My Blog

Bumsicle Update

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Bumsicle_Version_2Here's the latest poster from designer Brian Bolin for BUMSICLE, the short film I shot a few weeks back in Kentucky.  And here's a link to the terrific end title song, "The Best You've Got," written and performed by Matt Branham. The song, heard out of context,  may give you the false impression that this movie is a comedy, and that Detective Flanek is more Clouseau than Columbo, but that is not the case. 

We're now deep into the sound mix and color correction. I hope to have a finished film by the end of the month…well in advance of our screening at the International Mystery Writers Festival June 14-17 in Owensboro.

 

Talking Shop

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IMG_1121[1]For me, Left Coast Crime in Sacramento this past weekend was more of a craft and business conference, very friendly, low-key, and collegial (but very well attended, btw. It was packed). I only went to one panel besides the three that I was on — I spent most of my time in the lobby, bar, and area restaurants talking shop with other authors. 

We talked about craft — how we do what we do — and I was surprised by how many of my colleagues aren't outlining any more (but not surprised by how often they end up having to abandon books mid-way through or do page-one rewrites once they are done with their first drafts).  It was also interesting learning the different ways they approach story, character, and revealing clues.

We talked about how publishing contracts are changing, how difficult publishers are making it now for authors to get their "out of print" books back, and how the book tour, even on a small scale, is becoming a thing of the past.

And, of course, there were lots of discussions long into the night about the massive changes in the publishing industry,the rise of ebooks, and the influence of Amazon & the Kindle on every aspect of the business. Many authors were very curious about my self-pubishing experience (in light of this USA Today article), how the monthly DEAD MAN series on Amazon works, and what it was being published by Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint with KING CITY. There was lots of discussion about the pros and cons of self-publishing, about the merits and drawbacks of exclusivity with KDP Select (Amazon), and the potential and pitfalls of a new exclusivity deal quietly being pitched to some authors by Barnes & Noble.  Some of the folks I chatted with included Denise Hamilton, Thomas Perry, Boyd Morrison, John Rector, Cara Black, Robert Ward, Gar Anthony Haywood, Parnell Hall, D.P. Lyle, Craig Faustus Buck, Jan Burke, William Kent Krueger, Christine Goff, Dick Lochte, Robin Burcell, Janet Dawson, Twist Phelan, Johnny Shaw, Andrew Petersen, Naomi Hirahara,  Bill Fitzhugh, and Bruce De Silva, to name just a few.

The upshot of it all, at least from where I was sitting, is that authors see the ebook revolution as scary, exciting, and confusing…but ultimately empowering them in a way they have never been before. The authors I talked to, new and established alike, are radically rethinking many of their long-held beliefs about publishing, what it means to be published, and how they are measuring their own success. It's no longer a foregone conclusion that landing a book contract, even with a big 6 publisher, is necessarily the best move for many authors, particularly those in the mid-list, even if they are still enjoying success in print. Authors who never gave much thought before to the business side of publishing are now thinking about it a lot…and taking a longer view of rights, opportunities they may be signing away for an advance.  IMG_1130[1]

It was surprising to me to hear some of the disinformation that publishers are spreading. One author told me that she'd heard from her editor that Barry Eisler's Amazon experience turned out out be a huge disaster, that he regretted not taking St. Martin's $500,000 two-book deal, and that authors who'd once "sipped the Amazon Kool-Aid" were rushing back to legacy publishers in droves. That,  of course, couldn't be further from the truth but does illustrate just how terrified and desperate some editors in New York are now that they're realizing that they aren't the only game in town anymore…and that authors are becoming far more business savvy and many are flourishing without them. Publishers don't like seeing books that they rejected, or authors they dropped, or books they once published but fell out of print, now charging up the ebook bestseller lists.  

I also met many newly published authors and it was fascinating to hear their take on the business. And, of course, and I chatted with many readers, and I enjoyed getting to know them.

The most surprising thingof all is that I only bought six books… all vintage Harry Whittington paperbacks, snagged at $3-apiece.

All in all, it was a terrific conference.  

(pictured Craig Faustus Buck, Thomas Perry, DP Lyle)

Home from Kentucky

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I've been back from Kentucky, where I shot the short film Bumsicle, for a few days now and I am still catching up on the work, emails, phone calls, and bills that accumulated while I was gone.  I've got plenty of things to think about…and yet, even though directing the film is behind me, I find myself editing the footage in my mind while eagerly waiting to see the first  editor's assembly. I'm sure I'll finally stop thinking  about the movie once the final cut is locked and we're on to the fine-tuning of post-production sound,  color correction, music etc.

The film is a sequel to Remaindered,  a very well-received short film I did a year or so ago, and brings back actor Todd Reynolds as Det. Bud Flanek, a character writer/producer William Link kindly dubbed "the Kentucky Columbo." Like the earlier film, this one is also based on a short story of mine.

I had a fantastic time making the movie, in no small part thanks to the terrific cast (Todd Reynolds, Rick Montgomery Jr., Sadia Brimm, Marcus Porter, Patrick Litteken, and Jared Collins) and the professionalism, efficiency and enthusiasm of the hard-working crew, led by producers J. Laine Nunn  and Roxi Witt, assistant director Rachael Nunn and Director of Photograph Marc Gurevitch.  You can see a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos and production stills here.

As much as I enjoyed making Remaindered, and as proud as I am of it, this was a smoother experience all around (despite a tornado hitting town in middle of our shoot!) and the footage looks far more polished and professional. The big reason for that is that we took a enormous step up in equipment and resources. We had two RED cameras, a professional D.P., and a full lighting/grip package this time, all thanks to Firelight Entertainment Group.

Lee 1

But I believe the key to the success of the shoot was the thorough pre-production planning, from the smallest props to my shot list (I provided sketches weeks in advance of how I'd shoot/cover each scene and I stuck to'em)…and the tight organization that continued until the final shot. 

We also pre-rigged some of the key locations the day before shooting, which significantly cut down on time spent lighting the sets and allowed us to move faster that we would have otherwise. And I spent a few hours before production rehearsing with the actors, so they knew the staging, and had their performances down, before they got  in front of the cameras.

Because of all that, we were able to handle the inevitable, unexpected problems…like a tornado forcing us to seek shelter early on our first day and, in one scene, an error in the settings of our "B" camera that cost us some  shots… and still stay on track without losing much time.  

In fact, we managed to get all of our work done without going significantly over schedule until the final day, but that overtime had more  to do with having to strike our sets, clean up, and pack up everything before moving to our next location, some distance  away, for our last shot. 

The shoot was tiring, but I think I can safely say it was incredibly fun for everybody involved.  I loved directing and I am eager to do it again. So I hope Bumsicle is a success on the Festival circuit and that it gives us the opportunity to bring back Det. Bud Flanek for more adventures. My hope is that these shorts might do well enough to inspire a web series featuring Flanek that I could write & direct…but that's a longshot. 

Then again, I thought The Dead Man was a long shot, too. 

Everything is Connected

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Carnival of Death Cover

I've got some good news: Amazon has ordered 12 more books in the DEAD MAN series…in digital, print and audio…on top of the 12 that they ordered back in September. That will keep the monthly series of original novellas going into 2013 (book #9, CARNIVAL OF DEATH, comes out in a few weeks).  

The renewal comes just as DEAD MAN VOLUME 1, a digital and print compilation of the first three DEAD MAN tales, and the audio edition are released.

And, even more amazing, the news came almost to the day that Bill Rabkin and I self-published FACE OF EVIL, the first DEAD MAN tale, one year ago this month. Last February, I had the silly fantasy that Amazon would see the potential of the series and become our publisher…little did I know how quickly that dream would come true.

But I owe that to a series of events that began in an "Introduction To  TV Writing" class I was teaching at UCLA back in 2007. One of my students was a guy named Mike Daniels. The goal of the class was for students to leave with a solid outline that they could use to write their first spec script in the "Introduction to Screenwriting" class. But it was clear to me that Mike was far too talented to be wasting his time writing an outline…he should go to script now. So asked I him to continue participating in class, but to start writing  the script and share his pages with me on the side. He did.

By the end of the term, he'd turned out a brilliant RESCUE ME spec…and, if memory serves, a spec pilot script as well. At the end of that last class, I told him he was as good, if not better, than most TV writers that I knew and to stop wasting his time taking classes…he was ready to conquer the TV biz.

And he did.  

Within a year, he was on staff of ONE TREE HILL. Today, he's married to one of the actresses from the show and a producer on SONS OF ANARCHY. 

Dead Man Ring of Knives

 

What does all of this have to do with THE DEAD MAN?

Not long after our class was over, Mike asked me if I'd read an unpublished novel that his brother James had written.  James was a lawyer, but on the side he also narrated books for Brilliance Audio. I agreed, with more than a little hesitation, to read the book. Much to my surprise, I really liked the book…it was clear he had enormous talent…but the story needed a lot of work. I suggested some revisions to the opening chapters, which James made, and then referred the book to my agent. She saw the potential too and took him on…and although she wasn't able to sell the book, I never forgot it or how talented he was. When the DEAD MAN came along, I asked him if he wanted to write one. He did…and the book turned out to be RING OF KNIVES, the second in our series.

When RING OF KNIVES came out, James told all of his friends at Brilliance Audio about the book…and when they read it, they thought that it, and the other books in the series,  would make great audiobooks.

Since Brilliance is owned  by Amazon, word about their interest in the series soon filtered up to the editors at Amazon Encore and Thomas & Mercer…who called me about the print rights. 

And you know how the rest of the story goes…

But the capper is that James, and his brother Luke, are narrating the audiobooks (James narrates his books, Luke narrates all of the others). Is that just  too perfect?

Anyway, this all goes to show how everything is connected…and that you have no idea how something you do today could pay off in unexpected, unimagined ways years from now.

 

The Mail I Get

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Whenever a new MONK book comes out, I get swamped with lots of mail from fans. Most of it is very kind and I love to get it. But I also get some like these:

i love your books and really want to read them, but my libary's stock of your books are out. any ideas? But if you want to be really nice, you would mail a hardcover copy of your latest book to:
XYZ 
Edison, NJ 08817 

Here's another:

Mr. Goldberg – I am a Monk fan and I love your books. However, you really go too far sometimes with his idiosyncracies. With the pestilence and world destruction when he sees a crack in the sidewalk type of thing. It's really far above and beyond his behavior on screen, and makes for a bad read. I usually have to skip over all those areas, and I find those silly discussions clutter the books and detract from the reading experience. Otherwise, the books are very entertaining. 

And another:

My mother loves your books and gets them from the library all the time. I told her I knew you so please send her a signed copy by March 1 because that is her birthday. Here is her address: XYZ Sign it with your full name and say something clever (You can come up with that on your own). I would like to meet you some day because you are so funny.