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Editorial Work

Stuntlady: Falling for the Stars by Sandra Gimpel (Felion Productions, 2023)

In late 2022, Patricia Tallman (Babylon 5) introduced me to Sandy Gimpel, who’d written a memoir of her Hollywood career and wanted a picture-filled print-on-demand publication she could add to the array of publicity photos she signs at conventions.

Over a couple months, Sandy and I worked together on the text, integrating her personal photos to achieve a book reminiscent of Pleasure Thresholds, the memoir I edited for Tallman in 2011 and helped her update in 2020. The resulting book, Stuntlady, was published on 17 April 2023. It was a hit at Trek Long Island (19–21 May 2023) and was featured on the 22 May 2023 episode of Inside Edition.

For editorial and/or publishing services, please contact me at ellison.editor@gmail.com.


STUNTLADY by Sandra Gimpel

Sandra Gimpel began her Hollywood career dancing with Elvis Presley in fifteen films and doubling Bill Mumy on Lost in Space. She even played the M-113 salt vampire on Star Trek before discovering her true calling: Stuntlady.

She’s doubled Adrienne Barbeau, Olympia Dukakis, Barbara Eden, Sally Field, Estelle Getty, Melissa Gilbert, Holly Hunter, Cloris Leachman, Susan Lucci, Shirley MacLaine, Alyssa Milano, Kate Mulgrew, Sarah Jessica Parker, Debbie Reynolds, Betty White, and more.

After establishing herself as a stunt coordinator, Gimpel broke the glass ceiling at Universal and became the first stunt woman to join the DGA and direct second-unit at the height of the studio’s television output.

From dancing with Fred Astaire in The Pleasure of His Company to being shoved by Daniel Radcliffe in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Gimpel’s seven decades of falling for the stars are all here.

Stuntlady: Falling for the Stars by Sandra Gimpel (Felion Productions, 2023)
Edited by Jason Davis. Cover cartoon by Luis Silva.
ISBN: 9798390149782 • 7.5″ by 9.25″ Trade Paperback 350pp.

To order signed and/or inscribed copies directly from Sandra Gimpel, click here.

To order unsigned copies from Amazon.com, click here.

Crusade: What the Hell Happened? Vols. 2-3 by J. Michael Straczynski (Synthetic Worlds Publishing, 2023)

For eight years, I was senior editor at B5 Books, overseeing an array of volumes documenting the creation of Babylon 5 and its spinoffs for Synthetic Worlds Publishing and Publishing 180. When I resigned on 31 December 2016, I had one regret: that Volumes 2 and 3 of Crusade: What the Hell Happened? by J. Michael Straczynski remained unreleased, their publication postponed by the author’s busy schedule.

While thirteen may have proved an unlucky number for Crusade the series—cancelled after that many episodes were produced—it’s a luckier one for the story of that ill-fated series, with Volumes 2 and 3 published in hardcover, paperback, and e-books thirteen years after Volume 1, which has been reissued.

While Volume 1 was reprinted as it originally appeared in 2010, I approached the editorial work on Volumes 2 and 3 from scratch, selecting the script drafts after thirteen years of detailed study and annotated each teleplay with information gathered while preparing my own books for the Babylon 5 Preservation Project.

Highlights include Straczynski’s first draft of “The Needs of Earth”, which differs substantially from the filmed episode; early drafts of later scripts, before TNT’s problematic resulted in a production shutdown; a version of “The Path of Sorrows” featuring Lyta Alexander and Lennier; as well as the two unfilmed stories that would have seen the series arc bare its teeth.

These are not the books as originally conceived in 2010 (or even 2022), but I’m pleased to see them finally complete the saga of the Excalibur in print.

For editorial and/or publishing services, please contact me at ellison.editor@gmail.com.

Crusade: What the Hell Happened? Volume 2 by J. Michael Straczynski (Synthetic Worlds, 2023)
Edited by Jason Davis. Cover art by Luc Mayrand.
Hardback ISBN: 9781630771331 • Paperback ISBN: 9781630771348
8.5″ by 11″ / 7.5″ by 9.25″ 354pp.

Crusade: What the Hell Happened? Volume 3 by J. Michael Straczynski (Synthetic Worlds, 2023)
Edited by Jason Davis. Cover art by Luc Mayrand.
Hardback ISBN: 9781630771324 • Paperback ISBN: 9781630771287
8.5″ by 11″ / 7.5″ by 9.25″ 354pp.

To purchase, please visit B5Books.com.