Celebromancy Read Free

medium for combining entertainment and social commentary, and Awakenings is the right show for the right time. There are a lot of shows that entertain, but precious few that go deeper, tackling real issues, and none that do it the way Ree has in Awakenings .”
    Several reporters nodded like bobblehead dolls, hanging on to Jane’s every word. The star gestured to Ree, shifting the spotlight of attention. “But let’s hear from the genius herself. I’m sure she’d be happy to tell you more about the show.”
    That’s me. She felt a hundred eyes lock onto her movements, their attention as intense as a spotlight. Ree was used to performing in small crowds—stores, parties, and the Midnight Market. This was a whole different world.
    Ree cleared her throat and pulled in her own mike, calling forward the Castle energy again.
    Keep it cool.
    “Thanks, Jane. I wrote Awakenings for a number of reasons. The biggest one is that ever since Battlestar Galactica went off the air, there hasn’t been another show, for me, that tackled social issues in the way I wanted to see. So I had to write it myself.
    “I grew up reading Ursula LeGuin, Frank Herbert, Octavia Butler, and New Wave SF. It’s hard to do social science fiction on TV, because many viewers are expecting the eyeball kicks, explosions, and constant jokes. But I wanted to take a risk, trust that an audience would go with me on something that took the time to dig into issues between fight scenes.”
    Another reporter took up the mike, a thirtysomething white guy with a shaved head and big plastic glasses. He was dressed in the traditional garb of his people, the black turtleneck, as well as a finely-crafted air of self-importance.
    “Alex Walters, WTF. Given the crash-and-burn failure of shows like The Event , Rubicon , Alcatraz , Flash-Forward , and others, what makes you think that a show that seems to boil down to a mashup of No Ordinary Family and The 4400 can succeed in today’s television market, especially with a washed-out flight risk as the star?”
    Ree knew this guy. He was hipster royalty online, and prided himself on eviscerating everything in the world as soon as it started to smell of success, predicting failure everywhere he went. And since he had a million Twitter followers and headed one of the biggest gossip sites this side of TMZ, when he did his doomsaying, a whole lot of people listened.
    Yancy looked to Ree, and she nodded, trying to indicate, I got this . Though she had to restrain her first instinct, which was to pull the lightsaber out of her purse and take a Dark Side point.
    Ree adjusted the mike and said, “The fact that companies keep putting on shows like the ones you mentioned means that the execs and others believe that there’s something to it. And concept isn’t destiny. You can walk into a bookstore and find a hundred YA novels on the shelves.” Look at me being diplomatic , she thought, when all she wanted to do was drop-kick the smarmy bastard out of the zip code.
    “Only a handful of them have hit it big, but does that mean the others are doomed to fail, or that just because a couple of them aren’t great means the others are crap? Of course not. Each show deserves to be judged on its own merits, don’t you think?”
    Do not engage , she told herself. That way lies madness.
    Alex shifted his weight, eyes narrowed. “That’s easy to say, but if we’re supposed to judge your show on its merits, will Awakenings actually have any?”
    Because you’re the God-given arbiter of taste, right? Ree thought, restraining the growing urge to jump the table and strangle the bastard.
    No one will care if I clobber him, right? The media ecosystem will survive with one less parasite.
    Yancy leaned in to answer. “Ree has a wry, crisp voice, and she’s given us a great world to bring to life for audiences. Our special-effects team is going to deliver amazing visuals, and Jane is putting in some of the best performances I’ve seen in