Vonda N. McIntyre's Adaptations: Any notes or letters?

[James Swallow]

Inspired the conversation on this thread, I read Alan Dean Foster's The Director Should've Shot You: Memoirs of the Film Trade this week and it's interesting stuff. The title's a bit misleading, as it's a book-by-book overview of Foster's work writing movie novelizations more than about the film biz (one of which was Terminator Salvation, as discussed up-thread). But if, like me, you're interested in knowing more about how the novelization sausage gets made, I recommend it - and those of us who've had the "pleasure" will find plenty that rings familiar...

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Given that I'm an ADF fan, it has definitely grabbed me by my morbid curiosity.

Yeef! Only the e-book is readily available; Alibris shows two copies of the print edition, starting at $85. That makes Joan Morris's memoir, Let Me Sing And I'm Happy, seem both dirt-cheap and easy to find.

I wonder if I can get it on my Chromebook. Yes. $17.99. Much more affordable. Maybe sometime after my next paycheck. I've added it to my wishlist. Alas, Joan Morris's opus is not available as an e-book.

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

In the case of Terminator Salvation, I enjoyed the tie-in novels way more than I did the movie. (Shocking , I know! )
And the Apes prequels (they did one for Dawn as well as War) were both pretty good as I recall.

The only thing, I enjoyed about the new "Planet of the apes"-movies, was the very first movie and there in especially the casting of one Captain Douglas Hunsiker. Why? Because they did find the right person, to play him. I mean, David Hewlett is brilliant as McKay, but he was also good as Hunsiker.

And concerning Stargate: I just read the Stargate-Universe-Novelization of the pilot movie (Air) and found out, that it was written by @James Swallow.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I can't help but think of McIntyre's emotional blonde Vulcan juggler Stephen from her book Enterprise: The First Adventure whenever I see promotional images of...

Spoiler: Section 31

... the emotional blonde Vulcan (Romulan?) Fuzz from the upcoming Section 31 movie.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

...McIntyre's emotional blonde Vulcan juggler Stephen from her book Enterprise: The First Adventure ...

Stephen would make my list of top five one-shot literary characters I most want to see make a second appearance.

 

[DonIago]

I forgot about Stephen, but now that I've been reminded...yes, more atypical Vulcans who aren't related to Spock, please. Though I guess if you create enough of them the novelty gets lost.

 

[Denise]

I can't help but think of McIntyre's emotional blonde Vulcan juggler Stephen from her book Enterprise: The First Adventure whenever I see promotional images of...

Spoiler: Section 31

... the emotional blonde Vulcan (Romulan?) Fuzz from the upcoming Section 31 movie.

Yes, and I like the scene at the end when Stephen and Spock juggle together while they are having a conversation.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Yes, and I like the scene at the end when Stephen and Spock juggle together while they are having a conversation.

I used to juggle. I loved juggling. I can't anymore. I picked up my juggling balls a few months ago -- they'd been sitting on my living room table for months -- and tried, and my vision is just too fractured now. I might be able to make an exchange, but it was pure luck.

 

[James Swallow]

And concerning Stargate: I just read the Stargate-Universe-Novelization of the pilot movie (Air) and found out, that it was written by @James Swallow.

That turned out to be a pretty good experience in the end - in the initial phases the scripts I was given to work with were the wrong drafts, but we managed to get things sorted out as the project went along. The writer John Scalzi, who was a creative consultant on season one of SGU, was a big help with all that.
The team at MGM gave me leeway on the book to invent some new scenes, retain stuff that was cut for time and build out the narrative from the opening 3-parter.

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

That turned out to be a pretty good experience in the end - in the initial phases the scripts I was given to work with were the wrong drafts, but we managed to get things sorted out as the project went along. The writer John Scalzi, who was a creative consultant on season one of SGU, was a big help with all that.
The team at MGM gave me leeway on the book to invent some new scenes, retain stuff that was cut for time and build out the narrative from the opening 3-parter.

It is quite an interesting read - although I have to admit, that I turned into someone, who actually *likes* Stargate Universe very late - two or three years ago. Well, I was more a fan of SG-1 and Atlantis..., but I appreciated Universe later.

 

[jaime]

It is quite an interesting read - although I have to admit, that I turned into someone, who actually *likes* Stargate Universe very late - two or three years ago. Well, I was more a fan of SG-1 and Atlantis..., but I appreciated Universe later.

I didn’t like Stargate beyond the film, but did like Universe enough to tune in weekly. Which is probably why it got cancelled. Sorry peeps.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

And I seem to recall there was a battle surrounding the DICK TRACY novelization, with the studio not wanting the novelization to reveal who the Big Bad really was. Can't remember how it was resolved.

As I recall, Max Allan Collins (who was also the writer on the Dick Tracy comic strip at the time) was oblique about it. Tracy unmasks the Blank & recognizes who it is, but the text doesn't explicitly say "The Blank was X." You could tell from the context clues, I think.

Also, from what I have seen of her original undubbed performance she really was not very good on stage. She wins the Harrison Ford "Most Improved" award. Only she did it on the same film! But Nimoy didn't experience that.

I was truly astounded at how flat her on-set performance was in the workprint! Goes to show just how important the ADR process is in film production.

I didn't realize that most of Kirstie Alley's performance in TWOK was looped. I've heard that she & Shatner didn't get along during production of ST2, but not that she'd had any problems with Nimoy.

I've long thought that Nimoy directed Robin Curtis to be flatter & less emotional in TSFS in order to kill off some of the fan interest in Saavik. After all, if Nimoy was returning to the franchise as Spock for who knows how many more sequels, he probably wasn't too nuts about Trek fandom becoming enamored with a young attractive actress playing a new Vulcan character with emotional conflicts.

When Nimoy originally planned to leave Star Trek after TWOK, sure, let there be a new Vulcan character to replace him, who cares? But if Spock was back on an ongoing basis, suddenly Saavik seemed pretty redundant. As Harve Bennett explained in an interview talking about why Saavik was written out early in The Voyage Home, Saavik wasn't needed on the trip to the 20th Century, because she would've been "just one more pair of pointed ears to hide."

And it pretty much worked, as fandom had largely forgotten about Saavik by the time STV rolled around (she's not even mentioned in the film), and her character was "changed" to Valeris in STVI by basically doing a Search & Replace through the script.

I forgot about Stephen, but now that I've been reminded...yes, more atypical Vulcans who aren't related to Spock, please. Though I guess if you create enough of them the novelty gets lost.

That shuttlecraft left the bay a long time ago, IMO. But then,I've never really seen the point to any of the emotional Vulcan characters like Stephen, Sybok, and Michael Burnham. When they're from the same family as him, all they do is dilute Spock.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I didn't realize that most of Kirstie Alley's performance in TWOK was looped. I've heard that she & Shatner didn't get along during production of ST2, but not that she'd had any problems with Nimoy.

I recall one behind the scenes photo of Nimoy and Alley were Nimoy looks... annoyed. She's pretending to kiss him, and he just glowers.

 

[CaptainCalvinCat]

I didn’t like Stargate beyond the film, but did like Universe enough to tune in weekly. Which is probably why it got cancelled. Sorry peeps.

*giggles* I know that feelling, believe me. The TV-shows I like, when they're not a big franchise already, are cancelled (Firefly, Dark Angel, Terminator. Sarah Connor Chronicles).

As I recall, Max Allan Collins (who was also the writer on the Dick Tracy comic strip at the time) was oblique about it. Tracy unmasks the Blank & recognizes who it is, but the text doesn't explicitly say "The Blank was X." You could tell from the context clues, I think.

Is that the same Max Allan Collins, who wrote the two Mummy-Novelizations? Because they were good.

 

[jaime]

*giggles* I know that feelling, believe me. The TV-shows I like, when they're not a big franchise already, are cancelled (Firefly, Dark Angel, Terminator. Sarah Connor Chronicles).

Is that the same Max Allan Collins, who wrote the two Mummy-Novelizations? Because they were good.

Firefly is the only one I am in I ent on. Wasn’t me.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I recall one behind the scenes photo of Nimoy and Alley were Nimoy looks... annoyed. She's pretending to kiss him, and he just glowers.

I know the photo you mean. I never thought he looked particularly annoyed in that still, just trying to stay in character. But who knows?

Is that the same Max Allan Collins, who wrote the two Mummy-Novelizations? Because they were good.

Probably. He's quite prolific and he's written a ton of novelizations. I used to own an NYPD Blue original novel by him, Blue Beginning, that took place just before the pilot episode. Collins is best known these days for writing the original graphic novel Road to Perdition that they turned into a movie with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman.

 

[Tallguy]

I know the photo you mean. I never thought he looked particularly annoyed in that still, just trying to stay in character. But who knows?

I think they're doing a bit.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I think they're doing a bit.

Yep, that's what it looks like to me. Just an idle moment where the actors are caught between takes.

 

[JD]

I know the photo you mean. I never thought he looked particularly annoyed in that still, just trying to stay in character. But who knows?

Probably. He's quite prolific and he's written a ton of novelizations. I used to own an NYPD Blue original novel by him, Blue Beginning, that took place just before the pilot episode. Collins is best known these days for writing the original graphic novel Road to Perdition that they turned into a movie with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman.

He also wrote a whole bunch of CSI novels and the novelization of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. I've read a few of his CSI novels and they were good, but I haven't read I Want to Believe.

 

[Greg Cox]

He also wrote a whole bunch of CSI novels and the novelization of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. I've read a few of his CSI novels and they were good, but I haven't read I Want to Believe.

I read many of his CSI novels before I wrote mine. Just to get a better feel for the book series so far.