The Ship Has Landed

It's happening again.

I'm shipping!

No, that's not a reference to Fedex. It means I'm in love with a fake TV couple --

OLICITY! (That's Oliver and Felicity from The CW drama Arrow.)

For the uninitiated, "shipping" is an online slang term that describes the act of obsessing over the potential romance between two fictional TV characters. It's a term that's exclusive to the television fan community, because only in television can a romance be dragged out for years before resolving. (Alas, in real life, this happens all the time...)

In some cases, the ship is built into the DNA of the series. Take Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the show that introduced me to notion of shipping - everyone expected Lois' fixation on Superman, but it was the slow-moving romance between Lois and Clark that kept the fans watching.

In the case of Arrow, the ship happened accidentally. Felicity Smoak, played with nerdy delight by Emily Bett Rickards, was a one-episode guest star, written in to further the B plot of Walter Steele investigating his wife. Her character showed up a few more times opposite Oliver, the Arrow himself, and their chemistry was undeniable. They started to have more and more scenes together as Season 1 progressed.

And look who's standing right behind the Arrow on the poster for Season 2 --

That's right - Felicity Smoak.

Think about that - from a one-episode guest star to the female series lead! This is the power of the ship.

As a television writer, I'm always mindful of establishing good ship because I know it can feed a engaged fan base. What would Castle have been without the delicious banter and sexual tension between the two leads? Or LOST without the Kate/Jack/Sawyer love triangle? And I still think the complete lack of ship is a big reason why fans couldn't get interested in Alcatraz - no ship, no viewers!

So while I'm developing my next original television pilot and creating a romance that I hope will be ship-worthy, I'm indulging in my Olicity fantasies.

And how do writers indulge their fantasies? By writing about them, of course! Here's my first Olicity fan fiction - enjoy!

His Eyes by LoisMITx

Hugs at the Husbands Premiere

I love a good comedy.

I also love the gays.

So of course I'm ridiculously drawn to Husbands, the comedy Web series created, written, and produced by Jane Espenson and Brad Bell.

For the uninitiated, Husbands is about...husbands. (Duh.) Your classic opposites attract sitcom set-up - free-spirited gay drunk marries buff, athletic gay. And hilarity ensues.

Check out the first episode of Season 2 --



Joss Whedon cameo for the win!

When I heard there would be a standby line for the Husbands Season 3 premiere, I had to bring my fangirl self out for the night. The event was held at the Paley Center for the Media in Beverly Hills.

Lots of costumes from the world of television in the lobby, including this collection of t-shirts. Recognize any?

My poor iPhone camera clearly couldn't handle the excitement. Here's me on the step and repeat --

And in the screening room --

The screening was everything I hoped it would be and more. The new episodes really ups the ante in a beautiful way. More guest stars, more hilarity, more emotion. Season 3 will be shown one episode at a time on CW Seed, the CW's new online video venture. But we got to watch the entire season - score!

The post-screening reception started with a cocktail, of course --

The fans had sent a cake for the premiere. How awesome is this?

Met the lovely Amy Acker, who guest stars in the first part of Season 3. Gushed a little about how much I loved her Beatrice in Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing. Okay, maybe a lot.

Watched as Brad Bell (aka Cheeks) tried Google Glass for the first time --

Then got to say a proper hello and congratulations to him and Jane. We've chatted a few times since meeting at a WGA event. As always, they were lovely, classy, generous people. I hope to work with them both someday soon!

Watch Husbands on CW Seed now!

The Hump Day Update: Mid-Summer Edition

My summer days have been anything but lazy! Here's an update on what's keeping me unseasonably busy --

• June was mostly spent in the throes of pre-producion for Early Retirement as well as stunt training --

But then, for a variety of reasons, we decided to postpone the shoot to October. I promptly started eating carbs again. I missed pizza - sue me. Pre-production continues - training will resume next month...

• The big writing project drawing my focus has been developing a new series with a big-time film producer. Can't really talk about it yet, but here's a hint --

Not much of a hint, but like I said, I can't talk about it yet!

• Jamming on my sci-fi romance novel - more than 13,000 words so far! Writing this story has been a delicious journey, particularly because of the leading men inspirations that have been swimming in my imagination. These guys are in my dreams anyway --

• Wrapped up a truly enjoyable first year of volunteering with WriteGirl at their Season End Celebration at the Writers Guild Theater. I spent most of the event wrangling the celebrity guest readers, though I was able to watch my mentee read her awesome poem. Go M!

And of course I posed for a silly picture in front of the step-and-repeat --

• I indulged my inner NPR nerd by attending a live taping of A Prairie Home Companion at The Greek Theater. My first time at the Greek! Clean, hearty, good-natured fun with special appearances by Paula Poundstone, Martin Sheen, and Lily Tomlin.

I was particularly taken by songs by Colin Hay, the former lead singer of Men at Work. His voice was still a powerhouse and his acoustic version of "Overkill" was just incredible. It sounded something like this --


Thanks to Goldstar for such fantastic seats!

(I went back to the Greek a week later to see Barry Manilow and screamed my head off. But we won't talk about that here...)

• And ICYMI, I have a new demo reel!

Mining For Story Gold

So you know Fifty Shades of Grey?

Whether you’ve read it or not, you know what it is. A novel about an intense S&M relationship between an older man and a younger woman. The biggest book title of 2012. Mommy porn. Et cetera, et cetera.

But did you know this --

Fifty Shades of Grey started as a Twilight fanfic.

What the what? Seriously?

For the uninitiated, fanfic is short for fan fiction, or fictional narratives written by fans featuring the characters of their favorite TV show, movie, comic book character, etc. Some fans express their love for Star Wars by buying a Star Wars lunchbox – others write 150,000 word epic novels about Star Wars.

Fanfic authors don’t get paid for writing these stories and they certainly don’t have the copyright permission to do so, but it’s all good because it’s just for fun. It’s all for the love of the characters.

And that’s what E.L. James did. She wrote a Twilight fanfic called Masters of the Universe that was racy and soapy and posted it online to great success. Then she decided, “Hey, I think I’ve got something here,” so she took out the Twilight references, changed the names, and published it as Fifty Shades of Grey.

Boom. Bestseller.

Cue my revelation --

Story is story. E.L. James repurposed her fanfic to create an original novel. I can do the same thing with one of my fanfics!

Yes, I’ve written fanfic. Relationshippy tales based on The X-Files, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and more. Most recently I’ve written six or seven episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis in my head. (No time to write them out anymore.)

In my Stargate fanfic stories, the characters have almost died of an alien virus, rescued an entire civilization from genocide, and saved the world several times. And of course they’ve fallen in love, broken up, gotten engaged, almost divorced – it’s a tangled shippy world in my head.

I have plenty of story to be mined. So inspired by E.L. James’s success, I’ve decided to take one of my favorite fanfic stories, remove the Stargate references, and turn it into a sci-fi romance novel. I already have the whole story paced out along with all the turns and twists. I just need to write it.

So that’s my goal for 2013. Write my thus far untitled sci-fi romance novel. (In addition to finishing more pilot scripts and getting staffed on a new show and writing, producing, and starring in a new short film, of course.)

I’m making this my 365 Project, meaning I’m committing to working on this novel every day. That’s right, every day. You can follow my progress by following me on Twitter. You might even see a few excerpts throughout the year on Fiction Friday – who knows? The galaxy’s the limit. Here goes!

Monday Multitasking Day

I wore all my hats yesterday!

Started with my actor hat, depositing paychecks for my recent stints on Grey's Anatomy and Don't Trust the B-- in Apartment 23 with tremendous gratitude. (Though the latter took more than twice than the former in federal withholding for the same number of allowances. What's up with that?) News on those airdates to come!

Then switched to my producer hat, driving to Silverlake to pick up the (almost) final cut of the short film I produced for John Lopez --

And hand delivering them to the Sundance Institute. Saw this fantastic piece of the Berlin Wall outside --

Then head to my favorite Mid-Wilshire writing spot, The Corner Bakery --

Where I put on my writer hat and cranked through more revisions on my series proposal over a turkey sandwich.

Also edited the fiction piece I'll be reading at the inaugural Relax & Write Work in Progress event on Sunday --

RSVP for this live reading event here!
Finally, ended the day with my fangirl hat at a "Writing for the Web" panel at the WGA, featuring the most impressive spread of food I've ever seen at the Guild --

There were plenty of bigwigs on the panel - Anthony Zuiker, who created the CSI franchise and Web series Cybergeddon, Erica Oyama, who created the hilarious Bachelor-like satire Burning Love, and Dennis Leoni, who created the family drama Los Americans.

But I was there for one reason and one reason alone - to meet the uber-talented Jane Espenson and Brad Bell (aka Cheeks), the creative team behind the groundbreaking and fiercely awesome Husbands the Series, a comedy that is sharper and and more deliciously daring than anything on broadcast television.

I heart this show so much! Jane and Brad were kind enough to chat with me after the panel and pose for pictures. Cheeks photo bomb!

I'm holding a flyer they signed announcing a Husbands digital comic series in collaboration with Dark Horse Comics, launching October 24, 2012. Can't wait!

The panel was a thoughtful discussion on the evolution of original content online, which is just getting better and better.

Hmmm, maybe I should write that mental hospital thriller Web series that's been swirling around in my head...

Genius Video Distractions

There are video distractions that amuse or entertain. The ones that make you laugh or say, "That's so true!"

Then there are the video distractions I've been watching lately, which are inspiring pieces of pure genius from incredibly creative people that I hope to work with someday.

For example, I can't stop watching this timeless puppetry performance, recorded from The Muppet Show in the 80's, but originally created by Jim Henson when he was 20 years old. Pure genius!



Speaking of The Muppets, here's an incredible collaboration between Ben Folds Five and the characters of Fraggle Rock. Even better than The Muppets invading Weezer's video.



Then there's the latest extravaganza from the multi-talented Todrick Hall that blends a statement for marriage equality with classic Disney fairytales.



And speaking of gays I love, the second season of Husbands has hit the Web. OMG! IDEHTW! Every episode of this Web series from the brilliant Jane Espenson & Brad Bell makes my jaw drop. The writing is sharp, the performances are on point, and the cameos are hi-larious!


Color me inspired - I'm off to write. Zooooom!

Why I Love Conventions

Trekked downtown to Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo last Saturday to experience my five favorite things about comic book/sci-fi/fan conventions --

#5 - Cosplay!

I love seeing fans dressed up as their favorite characters. I especially love the off-the-wall or unusual costumes - like this girl dressed like a box of Pocky - my favorite Asian snack!

An adorable father/son Stay Puft Marshmallow Man / Ghostbuster combo --

Actually, there were Ghostbusters everywhere --

Plus eye candy - like this hunky black Robin - yes, please --

#4 - Geek Stuff for Sale!

When I was a kid watching the Tom Baker Doctor Who, I forced my dad to pledge $100 to PBS so I could get an "I ♥ ♥ Doctor Who" t-shirt. Now, fans can buy nerdy tchotchke for every one of their passions, from shirts --

To posters --

To adorable stuffed Chewies --

#3 - Surprises!

You never know what you're going to see at a Con. I saw Quidditch being played by humans for the first time. (Not very well, I might add, but they were having fun...) --

And I saw Wall-E!A superb animatronic robot from Walt Disney Imagineering - complete with moving eye flaps and sound!

#2 - Discovering new artists!

Like Odin of Midwestern Cuban Comics! Yes, he's a Cuban artist from Wisconsin who was selling comic books he wrote and illustrated. Living the dream --

Was drawn in by Peter Emmerich's fantastic old-timey illustrations. That's Peter's friend in the picture below, but before Peter left, I chatted with him about his freelance work with Disney and snagged a Downton Abbey-inspired postcard.

Joey Chou also did work with Disney, including a fantastic children's book interpretation of It's A Small World.

I had a copy signed for a friend and snagged a free tote bag!

And my favorite thing about going to Cons --

#1 - Seeing artists I already know and love!

I saw Mike Yamada & Victoria Ying's work for years before learning their names. They're a married couple of talented artists behind Curiosities: An Illustrated History of Ancestral Oddity - a book super funded on Kickstarter!

Was able to tell Mike how much my friend loved the Zoom Zoo Alphabet Cards I bought for his son. A perfect gift for any awesome kid!

And was super-psyched to see Nidhi Chanani again! I fell in love with her work last March at WonderCon and have loved getting her gorgeous illustrations via Twitter.

She has a beautiful heart and creative spirit which is reflected in her thoughtful, sweet artistic work. This woman knows love. She even brought her hubby to the show - adorable!

That's a wrap on another geekfest! Until the next one, stay nerdy everyone!