Joe (who co-wrote Blake's 7 the inside story) has a new book with interviews with the creators of many Science Fiction and Fantasy Television programs.
From the back of the book: What's it like putting words in Buffy's mouth? And how do you come up with a mission for the crew of the Enterprise, or invent your own X-File? Journalist Joe Nazzaro uncovers the answers to all these questions and more in this collection of revealing, in-depth interviews with writers and producers from television's hottest sci-fi and fantasy shows. Some of the biggest names in the business talk candidly about how they started out, their inspirations and influences, and what it's really like to create the incredible and the impossible on a daily basis. Whether you want to know how a script is put together, how your favourite characters were created, or even just what joss whedon really thinks of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy Television is an essential read.
We have sold out of this book.
Covers:
| Rockne S O'Brannon | Farscape |
| Chris Carter | the X-Files |
| Howard Chaykin | Mutant X |
| Terrance Dicks | Doctor Who |
| Robert Hewitt Wolfe | Andromeda |
| Paul Donovan | Lexx |
| Joss Whedon | Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
| Charles Eglee | Dark Angel |
| Robert Tapert | Xena: Warrior Princess |
| Jonathan Glassner | Stargate SG-1 |
| Neil Gaiman | Neverwhere |
| D.C. Fontana | Star Trek |
| J. Michael Straczynski | Babylon 5 |
| Michael Piller | Star Trek: The Next Generation |
| Druid Greenwalt | Angel |
| Rob Grant, Doug Naylor | Red Dwarf |
Most of the interviews are brand new, some done just a few weeks before the book had to go to press. I think there are some pretty interesting nuggets of information that people have never read before, including JMS's version of why Crusade was cancelled, and the first mention of his new show, Polaris. I even got Michael Piller to talk about how he felt about the DS9/B5 controversy. O'Bannon talks about a possible Farscape movie, Tapert explains that he always knew that Xena would die at the end of the show, Donovan discusses the upcoming end of Lexx, and so forth.
In addition, there's an awful lot of material on how some of these guys got started in the business, writing their first scripts, breaking in to television, etc. My feeling is that if you're a fan of B5 for example, you'll get your money's worth and still have more than a dozen other interviews left. One of my editors said a nice thing, which was that he couldn't get through the book in one night. So I hope that's whetted your appetite.
Last updated on 30th of September 2002.