A Sad Adieu

I’m so sad to be bidding Supernatural Sisters adieu. Each one of us will be saying goodbye this week. I just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie of my sister fangirls. It has been a pleasure to share our love of the show, to debate the pluses and minuses of each episode, to better get to know the SPN community and, of course, to rhapsodize about our love for Jensen and Jared.

As writers we may view the show from a slightly different perspective. We know what it takes to build three dimensional characters you can fall in love with, the finesse necessary to write believable relationships the viewer or reader will willingly invest in, the art of escalating conflicts to keep things from being staid while furthering a character’s story arc, the challenge of keeping storylines fresh, the skill of juggling humor, horror and human emotion and the thirst to push our boundaries as artists. The writers of SPN do all of this and so much more which is why we became the Supernatural Sisters.

As the show has grown and evolved, so have we. It has been a privilege and a thrill to see my sisters achieve so many successes. And I know there are tons more to come. I only have three regrets. One, we never got to do that set visit. Two, Jim Beaver never got back to me with that interview. And three, we never had a Supernatural Sisters get-together at a con. Maybe we could still pull off that last one….

In the meantime, thank you to our readers, the authors who’ve guest blogged and the Supernatural super stars who’ve granted us interviews.

I’ll still be watching. Nothing short of the actual Apocalypse could keep me from finding out how things finally end for Sam and Dean Winchester. 'Til then, see you later idjits.

Love & hugs, Terri Clark

HOLLYWEIRD release

Yay! Today's the official release date of my Supernatural inspired YA novel, HOLLYWEIRD. This paranormal romcom is about two teens who win a trip to meet their favorite TV star only to realize he's the son of Satan and the lone person who can save them is a fallen angel working undercover as his personal assistant.

I got this idea by fantasizing about a visit to the SPN set. At one time the Supernatural Sisters were trying to arrange a tour. Alas, that didn't work out, but it certainly got my imagination running wild. Fortunately for me I found lots of information about Supernatural's set online and in the Supernatural magazines. I used those details to help create my fictional show's set.

Jensen was the model for the fallen angel, Jameson, and Jared inspired the sexy, but evil Dakota. There's a lot of little nods to SPN that fans will catch and the Supenatural Sisters each make a cameo during the set visit scene.

As you can imagine, I had a blast writing HOLLYWEIRD. I hope you'll consider checking it out and spreading the word to other Supernatural fans who might be interested.

Wishing you more halos than horns, Terri
www.terriclarkbooks.com

SPN inspired book

Yay! I got the cover for my May YA release, HOLLYWEIRD. This book came about one day while I daydreamed about doing a set visit to SUPERNATURAL. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has fantasized about that or, for those of us who haven't been lucky enough to actually meet and take photos with the cast, meeting Jared and Jensen. I had so much fun writing this romantic paranormal and there are plenty of nods to SPN that fans will catch. You might also recognize a few Supernatural Sisters names in the book. ;)

As grand prize winner of EnterTEENment Magazine’s “Win a Date with Dakota” contest, Aly King, her best friend Desi, and Aly’s prima donna sister Missy are flown to Hollywood to meet teen heartthrob, Dakota Danvers (inspired by Sam).

Their dream-come-true vacation takes a turn for the weird when Aly discovers that Dakota is actually the son of Satan, sent to earth to prey on the souls of the vain and needy. When Dakota sets his sights on Missy, who will do anything to become a star, Aly joins forces with Jameson Dagon, a (hottie) fallen angel (inspired by Dean) sent to spy on Dakota as his personal assistant, to stop the errant demon.

HOLLYWEIRD is available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th just had the biggest gross for a slasher film opening…in history! That’s right, Jared’s movie is a record breaker. I, for one, think he had something to do with this feat, because, really, the hockey-masked killer has been going downhill ever since part eight, Jason Takes Manhattan. And although some fun was had with Freddy vs. Jason and Jason X (aka Jason in space) the second best thing about this new Friday the 13th is that the creators got back to the basics.

For those of you unfamiliar with the 1980 original, Jason wasn’t actually the killer. Mrs. Voorhees, deliciously played by the toothy Betsy Palmer, was taking her revenge on camp counselors because she felt their negligence was responsible for her son’s drowning death. In truth, Jason didn’t start killing until part deux and, believe it or not, he officially donned the red-marked hockey mask in part three. What this updated version of the franchise--called a “reboot” by producers--did best was condense the mythology of the first three films and bring this new starter up to wham-bam modern standards while still paying tribute to its history and diligent fans. In actuality, this is number TWELVE in the Voorhees filmography. However, storywise it’s starting a new chapter, and if the current box office boom is any indication, the series not only has fresh blood, but a long future of slasher success.

As reviews go, I’ll keep it simple. Friday the 13th 2009 follows every slasher film’s formula of sex, drugs, drinking, breasts and blood. The story opens with a quick black and white recap. It’s June 13, 1980 and Mama Voorhees is in a life or death battle with the lone surviving counselor at Camp Crystal Lake, but she loses her head (literally) and Jason (Derek Mears) is none too pleased. Twenty-some years later, five backpackers are hiking through the Crystal Lake area looking for a treasure trove of pot plants. Among the young and the restless is Whitney Miller (Amanda Righetti), a woman who feels guilty for leaving her cancer stricken mother for a short weekend away with her boyfriend. Amidst laughter and lewdness the group is quickly and brutally dispatched by a killer sporting a sac mask. “And that’s just the intro” one moviegoer gasped.

Six weeks later, Clay Miller (our boy Jared) shows up in town looking shaggy and sexy, with some serious sideburns. He’s there to find his missing sister Whitney. They’ve been on the outs for years, but when she didn’t show up for their mom’s funeral he knew something was gravely wrong. Conscience-stricken for leaving his family when he was seventeen, Clay wants desperately to discover what happened to his kid sister, but a local tells him she’s most likely dead. People don’t disappear, they die. During his search, Clay crosses paths with a group of young adults who’ve arrived in Crystal Lake to party hardy. Rich bitch Travis (Travis Van Winkle) is showing off his daddy’s cabin and his “friends” are all too happy to lap up the luxury, but girlfriend Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) is quickly seeing him for the douche he really is. One-by-one they all start dying--many of the deaths reminiscent of the first three films--and Jenna and Clay fight to survive. I’ll not detail the body count or spoil who lives and dies, but I will say this…biggest fright…Jared’s gorgeous face…wood chipper blades.

Now that I’ve left you with that haunting thought, let me just say I know critics are harshing on this reimagining, but I personally enjoyed it. I found it humorous, creative, scary and I especially liked that it gave homage to its predecessors. My only criticism is that the tension didn’t really build to squirm-in-your-seat intensity, opening withstanding, and they didn’t utilize the classic ki-ki-ki- ma-ma-ma soundtrack well enough.

Obviously, my favorite thing was Jared. In addition to being ridiculously easy on the eyes, his acting experience on Supernatural made him seem much more credible, he elevated the cast and he was a strong adversary for Jason. Had Jared been wimpy or whiny I would’ve taken serious issue, but the powers-that-be were smart enough to recognize and utilize his heroism. I happily look forward to watching him as the leading man in other films because I think the success of Friday the 13th will give him more opportunities.

The Five Year Plan

We’re more than halfway through Season 4 of Supernatural and most fans will agree the show has really broken out. Not only are the writers penning creeptastic, old school episodes (Family Remains) like those from season 1, they’re also expanding the overall mythology and character growth.

If you’ve been following our discussions here at Supernatural Sisters you know we’re predicting something wicked this way comes, and we’re not talking about your run-of-the-mill siren or ghost. The overall feel is that the Winchesters are heading for a dark showdown--even with each other--and not only does the fate of mankind hang in the balance, so does any hope of the boys having a future.

As the show amps up, and heads into a holy war, we’re left to ponder how Kripke is going to wrap things up. It’s well known that the genius behind Supernatural has always had a five year plan for his paranormal warriors and exec producer Sera Gamble has reiterated this several times. Last year she told Sci-Fi Wire it had “been in place since the show began."

But why? Isn’t there more story to tell? According to Cynthia of SF Universe, at last year’s L.A. Con Kripke said, “Season six would be the boys go to Hawaii and meet Vincent Price and then Dean would get on a motorcycle and literally jump a shark.” The horror! While we all want more Winchesters, we certainly don’t want to see Dean pull a Fonzie.

Yet in typical Supernatural wink-wink irony, episode 4.19 is called Jump the Shark and supposedly introduces a third Winchester. Hmm…. I sense a poke from the writer’s pencil, but Natalie will give us the full scoop on that in March.

In the meantime, we have to 1) hope the CW renews Supernatural for a fifth season (THEY BETTER!!!) and 2) realize if they do it will be the last season. Kripke told E! online fans, “… you want to go out on top—when you're still creatively effective—and you tend to inevitably get a little floppy in the storytelling when you go too long. So you want to pull the plug on the patient before you get a little too deteriorated. Also, this kind of a story, that has an epic sweep and has heroes and demons and the end of the world, you want the saga to come to an end definitely, and you want to watch a final episode that doesn't peter out like a limp balloon. You want it to end so when you cut to black, you can truly say, ‘That is the end of that story.’ So, I'm really campaigning hard to do that.”

I’ll admit the idea of one more season leaves me feeling mournful. There seems to be so much more story to tell and I don’t want things rushed. However, I fully agree that storylines can be dragged out too far and shows often lose their creative punch. As a fan I want the show to go out on Kripke’s terms because I trust his vision, and he says he already knows what the final scene will be, but the idea of losing the Winchesters is unthinkable.

So, how do you feel? Should Kripke stick to his five year plan? Give us more Supernatural stories? Or, as the rumor mill has suggested, do a spin off?