Later in the day at the Men of Mystery event, Tim Dorsey told a story about being approached by a fan in the Men's room. I wonder if the guy who approached felt stupid after that. Men of Mystery was a lot of fun again this year. Paul Levine, Barry Eisler and Michael Connelly all made good-natured jokes at my expense in their presentations but I didnt hear any of them because I was busy emailing myself notes for my new Monk book. I don't know why, but in middle of the event I suddenly figured out a new story for the book and decided to trash the one I was working on — so I took notes before I forgot my idea. When it came time for my presentation, I withstood the urge to make a joke at Sam McCarver's expense but Tod didn't. At the book signing, Tod once again saw the 60 year old woman who regales him every year with stories of her long distance romance with a 22 year old guy in Zimbabwe who only occasionally asks to be wired money. Ah, true love. Bob Levinson joked that he's been coming to Men of Mystery for 10 yrs and still hasn't sold a book. He must come for the mushroom soup.
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Me Me Me
Mr Monk Is Disgusted
I am at the Men of Mystery event in Irvine. I just went to the men's room and was standing at a urinal when the guy next to me said "I am a huge fan of your Monk novels." And offered me his hand. I said "You have got to be kidding" and didn't even look at him. I bet it was Barry Eisler.
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She-Wolf of London Coming to DVD!
I never thought I'd say this…but the 1990 first-run syndicated series SHE-WOLF OF LONDON aka LOVE & CURSES is finally coming out on DVD. TVShowsOnDVD reports that the complete series, the London and L.A. episodes, will be out February 2. William Rabkin and I were the showrunners and wrote almost all of the episodes.
The show was hardly seen…it aired as part of Universal Studios' fledgling "Hollywood Premiere Network," which basically consisted of KCOP in Los Angeles and a station in New York. Other shows on the "network" were THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and SHADES OF L.A.
You can find some of the SHE-WOLF scripts, and even the Writers Guidelines for the show, here.
AWOL
Sorry I've been absent here on the blog. There's just been too much to do. Next week is looking crazy, too. I have two important studio pitch meetings next week to prepare for…and I need to start working on the outline for the next MONK novel…and I have to keep up with my reading of ROMEO & JULIET (I'm helping my daughter, who is having a rough time with her Honors English class). On top of that, I need to do research for a pitch/approach on an open feature assignment that I'm up for. I sure wish I got paid for pitches, I'd be financially set for life.
FAST TRACK Webshow
Here's the edited version of the live, interactive FAST TRACK: NO LIMITS webshow I did a couple of weeks ago with actors Erin Cahill and Andrew Walker, automotive technical consultant Sam Barer, and callers/chatters from all over the world. I hope you enjoy it!
Dazed and Confused
I finished writing MR. MONK IS CLEANED OUT, my 10th original MONK novel, last night and delivered it to my publisher. I always feel a little bit dazed and lost after finishing a book. It takes a few days for me to adjust to not having the story "in my head" all the time and to no longer feeling that ever-present deadline pressure. It's also kind of odd to suddenly have a bunch of hours open up in my day (and nights) for other things. But that will change soon. I've got to start writing a new spec feature script, thinking about the plot of my next MONK novel, and preparing for pitch meetings that I have later this week and early next week…
I Was The Author Who Was There
Today I was a guest speaker at a gathering of 250 members of the American Association of University Women in Ventura. As always happens at these events, I had some bizarre encounters.
There was another author who'd cancelled his appearance at the last minute because of a death in the family. During the morning signing, a woman came up to me and asked:
"Are you the author who isn't here?"
"No," I said, "I'm here."
"That's good," she said and walked away.
I thought of a couple of better answers to her question after she left. I should have said "Yes, I am the author who isn't here" just to see what she would have said next. Or I could have said "No, I'm just a hologram." I wonder if she would have touched me to see if I was real.
Another woman came up to me and asked me to sign a book to her.
"Make it to Katie," she said.
"Why does your nametag say Phyllis?" I asked, just to be saying something.
"Because the woman didn't show up and I swiped her tag."
"Why didn't you use your own?"
"I'm crashing the party," she whispered and winked at me.
A better man than me would have turned her in but she bought a book, so I wasn't going to rat her out.
During my presentation, I mentioned my encounter with the woman who asked if me I was there. It got a big laugh. At the signing that followed, that woman came up to me and she wasn't happy.
"You humiliated me," she said.
"I didn't point you out or even look at you," I said. The truth was, I'd forgotten what she looked like so I couldn't have pointed her out even if I wanted to. "Nobody knew it was you."
"I knew I was me," she said.
"That's always good," I said.
"I made an honest mistake before," she said. "You could have been him."
I still have no idea what she meant, but she bought a book. I withstood the urge to sign it in the other person's name. After her, another woman came up to me and told me how much she enjoyed my talk.
"I wish I'd gone to high school with you," she said.
"Why is that?"
"So I could have made love to you and married you," she said.
Okay, that totally threw me. I had no idea what to say. I just sort of stammered, signed her book, and she walked away. She was followed by a woman who had a burning question about Monk
"Is Monk ever going to get any?"
"You mean have sex?"
"Yes," she said. She'd actually asked me the same question during the question-and-answer session but I guess my answer didn't satisfy her.
"Well, the show is over, so no, I don't think so."
"What about in your books?"
I shook my head. "I just don't see it."
"I do," she said. "Vividly."
"You do?"
"I can tell you exactly how it would go."
"With whom?"
"Anybody," she said. "I could send you the scene and you can use it with any woman you want."
I politely passed on the offer.
I don't know what drugs the Four Point Sheraton was putting in the drinks, I'm just glad they didn't put any in mine.
Fast Track Webcast
We had a few technical glitches on our first live, interactive webcast…and weren't able to record the FAST TRACK portion of the show. So we're doing it again this Sunday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. I'll be joined by FAST TRACK stars Erin Cahill and Andrew Walker. If you would like to watch, or participate by chat, here's the link. If you would like to join us on camera, via webcam, please send your Skype username to info AT expandedentertainment.com or forward it to me at lee AT leegoldberg.com and I will get it to them.
The Lee Goldberg Show
If you missed my live, interactive webcast last week, now you can catch the archive version. I've posted the first half of the show, where I talked about MONK with my special guest David Breckman (writer-producer-director of MONK), in three parts on YouTube or you can download it here. Unfortunately, there were technical problems at the studio and the second half of the live show, where I talked about my movie FAST TRACK, wasn't recorded.
.357 Vigilante #3: White Wash
After inexplicably holding up the book for over a month, Amazon has finally made available the Kindle edition of my long out-of-print novel .357 VIGILANTE #3: WHITE WASH.
Now ALL of the VIGILANTE novels I wrote back in the mid-1980s have been released, including the never-before-published fourth book, which got caught up in the publisher's bankruptcy. (All the books are also available at Smashwords and Scribd for those of you with other e-readers or who would like to download a PDF)
Here's the back-jacket copy on WHITE WASH:
A Clock Is Ticking — And the Hands Are Dripping Blood!
A red-leathered sadist with a hunger for black victims is talking the streets of Los Angeles — leaving a trail of rapes, tortures and mutilations, which threaten to engulf the city in racial violence. And he's calling himself…Mr. Jury.
Now vigilante Brett Macklin, the real Mr. Jury, is hitting the killing ground with just seventy hours to hunt down the deadly impostor and clear his name. All he has to do is take on an army of fanatical white supremacists, stop a news-hungry reporter from digging too deep into his past, and save a tough black cop from being buried alive.
Time and luck are running out.
"As stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort […] The Best New Paperback Series of the year!" West Coast Review of Books