I didn’t spend a lot of time at the convention today. My morning was eaten up with phone calls on some TV work I’m doing (more on that another day) and work on MONK #4. I met with my publishers Kristen Weber & Ellen Edwards of Penguin/Putnam, author Donald Bain, and his lovely wife Renee for a long lunch, then spent two hours at convention, chatting with Max Allan Collins, J.A. Konrath, Bill Crider (official Bouchercon videographer with his $125 Point-and-Shoot), Thomas Cook, Margaret Maron, Sean Doolittle, Rochelle Krich, Cynthia Chow (voted the hottest librarian in the U.S.), Lita Weissman (the SoCal Borders CRM extraordinaire) Mark Billingham (who professed his undying love of DIAGNOSIS MURDER), Jon Jordan (CRIMESPREE editor and natty dresser), and a bunch of other folks. I bought the anthology THESE GUNS FOR HIRE, signed by many of the contributors, and then it was time to head back to the glamorous Doubletree to make some calls and get dressed up for the Shamus Awards. I sat at what turned out to be the loser table…where fellow nominees PJ Parrish (Kris Montee), Joel Goldman, Harry Hunsicker and I all lost in our respective Shamus categories (I got whipped, as expected, by Michael Connelly’s excellent THE LINCOLN LAWYER). The ceremony included a funny, but far-too-lengthy roast of Private Eye Writers of America founder Robert Randisi (who has written over 300 GUNSMITH novels, among many other books). The comments by Dominick Abel and Jon Lutz were, by far, the highlights of the roast and of the evening’s festivities. Now I am back in my room, working on MONK #4, while the couple in the room next door have loud, moaning, headboard-pounding sex. They must be a very religious couple, since they keep calling out to God.
Writing
Bouchercon Report
Greetings from Madison, WI. My trip here was interesting. On the flight from LA to Chicago, the woman next to me fell asleep, put her head on my shoulder, and snuggled my arm for an hour. I was afraid to move for fear she’d wake up and be mortified. She eventually moved aside and rested against the window. I’m sure she had no idea what she’d done. But still, it was weird.
I had a great time on my panel today with Steve Cannell, Robert Ward, Raymond Benson and Donald Bain. The panelists provided lots of laughs, some good anecdotes, and even some sage writing advice. I spent time chatting with Ken Bruen, Reed Coleman, Jim Winter, Jim Born, Robin Burcell, Lee Lofland, Declan Hughes, Lee Child, Allan Guthrie, Gary Phillips, Bob Levinson, Zoe Sharp, Stephen Booth, Patricia Smiley, Parnell Hall, Duane S (can’t spell his name so why try?), and many, many others before retiring to my hotel room to work on MONK #4, which is due so soon I am getting stomach cramps just thinking about it.
Tomorrow, I have lunch with my publisher and then it’s the Shamus Awards dinner.
Killer Year Authors Are Adopted
The International Thriller Writers, of which I am a proud member, have adopted the Killer Year, a group of 15 first-time authors with new mysteries & thrillers coming out in 2007. What does this mean? A lot:
We’re also getting one of our stars to review each of the debuts and we’ll be
publishing them in the ITW Thriller Reader’s Newsletter. And an ITW author has
volunteered to mentor each of the fifteen members of the Class of 2007 through
their baptism by fire into the publishing world.Lee Child, Jeff
Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell, Jim Rollins, Anne Frasier,
Douglas Clegg, Duane Swierczynski, Cornelia Read, Harley Jane Kozak, Allison
Brennan, Ken Bruen and Joe R. Lansdale have all signed on. (Each
Killer Year author requested their mentors, that’s why we didn’t put out a
general call.)In addition, ITW will sponsor a Killer Year breakfast at
ThrillerFest ’07 where each of the debut novelists will be presented by his or
her mentor to readers, reviewers and the press.
Isn’t that terrific? I hope the ITW can find deserving authors every year for similar "star" treatment. The ITW is doing some amazingly creative and beneficial stuff for their members — this is just one of many examples.
Off to Madison
Tomorrow I’m heading off to Madison, WI and Bouchercon 2006, the world mystery convention, where I will be moderating a panel with Stephen J. Cannell, Robert Ward, Donald Bain and Raymond Benson. That’s also where I’ll find out if I’ve won the Shamus for THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE… though I think there’s little chance of that up against the likes of Connelly, Crais and Mosley. I’ll be gone until Monday, but I’ll try to send in a few reports from the convention floor.
Tied Up in Tie-ins
I got an email from someone who has written his first original tie-in novel, which will be released very soon in paperback by a major publisher. He was paid a
flat, work-for-hire fee of $5000 to produce a 90,000 word novel and was
put through at least one revision. He had this question for me:
Assuming I do get offered another
contract, it’s likely to take place before the first book hits the stores.
Wouldn’t my best bargaining point be the degree of success of the first
book, and I won’t know that before being asked to make a decision on a
second contract? I don’t want a second contract on the same terms as the
first. In other words, how much leverage does a tie-in
writer have, especially a newbie? Any light you can shed would be much
appreciated.
It
really depends on your financial situation now. How long did it take
you to write that 90,000 words? My guess is that if you were to figure
out the time you put in writing the book on a dollars-per-hour basis,
you got far less than minimum wage. And you gain nothing
financially if the book is a success. If they want you back, I would
ask for at least a $5000 advance against a percentage of royalties…or walk away from it. That
really is the only leverage you have — a willingness to walk
away.
I posed this question to other tie-in writers in the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. They pointed out that the publisher has done the number crunching on the tie-in deal and believe they are already paying all that they can afford (given that they also have to pay a licensing fee and share royalties with the studio). However, now you’ve demonstrated that you can write a novel on time and to their specifications, so you’re not an unknown any more. And that proven dependability is now worth something.
Pink Panther Novels
I stumbled on an unusual tie-in at the bookstore today — THE PINK
PANTHER GETS LUCKY by Mark Cerasini & Alice Alfonsi, an original
novel based on the PINK PANTHER movies. In fact, it’s billed as an
"original pink panther mystery." Apparently, there is already another
one on the way. I wonder what the target audience is for Inspector
Clouseau books?
At Least Tod Isn’t Up Against George Pelecanos Again
My brother Tod is a finalist for the Southern California Booksellers’ Assocation Award for Best Fiction…a list that includes Aimee Bender (his friend since he was 11), Susan Straight, Carolyn See and the team of Jennifer Kaufman & Karen Mack. In the mystery category, my friends T. Jefferson Parker, Paul Levine, Barbara Seranella, Jacqueline Winspear and Denise Hamilton all snagged well-deserved nominations.
Speaking of awards, I just got word over here in the Berlin that Tony Shalhoub snagged a third Emmy for his performance in MONK, and my friend Terry Winter snagged his second (or is it third?) Emmy for his writing on THE SOPRANOS. Howard Gordon also copped an statuette for his amazing work running 24 this year. Congratulations one and all!
Ottocratic
Edward Champion reports that Otto Penzler is threatening to sue him:
I just received the following message from Otto Penzler:
“If you don’t remove this TODAY, I will sue your ass. I have already
discussed this with my lawyer who agrees it is actionable. You may find
this humorous–I don’t. I do have your address and you will be served
with a cease and desist order, plus a liable suit, copyright
infringement suit, and some other stuff as we think of them. NOW, Mr.
Champion.”Mr. Penzler takes apparent umbrage to several recent posts that satirize and parody his New York Sun columns.
Champion is leaving the posts up, but has added a disclaimer that they are a parody. I wonder if I should be watching my mailbox for a letter accusing me of "liable," too.
(Thanks to Arizona Jim for the heads-up).
Look, Up in the Sky
There’s a fascinating interview with my friend Paul Bernbaum about the writing and production of his spec script TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY, which has become the movie HOLLYWOODLAND.
Focus
courted a couple of stars and a couple directors before they were lucky
enough to get Allen Coulter. They also began pressing for me to shift
the story more toward Adrien’s character and away from Reeves, which I
strongly disagreed with. I did a number of drafts with Allen, who is a
terrific filmmaker, and a great guy. But apparently, Focus wanted more
of Adrien’s character than I was willing to give them, at which point
they hired another writer. Needless to say, this was heartbreaking for
me, as this movie was a deeply personal one.
Paul and I have known each other for over a decade (and worked on three series together). This script has been his passion project for years…I wish it had been shot the way he originally envisioned it. Despite the rewrites by another writer, Paul ended up with sole screenplay credit.
Discipline, Deadlines and Creativity
Yesterday, in my post "Going Hollywood," I wrote:
You can’t always force creativity, regardless of the immutable reality of a production deadline. But I have to believe that if I have a bad afternoon or a completely wasted day, that I’ll make up for it later.
After reading author Loreth Ann White’s thoughts on the subject, I realized that I needed to clarify my comments. In TV, you can’t wait for inspiration to strike…the show is shooting on Monday whether you are feeling creative or not. A deadline is a deadline. The pages must be written. A professional TV writer will get them done.
The same is true of my MONK and DIAGNOSIS MURDER novels. I have 90 days and, in some cases, less to write them. I may not feel motivated or inspired today, or even tomorrow, but I will make up for it later…because I am a professional writer, and that ‘s my job. Some days are better than others. I try not to sweat the bad ones too much (though I do).
What I should have said is that I have faith that if the writing is going badly at any particular moment, I will "get inspired" in time to meet my deadline, whatever that deadline may be.
It’s amazing how inspired I am the closer I get to a deadline. The reality that something has to be done at a certain point forces you to focus and to silence your inner critic.
If I don’t have a real, honest-to-God, make-or-break deadline, then I have a much harder time focusing…which may be Paul’s problem with his pilot.