I got snowed in again at the end of February, for a day and a half, but I was able to make some progress at home on the rewrite of ONE BLOOD and get started on HEX, DEATH & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL.
Last Friday I had a fun experience, doing a phone interview with a director and producer of rock and rap videos. In HD & RnR, I have a suspicious accident taking place during the shooting of a rock video in an old movie theater that’s under renovation, and I needed to make sure the details were believable. A friend put me in touch with Mario Cosatbile, a video producer based in Paramus, NJ, and he was kind enough to give me some inside information. I ran the whole scenario by him to make sure that, overall, it sounded realistic, and then we talked over some particulars about what the director, the band and the cameramen would be likely to be doing at various points.
I enjoy researching my books, because it brings them more to ife in my mind. When I need a certain kind of setting and find that just the right place exists, or I need a plot twist and an expert confirms that yes, it could happen that way, it feels like kismet. Or sometimes what I first envisioned won’t work, but I discover something reality-based that will work better! That’s even more of a rush.
I have a problem now, because I really want to polish ONE BLOOD to be “the best it can be,” but I’m also getting psyched over HD & RnR. Plus, I have to get my tax material together for my accountant before March 23! Way too much stuff to cram into my alleged “spare time”!
All day Saturday, I’ll be involved with the Liberty States Fiction Writers “Create Something Magical!” conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Iselin, NJ. In the morning I’m on a horror panel with Garden States Horror Writers colleague Gary Frank and best-selling author F. Paul Wilson–great company! In the afternoon I’m introducing a panel on “Working with a Publicist,” and in between I’ll be signing books. It promises to be a long but fun day. This is the first conference for LSFW, and they’lve already got 127 attendees committed.
That’s it for now. I just realized the Oscars are on and I’d like to catch a little of them before I have to turn in. I always miss the really good awards at the end…!
