulties working with anybody and everything to do with ratings vs. costs.

The B5 graphic novel has simply been waiting time for me to get it done because of the number of commitments I've been dealing with.

So the premise is faulty to begin with. You (the original poster) are asking people or myself to defend something when your premise is misleading and untrue. There are FAR more difficult people, or people who are perceived as difficult, out there working nonstop in TV. This is a profession and a town where eccentricity and difficulty is pretty much expected.

And part of your note proceeds, from my point of view, from fear. There's this thing of, "Well, you shouldn't make trouble, you'll never work again," which keeps people in bad places long after they should go, or at least protest. I don't believe in that kind of weakness or fear. By all rights, I should be hard-core unemployable. My rep for being a perfectionist, and being a fighter, has been there from 1984, when I started working in TV. But I've been consistently employed more than any other writer I know in the field. With very few short gaps, I've been working in TV almost nonstop for nearly 20 years. That simply doesn't happen.

The reason it happens is because I'm known for being a pain...but also for being good, very good, at what I do. After Murder, She Wrote ended its run, they tried without success to get some MSW TV movies going. It totally stalled out, script after script. Finally, one day, they said, "Well, there's always Joe." Then they went to lie down for a while, but they made the call, and I wrote a script that got approved, got made, and broke the logjam.

Jeremiah had lain moribund at Showtime and Lion's Gate for *five years*. They couldn't get it off the ground. Finally, they said, "Well, there's always Joe." After the usual lie-down, they called...and it went from a nearly-dead project to on the air for two years.

And as I write this, I have two new series in development, at least in the formal pitching and development stage with studios attached, and I've barely left Jeremiah. I've had to turn down other requests for TV series development because you can really only do two max at a time, one in first position, the other in second. No network or studio will take you in third position.

I've *always* been very open about people or situations who piss me off, but only after being pleasant and negotiating has proven useless, and I've been the recipient of that lethal combination of arrogant stupidity.

See, if a network or studio and I disagree, then we just disagree, it's honorable, that's the give and take you *want* on a show. I have a lot of respect for Showtime, because whenever I wrote a script and kind of glossed over anything in the first draft, figuring I could address it in the next pass, they always caught me at it. *Always*. And as annoying as it was at times, it was also kinda cool and gratifying to know that they were paying that kind of attention. And we never, ever had a problem. Honorable people can have honorable disagreements. When that happens, my rule is that I don't walk out of the room, or let them walk out of the room, until either they convince me of the rightness of their views, or I do the same to them. They agree not to pull rank and I agree not to pull a prima donna.

And when you have a situation like that, as big as the arguments may get, I never have a problem with it. I actually *enjoy* that.

I *do* have a problem with dishonorable behavior. Always have. When someone lies to me, fucks me, or otherwise acts toward me in a dishonorable way, then as far as I'm concerned the rules of engagement change at that moment. And I do so unapologetically.

Why? Because it scares off the snakes. If you know that you're going to be raked over the coals if you act dishonorably toward me, it mitigates against those with such intentions, they think twice. Those who are honorable never seem to have a problem coming to me. It's the same reason I always tell every studio I work for my three rules: I don't lie, I don't bullshit, and I never, ever bluff. And I expect the same in return.

So no, as far as my work is concerned, it is not and has *never* been a problem. And if it ever *were* to become a problem, I'd move off into writing comics full time, or novels, or something else. I'm more or less set in a variety of venues. The result is that I write what I want, for whom I want, and I get paid for doing things I'd have to do for free otherwise.

Your concern, really, is that *you* are afraid that *you* won't get what *you* want. That ain't my problem. Nor will I allow your fears to become my fears. I do what I like and I say what I like. I've worked my whole life to get to that point, a point very few manage to achieve, and if you think I'm going to change that because you're concerned you might not get your fix of a certain kind of story...dream on.

As per:

<font color="red">So I comment on the side stories, and the DEVALUATION of JMS' brand of arc-based storytelling in the eyes of casual tv watchers and diehard fans.</font>

It ain't my brand in the sense that I do other things, and I don't think I have it in me to do anything of the complexity of B5 again for television...to write 91 out of 110 eps and be that gonzo nuts in every detail. It damn near killed me the last time; if I tried it again, it *would* kill me.

It's great that you want the next thing I do to be the same as the last thing I did. But that ain't why I'm in the game. I want the next thing I do to be *different* from the last thing I did.

It's the difference between having ten years of storytelling...or one year of storytelling ten times.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia">RE: Jeremiah
<font color="red">Did you approach parts of the second season finale knowing that you wouldn't be doing the third season? </font>

Yes. That thought was pretty much all that kept me going at the end.

<font color="red">My question is whether there will be some sense of closure at the end of the second season. Will people be able to look on the first two seasons as some sort of whole project and enjoy it as such? Or will we be left hanging and wondering what might have been?</font>

No, it actually does have some closure to it. So if that were to be the last season, it would have a good end to it.

Jms
<hr width="75%">

[img]graemlins/cat.gif[/img]
Just to let folks know the latest...Buddy is still hanging fire over in the guest bedroom, where he's had his digs set up. Gaining weight and cuteness factors by at a frightening rate. Still looking for someone trustworthy to adopt him. The cypress trees we dug up to get him will never be the same again, I fear, but I'd rather have them dead and him alive than vice-versa.

If somebody wants to put up some photos where people can see him, let me know here and I'll send you some jpgs of His Unholy Cuteness.

One sidelight: a local cat and kitten rescue group has been extremely helpful in dealing with all the other cats that moved onto the property, getting the adults spayed/neutered, and finding homes for the kittens. If any of the folks who've been following this story want to make a donation in the name of Babylon 5 to this group, you should certainly feel free to do so. Like any such group, they live from hand to mouth (or paw to maw), and I'm sure they'd be happy with any help.

Jms

</font>

Link to photos of Buddy

Buddy Photos http://jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu/~bfrazer1/buddy/

Edited by AsIs to fix link.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ August 04, 2003 11:22 PM: Message edited by: AsIs ]</font></font>

--My apologies. I can only plead excessive nerves, as I was getting ready to start my new job (finally!) when I posted. Normally, I would have proofed the link before posting.
Bee--

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 06, 2003 01:01 AM: Message edited by: MightyLady77 ]</font>

<font face="georgia"><font color="green">JMS, who I find boring and pretentious.</font>

<font color="blue">Careful. He's so boring he's hanging around here.</font>

<font color="red">So does Erik Larsen, and I a) don't particularly care what either think of my opinions and b) doubt they think much of my opinions anyway.</font>

Not at all. Not in the least respect. I did some checking around, got your main handle of [email protected], and found your website at http://www.geocities.com/mh_prime/ and your fan fiction, and whatever you may think to the contrary, I feel you're *profoundly* qualified to talk about boring and pretentious writing. Indeed, you may be one of our nation's foremost experts in this area, so please don't underestimate yourself in the future. (Some might venture that the handle, Prime Eternal, alone would qualify you for such status, but I think they sell you short since at most it is pretentious, *maybe* boring. I think we owe it to your expertise to use a much higher standard.)

Suffice to say that if they ever offer degree plans in this area, I will be happy to add my name as a sponsor should you decide to pursue a PhD.

Ever your pal,

jms
<hr>
<font color="red">Please allow me to respectfully retract my earlier comment concerning sarcasm in the works and windings of one J.M. Straczynski, dear Sir.</font>

You may sit down now.

And finish your broccoli.


jms
<hr>
<font color="red">Well...that certainly showed me. I'm surprised you went to the bother to look me up, or to read my fan-fiction (fan-fiction I'm not particuarly fond of myself). In defense of my handle, it was chosen more to help promote my first website than as any reflection on myself.

But I guess I'll have to retract my earlier e-mail...turns out that I *do* care about your opinion of me...because that reply really *hurt*.</font>

Such things *do*, and that's one of the points I've always tried to bring home to folks, which is to just remember that the people you're talking to and about are people also, and you shouldn't say things to them that you're not prepared to have someone say to you. I don't think anyone should ever have to curb their opinion, but that's not the same thing as how you present it. We sometimes forget that the people at the other end of the modem, or the indicia page, are people also.

By contrast, if one *does* let fly, one gives up all rights to be offended by the response. Do unto others, as the saying goes.

<font color="red">I apologize for my earlier rudeness.</font>


And I apologize for mine.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

...and everyone gets a hug.

I was thinking "Kumbya", but tried to hold back...

<font face="georgia">Just to follow-up on this...I don't know if I passed along the info in this forum or not, but the sales on Supreme Power #1, which hit stores yesterday, the 6th, have gone over 100,000 which not only puts it in the top five books, but it's the first time (according to Joe Quesada, who knows these things) that a Max book or other imprint mainly aimed at adults has broken 100,000.

And the reviews to this point have been great. It's really hit home in a big way, which is what I was hoping would happen with this one. Several have commented on the sense that they haven't really read a story like this before (including the one at bureau42.com), which was just what I was hoping for.

I just got the pencils in on issues 4 and 5, and the whole thing just holds together so well, and the art is terrific, Gary's doing a great job.

In any event...my thanks to all who picked it up, and we're off on something quite extraordinary, I think, because the issues to come just go from strength to strength. Issue 2 is an absolute kick in the head.

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">On a side note, damn did that thing sell out fast. The only shop I could hit Wednesday on the way to work was out at just a little after noon.
</font>

That's pretty much what I heard from a bunch of other retailers, which is why I really urged folks to get in their orders ahead of time. Last I heard this thing is just, like, *gone*....

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Can a series change producers? Could Jeremiah be picked up from MGM by someone else, and continued? Has this level of shuttling occurred before?</font>

In sequence...yes, yes, and it happens all the time.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">I have no recollection of the B5 actors chronically being forced to wait on the set for JMS to come rushing in with the latest few pages of his scripts. He works (admittedly very long hours) to keep this from happening. He works closely with the studios to know what his deadlines are and he makes those deadlines. </font>

I have this kind of antiquated notion that if someone gives you x-million bucks to make a show, it behooves you to act *responsibly*. So really it's just a matter of being responsible in how you run a show.

As a result, in every season of every show I've run, we always came in under budget, anywhere from $100K to $500K. When I said I'd do that on Jeremiah, they kind of laughed at me, 'cause it was a big show, big names, big production values...we came in about $300K under in year 1, and about $200K under in year 2.

On B5, Crusade and Jeremiah, we never had a forced call on an actor, never had actors waiting around for pages to arrive on stage. We stay 5-6 scripts ahead at all times, so directors can prep efficiently. And in 5 years of B5 plus Crusade, we had maybe 20 days of any serious overtime. On Jeremiah I think we had a total of 18 over two seasons.

Just a matter of being responsible with other people's money.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia">Just to pass along the following info which was put out today in a press release from ibooks/Simon and Schuster. Please forgive the release's rather grandiose phraseology.

jms

-------------------------------
<font color="blue">

iBOOKS PUBLISHES JMS' PROSE WORK
Press Release

He raised the bar for epic science-fiction storytelling on television with his syndicated series Babylon 5, then followed it by elevating the way in which superhero tales are told with his critically acclaimed scripts for Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man and Supreme Power. Now, New York-based publishing house ibooks, inc. is pleased to announce that it has solidified plans with Hugo, Eisner and Emmy award-winning writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski to re-introduce his growing number of fans to some of his earlier works.

October 2003 will see the release of Demon Night, Straczynski's first novel. "What made Demon Night work," says Straczynski in a new afterword written specifically for this edition, "and the reason that it has now been picked up for republication by ibooks, is that I wrote it for myself, out of a love of the form, the genre, and a desire to be entertained by a story told about characters who mattered to me."

Following Demon Night will be Straczynski Unplugged, to be released in April 2004, a collection of published and all-new short stories, including a number of dark tales adapted from his episodes written for the TV series The New Twilight Zone. At press time, release dates for the remaining titles, the horror novel Othersyde and the supernatural-mystery Tribulations, had not been determined.

Demon Night is not ibooks' first encounter with the writer, however: His best-selling comic book series J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars, published by Top Cow Comics, was novelized for ibooks in two volumes by author Arthur Byron Cover. Both volumes are still available from book retailers, with Book 3 to follow after the series reaches its conclusion.

One doesn't have to look far to see just how popular a writer Straczynski has become in recent years. At this year's Comic-Con International: San Diego, Marvel Comics announced that pre-orders for his upcoming Mature Readers series Supreme Power passed the 100,000-copy mark. a new record for retailer orders on a Mature Readers title. He has worked as writer/producer for such series as Murder, She Wrote, Jeremiah and Walker, Texas Ranger, and he has published over 500 articles and numerous short stories for such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Time Inc, Amazing Stories, Penthouse, Writer's Digest, Pulphouse, The Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Twilight Zone Magazine.

Scheduled for release in October 2003, Demon Night is a trade paperback-sized novel retailing for $11.95, available now for ordering through comic shops, book stores, and on-line book retailers (ISBN 0-7434-7522-4).</font>

<hr>

Noted this elsewhere, but just so this is sure to get through...you can now read the first sold-out issue of Supreme Power for free online at:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazi...30815-sp_1.cfm

jms </font>

Noted this elsewhere, but just so this is sure to get through...you can now read the first sold-out issue of Supreme Power for free online at:

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazi...30815-sp_1.cfm

jms

<hr width="25%">
<font color="red">A more important question to ask is: Will JMS finish the series, or will he leave us without closure as he is doing with "Rising Stars".</font>

SP is open-ended it doesn't have a "finish" planned at this time. It could well go on for years.

And I'm not leaving anybody without closure on RS...there are details that have to be worked out with Top Cow. Once they have corrected those things, the book can be finished. It's that simple.

jms

<hr width="25%">
<font color="red">Managed to pick up #1 whilst I was in London over the weekend. When is #2 out?</font>

September 10th.

<font color="red">BTW I think it's really really good!!</font>

Many thanks, I'm quite happy with it.

jms
<hr width="25%">
<font color="red">Does anyone know why "Supreme Power #2" was delayed from the September 3 solicitation to September 10? JMS has already said that the creative team is so far ahead they couldn't cause delays sooner than 2004. Were they trying to spread out the MAX releases, knowing that "Supreme Power" would be the one least affected by a delay, or was there some other logic at work?</font>

Marvel wanted to let retailers have one additional week after the debut of issue 1 so they could evaluate reader interest and increase their orders. We're 'way ahead on scripts, with #6 turned in, and 4 already inked and lettered.

jms

A couple of points on this.

There have been no discussions concerning a return of the Babylon 5 series between myself and WB or any other studio or network. Nor do I think anything is likely in that area.

Jerry took umbrage when, a few years ago, I commented on his statements that he would be able to put togeether a new B5 series deal. From the interview, he still seems to be in high dudgeon over this. But the fact remains: I was correct in my statement, he didn't have the pieces in place to make it happen. If he'd had the wherewithal to make it happen, it would've; it didn't, so he didn't. My statement was correct.

Once again, the pieces simply aren't there. He has lined up a radio guy who feels the show should return. Which is great, it's a terrific compliment. But that is not in any way, manner, shape or form anywhere near anything of a serious nature in terms of getting a show on the air.

I've always been happy to listen to anyone -- Jerry, his pals, anybody -- who would come to me with a serious proposal and have the moxie, the money, and the resources to make it happen. It hasn't. That's the simple fact of it.

Jerry's a terrific operator, he always has an angle going, he's always working it...but that ain't the same thing as always having the real deal in hand. If WB were involved in this -- and they'd have to be -- both Doug and I would be in the loop by contract. But that is not the case. I spoke with Doug five minutes ago as I type this, and he confirmed: there is nothing happening on this front other than Jerry talkling with the radio guy.

As for his notion that the characters in Crusade were just B5 characters with the names changed...as the person who created those characters, nothing could be further from the truth. Nor was Bruce ever set to be the star of Crusade.

There's a natural tendency for people to hear or think what they expect, what they want to hear. I told all the B5 cast members as a group that there would certainly be opportunities for guest appearances throughout Crusade, but at no point did I promise Bruce that he would be the lead of the series, or that we'd simply transplant the characters. It wouldn't be a new series if we did that.

Finally, in his interview, both Jerry and Bruce seem to blame me for B5 not being in its 10th year right now. Which is true and not true. B5 was always meant to be a 5 year story; every actor knew that going in. It wasn't like this was a surprise at the last minute. We all knew the deal.

WB had told us to shut down after year 4 because even though the show was doing well, our network, PTEN, was going out of business. At the last minute, TNT took on the task of financing a fifth year *in order to get the end of the five-year story*. They never talked about anything beyond that, nor did anyone else. So anything else is a moot point. I don't think that TNT would ever have committed to anything more than one season in any event. They wanted the end of the story to make the package complete. If that had been a six-year arc, they would not have picked it up because two years would've been too costly.

So them's is the facts.

Yes, there's one or two things percolating in the B5 universe that may be of interest, but neither of them are series deals.

I hate to throw water on this, but I don't want fans to get all excited about something that's simply not happening anywhere except in Jerry's interview.

He probably won't like that I said this any more than he did the last time, but then as now, I have to put out the facts and let the passage of time validate them.

jms

<hr width="25%">

<font color="red">But then there is the notion (maybe not the fact) that your word at an early stage can make the investors go away: "Joe stated publicly that you don't have all the pieces, so why should I fund it?" Or, worse (and not true based on what you wrote here), "Joe said you didn't have all the pieces, so why would Warner Brothers authorize it?"</font>

One, you make the assumption that WB or anyone else would care what's written in a newsgroup or in an interview. They don't. And wouldn't. WB is also in the money making business. If someone comes to them with the money, wouldn't matter what I said except that I'd look foolish (which I'm okay with, it's happened before). If the money's there, the deal is there; if not, not. The rest is utterly irrelevant.

There are two kinds of people, those who go public about things long before they are even close to reality in order to try and get something going (which almost never works), which gets all the fans heated up about something that's as substantive as gossamer...and those who hold off saying anything until the deal is set and signed, out of respect, conservativism, experience and a desire not to get folks wound up about vague possibilities. I subscribe to the latter. I've very rarely commented on *anything* until I knew it was a reality, or even some time thereafter. The few times I *have* said anything before all the pieces were in place, it almost never came to pass...hence reinforcing lesson #1 above.

jms

<hr width="25%">

<font color="red">So Joe, on the million-to-one shot that JD does have something going with a new Babylon 5 show which would star the original cast members, would you support such a thing? Would you become involved as a producer and/or writer?</font>

I don't tend to engage in speculation.

<font color="red">OK, so now if your answer was "yes" to any of the above questions, then why don't you join forces with JD and try to get another B5 story arc going?</font>

What forces would those be?

If WB were to decide to do more B5, they would do so, they wouldn't need someone from the outside to come in. TV just doesn't work that way.

jms

<hr width="25%">

<font color="red">Do you have any idea where anyone would have gotten the idea that Crusade was supposedly going to be merely a continuation of the stories of the B5 characters? Or is this something that's "just growed," like Topsy, from the irresponsible dropping of vague and unfounded comments by certain actors in interviews?</font>

It's unfathomable to me. I think people just had a tendency to assume this would be the case. Or they saw a certain character and resented it, wondering "why can't that be me?" to the point where it becomes "that was SUPPOSED to be me."

<font color="red">He was convinced that Bruce was supposed to captain the Excalibur (never mind that Sheridan was no longer an Earthforce captain by this point, but president of the Interstellar Alliance), but that you and he had had a "falling out" over his "being fired suddenly after five years," and so you quickly rewrote the role as Gideon instead. I tried to point out to him that no one was fired -- the show _ended_ -- and that the show was only ever _supposed_ to run for five years, and that all of the actors knew that going in. He was sure he had the scoop on some conspiracy that I was just too much of a slavishly devoted fangirl to see. :-p</font>

Okay, let me put the absolute and total lie to this right now.

I've just gone back into my files and dragged out the ORIGINAL TREATMENT for Crusade, the one written while B5 was still in production, BEFORE "A Call to Arms" was ever filmed. The treatment, which was available to WB, Doug, John, and department keys and I know some cast members got their hands on it, was dated 6/16/98 (that date is still on the file datestamp).

I quote from a latter part of the treatment, where the characters are introduced. There are some little variances here and there -- one in particular that I think will surprise some people -- but this was what was written at that time...the very first time I put ANYthing down on paper about Cruade for WB.

One small caveat: I used the terms "infrequently or not at all" primarily because WB was desperate to make sure that this show was different from B5, so the "not at all" part was a nod to that, but the "infrequently" was my planned opening to use the characters from time to time, which was already in the works when the show was pulled.

Quote follows:

--------------------------------------------------

Whether it begins within BABYLON 5 or outside, the CRUSADE pilot movie will start with the Drakh attack, and end with the revelation about the plague. It's important to see this happen in current time, rather than hear about it after the fact. We need to see first-hand what's at stake, and how we got here.

As a result, the pilot will introduce not only our characters, but the full situation and setup for the series to come. Because of the attack and counter-attacks, it will be primarily action-oriented. The focus is not on diplomacy, or negotiations...the focus is nothing less than the very survival of our species, and the acts of heroism that result when our characters stand against terrible and overwhelming odds.

As head of the Rangers, Delenn and Captain John Sheridan give the fleet its mission, and take part in the pilot movie.

After that, once the battle is over and the fleet is on its way, they will appear either infrequently or not at all. CRUSADE will stand on its own, except for possible TNT movie cross-overs.

Let's meet our characters.

CAPTAIN MATTHEW DRAKE, Captain of the Excalibur, the high-tech flagship of the White Star fleet of ships. (The fleet divides into teams to help increase the odds of finding a cure; when they find a possible lead, they call in the Excalibur, wait until it arrives, then they move on to the next destination while the Excalibur does its work.) In his 30s, dark, brooding, attractive, he's a fighter whose own Earthforce ship was destroyed during the initial war with the Drakh. (It wasn't his fault, as we will learn; he was up against impossible odds and barely managed to save his crew at great risk to himself.)


Personally assigned to the Excalibur by Sheridan, this mission represents his chance to redeem himself. Hard-headed and practical, a man of action who doesn't believe in the mysticism practiced by the Minbari and the Rangers; if he can't feel it or taste it, it doesn't exist. A loner whose harsh exterior covers a heart that has been wounded too many times, and now refuses to let anyone near him.

MARCUS COLE, a Ranger established on Babylon 5 during its third and fourth seasons. Energetic, bright, literary, with a poetic quote always at hand when it's needed, and a pike or a PPG rifle when force is needed. Trained equally in martial arts and philosophy. A dashing, romantic figure noted for a cheerfulness that belies something much deeper beneath.

-------------------------------------------------

We had to change Drake to Gideon because of a clearance problem, and obviously the Claudia situation threw a monkey wrench into using the character of Markus, as originally planned.

jms

<hr width="25%">

<font color="red">And presumably Marcus would take the spot that Galen eventually had? Interesting.</font>

No, Galen was in there as well.

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="blue"> I know what "the Claudia" situation was: she wanted a full season's pay for a partial season's work and walked when you and/or WB rightfully refused. </font>

<font color="red">Word was she and/or her agent wanted 4 paid but unworked episodes (~30k). </font>

Just to recap: Claudia, after promising to sign the contract extension, and helping get all the other cast members to do so, chose not to sign after all. Her people (and she) wanted time off to do other projects, a movie in particular. She might need 3-4 eps off.

Fine, said we, so we'll pay her for all the eps in which she appears, and not for the ones in which she doesn't appear. That seemed fair. But they wanted us to commit, in writing, to paying her the full 22 salary for the reduced number of episodes, which would constitute a per-episode increase in salary when all of the other actors, many of whom had favored nations agreements, could not negotiate any such increase. It would, in essence, screw all the other cast members.

We refused. She walked.

jms

<font face="georgia">I just want to drop into this discussion about Fox a hearty plug for Al Franken's new book, Lies and the Lying Liares Who Tell Them. The book is relentlessly researched, and is a massive indictment of some of the falsehoods that have been perpetrated by those with a vested interest in doing so. The section on Fox News is worth the price of admission all by itself.

jms

<hr width="25%">
<font color="red">We're getting our facts from satire? How can I be sure, reading from that genre, that the conclusions aren't hyperbole? The emotion not demagoguery? (I suppose it's better to see that stuff in satire than in some kind of serious book, tho, and we *do* get our best observations from the court jester...)</font>

Actually, though Franken is a satirist, he's also a cogent observer, and more to the point, a relenteless researcher. He knows full well that if he got *anything* wrong, the other side would be all over him in a second. So he (and his graduate class of helpers) went into excruciating detail to get their facts right...which is why they weren't able to go after the Rush book.

It doesn't take much to be able to point to a person making definitive statement A, then to proof positive that A never happened. But it takes a satirist to make us laugh along the way...otherwise there'd be blood in the streets.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Might I suggest Wesley Clark? I wouldn't support him myself, but he's a fair sight more tolerable than most of the Democratic field... one of the only two of the possible democratic candidates who I believe would have a chance of defeating Bush (the other being Howard Dean).</font>

I tend to agree. Dean is, frankly, the only one in the current pack who I think can a) beat Bush and b) has the credentials to do a good job as President. His record shows him as socially liberal in many respects, but financially conservative, which is a good combination. His history of running Vermont shows his strong points, and traditionally governors get nominations and win elections, not senators.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Oh - but there's this: "Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, you'll be able to use public money to send yours kids to General Beauregard Bigot Private Academy, Fundamentalist Football and Frequent Drug Tests. They have these religious schools that teach these kids insanity like the earth is 5,000 years old, where the pope is a demon. I don't want my tax money going to that kind of crap. You can practice religion until you fall out. I don't want to pay for somebody else's bigotry."

So Christians are bigots who want to use tax money to perpetuate that bigotry in their children.</font>

See, you lose arguments when you restate something to make your point that contradicts or flies in the face of what actuallly said.

When you say "So..." and restate it, you add things that were simply never said nor ever intended. Carville was referring to a specific institution, for starters, and adding that he didn't want public money to go to religious schools, which is in line with the separation of church and state.

He didn't say "Christians are bigots who want to use tax money to perpetuate that bigotry in their children." YOU said that in order to set up a straw-man argument. YOU applied it on a broader scale, and YOU were the one who said that Christians as a class were bigots, not Carville.

If you have to twist statements to make your case, you don't HAVE a case.


jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="red">1. What's your favorite word?</font>

Terrific.

<font color="red">2. What's your least favorite word?</font>

Goodbye.

<font color="red">3. What sound or noise do you love?</font>

Water.

<font color="red">4. What sound or noise do you hate?</font>

Leaf blowers.

<font color="red">5. What turns you on?</font>

A sharp wit.

<font color="red">6. What turns you off?</font>

Being patronized.

<font color="red">7. What's your favorite curse (word)?</font>

Fuck.

<font color="red">8. What profession other than your own would you like to try?</font>

Musician.

<font color="red">9. What profession would you NEVER like to do?</font>

CPA.

<font color="red">10. IF there is a heaven, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive?</font>

"Okay, your turn."


jms
</font>

<font face="georgia">
So there's a response on filmforce.ign.com from Jerry to the discussion that took place here about his statements on that system that he was putting together a follow-up to B5 as a series. I thought I'd repost what I just sent to the folks who posted his reply, as well as Jerry's comments, unaltered.

My comments are prefaced by the > character
<font color="blue" size="-2">[changed Joe's comments to italics...Wizz]</font>


---------------------------------------

To quote from the note from Jerry, and respond.

I'm not one for chat rooms or newsgroups, but this was brought to my attention by numerous people, and here's my response

F*** Joe and his typical controlling bull****.

Well, at least we've defined the terms of the discussion.

I guess Doug Netter hasn't been talking to me or the "radio guy" or whoever.

Doug returned Jerry's call, yes. We do that when our cast members call. But to my knowledge there have been no talks between Doug and the "radio guy." Which is exactly what I'd said.

I guess Doug didn't send demographics and related data to the "radio guy".

Jerry asked us to send information, information was sent. That doesn't have anything to do with anything that I said in my notes on the newsgroup.

I guess Doug is lying when he told me he's had conversations with the "radio guy" and that Joe already has some ideas on paper.

It's clear that someone has their wires crossed, yes. But to go back to what I'd said: if someone has the clout to make a deal, I'm here to talk to them, which again is what I'd said. But no one has yet come to either Doug or myself with anything close to that. I've never done any work based on some guy in Chicago who thinks he can make something happen with Jerry.

I guess I didn't fly out to Chicago to meet with the "radio guy" in the middle of August.

I never said he didn't. What Jerry does or doesn't do on his own time, with his own dime, is Jerry's business. This is a case of Jerry defending himself from an accusation that I never made. All I've ever said is that nobody has yet come to us with anything resembling a deal, or shown the potential to make a deal happen.

Oh by the way, the "radio guy", he's the NUMBER ONE syndicator in the country and has strong ties to the head of Fox. I guess that's something else I made up.

Again, this has nothing to do with what was said. I didn't say this guy wasn't a syndicator of any level, and never said he didn't have ties to Fox. So once more Jerry is setting up a straw man argument to defend something that was simply never implied or stated.

Joe can say what he wants. He can spout his crap about how "he's the man" around which all things B5 spin.

Well, yeah, I did create the series, executive produce it, write 91 out of 110 episodes, and I do control many of the rights. And no deal can go forward without my involvement. By contract, if it doesn't happen with me, it doesn't happen. I still don't see what that has to do with anything, however.

At least I'm still trying to bring back what should never have been taken off the air. The fans deserve the show.

I've never said anything to the contrary. I've said, and I'll say it again here, that I'll listen to anybody who has the wherewithal to put a deal together. So far that hasn't happened, despite Jerry's pronouncements. I pointed that fact out. That is the only fact that Jerry hasn't dealt with here, apparently finding it easier to respond to things I didn't say than to things I did say, which is odd, but there you go.

Joe's ego deserves a much bigger person.

Some things deserve a response, some things don't. This is one of the latter. He hasn't refuted anything I said, which was that Jerry has talked a lot about a lot of prospects, but to date none of them have materialized. If I were wrong, then something would have been put forward. That's simply a statement of fact, ego has nothing to do with it.

Feel free to post this from where it came. I'm tired of all the bull****.

I'm glad that Jerry has taken this opportunity to vent. Clearly, he misses the show and wants it to come back. We all miss the show. But at the same time, it's not fair to the fans that Jerry mentions to get people excited about something that doesn't exist. I'm glad that he is trying to get things going, for himself and with others, but talking about things doesn't make them so, and pointing this out is not inappropriate when, based on those statements, I find my email box filled with inquiries about things that simply aren't happening. I've worked with the online community for ten years now, talking about B5 and being painfully honest about what's going on.

If there were something going on involving a return of the series that was real, I'd be the first person to talk about it and let people know. But there isn't. I have to be honest with people, because I have ten years worth of reputation and credibility with the fans to protect. I see that Jerry doesn't like that, but I can't change that now because he's offended. And again, at the end of the day, it comes down to this: Jerry says he's got something going that's real. If he does, and makes it happen, then I look like a fool, which I'm okay with, it wouldn't be the first time. Then he's right to be offended. If he doesn't, and he can't...then on what possible basis can one be offended?

Just a thought or two for anyone looking on.

Joe Straczynski
jms

<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">I'm not so sure I agree with you here Joe. I have seen more than one show revived from the dead by viewer voice. Maybe getting a lot of people excited about it and writing in to the powers that be is the answer.</font>

This is to an extent true, though fan campaigns have kind of been devalued with the studios over the years because it seems that almost any show can get such a campaign going.

That issue aside...the situation here is that there *is* no big Bring Back B5 campaign going on, because the series was meant as a five year series, minus any sideline ventures into MOWs and the like. Nor was this any part of what Jerry was talking about. Just FYI.

jms

<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">There was a cute story JMS told about how, while writing the scene where Lyta and Byron make love he paused and wrote (paraphrased) "I wonder which is more embarrassing, writing this or reading it?". Several years later (and long after I'd've thought I'd forgotten the story) I read the script and there it was. Joe could have easily been forgiven if he'd made up that story but he hadn't-it was true. </font>

I'd totally forgotten about that until you posted it here. Which is probably one of the big reasons I don't tend to stretch the truth as a rule...to be an effective fibber, you really need a good memory, and I don't have one.

(Funny aside about that scene...I made it clear, to protect Pat's privacy during the love making scene, that it be a closed set, only essential camera crew, nobody else. It's just something you do to be respectful, since there would be a lot of skin flashing. Even I would not be on set out of a desire for her privacy. So I'm out at editing that day, and come back to find that, during that scene, Doug had brought some studio guys and financing guys by for a set tour...and walked them right in on this. Suffice to say words were spoken.)

jms
</font>
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

I know I've gone to ground a bit lately, so I thought I'd pop out with some bits and pieces for folks. (One of the reasons I've gone quiet is that I've undergone a bunch of little surgeries, including some dental work from hell, but the majority of that is done now so I'm well on the mend. I won't go into the surgeries, but suffice to say from now on I shall be known as Dorothy.

(Now let's see who actually falls for that one.)

Meanwhile, I'm in the midst of pitching new shows and picking up projects. There's some interesting possibilities in the works, about which more when they go from possibilities to realities.

In terms of what's coming up...ibooks/Simon and Schuster has put up the solicitation for the first of my novels they're going to be reprinting, starting with Demon Night. You can check out the book at

http://ibooksinc.com/catalog/htm/sci...ski_j_info.htm

And for those who've been wagering on this...I've decided to keep Buddy. The problem isn't so much that I've bonded to him, though I have, as he's utterly imprinted on me as the guy who saved his life and he just goes nuts when I'm gone. (It's a great scam, and he plays his part well.) So Buddy the Miracle Cat (or Buddy TMC as he's known to his rap friends) is here to stay.

The second season of Jeremiah will debut on Showtime on October 10th at 10:00 p.m. (a much better time slot than 10:45) with "Letters from the Other Side, Part One," and I commend you to this season whole-heartedly. I think it's stronger than the previous season. There's more of a clean through-line to the story, less in the way of stand-alones, there are a lot of changes awaiting our characters, and the show looks great. Of the 15 episodes this season I wrote 13, so there's a real sense of continuity there. And this year we're joined by Sean Astin, currently appearing in the Lord of the Rings movies.

(As stated, I've opted not to return if there's a third season, but a) that has nothing to do with the quality of this season, which is terrific, and b) what some people, from the postings I've seen, don't seem to quite get is that this is more the norm than not. Lots of people come on, create a show, get it up and running, and either leave after the first season or the second, sometimes even just launching the show and moving away in the first season. That's the nature of TV. You generally do a couple of years here and a couple of years there. There are exceptions to this of course, situations where creators opt to stick around for the duration, but in most cases people move on. So this ain't a big deal.)

To the many questions that have arisen here of late...yes, as I mentioned before, there is the possibility of something Babylon 5 related on the horizon, but again I don't want anyone getting excited until we know if either one of these two projects is going to actually come to fruition. We should know where this lands in the next few weeks. The only thing I will say is that they're not print projects, so if you were to assume it's for TV or film you wouldn't be too far off...but that neither of them are series. And that's all I'm going to say about them for now.

On the comics front....

The next Supreme Power, issue 3, comes out in a few weeks, either the 1st or the 8th of October. There's a preview at:

http://www.popcultureshock.com/reviews.php?id=2474

The cover for SP 4 is at --

http://www.comicbookresources.com/ne...ME_POWER_4.jpg

-- and there's a funny in-joke on the cover for issue 5 of SP, which you can find at:

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori...remepower5.htm

And no, I didn't know about this until I saw it on the net.

The latest Spidey, part two of the three-part arc leading to issue 500, hit the stores on Wednesday last, and the coming finale is 38 pages of story with a guest series of pencils by John Romita Sr. as well as the inimitable JR JR.

(Having gotten a bit ahead on Spidey and well ahead on SP -- #2 just came out and I'm about to turn in the script for #7 -- I'm in talks with Marvel to do a new title for them, so we'll see how that turns out.)

I *think* that's it for now...as always, I'll probably remember something else ten seconds after sending this, but I'm pretty sure that's all the news that's fit to print.


jms
<br width="50%">
Re: Attn JMS: rumor of new B5 project from Jason Carter

I spoke to Doug about this today, and he indicated to me that this conversation never happened. It's either a misstatement from Jason or an inaccurate fan rumor.

jms
<br width="50%">

<font color="red">Did you know Amazon has a page up for 'Straczynski Unplugged'? Check out..

http://tinyurl.com/owa2 </font>

No, I didn't know they'd already begun taking orders on that one.

<font color="red">...and if you have *any* idea what's supposed to be depicted on the cover, could you let us know? </font>

I think it's my lower intestinal tract after finishing Jeremiah year 2.

<font color="red"> How goes the rest of your project with the feral cats?</font>

All the kittens have found homes, and the remaining adults have all been spayed and neutered and are living comfortably in the back yard.

<font color="red">Any chance you can give us more info on definite titles and short blurbs for each? Should we all get physicals before this starts to make sure our hearts can stand it? </font>

At this point, with the show's debut so near, best to just let the show speak for itself. But it's pretty cool, I have to say.

jms
<br width="50%">
<font color="red">Not to push for information that is really none of my business, but is the parting going to be, err, amicable?</font>

No, really, be serious now, what's your question?

jms</font>
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia">Re: Rising Stars Comic
<font color="red">Has anyone heard any updates on this? I have not seen any on JMS's website, but I know sometimes people here have access to information. Supreme Power is definitely filling a void, but we need closure on The Specials!</font>

I've asked Top Cow for three things: for Dream Police back, since they've had it now for 3 years and have done nothing with it...for confirmation that the Joe's Comics title belongs to me, and for an apology for deliberately keeping me out of the loop on my own project at the feature stage and misleading me about drafts that had come in.

Once those three things have been attended to, I can finish the series.


jms
</font>
([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

For Any of those who don't make it SpecVision, ZimNova posted the following over there:

This just in from the moderated newsgroups.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jms at B5"
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2003 5:34 AM
Subject: Re: attn. JMS: Update?

...
On the B5 front, there has been something of rather substantial proportion that's finally gone from talk to money, such that I'm now working frantically to meet some deadlines, but there's nothing I can say about this until after January 15th, probably closer to the end of that month.

The only thing I can say is that phase one of the new project is a go, hence the furious writing schedule at this end of things, which is why I've been silent until deciding to kick up some dust on the political discusion. I've been writing my little brains out.

I know the immediate result of this will be speculation, but if we could keep that to a low roar on the nets to avoid precluding anything, that would be a wonderfulness. But trust me: I wouldn't go on about something in this way if it wasn't a significant development. Just trust me on this one for a bit and hold fire until further word.

(Longtime followers of the various news groups know that an eep means that something significant has happened, but that I can't talk about it...the eep is just a way of saying, on the QT, that something has, indeed, happened and it's real, not just speculation or maybe-gonna-happens. So on that basis, you may consider this an eep.)

And on the topic of fans for a moment...I'm happy to mention that we've included a thanks to Steve Grimm (Lurker's Guide) and our resident moderator Jay Denebeim on the Season 5 DVD. Just a way of saying thanks for years of help and support.

Oh, yeah...and next year you can expect two new DVD sets that a) include all of the TV movies in one package with commentaries from me on "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning" and b) package all 13 of the Crusade episodes into one box.

jms ([email protected])
all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd., permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine and don't send me story ideas.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Is this great news or what on top of the recent announcment of the 4 hour Farscape mini-series set to start production in Oz this month?

Also in the Sci-Fi great news dept. Firefly is coming out on DVD with three not shown episodes. They are also making a Firefly movie! [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">What a weekend! Does all movies include B5LR by the way?</font>

Not in the big set, no...that will be a separate DVD since it's really not a part of what comprised the original B5 movies.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">What about "A Call to Arms"? Will that go with the movies, or with the Crusade set?</font>

That will be in the set.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Assuming they don't need a fluffer, I can do rights and clearances...</font>

And suddenly the conversation, which had been going along quite nicely, took a dark and ominous turn....

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ December 07, 2003 08:08 PM: Message edited by: Wizz ]</font>

OK ... "Assuming they don't need a fluffer, I can do rights and clearances...

What does that mean?

Nommy, I can only answer the first part. A "Fluffer" is used primarily on sets where XXX rated movies are being made. They have the needed "skills" to get the actor/actress physically prepared visually for subsequent takes such that the action looks spontaneous. It's hard to make a XXX movie like that when things are flacid.

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">So, just wondering what your opinion is on the trilogy taken as a whole? If seen as the one picture it sorta is, do the first and third parts make up for the middle, or does Two Towers drag the whole package down?</font>

There's a story about an old woman who's walking her five year old grandson along the beach one day, and a huge wave comes up out of nowhere and just sweeps the kid out to sea, disappearing.

The grandmother is frantic, pleads with god to give her back her grandson, just bring him back and she'll never ask for anything again.

Suddenly there's another huge wave, and bang, the kid is deposited at her feet, safe and sound.

She embraces the boy, hugs and kisses him, then looks up at the sky and says, "He had a hat."

To overly criticize the second part is pretty much along the lines of, "He had a hat."

That the LoTR adaptation has been done this well, or even half this well, is a boon to everyone who's ever been a fan of the books. Is the middle perfect? No, there are some bits I'll always kind of fast forward through...but where was it written that it had to be perfect? Perfect, to be honet, is the enemy of good.

Part two is quite good. Parts one and three are wildly sensational. And, to be honest again, if you're watching 10 hours of a story, you or the story are inevitably going to fade a bit toward the middle.

No, on balance, I think that the LoTR films will stand the test of time as a true classic, whose importance will only grow as years pass. It really represents, more than the Star Wars films -- which have sadly fallen by the wayside creatively -- the Everest of films in this genre, and it's certainly to be considered one of the major edifices outside the genre as well.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">When a showrunner leaves, I assume that said shows owners hold all the rights to any outlines/arcs/etc.. you may have provided to them or written during your employment with them. </font>

Yes and no. They own what they pay for, meaning scripts and, if commissiond, a bible. Generally they don't pay for notes, memos, sketches, that sort of thing...though on the other hand, one could make the argument that it's all done during the term of employment. I don't know if this has ever been tested. Either way, if they were to base a story on one's notes, there would have to be separate story payments per WGA.

<font color="red">And so do they have any info in regards to where you wanted to take the show after season 2?</font>

No. Studios are remarkably short-sighted as a rule; they only want to see what's in the pipeline for that season. In the case of Jeremiah, I did not write any notes for after season 2, which is actually pretty much pro forma, B5 being the exception to the rule. You have it in your head, but that's it.

<font color="red">Regardless of what's been left behind for them to try to work with, would you have any interest or desire in letting the new showrunners in on any of your ideas? </font>

No. Nor would I think they would want them. MGM would take the show in a vastly different direction, such that any thoughts I would have had would no longer apply.

Emblematic of some of the studio's notions is a call made by the studio to my casting director, stating -- of the paucity of babes -- "I don't care if she can act, I want her cute."

<font color="red">Would you consider being hired on as a consultant to the show if asked?</font>


If there were a third season, the studio would have to pay me a consultancy fee but there would be no requirement to actually consult.

jms
<hr width="50%">
<font color="red">Another Charlie Brown moment: Oh Good Grief! Isn't there some kind of protocol, though, who the studio should be making calls to/giving notes? I'd've thought that sort of direction should only be given to the Producer level at the lowest?</font>

Yup. Therein lay the silhouette of the problem.

...fee but there would be no requirement to actually consult.
<font color="red">Ignorant question here: Why? </font>

A very well written contract.

<font color="red">Must say, Joe, that this second season is just wonderful.
</font>

Thanks, I think it came out really well.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Makes a lot of sense if you've got any intelligence at all: Selling 10 books at $4.95 is $49.50 as opposed to 2 books at $4.95 is only $9.90. Simple math. Stretch the story out and you'll make more money, unless you screw over the audience and put out crap. Which is the whole point. If Joemovie doesn't like the way Marvel takes a 2 issue arc and makes it into 10, then simply don't buy the books.</font>

I'm sorry, but as everyone else here has pointed out, your math simply doesn't work.

On ASM, they collect together about every six issues for graphic novels. Doesn't matter if I do one, two, three, four, five or six issue arcs, the size of the GN is the same. More to the point, the people who buy ASM are the people who buy ASM. Every month it sells about the same number of books, give or take. We're pretty consistent. Writing big arcs doesn't make Marvel any more money than small arcs. Or no arcs.

And, in truth, I get yelled at no matter *what* I do on arc stuff. If I do a three-issue arc, I get yelled at for padding...if I do a one-issue stand-alone, I get yelled at for writing "filler."

But understand, straight from the horse's mouth (or the opposite end if you're so inclined)... there is no pressure to do any length in my story arcs, they let me tell the stories at the pace I feel works best for the structure. And there is no more money made by Marvel if I do a long arc as opposed to a short one. Zip. The sales are the sales, the GNs are the GNs.

<font color="red">DC and Marvel are both guilty of this practice. Granted, some writers take longer to get the story out, JMS being one of them, but the publishers have a great deal of say in this sort of thing.</font>

Again, they haven't said boo to me on this thing. Not once.

Finally, as for Supreme Power...I gave everybody fair warning in every interview I did on this book: it's not going to be a conventional book, it's not going to be plot driven, its going to be a strong character story and it's going to develop over time into something extremely intense. There's some serious action coming up very soon, but it's not aimed at stopping Doctor Destructo before he can unleash his Whammo ray and turn Chicago into gold so he can clean up. It ain't that kind of book. It's kind of an experiment, which is why it's under the Max label. Some dig it, some don't, no harm, no foul.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Supreme Power is great too. The problem with Amazing Spider-man, possibly due to the nature of the book, is it's so often unambitious.</font>

I always try to break up criticism into fair and unfair, productive and counter-productive, and I think that's a fair criticism. When I came onto the book, it had been angst ridden and kind of a downer for so long that one of the things I wanted to do was make it a fun book, the kind of book you feel good about reading.

Of course, the trouble with this is that it necessitates less ambitious stories because you only get the big stories by putting your character up a tree and throwing really big rocks at him.

Having said that, though, I think I'm nearing the limit of what I can handle on primarily fun stories...I think it's about time to start throwing rocks at him again.

We all come up snake-eyes sooner or later, y'know....

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Also, a friend of mine has refused to read comics for years. I convinced her to read the first issue by appealling to her "Babylon 5" fandom, and she's hooked. (In fact, she's debating whether to buy the trade paperbacks, or hold out for the hardcovers.)</font>

....there's gonna be hardcovers?

One other thing on Supreme Power...if you remember the original miniseries that Mark did, he had Hyperion undertaking a fairly massive endeavor to try and set the world to rights (as he saw it, at least, which put him at odds with others). Mark took kind of a plot oriented approach to getting him to that point.

Without tipping my hand too much...I wanted to try a different way of getting someone to a point like that. He's going to make some very bad decisions down the road, but I want that road to be absolutely plausible and understandable. If you know where Hyperion came from, and what he has gone though, you come away with full understanding of why he might do what he might do. I want readers to be able to go deeper inside Hyperion's mind than in any other book, to have an intimate familiarity with his background and how it will affect his actions.

Ironically, in so doing, I made a decision early on not to do any interior dialogue or monologue. You never hear his thoughts, ever. (The one sort-of exception I made was when he dives into the water looking for his folks, and you hear "mom? dad?" and it could be a thought or spoken.) In this way, you keep what he's really thinking a mystery...and that makes him a bit more ominous, I think. You don't really know how much he knows, or suspects, of what's going on around him, and how he's being used.

It's a challenging book to write, but I'm really quite happy with the result.

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="green">Isn't Chicago GOOD enough to be attacked by Doc Destructo to be turned into gold?</font>

<font color="red">No, of course not. What was I thinking, obviously the higher-ups at Marvel in association with the Masons, under leadership of the UN, getting their marching orders from the Illuminatti, in thrall to their Martian alien pupper masters have deem only blessed New York City is *worthy* of being stomped on by international, interplanetary, interstellar, intergalactic, or even interdimensional archvillains!</font>

(considers this for a moment)

Yeah, that's about right.

jms
<hr width="75%">

...there's gonna be hardcovers?

<font color="red">Amazon.com says the first is due in November. </font>

....it's on Amazon.com...?

I've GOT to start going to staff meetings.

jms
<hr width="50%">

...there's gonna be hardcovers?

<font color="red">Amazon.com says the first is due in November.</font>

Where? I just checked, and couldn't find anything.

jms</font>

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red"><a href=http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y3CA21CE6>Hardcover</a>

I didn't have any trouble finding it. Did a search for "Supreme Power" in Books and it popped right up.</font>


Hunh...for some reason, it didn't show up when I did the same, but the link works. It's a conspiracy, I tell you, a onspiracy....


jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia">For S5 I did commentaries on The Fall of Centauri Prime and Sleeping in Light. The latter was the hardest, since it was the first time I'd seen the episode since it aired. (I just couldn't, it was too hard.)

I should have done so, though, because when we got to B5's destruction, I'm ashamed to admit that my voice broke, it just hit me so hard. After we were done, i wanted to go back and do it again, to fix that, which I thought was unprofessional, but the WB boys prevailed upon me to leave it alone. I just hope it doesn't come across as dumb or something.

jms
<hr width="75%">
For those who've been inquiring about the latest on Buddy....

Well, I've finally answered one of the questions I've had about the whole of the Boo clan (named for the first cat adopted out of this group, Boo, the cat with one blue eye and one green eye). I suspected that one of the two progenitors of this group was a siamese, givens some of the markings, a suspicion recently confirmed when one came out with all the siamese recessive genes....

And now Buddy, the king of the recessive genes, has answered the other half of that question. The other progenitor was a Maine coon cat...which is what he is, in spades.

Maine coon cats are big, very funny, very predatory (in a cute way) cats that can get to be 25 pounds or better. Not only does Buddy have all the markings, inclusive of the big sweeping tail that's as long as he is...at 8 months he is already 12 pounds without an ounce of fat there anywhere. By the time he finishes growing -- and Maine coon cats can grow into their third year -- he will be big enough to have his own zip code.

I have let a furred Godzilla into my home.

They are also known as the clowns of the cat species...as evidenced pretty much every day, inclusive of the day he found the bag of plastic peanuts, rolled around in same, until static electricity had covered him nose to tail in phosphorescent green styrofoam peanuts until you couldn't see a trace of fur...and went parading around the house as proud as if he'd just discovered radium (which, given the green color, seemed about right). I scraped them off, and they kept flying back onto him drawn by the static, but finally got them all off...he ran off...I turned around...and he had done exactly the same thing again. This time the pursuit went all over the house, leaving little bits of peanut over every square inch.

He doesn't meow, he chirrups and trills, Maine coon traits. So he wanders the house, just talking to himself all day. I think he's worried about the economy, but I'm not sure.

He's also the poster child for attempted suicide. Leaving out how he was found, every day he does something to elicit a shriek of horror from me. In a ten minute span of time, for instance, he went from trying to chew through a power cord at the socket (sticking his claws into the open socket below for leverage), to wrapping the mouse cord under my desk around his neck like a noose, and finally, when chased out of my office, I looked out to find him sticking his paw into the toaster.

It's like that every day with him. Every. Day.

I don't know where he came from, but he does seem in an awful big hurry to get back there. Whether he or I survive this process only the universe knows.

If anyone sees a mushroom cloud rising from the Los Angeles area someday, you will know that Buddy finally hit the big time....

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">I wonder: do the folks that do those short teasers/trailers for B5 add their own special effects?

I'm going through the B5 series for the very first time, watching it on DVD (US version). Season 2's 7th episode ("A Race Through Dark Places") starts with Bester interrogating a prisoner. The trailer for that episode shows a bit of that scene, the difference being that in the trailer Bester's hand has this cheesy red glow meant to "illustrate" his telepathic power. That is NOT in the show itself, at least not on the DVD. I realize that the people doing the teasers take liberties, but it seems strange to me that they would try to "improve" on the program with their own effects.</font>

Seemed pretty weird to me at the time, too.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

I read (in Dreamwatch, I think) that JMS came to terms with Top Cow and that Rising Stars will soon be finished...

Found this on the newsgroup around Nov. 30th...Wizz

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">I was reading in another post that somebody was saying that they'd read that the Rising Stars matter with Top Cow had been resolved. Is this true?</font>

Yes. There were a number of conditions set before Top Cow in order to resolve this, and those conditions were met. So the final three scripts will be turned in by late January/early February, and the ising Stars story will be complete.

jms</font>

Hi Wizz,

Sorry to steal your thunder, but, I thought this was too important not to post right away.

(From B5LotR official site):
-----------------------------------------------
Here's JMS' latest post--enjoy!

It's taken longer than hoped for to be able to talk about this, because it's
taken longer than hoped for to go through all the machinations of the deal.
Depending on the nature of a given deal, it can take a few weeks to a couple,
three months to actually cut the deal and finalize the language in terms
everybody can agree with. We only literally finished the deal last week.

Writing on B5:TMoS is complete, and as soon as the powers that be sign off on
everything, it can be turned in and we can start moving. At that point, I can
say more about this.

Figure another couple of weeks.

jms
-----------------------------------------

Speculation seems to running wild as to the initials, which JMS apparently did on purpose, just to make us salivate and theorize a little longer

Very Cool! Thanks Bird Brain! [img]smile.gif[/img]

No problem, Sindatur...none at all. Sometimes I think I'm a one-man band, but that's ok too. (I do miss Lyta, though...)

<hr width="100%">
<font face="georgia">

Writing on B5:TMoS is complete, and as soon as the powers that be sign off on everything, it can be turned in and we can start moving. At that point, I can say more about this.

Figure another couple of weeks.


Just to honk you off even further about all this...in the speculation of titles...one of you was correct.

jms

[Just so you know, JMS hasn't released the title yet, so the best we have so far is B5:TMoS and a bunch of guesses as to what it is from a bunch of posters in the newsgroups - Wizz]
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">In your mind, is the story told when you've finished writing it, when you've finished filming (or revising in the case of print) or once the audience gets it?</font>

It's told once I've finished writing it. It's experienced later, and my job between the two points it to make sure it doesn't get screwed up.

jms
<hr width="75%">
<font color="red">Probably a rumor....

But was told that a) Uncanny is not being rebooted with a new #1 and b) Straczynski was going to take on Uncanny X-Men.

And even more important he was going in own direction seperate from Morrison and Clairmont, where Clairmont could meet his vision but in no way shape or form would make an effort to match Clairmont's vision.

So its a rumor. I have no proof. But was curious if anyone heard more..and more important who is the next major writer of Uncanny? (and yes I heard Whedon but I roll my eyes at that one).</font>

Nope, nope, and not to put too fine a point on it...nope.

jms

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">Of course not. The point to my post in context, which you reaffirm above, was that business decisions in the entertainment industry are always made on percieved notions of quality.

Sometimes they are right, and a project is mercifully stuffed. Sometimes they are wrong, and a worthy project is not given its due.
My point stands.</font>

Your point could not possibly be more incorrect.

Movies are green-lit because the studios think they can make money from it. Period. If it's a quality movie, great, but that's secondary to: will we get a profit out of it? Frankly, it's *harder* to ge a quality movie made these days than ever. It took "Secondhand Lions" ten years to get made, as just one recent example.

But commercial movies that can get cranked out and pull in the money, regardless of the actual quality of the product, are simplest of all to put forth. Freddy vs. Jason, Alien vs. Predator, the last couple of Batman movies...80% of what gets pumped out to movie theaters is awful. What we remember are the stellar 20%, but those are the ones that were hardest to get going, that took years and blood and shouting to get made...but for which everyone subsequently takes full credit.

Your assumption, and the truth, dine at totally separate tables.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

OK, Its been 2 weeks.. I still say that TMoS is "The
Mark of Shadows"

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ February 22, 2004 04:07 PM: Message edited by: Nommy ]</font>

<font face="georgia">Y'know, if there's anything more annoying than having to sit on good news, I can't think of what it might be. (Well, okay, being staked to an ant hill at high noon is a pretty obvious one, but you get the idea.)

The only things I can say right now about B5:TMoS is that now that all the correct agreements have been signed, sealed and delivered, the draft has gone in, met with great enthusiasm all around, notes have been received, and the next draft is in process and has to be delievered within two weeks so that certain other steps can be set into motion.

I still can't tell you what it *is* because that has to come from the proper people through the proper channels at the proper time...but I can tell you a few cases of what it *isn't*...it isn't a novel, or a short story, a comic, an animated series, a radio drama or a stage play. Beyond that, deponent sayeth not.

Except to say that it's pretty cool.

On a side-note...for those following the Suprme Power books...as good as the series has been to date, and selling in the top 15 pretty consistently, the next two issues, 8 and 9, the first of which goes on sale March 3rd, are going to put this book on the map in a big way. They're just stellar issues. If you haven't gotten into the book yet, now (or backtracking to issue 7, the start of the new arc) would be a good time to do so, because it's going to start kicking some serious ass.


jms</font>

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

OK OK OK OK OK OK I aM GETTING so frustrated! KARINA! HELP!

A new cryptic clue:

Subject: quick note
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Date: 3/19/04 9:01 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

The trade paperback containing the first six issues of Supreme Power hit the
stands this past week, for those who want to jump on.

Oh...and starting around the Ides of May, look to the wrong side of the river
for word from Harry, Jack and Albert.

Not that I'm enjoying this, of course....
jms

Popular consensus is that Harry Jack and Albert are Warner Bros. Executives, Ides of May is obvious (May 15, or thereabouts). Wrong side of the river is highly contested, but, in Mid May the Networks announce their Fall Season and start selling air time and New York is apparently known as being on the wrong side of the river if you are from New Jersey, which JMS is.

So, it may mean, Warner Bros. is making an announcement in Mid-May in New York, during the convention when they all announce their Fall Schedules, and sell advertising time.

That would be my take on the cryptic message also. Atleast we have a solid dat to look foward to. YEah, right.

Obviously there was not an announcement on April 15th.