Back to school sales. The Fall TV season. The Olympic Torch doused.

Looks like it’s the end of the summer.

As you head back to class, I’d like to share with you 10 of the things I learned this summer … over at the Ro Com Blog. (Now under the snappy, new, shorter url: pulserocom.com.)

The new fall TV season is almost upon us and after the strike abbreviated last season I am both thrilled and a little cautious. Some of my faves did not come back all that well with the few post-strike episodes last season. And we’ve got a lot to ask from shows that haven’t been seen for over nine months. Hmm … nine months. I think I’ll avoid any pregnancy parallels there. Feel free to make your own.

While we all wait for our old friends to return, (yes, I consider TV shows to be good friends … I suspect if you’re here, you’re of the same mindset) here are my top three most anticipated NEW shows:

90210: It’s either going to be a hit right out of the gate or flame out spectacularly. There’s really no in between here with public (or media) perception, which is kind of an unfair bit of pressure. One of the good things about The CW is they do give shows time to grow, but I’m hoping this one will open with a bang. In anticipation of the new show I netflixed the first season of the original this summer. Some of it holds up really well. Some of it, not so much.

Fringe: PACEY!!!! I mean, Joshua Jackson returns to series TV (though you’d hardly know this from the commercials) in a sci fi show from J.J. Abrams. It looks all kinds of dark and moody and mind-trippy. My kind of show!

My Own Worst Enemy: I’m intrigued. And “intrigued” is a good thing.

As for midseason shows … I want to love Dollhouse. I really, really want to love it. It has all the right elements: namely Joss Whedon & Eliza Dushku. But I’m still not getting what this show is about. Maybe when we get closer to the premiere I’ll be closer to understanding. Or not.

So, here I always thought that my mom was the only person was reading this blog … when she’s not out buying multiple copies of my books, that is. Then I go and announce that DRAMA! has come to an end and the letters come FLOODING in! Okay, by “flood” I mean “handful” but it was quite the wonderful handful to receive. And now I feel horrible for not blogging more … and updating my website … and generally not being so great about the … you know … communication.

Thank you to everyone who wrote in. I know I don’t make it easy what with my aversion to email and all, but quite frankly the internet frightens me more than the time my high school gym teacher / choreographer tried to force me into a pair of WWII era soldier’s uniform pants that were four sizes too small. Seriously. Big, scary woman shoving me into teeny tiny pants. Still gives me shivers. But your letters have helped me face those nightmares.

I’d also like to thank all of you out there who stop by to visit but haven’t written in. Quite frankly, I’m with you guys. I’ve never sent letters to any writers, actors, singers, or network presidents to save my favorite TV shows no matter how much I wanted to keep Veronica Mars on the air. Nope. Not still bitter over that one. Not. At. All.

Now that I do know you’re all out there I promise I will never desert you again. After DRAMA! I’ll write another book and another. You see, this is my life. It will always be. Just books and writing and you wonderful people … out there … in the … um … dark. Oh wait, I’m channeling Norma Desmond. Must stop that! (Sorry. Sunset Boulevard reference. Definitely a classic movie you all should check out if you haven’t already.)

For all of you who are bold enough to write or prefer simply to read, I hereby solemnly swear that I will stop by my own site more often with news, reviews and all kinds of things. And I’ll be adding book bits about Show, Don’t Tell and Entrances and Exits any year now … day now … I mean day … or week … hopefully by next month.

Until then, most of those who wrote in were quite content with how DRAMA! wrapped up—aside from the whole vampire baby part, I mean. But many of you wanted to know what happens AFTER. Well, I’m not telling. And it’s not because I don’t know. I had a plan for the series to continue on forever and I know exactly what happens to Bryan, Sam, Hope, and even Electra (which, if you’re well versed in theatre you might guess on your own what THAT chapter might be titled.) But I figure YOU probably think you know what happens to the cast of DRAMA! too. And who am I to tell you that you’re wrong? So I won’t. Tell you, that is.

Well, okay, I will let you in on one thing. I never was good at keeping secrets. Here are the main cast lists for the Spring Theatrical Productions (Warning: Spoilers ahead … what? I can hope.):

Junior / Freshman Production of Wicked
Directed by: Bryan Stark (spelled correctly)
Starring:
Madison Wu as Elphaba
Some Girl You’ve Never Heard of as Glinda
Gary McNulty as The Wizard of Oz
And Others…

Senior / Sophomore Production of Wicked
Starring:
Jason MacMillan as Fiyero
Hope Rivera as Madame Morrible
Holly Mayflower as Elphaba
Sam Lawson as Glinda

And no, I didn’t accidentally switch those last two names.

With DRAMA! gone, you might be wondering what I’m working on next. Good question. I’ve got some crazy cool projects in the planning stages. I’m just waiting for someone to see the brilliance of the ideas and give me gobs of money to publish them. Not that I’ve ever gotten a gob of money. How many dollars are in a gob anyway? Either way, I’m out there pitching my little heart out. When I’m ready for my next big announcement, I’ll be making it here … unless I have to make it somewhere else for some reason. But I promise to come here right after and share it with all of you.

…You’ll love The American Mall. I mean, seriously … it’s a TV musical. Set in a mall! That’s even better than a movie musical set in a disco roller rink! (See: Xanadu. Seriously. See it.) This is exactly the kind of TV movie event that Bryan would throw a party for (and Holly Mayflower would have begged her dad to get her a role in!).

The American Mall is on Monday night at 9:00 on MTV. It stars Nina Dobrev from Degrassi, Rob Mayes, and Autumn Reeser who played the awesome Taylor Townsend on The O.C. And that oh-so-dreamy Neil Haskell from last season’s SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is in it too.

Do check it out because it not only promises to be more fun than a town that outlawed dancing, but—and I love that I get to say this—the director’s a friend of mine. So tune in! Turn it up! And sing along! Or … dance along since you probably don’t know the lyrics yet.

As Robin Sparkles* would say … Let’s Go To The Mall!

*This is a reference to How I Met Your Mother … another show you all should be watching.

Today is a bit bittersweet with the release of DRAMA! Book 4: Entrances and Exits. Sadly, this is the last book in the DRAMA! series … unless something wonderfully amazing happens like a massive write in campaign or a movie deal or my mom buying up every single copy of the series thereby skewing the sales numbers and making it clear that my editor simply must ask me for more!! Alas, I fear this is the end.

But a good end, in my unusually self-confident opinion. Entrances and Exits is one of my favorite books ever. (That I’ve written, I mean. In the pantheon of publishing I’m not going to be so egotistical as to say this is one of the best books of all time … although…) I love these characters and just because I’m not writing them anymore, doesn’t mean they’re not still with me. Ohhh, bad double negative! Bad! Or wait … I think that’s a triple negative! In that case bully for me!

Bully for me? When did Theodore Roosevelt take over this blog?

Mr. Roosevelt aside, I hope you all enjoy it. (Ooooh, speaking of Mr. Roosevelt, you should all check out the movie Arsenic and Old Lace starring Cary Grant. It is one of Bryan’s favorite movies and, not surprisingly, one of mine as well.)

And as they used to say on The West Wing … “What’s next?”

I’ll let you know.

Scott Westerfeld recently posted a blog entry about the first lines of his books … which naturally got me thinking of my first lines from the DRAMA! series. They go a little something like this…

The Four Dorothys
It was a drag queen’s worst nightmare.

Everyone’s a Critic
“SOMETIMES I JUST WANT TO RIP YOUR HEAD OFF, DISEMBOWELL YOU, AND FEED YOU TO THE SHARKS!”

Show, Don’t Tell
“Where did those come from?”

And finally … the book due out on Tuesday…

Entrances and Exits
Sam took the stage as I’d seen her do many times before.

As you can see from the first three first lines, I like to start things off with a BANG: a strong (hopefully) funny line that pulls you right into the story. The first line of Entrances and Exits doesn’t have quite the same BANG because it’s written to lead up to the BANG, which takes place on page 2. But it is there. And it’s one of my favorite BANGS in the series. Just as this is one of my favorite books in the series. And that’s all I’m going to say about that … except that the way I BEGIN the book isn’t the only difference in this story.