Christine Brown arranged for us to do a Q & A on writing
at the Frazier Park library. Frazier Park is a little town perched near Interstate-5,
the river of commerce that runs from Mexico to Canada. Yes, we’re a little off
the beaten track but we have a brand new library. In a small town that’s a big deal.
We had a full house, and if they came expecting to hear
about books about small town life, there was more on offer.
Christine’s Blood and
Matzah, is the debut novel of a trilogy about Jewish time-traveling
vampires on a mission from God to stamp out Evil. And she has the big
personality to tell about it in an entertaining way. My recent book, On Behalf of the Family, is about an
honor killing of a rich Muslim girl in Santa Monica, California.
I’m always surprised that people who don’t write regard
writers as extraordinary beings. To me, and you reading this, authors are
everywhere. This is the best time in human history to be a writer; all the
gateways that used to guard the path have been cleared away. One can load up a
manuscript and be on the way to stardom. Or so people think.
A generation of differences in life experience separates
Christine and I. One questioner was insistent that both of us should make a
movie out of our books because they sounded so interesting.
Christine said, of course, she was planning to do that and
had a Kickstarter plan in action. I was amazed. Having lived in Santa Monica so
many years, I had seen the bodies of old screenwriters and producers whose
dreams had finally died outside the studio door.
Once I thought writing a murder mystery was the most
wonderful thing I could do. I did it. Now there are four and a fifth in the
birth canal. But a movie?
Is making a movie out of one of your novels the dream of
youth? What do you think?
Christine Brown Blood and Matzah: http://www.bloodandmatzah.com/
6 comments:
I'm glad to hear that you had such a good turnout at the library. I would think that seeing your book in print and being purchased and read and reviewed is a pretty satisfying accomplishment....but the movies is where they hide the money, no? I wonder if having one of your books turned into a movie changes the way you write the next one. And would that be a good thing? or not?
Keep well, Mar....
Ursula
Being involved in the movie about this book is unimaginable. And not something I'd ever dream of. I think my title was misleading and I meant it to be ironic.
Thanks for your comment, Ursula. It's good to be in touch even in this flimsy way.
So glad the library event was a success. As for a movie, I think that the best way that could happen is if someone read the book who knew something about movie making and it got optioned to be a movie. (Of course even then, it might never happen.) I'm thrilled to have my books published and I know you are too.
Exactly, Marilyn.
Hi Christine,
My daughter is a V.P. of legal affairs at a large movie studio. She can't even present my books to the studio as it is a conflict of interest.
Movie companies are deathly afraid of being sue for stealing someone's idea for a movie.
It is extremely difficult to get someone to look at your book for a movie. No studio will look at it unless it is presented to them by an agent, preferably an agent they know, or by someone in a production company. Anything that is sent in "cold" will be immediately sent back without it being opened.
Of course there are many indy movie producers and you may be able to find one, again very hard as they are swamped with ideas and they produce very few movies.
So try and find an agent who works with movie companies, but be careful, there are a lot of crooks out there who ask for money to present your book.
Richard Brawer
www.silklegacy.com
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