Approaching a Tie-In

by

It looks like I am about to take on another series of TV tie-in novels (in addition to the continuing series of DIAGNOSIS MURDER novels). Since this isn’t a series I created, I’m considering some basic issues:  when an author writes books based on a TV series, what are his main responsibilities?  Is it to capture the essense of the characters and the tone of
the show… to make the book as close to an episode as possible? Or is it create a book that stands alone as a novel in its own right…while still evoking the flavor, the characters, and the "mythology" of the TV series? How flexible are you about  adding elements, and making changes, to the characters and the "franchise" to suit your own needs as a novelist?

For me, I think my  responsibility is to be true to the series…to the characters and voice of
the show…but to go beyond that, creating an experience that’s deeper and more satisfying than an
episode would be.

I think my first DIAGNOSIS  MURDER book, for example, is the weakest because it too closely resembles an episode of the series in structure, pacing, and tone. I’ve tried in the subsequent books (seven so far) to stay true to the series…but go to places, emotional and geographical, that an episode never could. I try to dig deeper into the characters and their motivations without violating what we already know about who they are…and, if possible, shed
light on aspects of their personalities that were never  revealed before. I don’t want to write episodes in book-form…but books that satisfy the reader in the same way an episode of the show could…and then offer something more lasting. I want the books to work first,
and foremost, as books… I want to write them in a way that someone who is totally unfamiliar with the TV show could pick one up and feel they’ve read a good book, not an episode of a TV show in book-form.

The advantage I have with DM is that I was the executive producer and principal writer (with William Rabkin) of the show for many years…so I knew the characters inside and out… and knew how far
I could go in new directions without violating what made the show
special.  I also knew what I wanted to say, and what aspects of the characters I wanted  to examine, that I *couldn’t* get away with (for a variety of reasons) on the show. It wasn’t difficult for me to capture the voices of the characters because I’d already written
literally hundreds of stories with them before.

On this new series of books, if the deal closes today, I also have the advantage of having written for these characters before (having scripted several episodes of the show) but I don’t feel that they
are mine to anywhere near the same degree as the DM characters were. Also, unlike DM, this series is still in production and is a big hit, so I have to be careful not to step on anything they are doing or might reveal about the characters down the line. Luckily, I have a
great relationship with the showrunner, and his encouragement to try new things with the "franchise" and the characters. I already know the voice I’m going to use for  the book,
the point-of-view I’m going to take, which is already a big change from the TV series (and an approach the showrunner agrees with).

I’ll give you more details about the project once the deal is officially done, which will be today or tomorrow, since the deadline is brutal. I’m eager to take on the challenge… even if means writing a novel faster than I ever have before.

Our Trip – Day Three

by

P1010690Last night in Flagstaff, I wandered into Bookman’s and found a bunch of used Bill Crider and Robert Vaughan westerns in fine condition. Nothing makes a trip like finding good books. This morning we left Flagstaff around 9 (after a complimentary breakfast of biscuits and gravy at the Hampton Inn) and headed east for Albuquerque. Along the way,  we took a peek at the famous La Posada Hotel in Winslow AZ (a desolate, decaying, modern-day ghost town), made the obligatory photo-opportunity stop at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook (that’s my wife Valerie and my daughter Maddie in the photo, which you can click to enlarge) and toured the Petrified Forest National Park. We stopped for lunch at the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico and made it to  Albuquerque by 5:30 for a sunset stroll through Old Town, which was closed and deserted for Easter. Tomorrow,we’re planning on revisiting Old Town, taking the aerial tramway up to the snow and having dinner with my friends Aimee & David  Thurlo, authors of the Ella Clah novels.

Our Trip – Day Two

by

P1010663I’m on-the-road with my family, driving from L.A. to Santa Fe. Tonight, I’m writing to you from the lobby of Hampton Inn in Flagstaff, AZ.  Yesterday, we drove along a narrow, twisting, forgotten stretch of Route 66 through Oatman, an old mining town, where wild burros roam freely down the dusty main drag.  Here’s the weird thing:  a good chunk of the DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel I turned in last month takes place in Oatman and on that stretch of Route 66…which I described without ever having been there.  It turns out that what I "imagined" was pretty close to the reality. Who says you can’t just make things up? On the way out of Oatman, we visited a gold mine (my daughter loved it) and spent the evening in snowy Williams. This morning, we headed out to the Grand Canyon under cloudless, bright blue skies….then drove into Flagstaff on Hwy 189 through snow-covered woods. We had the road almost to ourselves and stopped along the way for a snowball fight.  Tomorrow, we set out for  Gallup,  NM with stops at the Petrified Forest and  the Meteor Crater. (Click on the photo for a larger image)

Dusty’s Trail

by

It’s amazing what you can find on DVD nowadays… you can own the complete series of DUSTY’S TRAIL, all 21 abysmal half-hour episodes of the 1973 syndicated sitcom starring Bob Denver, for just $10 ($4.99 for the 17 episode set plus $4.99 for a seperately released DVD with the first four episodes).Dustystrail 

DUSTY’S TRAIL was a frontier rip-off of GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, about a wagon train lost in the west.  Forrest Tucker took on the "Skipper" role while Denver basically played Gilligan all over again.  They even had a wealthy guy and his wife, a showgirl and.. well, you get the picture. Sherwood Schwartz, the creator/exec producer of GILLIGAN, was the comedic mastermind behind this one as well.

Being a TV geek, I can’t get over the idea that I can own an entire series, even a crappy one, for ten bucks.  The mind boggles at what other complete packages of short-lived, obscure series might show up on DVD.

Already I own on DVD the complete series of NERO WOLFE,  the original STAR TREK, the British series COUPLING and KAVANAGH QC… as well as seasons of ALL IN THE FAMILY, GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, CRIME STORY, THE SHIELD, UFO, NIP/TUCK, SEINFELD,  MARY TYLER MOORE, SPACE 1999,  ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, SOPRANOS, DEADWOOD,  BOOMTOWN, I SPY,  MONK, SLIDERS,  COLUMBO, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, and MAGNUM PI. Granted, those shows cost more than $10, but still… I own them. For a guy who has every TV Guide that’s come into his hands since 1970, this is a big deal.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go light some candles and kneel in front of my poster of Heather Locklear.

At Least One Guy is Reading POD Books

by

I found a blog dedicated to reviewing vanity press novels. That’s right, all that PublishAmerica, iUniverse, POD stuff.  And no, some cruel Judge didn’t order him to do it as "community service" to work off an indecent exposure conviction. So how can he endure it?

I expect nothing. And, in fact, I get
nothing the far majority of the time. But every now and then I stumble
across a winner, a book so compelling and well-written that I feel the
need to immediately call my friends and share. And the fruit, my
friends, is that much sweeter.

Road Trip

by

Things may be very slow here next week… on Friday, my wife and daughter and I are heading out on our first family roadtrip, driving from LA to Santa Fe and back… stopping at the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and who-knows-where. If I may post some dispatches from the road otherwise, if I survive, you’ll find me back here around April 4th.

Gunsmoke Novel

by

Gunsmokebook_I devoured Joseph West’s new GUNSMOKE tie-in today. It wasn’t just
a great TV tie-in…it was a great western that stood tall on its own. Not only did
West capture the characters and tone of the series perfectly, he went much
deeper, adding vivid details about life in Dodge and the politics of the job. There was
also some wonderful prose… particularly when it came to describing the
landscape and frontier life.  If you’re a fan of the series (as I am), or are just a-itchin’ for a good read, grab yerself a copy of this rip-snortin’ tale lickety split (aren’t you glad I’m not writing westerns?)

Writing for Dummies

by

This book has been out for a while, but I stumbled across it for the first time today while visiting

Romance_for_dummies

the blog Rubis Bleu.  Who knew writing romance was so easy? I’m starting mine today.  (Speaking of which, am I the only one for whom the phrase  "her heaving breasts" conjures images of breasts vomiting or throwing themselves overboard?)

Speaking of Rubis Blue, she posts an example of the kind of email an attentive man ought to leave his lover "the morning after."  To start with, just the notion of sending your lover a morning after email made me feel old. Email didn’t exist when I was dating. And if it did, it would have struck me as an awfully impersonal way of saying how special the previous night had been. Even so…on to her example:

"…and you make those incredibly arousing
whimpering sounds as your body shakes. Then you kiss me hard with this
overflowing passion pressing yourself against me. Especially if I start
out by teasing your lips first, just barely grazing them, flicking them
with my tongue, watching your arms straining against my hand as I hold
you down. Your eyes with that hungry, burning look in them. I felt how
hard your nipples were and how your body trembled. I just wanted to see
you. To slowly pull all of your clothes off. Watch your chest rise and
fall. To feel your thighs, your smooth skin, all the way up. Bite the
insides of your legs while feeling your hips rising under my hand. You
are beautiful. You taste so soft, warm, and sweet. You have no idea how
much I wanted to take you."

I think if I left that note on my wife’s pillow, back in prehistoric times before she was my wife and email didn’t exist, I don’t think it would have aroused her or touched her. I think it would have made her laugh her ass off. 

Then again, maybe I will leave her a note like that. She loves it when I make her laugh.

UPDATE (3/23/05) Sarah Weinman unearthed this wonderful post on the blog "The Sum of Me" about how over-heated sex scenes in romance novels did little to prepare one avid reader for the pleasures, and disappointments, of "real" sex.

In romance novels, it’s not uncommon for the heroine – or hero,
even – to actually faint with pleasure. Like, without the aid of drugs.
Passed out cold because the orgasm was that good.

And then they IMMEDIATELY HAVE SEX AGAIN.

This, apparently, is how you can tell if it’s true love.

This
is also called "fiction" — and reality was a bit of a let-down for a
girl who gobbled up this stuff for years. I think my (rather hilarious)
reaction to the real deal can best be summed up as: "Holy SHIT is that
good stuff, hooo boy." And then a dawning realization and an overall
feeling of – "It IS great. . . but it’s only great? I mean –
plate tectonics never came into play. I’m still conscious. The
bedsheets are not reduced to ashes and no suns have gone supernova,
from what I can tell… are you sure we did it right?"

What Does a Writers Assistant Do?

by

That was the question posed on screenwriter John August’s lively blog today. He’s got a good answer, and so does his former assistant Rawson Thurber, who went on to write DODGEBALL.

It’ s a smart question to ask, since being a writer’s assistant is a good way to break into the business…which is probably why there is so much competition for the jobs (and why so many applicants are WAY over-qualified).  The pay is crap ($500-a-week), the hours are hell (9 am to as late as, well 9 am), and the work is menial (answering phones, running errands, typing scripts, printing revisions, organizing files, putting revision pages into scripts, etc.)… but the experience is priceless. You learn how a TV show works from the inside. You see how stories are broken. You read lots of scripts… not just the one that are written, and endlessly rewritten, for the show… but the specs that come in clamoring for the showrunner’s attention. You see how freelancers succeed… and how they fail. You see how the producers deal with writers, studio executives, network executives, managers, actors, and everybody else associated with making a show. You make lots of contacts…not just with the writer/producers on the show and the freelancers who come in but, if you are any good at what you do, with the network and studio executives who call the office 178 times a day. If you’re smart, you’ll also hang out with the editors, line producers, script supervisors, directors, assistant directors… hell, everyone… and learn whatever you can about production. A job as a writer’s assistant is a graduate school education in the television… and, in your down time (on the rare occasions when there is some), you can write.  And I know it works. Not only have a lot of showrunners I know started out as writers assistants, most of the our assistants have gone on to become professional screenwriters themselves… one even became a development executive (though I lost track of her years ago).

Who is the Tall Dark Stranger There?

by

Maverick_logEd Gorman has been pondering, and remembering,  my friend writer/producer Roy Huggins,  creator of such classic TV series as MAVERICK, THE FUGITIVE, 77 SUNSET STRIP and (with Steve Cannell) THE ROCKFORD FILES. I contributed a few memories of my own experiences with Roy to Ed’s blog, as well as a short piece on MAVERICK. If you’re interested in a little TV history, you might want to mosey over there to Ed’s blog and check out the posts.