Michael's Musings

September 29, 2014

On Saturday, I received the proof copy of DILLINGER AND CAPONE, the book version of my original screenplay that became a 1995 movie with Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham.  I will be checking it today and, barring something unexpected, it should be available for purchase in both paperback and on Kindle by the end of this week.  Indeed, you can pre-order the Kindle version now on Amazon.

With the on-going public interest in both John Dillinger and Al Capone, I think this book will do well.

Once again, the Best Bets on DVD site is down until the first of the month, but once it goes active again, there will be a review of SPARTACUS: The Complete Series, which I finished watching this past weekend. 

I do wish Earthlink would get their act together and stop taking my site down around the 20th or 21st of every month.

Once DILLINGER AND CAPONE is launched and while I'm waiting for the galleys for MURDER IN BABYLON, I'll probably get back to the play I was working on.  I'm finding that these shows I write in THE HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS series are selling quite well, particularly to theatre arts students who are looking for monologue material to perform in class.  I wasn't planning to do any  more of these one-person plays, but since there seems to be a market for them, I'm seriously considering writing a few more. Who they will be about, I don't know yet, but I do have some ideas.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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September 22, 2014

The weekend before last (9/13-14) I spent in McKinney, TX, which is about a half hour north of Dallas.  I was a celebrity guest at the Spirit of the Cowboy Festival in Chestnut Square, an annual event in that community.  Among my fellow attendees were actors Robert Fuller, Clu Gulagher, James Stacy, Alex Cord, James Hampton, Marshall Teague and two of the stars of CHEYENNE WARRIOR, Dan Haggerty and Bo Hopkins.

Sandy and I had a great time.  All of my CHEYENNE WARRIOR DVDs were sold out by noon the first day, and I also sold copies of THE DOORWAY and a couple dozen books of various titles.

This was the third time this event has been staged, but I'm told that if they don't find new financial backers and a new locale, it will be the last.  Sad.

MURDER IN BABYLON, my novel about the 1922 William Desmond Taylor murder in Hollywood, is at the publishers and it should be available for Christmas buying.  Fingers crossed.

Also available, most likely before that, will be my original screenplay for DILLINGER AND CAPONE (1995), which starred Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham.  As I've said many times, I was never happy with the changes made to my script that appear in the finished film, so after several request from folks (as recently as last weekend) to know how my script differed from the movie itself, I've decided to make my version available to the reading public.  Luckily, I retained publishing rights to the material.  I'll keep you updated on this one, too.

You have a creative week.

Michael

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September 8, 2014

This is going to be a busy week.  Yesterday (Sunday) I had a meeting about the possibility of doing a local production of B MOVIE, my play about the Franchot Tone/Barbara Payton/Tom Neal affair, early next year.  Fingers crossed.  We shall see what we shall see.

On Wednesday, I have a dentist appointment, then on the weekend,  I'll be in McKinney, TX to appear at the Spirit of the Cowboy Festival where I'll be joined by Dan Haggerty and Bo Hopkins, both of whom were in my movie, CHEYENNE WARRIOR.  It will be the first time I have seen these guys since we made the picture back in 1994.

During the week, I will also be finishing up my final edit of MURDER IN BABYLON, my novel about the William Desmond Taylor murder, then sending it off to the publisher, BearManor Media. 

I'm quite proud of this work.  I can't believe that it's been sitting forgotten in storage for the past forty years.

Depending on when I get back from McKinney, there may/may not be a blog entry next week.

Either way, you have a creative one,

Michael

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