Me Me Me

I returned from Cologne late last night. It was a great experience working with the German writer/producers and it looks like I may be going back soon to continue what I started.

On the 7 1/2 hour flight from Dusseldorf to LA, I worked for a bit on DM #8, which is due this week, and watched BASIC INSTINCT 2, which was a horrendeous piece of shit (except for the production design, which was great. You know an erotic movie is bad when you’re appreciating the locations and sets and not the people who are fucking).

On my flight from NY to LA, I sat across from a gregarious and very friendly rap star named Flavor Flave or Flave Flavor or Flaky Flavor. I don’t know, I’m all jet-lagged and out-of-it today. He wore a wall clock around his neck, which I thought was odd and rather uncomfortable (and he had spares in his carry-on bag). But he was a nice guy and seemed to have boundless energy.

Next to me was a Hassidic Jew who wore the big, heavy black overcoat, the hat, the whole thing…he smelled like ten men’s locker rooms. He was pleasant, but isn’t there such a thing as Kosher deodorant?

Behind me, was this young girl, in her late teens or early 20s. At one point in the flight, she took out a fancy camera from her bag and began scrolling through some pictures. The man next to her, who was perhaps in his late 40s or early 50s, asked if she was a photographer. She said she was an aspiring one, and that she’d just spent a few weeks in Paris taking pictures, and that she’d interned at some newspaper or magazine, the name of which I didn’t catch. He then introduced himself — I didn’t get his name, but apparently he’s some famous photographer for magazines like Esquire, Vanity Fair, etc.  She knew who he was, of course, and nearly wet herself in surprise.  So for the next six hours, this kind man gave her a tutorial in photography, answering her questions, showing her examples, reviewing her photos, and giving her advice in a very professorial sort of way (he  mentioned at one point that he’s taught before).

I didn’t understand all the stuff they were talking about, but I certainly picked up on her excitement at this opportunity and her respect for the man she was seated with. I tried to imagine what it must have been like for that girl.  It would be as if I was 18 or 19, got on a plane and happened to be seated next to Larry McMurtry or Stephen J. Cannell. Of course, this sort of thing is far more likely to happen in First Class than coach.

At the end of the flight, she thanked him, saying that never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d ever meet him. He said it must have been meant to happen, gave her his card and wished her luck in her career.  I thought it was great. I only eavesdropped on the whole thing, but I felt her excitement and I was struck by how attentive and nice the man was (there was no hint of hitting on her or anything like that, by the way. He was very fatherly and polite).

Tonight, I have my class at UCLA and a mountain of mail to catch up on… not to mention a book to finish writing!

Whenever I go into those airport bookstores, I always wonder who buys those Penthouse and Playboy magazines. Now I know. On the flight from JFK to Dusseldorf, there was an elegantly dressed  German business man in the first classs row beside me casually browsing the Penthouse pictures and Playboy centerfold during the flight, leaving the magazines open in front of him as the stewardesses served him his drinks and snacks. The stewardesses seemed unfazed by it but I found it pretty bizarre.

It’s my third day here in Germany teaching the American approach to TV writing and "showrunning" to a dozen local writer/producers. They are eager, open-minded and enthusiastic to learn how we do things. For them, the four-act structure and the notion of a series "franchise" is a revelation. We’ve been screening episodes of American TV programs and analyzing the structure together of the stories and the overall series concepts. Today, we’re going to look at some of their programs and explore how the four-act structure, and a clearly articulated franchise built on character-based conflict could improve the shows they are already working on. I’ve been having a great time and eating like a moose. At night, I’ve been hammering away at my eighth DM novel, trying to get it done to make my deadline. The temperatures here are in the high 90s and the Germans are really suffering — they aren’t used to this kind of heat.  It was 118 at home when I left, so for me this is almost winter.

Sorry I’ve been scarce around here lately… and it’s only going to get worse.

I’ve been busy rushing to finish my 8th (and probably last) DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel which is entitled THE LAST WORD and is due August 1. I’ve also been teaching a TV writing class two nights a week at UCLA (and having a blast doing it) and an on-line class at Writers University (with Bill Rabkin). 

And on Monday, I’m heading off to Germany, where I will be teaming up for a week with Bill Finkelstein (LAW & ORDER, L.A. LAW) to teach established TV writer/producers how to develop and run "American style" episodic dramas. I don’t know how much Internet access I will have… or time to post… while I am in Germany, but I will try to check in here.

I’ve also been writing my Natalie Blogs, giving some thought to my fourth MONK novel and working on a bunch of TV series ideas that Bill Rabkin and I are going to be pitching around town when I get back.

But at least I update my blog more often than my friend Gregg Hurwitz does.

Tomorrow, I am heading off with my family to Phoenix for five days to attend the Thrillerfest convention. I don’t know if I’ll be blogging much, if at all, while I’m away. And since my brother Tod has a blog of his own now, I don’t have a guest-blogger taking my place. So don’t be surprised if things are a little quiet around here until next week.

My Mom is moving to a smaller place close to the beach… so I am cleaning out my garage to give her some storage space. And I have come to the painful realization that it’s time to get rid of my 100s of  TV GUIDES. I don’t have the time or patience to scan each cover and sell’em individually on eBay… so I am coming to you, my loyal readers, for suggestions on what to do with them.  Is there a library I could donate them to, perhaps?  And while you’re at it, have you got any ideas on what I should do with:

• 600 copies of BEYOND THE BEYOND?
• 100s of publicity and set photos from movie & TV press kits? (the kits themselves are long gone)
• A few hundred issues of STARLOG magazine?

I’ve got four weeks until she moves her stuff into my garage…