writing stuff and tv shows...

Did a read through of my Loch Ness book yesterday, just to get back into the 'feel' of the characters and the plot. I left the last page practically mid-sentence, and I have absolutely no idea now where I'd intended that particular line to go. But other than that, it's all good. I did have to correct some of my 'aussie' speak, because the main character has supposedly been living in America for a little while, and she was scottish before that, so she wouldn't go about flinging Aussie words (ie holiday homes instead of vacation homes, fly screens instead of screens, boot instead of trunk...seems the US has a different word for just about everything. Makes writing an American character insteresting, let me tell you :) I'm hoping to start my five pages a day gig again from today, but I'm still a little in 'Riley' mode and may yet write some of Riley 5. We'll see how I go.

In non-writing news, watched House last night and laughed my head off. It was the parent episode, and it has to have been one of the funniest yet. But sad at the same time, because this time they didn't save the kid. I tell you, House and Boston Legal have to have some of the best script writing I've ever seen. And the characters in BL are just brilliant...and so is the acting. I mean, who knew Captain Kirk could actually act? ;) And James Spader is simply amazing as Alan Shore. That man can say a whole lot without ever opening his mouth. What I like the most about the show is the layers--the show may peel away one layer, but you just know there's so many more yet to reveal...which means you never can quite predict just how any of them will react. As we say here in Oz, bloody good writing. Why it's resigned to the wee hours of the night here is beyond me.

But good characters is also the reason why I like Supernatural. Sure, the plot is sometimes so-so, and the special effects often suck, but hey, the special effects on Nightstalker sucked all of the time, and that still rates as one of my best-ever TV shows (along with the x-files up to season 5). I think the relationship between the brothers is what makes Supernatural so good--because you actually care about them. In fact, when you think about it, it's characters that make or break most shows, just as it's the characters that make or break a book. If you don't like the main characters, if you don't really care what happens to them, why would you continue to watch it or read it? I think that's what's finally driven me away from Lost. Sure, the endless questions had me hooked for a while, but long term, I really don't care about any of the characters (well, other than Sawyer, who I treat as eye-candy more than anything else.) I couldn't really give a damn who lives or dies--and maybe it's because there's simply too many of them. The show flits constantly between all the characters--and most of them really aren't all that warm or likeable to begin with. In fact, if half the island keeled over dead next show, the only thing that would matter to me is if their deaths provided some damn answers. And you just know that's never going to happen. The X-files might have had the myth arc and the questions that were never fully answered (not properly, anyway) but at least they had 'regular' episodes inbetween the myth episodes, and did provide regular snippets of the arc for fans to snatch and store and wonder over. And it had two characters who intriqued, who made you care (and yeah, I was a 'shipper'.) Lost just provides yet more frustration every week. Which no show--and no book--can sustain long term.