Writers live, largely, in the celebrity ghetto. Even the most well-known authors could run into the local Piggly Wiggly naked and waving a copy of their own book and no one would recognize them. (The only exceptions are very well-known writers who are also physically distinctive in some way. Stephen King is about 12 feet tall with glasses that would put Coke bottles to shame. Salman Rushdie looks like he just got struck my lightning, etc.) So in theory, I’m in favor of virtually anything that puts the spotlight (ergo the money) on the scribes.

But if that’s true, why do I feel so weird about the new Tempe Brennan television series coming out?

Background: Kathy Reichs, a real-life forensic anthropologist, writes the Tempe Brennan mystery series and does a damn fine job of it. As has been said a million times before, if you liked Patricia Cornwell’s early stuff, you’ll love Kathy Reichs. Tempe is a globe-trotting, multi-lingual forensic anthropologist working in Quebec and North Carolina leaving decomposing corpses and apprehended criminals in her wake. And now, she’s going to be a television star.

The series, “Bones,” will be on Fox in the fall. Tempe Brennan will be her usual forensic self who, in her spare time, writes books about a character named Kathy Reichs.

Reichs says it’s a great way to use stuff that doesn’t make it into a book. And I’m sure it is. I’m also sure this is going to be HUGE for her already stellar career, and I bet it at least opens more doors for other writers to get the kind of recognition that almost never shines on the celebrity ghetto.

But I’m a little worried. What will those T.V. people do to Tempe? Will she be some 20-something who doesn’t look like she knows a femur from a tibia? Will there be too much glitter?

I think that’s it. I think it’s probably an irrational fear of glitter. There isn’t much in the writer’s section of the celebrity ghetto. Tweed, sure, but not much glitter. Anyone who has ever put up Christmas tree balls knows glitter gets on everything and nothing short of a complete demolition of your house can ever get it out. So if too much glitter gets on the T.V. Tempe, will it ruin the book Tempe’s house? But, on the other hand, if in this reality-T.V. world, writers don’t find new audiences willing to tear themselves away from their Play Stations, won’t we be writing our own eulogies? In the end, do we need to get down in the glitter, roll around in it and then try and rub it off on our colleagues so everybody shines a little brighter? Can we do it without dumbing down and over-simplifying? Can we keep beloved characters built for the page intact on the screen?

I hope it works for Reichs. I really do. For Tempe’s sake and the sakes of everyone else in the ghetto. Say a little prayer and keep your fingers crossed.