Battlestar Galactica

by

The season finale of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was terrific… hands down the best science fiction show on TV in decades…and easily one of the best dramas of any genre on TV this season. It certainly packs more punch per hour than THE WEST WING or LAW AND ORDER have in years.  Watching the show makes me feel like a kid again…it’s one of the few programs I look forward to with fannish glee. It’s also one of the few shows on TV today that’s pure entertainment.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA may also be the first TV remake, on TV or the big screen, that’s far superior to the series that inspired it.  I wasn’t wowed by the initial miniseries, or the first episode or two, but the series got better and better with each episode, ending in a season finale that was exciting, surprising, funny, dramatic and a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

I can’t wait for the new episodes in July…

(PS – How can anybody be clamoring for a loyal remake of the original series after watching this show??)

My Book Haul

by

As usual on my trips, I came home with a box of books. Here’s what I bought during my journey between L.A. and Santa Fe…

Hardcovers (used):
Dark Trail by Ed Gorman ($2)
Ryan Rides Back by Bill Crider ($2)
Texas Capitol Murders by Bill Crider (signed first edition $7)
Finding Moon by Tony Hillerman (signed first edition $20)
Blackening Song by Aimee & David Thurlo (signed first edition $20)
North of Montana by April Smith (first edition $4)
Ashworth Hall by Anne Perry (signed first edition $9)
Pentecost Alley by Anne Perry (signed first edition $9)

Hardcovers (new):
Sight Hound by Pam Houston (signed)
Rabbitt Factory by Larry Brown (signed)
Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells (signed)

Paperbacks (used)
Wild Wild West #3 by Robert Vaughan
Trailback by Robert Vaughan
The Lawmen by Robert Vaughan
Range Wars by Robert Vaughan
Galveston Gunman by Bill Crider
The Babysitter by Andrew Coburn
Diablo Grant by James Reasoner
Hawthorne Legacy by James Reasoner
Old Boys by Charles McCarry (An ARC)

As you can see, I’m  on a western kick lately.

Foul Language

by

My sister-in-law Wendy wonders on her blog why  romance writers, and readers, have such a hard time with people using cuss words.

So often, romances have a sanitized vibe to them. As though they have been scrubbed clean for the protection of the reader. Well, you know what? My ‘virgin’ eyes don’t need to be protected from foul words because I can cuss colorfully. My mother says I can make a sailor blush—and she’s been saying that since I was thirteen. I don’t buy into the theory that only the uneducated, who can’t stretch for word choice, pepper their speech with profanity. Everyone
I know, and I mean everyone, in my circle of family and friends went to
college and every single one of them cusses (some more liberally than
others). So why don’t characters in romances reflect this? Why don’t they speak like real people?

It’s not just in romances. You wouldn’t believe how many emails I got when someone said "shit" in the first  DIAGNOSIS MURDER book.  One profanity in the whole book and you’d think I’d spent ten pages describing a scene of bestiality…

Blurbs…the sequel

by

My friend Gregg Hurwitz talks about what it takes to get him to conside giving a book a blurb.  Number two on his list is that author has actually read Gregg’s stuff.

Nothing says
arrogance like an unpublished writer asking me to read his manuscript
who hasn’t bothered to read one of my books.

Even that won’t guarantee Gregg will give you a kudo.

I don’t care if it’s a social novel or a book of lesbian haiku, the first few pages better sing.

Which explains why he wouldn’t blurb my book of Jewish lesbian haiku ("Mazel Love"). I thought it was because my publisher put Dick Van Dyke’s picture on the cover of that book, too.

Martial Law

by

My friend Paul Guyot pointed me to Doughy White Guys, where the blogger praises the second season of Martial Law, which Bill Rabkin & I wrote and exec-produced. 

I miss that show with Arsenio Hall and the doughy Asian guy. Doughy Asian guys
rock. People who thought that show was foolish – see the thematic tie-in? –
didn’t get that it was a comic book. The writers were good, they knew what the
show was and more importantly what it wasn’t. Well, not the writers from the
first season. That first year was weak, the show wasn’t sure what it was
supposed to be yet.

It’s nice to know that someone besides my wife and my agent got what we were trying to do…

Mr. Monk Meets Lee

by

Monk_desktop800x600_allNow that the deal is officially done, I can share the news… in addition to continuing to write my series of DIAGNOSIS MURDER tie-ins, I will also be writing original novels based on MONK (a series I’ve written
episodes for in the past).  The scary thing is I only have eight weeks to write the book. I’ve never written an original novel in eight  weeks…so this should be fun.  But hey, I hear that sleeping, showering, and going to the bathroom are over-rated anyway.

Our Trip – Day Seven

by

Day Six of our trip was largely a traveling day… so not much to report. We were hit with hail and snow on our way out of New Mexico, preventing us from visiting the Acuma Pueblo…but we did stop at a few trading posts to stretch our legs and browse.  We ended up in Flagstaff around 5 and were able to catch the sunset in Sedona, which was beautiful. Sedona is visually stunning and far exceeded my expectations.

This morning, we returned to Sedona to take in the sights, do some shopping, and have lunch with Richard S. Prather, author of the bestselling Shell Scott mysteries, which sold tens of millions of copies in the 60s. We met at his home and had a wonderful time talking about writing,  plotting and, of course, the outrageously entertaining adventures of Shell Scott.  The one-liners in those books are priceless…for example:

Leeprathersedona"We were dancing, my client and I. But it was much more than just a dance. It was like doing the fox trot and getting your pants pressed at the same time."

We’ve been penpals for a couple of years now, and have spoken on the phone a few times, but this was our first face-to-face meeting. For me, it was a real thrill. One of the great perks of my profession is the opportunity to meet so many of the writers I’ve enjoyed, and admired, since I was a kid. I still can’t believe how lucky I am (click on the picture for a larger image).

After lunch, Valerie, Maddie & I visited the mining town of Jerome, then wandered around Sedona some more before returning to Flagstaff. Tomorrow, it’s off to Las Vegas for a day then back to L.A.

It’s been a wonderful road trip…but come Monday, it back to work.

Our Trip – Day Five

by

Today we spent money… Valerie & Maddie on Indian jewelry in Old Town and I, of course, bought books, going crazy at Albuquerque’s wonderful Page One Bookstore. I left after three hours of browsing with a bunch of  signed first editions mysteries, used westerns (by Bill Crider, Ed Gorman, Robert Vaughn, Joseph West, and James Reasoner) and hard-to-find books by Andrew Coburn and Robert Sims Reid. I had a great time. It’s a good thing Page One isn’t in L.A. or I’d go broke…

Our Trip – Day Four

by

We started our day by taking the aerial tramway up to Sandia Peak, where we took in the breathtaking views and lobbed snowballs at each other.  Afterwards, we went into Santa Fe where we strolled through the Plaza. We bought jewelry and moccasins for Maddie, a book and a cowboy hat for me (to wear while I read all the westerns I bought in Flagstaff), and some jewelry for Valerie. We returned to Albuquerque just in time for a wonderful dinner with my friends authors Aimee & David Thurlo, followed by dessert at their house in Corrales, where they plied us with fantastic sugar cookies (from a hundred year old recipe) and  introduced Maddie to their horse, their dogs, and their pet rats.  David says the rats actually gnaw affectionately on his fingers while he writes (he called it  grooming…I still call it gnawing). To me, rats chewing on my fingers while I write is a nightmare come true, but he likes it.  Hey, every author has their own unique way of motivating themselves. I’m sure there are some authors who use leeches.  Tomorrow, we plan on bumming around Albuquerque and visiting Page One books. On Wednesday, we head back westward to Sedona, AZ and lunch with author Richard S. Prather, one of my childhood idols.