I’ve been getting stories back into submission after allowing a batch of them to lie fallow while I was busy with other things. I only forgot to attach one manuscript to an e-mail, so I guess that’s okay.
I posted my review for Live by Night to Onyx Reviews yesterday. It’s a compelling novel, sort of a sequel to The Given Day. A strong and likable viewpoint character and the growing sense of dread that something bad has to happen to him eventually.
I’m proofreading the page proofs of the revised edition of The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book. Mine will be the last set of eyes on it. No pressure. I’m finding a few things that have changed since the first edition. Questions about Blaze from when it could still be described as unpublished, for example, and the total number of Bachman books. I plan to be done by the weekend so the book can go into production.
This week’s episode of Covert Affairs ended with a huge surprise. I actually liked Lena, so it sorta sucks that it seems like she’s a rotten egg. I like it that Annie allowed herself to be swept away by the heady allure of romance but then took a few minutes to reflect and realize everything that she’d be giving up if she went with Simon. It would be as bad as being in witness protection. OK for Simon but not so much for her.
I’m 2/3 of the way through the second season of The Shield. It was fun seeing Danny Pino (Armadillo) as a heavy instead of as a cop. That scene where he got face-planted on a glowing burner was intense. I was surprised when his plot was wrapped up fairly early in the season, though the implications for Danny for supposedly missing the knife remain to be seen. Episode 8 was a real revelation. It was called “Co-pilot’ and it’s basically an origin story for the barn, set about a year and a half before Season 1 Episode 1. Vic and Shane are ordinary street cops at the beginning. The church that houses the substation is still being converted (presumably deconsecrated, too). It is fascinating to see the dynamics of the characters who we know so well by now, but who don’t know each other yet as they are plucked from wherever and placed in this new environment. It’s a well-written episode. They don’t hammer us over the head with things, but instead lay the foundation.
Doctor Who is back, with a wowser of a surprise.
The episode also played fast and loose with Dalek lore, introducing a whole bunch of new concepts that you’d think we would have heard about before, in the past, oh, fifty years. Oswin Oswald, languidly plucking away at her computer terminal, made the episode in my opinion and I’m am very much looking forward to her joining the show. She is very easy on the eyes and possesses the same casual captivating quality that Sally Sparrow (who I always thought should have been a companion) had.
