Wednesday, February 03, 2010 posted by Jen at 2/03/2010 08:15:00 PM
A reader writes: what’s up with your TV pilot?
Short answer: I have no idea!
A few weeks ago ABC picked up a bunch of dramas to shoot as possible shows for next fall. Many of them featured cops, or former cops, or disgraced former cops. My writing partner and I heard nothing about our show, “Jane and Dick,” which is a romantic comedy set in a law firm and does not feature cops, either current, former or disgraced.
So we waited. And waited. And waited. Weeks later, we’ve heard no word from the network, either thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
It’s frustrating, and unpleasantly reminiscent of that time when I liked a guy and went out with him a few times and thought it was all going well and he said he’d call and then he didn’t. Or, as I call that time, “the ‘90’s.” I would do the Hollywood thing of harassing my agent on an hourly basis for news, except my agent is my brother. Also, he’s stopped taking my calls.
The other thing: as has been amply discussed elsewhere, it’s turning into a rough development season for lady-written and lady-centric shows. Lots of people have theories about why – the most persuasive one I’ve heard is that procedural cop-based shows, where it’s more about the cases than the characters, do better in re-runs and syndication – but whatever the reason, it’s hard out there if you wrote a show about a lady who is not a cop with a male partner, and whose description does not begin (and sometimes end!) with the word “beautiful.”
Bottom line: we are still hopeful….and I am so incredibly grateful for everyone who emailed the network or signed a petition saying they’d like to see my show on the air. Seriously: touched. Grateful. Thank you (and if you haven’t done either, it couldn’t hurt to do it now.)
In other news, books! I still write ‘em!
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER comes out in paperback on May 4, and my new novel, FLY AWAY HOME, will be published on July 13. I just saw the cover, which is magnificent, and utilizes many of the colors and images from the BFF cover, only without a woman picking her bathing suit out of her butt crack.
FLY AWAY HOME is about Sylvie Woodruff, an ex-lawyer and long-married Senator’s wife, who finds out, as one does, that her husband’s been having an affair. The book was born out of my fascination with betrayed political wives from Hillary Clinton to Silda Spitzer to Jenny Sanford to Elizabeth Edwards to Dina Matos McGreevey. I wondered, Why would a woman stand on a podium beside a man who’s betrayed her so profoundly? And what happens when the press conference is over and the cameras are off? FLY AWAY HOME takes a stab at answering those questions, through the character of the disgraced Senator’s wife and his two daughters, one a physician in Philadelphia and the other a recovering addict in New York.
Will there be a book tour? Why yes, there will! Like last year, I’ll be giving away galleys and holding polls and contests on Twitter and my Facebook fan page to figure out which cities I’ll visit. So don’t start lobbying now, but in a few months, get ready to get your book club/book store/best friend and relatives to write in and vote.
Finally, in other bookish news, on February 18, you can support the Philly Spells Writing Lab and hear sisters Elizabeth Gilbert (EAT, PRAY, LOVE; COMMITTED) and her sister Catherine Gilbert Murdock (PRINCESS BEN, FRONT AND CENTER) talking about writing, relationships and more at the Loews Hotel. Details here. Should be fun!
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Welcome to A Moment of Jen, author Jennifer Weiner's constantly-updated take on books, baby, and news of the world. Email me at jen (a) jenniferweiner.com.
