Month: October 2005

The Cold Draft

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Yesterday, I shared excerpts from  some of the rejection letters I received for THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE during its long journey to publication. Today, novelist Laurie King reflects on the uncertainty and rejection all professional writers face, regardless of their past successes.

There ain’t no guarantees in the writing business. It’s scary even to mention
the possibility, as if failure is a demon summoned by voicing his name, but it’s
very true, it’s waiting just outside. I’ve got sixteen books out there, sold a
couple million copies, had titles on the New York Times list, and still, every
day I feel the cold draft at the bottom of the door. My accountant talks about
SEP accounts, and I think, well, that may be necessary. My husband asks if we’re
going to have the money for some project or another, and I have to tell him I
don’t know.

Extra Features for Novels

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Perfectkillercoverfrontplustext_1DVDs these days come packed with extra features — commentary, documentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, etc. Now author Lewis Perdue is experimenting with doing the same thing for books, starting with his novel THE PERFECT KILLER. To give his readers a sense of the people, places and details in the story, he’s created a page-specific online index with photos, videos, maps, links, and other information. You could read his book with your laptop open beside you and click along with the story. For instance:

Page 227, coast
snakes northward from the missile gantries of Vandenberg Air Force Base to Big
Sur’s relentlessly beautiful cliffs and surf south

Page 228, Dan
Gabriel jogged along Pecho Valley Road, south of Morro Bay (more pictures
here)

Page 229, He sprinted the dune
trail, south toward Spooner’s Cove, but the past matched his pace

Page 230, sight
of a man and a boy of maybe ten

Page 235, San Luis
Obispo

Page 243, Blackhawk returned and hovered
over the clearing, Armed men hung out the side door

 

It’s a cool idea. Will it catch on? Who knows…buttake a look and  let Lew know what you think.

Rejection

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Last week, I talked about the long road to publication for THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE,which came out this month to some terrific reviews (including a starred review from Kirkus and a rave from Publishers Weekly).  Here are s0me of the rejections the book got over the years. I’ve edited out the names of the companies and editors.

"The manuscript was a lot of fun — definitely a good read and a fresh angle. We seriously considered it since it is so unique, but ultimately we have to pass since we are moving away from mysteries and thrillers…"

"I am going to have to pass on an offer at this time. We must be extremely selective with the titles we bring on."

"Thanks so much for the extended look at THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE. You know I hold Lee in the highest regard and I thought he treated this mystery with great humor and enthusiasm. Though I think the conception is novel, in the end I just thought that the plot development moved a little too slowly for us to be really able to break this out commercially. Furthermore,  though I think Harvey Mapes is a great protagonist, I just didn’t think the ‘fish out of water’ conception would play out successfully in a very crowded and competitive market."

"This story is well-written and entertaining; however, the tone is not quite right for our list and overall it would be very difficult to publish."

"This is going to be a pass for me. Though I thought the writing was strongly readable and mildly humorous, the protagonist likeable and the overall delivery well structured, I’m afraid the overall storyline wasn’t strong or original enough for me."

"I agree it is an unusual crime story. Unfortunately, we find the market is glutted with crime fiction right now and the market is not kind these days. Simply put, I did not find this manuscript special enough to warrant an offer."

"Lee Goldberg is a great writer but I’m afraid I didn’t respond to the first person voice the way I would have liked in order to confidently take it on for my list here and be its advocate."

"Lee has a good sense of humor and a great grasp of the down-and-out detective genre. I found the story here entertaining, and though it’s not perfect, I asked the publisher to read it. He was not as enamored of it as I was and I lost the battle of wills."

"It’s a lot of fun and very professionally done, but I just don’t see it for my list. I’m sorry, because I liked Harvey. I loved the wit, I admired the use of the L.A. setting. This is one of the better PI novels I’ve ever read."

Read more

Coming to a Computer Near You

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Back in 2001, Andre Morgan announced production of a 22-episode, hour-long  TV series shot in Shanghai called FLATLAND, starring Dennis Hopper (what, you thought E-RING was his first TV series? Don’t believe everything you read). Morgan didn’t have a buyer or distributor for the project at the time but claimed to be in discussions with several networks. Now, four years later,  the show may finally be premiering…on a cell phone or computer near you. Variety reports the show is being shopped at Cannes, where it’s being sold in groups of
50 two-minute episodes by Intl. Program Consultants for broadcast on mobile phones and over the Internet.

"Exotic locations, elaborate CGI and high-definition technologies will
generate literally hundreds of … serial episodes," said exec producers Ruddy
and Morgan.

IPC topper
Russell Kagan added: "RMO, a leading independent company in TV and film
ventures, now will be one of the first leaders in mobile and broadband
video."

The Brits Spin-Off

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A few years ago, there was a series in England called TAGGART about a detective named Taggart (and I remember not being able to understand a word he said). When the actor playing Taggart died, they continued the series without him…and didn’t bother changing the name of the show. They are getting a little more savvy about spin-offs now. The great INSPECTOR MORSE series starring John Thaw as the title character, and Kevin Whately as  his partner Lewis, ended with the death of Morse (followed, sadly, a year or so later by the real-life death of Thaw). Now they are continuing the series with Lewis but have wisely decided to abandon their original title, AFTER MORSE, in favor of, simply, LEWIS. I wonder if they toyed with calling it TAGGART first, just for the hell of it.

Speaking of British spin-offs, forty years (or is it fifty?) after the premiere of DR. WHO, one of the UK’s longest running (and most re-cast) series, comes news of a spin-off called TORCHWOOD, featuring some character named Captain Jack. I don’t watch the show, so I have no idea what the hell they are talking about. But I wonder why they waited to long to capitalize on the show’s success.

The DR. WHO news reminds me of GUNSMOKE…they waited 19 years after the show’s premiere, and well past it’s ratings heyday,  to finally attempt a spin-off, a lame comedy called DIRTY SALLY. It lasted less than a season, cancelled shortly before GUNSMOKE itself the following year.

The Politics of THE DESTROYER

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075924085x01_sclzzzzzzz_My friend Warren Murphy clued me in to this National Review article about why his right-wing superspy Remo Williams, aka THE DESTROYER, has become more liberal:

So how does a highly successful 34-year-old book series that was once firmly
grounded in patriotic and good old-fashioned Right-leaning American values end
up listing Left-ward and, at least as a partial consequence, now find itself on
the verge of cancellation? Blame Canada, says series creator Warren Murphy
(co-creator Richard Sapir died in 1987). Since 1994, the once-great series has
been published in Toronto by Gold Eagle, a subsidiary of Harlequin Enterprises,
Ltd.

The novels’ leftward lean began in the 1980s with the death of co-creator Sapir,
which was then followed by the retirement of Murphy from the series. It was at
that point that a ghostwriter was brought aboard who, while prolific (there are
four Destroyers published every year), lacked the conservative
convictions of the original authors. The humor became sophomoric, turning off
many longtime readers, and the political jabs frequently began to strike against
the right.

A publisher of standard guns ‘n’ guts action novels, Gold Eagle has never
been certain what to do with a series that doesn’t conform to the expectations
of the genre. Is The Destroyer action, humor, political and social
satire, mysticism, or science fiction? (At times, it is all of these.) A
hands-off editorial approach has developed which, although conforming to the
dreams of every writer, has allowed too much freedom in several important areas.
One of these areas of freedom — politics — has allowed new writers to undermine
one of the founding principles of the series.

The article goes into far more detail than the excerpt here. It’s well worth reading, particularly for the glimpse into business behind ghost-written series.

The Way We Were

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I remember when the DVD boxed set of UFO came out. I couldn’t wait to watch it. Not only that, I couldn’t wait to show my friends. Unfortunately, I did both at the same time…bringing the DVD into the office to show them during lunch. What a mistake. The series I thought was so unbelievably cool when I was a kid turned out to be an inane bore. UFO looked slick and Barry Gray’s score was still incredible, but everything else sucked — the  acting was leaden, the writing was terrible, and the direction was limp.  The Onion reports on someone who had the same sad experience when the DVD of  LAND OF THE LOST didn’t live up to his childhood memories.

I was pleased to discover, however, that KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER was every bit as good as I remembered it to be… though obviously cheap looking by today’s production standards, which is true when watching any old classics (from STAR TREK to THE ROCKFORD FILES, GUNSMOKE to MAN FROM UNCLE).  Mark Evanier, though, can’t get past the  el-cheapo production values when he watches HAWAII FIVE-O.

It’s great that so many old classics are coming out on DVD…but how many will live up to our fond memories and changed expectations?

A Novel Prescription

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William Rabkin clued me into this truly bizarre publishing scam. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,  a lobbying group,  commissioned  ghost writer Julie Chrystyn to write a thriller designed to scare people out of buying cheap drugs from Canada. When word of the ridiculous scheme leaked out, the drug lobby offered $100,000 to the author and her publisher,  Michael Viner’s Phoenix Books, in a futile bid to bury the whole thing.

Chrystyn titled her thriller-in-progress "The Spivak Conspiracy," an homage
to her friend Kenin Spivak, an L.A. telecomm entrepreneur and
onetime Hollywood exec.

Spivak said he became Chrystyn’s co-writer after she delivered the first 50
pages, and PhRMA made several editorial suggestions.

"They said they wanted it somewhat dumbed down for women, with a lot more
fluff in it, and more about the wife of the head Croatian terrorist, who is a
former Miss Mexico," Spivak told me.

Apparently, women are among the most loyal buyers of Canadian drugs.

"They also wanted to change the motivating factor of the terrorists to greed,
because they didn’t want it to be politics," Spivak said. "They wanted lots of
people to die."

Spivak told me that since PhRMA pulled out – and he and his colleagues
rejected the lobby’s offer of $100,000 to kill the project – he and Chrystyn
have finished a revised version, "The Karasik Conspiracy," due early next
year.

Taming the Wild Cover

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The Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy NTameovels are at it again with another hilarious critique of horrible book covers…this week, they skewer books with "Tame…" in the title. Here’s one of my favorites:

Candy: Bitch, please. This is the cleanest-cut rebel I’ve ever seen. What’s rebellious about him? His unnatural love of Brylcreem?
His choice to use steroid cream AND shoot it up? His decision to use
SPF15 instead of SPF40 sunscreen? His weirdly offset nipples?

Sarah: Whoo. What a rebel. To throw off the expectations of
society, and insist, visit after visit to the hair salon, on sporting a
mullet. The mullet alone is worth the 300-page effort of taming him.