The Exacts of the Next Chapter

Mel and I moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and although she has a three month old in the belly oven she likes to say our first child was my career. We loved it, we nurtured it and we even got angry when it didn’t do what it was expected to do…times during which we refused to give it a time out…we spanked it.
And here we are in 2006. Ten years.

In ten years I’ve never received a gift for a job well done. Perhaps that means I’ve simply sucked until now. Perhaps. Or maybe there are politics involved that I’m not supposed to be aware of. Most likely. But my ego likes to think that Anthony and Brad of the Mayhem Project really did consider it a job well done. I thanked them both for the wine and told them we should probably start discussing my cameo in the movie. Brad told me to send him a head shot. So I did.

In any case, the Clock Tower chapter is closed. For now. They may choose to exorcise one of my rewrite options, which Brad said they most likely would. However, that would be both rare and a first for me. Normally you’re simply rewritten. A fresh set of eyes. But the best thing for me to do is move on. Start the next chapter.

But first came the Olympics. Not live, mind you. The Olympics via TiVo. Clock Tower’s polish was written during the live portion so once it was a done deal, Mel and I started the winter marathon. Have I mentioned Vancouver in 2010? Oh, but yes.
Of course, my desire to shift the brain into no-thinking mode was ignored by agents and managers and thanks to their unending beating of the pavement my cup once again runneth over.

With bobsledding and figure skating still imprisoned on the TiVo Mel and I slid into Los Angeles for a string of meetings. Vertigo and Gold Circle had a little thing that sounded interesting. They’d already gone through of team of writers, all of which I’m sure could have done the project justice, but for whatever reason they all got passes. So, I tossed out my 2 cents in the form of a rough outline. That was last Friday and as of yet…nada.

While in the great state of Los Angeles we met Dean at PF Changs and scarfed down spicy Chinese food. I’m very confident that Dean and I are going to turn Thunder into a comic/graphic novel. This isn’t a way of subsidising our income. Truth is, there’s no money in comics for first time writers. At least, it’s pretty rare. In fact, there’s no money in comics for old time writers either. At least, it’s pretty rare. No, we’re doing this for the simple reason that I keep getting sent graphic novels that have been optioned by assorted studios and companies and I’ve yet to read a good one. Most of them are horrible. But for some odd reason a company is more likely to buy the rights to something in print before they’ll buy a pitch or spec. So, here we go.
Truth is, the stuff I’ve done with Alien Pig Farm has been fun. Steve Niles is a wonderfully laid back guy and Tom Jane has been a pleasure to work with. Our artist, Don Marquez, is not only good but smart enough to voice his opinion when he saw the need. It’s been a fun process. Really fun.
Thus, Dean and I are excited about chasing Thunder into the world of comic books. Currently the managers are making calls.

My lovely pregnant wife and I went to the movies to support our friend Kurt Wimmer’s movie. Just our way of saying, Kurt, you’re number one with us. The critics were tough on Jason X but not nearly as tough as they’ve been on poor Kurt. Needless to say, Mel and I had a blast and at the end of the day that’s really what matters.
Sleepers is still moving forward at Tokyopop. Paul took the three book storyline to his fellow editors and the pow-wow went great. We’re supposed to see samples from assorted artists this week.
In all these submersions into the comic book waters the ultimate goal is getting a movie made. Attracting a studio or company who wants to make the story. Again it simply seems easier to get the right attention with a book than with a pitch or spec. Thus the creation of Alien Pig Farm, Thunder, Sleepers and whatever others pop up down the road.

We still take our Saturday walks with Allen and Elliot and I find myself really looking forward to these simple small town outings. Although you can’t live here long without noticing the strong aroma of small town politics. This is not an easy town to live in as a result. In the months since we’ve been here I bet we’ve seen ten business open and close on Lighthouse Avenue. Sad really. It could have something to do with the housing costs. A million bucks for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath does seem…stupid. Residents wonder why so many business go out of business. Hello? Can you say, “basic economics”?
However, it’s so hard to bite the bullet and move back. The air is clean, the worst crime in the area consisted of the three stolen ten-speeds and the people are normal. Yet, I just can’t wrap my head around a million dollars for a thousand square feet. At least in LA that will only cost you half a million. Do I sound perplexed? Good, feel free to cuddle up to my misery. For now it just seems easier to rent two small places six hours from each other.

At least this way I get two Melrose places. One where I get the jobs and one where I write the jobs. Seriously, which Melrose would you rather live on?
With all the work crossing my desk there was one very interesting script. I went in last week to pitch my rewrite and I think it went great. I normally leave pitches having no clue but this one was different. There was a jolt of excitement in the air. I’m curious to see what happens.
And tonight I work on a film pitch for…you guessed it, a graphic novel. The story is, they need a writer by Wednesday. No clue why. I don’t have that level of clearance. I have some ideas and if they can solidify by tomorrow then we’ll set a meeting and pitch them by hump-day.

And through it all, Mel and I will continue to have our morning walks for coffee and/or breakfast in our small town, where the food is good, the people are gooder and the ocean waters are blue.
In the coming weeks I’ll lock myself in the dungeon and work on my Riddle and Past Tense rewrites or any of the numerous aforementioned projects. And we’ll continue to nurture the little bun in the oven in preparation of hearing the words, Mommy and Daddy…or Mumsy and Papa if we find ourselves rich and snooty before the little tike is speaking.

In the end, we just don’t know the exacts of the next chapter. And that’s just fine with us.