Current Affairs

Genre Neutral

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On his lively blog, Ed Gorman tackles  the pros and cons of being a writer who isn’t pidgeon-holed in any one genre.

Well, as I said at a conference where I was one of the speakers: "My
name is Ed Gorman and I’m a nobody in three genres." I’m sure working
under my own name in three genres, especially ones so distinct from
each other, has hurt me. Some of this is financial. I work where I can
sell. But the greater problem is that I’m genuinely fond of suspense,
horror and westerns. I’m not slumming or writing down as I shift from
genre to genre.

He says that every time he’s tried to write something specifically to capitalize on whatever was selling big in the marketplace, he’s failed.

I was once with an agent who said he could make me a big name if only
I’d write a romantic suspense novel under a woman’s name; and so I did.
And when that failed to sell up to expectaion, he said he could make me
a best seller if only I’d write a political thriller under a pen name.
Well, I not only wrote one, I wrote two. And when that failed to sell
up to expectation, he said that he coukl make me a best seller I only
I’d write a very long spin on Rosemary’s Baby under a pen name. And
when that failed to sell up to expectation, I got a new agent who said
write the book you want to write and I’ll get you as much as I can for
it. I’m still with that agent today.

This reminds me of an experience Bill Rabkin & I had when we decided to leave our TV agent at William Morris and started looking for new representation.  Many of the agents we "did lunch" with said that we had to many diverse credits — scifi shows, detective shows, horrors shows —  that we needed to "reinvent" ourselves by focusing on one genre and dropping all the other stuff from our resume. Then we met an agent who looked at our credits and said "Wow, you guys can write anything! " We picked him…and have been with him now for over a decade.

 

Good News for Screenwriters Over Forty

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Variety reports that Alvin Sargent, 74, has made a "seven figure deal" to write the screenplays for  SPIDERMAN 3 and SPIDERMAN 4.

The deal caps a spectacular second wind for Sargent, a two-time Oscar winner
who will turn 74 in April and has shown that well-honed character development
skills can make a veteran writer more valuable than the twentysomething
comicbook geeks who usually get these jobs.

Sargent, who began his writing career on television shows like "Route 66,"
won his Oscars for "Ordinary People" and "Julia" and was Oscar-nommed for "Paper
Moon." He is widely credited with whipping a problematic "Spider-Man 2" script
into shape, but he has evolved into the voice of the franchise, in much the same
way his peer Robert Towne has on the "Mission: Impossible" series.

Sargent got sole screen credit on the sequel but also did uncredited rewrite
work on the first film, which was penned by David Koepp.

Author, Reread Thyself

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In his enewsletter, mystery writer Michael Jecks talks about the constant juggling act that prolific writers have to perform.

Every time one book is ready to launch, I have to plan the next to be written.
And at the same time, of course, I’m receiving the next to be published so that
I can go through the copy editor’s notes. That’s why at any time of the year I
tend to be working on three different titles simultaneously, and it’s also why
authors should always reread their most recently published books before being
interviewed about them.

During a radio interview, the host asked him a specific plot question about his novel… and he couldn’t answer.

In the two years between writing the book and the interview, I had written The Merchant’s Partner, A Moorland Hanging, and
synopses for two more books. I had scarcely thought about The
Last Templar, beyond being glad that it was in print and selling well. I
couldn’t remember the names of the victims, the perpetrators, or the motives for
their crimes. It was a salutary experience, and one I won’t forget in a hurry.

I can see the same thing happening to me some day. I will be sure to follow his advice…

C’mon Get Happy!

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My sisters Karen & Linda have a gripe.

Lee often quotes Tod in his blog but he rarely quotes either of us, his two really funny and talented sisters. However, we won’t harp on that because we don’t really talk about all that mystery shmistery stuff that his fans (or in some cases, his enemies) like to read.

That is about to change.  My sisters, my brother, and I all have new books coming out in November — Linda Woods & Karen Dinino’s  art book VISUAL CHRONICLES, Tod Goldberg’s short story collection SIMPLIFY, and my detective yarn THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE.  PartridgefamWe’re going to hit the road together, like the Partridge Family. I’m Keith, of course. Tod is Danny. Karen is Laurie. And Linda is Tracy.  We aren’t going to sing… but we’ll sign books, tell lies, and probably make an art project or two.

My art-minded sisters have also launched a new feature on their blog of interest to folks here.

We do know something about books, and in an effort to bind the 4 of us in the literary world, a new feature of this blog is born… Judging a Book by its Cover.

Be sure to check it out… and watch this space over the coming months for more news about my sisters and their first book.

Does Everyone Have A Book In Them?

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…not according to my brother Tod, the literary novelist who teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, among other places.

It’s hard for me to say that I teach creative writing because I firmly believe
that talent cannot be taught. Either you can string two words together or you
can’t, and what I am able to do is either provide direction or try to foster
talent in a particular way. There are tools, certainly, that a writer needs, but
I don’t prescribe to the idea that everyone has a novel inside them, just like I
don’t believe everyone has a brain surgeon or a plumber or a lawyer inside
them. 

He also talks about some of his experiences as a teacher.

There are three things I try to suss out the first night:

1. Who is the crazy person (there’s always, always one).

2. Who is the person who will disagree with everything I say.

3. Who is the person who will be offended by my constant use of the word
"fuck" as a place holder for my thoughts, as in, "It’s hard to say whether or
not a first present tense story about a woman with an imaginary friend who
commits murders while the main character is asleep, but only kills the people
the main character dreams of, will sell. I mean, it’s like, fuck.  You know?"

Paperback Writer

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While some are proclaiming the death of the mass market paperback, at least one writer is still making a very healthy living writing them. Author Lynn Viehl (who also writes under five other names)  is interviewed on Book Angst.

LV: I’ve had my disappointments, but not many, and
they made me work harder. I didn’t know anything about the industry and
I never met another writer until after I was published, so that may
have something to do with it. My only expectation was simply to see my
name on the cover of a book, and I’ve done that twenty-six times in
five years.

M: You also seemed to be among the best paid of all of the respondents.

LV:
The reason my writing income is in six figures is because I write very
fast, I’m aggressive about finding work, and I’m willing to work 12 to
16 hours a day at the job.

M: If you don’t mind my asking, what’s the most you’ve ever been paid for a book? And how many do you generally write per year?

LV: The largest advance I’ve been paid for a single novel is $25,000.00. I write six to eight novels a year.

She writes in a variety of genres, including horror and romance, and mentions on her blog that she’s well on the way to reaching that total in 2005.

I’m 20K away from finishing the first draft of my first book of 2005 (some of which I wrote in 2004; I’m not that
fast.) I expect to polish it off today. I have two more books in
progress and hope to finish both of them by the first of Feburary.

Compared to her, I feel lazy.

Tod’s Got a Blog

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My brother Tod has joined the blogging world…

I swore up and down that I wouldn’t get sucked into this. That I’d watch from
the sidelines while the rest of the world blogged away. I’d spend my mornings
jogging, working out, reading Dostoesvsky, getting a handle on my Esperanto
lessons, really getting down to the basics as to why I just can’t get my
wireless router to work, throwing out all my old cassette tapes, flossing,
shaving the tuft of hair that growns on the base of my back, rectifying that my
mother moved in down the street three years ago and, seemingly, ain’t moving
out, learning to love The Wire and 24 because everyone else seems to, maybe
doing an odd bit of actual writing during the daylight hours vs. the hours
between 9pm & 3am, thinking about who might have dropped the gate on
Freddy’s head on last week’s Amazing Race (Bolo?
Jonathan? Hayden?) and generally spending more time not reading blogs whilst
killing time.

But he finally gave in. Well, to be honest, I kind of pushed him into it. I gave him a blog for his birthday. Not using it would have been rude, don’t you think?

I can’t wait to see who he offends first. I just hope it isn’t me.

Reach Out and Touch an Author

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The web has made novelists far more accessible to their readers than ever before. But, as author Alison Kent observes, there’s a downside.

I am often amazed that because authors choose to make themselves accessible on
the web, readers feel they can say anything to them in an email.

In my case, it means I get inundated with emails from people asking me to buy their series idea or read their scripts. I delete most of those (and occasionally post some of the best ones here). But I also get a lot of wonderful notes from readers and viewers… and those make me feel great, especially the flood of get-well emails I received after my accident last April.

It’s still amazing to me that I can read a novel and, in many cases, easily email the author directly and let them know how much I enjoyed their book.  And it’s still a big thrill for me to get a reply back. I hope I never become so jaded that it stops feeling special.

They’re Just Friends Now

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In addition to the hundreds of thousands of people killed in the Tsunami, scientists are now recognizing the tremendous scope of the ecological disaster caused by the flood (eg fresh water lakes and farm land contaminated by salt water, pollution caused by the flooding of toxic sites, etc) and the lasting impact on the animal population which might reverberate for decades. And millions of people face the threat of cholera, typhoid and other infections caused by dirty water and lack of shelter.

But that story came after the much more important news about Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston’s split on TV tonight.

Oh, and Lindsay Lohan’s breasts have disappeared.