Letting out my inner fangirl

I suppose that since I have a book releasing today, I should say something about it...so here goes. It's called The Rancher's Runaway Princess, and it's a western/fairy tale with Harlequin Romance. But guess what. That's not what I'm going to blog about today.

That's because I'm wayyyy too excited about something coming up later in the week. Yes, it's even more exciting than a book coming out.

Those that know me well or have followed my blog for a loooong time know how crazy I am about Battlestar Galactica. For a few years I felt the need to keep explaining...not the original version, the new version. I would hope by now people would have heard enough about this show to at least know it exists, even if they don't watch.

But if you're into character driven stories, as a reader or a writer, why aren't you watching?

I'll admit that I fell prey to its seductiveness for very shallow reasons - I'd watched all eight episodes of Horatio Hornblower and was quite taken with Archie Kennedy. When I saw Jamie Bamber (the actor who played Archie) on the cast list as I was scrolling through the channel guide one evening in 2003, I halted, and put on the show just because he was in it.

Ten minutes in I was hooked, and guess what. No Jamie on the screen yet!

That mini series started a new television series on Sci Fi and here in Canada on SPACE (boy was I glad when SPACE got their collective crap together and started showing the epis at the same time as the US). Reimagined by Ron Moore and with David Eick and Michael Rymer on board, they set up a stellar cast of heavy hitters and unknowns - Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, James Callis, and a slew of Canadian talent including Trisha Helfer, Aaron Douglas, Grace Park, Tahmoh Penikett, Michael Hogan...just to name a few. In season one they brought in the original Apollo, Richard Hatch - and gave us Tom Zarek a freedom fighter/terrorist depending on what side you're on and what week it is. They came up with a script and concept so different from the original it truly is apples and oranges. It was once described as "24 and The West Wing in space". Space is simply a setting. The action is really all with the characters and the choices they make.

Yes, they are on the run from the cylons. They are a rag tag fleet. But it is NOT a show about good and evil. It is a show about dark and light, shades of grey, about human nature, about living in a pressure cooker and there are surprises every week. Those you want to hate you can't, those you want to love show flaws, and it's all wrapped up in politico-religious mythology. It's fracking brilliant (and they get to say frak a lot).

And just when it gets dark...really dark...there are moments of light, of absolute beauty that take your breath away.

One example of this is when a very ill President, Laura Roslin, promotes Commander Adama to Admiral. These are two people that started out despising each other and over the course of several months, graduate to a relationship of respect and friendship and even love. So when Adama takes her chin in his hands and places the tenderest of kisses on her lips, it rips your heart out.

I learn something about writing every week I watch. I learn something about the world we live in every single episode...how about who we consider the "good" guys using suicide bombers when they are under siege? We criticize our government for keeping secrets, but then what are the ramifications of full disclosure? Do we believe in what we can see or do we have faith in what we don't? What happens when the good guys are bad and the bad guys show their human side (even when they're cylons?)

BSG is ending and the final season starts on Friday. I am so pumped I cannot even express it. I haven't even thought about trying to figure out what will happen. I am just going to wait for whatever Ron Moore and his rag tag fleet of writers is going to throw at us.

And oh yeah... Starbuck is a woman! (And a kick ass one at that!)

Thank you, Ron, the cast and the crew for bringing us six years of mind blowing television.

So say we all.