Why is this Blog Different than All Other Blogs

I've been blog surfing today, the only kind of surfing I'll ever do, despite living in the Beach Boy state. And I must say, I'm appalled at how much of a slacker I've become when it comes to this BLOG thing.

I have friends, like Ingrid Sundberg, whose blogs are so informative and consistent, she should get paid for being such a valuable resource. Other YA blogs are amusing and entertaining, Heather Kelly's blog "Edited Within an Inch of My Life" made me laugh in title alone. Her report on the latest NESCBWI conference aftermath was quite amusing.

And by the way, I also think Sarah Davies rocks. I've seen her speak at a few SCBWI conferences in NY and LA, and would also love to have her give me notes with that perfectly proper British accent. I imagine it the sort of comfort akin to Julie Andrews advising a spoonful of sugar in times of distress.

I read Ms. Davies' blog regularly, and not just because I aim to send her my YA book when I'm done. Perhaps it's because I feel a kinship; after all, my precious daughter is also a "Sarah," I'm one of the few Americans who enjoy a good cup of tea and a scone slathered with lemon curd; not to mention what a huge fan of BBC serial dramas I am. MI5, Wire in the Blood, Being Human, Torchwood, Primevil, Dr. Who, Ballykissangel, Monarch of the Glen, Ashes to Ashes, Abfab -- need I go on?

Sarah, it's obvious we should talk, or at least email.

Also, one of my regular author blog haunts is Lisa Yee of "Absolutely Maybe" fame, and her fabulous "What's Peep up to Now?" pictures. Today she has her dog in lieu of Peep, but I figure everyone needs to shake things up once in a while.

I noticed everyone's extraordinarily helpful and kind in the YA field -- though I confess, I do miss the days of Miss Snark, who always made me laugh with her crap-o-meter and comments like "you send me something like that and I'll need to set my hair on fire with lighter fluid."

Oh sure, Hollywoodland blogs still have plenty of snarkiness. And from time to time, I get a kick out of checking out The Hollywood Temp Diaries, after spending my twenties working as a super star writer's assistant slave, getting coffee cups chucked at my head and being told how many other folks were dying to do my job for free (Memories, like the corners of my mind.)

But YA is a very kumbaya crowd.

Don't get me wrong, I greatly appreciate the time, effort and warm fuzzies I receive from these blogs. They're helpful, inspiring and there's oodles of them. I could spend all day reading these come hither words of what's hot, what's not, what to put in a query letter, when to write a query letter, how to approach a publisher, how to not piss off a publisher, how to be patient. In fact, I DID spend all day reading these blogs.

Only problem is, I kinda need to write. Even writing this blog is yet another excuse not to get going with those promised pages. Which leads me to the self realization about what this blog really should be about, if its to be a true reflection of the author.

So instead of telling you how to write, what to write, how I write, why I write, what I'm writing, etc. etc. I shall instead enthrall you, gentle reader, with my amazing, astounding suggestions and realizations upon the best ways NOT to write. That's right, I'm going to tell you the best ways to procrastinate and keep from writing.

For today's entry, let's say reading others blogs can be a truly fine way to spend the day and NOT get one single word written. You can walk away with the feeling that you've taken care of your writerly needs by doing all this fabulous research for what to do when you've finished your book/screenplay/graphic novel/autobiographical tomb.

Stay tuned for more fabulous, unique and fascinating ways NOT to get your writing done. And, if you have suggestions that you think are worthy of these pages, please post. I'd be honored to know that I was the one who encouraged your deep seeded need to clean the bathroom floor grout.

Confessions of a Closet Anglophile

Okay, I have a feeling that all this time I've been an Anglophile and didn't know it. Sure there were signs through the years... various friends from England, good friends, close friends, friends who introduced me to the benefits of Twinning's English Breakfast Tea and Constant Comment, with milk and sugar... and then there was that British Canadian punk biker loser I briefly dated, but I think that had more to do with his motorcycle than the accent, though some things might work on a subconcious level. Then there's the self confessed "Dr. Who" fixation in my very early Elementary school formative years... Dr. Who, Fred Flintstone and the Jetsons, I was a strange kid.

And then, in high school... I somehow got my hands on AbFab... how could anyone not love AbFab, right? And authors? Love Martin Amis, Nick Hornby, Janet Winterson... love 'em.

But it's taken until now, when the rest of our shortened TV season has ended post haste, before the summer goodies like Rescue Me and Burn Notice come back to entertain us, to discover how much I really really love what they're doing on the BBC these days.

Torchwood. Have I talked about Torchwood lately? Love it. LOVE it. Top notch sci-fi writing, very good acting (which is key when you're playing people who shoot hokey looking monsters that look like they're Creature Feature castoffs... but honestly, it's not about the effects or the great make-up for me in these things... it's all about the story, and do I buy into this world... in Torchwood, totally). Now Torchwood is, no surprise, a spin-off from Dr. Who... but a Dr. Who I confess I never watched, this new Dr. Who doesn't quite cut it for me.... I'm a loyalist, old fashioned. But taken on it's own value, Torchwood is hot. And sexy. And where else can you get a flagrantly bi-sexual immortal Tom Cruise lookalike playing the lead... BBC, you naughty Brits, your repressed reputation is such an undeserved bad rap... this show makes American shows look like a buncha puritans, legalized gay marriage aside. I mean Will and Grace, totally tame compared to some of the smoochy sex scenes and risque banter going about in this show...But the main thing is, like I said, really good sci fi stories, great premise, love it.

But it's not just sci fi that I love with the Brits lately... I then got hooked on Wire in the Blood... great show... about a psychologist who gets in the midns of serial killers so he can help the police catch 'em... excellent writing and Robin Green is awesome. Very addictive TV.

After I watched every one of those, I tapped back into the ol' Blockbuster Online queue and checked out MI-5. MI-5 has totally taken my breath away. I'm at the end of the second season in my DVD viewing and am so thrilled to see I've got 3 more seasons to go to catch up on (mind you, I don't get BBC America from my cable company... I tried to get them to buy into it, but they're not biting). MI-5 is just the piece de la resistence, I think. Why don't we have anything like it here? It's a mix of James Bond, Mission Impossible and the Mod Squad... but all done in a very modern day crisis, post 9-11 mentality which makes it fresh, and refreshing.... vital.. .and nothing like anyhthing I've seen here. I know they've tried to do CIA stuff but it's just missed the mark in making a good ensemble cast with good chemistry and very human, personable stories that we really care about. It's like the Grey's Anatomy of Spydom, or Spookdom as they call themselves "Spooks" after all. Everything's a crisis that's really worth freaking out over and the results are NOT that predictable... After the first season, I thought for sure they killed off some majorly sympathetic characters. Tears were shed. Thank God I could immediately have that all rectified by the beginning of the second season... I could never have waited months to find out what happened.

Anyway... what's next that I'm missing? East Enders? I'm not a soap fan but it seems there's no genre they're doing at the BBC world that I'm not liking. Come to think of it, I did used to really love Ballykissangel and Monarch of the Glenn... so this BBC fixation isn't new but... well, those things were more Scottish after all.. not sure if it fits the Anglophile profile, even if it was done by the BBC.

I know I'm not the only one, in any case. David E. Kelly's bought the rights to Life on Mars (which I've never seen, but sure I'd love) and is bringing it to "the states" this fall.

Now if only someone would pick up MI5, Torchwood and Wire in the Blood... Nah, why bother. The originals are great and still on the air... I'll just brew myself a nice cupa tea and get some bisquits and curl up with the DVD collections when they come out. That'll at least hold me until September.

Oh and yeah, we all know I'm supposed to be working on my next script, writing... which I am doing. It's a drama... by the way. And I'm also working on a Kyle XY spec script... really. But they put off the deadline off until July 31 for the Disney Fellowships so... why write today what you can write tomorrow... right?

Until next time... ciao, uhm cheery oh... oh Bollocks! Just take care of yourself, have some fun, wear sunscreen!

Bluesy

Here's a really funny BBC parody of Torchwood.





PS. You can order your own DVD collection of Torchwood, MI5, Wire in the Blood and more from this link.




Also, the latest season of MI5 (season 6) which hasn't been on BBC america is available in January from this link. I know that I'll be pre-ordering mine now.

Pre-order Hot Upcoming Releases Now at BBC America Shop!

Mr. Dark Shadows

A word about Dan Curtis... just a word, because I'm in the middle of actually writing my script and no doubt this bit of procrastination will take me off my game for a while... but I was researching something to do with my screenplay on Wikipedia and came across the name "Dan Curtis" ... a name that I cannot see without taking pause. Giving thanks. And so, I must here on this blog that nobody reads, will read -- must in print give my thanks to someone who really changed my life for the better and whom I owe big time... a debt that I will never be able to repay now that he's dead. Still, I must say a word about Dan Curtis.

I met Dan as a kid, a very young kid just out of college. I remember my interview with him... I was sent by a temp agency that specialized in Hollywood gigs to work as a writer's assistant. I was warned by the woman who sent me out that Mr. Curtis had a bit of a reputation, and did I think I could handle it. What was his rep? "I've sent over 7 girls there so far and they've all either been fired or quit... the last three were in tears." Apparently, Dan had a reputation for making the girls cry.

Then I met Dan... and out of fairness, I can see and believe that Dan probably did make the girls cry... but Dan was very misunderstood... first off, he didn't talk, he barked. He yelled too.. but it wasn't out of anger, it was just the way Dan communicated... dan was very passionate about everything, and okay a bit grumpy... but Dan was NOT a mean person, not a bad guy at all... in fact, once I got to know him, I must admit that Dan Curtis probably became more of a role model as a writer... if I ever were to have a real mentor in Hollywood, it was Dan. He gave me a chance to experience everything in making a feature film (and a TV miniseries too... people forget, Dan Curtis was a totally split personality guy who could do both serious vampire horror stuff, like create Dark Shadows, and the Night Stalker and produce all those Dracula, horror flicks for years and years... but also he gave us The Winds of War, War and Rememberance, Intruders... lots of stuff... he was the king of vampire flicks on TV and the miniseries). Dan was a generous guy. He gave to charity, lots. He gave people chances, lots of actors that others would not bank on, would not give chances to... and you know who you are... they owe Dan big time. He talked tough, very tough and he cursed like a sailor, that's for sure... I've never seen anyone curse the way Dan did (remember what David Letterman said about him when Dan was on the show about the Winds of War... about him "poneying up the money"... we used to laugh about that one, because Letterman so had the Dan inflection spot on, minus the cursing, of course). He was smart, he knew story, knew people... knew what moved them and what turned them off and he put all of that into his scripts, his films, his work. I'm sure there are many out there who could tell their stories of Dan, probably many have. But this is just little ole' me's take on how he changed my life for the better.

I was hired that day as a writer's assistant, a temp... within a day, Dan was handing me scripts and asking me what I thought about them... and after that, he wanted to know what I would do to fix then... pretty soon Dan and I wrote together... no, I never got that elusive writing credit on a produced film... but I wrote a lot with Dan, we did lots of horror stuff... rewrote Jekyl and Hyde... a great version, if I do say so myself (though he never wanted to do any vampire stuff, isn't that funny). I wrote with the Trilogy of Terror Zuni fetish doll on my desk... the same doll that honestly scared the crap out of my as a kid when I watched late night TV a rerun of that film... I don't think there's been any film then or since that scared me as much as that damned doll... so of course I insisted it sit on my desk to "inspire" me).

There's tons of things I could say about Dan, all those stories he told me... how he let me watch movies be scored (that was a real thrill), how he let me watch the editing process and how he trusted me to be the one to see and comment on the dailies to the film we were working on... I was just a kid, barely out of my teens and to have such responsibility, to have someone like him trust me so much... it really gave me confidence and helped me mature and grow as a writer, a filmmaker, a person. For that I will forever be grateful to Dan Curtis... Mr. Dan Curtis.

One of my greatest regrets is that I never got to say goodbye to Dan, to see him before he died, to comfort him when his beloved Norma died. My mom got sick and things happened and well, I had to be in CT to take care of her and I'm very glad I did... very glad indeed. But when I heard that Dan died... when I read it online, in the newspaper (it barely got a blurb in the Connecticut papers and dammit, Dan Curtis was FROM Connecticut... Bridgeport, actually)... it hurts greatly... I don't know if he ever realized how grateful I was to him for being the person to encourage me to write movies... to inspire me... to give me the confidence that yes, I was good and I could do this and do this well... dan was always so sure I would make it in this business, he told me so many times over tuna fish sandwiches in the commisary (we both loved those damned tuna sandwiches... we could've eaten anything but no, it was always the same... creatures of habit the both of us)... and how he loved to sit outside and have a parade of famous actors pass by and give their thanks go him, their regards... it was like sitting with the Godfather sometimes... the stories I would hear. Dan Curtis touched so many people's lives in Hollywood and so many people's lives in the world with his stories and vision... and heart... such a great heart and passion to tell a good story...

It's no wonder I'm finally writing a vampire movie (and graphic novel) now is it. I'm sure Dan influenced me... sure there's a bit of his vision that permeated through my brain and is now coming out on the page. So often Hollywood and the Vampire thing are used as metaphores. I mean, it's no coincidence that every damned vampire movie or tv show is set in Los Angeles since the dawn of time (except for Dark Shadows... collinwood and LA had nothing in common, good for Dan, always the original). Well, if Hollywood and it's people are like vampires that are supposed to suck you dry, I am living proof that can tell you that it can also be a badly needed transfusion, that will nourish you to life.

And to Dan, I can honestly say, the thought of going to LA and not being able to see you and say Hi, is the first time you've made me cry.

--bluesy

New Year 2008 on the horizon and I'm hard at work on a new screenplay, a feature film, sci-fi (my favorite genre) of which I don't want to say anything about, for fear of giving it the well known kineahorah. It's got supernatural stuff in it and was no doubt influenced by all the Joss Whedon stuff I've been watching lately on DVD (especially "Angel"... Love Angel... killer series, awesome TV... yes, I know that's not just because of JW but all of the great writers they had on staff, Marti Noxon, Jane Espenson, David Greenwalt, Tim Minear... but the man's got vision, a great sense of character and story... and apparently he and I have watched all the same stuff growing up because I admit a secret thrill when I see a redo of a classic episode of the Outer Limits (like the one where a woman's getting plastic surgery by disfigured monkeys so she can be "pretty" like them... gotta love that Gru homage) and get all the in jokes (to serve man, it's a menu!).

My script's also influenced by Joseph Campbell (well, at least I hope so, I mean, I personally feel influenced by the man, so he must've rubbed off). Funny, I was always told to read Campbell in film school and, I confess, always blew off in the past as in "I don't need no stinkin' campbell." Boy was I an idiot. Joseph Campbell was one of the smartest, most influential dissectors of dramatic story structure that ever lived (well, maybe aside from Aristotle). Needless to say, I am very hip on Campbell these days and sure the script will show it, hopefully in a cool, non-didactic way. If you could cross the structure of Campbell with the dialogue of some of the Tracy/Hepburn films... the looks of Cary Grant... and like put it in space... imagine what a killer script you'd have.

I've also been writing the script as a graphic novel, though I think it makes more sense for now to complete it as a screenplay, then write it as a GN. The mediums are both very similar and completely different. Still, I've always wanted to write a graphic novel... I'm totally enamoured with the good ones. Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series is still the king of them, as far as I'm concerned, though I've recently read some cool ones like Ex Machina, Lucifer, and checked out the Buffy and Angel ones, which are pretty good.

I've also been working on a spec script -- a "Bones" spec script... another show I never watched before the writer's guild strike (sad that so many friends and wonderful creative people are worried about losing their homes and I'm revelling in lost tv series offerings). Anyway, I picked up the first season DVD set and got addicted so much that I had to watch all three seasons to see what happened (funny because the reason I checked it out in the first place was because I'd just finished re-watching every episode of "Angel" for like the third time and was interested to see what David Boreanaz was up to... and while Bones probably has more in common with "House" or those CSI/detective shows than "Angel"... well, actually it has nothing at all to do with "Angel"... it just goes to show that David B's a diverse and talented actor. Cool that he can move from playing an iconic larger than life vampire hero to a Catholic ex-sniper FBI guy smitten with a girl who's super smart and can do a drop kick even better than he can at the blink of an eye... hmmm, come to think of it maybe there are similarities, albeit if Angel were human and channeling James Garner from "The Rockford Files").

Anyway, Bones has definitely grown on me. Love the lead female character, Temperence Brennan... I'm a very big fan of brainy girls who can kick butt, but have no interpersonal skills (maybe Temperence is an Aspie?). And I've got a killer storyline for it (pun intended). So, I started outlining the script for that show and will probably write the teleplay as soon as I've got a rough draft of my feature script completed. (Am I the only writer who can work on two completely different stories at the same time? Am I the only ADD writer who can work on two completely different stories at the same time? I think not. Not if I don't need to sleep, that is. Sleep is totally overrated.)

So... that's what I've been up to, all two of you who are reading this (whomever you are).

Oh, I also watched the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica, the miniseries again... as awesome a piece of storytelling as it was 3 years ago when I first saw it. I've seen every episode of the show from the beginning; that and Lost, House, Heroes, Dexter, Weeds, Nip Tuck, The 4400, Californication, Pushing Daisies, Rescue Me... amongst others... let's face it, I'm a pathetic TV addict... there is no hope for me... just think, if it weren't for the writer's strike, I probably wouldn't have had time to add these box set series to my repertoire. And now that I signed up for Hulu, I'm totally gonna be media saturated.

I'm still waiting to see the DVD of "The Namesake" which I've had in the house for a month now, waiting on top of my DVD player for me to pop it in. I think deep down I'm afraid to watch it because I adored the book so much and I'm never happy after I see a movie based on a book I absolutely loved. I'll probably keep the Kiterunner on standby for months as well when that one comes out on DVD... I haven't rushed to the theatre to see it and won't... I wonder if there's a word for this sort of adaption-phobia. It's similar to remakes of classic french films that have been Americanized... I often fear those as well. Must have been all that time I spent in the Berkeley film archives. A film snob who's addicted to TV, hmm, is that a paradox?

And the music I've been writing by these days... very eclectic.
lots of Elvis Costello, classic David Bowie, Rolling Stones, John Coltrane, the new Alicia Keyes, Amy Winehouse's "Frank", classic Chicago blues, Aimee Mann, Bob Dylan... what a weird mix. In any case, 2008 is certain to be a unique, productive and exciting new year.

Bluesy