My Blog
Writing on the Fast Track
I've had so much commercial and critical success with my ebook McGRAVE, which was based on an unproduced pilot I wrote for Sony International Television, that I've decided to write novelizations of all of my pilot and TV movie scripts, produced and unproduced, on which I retained the publishing rights.
So during a brief hiatus between books in 2012, I novelized my first draft screenplay for FAST TRACK, the action movie I wrote and produced for Action Concept and ProSeiben in Berlin a few years ago.
FAST TRACK was a two-hour pilot for an American-style action series that would have been shot in English and German with a cast of American, Canadian, British, French and German actors and followed the lives of four young people in the world of illegal street racing. ProSeiben commissioned the pilot movie and scripts for six episodes. Making the movie, which was directed by Axel Sand and starred Erin Cahill, Andrew Walker, Alexia Barlier and Joseph Beattie, was one of the highlights of my career and the friendships I made during the production continue to this day. It was a fantastic experience professionally, creatively and personally (if you watch the "Making of Fast Track" documentary, I think you'll see why). Unfortunately, the series didn't happen…but perhaps because I've remained close to many of the actors, the characters have stayed fresh in my mind. I haven't been able to let go of them, and have tried to resurrect the project several times over the years (we came close with Cartoon Network, but it fell through).
So I approached the opportunty to revisit the FAST TRACK world with enthusiasm. I used the first draft screenplay as the basis for the book because it had some action elements that we either had to omit or re-imagine due to budget/scheduling/location issues and a prologue that was shot, but that I ultimately cut, in the final edit (I've always regretted cutting the prologue).
The film took place in Berlin, but I decided the novella would work better in the United States, so that required some rethinking of the characters' backstories and reworking some of the scenes. I also did a complete update on the cars, with the help of Sam Barer, the same technical consultant we used on the movie.
I had so much fun writing the FAST TRACK novella that if it does well, I may revisit the characters in sequels based on the twelve episode ideas that I came up with during the development of the pilot (though the stories,which I haven't looked at in years, may have been so Berlin/Europe-centered that they may not work in the new, Los Angeles setting).
But this experience has definitely spurred me on to take a look at my other scripts. I don't know yet which one I will tackle during my next short hiatus.
If you'd like to know more about FAST TRACK, here are some links:
The Making of Fast Track documentary
My Blogs About the Production, Post-Production and Promotion of Fast Track
Love is Murder
I spent last weekend as a special guest at the Love is Murder conference in chilly Chicago and I had a terrific time.
It's probably the smallest mystery conference I've ever been too and, reflecting the huge popularity of self-publishing, there seemed to be more authors than readers in attendance. In fact, there were two big "group" signings over the weekend and there were so many "authors" sitting behind tables that there were maybe three actual "readers" left standing to buy books. I've signed more books at funerals.
But the small number of attendees also made the conference more intimate, and I had a lot of opportunities to talk shop with authors like William Kent Krueger, Bob Mayer, Blake Crouch, Joe Konrath, Ann Voss Petersen, F. Paul Wilson, Robert Goldsborough, Jamie Freveletti, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sparkle Abbey, Hannah Dennison and Raymond Benson, to name just a few (that's me with Kent and Libby in the picture). We spent a lot of time trying to figure out where the publishing business is going, though we didn't manage to come up with the answer. But we agreed that it's a great time to be an author.
I was treated by Joe Konrath to the worst hamburger I've ever had in my life. It was from White Castle. Joe, his wife, and F. Paul Walker went wild over those burgers. I sent mine to a forensic lab for analysis and am awaiting the results. I'm curious to know what that very thin, oddly-colored patty was actually made of. When Joe comes to Los Angeles, I'm going to take him to In-and-Out or The Habit so he can see what a real hamburger tastes like.
I was a guest on many lively and fun panels, including one on writing characters created by others. My fellow panelists were Robert Goldsborough, who talked about picking up Nero Wolfe where Rex Stout left off, and two strange women who wore matching shirts covered with their bookcovers and talked about revising an unfinished manuscript written by a dead guy…with help from his ghost. I kid you not.
One of the women said her first novel came to her in a dream. She encountered Bugs Bunny on a spirit path, he opened his skull, and there was her book, cover and all, inside his head. She read the book, woke up, then ran downstairs to make notes and describe the cover. She then fleshed the story out with the help of her friend's dead father's ghost. Or something like that. Their process was so confusing, and there were so many ghosts and cartoon characters involved in their writing, that it was hard to follow. They also read aloud from their book, which was a real treat.
On Sunday, Libby took me on a tour of Chicago, and one of our stops was the Sears Tower,
where I discovered that I have a slight fear of heights…it revealed itself to me when I stepped out on the "skydeck" that is basically a piece of plastic hanging out over the street where a normal window is supposed to be. I couldn't help thinking I'd be the one who finally fell through…and for what? A photograph. Libby was very amused by my discomfort.
Afterwards, we met with Jamie Freveletti for some deep dish pizza and shop talk, which I really enjoyed. I realized that one of the things I miss most about being on a TV show is all the time spent in the writers room, working with other writers. Now that I'm primarily a novelist, my writer's room is me and my dog, who doesn't contribute much when it comes to breaking stories.
I flew home on Monday. On the plane, a young woman fell asleep and snuggled up against me. That's not the first time that's happened. I must have a very comfy shoulder. After about an hour, I moved a bit and woke her up. She was startled an mortified, not so much because she discovered that she was clutching me, but because the first thing she saw was a graphic, brutal sex scene from Game of Thrones on my iPad. If the plane wasn't full, I think she would have switched seats.
All in all, a very pleasant trip. Next week, I am off to Florida for a photo shoot for The Heist, the book I wrote with Janet Evanovich.
The Mail I Get
I got this question today…
I found you on the net searching for publishing companies , checking out tate etc.. and your name came up on a Review kinda about them.. I was wondering in the blog you mentioned the Lulu and something else.. question I had was… I am looking for a better way to do the same work as this company , it seems my Book is only main stream online not really in alot of book stores at this time.. thus I could do the same myself? you had mentioned Amazon as well..I write about the conflict of life in question , anything from religious and questionable I love to question thinking and one self in question… life whatever can help anyone.. well I can imagine you get alot of mail.. any advice?
Yes. This is going to sound very cruel, but my advice is to go back and take a basic English course. Once you've learned how to construct coherent sentences, and then how to shape them into paragraphs that convey a story, then you can worry about how to publish a book. Judging by your email to me, the biggest problem you have now isn't finding an honest self-publishing company, it's mastering the craft of writing itself.
A Novel Only H & R Block Could Love
The publishers of Ian Hamilton's The Disciple of Las Vegas: An Ava Lee Novel are attempting to position the book as Canada's answer to Steig Larssen and, get this, Ian Fleming, which says a lot about Canadian thrillers…and none of it good. Imagine Jack Webb adapting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and that will give you a sense of how "thrilling" this book is.
Ava Lee is a Toronto forensic accountant hired to recoup $65 million pilfered by a Vancouver executive working for a beer company in Manila. Oh, and she's a lesbian and a martial arts expert, not that either one of those aspects of her personality come into play at all…unless you count a brief fight and a couple of dull email exchanages with a stranger to arrange a blind date.
It's clear that Hamilton has no idea how to construct a thriller, much less a compelling story. The first hundred pages of this book are nothing but plodding, heavy-handed exposition without a shred of actual drama or conflict, all told without the slightest bit of style, wit, or fun.
Once the exposition finally lets up, the heroine spends her time flying from place to place, interviewing people, checking her email and making phone calls to tell other characters the boring things we already know. It's all about as action-packed and fun to read as a spreadsheet.
But the crippling problem with this listless story, beyond the exposition and repetition, is that there's no real conflict for Ava to confront or dramatic obstacles for her to overcome. The emotional and physical stakes aren't just low, they are non-existent for Ava and her clients who, to make matters worse, are depicted as thoroughly unlikeable and unworthy of her efforts.
So there is zero reason for the reader to care about what happens, and no rooting interest beyond, perhaps, wanting one-dimensional Ava to get her commission on the recovered money. That's not enough to motivate readers to slog their way through this book.
And they really shouldn't bother.
Nothing remotely interesting happens until page 218, but after ten surprisingly violent pages that offer some hope that things might finally start moving, the book falls right back into its deep, narrative slumber until the very end, a long and tiresome 130 pages later.
Ava may be a martial artist but she vanquishes her adversaries and overcomes her obstacles, what few insignificant ones there are, with phone calls rather than action. The climax of the book (and I'm being very generous calling it that) comes down to her making some phone calls to ask other people to make some phone calls, and then us hearing about those phone calls in some more phone calls. As if that wasn't enough fever-pitch phone call excitement, in the final confrontation with the bad guys, Ava offers to make one more phone call.
I suppose it's only fitting then that the epilog is Ava making some more phone calls and answering her emails.
Lisbeth Salander and James Bond, eat your hearts out.
Guest Blog: Anthony Neil Smith on Writing THE DEAD MAN #16: COLDER THAN HELL.
Anthony Neil Smith on writing COLDER THAN HELL, out this week on Amazon…
Look, I don’t do
supernatural. I just flat out thought that was beyond me. I write crime novels
about people doing awful things to each other, no ghosts or monsters or demons
in sight. But this Dead Man thing, I was watching it grow with awe. Several
friends of mine, also crime writers, got caught up in the fervor and churned
out some great horror pulp. And I was jealous. Really jealous. But…I couldn’t do that sort of thing, could
I? And not that they would ever ask me, anyway.
supernatural. I just flat out thought that was beyond me. I write crime novels
about people doing awful things to each other, no ghosts or monsters or demons
in sight. But this Dead Man thing, I was watching it grow with awe. Several
friends of mine, also crime writers, got caught up in the fervor and churned
out some great horror pulp. And I was jealous. Really jealous. But…I couldn’t do that sort of thing, could
I? And not that they would ever ask me, anyway.
But then I got an email from Bill Rabkin—co-creator of The Dead Man series along with Lee Goldberg—who I had met via Tod Goldberg and who was writing a screenplay
adaptation of my novel Yellow Medicine.
That magical, unlikely email asked me to write a Dead Man novella. Yep, one o’ them spooky, supernatural,
knock-em-out, fists and axes and evil spirits sort of books.
adaptation of my novel Yellow Medicine.
That magical, unlikely email asked me to write a Dead Man novella. Yep, one o’ them spooky, supernatural,
knock-em-out, fists and axes and evil spirits sort of books.
I was thinking, There
is no fucking way I can do this.
is no fucking way I can do this.
But what I said was, “Yes. Yes. Yes. Fucking yes.”
And then I told them I’d get to work in May, probably have
it in a couple of months.
it in a couple of months.
At which point I fell off a writing cliff and had to drag my
ass back up the sheer rock face inch by inch.
ass back up the sheer rock face inch by inch.
No idea what happened. I had recently finished a short,
punchy third entry in my Billy Lafitte series. I was riding high off some nice
reviews and decent sales of All the Young
Warriors. But then it was as if words and me stopped getting along. In
fact, those goddamn words were bullying me. Taunting me. And I didn’t know what
to write.
punchy third entry in my Billy Lafitte series. I was riding high off some nice
reviews and decent sales of All the Young
Warriors. But then it was as if words and me stopped getting along. In
fact, those goddamn words were bullying me. Taunting me. And I didn’t know what
to write.
But I was under contract for Dead Man. I had to write it. I wanted to. It ended up helping me
break the drought and get back to the normal flow of things. But it didn’t take
two months. It took nearly five, and I even went over the deadline by a week.
break the drought and get back to the normal flow of things. But it didn’t take
two months. It took nearly five, and I even went over the deadline by a week.
The story came to me more easily than I had expected. At least some of it. If I had to pitch it, it
would come across as “The Shining, but on a frozen interstate.” One of the most
frightening things I’ve come across while living up north is the idea of being
trapped in your car on an interstate or highway due to snow and ice. You’re
surrounded by hundreds of others in the same boat, but you’re all little
islands of loneliness, seems to me. So what if some horrible virus or spirit or
[INSERT SUPERNATURAL THING HERE] was loosed on top of that?
would come across as “The Shining, but on a frozen interstate.” One of the most
frightening things I’ve come across while living up north is the idea of being
trapped in your car on an interstate or highway due to snow and ice. You’re
surrounded by hundreds of others in the same boat, but you’re all little
islands of loneliness, seems to me. So what if some horrible virus or spirit or
[INSERT SUPERNATURAL THING HERE] was loosed on top of that?
Fine, fine, the guys
in charge liked the idea. They just didn’t get the cause of it all. Something
wasn’t clicking. Two reasons for that: 1) I was trying to be a bit too ambitious
by tying some ancient evil from a previous Dead
Man into this one, hoping to cement a place in the “mythology”, and 2)
Again, I don’t do supernatural.
in charge liked the idea. They just didn’t get the cause of it all. Something
wasn’t clicking. Two reasons for that: 1) I was trying to be a bit too ambitious
by tying some ancient evil from a previous Dead
Man into this one, hoping to cement a place in the “mythology”, and 2)
Again, I don’t do supernatural.
 |
| Anthony Neil Smith |
But I wrote it, including an old 18th Century
diary, some Scandinavian settles in North Dakota who met up with evil Native
Americans from The Dead Man #5: The Blood Mesa who had
some more ancient evil that was older than Mr. Dark’s evil, and so there was a
killer on the loose and an Indian golum, and and and…
diary, some Scandinavian settles in North Dakota who met up with evil Native
Americans from The Dead Man #5: The Blood Mesa who had
some more ancient evil that was older than Mr. Dark’s evil, and so there was a
killer on the loose and an Indian golum, and and and…
What the hell was I thinking?
I finally finished it, turned it in, and waited to be told
how bad it was.
how bad it was.
Now, the thing I discovered about Lee during the
outline process is that he is one tough son of a bitch when it comes to ideas.
He was shooting them down all night long. I could imagine his Grinch-like sneer
as my emails came in, rubbing his hands in glee as he printed them out for the
sole purpose of watching them burn.
outline process is that he is one tough son of a bitch when it comes to ideas.
He was shooting them down all night long. I could imagine his Grinch-like sneer
as my emails came in, rubbing his hands in glee as he printed them out for the
sole purpose of watching them burn.
But after I turned in the draft, something remarkable
happened. His heart grew three sizes…for the first half of the novella, anyway.
All the other historical/mythology stuff? I had truly wasted my (and his) time.
As bad as I thought it was. That doesn’t mean I didn’t try to save it. Of
course I did. That was a month’s work! But it came down to Lee telling me,
“Rewrite the second half. You’ve got a month.”
happened. His heart grew three sizes…for the first half of the novella, anyway.
All the other historical/mythology stuff? I had truly wasted my (and his) time.
As bad as I thought it was. That doesn’t mean I didn’t try to save it. Of
course I did. That was a month’s work! But it came down to Lee telling me,
“Rewrite the second half. You’ve got a month.”
And I was all like, “But how do I…what should I…Can’t you
tell me…?”
tell me…?”
And the guru said, “Well, how about [INSERT SUPERNATURAL
THING THAT PUT MY SUPERNATURAL THING TO SHAME, AS IT WAS MUCH MUCH BETTER
HERE]?”
THING THAT PUT MY SUPERNATURAL THING TO SHAME, AS IT WAS MUCH MUCH BETTER
HERE]?”
Why come I hadn’t thought of that? So I was learning a lot
about how this sort of story works, what’s expected, how to subvert what’s
expected and still deliver a good fright. And best of all, I had to write about
fifty pages in a month.
about how this sort of story works, what’s expected, how to subvert what’s
expected and still deliver a good fright. And best of all, I had to write about
fifty pages in a month.
In a good week, I can maybe get fifteen pages done. I hadn’t
been having good weeks. But still, fifty pages was within my window of doable.
been having good weeks. But still, fifty pages was within my window of doable.
Five weeks later, I turned it in again. And this time the
damn thing worked. We went through a few
edits, not so hard at all, and then Jeroen ten Berge put together a killer
cover for it. This was actually happening! I was a Dead Man author! Not only that, but the turnaround on this book was
a few months—it would be out by the end of January. That, of course, continued
to shore up my already good impression of Amazon Publishing. They knew exactly
what they were doing.
damn thing worked. We went through a few
edits, not so hard at all, and then Jeroen ten Berge put together a killer
cover for it. This was actually happening! I was a Dead Man author! Not only that, but the turnaround on this book was
a few months—it would be out by the end of January. That, of course, continued
to shore up my already good impression of Amazon Publishing. They knew exactly
what they were doing.
Once Dead Man #16: Colder Than Hell was out of my hands, my head was spinning with new ideas—how to
fix the stalled novel, how to get a couple of other ideas I had into bed
together for yet another novel. I was thinking much more like a pulp
writer—write the damned story. Faster. Think through the first two drafts in
your head, put the third one down as the first. Hey, I did it once, I could do
it again.
fix the stalled novel, how to get a couple of other ideas I had into bed
together for yet another novel. I was thinking much more like a pulp
writer—write the damned story. Faster. Think through the first two drafts in
your head, put the third one down as the first. Hey, I did it once, I could do
it again.
All in all, this was a tremendous experience. I’m glad Lee
and Bill let me play in the Dead Man toy
box, and I look forward to trying it again one day, maybe. In the meantime,
there’s not an hour I sit at the typewriter when I don’t think about how my
writing process has changed for the better after Dead Man.
and Bill let me play in the Dead Man toy
box, and I look forward to trying it again one day, maybe. In the meantime,
there’s not an hour I sit at the typewriter when I don’t think about how my
writing process has changed for the better after Dead Man.
Hope you’ll check it out. And if you do happen to have
travel plans through North Dakota in the winter, make sure to bring extra
layers, some gloves, a thick blanket, and a last will and testament. Just in
case.
travel plans through North Dakota in the winter, make sure to bring extra
layers, some gloves, a thick blanket, and a last will and testament. Just in
case.
Coming Next Fall to a TV Near You
It's the time of year when networks start ordering pilots for proposed TV series for next year's fall schedule. The Hollywood Reporter has a wrap-up of what's been ordered so far. It looks like this is the first pilot season in years that doesn't include a "re-imagining" of an old TV show. Thank God. But there are plenty of adaptations of movies in the works (About a Boy, Bad Teacher, Beverly Hills Cop, etc.) and quite a few based on books.
Here are some of the more unusual concepts being considered…
The Returned
Logline: What happens when the people you have mourned and buried suddenly appear on your doorstep as if not a day's gone by? The lives of the people of Aurora are forever changed when their deceased loved ones return.
Cast:
Team: W/EP Aaron Zelman (Criminal Minds)
Studio: ABC Studios, Brillstein Entertainment, Plan BThe Ordained
Logline: The son of a Kennedy-esque family leaves the priesthood and becomes a lawyer to prevent his politician sister from being assassinated.
Cast:
Team: W/EP Lisa Takeuchi Cullen; EP Frank Marshall, Larry Shuman, A.B. Fischer; co-EP Robert Zotnowski
Studio: CBS Television StudiosDelirium
Logline: Based on best-selling trilogy about a world where love is deemed illegal and is able to be eradicated with a special procedure. With 95 days to go until her scheduled treatment, Lena Holoway does the unthinkable: she falls in love.
Cast:
Team: W/EP: Karyn Usher (Prison Break, Bones); EP Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope
Studio: 20th Television, Chernin EntertainmentThe List
Logline: When members of the Federal Witness Security Program start getting killed, U.S. Marshal Dan Shaker leads the hunt for the person who stole “the list” – a file with the identities of every member of the program.
Cast:
Team: W/EP: Paul Zbyszewski (Lost, Hawaii Five-0, Daybreak); EP Ruben Fleischer (Gangster Squad)
Studio: 20th TelevisionGirlfriend in a Coma
Logline: After almost two decades, a 34-year-old woman wakes up from a coma to find out she has a 17-year-old daughter from a pregnancy she was unaware of when her life was put on hold. (Single)
Cast:
Team: EP/W: Liz Brixius (Nurse Jackie); EP Dick Wolf, Danielle Gelber
Studio: Universal Television, Wolf Films
Format: Single-cameraBloodline
Logline: A contemporary pulp thriller that revolves around an orphaned young girl named Bird Benson, who because of an accident of birth is caught in the struggle between two warring families of mercenaries and killers. Mentored by a Chinese man, Bird has to accept the quest to find and defeat her mother in mortal combat if she is to ever lead a normal life.
Cast:
Team: W/EP David Granziano (Awake, Terra Nova), EP/D Peter Berg, EP Sarah Aubrey
Studio: Universal, Film 44
Mr. Monk and the New Author
Here's the scoop, MONK fans, on Hy Conrad 's upcoming book MR. MONK HELPS HIMSELF.
Monk and Natalie are settling back in San Francisco, with one big change. Monk has agreed to make Natalie a full partner. That means Natalie has to pass the California P.I. exam and Monk has to start treating her as an equal.
The trouble starts when Miranda Bigley, a self-help guru, jumps to her death in full view of a hundred people. It’s obviously suicide. But Natalie was a fan of Miranda’s life-affirming teachings, and she thinks there must be something more. Maybe even murder.
Monk has handled dozen of impossible cases. But this one is really impossible, he says. If Natalie wants to look into it, she’s on her own.
Instead, Monk turns his attention to a clown, killed by poisoned money. It’s a case that could become one of the most important of his career. The only drawback? Monk is afraid of clowns (phobia #99), and Natalie refuses to help him if he doesn’t help her.
And so, they’re off on their own, with Natalie infiltrating the guru’s cliffside retreat, Monk trying to stay as far away from clowns as possible, and both of them trying to stay alive.
If there’s one case that can teach them the importance of an equal partnership, this is it.
Robert B. Parker’s Ironhorse
Robert Knott's IRONHORSE is not as good as Robert B. Parker's first two Virgil Cole novels, but it's better than his last one, which was truly awful on just about every level. Knott doesn't have Parker's characters down at all (Cole makes many uncharacteristic, dull expository speeches in this book), and there's quite a bit of repetition, with the characters telling one another what we already know (a rookie mistake for newbie authors), and he doesn't capture Parker's lean style. But taken on its own merits, IRONHORSE is an enjoyable western none-the-less, with a fast-moving, twisty plot and some strong action. Bottom line: it doesn't come close to Ace Atkins' brilliant Spenser novel, which perfectly captured Parker's voice, nor was it as bad as Michael Brandman's execrable Jesse Stone books.