Writer's Report 2.0

Associated Press
By CHRIS TALBOTT

“One Night Stands and Lost Weekends” (HarperCollins, 384 pages, $14.95), by Lawrence Block: Beware the book whose author admits in the introduction he’s afraid to read the stories that follow:

“I’m scared I’ll decide not to publish them after all, and it’s too late for that. So an uncharacteristic attack of honesty compels me to advise you that I am in the curious position of introducing you to a couple of dozen short stories which I myself haven’t read in forty years.”

That’s from one of three introductions Block writes in “One Night Stands and Lost Weekends,” a fun if warmed over collection of the author’s early work, which had already been published in separate collectors’ volumes at the turn of the century.

The stories are just what the title suggests. Quickies sold to pulps and their descendants in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the first part of the book and easily digestible hard-boiled novellas in the second. They’re all easily forgettable — Block, in fact, forgot about a few — but curiously compelling.

Though they mirrored the dreck of the day — full of rapists, murders with semi-plausible twists and an unending line of bombshell blondes pulling a double-cross — Block shows the early promise that would lead him to Grand Master status with the Mystery Writers of America and four Edgar and Shamus awards.
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Reuters

A New York City tollbooth worker in desperate need of a car wrote a crime thriller script titled “Brooklyn’s Finest” last year. Now he finds himself rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood’s finest, including Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and director Antoine Fuqua.

Living in Brooklyn, Michael Martin had just totaled his car in an accident. While in physical therapy, he entered a screenwriting competition, hoping to win the prize money for his new set of wheels.

“I had never written a screenplay before,” said Martin, who had studied film in college. “I thought, ‘How hard can it be?’ I was more like, ‘If I win this, I can get a new car.”‘

His screenplay came in second but eventually ended up in a far better place: the doorstep of Warner Bros.-based producer who had been looking for a writer with an authentic and gritty voice to write a sequel to the 1991 gangbanger saga “New Jack City,” which was in development at Warner Premiere, the studio’s direct-to-DVD division. Impressed by “Finest,” Mary Viola set out find the writer, who then had no agent.

Martin had moved out to L.A., staying at a downtown hotel, and hooked up with management representatives. He enjoyed a brief stint writing for Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell,” but homesickness overwhelmed him. He returned to New York and wound up back at the Transit Authority.

Meanwhile, in the hands of Viola, “Finest” became red hot, quickly attracting top talent. Gere and Cheadle are now polishing their badges to star in the ensemble police thriller, which Fuqua will direct for indie financier Millennium Films. Hawke is also coming on board to star, a move that will reteam him with Fuqua, who directed him to an Oscar nomination in “Training Day.” Ellen Barkin is also booking a part.

The script almost brought Mel Gibson out of acting seclusion. He took a string of meetings, but things ultimately didn’t work out.

The story, a sort of “Crash” meets “Training Day,” is a dramatic ensemble with three intertwining story lines involving Brooklyn cops. “I worked for a bus company that got indicted by the Feds because of Mob connections,” Martin said. “I could not have written ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’ without that experience.”

The movie is prepping for a May shoot in Brooklyn, in the very locations that inspired Martin to write the script. “Things are moving very fast right now. It’s something I’ve been waiting a long time for,” Martin said.

Fuqua’s last movie was 2007’s “Shooter,” while Gere was last seen in Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There.” Cheadle was in theaters last year with “Ocean’s Thirteen” and “Talk To Me.”

Martin, a new dad, was recently promoted to construction flagger within the Transit Authority, working inside the subway system. He is writing “New Jack City 2,” often during his breaks in the subway tunnels.

He drives a new car.

Congratulations Michael, and more power to ya!

3 movie deals prove author Lehane’s luck

By Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press

Bookstores are lined with the works of novelists who’ve never seen their creations make it to the silver screen — or who’ve been burned when they do.

So count Dennis Lehane among the doubly fortunate few.

First Clint Eastwood made a film classic out of the respected crime writer’s Mystic River, with that scorching, Oscar-winning performance by Sean Penn. Then Ben Affleck made his highly acclaimed directorial debut last month with Gone Baby Gone. Within days came word that Martin Scorsese would direct the author’s Shutter Island next year, with Leonardo DiCaprio in final talks to star.

With that last bit of fortuitous news, Lehane pronounces himself almost embarrassed.

“It’s egregious,” he muses. “I didn’t tell people. My fiancee said, ‘Why don’t you call people?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s just pile it on!’ ”

So what’s Lehane’s explanation?

His talent is not, he insists, originality of plot, saying they “could be found on an episode of ‘CSI’ or ‘Law & Order.’ ” He’s merely happy to take credit for doing what he does very well, which is to write meaty, morally ambiguous, thought-provoking crime novels centered in the seamiest parts of Boston. (more…)

This is from the blog Lying for a Living, published by one of my favorite up and coming crime novelists, Meg Gardiner. She has a humorous matter of fact no-nonsense approach on many subjects. On these posts she describes Character Building she did for her newest book, The Dirty Secrets Club and how she did it without a ‘so-called’ muse

Some writers claim they don’t construct their stories. Instead, they say, when they sit down at the keyboard the characters “just take over.” These writers describe this occurence with whimsical amazement at the way their creations spill themselves gloriously onto the page.

I don’t believe it. If writers truly think their characters seize control of the story, they’re either playing with a ouija board, off their meds, or listening to so much Carrie Underwood that they’ve thrown their hands in the air, crying for somebody to take the wheel. Gosh, it wasn’t me… this book is just a transcription of THE VOICES INSIDE MY HEAD. (more…)

From the Associated Press:

“Now & Then,” the 34th book in a series that began with the publication of “The Godwulf Manuscript” in 1973, finds Spenser as feisty and smart-alecky as ever. Despite a quarter century of getting shot at, and occasionally actually shot, both he and his friends are aging gracefully.

“Now & Then” is a return to form — one of the better Spenser novel in 20 years. The plot is unpredictable, the characters are richly drawn and the dialogue crackles. Although Parker’s work rarely approaches the excellence of more literary crime writers, his best books deliver a quick, entertaining read in a crisp, unadorned style.

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