So... I've been working on this novel called FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER for several months. I got sidetracked by DEMON for a while, but I've been back on the novel for a few weeks, cracking along, passed the 200-page mark.
But something's wiggling around in my gut. My instinct's telling me something's not quite right -- the structure needs to be tighter, the themes sharper.
In the past, I've tried to ignore my gut, and I've been wrong every time. This is only my third novel. I should pay attention.
What I'm gonna do is re-read what's there with an editor's eye. It might just be a matter of shortening act one or moving up a couple of scenes. Then again, I may end up taking the entire engine apart on the garage floor before I figure out what's making that weird ticking sound, if you get my drift. We'll see.
Meanwhile, I've been bedeviled by a couple of ideas I like for specs. One's a kinda action-romcom a la MR. & MRS. SMITH, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed. To work, it would have to hit a very specific tone.
And it's slightly uncharted water: in all my scripts, I've only written one romcom, and that was The Angry Waiter in 1998. What a piece of shit, it'll never see the light of day. Romcom is a tough genre for me because my heart is a black and twisted thing. I think I could make it work if I keep the action to the forefront and the tone light -- jokes I can do.
But I haven't settled on anything yet... there are other ideas. The only real mandate is to keep writing commercial, keep pushing myself to get better, and keep writing.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Finally, Someone Made a Real Movie
Now, all we need is Danny Trejo in Machete, and we'll be in bidness.
Monday, June 16, 2008
More Howard
Del Ray's putting out a series of "Best of Robert E. Howard" books. I picked up the first one, Crimson Shadows. It's awesome.
It's like a sampler platter of Howard characters: Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, Conan (natch), etc. They threw in a Sailor Steve Costigan story. It was good, though I'd already read that one -- last year I scored Fight Stories, a collection of Costigan stories and a few boxing one-offs. If you've only read the Conan stories, you might not know that Howard could be really funny. The Costigan stories are too much fun, just really over-the-top, boisterous, rollicking adventures. Love 'em.
Besides the Costigan story I'd already read, the two Bran Mak Morn stories had been printed in the collection they put out last year, and the Solomon Kane story was a reprint from his collection, as well. I read 'em anyway, but I was starting to worry I'd picked up a best-of when I already owned all the albums, so to speak.
I was wrong. Now... I'm not a Howard scholar or anything, but I've been actively pursuing this guy's work for two-thirds of my life, and I can say I've read a lot of Howard. And Crimson Shadows had a lot of stuff I'd never seen before.
The book has stories featuring El Borak, Steve Harrison and Breckinridge Elkins, three characters I'd heard about, but had never been able to track down. El Borak is an American Old West gunfighter who travels to Afghanistan and embroils himself in their endless tribal warfare. Breckinridge is a big, goofy cowboy who isn't too bright and doesn't know his own strength. It was a funny story, I laughed out loud. And it was cool to read a Western by Howard. I think a lot of his stories are basically just Westerns dressed up in different clothing. I don't have a problem with that, of course, but I do like reading Howard working in the genre, unadorned. Steve Harrison is a detective who works in Chinatown. It's straight-up, two-fisted pulp.
And this fucking floored me -- the collection includes a Conan story I'd never read! The People of the Black Circle. Awesome. It's Conan hanging out with the "Afghulies," which are just slightly-renamed Afghans. It was odd reading this one back-to-back with the El Borak story, like Howard got on an Afghanistan kick for a while. It's a great story, tons of action, lots of bastards getting skewered by tulwars. But it's also dark and creepy... it reminded me of Tower of the Elephant in that sense. It has a lot of standard Howard stuff -- a character is sent back in time to witness all of her prior "selves," there's a giant snake, etc.
As a bonus, the other Conan story included is Beyond the Black River, which is my current fave Conan tale. For a long time it was Red Nails. But I just love the idea of Conan going on a suicide mission with a dirty-dozen crew. And it's a story from later in Conan's life, after he's done a lot of traveling. There's a character who acts as kind of a sidekick throughout, and he's constantly surprised by the knowledge Conan throws out. Finally, he's like: "Dude, you're this barbarian from the hills, how do you know all this stuff?" And Conan's reponse is along the lines of: "I've done some shit." (I'm paraphrasing).
There's a one-off called The Valley of the Worm that's about a Viking named Niord who goes up against a Great Old One! The conceit is this is the core tale that spawned all the other dragon-slayer myths. This tribe of Vikings settles in a valley. The local tribes are like... that's not a good idea. But they're Vikings, they don't care. Niord is laid up after getting into a fight with a saber-toothed tiger. When he recovers, he decides to visit his friends in the valley and see how they're doing. Whaddaya know? Everyone's dead, the village destroyed. A buddy of his from the Picts tells him it's the work of the "worm" that lives in an ancient temple.
This basic set-up has a lot in common with Lovecraft. The two corresponded, and you can find a lot of Lovecraftian elements sprinkled throughout Howard's writing. There's even a creature that summons the Old One with piping that "induces madness."
But here's the difference. In a Lovecraft story, the protagonist would be driven insane by the mind-blasting knowledge that we're not alone in the chaos, etc. In Howard's version, the Viking hunts down a giant snake, cuts off its head, dips arrows in the venom, goes back to the ancient temple and kicks the shit outta the Old One. Even when the thing's trashing around in its death-throes from the poison, Niord starts weeping man-tears because he's too wounded to hack at it with his sword. It's good as dead, but Niord still wants to seal the deal with an extra-special fuck-you steel enema.
And that, my friends, is the core of why I love these stories so much. Too many people in this world face their troubles like Lovecraft -- they think there's nothing they can do, give up, get depressed and do nothing.
But there's always another way to go -- Howard's way. My way. For a variety of reasons, it's absolutely ludicrous that I should be working as a producer in the film industry. And I just kinda am. I made up my mind to put on my boots and kick Hollywood in the ass. I'm not a rock star yet, but every day I get one step closer... I understand it's a journey, and that's fine. It took Conan a long time before he could wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow.
It's like a sampler platter of Howard characters: Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, Conan (natch), etc. They threw in a Sailor Steve Costigan story. It was good, though I'd already read that one -- last year I scored Fight Stories, a collection of Costigan stories and a few boxing one-offs. If you've only read the Conan stories, you might not know that Howard could be really funny. The Costigan stories are too much fun, just really over-the-top, boisterous, rollicking adventures. Love 'em.
Besides the Costigan story I'd already read, the two Bran Mak Morn stories had been printed in the collection they put out last year, and the Solomon Kane story was a reprint from his collection, as well. I read 'em anyway, but I was starting to worry I'd picked up a best-of when I already owned all the albums, so to speak.
I was wrong. Now... I'm not a Howard scholar or anything, but I've been actively pursuing this guy's work for two-thirds of my life, and I can say I've read a lot of Howard. And Crimson Shadows had a lot of stuff I'd never seen before.
The book has stories featuring El Borak, Steve Harrison and Breckinridge Elkins, three characters I'd heard about, but had never been able to track down. El Borak is an American Old West gunfighter who travels to Afghanistan and embroils himself in their endless tribal warfare. Breckinridge is a big, goofy cowboy who isn't too bright and doesn't know his own strength. It was a funny story, I laughed out loud. And it was cool to read a Western by Howard. I think a lot of his stories are basically just Westerns dressed up in different clothing. I don't have a problem with that, of course, but I do like reading Howard working in the genre, unadorned. Steve Harrison is a detective who works in Chinatown. It's straight-up, two-fisted pulp.
And this fucking floored me -- the collection includes a Conan story I'd never read! The People of the Black Circle. Awesome. It's Conan hanging out with the "Afghulies," which are just slightly-renamed Afghans. It was odd reading this one back-to-back with the El Borak story, like Howard got on an Afghanistan kick for a while. It's a great story, tons of action, lots of bastards getting skewered by tulwars. But it's also dark and creepy... it reminded me of Tower of the Elephant in that sense. It has a lot of standard Howard stuff -- a character is sent back in time to witness all of her prior "selves," there's a giant snake, etc.
As a bonus, the other Conan story included is Beyond the Black River, which is my current fave Conan tale. For a long time it was Red Nails. But I just love the idea of Conan going on a suicide mission with a dirty-dozen crew. And it's a story from later in Conan's life, after he's done a lot of traveling. There's a character who acts as kind of a sidekick throughout, and he's constantly surprised by the knowledge Conan throws out. Finally, he's like: "Dude, you're this barbarian from the hills, how do you know all this stuff?" And Conan's reponse is along the lines of: "I've done some shit." (I'm paraphrasing).
There's a one-off called The Valley of the Worm that's about a Viking named Niord who goes up against a Great Old One! The conceit is this is the core tale that spawned all the other dragon-slayer myths. This tribe of Vikings settles in a valley. The local tribes are like... that's not a good idea. But they're Vikings, they don't care. Niord is laid up after getting into a fight with a saber-toothed tiger. When he recovers, he decides to visit his friends in the valley and see how they're doing. Whaddaya know? Everyone's dead, the village destroyed. A buddy of his from the Picts tells him it's the work of the "worm" that lives in an ancient temple.
This basic set-up has a lot in common with Lovecraft. The two corresponded, and you can find a lot of Lovecraftian elements sprinkled throughout Howard's writing. There's even a creature that summons the Old One with piping that "induces madness."
But here's the difference. In a Lovecraft story, the protagonist would be driven insane by the mind-blasting knowledge that we're not alone in the chaos, etc. In Howard's version, the Viking hunts down a giant snake, cuts off its head, dips arrows in the venom, goes back to the ancient temple and kicks the shit outta the Old One. Even when the thing's trashing around in its death-throes from the poison, Niord starts weeping man-tears because he's too wounded to hack at it with his sword. It's good as dead, but Niord still wants to seal the deal with an extra-special fuck-you steel enema.
And that, my friends, is the core of why I love these stories so much. Too many people in this world face their troubles like Lovecraft -- they think there's nothing they can do, give up, get depressed and do nothing.
But there's always another way to go -- Howard's way. My way. For a variety of reasons, it's absolutely ludicrous that I should be working as a producer in the film industry. And I just kinda am. I made up my mind to put on my boots and kick Hollywood in the ass. I'm not a rock star yet, but every day I get one step closer... I understand it's a journey, and that's fine. It took Conan a long time before he could wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I Beat BioShock
I know, you're thinking, "Didn't you just get that game about two weeks ago?"
Yes.
I've been putting in my usual work hours, putting in my usual level of writing time, getting in maybe a half hour or so of gaming before I crash out at night, maybe a couple of hours last Sunday. And I still beat BioShock in two weeks.
It's a short game. Awesome -- don't get me wrong -- but short. Maybe seven or eight levels, all told. I guess I got spoiled by titles like Oblivion and Resident Evil 4, these massive-massive-MASSIVE games.
I'll go back through and play it on hard. When that's done, I guess it'll be time to bite the bullet and get GTA IV like everyone else in the world.
Yes.
I've been putting in my usual work hours, putting in my usual level of writing time, getting in maybe a half hour or so of gaming before I crash out at night, maybe a couple of hours last Sunday. And I still beat BioShock in two weeks.
It's a short game. Awesome -- don't get me wrong -- but short. Maybe seven or eight levels, all told. I guess I got spoiled by titles like Oblivion and Resident Evil 4, these massive-massive-MASSIVE games.
I'll go back through and play it on hard. When that's done, I guess it'll be time to bite the bullet and get GTA IV like everyone else in the world.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Harlan Ellison
Look at this picture. It's a picture of a young Harlan Ellison, accompanying part two of this great interview The Onion is running here.
Never in my entire life have I seen a single picture that captured the quintessence of the writing game better, or with more truth. What is it to write, to be a writer?
This. Right here.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
More BH4 News, and Some Thoughts on Zeitgeist
I caught this on aintitcoolnews.
My fingers were crossed on this one. I was hoping for a chance Eddie Murphy would sidestep these kiddie movies he's been doing and give us an R-rated sex 'n' violence flick, the kind that made him a star in the '80s in the first place.
It was a dim and flickering hope, given that Brett Ratner was on board to direct, but a hope nonetheless.
Reading the quotes in the article... I think it's clear Leonard's guess is closer to reality, we'll get a PG-13 version of a BEVERLY HILLS COP movie.
Which is painful in its own way, because in the article Ratner is talking about introducing the BH franchise to younger kids, 10 and 12. I saw the first BH when I was about that age, in all its R-rated glory, and somehow I managed to survive intact. Why do we have to soften it up for this generation?
This shit concerns me on a deeper level. I believe art and culture -- and films are a big part of this -- are a reflection of the zeitgeist. Movies are the collective dreams of a society given form. In some ways, we're seeing some really sophisticated entertainment: compare the superhero movies of today versus the crap that was coming out in the '70s and '80s. On the other hand, why have we gotten so squeamish about sex and violence? Is it because there's more than enough in real life, and we want escapist entertainment? Or are we becoming weaker and more dilluted as time goes on?
Robert E. Howard's central thesis was the natural state of humanity is barbarism, because it is a closest to our purer selves. Attempts to civilize humanity only weaken us, leading to inevitable domination by the next generation of "barbarians."
And I buy into Neal Stephenson's idea that humanity didn't dominate this planet because we're the toughest animals in the jungle -- it's because we're the craziest. Now, put a pin in that idea, and take a look at what Hagakure tells us, that this world is just a dream.
Bringing us to the conclusion that this entire world is nothing but a collective dream about an insane asylum. Which means movies are the recorded ravings of the inmates, straight from the tap of our own craziness.
If our craziness is becoming softer and more sophisticated, does that mean we're heading down the road of weakness, waiting to be pushed aside by a more vibrant, "barbaric" group? Or are we already there?
Or maybe I'm reading way too much into the idea of a PG-13 BEVERLY HILLS COP IV.
My fingers were crossed on this one. I was hoping for a chance Eddie Murphy would sidestep these kiddie movies he's been doing and give us an R-rated sex 'n' violence flick, the kind that made him a star in the '80s in the first place.
It was a dim and flickering hope, given that Brett Ratner was on board to direct, but a hope nonetheless.
Reading the quotes in the article... I think it's clear Leonard's guess is closer to reality, we'll get a PG-13 version of a BEVERLY HILLS COP movie.
Which is painful in its own way, because in the article Ratner is talking about introducing the BH franchise to younger kids, 10 and 12. I saw the first BH when I was about that age, in all its R-rated glory, and somehow I managed to survive intact. Why do we have to soften it up for this generation?
This shit concerns me on a deeper level. I believe art and culture -- and films are a big part of this -- are a reflection of the zeitgeist. Movies are the collective dreams of a society given form. In some ways, we're seeing some really sophisticated entertainment: compare the superhero movies of today versus the crap that was coming out in the '70s and '80s. On the other hand, why have we gotten so squeamish about sex and violence? Is it because there's more than enough in real life, and we want escapist entertainment? Or are we becoming weaker and more dilluted as time goes on?
Robert E. Howard's central thesis was the natural state of humanity is barbarism, because it is a closest to our purer selves. Attempts to civilize humanity only weaken us, leading to inevitable domination by the next generation of "barbarians."
And I buy into Neal Stephenson's idea that humanity didn't dominate this planet because we're the toughest animals in the jungle -- it's because we're the craziest. Now, put a pin in that idea, and take a look at what Hagakure tells us, that this world is just a dream.
Bringing us to the conclusion that this entire world is nothing but a collective dream about an insane asylum. Which means movies are the recorded ravings of the inmates, straight from the tap of our own craziness.
If our craziness is becoming softer and more sophisticated, does that mean we're heading down the road of weakness, waiting to be pushed aside by a more vibrant, "barbaric" group? Or are we already there?
Or maybe I'm reading way too much into the idea of a PG-13 BEVERLY HILLS COP IV.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Star Trek
I'm not a big Trek guy, but I LOVE Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and nerdcore rap.
That said, this video is fucking awesome. Check it, homes.
That said, this video is fucking awesome. Check it, homes.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
This Made Me Laugh...
When I eat lunch, I check out a bunch of websites so I stay "in the know," in the parlance of our times.
One of them is Penny Arcade. This one made me laugh and laugh. And laugh.
One of them is Penny Arcade. This one made me laugh and laugh. And laugh.
BEA
I forgot to blog about the BookExpo America. It's a trade show for the publishing industry. It goes from city-to-city. It's only in LA every few years. The first/last time I attended, I was still relatively new to Hollywood. I walked around and picked up a bunch of free books and left. I read a couple of the books and gave the rest to my parents.
This time around, I rolled in like a pimp hustler looking to get some bidness done.
Last Wednesday, I sat in on a book-to-film panel. I answered some questions and that was that. Then I spent a couple of hours taking pitches. I used to do the pitch fest thing all the time. These days it's pretty rare. I almost never find anything. I spent most of the pitch fest talking to the agents around me. I met some cool people and split.
I went back to the BEA a couple of days later, and spent all day Saturday there. By "all day," I mean crack of dawn until the place closed. I burned some serious shoe leather, man. I collected a stack of business cards the size of a grapefruit and lugged about fifty pounds of books outta there. Some of them I got just to get, but a lot I picked up for the film potential. I took a bunch of meetings that were great.
And I spent a lotta time pimping the forthcoming UN-DEAD novel. It's funny... there's this stereotype that no one in Hollywood reads. That's untrue -- I work in Hollywood, and I read like a motherfucker. And I know a lotta other people who are very well-read, especially the smarter writers and directors. And agents, especially.
But... when I bandy around the fact that THE UN-DEAD is the official sequel to Bram Stoker's DRACULA, the movie-types tend to respond like it's little more than a fun fact. "Oh, really? That's pretty cool."
Then I throw the same thing out at the BEA -- a giant convention center full of thousands of people who love books and work in books and know about books -- and there's genuine excitement. Suddenly, I'm talking about something of real interest.
Fun stuff. And lemme tell ya -- this job beats the shit out of delivering auto parts.
This time around, I rolled in like a pimp hustler looking to get some bidness done.
Last Wednesday, I sat in on a book-to-film panel. I answered some questions and that was that. Then I spent a couple of hours taking pitches. I used to do the pitch fest thing all the time. These days it's pretty rare. I almost never find anything. I spent most of the pitch fest talking to the agents around me. I met some cool people and split.
I went back to the BEA a couple of days later, and spent all day Saturday there. By "all day," I mean crack of dawn until the place closed. I burned some serious shoe leather, man. I collected a stack of business cards the size of a grapefruit and lugged about fifty pounds of books outta there. Some of them I got just to get, but a lot I picked up for the film potential. I took a bunch of meetings that were great.
And I spent a lotta time pimping the forthcoming UN-DEAD novel. It's funny... there's this stereotype that no one in Hollywood reads. That's untrue -- I work in Hollywood, and I read like a motherfucker. And I know a lotta other people who are very well-read, especially the smarter writers and directors. And agents, especially.
But... when I bandy around the fact that THE UN-DEAD is the official sequel to Bram Stoker's DRACULA, the movie-types tend to respond like it's little more than a fun fact. "Oh, really? That's pretty cool."
Then I throw the same thing out at the BEA -- a giant convention center full of thousands of people who love books and work in books and know about books -- and there's genuine excitement. Suddenly, I'm talking about something of real interest.
Fun stuff. And lemme tell ya -- this job beats the shit out of delivering auto parts.
Monday, June 2, 2008
BioShock
I picked up BioShock for the Xbox 360 over the weekend. Holy fucking shit, is this game awesome.
I know, I know... it came out last year, this isn't exactly cutting edge news, whatever. I do shit at my own speed.
The graphics are amazing. Cool story, really unique setting... though not 100% unique, a lot of the cutesy '60s-era imagery is reminiscent of Fallout. Not a minus, just similar.
And it's creepy as hell. There were a couple of scenes that reminded me of Silent Hill 2, which is the scariest game I've ever played. I've seen worse in movies. Much worse, in a lot of movies. The tone swings between darkly comic and straight-up horror. Fun stuff.
But you're not semi-helpless like in SH... you've got guns and kooky genetic powers. A closer comparison is Resident Evil 4, a game for which I have big, stupid love.
It's 1960. You're on a plane that goes down in the middle of the ocean. But you're not doomed -- there's a light on a strange island. You swim to it. Whaddaya know? The "island" is the surface-level entrance of a massive, underwater city built by a genius billionaire. You learn he created this place to become a utopia, while he and a team of scientists delved into genetic experimentation with an eye on realizing humanity's full ability.
The problem is, toying with everyone's genes has driven them insane. They've been tearing the place apart. Everyone went crazy in the middle of a New Year's Eve party, so now you're stuck in a semi-wrecked underwater city full of 28 Days Later-style psychos, all of them tricked out in tuxes and dresses circa 1959.
I have found a lot of joy in sneaking up behind these nutjobs and clubbing them to death with a wrench.
You also find the leftover genetic tech the scientist had developed. You can give yourself X-Men-type powers. I started out with a short-range shock blast. Water conducts electricity in this game, and the facility is very leaky. I've had a lot of fun luring the crazies into a pool of water, shocking the water to stun them all and, while they flop around on the ground, beating them like baby seals.
I'm not a huge FPS guy -- I've owned Halo 3 for months now, and I've yet to go back and finish it. But I do love scary games. I played way longer than I intended to, and it was an effort of willpower to pull myself away and get some writing done.
Oh yeah, and Gore Verbinski's attached to direct the feature adaptation.
I know, I know... it came out last year, this isn't exactly cutting edge news, whatever. I do shit at my own speed.
The graphics are amazing. Cool story, really unique setting... though not 100% unique, a lot of the cutesy '60s-era imagery is reminiscent of Fallout. Not a minus, just similar.
And it's creepy as hell. There were a couple of scenes that reminded me of Silent Hill 2, which is the scariest game I've ever played. I've seen worse in movies. Much worse, in a lot of movies. The tone swings between darkly comic and straight-up horror. Fun stuff.
But you're not semi-helpless like in SH... you've got guns and kooky genetic powers. A closer comparison is Resident Evil 4, a game for which I have big, stupid love.
It's 1960. You're on a plane that goes down in the middle of the ocean. But you're not doomed -- there's a light on a strange island. You swim to it. Whaddaya know? The "island" is the surface-level entrance of a massive, underwater city built by a genius billionaire. You learn he created this place to become a utopia, while he and a team of scientists delved into genetic experimentation with an eye on realizing humanity's full ability.
The problem is, toying with everyone's genes has driven them insane. They've been tearing the place apart. Everyone went crazy in the middle of a New Year's Eve party, so now you're stuck in a semi-wrecked underwater city full of 28 Days Later-style psychos, all of them tricked out in tuxes and dresses circa 1959.
I have found a lot of joy in sneaking up behind these nutjobs and clubbing them to death with a wrench.
You also find the leftover genetic tech the scientist had developed. You can give yourself X-Men-type powers. I started out with a short-range shock blast. Water conducts electricity in this game, and the facility is very leaky. I've had a lot of fun luring the crazies into a pool of water, shocking the water to stun them all and, while they flop around on the ground, beating them like baby seals.
I'm not a huge FPS guy -- I've owned Halo 3 for months now, and I've yet to go back and finish it. But I do love scary games. I played way longer than I intended to, and it was an effort of willpower to pull myself away and get some writing done.
Oh yeah, and Gore Verbinski's attached to direct the feature adaptation.
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