Michael's Musings

October 8, 2012

For those of you that were unhappy with the fact that I had abandoned my Basil Rathbone stage play, fear not.  It's back on...for the moment.

This past week, I came across an interesting piece of information about the screen's most famous Sherlock Holmes that gave me an intriguing idea on how to instill a dramatic thrust into my play.  In any event, I'm back writing on it, and we shall see how it progresses.

This past week, we also finished work on the audio version of ORSON WELLES, and it is now in the hands of the people at ACX who will be doing a technical check before making it available for sale.  That process takes between 2-3 weeks.

I'm very proud of this one, and if you are an Orson Welles fan, I think you will want to download it when it is released.  Actor Ed French, who performs the role, becomes Welles in the recording.  More on this later.

For my Los Angeles area friends, I will be appearing at the Son of Monsterpalooza horror convention at the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center (across the street from the Burbank Airport) on October 26-28, so if you're in the area, please stop by and say "Hello".

That's one of the advantages of having written and directed movies for Roger Corman.  When you get old, you get to be a celebrity guest at horror conventions.

Finally, there's a review of THE ICE HOUSE starring Daniel Craig newly posted on the Best Bets on DVD website, accessible via the link in the Introduction section of this page.  It's a first-rate mystery, so take a look.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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October 2, 2012

This past week has been spent, among other activities, trying to figure out a way to save and continue my stage play about Basil Rathbone.

I wrote the first few pages, and was quite happy with them (as a first draft), but then as I started to get into Rathbone's actual story, I realized that, from a dramatic standpoint, he had no story.  Certainly there was nothing there in his personal life that would justify a play. 

Aside from having a shrewish wife who "broke him" and kept him away from his son (from his first marriage) and his grandchildren, there is really no dramatic hook of any consequence.  Rathbone died a sad, almost indigent old man, and I don't believe that audiences would want to see that.

I even considered putting him on stage with some of his other horror colleagues (e.g. Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr.), but whereas these other actors may be interesting, there is still no play that I can see.

So, until a dramatic thread for Basil Rathbone occurs to me, this one goes back onto the shelf.

This past week was also spent working with narrators on my various audio books.  ORSON WELLES, my one-person play, should wrap within the next couple of days and be uploaded for approval by ACX then.  Ed French is doing a brilliant job as Welles in this radio-like drama.  Indeed, he brings the late filmmaker to life.

The audio book of my novel SHADOW WATCHER (narrated by Alan Douglas), is about half done, as is Fred Frees' rendition of my book of short stories, DRACULA MEETS JACK THE RIPPER & Other Revisionist Histories.  Both of those are coming along quite well, and I am really enjoying myself wearing my director's hat again.

I also signed a contract with an actress in Tacoma, WA, to record my (Carole) LOMBARD play.

Additionally, books arrived this week for me to bring to (and sell in) Los Angeles later this month when I appear at the Son of Monsterpalooza horror convention at the Marriott Hotel across from the Burbank airport (October 26-28).

Finally, there's a review of the STARZ series, MAGIC CITY, Season One, on the Best Bets on DVD site, accessible via the link in the Introduction section of this page.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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September 24, 2012

I had a great time teaching my 3-hour class on Saturday afternoon.  There was a full house of 30 students, and they seemed to appreciate what I had to offer.

One young man was even driven down to Austin from Dallas by his father, a noted author of non-fiction.  His father is Kurt Eichenwald, who wrote the book upon which The Informant with Matt Damon was based.  The young man, a high school student, also wants to write, but he's more interested in fiction.

After the class, Kurt gave me a copy of his newest book, 500 Days, which deals with the aftermath of 9/11.  In it he wrote: "With many thanks for teaching my son the kind of writing I can't do."

As I said, I had a great time and hope to teach another class soon.

I started writing a new one-person play last week, and also continued to work with my 3 actors on the three books/plays that are currently in production for audio.  ORSON WELLES is almost finished.

The subject of the new play, BTW, is Basil Rathbone.  He may not have been as big a star as Gable, Flynn, Tracy or some of my other subjects, but he certainly has a major following because of the Sherlock Holmes films.

This week, I have to order books for my upcoming appearance next month in Burbank at Monsterpalooza.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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