#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
It seems like everybody is apologizing lately for not keeping up their blogs. Author Duane Swierczynski, for instance, blames the book he’s working on and Tess Gerritsen blames the beautiful Maine weather. Me, I’m just brain dead. I finished my 8th DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel last week and it feels lke my brain has been wrung … Read more
I returned from Cologne late last night. It was a great experience working with the German writer/producers and it looks like I may be going back soon to continue what I started. On the 7 1/2 hour flight from Dusseldorf to LA, I worked for a bit on DM #8, which is due this week, … Read more
I don’t usually rave about products on this blog, but I can’t contain my enthusiasm for this nifty new gadget that we bought our daughter for her birthday. It’s the Pure Digital Point-and-Shoot Video Camcorder. It’s the size of an iPod and every bit as simple and ingenious. You just point and shoot. It’s that … Read more
I’m a TV writer/producer and a novelist. I don’t buy scripts, finance movies, publish books, or take on apprentices. And I’m not a celebrity. Even so, every day I get emails from strangers asking me to buy their scripts, read their scripts, plug their blogs, blurb their books, or take them on as apprentices. I … Read more
A reader posed this question to me in an email: I read your comments about Publish America, and so I thought I would write and ask what publishers you would recommend for an aspiring writer trying to get their first short novel published? Reputable ones. It’s a simple as that. Publish America isn’t one of … Read more
For some reason, Fridays is the day I seem to get the most blog-related email. Here’s one from Kelly Cyr: I read through your blog and find you extremely negative and cynical. You also hold yourself well above the rest of us writers. Maybe you should find another line of work. I don’t think writing … Read more
So my 11-year-old daughter gets home from her "Human Growth and Development" class at school and has some questions about sex. "Why does a man’s thingie have to get so big?" she asked. "So he can get his sperm inside of a woman and fertilize the egg," I said. "Couldn’t he just mail it to … Read more
I got this email today: I am just beginning my venture into the world of television. More specifically, I am trying to find out how to go about presenting my idea for a television series. I think it’s a terrific idea and have mentioned it to several friends, co-workers, and family members for feedback. They … Read more
I understand what it’s like to dream of being a writer. I understand how hard it is to achieve that dream. I understand how difficult it is to remain in print. I understand it because I’ve lived it. What I don’t understand is why some writers delight in deluding themselves — even when they know … Read more
I’ve written here before about the unethically close relationship between Writer’s Digest and it’s vanity press advertisers. Now whatever blurry line there might have been between the magazine and the vanity press industry has been completely erased. The transformation of WD into a shill for the vanity press industry is complete. I got this email … Read more