Other Random Posts

Holy Bat Interview!

by

I love TV. Always have, always will. Which is why I am so excited to be interviewing legendary writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. today for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Archive of American television. In the past, I have done video interviews with producer Norman Felton, producer/writer Roy Huggins, and Dick Van Dyke for Archive and hope to do many more. I’ll let you know when the interview is up for you to see. In the meantime, here’s some information about the Archive…

Please Save Me From Embarrassment

by

If you’ve spotted any errors in MR. MONK GOES TO GERMANY, please let me know by Friday, July 25th. I am in the midst of proofing the galleys for the paperback edition and I want to make sure nothing embarrassing slips past me (there was one in MR. MONK IN OUTER SPACE that I am still beating myself up over for missing…in the hardcover AND the first paperback edition).

It Takes a Thief

by

Key_art_it_takes_a_thief
CinemaRetro today features a wonderful appreciation of IT TAKES A THIEF, one of my all-time favorite shows, which is now available to watch for free on hulu:

Unlike the preening poseurs currently
afflicting Hollywood,
Robert Wagner’s cool was organic and understated. As Alexander Mundy, he projected a
breezy self-assurance untainted by arrogance or condescension, and maintained
his sangfroid in the face of the most dangerous assignments Noah Bain threw his
way, thanks to an unparalleled and seemingly inexhaustible skill set. Mundy
could neutralize any security system, crack any safe, outwit any adversary and,
not least, talk his way into the arms of just about any woman in sight. Little
wonder he was the envy of every kid who came of age during the show’s original
run.

The only show even remotely like it today is BURN NOTICE, but as much as I like that show, it’s doesn’t have the same charm.

Big Names in Kentucky

by

The roster of writers participating in the second  annual International Mystery Writers Festival in Owensboro Kentucky just keeps getting more and more impressive. LAW AND ORDER showrunner Rene Balcer has been added to an impressive list of speakers that includes CSI creator/showrunner Anthony Zuiker, author Mary Higgins Clark, and actor/author Gene Hackman. The Festival, which features the world premiere of half-a-dozen mystery themed plays, starts June 12 and runs through the 23rd.

Another Man’s Moccasins

by

41Z9k2FZPAL._SS500_
There's more at work in Another Man's Moccasins than a compelling mystery. Craig Johnson has crafted a deeply affecting story about people shaped by their pasts, seeking escape, redemption or reconciliation…and the high price they must pay in blood, tears, and sacrificed dreams to achieve it. Johnson's lean prose is deceptively powerful, haunting you like the ghosts that follow Walt Longmire in this tragic and redemptive tale of longing, loss and responsibility.