My Blog
Mr. Monk and the Next Title
Anybody have some good ideas for the title of a MONK book that hasn't already been used already for an episode?
The next two book titles are MR. MONK AND THE DIRTY COP and MR. MONK IN TROUBLE. But I have no idea what the title of the one after that will be…
I'm open to suggestions!
UPDATE 1-11-2009: I've received dozens and dozens of titles both here and on my Facebook Monk page. Out of all those titles, I've chosen:
MR. MONK IS CLEANED OUT
for the tenth book. I've already come up with a plot (which Monk creator/showrunner Andy Breckman has approved) and will submit it to my editor tomorrow.
I don't want to give away too much…so I'll just say that Mr. Monk goes broke and that his whole life is up-ended as a result.
So Dave, whoever you are, please let me know your last name so I can credit you in the book for coming up with the title.
I want to thank everyone for contributing so many terrific titles…two or three of which I still might use for future books (like MR. MONK GETS EVEN, MR. MONK IN THE RYE, MR. MONK GOES TO WASHINGTON, etc.)
UPDATE 4/29/2010: MR. MONK IS CLEANED OUT will be published in July.
Lee
Some Things Never Change
From the Wall Street Journal:
Dark days are upon the book industry. Last month alone, Random House announced a massive restructuring; Simon & Schuster laid off 35 staffers; the adult division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt stopped acquiring manuscripts for the rest of the year; and HarperCollins sent comedian Sarah Silverman a contract worth $2.5 million to write her first book.
(Thanks to Bill Crider for the link)
Couldn’t You Just Wear Your Bathrobe Backwards?
The dumbest product of the xmas season. Unless you want to sit in your recliner looking like a Monk. Not Adrian Monk, a real monk.
Light in his Gumshoes
TV Writer/Producer Kay Reindl has an amusing and informative post on the state of the TV biz going into 2009 and her hopes about what will change. One of her observations is that even though procedurals and detective show are doing well, the networks don't want to hear pitches for lighter detective fare…
Talk to almost any TeeVee writer about what show they wish they could sell and they'd invariably say a light detective show. Remington Steele, Magnum PI, Hart To Hart, Simon & Simon, hell, even Riptide. We all want to do this show! But it's virtually impossible to sell. And believe me, we've all f–king tried. But executives turn a deaf ear to these pitches. They do NOT want to hear the word "detective."
She also says that pitches about thieves aren't selling (art thieves in particular), but that's to be expected after the monumental failure of so many thieving shows (remember SMITH, THIEF, and THE KILL POINT anyone?) She also makes many other sharp observations…as usual.
Financing a movie…one dollar at a time.
Actress Amy Walker, one of the performers in the MAPES FOR HIRE stage & audio play, produced a video that went viral last year and logged millions of hits. She realized that if just a fraction of those viewers gave her a dollar, she'd have the money she needed to finance the movie she's been developing. So that's exactly what she's doing.
Donald Westlake
Donald Westlake not only wrote great books that entertained millions of people, he wrote books that inspired people to become authors. All you have to do is look at all the heart-felt tributes from authors in the aftermath of Westlake's death yesterday to discover that.
UPDATE: My brother Tod shares his memories of an excellent panel he moderated with Westlake (I'd forgotten about that) and our conversation with him at the party…though he seems to think the chat we had lasted for three hours. The truth is, it doesn't matter how long the conversation was…because for Tod and I, it won't end, the memory and its influence will stay with us for years. And that's how I will measure it.
Westlake was pontificating, he was asking us stuff, too, we were
actually talking to Donald Westlake and he seemed perfectly
content, never mind that Lee and I were very nearly slobbering fools in
his presence. He was sweet, effusive and told us great stories for an
entire evening and then Lee and I sat in the car on the way home and
repeated all of the stories back to each other, as if we hadn't both
experienced them together.
A Gunsmoke Treasure Trove
I stumbled on this fantastic link today — it will lead you to all 480 GUNSMOKE radio shows in absolutely pristine listening condition (as well as the two pilots). Not only that, but there's also tons of fantastic extra material…like PDFs of all the early GUNSMOKE books, dozens of GUNSMOKE articles & interviews, complete rehearsals of GUNSMOKE episodes, the first TV episode, and a five-hour radio documentary on the making of GUNSMOKE featuring interviews with all the key writers, producers, composers and actors…and much much more. This is a treasure trove of stuff for GUNSMOKE fans…and best of all, it's free!
Best Laugh of the Day…
…comes from my friend author Harley Jane Kozak at Lipstick Chronicles.
Those of you who recall my family’s holiday incident, “The Death of Santa,” earlier this month will not be surprised to learn of its domino effect. Last week my 8-year old daughter found an old note from the Tooth Fairy.
“Mommy,” she said, studying it, “this printing looks like yours.”
I said nothing. My daughter looked up at me.
“It’s you!” she yelled. “Again! Every fairy is you, every Claus is you – is God you?”
“No, no,” I said quickly. “I’m not God.”