August 31, 2016
I can’t think of a better way to end the summer than with this guest blog by Flipped author Wendelin Van Draanen. Hers is a true […]
August 24, 2016
It was a kid’s birthday party. Only showbiz style. The catered event was at a popular power couple’s house. But for a few non-pros in attendance […]
August 17, 2016
What an asshole! He just shorthanded me! How’s this? What did he just do? Let me explain. Shorthanding is the oft-maddening Hollywood reduction of your effort […]
June 15, 2016
Picture this. Five uniformed Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies and yours truly seated around a pair of small tables at a Lebanese joint in a Compton […]
June 8, 2016
Get ready to be angry. Hurt. Crushed at the thought. It’s time for a little reality check. Wait. Little? Okay. This is a big one. But […]
June 1, 2016
I’ve just returned from my umpteenth screenwriting conference and, once again, I was asked this question: “How do you write compelling action?” To which I usually […]
May 25, 2016
Okay, ladies (and maybe some of you men). Get ready to start your anger engines with this annoying tidbit of writer reality. I’m about to describe […]
May 18, 2016
A girl friend of mine had been clothes shopping at a Ventura Boulevard boutique when she heard a woman screech: “Do you know who I am?” […]
May 11, 2016
After the very recent and tragic loss of Prince, I was moved by a powerful Facebook post penned by my friend and neighbor Annie Guidice. In […]
May 4, 2016
Yeah. This post is about lousy dialogue. You know it when you hear it, see it, read it, sound it out on your own tongue, and […]
April 27, 2016
Though I write from the love of what I’m writing—be it book, blog, or movie—it’s always with a slightly heavy load. And that would be the […]
April 20, 2016
“I’m in!” I said with unreserved relish. “Can’t wait to start.” What I was so damned excited about was—of course—an opportunity to write something that was, […]
April 13, 2016
After flying some six-thousand miles and going thirty-six hours without a lick of sleep, I’d just told famed con man, Christophe Rocancourt, that he was full […]
April 6, 2016
All grinning aside, a stare down from famed con man, Christophe Rocancourt, was nothing short of unpleasant. (For more context, read Con Job, Part 1 and […]
March 30, 2016
After all my research, including a week with Christophe Rocancourt in Paris, I’d learned only one thing for absolute certainty; the con man maintained a tenuous […]
March 23, 2016
My adored French friend and film director (with whom I was developing a French film about famed French con man, Christophe Rocancourt) was asking me to […]
March 16, 2016
Who doesn’t love a bad guy? At least a good bad guy. And by good, I mean really bad. But not necessarily bad in an outright […]
March 9, 2016
“There’s a new draft in of Die Hard 2,” lamented producer Lloyd Levin over the phone. “Really?” I replied. “That was fast.” “De Souza is that […]
March 2, 2016
There’s a producer who recently began tweeting under the name @femscriptintros. His or her posts consist of the descriptive introductions of lead female characters in the […]
February 24, 2016
I’m not being lazy this week. I just thought for a change of pace I’d class up the joint and serve a guest blog from good […]
February 17, 2016
It’s all flooding back. Not for me alone. But for the entire nation and beyond as FX gives us another weekly hour of the very excellent […]
February 10, 2016
This is a love letter to a thing called pace. Believing in it. Letting it be your guide. I’m talking about having a flat-out affair with […]
January 27, 2016
Warning: The following blog post contains both porn actresses and golf. If either porn actresses or golf offends you, I strongly suggest you stop reading now. […]
January 27, 2016
Again, this disclaimer. This post contains porn actresses and golf. Be warned. If either offends you, turn back now. We’d played the charity golf tourney, scored […]
January 20, 2016
First of all, let’s start this one by getting your mind out of the gutter. We have four fingers and only one of them is reserved […]
January 18, 2016
In retrospect, it might’ve been the slightest official revision I’d ever penned: a single line of dialogue accompanied by a line of action containing a […]
January 7, 2016
In the spirit of New Years, I thought I’d share this “only in Hollywood” moment. Firstly, I’m not a big fan of New Year’s partying. […]
December 16, 2015
Okay. So it doesn’t require a season for the easily offended to be, well, you know. They’re out there, feelings fully exposed like hot electrical wires […]
December 9, 2015
“I got so friggin’ tired of trying to climb the hill,” claimed the preschool dad. “But it’s such a who-you-know business. Without the connections, guys […]
December 2, 2015
I was still outside those unscalable gates. Pushing my mostly unread screenplays up that very steep hill called a future movie career. I was mere millimeters […]
November 18, 2015
It was one of those lunch meetings. Less business and more of a casual catch-up. The producer, a fellow I’ll call Shep, had picked an Italian […]
November 11, 2015
For ten years, she’d stuff the manila envelopes, address them to agents or publishers, plaster them with postage, then step outside the door of the four-hundred-square-foot […]
November 4, 2015
As an artist, I both understand and live with an age-old axiom. My natural highs will be higher and more thrilling than most. As well, my […]
October 28, 2015
Last week it was announced that a sixth installment of the Die Hard series was in development. I discovered this factoid by both reading about it […]
October 21, 2015
I’ve done pallet-loads of interviews. As a general rule, they’re useful for promoting my books and the blog. The hardest part is making the answers to […]
October 14, 2015
I was trying to keep from getting fired. Now, this was obviously before I discovered my full magical powers. Otherwise, I would’ve just waved a wand […]
October 7, 2015
“You mind if I ask you something?” asked the middle-aged man. Uninvited, he had already lowered himself into the seat across from me. Before I could […]
September 30, 2015
“Hello?” I said answering the “unknown number” on my cell phone. “Hi, it’s Kelly from the Writer’s Guild Credits Department,” said the perky voice. “I’m calling […]
September 23, 2015
INT. A MULTI-TIERED CLASSROOM – CENTRAL COAST WRITER’S CONFERENCE – SAN LUIS OBISPO – DAY Here’s the scene. I was standing before a classroom theater […]
September 16, 2015
Here’s an amusing time killer. As well it’s educational. Let’s call it a self-teaching moment. It happens sometimes when I’m connecting with an old pal who […]
September 9, 2015
Three-plus weeks into the release of my newest thriller 99 PERCENT KILL and I’m gobsmacked by two unexpected results: One. The reader reviews have been both […]
September 2, 2015
I’m taking the week off. So here’s a tale of ups and downs and all arounds from The War Department: Unlike my husband, I didn’t know […]
August 26, 2015
With the launch of 99 PERCENT KILL, I’ve been doing a fair amount of promotion. This has included a number of interviews. And I might say […]
August 19, 2015
I never planned to become a purveyor of LA Noir. Sure, there was an undertow in some of my unproduced scripts. But mostly, in my movies […]
August 12, 2015
There are some landmark moments writers wish for, wait for, and forever remember once they’ve materialized. Some of mine are as follows: The first time I […]
August 5, 2015
“Bring me a franchise character,” urged my book agent. “Someone you can pin a series on.” I’d just published my first novel. I had a zillion […]
July 29, 2015
It was as if the air inside that unmarked radio car had been atmospherically electrified. Not unlike those few warning seconds described by victims of lightning […]
July 22, 2015
It’s been a few years since that (gratefully) unfateful night we stumbled into an almost shootout at the New Wilmington Gardens in Compton. I thought I […]