If there's something that you'd particularly like to see in this newsletter, either a specific item, or a general topic that you think isn't getting enough coverage, drop me a line, and hopefully we'll be able to mold a newsletter that improves from issue to issue.
In the meantime, welcome aboard, and thanks for the interest in Xenagia!
This week: Book Club; Reviews; Index; Writer's Strike; and Dollhouse.
-Shannon
Site News
Thanks to everyone who joined or rejoined the site last week. As a result we've now got a nicely growing community that I hope will allow us to really create the best independent genre site on the net. Here's some of the notable Xenagia site news from the last week.
BOOK CLUB: We're starting up a book club! Each month we'll select a book to read, and then starting on the 1st of the next month we'll discuss it. The goal is to read some of the classics of all three genres, to introduce people to books that they might not otherwise read, and to have intelligent discussions about them. We're currently voting on the book for December, which you can do here:
Book Voting: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=803
We'll make a choice in the next couple of days, then you'll have a few weeks to read it before we start discussing it on December 1.
REVIEWS: We're kicking off reviews again at the site, and we've already got items queued up for this Tuesday and Thursday. You can always find the newest reviews by clicking on the Reviews link or by following the threads in the appropriate forums. If you'd like to submit your own reviews, you can do so here:
Review Sumission: http://www.xenagia.net/reviews/submit-review.phtml
INDEX: We've now got several active contributors helping to grow the Index, and as a result we've got over 2000 unique entries (or to be precise, 1818 books with 290 additional editions and 1 magazine). Thanks to all who are contributing, and remember that you can rate books, mark what you're reading, and list your collections, all in the Index.
Media News
WRITER'S STRIKE: This is the big news for the F/SF/H industry. As of today, the Writer's Guild of Hollywood is on strike. Short-term this means that nightly shows like The Daily Show are going to start being short material, then in another week the shows that tape a week at a time like The View are going to start running into troubles. It'll probably be January before our favorite shows start coming up short on scripts. The worst hit are clearly going to be the serialized dramas like Lost and Heroes, particularly if they were already struggling in the ratings.
There's already been a flurry of weird activity in Hollywood related to the strike, some of which we've been discussing in the forums. Most notably, it's helped various new shows get additional orders of episodes, with Journeyman, Bionic Woman, and Moonlight all being beneficiaries here. In another season some of those shows might already be dead, but this year the networks wanted to get every script they could.
Renewal Discussion: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=696
However some older shows got the raw end of that same deal because there probably won't be enough scripts to finish their complete season commitments. As a result, Battlestar Galactica got bumped three months, to April, and there's talk anew about splitting the last season in two. The Heroes: Origins spinoff got cancelled, and there's talk of the mid-season Heroes finale running in a month becoming instead the season finale. With Heroes greatly struggling in the ratings this year, it could be the show's death knell (either because the network gives up, or more likely sends their suits in and ruins the show).
BSG Discussion: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=754
Heroes Discussion: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=785
Heroes Discussion: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=802
DOLLHOUSE: On the lighter side, word is that Joss Whedon is returning to TV and will be making a show with Eliza Dushku called _Dollhouse_:
Dollhouse Discussion: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=790
Sadly, it'll be on Fox and their mixed attitude toward new shows continues this season. Of their two new SF shows this season, The Sarah Connor Chronicles got pushed back to Spring before it was ever shown and it looks like New Amsterdam got cancelled before they ever broadcast an episode:
Fox Discussion: http://forum.xenagia.net/showthread.php?t=163
