Current Affairs

His Night with Rob

by

Novelist Craig Clevenger talks on his blog about meeting author Rob Roberge for the first time at Men of Mystery in Irvine last month and discovering some connections they never knew they had.

I stood outside the lobby, mad dialing to find a friendly couch in
L.A. and figure out how to get to the train station via the bus (not as
easy as it sounds… getting by on public transportation in Orange County
is akin to buying a television in Soviet Russia). Rob Roberge passed me
once again on the way to his car.

“Need a ride somewhere?”

“Only if you’re going to L.A.”

I
did, he was, so we went. A major act of faith on both parts, given we
had to ask each others’ names again as we hit the freeway. Idle banter
ensued, of the SoCal variety…

…"I grew up around here.”

“Yeah, where?” [Rob asked]

I told him.

“My wife, Gayle, grew up there, too,” he said.

“What’s her last name?”

He told me.

Shit.

Holy shrinking planet, Batman.

17
years ago. Rum and Coke. Someone’s back yard party in the summer. A
band tearing through their set in order to finish before 10:00 p.m.,
when OC’s finest drop their doughnuts and start swinging…

More Moore

by

Variety reports that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA showrunner Ron Moore has signed a rich deal with NBC/Universal.

Deal calls for Moore, who exec produced the first season of HBO’s "Carnivale"
before joining "Battlestar," to create and develop series, with an emphasis on
sci-fi-themed projects.

He’s already set up the NBC fantasy skein
"Pen and the Sword" and "Warehouse 13," a quirky one-hour for Sci Fi Channel.
Moore also will continue to steer "Battlestar," which kicks off the second half
of season two Jan. 6.

"Pen and the Sword" revolves around a young man at a temp agency who comes to
realize the building he works in is a portal to a sort of medieval alternate
reality. Show will follow the man as he slides between worlds, trying to unravel
the connection between the two — i.e., verbal spats between colleagues in one
dimension are sword fights in the other.

"It’s definitely something different for a broadcast network," Moore said.
"At its heart, ‘Pen and the Sword’ is really the story of this guy and his late
father, who was somehow involved in the office."

For Sci Fi, Moore will oversee "Warehouse 13" from writer Brent Mote. Project
concerns a pair of government officials banished to a storage facility in North
Dakota where they spend their days cataloguing artifacts and other odds and ends
collected by the government over the years. Unbeknownst to them, every item has
a backstory, pulling them into fantastic and supernatural quests each week.

"It’s ‘Northern Exposure’-esque and more comedic than anything else I’ve seen
on Sci Fi," Moore said. "What interested me was that it was a fun concept
anchored by real characters."

 

Trevanian Dies

by

Bill Crider pointed me to the sad news that the novelist known as Trevanian (aka Rodney Whitaker) has died.

The author used at least five different writing names but was best known as
Trevanian, The New York Times said. He died Wednesday of chronic heart disease,
his agent told Saturday`s newspaper.

In addition to the ‘Eiger Sanction,’ Trevanian`s international best sellers
included 1979`s ‘Shibumi’ and ‘The Loo Sanction’ in 1973. His 10 known published
books sold more than 5 million copies and were translated into at least 14
languages.

I remember when I was a kid reading SHIBUMI and thinking the sex scenes were really hot, particularly the one where the hero made love to a woman by stroking her with razor blades (which included an author’s note not to try this technique at home unless you were well trained in the erotic arts. Sadly, I dropped out without getting my diploma).

New Years Resolutions for Writers

by

Novelist Joe Konrath posts his Professi0nal Writer Resolutions for the new year. They work for me, too.

  • I will keep my website updated
  • I will start a blog
  • I will schedule bookstore signings, and while at the bookstore I’ll meet and
    greet the customers rather than sit dejected in the corner
  • I will send out a newsletter, emphasizing what I have to offer rather than
    what I have for sale, and I won’t send out more than four a year
  • I will learn to speak in public, even if I think I already know how
  • I will make selling my books my responsibility, not my publisher’s
  • I will stay in touch with my fans
  • I will contact local libraries, and tell them I’m available for speaking
    engagements
  • I will attend as many writing conferences as I can afford
  • I will spend a large portion of my advance on self-promotion
  • I will help out other writers
  • I will not get jealous, will never compare myself to my peers, and will
    cleanse my soul of envy
  • I will be accessible, amiable, and enthusiastic
  • I will do one thing every day to self-promote
  • I will always remember where I came from

Of course, not all of these resolutions really apply to Joe. He keeps his site and blog update, can speak well in public, and attends every writing conference held from here to Tehran. He forgot the big resolution though…

Write.

Sleuth Fest

by

TVSquad reports that Sleuth, the new cable net devoted to mysteries from the Universal television vault, will premiere on New Years Day with a marathon of pilot episodes from a slew of vintage crime shows.

Dan Harrison, Senior Vice President, Emerging Networks who oversees Sleuth, also
said: "We can’t wait to launch Sleuth on New Year’s Day. It’s a great day to
start a network that offers some of the most enduring and popular television
genres of all time. We’re starting with the pilots of some classic crime dramas
from NBC Universal’s enormous library. We will give some classic programs new
life as loyal fans mix with a new generation who can enjoy them all day and
continuing throughout Sleuth’s first week."

There’s more details on the jump.

Read more

Hawaiian Eye

by

Writer Ken Levine is off to Hawaii today — and as his going away present to his blog readers, he left a very funny post about his last trip to the islands. Here’s a taste:

Their signature restaurant is Humahumanukunukuapua’s (actual name). But people
call is Humahumanhukunu’s for short. Lobster was $59 a pound (again, this is
true). They should change the name to Hubrishubrishubrishubrischutzpah…

…They sell jewelry down at the pool. Women with their guts hanging over their
bikini bottoms trying on pearls. I have no idea whether they like the stuff or
not. Because of the Botox they can’t make an expression.

Went twice to
Roy’s restaurant. Best food on the island and never disappoints. And the view?
Spectacular. Roy’s is in the parking lot of a shopping center. You know you’re
in Hawaii when you see the crimson sun set behind the Safeway and the Crazy
Shirt Emporium.

Have a terrific trip, Ken!

Spec-tacular

by

Comedy writer Ken Levine gives some wonderful advice on his must-read blog about writing that perfect sitcom spec:

Don’t view the show from the perspective of a fly. I once read a WINGS spec as
seen by a buzzing fly. I offer this as the first example because I know so many
young writers fall into this same trap.

Don’t put yourself into the show
and make yourself the lead character. I once read a CHEERS where Alan had more
lines than Sam & Diane combined. Alan? Who’s Alan? Alan was one of the
extras. And so he remained.

And just because people tell you you look
like Debra Messing doesn’t mean you should write a WILL & GRACE entitled
“Grace’s Sister”. If I get a script with a photo attached I know I’m in trouble.

Don’t hand write your script, no matter how good your penmanship. Send
your spec in a UCLA blue book and you’ll get an F.

Don’t invent a
format.

Know the characters. I read a spec MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW where
Mary wondered what to get her husband for his birthday. Her “husband”???!

Some other things to avoid, at least in drama specs:  the hero’s evil double, the reappearance of long-lost relatives, or the hero getting amensia, going blind, or getting critically injured. It’s also not a good idea to write a spin-off pilot for one of the secondary characters.

Give the Gift of a Threeway

by

The Waking Vixen laments that some people just don’t appreciate the opportunity she gives them to have group sex.

There’s a place in space that Jefferson and I share. We talked about it a bit
the other evening, when we talked about his sex parties, the lovers I’ve brought
to them, the lovers he’s involved, the taboos we’ve broken, the windows we’ve
opened for the people we care about…

Life After Death?

by

Bill Crider pointed me to this interesting publishing experiment…

Lawrence Watt-Evans, who has written dozens of books, recently had his series Legends of
Ethshar dropped by his publisher after eight novels. So he started shopping the series around…

Alas, no major mainstream publisher is interested in continuing the Ethshar
series at present. On the other hand, I had several readers saying they
desperately want to see more. I decided to see whether enough of them were
willing to put their money where their mouths are to finance more Ethshar
stories — and perhaps eventually continuations of other series that no longer
have major publishers.

To my surprise, there were enough. My fans came through, and I have
now written the ninth Ethshar novel, financed entirely by reader contributions
rather than an advance from a publisher.

How has his experiment fared? It’s hard to say based on what he reports…

From April to October I posted the first draft of The Spriggan Mirror,
the ninth novel in the series, chapter by chapter. The last two chapters, along
with the epilogue and some endnotes, were posted on October 16, 2005. Below
you’ll find some options for making donations; each week, if I’d received
another $100 in donations (as I always did), I posted another chapter.

If I hadn’t received $100 to pay for a given week’s chapter, it
wouldn’t have been posted — but that never happened. If more than the $100
target came in, as it usually did, the extra was credited toward the following
chapter. No one needed to worry about ”wasting” a payment if I received more
than was needed for a particular chapter. At this point the entire novel has
been paid for, but the more money that comes in, the sooner I’m likely to start
a new serial.

So how much did he make? Was it comparable to what he would have received in advances and royalties if Del Rey had opted to publish another book in the series? I don’t know because he doesn’t say. For now, you can read the entire book for free on his website…until New Years Eve, when he’s signing the rights over to an e-publisher.

UPDATE: In a related story, GalleyCat reports that novelist Diane Duane is making the unpublished third volume in her TO VISIT THE QUEEN series available using POD:

she’s willing to consider satisfying her earlier fans’ desires by using
print-on-demand to bring The Big Meow out… if the market will bear it.
"Let’s just say that a ‘trade paperback’… is going to cost you hardcover
prices, not paperback," she suggests. "If I’m to make any money at all on the
deal (by which I mean, at least recoup my publishing and labor expenses), you’re
going to be paying $20-25 for a copy of this book." And then she invites her
readers to tell her whether they’re prepared to do that.

…Even Duane acknowledges that the demand remains to be measured, and she’ll be
waiting at least until next spring before she decides if there’s what we used to
call on Usenet "A Great Need."