John M. Kahane <102664.773@compuserve.com> asks:
> Who'd have thought that the man called "Starkiller" last year
> would be walking down the hallway of a Minbar (and half-Vorlon)
> ship with two Minbari, huh? What can one say about this poor guy,
> who is literally about to be caught between a rock and a hard
> place?

Thanks. Actually, we crank up the whole Nightwatch story over
the next two episodes, and what's happening with Earth, until it hits
fever pitch. Things really start to move. (There's almost a short lull
after #10, just to let folks catch their breath a bit before the next
big wave.)

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks...I think it came out well.

jms

Randy Upshaw <75464.1275@compuserve.com> asks:
> I belive from what has been said the next 2 episodes will take 5
> or 6 weeks?

Well, next week's is a new episode, so you can get that far.

jms

John M. Kahane <102664.773@compuserve.com> asks:
> Btw, Joe, just exactly how does one write the organization name?
> Is it "Nightwatch" or "Night Watch"?

It's Nightwatch.

The thread will diminish for a while, then return down the road
in later seasons, after the story takes its third major turn.

By the last few episodes, pretty much all of my cards are on
the table. But by the last episode of this season, we find that the
game we've assumed we've been playing ain't necessarily the game at
all. The show takes a fairly subversive direction, and of all the
seasons so far, the one that follows, year four, represents the
greatest writing challenge to make this actually work.

Which is another reason why it's important to get the B4
storyline and several other threads out in the open, and clear the
decks, because this is gonna take every bit of whatever talent I've got
to pull off.

Year four is the point in the novel when you're just past the
halfway mark; you know the reader thinks he or she has got the story
sussed out. The reader knows all your tricks by now, or thinks he/she
does. You've been pulling doves out of your hat for 243 pages.

Now you'd damned well better be able to pull out an alligator.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks....

jms

Joe Salemi [ZD Net] <72631.23@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is the arc we're in now (MFE, PONR, SD) the first or second major
> turn? Harder than year three?

Yes, the current mini-arc (8-10) is the second major turn in
the storyline. The third starts with the last episode of this season,
going into the fourth year. Then you've got one more big turn about
the last quarter or one-third of year four, and then a bit of a flip at
the end.

jms

John M. Kahane <102664.773@compuserve.com> asks:
> That raises another question, however: What do you consider the
> greatest challenge in writing B5 right now? That's just it, isn't
> it?

I think probably the hardest thing in the writing this season
has been in pulling the story through the next level, around the
corner, and into a new relative shape. Some things are the same, and a
lot of things are different the deeper you go into this season. It's
been a real tough act to get this boat where it needs to go, but I
think we pulled it off.

jms

Mike Hoffmann <100321.2604@compuserve.com> asks:
> Maybe I missed it, but is word out on behalf of WB for season 4
> approval? But when is the verdict?

We won't know until late April.

jms

Mike Hoffmann <100321.2604@compuserve.com> asks:
> Or doesn't it make a difference by then, as the decisions are
> made in late April based on data picked from, say, February?

No, I think they'll be looking at info right up until the time
they decide.

jms

{original post had no questions}

Thanks...it's either gutsy or *real* stupid on my part....

jms