Ha! I got it to work again!

Well the longterm absence of updates on the Virtual Season is due to the fact that for some reason, blogger decided that it hated me and I couldn't login nor retrieve my username/password. It was as if my blog didn't exist. But it's back now! Woohoo!

So now for the updates on how said project is doing: We're still plugging along. We don't plan on launching the website until at least the first five episodes are written, and I think I jumped the gun on estimating a February/March launch date. But I will keep you guys posted. Just about all 22 of the episodes are currently being worked on, so I'm confident that once we launch things will flow from there with very few if any delays.

Beating your head against objects is not productive

Though it is what I have been doing most of the night and well into the day. You see, my next blog was supposed to be all excited about how we have the season mapped at last-all 22 episodes picked and ready to be fleshed out and written. Well, not quite ready for writing, but you get my point.

I went over the votes. I figured out which ones had the most votes, whilst narrowing down the many episode ideas that involved targeting certain main characters. I found a nice order to put them in that made sense with the story and character arcs. I posted it, and was quite proud.

Then I was reminded of a very important detail I forgot. The introduction of a character that is very important to the season, and really needs an episode in itself to introduce him. Can't be a B plot sort of thing. It needs to be a standalone episode as this character will carry the story of that episode. So now I have to find a way to fit him in without throwing off the character and story arcs, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

The other thing causing me to beat my head against objects such as my laptop would be assigning writers. We have episode preferences from each writer. We know their strengths and weaknesses. We know who came up with which episode as they get first consideration. Should be a done deal, right? Wrong. It's much more difficult than I thought it would be. Every writer has strengths and weaknesses, and pairing up compatible writers to balance those out and produce the best possible season is quite tough. We want to give everyone the chance to write, as this is a collaborative effort. The question now is how we do that.

If I hit my head against the laptop enough, I know the solutions to these problems will come to me. Oh yes, it will.

Or loss of consciousness.

Comics and a full season decided

Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to 2008! 2008 is pretty much the year for the Blood Ties VS, as this is when the episodes will be written and "aired." We are deciding this week on the final selection of 22 episodes (cause after all, that's what we'll be getting when the official season 2 is aired). The writers and the whole crew have put so much into this, and the ideas they've come up with are just fabulous, they really are. It was hard to narrow them down since we had a list of almost 40 episode ideas! There are so many questions to answer. What is Henry going to do? How will he deal with his broken heart? Where does Mike turn to now that he has given up Vicki and lost his job? Those two things alone made up his world. And Vicki...what to do with poor headstrong, heroic, self sacrificing Vicki now that the demon that has had a hard on for her over the past year is out and about...Which also leads us to Astaroth. Chances are obtaining Vicki wasn't his only goal. He knew what she'd choose, and he knew that would leave him free to roam about the earth. Once we get the website up and running (which will probably be around the time we are ready for the first episode to air on it), we'll be teasing you guys with episode descriptions for the upcoming episodes. You guys are in for a real treat. I'm part of the team heading this up and I have to remember to take my fan hat off while planning instead of just saying "Oh!!! Write that soon, please!! I want to read!" I think that's a good sign.

We are working on the comics as well. *Ahem* Excuse me. Graphic novels. Our resident graphic novel artist is working hard on the first bit to go with the premiere. It's not so much that we will be seeing Henry's published works so much that we'll have a nice window into his drawing area where we can spy on what he is doing. Anyone care to take a guess at what his sketches will be like immediately after Deep Dark? I think the title of that episode is an understatement for Henry's thoughts.

We are going to be closing the forum to new members here soon, as we already have a nice sized group of people and it will cause too much confusion to add people to the mix afterwards. However, we are already talking about going for another season and throwing ideas out there for that, so when the time comes we will open registration back up for new people to join.

Those are all the ramblings for now! Here's to a happy 2008 full of lots of Blood Ties-virtual and official!

Blood Ties Virtual Season? What's that about?

I'm sure those who have no clue about Blood Ties or the fanfiction out there are probably going "Wtf?" when they look at my blog. So here's the info on both.

First of all, allow me to introduce you to the TV show Blood Ties, as well as the books they are based on by Tanya Huff. Now allow me to ask you what rock you have been hiding under to not know either one? Okay, admittedly, that's an exaggeration. The popularity is not where fans would like for it to be. But for those who don't know, Blood Ties is a television show that aired on Lifetime here in the US, CityTV in Canada, and LivingTV in the UK. Here is the synopsis off of the official website:

Sure we all think our lives are complicated. But consider ex-cop Vicki Nelson's.

It’s not bad enough that her career was sidetracked by failing vision… or that the fiery relationship with a handsome cop she tried to abandon won’t stay dead… but when her latest love interest turns out to be a 480 year old vampire, you really have to give her the prize.

And when a growing part of her private eye caseload begins shifting from fraud investigations and cheating spouses to battling ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and demons, that’s when even Vicki has to wonder who she's pissed off.

Based on Tanya Huff’s “Vicki Nelson” novels – the Blood series – Blood Ties is a one-hour crime drama series, following the misadventures of Vicki Nelson, a feisty, attractive, 29 year old ex-cop turned private investigator with a degenerative eye disorder, who seems destined to sit on the sidelines until fate intervenes, turning her life upside down.

After witnessing a terrifying murder, Vickie finds herself on a collision course with a stranger – Henry Fitzroy – who is also investigating the murder. Henry just happens to be a vampire and the bastard son of Henry VIII.

This unlikely pair forms more than just a crime-solving partnership that complicates Vicki’s long-term love affair with ex-crime partner and boyfriend Mike Celluci… it sends Vicki into a dark underworld where fantasy meets reality, violence and passion make strange bedfellows, and the lines between good and evil are just a little blurred...

Want to view the episodes from the beginning? Check out iTunes or head over to Lifetime (while they still have it up) to watch them.


Now for the second part: What is the Blood Ties Virtual Season? It's a season online in story format that is continuing from the point that the show left off with. Hopefully, our show won't get canceled and this will just hold us over until we get the actual second season. But for now, this is a fanfiction version of Season 2. This isn't your typical fanfiction fluff, or fan wish fulfillment. We are picking up where Deep Dark left off, creating story arcs, character arcs-we're trying to do this as professional as possible for a bunch of fans not in the TV business. So if you are looking for more weepy Vicki, more Vicki and Henry have babies, more Mike/Henry slash, or just straight romance between the characters...well you might not want to look here. If you want to read stories that could actually be in the show, this is the place for you. There are three important aspects of this show, we think. It is a supernatural crime drama-three parts. Focus on any one, and you lose the heart of the show.

I have to say, I am damn proud of this project. When I first threw out the idea to do a collaborative season from the fans, I was terrified of some of the ideas people might put out there, how they might write the characters. But the people that have joined up on this project are so extremely talented. I can't wait to share it with you, but for now you will just have to read my gushes on all the cool things we are doing.

What cool things? It's just a story, right? Wrong. We have multiple aspects of this project. Yes, of course we will have episodes in story format, not script. But we will also have music videos, a comic that is "by" Henry Fitzroy delving into his past stories, and of course artwork. This is a great way to showcase what a talented fanbase this show has, and believe me it really does. I've read some crap fanfiction out there that is way off base, but I've also read ones that could fit right in with the show. The music videos, the artwork...these people never fail to impress, that's for sure. So keep checking back if you are interested, or contact me if you are looking to join up. I think we've got enough writers, but we can always use more editors, researchers, music video artists, etc.

So that's what this blog is going to be about-my writing, which currently includes the Blood Ties Virtual Season, and probably tidbits about the fantasy novel series I am working on here and there. The muse left me on that one, dumping it for Blood Ties, so we'll see.