Super, Naturally

THE SAGA CONTINUES: I opened my mailbox yesterday and found an invoice from Highmark for my February health insurance payment. Payment due date: before January 20. The invoice was mailed Friday, January 16, and there was no mail service Monday. The soonest I could have received my bill was the due date. And why am I getting bills in the mail anyway? I thought they’d be grabbing it out of my bank account like they did the first one. That’s what Dana and I agreed on. Good ol’ Dana, who misled me into signing on for life insurance I didn’t need. Trust no one.

Back to phone calls. This time things turned out well. The chirpy young thing who answered told me the billing date was wrong. I have until the end of January to make my payment for next month. She confirmed I’m not set up for electronic payment like I thought I was. Fine by me. I’d rather send a check than have somebody’s sticky fingers dipping into my till. She’ll send me paperwork so I can go electronic in the future if I deem it necessary.

Bonus good news: they’ve finally mailed my paperwork! Chirpy Young Thing told me they sent it out “yesterday.” Funny how everything gets fixed “yesterday” as soon as you start bitching. I should finally get my policy and ID card next week, if I’m really lucky. Then I can get my throat looked at. It’ll probably have cleared up on its own by then. And how are you folks doing? Eating that apple a day?

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Last week I found out Supernatural has been renewed for an eleventh season. The show’s not what it used to be in terms of quality, but the boys are still nice to look at. And hey, all they need is an influx of new writers with fresh ideas to get the excitement running again. Or they can go for the cheap ratings grab and make Destiel canon. But that’s just my personal dream.

Personally, I’m relieved. I’ve “cast” Jared and Jensen (and occasionally Misha) in so many of my recent stories I probably owe the guys money. Four of my last five books exist because they were inspired by the show. I’m afraid when it finally goes off the air I may have to give up writing.

Granted, Belonging might have existed anyway, just in a different form. If I hadn’t gotten obsessed with Supernatural, that book might have been a standard M/F. “Sam’s” role almost went to a woman. And damn, didn’t “Dean” make a great vampire? The show must have thought so; they ran that episode just as I was polishing up Belonging for market. I still think of that scene with Dean cleaning out the vampire nest as Wallace’s assault on the brothel.

And then there was the episode where the girl said to Sam, “Maybe you’re a hooker.” And the episode where Crowley referred to Sam and Dean as the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. Coincidence, yeah, but I’ll take it.

Out of Belonging came Legacy, and an expanded role for Misha Collins, aka the Preacher. Then I did the spinoff, Slayer for Hire, with Jared playing the son of his Belonging character. The boys returned in different form in my latest book, Jessalina’s Pets, after I got inspired by season 9’s publicity photos. Even though Fin ended up looking (in my mind) more like a silver-haired Tom Hiddleston, it was the picture of Jensen that gave him his roguish personality. Jared made it through intact, except for the darker skin. (Pay close attention to my physical descriptions. If one of my characters is lanky, shaggy haired, long-legged and unusually tall, odds are good he’s Jared Padalecki.)

My Supernatural book streak is on hold for the moment while I work on other things. My current WIP (almost ready for edits, hooray!) stars Brendan Fraser. After that it might be the M/M romance inspired by Project Runway. I watch a lot of TV, have you noticed? I should be writing instead. But the TV leads to writing, so it’s all good.

At some point I know I’ll be returning to the Supernatural well. I still owe Serena the final book in the Belonging trilogy, Misha/Preacher’s story. I’m waiting for the plot to stir to life again. Lately I’ve been thinking about the book I said I wouldn’t write (this one here) and wondering if I should write it after all. Wallace and his lovers had four children together; Gavin and Reese have a daughter. There may be stories there. I have a vague idea for a ménage involving half-brothers/horse shifters. One’s a long-legged Thoroughbred (sound familiar?), the other’s a feisty mustang. That one I think may wind up M/F, with the loser (sorry, Dean) getting his own story and his happy ending elsewhere, probably with the hot Appaloosa girl. Then there are the “Destiel” stories I’ve been fiddling with, a series of contemporary, non-paranormal (okay, one’s a ghost story) M/Ms starring Dean and Castiel. Sam has a cameo role in one of them.

And at some point, over in Talbot’s Peak, Sergei’s son Mikhail may finally turn up, looking for revenge against his father. Mikhail looks and sounds an awful lot like the Russian assassin character from season 1 of 24, played by Misha Collins. Why should Jared and Jensen have all the fun?

I’d better write fast, though. My main inspiration will still be on the air through 2016, but after that, who knows? I don’t want to have to go looking for a whole new show to obsess over. Hey, I know! I’ll write an original book (or series), sell the film rights to Hollywood, and then get Jared and Jensen to star in it. Bring it all full circle. Plus everybody makes money. I love it when a plan comes together.