It’s dark outside, and the limo that’s taking me to the airport is pulling into my driveway, so I’m outta here. My next dispatch will be from NY later tonight.
Lee Goldberg
We Are Family
My younger sisters Linda Woods & Karen Dinino have started setting up signings and other events for their new book VISUAL CHRONICLES, which is already getting lots of enthusiastic, pre-pub attention in the crafts & hobby art world. They will be on hand at the big Craft and Hobby Association convention later this month in Las Vegas, where their publisher is mounting a splashy debut for their slick, amusing and beautiful book.
Leaving on a Jet Plane
I’m probably going to be scarce around here for the next week or so…
Tomorrow, my writing partner Bill Rabkin and I are meeting in the morning with representatives of a European TV network and then I’m doing an afternoon panel discussion and signing at Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks.
On Sunday morning, Bill and I are heading head off to New York to spend a week in the writing offices of MONK, where we’ll be working on our next script for the show. I’ll also be meeting with my publishers and my agent and, if time allows, visiting a few local bookstores.
My absense may also mean that I may be slow to post your comments — but I hope that won’t discourage you from actively participating in the "back blog" discussions while I am away.
Who Is More Annoying?
My brother Tod is "the most annoying man in the blogosphere," according to seminary student James Kosub, but I’m close to stealing the title from him. And Tod is not too happy about it.
True Grit
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN isn’t the first gay western. No sireee Bob. My brother Tod has the skinny on the others.
Where We Write
One of my favorite little coffee table book is Jill Krementz’s THE WRITER’S DESK, which is filled with photos of authors at work in their offices. It’s fascinating and reveals a lot about each author’s personality. John Updike wrote in his introduction:
I look at these photographs with a prurient interest, the way that I might look at the beds of notorious courtesans. Except that the beds would tell me less than the desks do. Here, the intimacy of the literary act is caught in flagrante delicto: at these desks characters are spawned, plots are spun, imaginative distances are spanned.
Today, novelist Brenda Coulter posted pictures on her blog of where she does her writing, so I thought I’d follow her example and share with you where I do mine. This is my home office. It overlooks our front yard and is adjacent to my daughter’s bedroom. What you don’t see in this picture are more bookshelves, a TV set/DVD/VCR set-up and a walk-in closet full of books, DVDs, CDs, videos and office supplies. There’s also the original artist’s painting for the unpublished, fourth .357 VIGILANTE book on my wall.
To avoid throwing out my back, I also do a lot of writing laying on top of my bed, using my laptop, with my legs elevated on a couch cushion.
I showed you mine so now you show me yours. Think of it as a photo "meme." All of you authors and screenwriters out there with blogs, please post pictures of your writing spaces…and provide linkbacks to this post so we can see them (or offer a link to those posts in the comments below).
Hot Sex, Gory Violence
Newsweek published this My Turn essay of mine back in mid-1980s, while I was still a college student and writing books as "Ian Ludlow." I stumbled across the essay again today and thought you might enjoy it:
HOT
SEX, GORY VIOLENCEHow
One Student Earns Course Credit and Pays TuitionMy name is Ian Ludlow. Well, not really. But that’s the name on my four ".357 Vigilante" adventures that Pinnacle Books will publish this spring. Most of
the time I’m Lee Goldberg, a mild mannered UCLA senior majoring in mass communications and trying to spark a writing career at the same time. It’s hard work. I haven’t quite achieved a balance between my dual identities of college student and hack novelist.The adventures of Mr. Jury, a vigilante into doing the LAPD’s dirty work, are often created in the wee hours of the night, when I should be studying, meeting my freelance-article deadlines or, better yet, sleeping. More often than not, my nocturnal writing spills over into my classes the next morning. Brutal fistfights, hot sexual encounters and gory violence are frequently scrawled
across my anthropology notes or written amid my professor’s insights on Whorf’s hypothesis. Students sitting next to me who glance at my lecture notes are shocked to see notations like "Don’t move, scumbag, or I’ll wallpaper the room with your brains.
I once wrote a pivotal rape scene during one of my legal-communications classes, and I’m sure the girl who sat next to me thought I was a psychopath. During the first half of the lecture, she kept looking with wide eyes from my notes to my face as if my nose were melting onto my binder or something. At the break she disappeared, and I didn’t see her again the rest of the quarter. My professors, though, seem pleased to see me sitting in the back of the classroom writing furiously. I guess they think I’m hanging on their every word. They’re wrong.I’ve tried to lessen the strain between my conflicting identities by marrying the
two. Through the English department, I’m getting academic credit for the books. That amazes my Grandpa Cy, who can’t believe there’s a university crazy enough to reward me for writing "lots of filth." The truth is, it’s writing and it’s learning, and it’s getting me somewhere. Just where, I’m not
sure. My Grandpa Cy thinks it’s going to get me the realization I should join him in the furniture
business.
The Writing Fool
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a few writing projects.
I finished up a script based on my book MY GUN HAS BULLETS and sent it to some friends.
I wrote my outline for MR. MONK AND THE BLUE FLU and sent it off to the powers-that-be…now I am waiting for approval so I can start writing the book.
I wrote an article for an MWA chapter newsletter in the mid-west on writing the MONK books.
I wrote two more entries for my "Natalie" blog, which will be going live on the USA Network website in a couple of weeks.
Last night, I finished the first draft of a script based on my book THE WALK…now I am going to set it aside for a week or two and read it fresh before attempting the rewrite.
What’s ahead?
Today I’m trying to come up with an idea for my short story for Robert Randisi’s latest crime anthology, which is due in March, and once I’ve done that, maybe I’ll have an inspiration and figure out what my eighth DIAGNOSIS MURDER book is going to be about. And I’ve got a couple of more "Natalie" blogs to write…
Later next month, Bill and I start work on our spec pilot and will probably be tackling another MONK episode, this one based on my book MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIRE HOUSE.
The Single Greatest Idea for a TV Series EVER!
I got this email from Dan yesterday:
Lee, I just came across your blog. I know you are a busy person so I will keep
this short and sweet…IDEA: GOOGLE GAMESHOW (I own this
domain)1. Perhpas it wouldn’t be with google, but google is so hot, you
would think they would be interested in this
2. Essentially, this idea would
be an interactive tv gameshow/reality gameshow
3. People can play along
online for prizes
4. We would add a reality portion to this game show with
contests extending weeks at a time(I would hope to create a little
craze like Millionaire/Reality TV Shows…even though they are on the down
slide)These points don’t explain much…but from what you heard, does
this sound intriguing?
That is a brilliant idea for a show, Dan. So innovative, fresh and unique. It’s got incredible potential. It’s even better than my great TV show idea:
IDEA: MURDER COPS (I registered the idea with the WGA).
1) It’s about two homicide detectives who are very different from each other. (This could be in any city…though NY and Las Vegas are getting kind of overdone).
2) They solve really puzzling murders ala CSI and BLUE’S CLUES.
3) The stories are very twisty and clever.
4) It’s shot in a cool and innovative way with lots of style.
4) I see a big TV star like David Duchovny in one of the parts, maybe Beyonce, too.(I would hope to turn it into a successful franchise like CSI or LAW & ORDER…even though there are, like, three each of those shows already).
Dan goes on to ask:
Any quick ideas on how a treatment should be written for a show like this?
Yes, Dan, I have a few. In general, it’s nice to actually have a series concept in mind before writing a treatment. Unfortunately, you don’t have a concept. You barely even have an idea. You’d like to do a game show that people at home can play along with and that is tied in some way to Google. Come to think of it, that’s not even substantial enough to qualify as a notion.
Secondly, you may own the domain "Google Gameshow," but I suspect you don’t own Google. It’s not wise to try and sell an idea that’s based on an underlying property or trademark you don’t actually own.
Third, you obviously have no experience as a TV writer or producer, so I doubt anyone would be interested in seriously considering your idea.
Fourth, why are you asking me about a gameshow treatment? I have never written or produced a gameshow. How would I know the answer to your question?
Fifth, if you have an idea for a TV show, it’s probably not wise to email other writers about it, especially those with blogs who regularly ridicule complete strangers who email them their ideas for TV shows.
How Dense Can a Person Be?
Anybody who reads this blog knows I’m not a supporter of "fanfic," that I think it violates the legal and artistic rights of authors, and that I take every opportunity to point out how inane and offensive most of it is. So you can imagine my amusement when I got this email today:
Hey Mr. Goldberg–
I know this is going to seem really random but there is no
way around it. You made a post a while ago about a fanfic writer
named ‘cousinjean’. I don’t really care about the whole situation
surrounding her asking for money, more I was wondering if you knew any way to
get in contact with her. I don’t want to harass her, I just wanted to know
if she still had a site up with her work on it because some of it I
never got to finish reading and the link doesn’t seem to work any longer.
This request is really bizarre. It’s sort of like asking a Jew to direct you to some really rocking anti-Semitic screeds. Yeah, sure, Trish, I’ll be glad to.