#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
The previous post about FLETCH got me thinking about the author, Gregory McDonald… and I unearthed this interview I did with him back in the early 80s when I was a UCLA student. Since I haven’t seen him interviewed much, I thought I’d share it with you in its entirety. THE MAN BEHIND FLETCH Irwin … Read more
I got this unsolicited email today: I have published a book and am interested in selling the television rights. I will send you a copy upon request, but you can go to http://www.authorhouse.com/ and see a synopsis and excerpts from sample chapters. The book is titled "Six Days of the Pigs" and I wrote it … Read more
Two copies of THE SHOOTING SCRIPT, the third Diagnosis Murder book, were delivered by UPS today. I was thrilled to get them, of course… but the real shocker was seeing the “sneak preview” of the first two chapters of THE WAKING NIGHTMARE at the end of the book. What was so shocking was I only … Read more
Bob Sassone alerted me that Telepictures is now casting for real people to become the fictional characters on Gilligan’s Island… a milionaire and his wife, a movie star, etc… for a new reality series. Here’s the casting call… CALLING ALL CASTAWAYS! Get ready to take a three-hour tour and end up on an uncharted desert … Read more
This ad ran in today’s VARIETY: An Open message to: Irene Chaiken & Showtime Networks We listened. We subscribed. We watched. We then became the driving force behind The L-Word’s Season One success and unprecedented renewal. So why aren’t you listening????? Marina Ferrer, as played by Emmy-worthy Karina Lombard, is a vital part of your … Read more
I sent an email to my editor the other day, listing the events I’ve got scheduled to promote my book and the ones in the works. He wrote me back saying how pleased and impressed he was that I was working so hard to support the book. I can’t imagine an author who wouldn’t do … Read more
On her blog, Sara Weinman unearthed an incredible column by Otto Penzler, founder of the Mysterious Press and proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop. I don’t know how I missed this article when it first ran in April. I don’t know why every author of cozies and hardboiled mysteries alike isn’t incensed by his article. The … Read more
So I’m sitting here with my two broken arms, recovering from surgery, and someone emails me a posting from the Pax TV discussion board. There’s a Diagnosis Murder fan who apparently is upset by a link in a posting here to her fanfic website, the one hosting the story in which Steve (the character played … Read more
Many years ago, I was a writer-producer on Steven Spielberg’s science fiction TV series SeaQuest, which featured Roy Scheider and a crew that included a talking dolphin patrolling the oceans of the future in an unbelievably phallic submarine. I joined the show in its third and, as it turned out, final season. Because I was … Read more
Television is my life. Well, at least it pays for my life… and consumes most of it. I’m either watching it, or thinking about it, or talking about it, or making it. Today, I spent most of my time making it, sitting in on meetings for the new season of “1-800-Missing.” We let our star, … Read more