#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
MediaBistro is glad you can watch classic episodes of THE PRISONER for free online at the AMC website...but what they would really like to see is a reissue of the 1969 tie-in novel by Thomas M. Disch…and the never-produced tie-in 1976 comic by Jack Kirby.
I'm a sucker for unsold pilots (I wrote the book on'em, after all), and here's a doozy: the never-aired, 2004 UPN pilot NIKKI & NORA, a proposed series about a pair of lesbian cops in New Orleans played by Liz Vassey and Christina Cox. The busted pilot was written by Nancylee Myatt, who was interviewed at AfterEllen about the experience:
"Christina Cox and Liz Vassey were amazing as lovers and cops, and the city of New Orleans was a fabulous location to shoot: production-friendly and gay-friendly. The network has been very supportive of the show. There were very few things that they asked us to tame down, and most of those discussions happened during the script development process and long before we ever went on location. In fact, most everything we ended up putting in the final shooting draft got shot and ended up in the pilot. So the rumors about a tamer version of the show are really not true.
We did some testing during our post process and ultimately decided not to include one kiss we shot for the opening of the show, but only because it was not appropriate for the scene, not because it was too racy. I am very happy with this intimate look at a lesbian couple — after all, it is a prime-time network show, and this is ground-breaking on all fronts. Gotta start somewhere."
First the vanity press Authorhouse bought iUniverse, which was one of the few "reputable" players in the largely disreputable print-on-demand, self-publishing industry. Now Authorhouse has gobbled up xlibris, too. Can Lulu be far behind?
Other rivals in the print-on-demand space include closely held Lulu Enterprises Inc.'s Lulu.com, based in Raleigh, N.C. Last October, Lulu laid off 24 employees, including its president, or nearly 25% of its work force.
"It was less about the state of Lulu and more about the economy," said Gail Jordan, a company spokeswoman. "We pared back to ride out the storm. Our company is actually doing well."
Yeah, right. But in her comment lies the good news: the consolidation of the vanity press business means that the sleazy little fly-by-night vanity presses (like Jones Harvest) are probably doomed. If the big-boys of sham publishing can't make it on their own, it's unlikely these tiny, far less capitalized vanity presses will be able to stay alive for long. I say good riddance.
On the other hand, Victoria Strauss fears the lack of competition among vanity presses will lead to more, and costlier, abuse of the aspiring authors who use those services.
Every time I do a signing with Steve Cannell, it's reliving a dream. I grew up admiring him and his writing on shows like THE ROCKFORD FILES and THE A-TEAM…and I dreamed of working for him someday. He had the career that I wanted…and the talent, too. I didn't think that working with him was a real possibility but I knew I could learn from him anyway.
While I was in high school, I covered the television business for The Contra Costa Times (in Walnut Creek, CA) and came up with lots of excuses to do phone interviews with him, never once revealing that I was only 16-years-old or that I had any desire to be a TV writer. I know he liked the articles that I wrote because he told me so…and, more importantly, he never failed to return a call and was always available for a quote if I needed one.
We've remained friends ever since – and have signed together and spoken on panels with each other many times in many cities over the years. (Bill & I even had the amazing thrill of hiring him as an actor in a script we wrote for DIAGNOSIS MURDER…he played a burned-out TV producer of action shows…who becomes an actor!). But every time we get together, I am reminded how lucky I am to have achieved one of my dreams and to be able to count Steve among my friends. I hope the thrill never dies.
Saturday, January 24 at 3:00 p.m.
HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD!
STEPHEN J. CANNELL, LEE GOLDBERG and WILLIAM RABKIN discuss and sign their books
It's an all-star event at The Mystery Bookstore, as we welcome not one but three writers who have made their marks as TV screenwriters as well as novelists.
Stephen J. Cannell, creator of "The A Team" among other shows, will discuss and sign ON THE GRIND (St. Martin's, $25.95), his ninth Shane Scully adventure; as the book begins, Scully is not only fired from the LAPD, but also kicked out by his wife. The reason for both is a movie actress, Tiffany Roberts, who'd been looking for a hit man to kill her husband. As Scully starts a new job with Haven Park, the most corrupt police department in California, we learn more about his connection to Tiffany Roberts.
Veteran screenwriter Lee Goldberg will discuss and sign his seventh Monk novel, MR. MONK IS MISERABLE (NAL hardcover, $21.95), based on the award-winning TV series. Everyone's favorite obsessive-compulsive detective lands in Paris, which is bad enough, but then winds up in a sewer museum – where he finds a fresh skull.
Goldberg's longtime writing partner, William Rabkin, will discuss and sign PSYCH: The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read (Signet paperback original, $6.99), the first novel based on the hit USA Network series. Phony psychic/real detective Shawn Spencer agrees to lend his psychic powers to his old high school rival, Dallas Steele; Dallas wants Shawn to pick some investments for him. The investments turn out to be busts, but when Dallas winds up murdered, Shawn's detective talents are essential.
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I got this email today from Patrice Schoppe, a displeased MONK reader:
I just read Mr. Monk in Outer Space. Please leave the social commentary
about rich vs. poor to those who are good at it. Do what you do well and write
Monk books about Monk. If you want to write social commentary, do it in a non
fiction book.
I replied:
Ouch!
I'm not aware of any "social commentary" in my MONK books…but now that I have been forewarned, I will be sure to save any future thoughts along those lines for my non-fiction blockbuster on the changing face of American society: "I Saw a Rolls Royce in the Walmart Parking Lot"
He replied:
Hmm. . . . now I know where Monk's personality and ego come from.
…The Wall Street Journal thinks so.
Ms. Howard’s casting was a variation on the understudy-to-the-rescue bit. Midway through the series’ third season, audience favorite Bitty Schram, who played Monk’s no-nonsense nurse/assistant Sharona, made a precipitous departure. Reportedly, there was a contract dispute. […]She got the job as Monk’s aide-de-camp and partner in crime-solving. She also got a cool welcome from a certain number of fans who were no more fond of change than the troubled Adrian Monk himself.
“People would say to me ‘I really didn’t want to like you,'” said Ms. Howard, who understands that they were protective of the show and protective of Monk. “He can be very mean to me. But if I say one little thing to him, people react. When you think about it, he’s very selfish. But he gets away with it.”
She won over the doubters — and the detective — blending firmness with palpable sympathy for Monk’s myriad quirks and phobias
J. Steven York has a very smart analysis of the sale of the self-published novel Daemon to Dutton in a rich deal…and what the vanity press industry won't tell you about what the sale means.
The economic crisis is touching everyone, some below-the-belt. The Atlantic reports:
Relatively small, fragmented, and unaccustomed to outside investment, the U.S. porn industry (which generated roughly $12 billion in 2007) is some what buffered from today's credit crunch, but it has its own problems. Video sales have been falling by 15 percent a year since 2005, and online content doesn't deliver the returns it used to, now that Web sites such as RedTube and PornHub basically give it away. Struggling companies need investors to help right their operations, and those that are thriving in a brutal market need funding for growth.
Victoria Strauss at Writers Beware is reporting the long-expected news that sham publisher Light Sword, which defrauded authors and was run by the talentless Linda Daly (pictured on the left) and the convicted felon Bonny Kirby, has filed for bankruptcy. Daly has also filed for bankruptcy, but it may be a lame move to keep her sham publishing operation going:
Daly's personal bankruptcy petition, which Writer Beware has seen, makes no mention of her interest in LSP Digital, or of the contracts in her/the company's possession. Also, while the bankruptcy petition for Light Sword Publishing (which Writer Beware has also seen) claims that Light Sword has had no income for the previous 12 months, LSP Digital was only incorporated last June. So what happened between December 2007 and June 2008, when Light Sword was still Light Sword, and was still publishing and selling the books that are now with LSP Digital?
Is Daly hoping that she can solve her personal and corporate credit problems by declaring one publisher bankrupt while continuing to operate the other? I can't help but be reminded of literary scammer Martha Ivery, who declared bankruptcy for her vanity press Press-Tige Publishing, but attempted to shield Press-Tige's assets by transferring them to a "new" publishing company called New Millennium. The bankruptcy trustee in her case wasn't fooled.
Let's hope the same is true with the trustee in the Light Sword case. But it won't be too hard for him to see the truth. Daly is so inept that the web address for LSP Digital is Lightswordpublishing.com.
Bonny Kirby, Daly's publishing partner, is also the advertising director at Affaire De Coeur Magazine, which heaped glowing praise and cover stories on Light Sword …without any reference to her personal and financial connection to the sham publisher. These ethical lapses are exactly what you'd expect from a woman who is currently on probation for writing bad checks and third-degree felony theft.
I hope the fall of yet another POD scam will teach aspiring authors to be more careful about who they get into business with.
If I was still writing DIAGNOSIS MURDER novels, this would be the next one:
The scars on Craig Buford’s abdomen hinted at the shooting that almost took his life 35 years ago in Denver.[…]But the shooting resurfaced last week when the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office ruled Buford’s Dec. 29 death a homicide, stating that it was caused by multiple organ failure due to complications from his wound.