Christmas Stuff

Now that the Christmas stuff is starting off, it's almost impossible to get anyone to do anything so I'm just doing one more pass of the new book I wrote. This will be my third book,

the first one was Emperor of Mars, which is based on a true-life event set in my childhood in a small town in Canada.

The screenplay was written in 1989 and has been optioned six times and never made. It came the closest in 2011 with me attached as directed. But the financing fell through because one investor wanted a bigger return than anyone else. 

So, two years ago I wrote a novel based on the screenplay and it had a favorable response in Canada and is still selling a few books now and then.

The second book was The Working Writer's Screenplay, which is a beginner's guide to

screenwriting and based on my UCLA extension screenwriting classes. It does reasonably well on Amazon.

And finally the new book, to be published in 2015, and called How To Not Get Beat-Up In A Small-Town Bar. The title refers to one story in this collection of twenty short stories based on my travels in the western part of the U.S. and Canada.

And then there's the screenplays out there.

One producer is looking at a Christmas screenplay called Christmas Carole and another screenplay of mine called Chase, and which will be made in France in 2015.

Another deal of sorts is with a producer I've known for a long time and he asked for a handful of ideas for Hallmark who produce Christmas movies but now are branching out to other genres.

And of course, it can all fall through. I don't count a screenplay is made when I get the check and it passes at the bank.

I'm planning on writing at least two screenplays in 2015 and a series pilot about two women who inherited a failing private-eye business run by the husband of both, at different times.

So life goes on and who knows what 2015 will bring, besides climate change.