greygirlbeast (greygirlbeast) wrote,
greygirlbeast
greygirlbeast
  • Location: Kayne Crater
  • Mood: okay
  • Music: Placebo, "A Song to Say Goodbye"

Beowulf

Last March 28th, my lit agent, Merrilee, called to ask if I wanted to do a novelization. In particular, would I want to do a novelization of the forthcoming Robert Zemeckis Beowulf. All I knew of the film was that Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman had written the screenplay. And, truthfully, I've never had any interest in writing a novelization. But the timing was right, and, as Neil and Merrilee knew, I'm something of a fanatic on the subject of Beowulf. Indeed, many years ago (I think it was sometime in 1997), Neil and I had a phone conversation about what we'd each do if either of us ever got the opportunity to write a screenplay for Beowulf. Anyway, I said yes, though, for one reason and another (and a few others after that), I was not actually able to begin work on the book until October. I finished the "first draft" back in February, and then had to do two rounds of rewrites for Paramount and my editor at HarperCollins. This morning, the first-pass page proofs landed on my front porch. I'd have announced this long, long ago, but was only told yesterday that I could finally do so (though, I will point out, Neil leaked the news quite some time back, and its turned up in a couple of Wikipedia articles). So, that's what I spent the winter on, and much of the autumn and spring. On Friday, I got the very good news that Paramount had given my manuscript (based on Neil and Roger's screenplay) the green light. I believe the novel is due out in October. There are some differences between it and the film, mostly my inclusion of a great deal more Norse mythology and suchlike, because that's the sort of thing that there's more time for in a novel than a film. I presently have no interest in doing another novelization. I think this was probably a one-time thing, a special case, but it has been a learning experience. I'm not sure when the film is due to be released. Ah, wait. IMDb says November 16th, 2007. It's an animated film, by the way.

Yesterday, I wrote 1,270 words on The Dinosaurs of Mars. But I stopped at 574 words, because an inquest was coming up, and I needed to read Ambrose Bierce's "The Damned Thing" again to be sure I didn't borrow too heavily from it. There's not much else to say about yesterday. Spooky's iPod arrived, and she named it Shiny!, as we having been working our way through Firefly again. Late, we watched Bram Stoker's Dracula, because I'd not seen it in a couple of years and had that urge. The day was cool and rainy, as today appears to be, a welcomed relief from the summer heat.

Oh, and I was very pleased to see that Farscape landed at #4 on TV Guide's list of the 30 "Top Cult TV Shows Ever."

And today is mine and Spooky's fifth anniversary. Yes, we are five, or, as she said, "a whole hand."

Okay. The platypus is getting out the bull whip. Later, kiddos.
Tags: beowulf, farscape, spooky and i, tdom, writing
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