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Jennifer Fallon's Blog
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Viewing By Month : July 2007 / Main
31-Jul-2007
Bad authors... evil authors...
Well, we knew it was going to happen, but when it did, it came from a completely unexpected direction. Sonny and I were anticipating flack from some Roswell conspiracy theorists who thought we were missing some vital detail, or hijacking their story, or something like that, when we included the Roswell aliens story in our Stargate novel.
 But no. We are getting hammered because, apparently, when we wrote Stargate SG-1: Roswell, we forgot Daniel Jackson's birthday. Now, as a rule Stargate fans are a prety nice bunch of intelligent, good-natured, scifi-loving souls with a keen eye for the absurd (which is why they occasionally make episodes with puppets in them...hehehe) But not all of them are quite so laid back. Currently, some rabidly enthusiastic Daniel fans have been posting complaints on Gateworld, lamenting our heinous oversight. Our crime... "...why an author would chose a date particularly resonant to one character and then completely ignore it. Just because it hadn't happened yet in that time line doesn't make it any less the date of Daniel's birth which obviously had happened in the timeline he and Jack were still living because he was there. In terms of writing I found it very jarring because I spent the next few pages waiting for a pay off that never happened. It's like that old advice to mystery writers about if you put a gun in the room in chapter one you had darned better use it at some point.." So today, instead of doing anything remotely useful with my life, I spent the morning proving that July 8, 1965 is not Daniel Jackson's birthday, after all.Our defence... Firstly, July 8, 1947, as has been previously stated several times, was the date a newspaper first carried the story of an alien craft found in Roswell. We didn't chose the date for any other reason. Secondly... when the issue of the dates came up during the writing of Roswell, we consiously decided stay away from whether or not it was Daniel's birthday. Just because he said it was, doesn't make it so. In 1969, Daniel claims to be 4 and a half when they are there. But therein lies the problem. They land in 1969 on August 4th (I remember that because that's my birthday). Daniel, if his DOB was July 8, would have just turned 4, just three and a bit weeks earlier. If this was the case, he'd not be 4 and a half at all. He would be only just 4. You could forgive a discrepancy of months, but not of that much. So, take your pick, either he was lying in 1969, or in he was confused and only just conscious in "Forever and a Day" the episode where he nominates Jul 8th as his birthday. I'm going with the latter. In fact, July 8 is probably not his birthday... According to the script from the episode, the conversation goes as follows... DOCTOR - Hey... How do you feel? So... do we really want to slow the entire story of Roswell down while we investigate this entirely irrelevant issue? Of course not, because, bottom line, it is not certain that July 8 1965 is Daniel's birthday, and therefore we decided not to go there. As Sonny said, during our discussions, "Birthdays aren't just about cake and candles, you know." A couple of hours of my life I'll never get back. And it turns out there wasn't a gun in the room, after all... And for the record, I love Daniel Jackson. Even when it's not his birthday:)
30-Jul-2007
Release date updates...Been meaning to do this for a while. Here are (to the best of my knowledge) the upcoming release dates worldwide for various books, series and whatever.... Please don't blame me if they turn out to be wrong. I am often the last to be told about these things, which accounts for all the "To Be Advised" listings, which basically means we've done the deal but it's anybody's guess when they'll be out because of stuff like translations and publishing schedules and alien abductions, over which I have no control. Australia Sep 2007 - Tide Lords Book II: The Gods of Amyrantha USA/Canada Jul 31, 2007 - Warrior: Wolfblade Trilogy Book 2 (Paperback) May, 2008 - Tide Lords Book 1: The Immortal Prince (Hardcover) UK Nov 2007 - Wolfblade: Hythrun Chronicles Book 1 (Paperback) Germany Mar 2008 - Kind der Magie (Medalon) Book 1, Demon Child Trilogy (Paperback) 2008 - Lion of Senet: Second Sons Trilogy, Book 1 (Trade Paperback) 2008 - Tide Lords Book 1: The Immortal Prince (Trade Paperback) France 2008 - L'Enfant Demon -Treason Keep Russia TBA - Lion of Senet: Second Sons Trilogy, Book 1 (Hardcover)
29-Jul-2007
I have no moral fibre
Really, I don't. Not a scrap...
You see, about six months ago, I decided I was going to boycott Blockbuster, because I got a very rude letter from a debt collector on their behalf, chasing $15 in late fees. It probably wouldn't have annoyed me quite so much, except it came out of the blue. They didn't even ring me first from the store to tell me I owed them money, before selling the debt off to some interstate 3rd party who likes to threaten they'll take your house because of your DVD late fees. And it wasn't as if I was renting DVDs constantly while trying to skip the payment. I hadn't even been in the store for 3 months. So, not even a phone call, thank you very much, and they ship me off the the debt collectors. For $15. It must have cost them more than that to pay someone's wages to print the threatening letter and mail it me. Anyway, I was highly put out by this and in my very best high dudgeon, I rang them and announced to said debt collectors that I would pay my errant $15 bill but as far as I was concerned, Blockbuster could talk a flying leap, because I was never going to darken their doorway again. Not ever. So there. And true to my word, I haven't been near the place. Until today. I found out Hot Fuzz had been released on DVD and of course the only shops left open on a Sunday after five that sell new release DVDs are the supermarkets and the video stores. Guess who had the only copy for sale? So, did I maintain my noble and perfectly justified stance and decide I could wait until tomorrow to get a copy of this movie? Of course not. I swallowed my pride and my boycott and went straight in and bought it from Blockbuster. My boycott barely lasted 6 months. I am a bad person with the backbone of a jelly fish. I have the moral fibre of a serial killer and the will power of an alcoholic in a brewery. Now I'm trying to tell myself I only said I'd never rent another movie from them. Technically, that way, I'm off the hook, because I bought the movie... Hmm... that excuse has potential. Maybe, if I keep working on it, I can convince myself that I'm not such a shameless wuss, after all:)
28-Jul-2007
Ah, the high cost of a good night's sleep
Secondborn bought a new bed today. This may not seem news, except that the bed cost $11,000.
Seriously. You see, Secondborn has a bad back, that was caused, in part, by being tossed around a cattle yard, knocked unconsious and having a few bones broken by an irate bull while she was working on a cattle station as a vet student. She hurt her back again this week, operating on ... wait for it... a guinea pig. (I don't make this up, truly I don't). So, after yet another week of agony, no sleep, and too many painkillers, Secondborn decided to go for broke and cough up for the ultimate, bad back, powered bed with a mattress designed by NASA for the astronauts in the Space Shuttle. It has twin remote controls. It moves up and down at the head. The feet move up and down. It's the size of an ocean liner. It's got a split mattress which means it also has room for Mount Bruce, Jojo, Oscar and Fluffy who all sneak up on Doctor Dolittle's single bed in the dead of night, forcing her to sleep in strange shapes to accommodate them. Oh, and did I mention it cost eleven grand? I have to say, though, when she was trying it out in the store, she almost cried with relief when she lay down and adjusted it to the right position. For the first time in months she was out of pain. This bed is going to be worth every cent, I suspect. Of course, her temporary bliss didn't stop her from almost decking another customer who was eyeing off the bed. Once she'd staked a claim to it, nothing was going to get in the way of Secondborn and a good night's sleep. Now we're having an argument about where to put it when they deliver it on Monday. I reckon it should go in the lounge. I mean, she's never actually going to get out of it, once it arrives, so we might well put it in front of the 50" plasma. And that way friends can come and visit. She'll have a social life... Oh, I can watch TV while lying on it too. hehehe.
27-Jul-2007
From the sublime to the ridiculous...
Got two Google alerts today, one of which was a review of Stargate SG-1: Roswell, which I'll get to in a minute. The other blew me away. It was a list from a dating site of 63 people who've listed "Jennifer Fallon" as one of their interests.
I am gobsmacked. And flattered. And a bit disppointed there's no ravishingly good-looking mid-40's billionaires on the list. I'm not going to name the website or link to it, just in case the people on the list don't want to be publicised outside of the site, but I'm tickled pink, and hope you all get together and have a wonderful time... well, not all of you together... at the same time... unless you want to...  Anyhow... the other alert, as I said, was for a review of Roswell from the delightful SciFiChick.com. This very nice review (which apparently was the result of actually reading the book *gasp*) offers the following comment..."...the characters were right on. Vala was her normal chipper and witty self... The dialog was well-written, and it’s obvious that a lot of research went into the making of this book. Humor is laced throughout the story, with plenty of action and suspense. This would have made a great episode." Thank you SciFiChick. It's a very nice review. And an accurate one. And I have to say, if it was up to me, there would be nothing coherent about the time travel stuff at all. That's what we have Sonny for:)
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