Melinda Metz – Graduating From Roswell High

Thanks to Thicket for sending this in

From Today’s Sci-Fi wire

Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz–the editor and author who created the Roswell High series of youth novels–told SCI FI Wire that it’s like entering an alternate universe now that they are staff writers on UPN’s teen-alien series Roswell, which is based on the books. Writing partners Burns and Metz recently completed their first Roswell script, “A Tale of Two Parties,” which finished production the week of Nov. 19 and is slated for a Jan. 1 air date.

The TV show is based on the first of the Roswell High books, but its plot and characters have diverged widely from the book series, the writers said in an interview. “It’s sort of that we started in the same places … and the show went in one direction, and the books went in a different one,” Burns said.

Burns added, “The characters are on different paths. The show has always been more adult. … The books were basically aimed at 10-year-olds. … So it had to be a much younger voice. And it was very much high school. And the show, the characters have just gone through so much, they’re sort of wise beyond their years now and much more mature than your average group of 17- and 18-year-olds, and the stories are much more adult. … But we love it just as much. We were always big fans of the show.”

Burns and Metz’s first episode takes place on New Year’s Eve. “We knew what kind of feel we wanted–just kind of a fun, fast-paced, bouncing around,” Burns said. “There’s a party, kind of a secret party. It’s like a treasure hunt, and you follow clues. Everybody knows where the first clue is, and that leads you to the next clue, and the next clue that leads you to the party. And this is an annual thing that’s legendary, like a rave, just the best party of all time, called Enigma. And what we thought is that we’re going to put them on the road to this party, in various groupings, and follow their adventures as they try to find the party.”

Metz said she enjoys the collaborative nature of television writing, in which ideas and storylines are developed by a group of writers working together. “That’s one of the things that I really like after writing books,” Metz said. “I think I’ll always like writing books and will always want to do it. But … I just got tired of being in my apartment all by myself all day. … I really love it. It’s the opposite, but it’s still stories. So I get to take that part, which I really love, and combine it with people, which I also love.” Roswell airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.