Month: August 2005

Doing the Konrath II

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Taking a page from Joe Konrath, I’ve been doing a lot of drop-in signings of stock. I have no idea if it makes any difference at all…but it’s a good excuse to visit bookstores. Here’s my tally for this week. Twelve stores visited, 71 books signed. Here’s a list of the stores visited so far:

B&N Santa Monica, CA
B&N West LA, CA
Brentanos Century City
Waldenbooks West LA
Borders Express Thousand  Oaks, CA
B&N Calabasas, CA
Mysteries to Die For, Thousand Oaks, CA
B & N Thousand Oaks, CA
Borders, Thousand
  Oaks CA
B& N Encino, CA
Borders Express Sherman Oaks, CA

B&N Ventura CA
Waldenbooks Ventura, CA
B&N at The Grove
Brentanos Beverly Center
B&N Burbank, CA
B&N Glendale, CA
B&N Pasadena, CA
Vroman’s Pasadena,CA
Borders Express Burbank, CA
B&N Redlands, CA
B&N Rancho
  Cucamonga, CA
B&N Montclair, CA
B&N Riverside, CA
B. Dalton San Bernardino CA
B&N Palm Desert, CA

You may have noticed few, if any, Borders stores in the list. Although they carry my books, they tend to stock so few copies of my titles (usually one of each) that it’s hardly worth the trip. On the other hand, their subsidiary Waldenbooks/Borders Express usually have 6-8 copies of the newest title and multiple copies of the older ones, so I make a point of seeking out those stores.

Dennis Lynds

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CollinsmichaelI just received the sad news that author Dennis Lynds, aka Michael Collins, has passed away. His wife Gayle Lynds was at his side. He was a wonderful man and I will miss him. My heartfelt sympathies go out to Gayle and her family.

UPDATE: The Associated Press ran a story about Dennis this morning that goes into more detail about the tragic circumstances of his passing. I’ve heard from others close to the family that Gayle and Dennis had rushed to San Francisco to see
their daughter, who was seriously  injured in a car accident. This is just terrible news.

Fans are a deadly “Cult”

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Variety reports that Rockne S. O’Bannon, creator of FARSCAPE and SEAQUEST, has sold a new pilot to the WB entitled CULT:

The two lead characters try to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances that may be linked to fans of a TV show called … "Cult."

The fictional "Cult" is a "very ‘Silence of the Lambs’/’Seven’-like thriller," O’Bannon said.

In addition to the usual die-hard Trekkie-like fan base, the fictional "Cult" also has "a whole other level of people watching and reaching out to each other. There’s a dangerous aspect to it."

Series leads will "try to figure out what this subculture is all about."

O’Bannon certainly knows a thing or two about "fandom."

Book Vending Machines

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Captpar10108191435 The French have developed a new twist on bookselling:  Book Vending Machines.  They are installed in busy metro stations and on some street corners.

"We have customers who know exactly what they want and come at all hours to get it," said Xavier Chambon, president of Maxi-Livres, a low-cost publisher and book store chain that debuted the vending machines in June. "It’s as if our stores were open 24 hours a day."

Stocked with 25 of Maxi-Livres best-selling titles, the machines cover the gamut of literary genres and tastes. Classics like "The Odyssey" by Homer and Carroll’s "Alice in Wonderland" share the limited shelf space with such practical must-haves as "100 Delicious Couscous" and "Verb Conjugations."

"Our biggest vending machine sellers are ‘The Wok Cookbook’ and a French-English dictionary," said Chambon, who added that poet Charles Baudelaire’s "Les Fleurs du Mal" — "The Flowers of Evil" — also is "very popular."

Regardless of whether they fall into the category of high culture or low, all books cost a modest $2.45.

(Thanks to Bill Rabkin for the tip)

The Untold Story

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I’m visiting my Mom in Palm Springs and read a terrific article in Vanity Fair in the bathroom. No, not the Jennifer Aniston interview, but a Michael Wolff column on the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plume’s identify to various journalists by Karl Rove. Wolff looks at the scandal from an entirely different perspective — that to tell one story, the press conspired to cover up a much, much bigger one.

While President Bush and Karl Rove were issuing denials that the White House blew Plume’s cover, TIME Magazine and the New York Times both knew it was a lie — and said nothing to protect the identify of their source in the original story.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but what they knew was something of such news value, of such moment, of such certain consequence that it might, reasonably,  have presaged the defeat of the President, might hafve even — only to be slightly melodramatic — altered the course of the war in Iraq. So possibly changed history, saved lives…hmmm.

Not only did highly placed members of the media and the vaunted news organizations they worked for know it, not only did they sit on what will not improbably be among hte bigges news stories of the Bush years, they helped cover it up…

Wolff argues there was no excuse for their actions, that the implications of the bigger story trumped the ethical issues of keeping the sources private for the smaller one.

As soon as it becomes clear that an event had occurred that, if exposed, might change the course of government, one which you, the gallant news organization have got the skinny one… you print the story.

How do you rationalize doing otherwise? To whom do you owe your greatest allegiance, source or readers? Again, the greatest news organizations in the land had a story about a potential crime that reached as close as you can get to the President himself and they punted, they swallowed it, they self-dealt.

It’s the most compelling take 0n the scandal I’ve heard yet…and curiously, one no one else seems to be talking about (at least not on the front pages. I’m sure Bill Rabkin, among others, will say this POV has been discussed in a number of opinion pieces…but I don’t read the Opinion section)

UPDATE:  Reporter Warren Olney had Wolfe, among others, on his KCRW radio show today to discuss the article and the questions it raises.

News Views Schmooze

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You might have noticed two blogs on my blogroll with the same title…News, Views and Schmooze.  One belongs to mystery novelist Rochelle Krich, the other to writer/producer Bryce Zabel. Both are well worth a visit each day. Today, Rochelle talks about the common practice of auctioning off character names in books.

I’ve participated in four charity auctions and have named several
characters after real people. The challenge, as a writer, is forgetting
that the characters are, in fact, based on real people.

At Left Coast Crime in Pasadena, a fan bid successfully to make his wife a character in Grave Endings.
When the book came out, he threw a surprise party for his wife, who
joined me in signing copies of the book that her husband gave each
guest.

Today, Bryce talks about his experience seeing a one-night-only staging of CAMELOT at the Hollywood Bowl.

The entire time I sat in those incredible seats, however, my mind
kept wandering away from the music (which was above average), away from
the story (which was below average), away from the staging (which was
less than the usual school play) to thoughts of how unique this night
was.  All these talented people, all this effort, all for one night.

Or, as Arthur would describe Camelot, and Jackie would describe her husband’s administration — "one brief, shining moment."

Where are the TV Themes?

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If you’ve bought any episodes of BONANZA on DVD, the first thing you’ll notice is that the show’s classic theme music is missing.  The same is true on some episodes of BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, ANDY GRIFFITH and THE LUCY SHOW, among others.

According to DVD Exclusive Magazine, that’s because some individual episodes of those series have inexplicably fallen into public domain — but the music has not. The companies who are issuing the cheapo DVDs don’t want to pay for the theme music and scores, so they change them… leaving buyers feeling confused and ripped off (Okay, this buyer).

Reel Media International, which holds 2,500 public domain,
or PD, films and TV episodes in its library, regularly hires composers to cook
up new theme songs for its DVD clients. 

"We’ll replace every bit of music–the front and the end, into the commercial
break–that way our clients aren’t going to have to pay," Reel Media president
Tom T. Moore said.

They’ll Put Any Shows on DVD…Except Mine!

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According to DVD Exclusive Magazine, upcoming TV shows being released on DVD this month include:

ADAM-12: The Complete First Season (we know how much America has been clamoring for that!)
McCLOUD: Seasons One and Two (The McCloud convention-goers will be thrilled)
PROFIT:The Complete Series
UNDECLARED: The Complete Series
BLISS: The Complete First Season Uncut
HOUSE MD: The Complete First Season
THE MIND OF THE MARRIED MAN: The Complete First Season (I couldn’t finish the complete first episode)
ROSEANNE: The Complete First Season
LOST: The Complete First Season