Cow Corpses, Mood Writing and other Ravings

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


Cow Corpses and Robot Scorpions

The development phase of The Gunslinger continues as we await a start date.

‘Do we still need a cow corpse?’ That began one of my mornings last week. I had to wrack my pre-caffienated brain for what in the heck my partner was talking about. In the many drafts written over many years, The Gunslinger had a scene in which one of the most squirrelly henchmen shoots one of the heroine’s cattle several times prior to attempting to shoot one of her ranch hands. It was going to be a particularly bizarre scene as the actor attached to the part will most likely be shooting at his own father. We had to re-write the scene sans cow corpse because of the insane expense of a fake cow. Those of you who followed the Demon Under Glass shoot know we had a cow in that (I hadn’t realized we had a cow fixation until just now), but the expense was about a third of the film’s tiny budget. We wouldn’t even have a trained cow pretend to get shot. PETA would have a cow. They demanded documentation from the producers of O Brother, Where Art Thou (incidentally, that is a really good and really funny film) that their flying cow was not real. They had to provide step-by-step proof the process of putting the CG animal in the film. We re-wrote the scene sans cow. My partner was relieved, because that would have upended our finely tuned budget. As it was we were surprised that a horse that is standing still is about a quarter of the rental price as one with a rider on it. There are a lot of horses. The other burning question of the day was ‘Have you found a robotic scorpion?’ I confessed to not really looking for one yet. Why even bother with a robot scorpion? Though Travis is game to interact with a real one, I’m not sure the insurance company will be as keen. Though we may do a real one behind glass a la Raiders of the Lost Ark and the cobra. I think we’ll need the robot, because PETA would likely object to the way Shadow Smith disposes of his little morning guest.

Scary Myspace Notes

Under the category of captions you don’t want to read on photos from your leading man: ‘Here’s where I cracked my head open under the waterfall.’ Jon wondered why I was screaming while checking my e-mail. I often scream, but not usually when I’m looking at photos of Travis. He’s fine, but oy the palpitations! Anyway, his photos under the water shirtless prompted me to release my favorite photo from the trailer shoot (gee, I wonder why). You can find it at http://www.myspace.com/hiddenpassions click on Pics underneath the yellow smiley icon. Then, go to Trailer Shoot for a larger version.



Writing Atmosphere

I’m often asked by writers and readers what music I listen to when I write. The short answer is that I don’t listen to music when I write. I get distracted by the lyrics or the memories that the lyrics evoke, and I’m derailed from writing. Jon gets around that by listening to instrumental soundtracks when he write, so the words are distracting him. We have an insanely large collection of soundtracks. That doesn’t work for me. I get to thinking about the film the music is from and then I’m profoundly distracted. I have been inspired by songs or tracks of music. A Soldier’s Choice tone of hope and despair is from the song Rise by Yoko Kanno, performed by. The song Nasty Boys by Janet Jackson looms largely in the first story in a memoir about my mother. For some reason, Extreme Ways, the closing theme for the Bourne films by John Powell, evokes the feel of A Soldier’s Fate. I listen to news when I write or TV shows that I can tune out to background noise. It’s a habit from growing up. The family wasn’t into peace and quiet when I was doing homework. They needed their TV shows. I learned to tune them out. Oddly enough, I can’t do that with music. The other thing I’ve been doing while I write the Soldier’s novels is cooking. Maybe the reason for that is that Vincent cooks. Most days while I work on the book, there is stock simmering or something roasting. The house smells wonderful. I imagine that’s how Vincent’s kitchen would smell like. Today, there is the second attempt on veal stock and a roasted chicken stock simmering. Soon, there will be a sweet potato pie. The homey aromas don’t match the emotional torment I’m heaping on my characters (it’s near the end of the book), but it helps me work.

More Raves than Rants
Warning: Major Spoilers for a whole lot of stuff

Even before I watched the recordings of the double header, CSI: Miami, I was in a kinder, gentler mood. One of the TV shows I was listening to for background noise while inputting A Soldier’s Fate is Inronside, the wheelchair detective, on hulu.com. That show was part of a litany of Detective shows that had an adjective in front of the word Detective like The old Detective (Barnaby Jones), the fat Detective (Cannon), the blind Detective (Longstreet) and the concussion Detective (Mannix). Ironside reminded me just how goofy cop shows were back in the day. Thus, I was more kindly disposed to last week’s lunacy on CSI: Miami. Turns out, it was a fun pair of episodes. There was the silliness of a civilian instigating the extradition of a police official to a foreign country, but the resolution was a delightful surprise. There was Horatio Cain with only one gun and one clip against five, count ‘em five bad guys with guns. While the central bad guy is yacking about what was going to happen to him, Horation takes aim and shoots everybody. And he takes down two more waves of villains before the opening credits! It was actually amusing. The kidnapping of our spook-girl, Calleigh actually made sense in the context of the episode and it made clever use of basic science and forensics in how she helped them find her. I found myself rather pleased. And that wasn’t the only show to top itself. Criminal Minds had a brilliant opening scene that surprised and tickled me. But the best of the week, of course, was the return of Battlestar Galactica. I won’t discuss it here. If you haven’t seen it before, you’d have to start from the mini series to follow my raving. And then there are the huge spoilers that even the most casual comment will cause. So I will say only that it’s not only the best Sci-fi on TV (smart, sexy, funny and complex), it’s some of the best drama ever aired on TV. And it never fails to surprise me in a good way.

Stay tuned for more on the film and the book next week!

Glamorous Life, Food Frenzy and Killing Culture

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


Someone on my Producer Yahoo list was looking for a trained walrus. I’m glad I’m not in that project. Thus far, no one has come up with such an animal. That’s odd for that list. For us, it’s the end of one of those quiet weeks. Jon was been working on the trailer footage using some program that corrects color timing and erases boom mikes (it has a function for eliminating boom mikes, go figure). We’re waiting for Vic to give us an ETA on the sound mix. My partner Ralph and I are doing logistical things for bringing a shoot to an area that doesn’t have them often. This is really glamorous stuff like calculating whether or not we’ll need a water tanker truck for the trailers (we will because we also have to make rain; will we need a gas tanker to run the trailers and the very important question: how many port-a-potties are needed for the crew and extras and how often they’re emptied. There are formulas for that calculation that you just don’t want to know about. That’s show-biz, dah-lings. Oh, yes, I have to make sure there are plungers. I’ve needed them on two of the three shoots. Guess who gets to be the plung-ee? Don’t feel sorry for me though, I get to see those cute boys shirtless and sometimes even less dressed than that (as shoots wear on, actors get really comfortable and they don’t bother with robes). It’s a fair trade off. What was I talking about? Oh, yes. There’s not much happening this week. I’m saving the most provocative pics for the release of the trailer. Stay tuned.

Food Frenzy

We were mercifully free from the day job an extra day last week. Thus, I had some time to work on more recipes. Making more veal stock was thwarted by the elusiveness of the requisite bones. They were nowhere to be found. However, I tried some spreads I’d long wanted to try as replacements for cream cheese or mayonnaise in some cases. Thus I made a roasted eggplant spread that’s sort of like Baba ghanouj and a green olive Tapenade. My lovely French friends sent me a jar once, and I tried to spread it on everything. Jon had been getting nervous. I finally worked up the courage to make one on my own. It tasted great. And for the cream cheese substitute, I made a Chevre (goat cheese) and roasted red bell pepper spread. There’s a chocolate mousse I’d like to try later today. I’ve made them a few times, but never quite to my satisfaction. I’m ready to give it another whirl.

Speaking of food, I’d been seeing a lot of news stories on the squeeze that Food Banks are trying to get through (not enough donations and sharply increased demand). I found out from one of the food shows I watch that Barilla Pasta was offering to donate one dollar to Second Harvest Food Bank for every Celebrity cookbook downloaded. The cookbook is by Mario Batali and a number of big actors and is free to download. The campaign has raised over 100k so far. Go to Barilla Helps. This campaign ends on the 31st.

Make It Stop!

CSI: Miami is back in all of its goofy glory. But the beginning of the show brought up a subject that has been bothering me for some time – the pervasive hip-hopization of pop culture. The opening was a wedding montage that ended with the lovely bride being shot in the head. All through this montage, some hip-hop music was blaring making the participants appear even more white than they already were. The music just didn’t fit. It really doesn’t fit over the montages of lab activity. I’ll get back to that shortly. This episode essentially was about the attempted murder of a blackmailing stripper. The bride moved after the shot was fired and hit her instead. The idiocy this week was that the killer used and gun mounted to an arm attached to the underside of a Rolls Royce and triggered by a cell phone. I’m not sure how he aimed the thing (that’s probably why he whacked the Bride instead). For Pete’s sake, she was a stripper, not a ninja. Bash her in the head in the parking lot. Next weeks double episodes involve a murder suspect getting Horatio Cain extradited to face charges in Brazil. Didn’t know a regular citizen had that power even while a murder suspect. Meanwhile, our favorite gun girl, Calleigh gets kidnapped by a stalker. TV police can’t help but get kidnapped now and then. We saw an original episode of Burke’s Law that featured the kidnapping of a seasoned detective. Over 40 years and nothing changes. Sigh.

Back to the infection of hip hop. It’s gone on for too long and it has spread too far. I’m not going to get into the content issues. The poverty and anger that is said to have spawned the music has long given way to marketing. And this marketing seems to be aimed at making the performers and their fans look ridiculous. Now, I came of age in the 70s, so I know from what looks ridiculous. I’m seeing well to do young men – UCLA students --who’ve only seen the hood in films and on TV wearing the saggy look and trying to represent outside of their well-appointed frat houses. I won’t even talk about the dancing or attempted dancing by these wanna-be gangstas. It’s ridiculous and it’s spreading to other cultures. During our last visit to France, we were appalled not only to find a lot of French rap (native and imported) on their music shows but also to find wanna-bees on Paris Streets. My favorite was a quartet of teens trying to be big and bad, nodding their heads to the bass beat blasting from a vehicle not much bigger than a smart car. When they nodded at me, I gave them the universal look from a Black American woman for oh-pul-eez. In researching this for the blog, I found even more to cause me chagrin. One of the biggest music stars in France is a rapper named Booba. He seems to have a website called DaddyThePimp.com (oh dear) and a big hit called Pit Bull. I’m not sure why it was set in Moscow or where they found all of those people of color to be extras, and I understood all the French. This must stop before more cultures are harmed!

Aaron McGruder has made a fine start by pointing out just how ridiculous this has become. Our favorite is an episode of The Boondocks on a character called Thugnificent. there is a wonderful excerpt from Youtube on his rise from poverty.

I’m off my soapbox and back to inputting A Soldier’s Fate.

All Things Sublime and Updates

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


To all of those who celebrate this day, Happy Easter! As it is a holiday long celebrated my family, I’m engaged in many of the rituals I grew up with. So, I’m cooking up a storm and, of course, there is movie watching involved. But before I get to the food and the wallowing in pop culture, I must chat about an extraordinary book I just read.

Subversive and Sublime

A few weeks ago, I mentioned Sarah Freligh’s new book. Well, I read it this week and was completely blown away. Though it is a collection of poetry, it reads like a novel. Here’s the review I submitted to Amazon.com:

Sarah Freligh’s poetry collection, Sort of Gone is as subversive as it is sublime. To say it takes such American icons as Baseball and the 50s American family and turns them on their ear is understatement. She explodes them, and the shrapnel tears the reader apart. It is worth the ordeal to experience the complex lives of these fascinating characters. To Al Stepansky, baseball is salvation. It is an escape both figurative and literally from his sad and abusive household. Playing baseball gives him lofty goals to pursue, then the fame he thought he craved and toward the end of life, his only moments of true happiness. The poetics of baseball is not sort often seen on film and heard from orgasmic sportscasters. Baseball for Al and his father is order in a world that is often cruel and crushing. It is a connection between a parent and child in a fractured relationship. Sarah makes the reader understand how fans and players can lose themselves in the intricacies and rhythm of the game. Even if the reader has never watched a baseball game, the importance of the sport to its fans is easy to see and understand. Sarah accomplishes this with sparest use of words. Her economy and fluidity in driving her love of the game and her keen insight into family, sex, aspiration and disappointment home would be the envy of Al Steapnsky and perhaps to Mickey Mantle himself.

Do click on the highlighted title and buy one!

The Sublimely Bitchy

Jon and I are working on probably the most complicated script character-wise that we’ve ever done. [Yes, we are working on a script while prepping to shoot a film. It’s rare when we aren’t working on a new script] One of the key characters is a very beautiful woman who is a big personality and a big talent. However, she is vindictive and sometimes thoughtlessly cruel to the people she loves. It was a quandary as to how to demonstrate that she had qualities that would make people deeply care about her. So we rented the best bitchy film of all time, All About Eve to see how they handled the queen of all bitchiness, Margo Channing (Bette Davis). If you’ve never seen the film, it’s a must. The dialogue is razor sharp. The performances are complex. It’s an all around good time. And the viewing helped us figure out how this one character of ours should be written. Pulling that feat off is another matter.

The Sublimely Cheesy

Holidays for me are chances to connect with loved ones who aren’t in LA or who are gone forever. To that end, I indulge in the holiday rituals that I grew up with. Well, some of them. I don’t get my hair hot pressed and curled and put on thick leotards and my Sunday best. I like entertaining at home now, because I can wear pajamas. They look more lounging clothes, but they are pajamas. However, I do cook everything that we would always have during holidays. I even dyed Easter Eggs. We used a Spongebob dye kit (it was on sale), and I didn’t do many. And there is far too much candy in a place with only two people and no children coming by. All these things evoke very fond memories of holidays past.

Along with food and visits from our more interesting relatives, we would watch the epic holiday movies played on TV every year. There used to be a vast array of what I called holy movies, but now, there is only The Ten Commandments. When I was young, my brother and I just enjoyed it for the spectacle. My brother thought Yul Brenner’s Pharoh was really cool. He’d walk around for days after saying ‘So let it be written. So let it be done.’ As I got older, I realized that this was one wacky film. Everybody is chewing up the scenery. And then, there are all the really creepy characters like Vincent Price who, if he had one, would have been twirling his moustache in evil glee. Then there’s the inexplicable presence of Edward G. Robinson, who manages to be really creepy and incredible annoying. Why they didn’t leave him wandering in the desert alone, I’ll never know. John Derek wasn’t creepy in the film, but one can’t help thinking of how amazingly creepy he would be later in life. I don’t know when it dawned on me that Yul Brenner’s character was lusting after then married his own sister. But the film is delightfully wrapped in such tasty cheesiness, that it can’t help but be a fun time. Since we’ve lived in LA, Jon and I made sure to watch it with friends and comment all through it a la Mystery Science Theater 3000. A fun time is thus had by all. And I know my Mom would have approved.

The Gunslinger Trailer Update

Jon achieved picture lock last week. We then shipped all the files to the wonderfully talented Vic Mignogna to work on the sound and the music. Vic will be on screen in the feature version as Sheriff Mark Clayton. He seems very excited about pulling a gun on Shadow (Travis Willingham). I wonder if I should worry about that. We’re still on schedule for an April release of the trailer. The date for starting the feature is up in the air because of scheduling issues and a really huge logistical challenge, but we’ll know the where and when soon. Stay tuned.

A Soldier’s Fate

I am inputting diligently, and I’ve found a reliable proofreader. I’ll be shipping the book out in chunks to her as I input them. Thus, then when I finish the last of it, she’ll be close to completing the corrections. We’re still on schedule there. I feel almost organized!

It’s Back!

CSI: Miami is new tomorrow. I will, no doubt, be kvetching about it next week. I can’t wait!

Killer Boyfriends, Jigs and Beer

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


Soldier’s Fate Excerpt

My apologies for taking such a long while to upload it. I had a very difficult time just choosing something that wouldn’t give any spoilers. Then, I had a harder time getting access to the PC when I wasn’t falling asleep. Jon was editing The Gunslinger Trailer from almost the moment I posted last week’s blog until last night. He’s still not finished, but he was far enough along to take a break. Enjoy! The full novel will be on schedule for next month.

D’Oh!

I’ve received comments noting that I never revealed how the apple pie and other creations of two weeks ago turned out. Boy, am I ever distracted. The apple pie was amazing. The crust was flaky, and I’ve never had pieces that were that picture perfect. Jon ate two pieces as soon as it was ready. The whole pie was gone by Wednesday. I am heartened by the results and will definitely make another apple pie soon. I may also switch to home made pie crusts for the sweet potato pies I make during the big holidays. Yes, I was using store bought. It’s an acceptable time saver when making really big meals, but the result of the crust with the apple pie was so good, that I have to make my own when baking my signature dessert. I made passable veal stock and demi-glace, but I’d like to try it again. I don’t think I strained it enough. I tried the poulet roti (roast chicken) complete with herbed butter. That really turned out well. I’ll try out some of the big recipes toward the end of the month. I’ll pass along the result. I’ll even remember. I’ve been asked about a food blog. I won’t be doing that, but we will be putting up a web site for our families where I’ll have a lot of cooking antics with photos and such.

Holi-daze – March Madness Edition

There are two this month which is unusual. Easter is early this year. The first celebration up is for St. Patrick’s Day. Now, I’ve often had the question about me celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The comment ‘funny, you don’t look Irish’ often comes up. I would go through the history of slave ownership and wealthy Irish in the US and point out the Irish last names on my mother’s side of the family along with a lot of fair skin and red hair to end the line of inquiry quickly and finally. There are a lot of Irishmen in our family tree. I once joked with a writer friend from there about looking up my ancestors. She said that the shenanigans by her countrymen in the colonies were well known and she doubted anyone would be surprised to find me on their doorstep.

Beyond lineage as a reason, I have another for celebrating St. Patrick. It’s my Mother’s Feast Day. Her name was Patricia, and she loved any reason for celebrating. Yes, Feast Day. Can’t you tell I’ve had twelve years of Catholic school? It should have been apparent. In addition to all that, I grew up in a predominately Irish neighborhood. I learned to do a real Irish jig in High school, for goodness sake. I also learned to square dance. Neither has come up in the decades since graduation. But I digress. The first Sunday dinner I ever made solo for my family was corned beef and cabbage. Thus, I am making one today. I also have Killian’s Red ale, because I can’t find the wonderful red ale I had in an Irish Pub in Paris. Yeah, that seemed odd to me, too. But it was a neat place. And it wasn’t nearly as odd as the gay Australian pub across the street. The only thing that will be missing, aside from Mom, is our favorite film to watch on St. Patrick’s Day, The Quiet Man. It’s one of my favorite films, actually.

I’ll save the Easter zaniness of past and hopefully present for next week. At that time, we will discuss and inexplicable favorite film, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. I know you can’t wait.

Romance and Jeopardy

Warning: Spoiler alert for the Bourne films and others.

Jon and I had a debate this week that caused me to look at a certain type of dramatic situation that occurs in romance novels or films with a romance theme. When you have a protagonist who is in a dangerous line of work or embroiled in a dangerous circumstance, how can they hope to keep a lover? The discussion was prompted by my obsession with the Bourne Films. In particular, Jon was arguing that Nicky Parsons, one of Bourne’s handlers who ends up on the run with him in the third film, wouldn’t be interested in Bourne as a lover because he scared the crap out of her in the second film. He was a little homicidal at the time. I disagreed. It was clear in the third film that they had a romantic past and that she was still attracted to him. There’s something about a good-looking, vulnerable but deadly man that really attracts the girls (no, I can’t explain it). However, I thought it was more likely that Bourne wouldn’t allow an affair with Nicky even if he weren’t still mourning Marie. He knows that involvement with him is likely to result in death. He would be extremely reluctant to risk it. I generally don’t write this sort of character. I like my couples to stay together and fight the outside world. That’s true for The Gift of Surrender and its sequel and for A Soldier’s Choice and its sequel. However, that kind of antagonist is in The Gunslinger. Shadow Smith is a killer. And even as he is falling for KD Delaney, he knows that he is putting her in grave danger. His past looms largely in their present and would definitely impact whatever future they can have. He is very sensitive to that. Shadow has a very difficult decision in front of him – stay and hope for the best, grabbing whatever happiness he can have or protect the woman he loves and leave. I won’t reveal anything, I promise. And yes, it looks like the Gunslinger will be a novel as well. I don’t need to sleep.

Conversations I’ve Had – Gunslinger Edition

I don’t think about things I say on the phone until I see the expressions on the faces of people surrounding me at the time. Even Jon has looked at me sideways when I’m on the phone. These are some of the questions and statements that came up in the weeks before we shot the Gunslinger trailer.

“Just how hairy are you?”

“All those buttons seemed liked a good idea at the time, but I don’t see how he can get them undone.”

“You really don’t need to shave that far down.”

“I forgot to ask about tattoos there.”

“The rain barrel will keep that out of view, I think.”

“We can pick up bullets on the say to subway.”

“If they don’t stop, we’ll just keep shooting.”

All of this was totally innocent, I assure you. Really. Here’s an uncorrected screen grab. There are more on the Hidden Passions Myspace page.

Not The Blog! 'A Soldier's Fate' Excerpt

The blog will follow in a couple of hours.

Warning, this contains homoerotic content. It is also un-betaed. Be warned. If you continue reading, do not yell at me.


It was very difficult to find an excerpt that didn't have major spoilers. This may be the last until after the book is published. Once again, it is Rik and Vincent's past that fuels everything they do.


As I hung up the phone, Vincent pressed me back on the sofa while taking the files and notes from me. His eyes were intent upon my face.

“No more phones or messages,” Vincent murmured. “No more anything save for this...”

The kiss was gentle and slow. It was our first time alone after one very long and scary day. He needed connection with me more than sex at that moment. I murmured my pleasure against his lips, pulling him close while hooking a leg around his to keep him close. My lover was unhurried for once, so I lost myself in that incredible kiss. One hand found its way to his hair the other rested on the small of his back. When Vincent pulled back, long moments later, he gently traced the scar along the right side of my face. His eyes were solemn and intent.

“Tell me how this happened,” he murmured. “Please.”

I swallowed hard at the question. A blush rose to my cheeks causing Vincent to frown.

“Rik...”

“I...ah...I saw you disappear that day,” I began haltingly. “You were ten meters away when the portal closed. I shouted...but you were gone.”

“I heard you,” Vincent replied softly. “Thought I’d imagined it.”

“I’d never lost a soldier that way. It hurt so much that you were simply gone. Afterward, anger fueled everything for me,” I continued. “I pushed for an open inquiry into the generals responsible for opening the portals. The anger didn’t dissipate until the new Joint Command was in place.

“But after the anger was gone, the guilt seeped in to take its place. For over a year, I was drowning in it. Six months before you returned, there was a live fire exercise with out allies. I decided to take on some artillery nests that were attacking our side...”

Vincent looked at me sharply. “But that wouldn’t have taken you down unless...”

“Never, ever saw Remak that angry at me,” I replied. “She came on the field with Maximilian during the fighting to drag me to safety. Even Doc Auerbach yelled at me. I was still in the hospital when he approached me about the Foundation.”

“You idiot,” Vincent muttered, exasperated. He kissed me thoroughly. “Didn’t you know I would be back?”

“I knew it in my head,” I replied in a whisper. My voice was failing me. The memories of the pain were still very strong. “But my heart was sick with guilt and grief.”

He kissed me again – no doubt to quiet me. The kiss was hungrier. I moaned into his mouth and arched against his body.

“I can’t tell you how many times I came close to not making it back,” he murmured against my lips. “I was lonely and scared. I’d get careless sometimes just to try to end the constant pain. I couldn’t though with that though. I had to get back to everyone...especially to you. And that scar is damned sexy.”

The next kiss was demanding. I had my lover contained physically, but there was no way that I was in any control of that situation. Vincent made one move, gracefully combining his speed and strength to pull out of my grasp and pin me to the sofa. He shook his hair loose then set about stripping me. He managed to quickly remove my silk pajamas without tearing them despite the urgency I sensed in him.

“I always want to make love to you slowly,” Vincent said softly. His golden gaze roamed over my naked body while he slipped out of his pajamas. “I try to control myself. You know I have great control.”

He was caressing my torso then, absently running his elegant hands over my abdomen.

“Yes, you do,” I managed to reply before gasping. His hands were heading lower. “Deadly control.”

“Not with you, Rik,” he murmured. “You make those sounds with that deep, sexy voice...you purr and you growl and moan...and the way you say my name...”

“Vincent...,” I gasped as he ran his tongue along my collar bone.

His smile was pure evil. “Just like that, Blitz. When I hear that voice, I want to make you moan and gasp and growl. I want to make you lose it. I need to make you lose it for me.”

He was so intense, I almost moaned right then. “Do it, Love...I need you...”

Vincent kissed me then. It was a hot, hungry kiss that made me moan right away. I had control once, too. That vanished whenever Vincent touched me. I didn’t care. His hands and lips and tongue were soothing away the pain those memories from the last two years that were stirred up. Each kiss...each caress put that pain further in the past until all I could think about was how Vincent made me feel – loved and wanted and desperately needed. I yielded to his touch; surrendered to his need. Vincent turned me on my side, prepping me quickly while he tongued the curve of my shoulder. I relaxed for him as he pushed inside me.

“Vincent, Love...please...” I moaned, tilting my head back against his shoulder.

“You won’t have to wait.”

He moved while holding me close against his body. I was pinned and helpless against those powerful hips. I didn’t care. Vincent was moving in me. His breath was hot on my neck. His hand was working on my straining erection.

“Oh...god...Rik...” He gasped as I cried out his name.

Later, as we drifted toward sleep in bed, I held my lover and petted his hair. The livingroom was a mess again. Cleaning would have to wait. It had been too long a day.

“You’ll have more control as you get older,” I murmured. “You could take me over a couple of hours as your experience grows.”

“Maybe,” Vincent replied languidly. “Maybe I’ll always lose control over you. I always have.”

“Hmmm, yeah. You always did,” I chuckled. “But I prefer this way to the yelling and the throwing.”

He chuckled softly. “Me too.”

I yawned then. “Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow has got to be easier than today.”
Vincent sighed, settling against me. “You always were an optimist.”

Book and Film Updates and Rants

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


I’m more scatter-brained than normal. Daylight savings has me thrown off. Then, there was that last martini at The Gunslinger gathering. It was free, how could I refuse? I’m not hung over, but I got a late start and there were a lot of photos to process from last night. No, none are compromising. We were at a family restaurant. Drat! Pics are up on my Myspace page under pics.

Gunslinger Update
Aside from the raucous wrap-type gathering last night, there are a few to report. Jon is closed to finishing the refined cut of the trailer. After that, it goes to get the sound and music added. We look on track to debut in April. It will be on the Hidden Passions Myspace page. And I will be putting up links and lots of info when it’s up. Jon is pulling some yummy screen caps for me this afternoon. I’ll post them later today or late tonight. It depends on how well he responds to my nagging. We are certain enough of a green light for the feature version that we’re making plans for crewing up and beginning to figure out the logistics of the shoot. It’s starting to get very exciting.

I definitely have to finish my new book and publish the two that are waiting in the pipeline by mid-April, because we won’t be able to devote any time to Sybaritic Press stuff for months after that.

Pop Culture Rant
This week, the reviews for 10,000 BC received reviews that included words like dunder-headedness and craptitude. I love words like this. They aren’t used often enough. Alas, the film that critics eviscerated with such glee was the number one film at the box office this week. Doesn’t surprise me. CSI:Miami is purported to be the number one show in the world. Go figure. This brings me to the newest installment of What DO you like? I’ve run across some inspired lunacy that I’d like to pass along. Some of it is even family friendly. Jon found this website. It is Spongebob frivolity at it’s finest. Spongebob: The Movie is really a lot of fun. It has lines like ‘And I rode the Hasselhoff.’ You have to love that. Even my cynical pal Craig (of the one legged cricket) liked this film. Another pair of films we love is The Ladykillers, the Alec Guiness Version and the Tom Hanks Version though the 2004 version is a bit racier. And a trip through Youtube (always dangerous) and found my favorite clip from a wonderfully over the top musical, Gypsy. It’s the lead up and whole number for You’ve Gotta Get a Gimmick, and it’s absolutely wonderful. I love those broads. In fact, I used one of the characters, Mazeppa, from that scene as a slash pseudonym. By the way, the women in Gypsy, Gypsy Rose Lee and Dainty June were real people. Another, more fanciful film about them was Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.



A Soldier’s Fate Excerpt
I couldn’t post it last week, and it looks doubtful this week. Jon is still editing The Gunslinger trailer. He should be finished his phase of things in the next few days. I can post it then. Meanwhile, the book is racing towards completion. I should make my date in April. And it’s looking more and more like there will be a live action trailer for the new book. I really like the actor I’ve found for Vincent. I really like his eyes. He’s pretty without the long blond hair. I’ll have to renew my search for a Rik. I’m really happy about the new book. It took some turns I wasn’t expecting. There is certainly a surprise at the end. More on that (no spoilers, promise)

Caption Contest

This time, there were almost a dozen responses. One I liked was 'MY what big confetti they throw here.’ I gave it extra kudos for being a quote from After the Thin Man, one of my favorite films. However, I think the best one for the illustration was:

'They say there's never a cop around when you need one! Why do you think I carry my own!'

Thanks for playing. I don’t have a new illustration this week. I’ve seen some good candidates, so perhaps I’ll have another contest next week.

Pie Birds, Skin Flicks, and Deaf Doggies

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


The Pie Bird

The pie bird was the final clue. I’d never heard of them before two weeks ago. Then, it was in my kitchen along with a tart/quiche pan with the push out bottom. This cooking thing has moved beyond routine to something of a specialized hobby. When I informed Jon of this revelation, he gave me that very patient husband look one gets when the incredibly obvious has been stated. Arriving with the pie bird was Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook (scroll down to the Publisher's Weekly review). I ended up ordering that when I was searching for online recipes for the fish soup he had in Arcachon, France. While searching, I discovered he’s written a book on French cooking from Les Halles, the popular New York restaurant he worked in last. I knew Mr. Bourdain would provide a different spin on cookbokos, but I never expected to be yelled at in the introduction. In fact, there was lots of yelling and cursing. There was a full page diatribe before the actual recipe for Poulet Roti. I have many cookbooks. I even have French cookbooks given to me by my two lovely friends there (Bonjour Michele et Sylvette). But I’ve never had a cookbook call me a numbnuts. Needless to say, it is a hilarious book. I’ve never laughed so hard at a cookbook. And it is inspiring, if more than a little pushy. I spent Saturday making stocks from veal and beef bones, and I made another attempt at frites. The Wiki entry is French Fried Potatoes, but that does frites no justice at all. We never had less than an extraordinary experience with a plate of potatoes anywhere we went in France. I have yet to really capture that cricpy, crisp exterior and delicately tender interior. The pie bird went into an apple pie a al Alton Brown. It was an ordeal that we do not know for sure worked. I’ll let you know next week. I am happy to have attempted home made pie crust for the first time in decades. Tonight, I make the Poulet Roti and reduce my veal stock to a glace. Yep, I’m obsessed.

Love Scenes and Skin Flicks

The main reason for doing the trailer prior to the shoot was to assure skittish distributors of two things. The first was that the concept was interesting and in keeping with other films they’ve acquired. Two, that the film could pass broadcast Standard and Practices at any basic cable outlet. Though some outlets have aired programs like Bliss which is quite racy, a film like The Gunslinger cost more to acquire and needs to generate more ad revenue to make it profitable for the broadcaster. That means it can’t have anything that makes advertisers nervous. Thus, we chose the first intimate scene in the film for the trailer. It sums up the plot quickly and cleanly, demonstrates the chemistry between the lead characters, and has a very hot clench – all tastefully done. I also chose that scene because the trailer will be used to market the concept of Hidden Passion Films at its main audience – readers of historical romances. We will advertise the trailer on romance themed websites and internet groups, and give it away at the major convention for readers and writers: The Romantic Times Booklover’s Convention in April. Thus, the trailer has to have what those readers want, a great looking, compelling hero and heroine, incendiary chemistry (no chaste kisses at the end of the story here) and a good plot (yes, they want that, too). This was what we needed to capture in one long day in a very tiny space. We were lucky to have great-looking, compelling leads who have a natural chemistry and great command of dialogue. Once the choreography of movement of plates and cups and the book were finalized, that scene went well. There were pauses for lighting issues and sound issues, but the scene itself was easy to film. The first time Travis and Jennifer actually went through the clench on the kitchen table, I forgot to turn on my camera. I was just frozen there gaping at the proceedings, toes curled. Jon asked me if that was what I was after. Witnesses claim that I made a coherent reply. To me, it sounded like babbling. I was overjoyed at how good our KD and Matt looked together. Travis has an amazing control over that deep, sexy voice (little wonder he’s in so much demand as a voice actor). He purrs and growls at different spots in the scene, depending on whether or not Matt was hearing something he liked or didn’t. (Jon confirmed this, so I’m not imagining that). The sound of that vice jolts right down the spine. At certain points, it was clear that Matt was barely restraining the urge to tear off KD’s clothes and carry her off or not carry her off. That kitchen table seemed to suit him. And KD was perfectly torn between the intense attraction and curiosity and fear of consequences.

Now, typically, I am sick to death of my own dialogue and any given scene by the time Jon has been editing for a week. How many times can you see something before it gets to be too much. Surprisingly, I haven’t had that problem. I always seem to look across the room when something really interesting is going on. Last week, I always looked over when there was this lovely expanse of chest and abs rippling with water on screen. Yesterday, I kept looking up when Shadow was hoisting KD on that kitchen table. Nope, not tired of it yet. And I'm holding those photos for a while. We have to build an audience, after all.

The Sound and the Hoby

One of the sound issues was the ranch’s old herding dog, Hoby. He is a very old fellow who is deaf and blind in one eye. He’s a great dog, mind you, but he was a problem during the love scene. We were filming in his sleeping area. As it got dark and cold, he wanted in. Well, we let him in and had to let him out. First, there was the snoring. Though that is a tradition on our sets. Poor Randy usually succumbed after a 56 hour day somewhere on our sets and fell asleep. During The Privateers, it was in President Lascar’s office. During Demon Under Glass, it was while playing a corpse in the operating theater. Upholding the tradition was great, but we didn’t have much time. When he wasn’t snoring, Hoby panted – loudly. Made the love scene sound like something from a porn shoot. Hoby had to go. He put up with being out for a little while before pounding on the door with his head. No very good for a love scene. Fortunately, we’d wrapped the fried chicken. Ralph went outside to lure the poor thing away long enough to wrap the shoot. There were lots of dogs on the shoot. We brought three. Ralph and Marguerite’s pugs rode up with us and provided much entertainment to the horses. Then there was Jack Jack, an exuberant Corgi who loved everyone. All the dogs were great for the easy-going, fun environment at the shoot, but they can cause sound problems. Fortunately, the problems were fixable and made for great stories.

Crew Guys

Before I go on and on, I must take some time to compliment Ryan and Matty, our camera man and sound man respectively. They traveled far, worked hard for many hours and always had a pleasant demeanor. They were creative on the fly even at the end of that very long day. The end result of their labors is looking good. We can’t compliment them enough. I know we all look forward to having them work on the behind the scenes video for the feature.

Captions and TV Rants
I have the captions contest winners for another week. I also have new TV rants and recs on my favorites in inspired insanity, but no more time.

A Soldier’s Fate Excerpt
There will be on later tonight or tomorrow. The novel is coming along very well despite interruptions to look at a certain glistening chest and abs.

Trailer Food, Writing Nuances and Raw Oysters

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

I’m functioning on coffee this morning. Despite widely held opinions, I don’t actually drink wine in the morning. Unless it’s football season and the Eagles game is on here. There’s a lot to cover. It’s disparate, thus the convenient headers. Some prefer my stories about LA oddness to my rants or yearnings. Fair enough, but if one doesn’t read the whole blog, there will be no answer to that question: ‘What in blue blazes is wrong that that broad?’

The Gunslinger Trailer – Shopping lists and Growl-ly Voices

The report on the trailer shoot is running longer than I expected. The peeps who didn’t go on this one want details (a shout out to Randy and Phil). And for non-peeps, lack of details has prompted a lot of questions (a shout out to my mother-in-law). I may have to break this up into more parts.

Feb. 10th
I think the fog was thicker on the second day. The vehicles on the road seemed to be traveling more closely. The day began early, but not early by usual film standards. Our call was 9am. Typical call times are 6 or 7am. And that means, you have to be at the location ready to work. I’m glad we didn’t do that. The early calls are the one thing I’ve never gotten used to in film shoots.

The challenge of the morning was to dress a small corner of a modern saloon (there was a bull riding machine and a DJ stand at the other end of the room) like it was a frontier cabin. That meant removing a whole lot of very important photos and mementos from the walls, covering the windows against the light, dressing the windows, etc. Our amazing and lovely hostess, Cindy Jacques, had provided the oil lamps and curtains. In fact, every time I looked up on Saturday and Sunday, she was coming at me with handy items. Lamps, curtains, rifle. It was incredible.

While the set alterations were underway, there had to be a run for lamp oil, bottled water, trash bags, paper towels and sandwiches. That’s not the oddest film shopping list I’ve ever filled. There was one during Demon Under Glass that involved clothes hangers, guacamole, a half sheet cake, bananas, toothpaste, duct tape, magic markers and some feminine products. The clerk was really puzzled. And lest it be assumed that such near desperate grocery runs are a product of low budget filming, not so. I live in an area where a lot of TV and big film shoots crop up. If I see an overloaded cart in my market that includes bananas and bottled water, there is usually some tired person holding a walkie talkie pushing it. Incidentals like those are stables on any set, and most P.A.s are required to have a car, because emergency runs for stuff are regulation.

A note about the chicken dinners. I really wanted to make them myself, so I could style them according to Jon’s specs. I even did a successful and delicious test run the week before. But since we weren’t sure whether or not we’d have kitchen access at the location, I erred on the side of caution and sanity. We were going to buy the dinners already made. In an area full of farm and ranch folk, I figured that some restaurant had to have a good-looking plate of chicken. This assumption was correct. We met Cindy at a restaurant in Exeter called Carole’s The breakfast there was very good. In fact, Jon went out of his way to praise the hash browns. They had a very nice fried chicken dinner. We had to pick up one for each actor and a spare for styling the food to match being half and then mostly eaten.

Once we returned, I set up the food on the plates. I had to take a photo for continuity in case they had to be reset. Here are the photos of full plates and one of the eaten meals. We had to dress the windows each time the camera angle changed. I found Travis to be very handy in that task. He didn’t need a step stool or tip toes, and he could really get those pins into the wooden walls. After all of that, Jon and the cast began the rehearsals for blocking (figuring out how the actors would move in the scene). The script is essentially two people talking through a meal until the kissing starts. But talking heads can be dull. There has to be some movement about the room (aside from the kissing). That had to be practiced so that the movement started and ended at a certain line of dialogue every time the scene was shot, so it would cut together properly. On top of remembering where they were in the frame and how they move, the actors are each traveling a character arc through the dinner scene. For Matt/Shadow, there is balancing the opportunity for stability and safety living and working on KD’s ranch with his growing feelings for her. Throughout the meal, he is weighing his options while assessing her situation. He is also hiding Shadow from her. The lines are deceptively simple. There is a lot of weight behind how he responds to her questions and comments. We were fortunate to have an actor that can do a lot with his voice. Travis as Matt is endearing and playful. As Shadow, there is a dangerous, predatory quality. It’s all done with that voice and his eyes. I am particularly fond of the low, growl in Shadow’s voice when he responds to something he didn’t like hearing. Meanwhile, KD is wrestling with intense curiosity, wariness and a growing attraction to a man who is an absolute stranger. Jennifer has a marvelously expressive face that reflects her growing feelings beautifully. What’s most impressive is that they kept up the level of the performance and their energy through the nine hours of shooting various angles and close-ups.

Next week - Our Groovy Crew, snoring dogs, and maybe, the love scene.

A Soldier’s Fate – Getting the Nuances

I’ve said ad nauseum that I generally write in longhand on notepads then input. During inputting, I actually do a new draft. Sometimes, I finish the whole novel in longhand before I start inputting. Sometimes, I’m still writing the first draft when I begin inputting. That all depends on my access to the PC. I took the opportunity to input before the last chapters were finished, because I knew that Jon would be editing The Gunslinger trailer for the next couple of weeks. I also needed to make some changes to the beginning of the book that reflected what was going on in the back half. Somewhere along the way, I started layering in stories from Rik and Vincent’s past that are influencing them in the present. I don’t use flashbacks. I have the characters reveal something about their past while they are reacting to events in the present. For example, in the excerpt I posted last month, Vincent reveals that he had been watching Rik often while they were on the same squad. Nitro Raden had been aware of this and tried to take advantage of Vincent physically but couldn’t. These revelations come in response to Bobby’s hair brained plan to visit a brothel to get experience he can use with his older love interest, Eloise Kramer. Later, Rik reveals just how many older men had chased Vincent during his time as a soldier. He had protected him then. The discussion brings them closer emotionally. I hadn’t planned on such a device when I wrote the outline, but it became clear that my protagonists were the products of their experiences as soldiers. That has to affect everything they do and feel. I realized that the readers had to see that. Jon would not begin writing until he had planned out all this in an outline. I need my characters to develop to the point where they tell me what they need in the story. That development happens has I work through the draft. I keep my notebooks and my early drafts to show the transition of my novels and scripts. Who knows, I may teach someday. A Soldier’s Fate is moving along well. I enjoy hanging out with the guys at the end of each day. I’ll miss them when this is all over.

France, Anthony Bourdain and a Shameful Admission

Yes, I have found a way to combine the two. I happened to catch a repeat of his Food Network show, A Cook’s Tour this past week, and met with a surprise. Mr. Bourdain is French by way of New Jersey. His father grew up in Arcachon, and the family had a house there until he passed away. That explains the food obsession and the name. Bourdain traveled to Arcachon with his brother in an attempt to recapture some family memories. He called the seaside town, the Jersey shore of France. That’s a compliment from a Jersey boy, for the Jersey shore was the place of magical summers to one who lives in the region. It was our summer destination for my entire childhood. The memories are fond ones. I think Arcachon is more like the central Jersey towns like Sea Girt (just south of Asbury Park) more than Atlantic City or Wildwood. The beaches in Sea Girt have the same beautiful sand dunes. The town was lovely, and so were Bourdain’s memories. I found myself stung by guilt when he talked about the first time he had an oyster. I, the foodie and sybarite, have never had a raw oyster. I’ve had raw red meat (Carpaccio) and enjoyed it. I’ve had smoked eel in sushi and enjoyed it (very surprised at that). But I’ve not had this staple of a raw bar. It’s especially shameful as a quote about eating oysters has been a favorite of mine. He was a bold man that first ate an oyster (Jonathan Swift). My author friend Sarah Freligh first told me that while we were in a writers’ group during grad school. I believe she gave me the quote while I was lamenting not being part of the curve at school. Incidentally, she has a new book out. Sort of Gone is available now. Treat yourself to some very fine work and buy it. Anyway, It’s time I rectified this shameful lapse. At first opportunity, I’m having some raw oysters. I’ll keep you informed.

Next week – Inspired lunacy and more on the trailer shoot.

Film, Friends and Paris on My Mind

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.


I’m actually more tired than when we rolled into town late Sunday night/ Monday morning, but it was a really hairy week trying to get back into our daily routine while setting up all we need for post. I’m really wiped from that and oral surgery yesterday. Meanwhile, Jon has his usual post-shoot cold. He’s been down all day Saturday and so fuzzy headed that he couldn’t even look at the raw footage. Still, there is much to report.

Conversations with Craig

In answer to the questions posed by my readers: No, Craig still hasn’t acted on the web cam for his front yard. Despite evidence that weirdness continues to occur there when he isn’t around, I think he worries about more visiting him from viewers of the web cam. The one-legged cricket is still alive, or the food being left for it is being consumed. Since it has only one hind leg, they don’t hear any chirping. I’ve been informed by Craig that the cricket is approaching the length of time he and a college roommate had their pet Twinkie. They had to get rid of it after it had become furry in the little bowl on the window sill. It maintained its structural integrity the whole while they kept it as a pet. I was surprised that it molded. In an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, the chef was visiting a book warehouse in Cleveland. The warehouse had once been a Twinkie factory, and its pipes still contained unused filling. Of course, Bourdain had to try the filling. It didn’t make him sick at all. Incidentally, all of the episodes for No Reservations are available on Itunes. The very first one is a big favorite of mine, Paris. The chef stays at the Hôtel d'Alsace, now known as L'Hôtel where Oscar Wilde died – even visited the actual room. And he searches for a real, barebacked experience with Absinthe. All the while, he is loving the city and it’s singular place in the food universe. I also recommend the intense Beruit episode and the one on Koltata and Bombay. In that one is a send up on Bollywood which – though extremely funny – is sickeningly similar to our dealings with Industry wheeler/dealers. Back to Craig. He is still mulling over the web cam.

CSI Miami Rant

Yes, the writers’ strike is over(yeah!). And though CSI Miami does not have new episodes yet, they still manage to do things that make me scratch my head. This new thing is called Bullet Points that will be run during an episode filling in fans on trivia about the actors and behind the scenes info. Um, how am I to concentrate on the compelling 'drama' before me while digesting the fact that David Caruso appeared in Rambo: First Blood? Someone with my brain will be rendered even sillier than when I normally watch that show. I hope they only do it during the reruns. I prefer providing my own commentary during the first run. Still, it’s good to get back to the normal routine of TV viewing – bitching and moaning.

The Outlaw Had No Boots

It’s not a direct sequel to The Vampire Had No Pants. The reasons for the lack of footware were different from the lack of pants. In Demon Under Glass, we did a costume buy for all the characters. With Simon Molinar, we had items from the GAP staked out for him. In the interim between finding the clothes and picking them up, the store was turned over. Merchandise for that part of the season disappeared as if it never existed. We found only one sweater on a sales rack, and the pants were gone. We had to improvise once we got to the first location. In the case of The Gunslinger, the big problem was a film called Bedtime Stories. They had raided most of the western clothing at the costume house, including boots and hats. Though we found items that were suitable when we did our first pass, the film was eating up more and more costumes. I actually found the clothes online because I wasn’t confident that anything suitable would be left to rent. There were very few boots when we returned to rent the gunbelt and other accessories, and there were none that would fit Travis. The costume is very important to the actor slipping into character. Boots are key to becoming a cowboy. Thus Travis, set out to look for boots that would help him become Shadow Smith. Unfortunately, our leading man is a very busy one. He’s always working or auditioning or attending a convention. That made it difficult to find time to look. And when the time was right, the best location in LA was out of business. Once again, we had to wing it on location. However, we were going to cowboy country. Finding boots weren’t going to be that difficult. Finding them in time to get in two scenes before sunset at a location we had never laid eyes on and in a town that we had never visited made for a very busy morning. It was worth it though. Travis found a pair of boots that were weathered like they had been on the frontier for some time, and they fit him beautifully. He even found a hat he liked better than the rental. Those items completed his look and made him really feel the part. That’s visible in the photos.

The Gunslinger shoot was a lot of fun. We certainly learned a lot from our prior experiences, and in some ways, this was easier than any shoot we’ve done before. But there were still a lot of hats to wear. I had some new ones this time. Aside from line producing, and actor wrangling, there was wardrobe mistress, script supervisor, and continuity (keeping track of the food on the plates from take to take -- much more on that next week). It meant my eyes and ears were always ‘on.’ I couldn’t ever really relax while they were shooting. That was draining, even for such a short shoot. Now, I’m not saying that I didn’t have some fun. Travis and Jennifer were wonderful to work with (talented, very patient and dedicated) and game for anything we threw at them. I was particularly pleased that Travis trusted me enough to adjust his pants (yes, they really needed a lot of adjusting, geez). And he let me come at him with a lariat while fully aware of my reputation. I like that in a tall, slab of good-looking actor. The results will make for great advertising photos. And there were fun moments even as time got pressed. I wish more of them had ended up on camera. Travis was flipping through the prop book (more on that below) which was actually The Picture of Dorian Gray with a new cover. He began to read it a la Shadow Smith complete with the Texas drawl. That was a right pretty picture Basil painted...well, y’all are gonna have talk to Sir Henry about that... That sort of thing. I really wished we’d recorded some of that.

About the Prop Book
Crosspost from the Hidden Passions Blog

Shadow Smith (Travis Willingham) as a fictional character within the film came about after watching a documentary on Kit Carson, real life scout and all around western action hero. He was part of a posse sent to find a lost wagon train. They did, but all members were dead. One of the female victims died clutching a dime novel about Kit Carson in her hands. He never got over it. Many of the big western stars were living their lives while being written about in novels by authors nowhere near the frontier. We thought that adding this element of pop culture would provide a source of both comedy and drama to the film. Our director, Jon Cunningham, is really into authenticity. He started researching Dime Novels to find out exactly what sort of thing was being published at the time the film is set. He had a very specific idea of what he wanted to see on the cover because it matches shadow's movements on the trail. In the feature film, the novel cover will actually morph into live Shadow on the trail. But finding a vintage cover with exactly the right pose to morph is not going to happen. Thus, Jon had to construct the exact cover he needed. The image on the Myspace home page is photo-shopped with over a dozen layers. There is the dime novel cover that came from archive sources. The horse was from an illustration contained in a novel from the archive we work for. The rider is composed of three images. One of them had a female hostage that had to be removed. One had the coat Jon wanted. The pants had to be retextured because they were originally white. Then, there was the position of the arm that had to be changed. The image was only the half of it. He had to find just the right kind of card stock to print the image on (salmon was all the rage then). And there had to be just the right kind of book to wrap it around. After that much detail, I lost track. It was a lot of work, suffice it to say. And this is for the short film. I can't imagine what the cover for the feature will be like.

More next week in The Love Scene – why we’re all here.

Paris on My Mind

As I said before, I’m tired of not being in Paris. I try to make do. I cook a whole lot more French dishes than I ever had. I use Herbs de Provence and fresh thyme every chance I get. I even try to do the French breakfast as much as possible, but you long for the real thing. Even Jon said that it was hard to consider the free continental breakfast at our hotel once one had had breakfast on the continent. My longing grows. It doesn’t help that my Food Network chefs keep going there lately. Even The Bourne Supremacy stirs yearnings. One of the scenes was at Gare du Nord, the train station we used to leave for the airport on our last trip. It was in the neighborhood where we were staying. Everything, it seems, beckons me to return soon. Be prepared for a lot of wistful meanderings on the topic.

Caption Fun – At Last

The two I liked from weeks ago were from the same reader. Though I wasn’t putting up the Leonidas painting in the contest, the caption was too funny to ignore. Is there film in that camera???!!! Even Jon thought that was a hoot. And for the return of Louis XI, Ah a bunch of tarts on the block today, regular price, 5 francs. The new illustration is from my favorite book on Archive.org, Alias, the Night Wind. The man being thrown is a police officer. Have fun!

A Soldier’s Fate Update

I’m inputting a full notepad every other day, even while wiped out. I’m on pace for the current publishing date. I’ll post another excerpt soon. Also, I’m considering doing a live action trailer for both novels. During the shoot last week, I found an actor with beautiful facial structure and amber eyes. Here’s now working on Here TV’s The Lair, so I don’t think content will be an issue for him. More on that later.

Next week – Actual discussion on writing.

Film, Fog, and Naked Torsos

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

The Gunslinger Trailer Shoot Part One of Who Knows
Two Days in Fresno
The shoot was actually in Exeter, California, but our hotel was in Fresno and that title sounds similar to Four Days in Sylmar, The Privateers Shoot. I suppose it’s because of they have the same number of syllables. Yes, I’m punchy, and it won’t get any better. Our hotel was in Fresno, because that was closest to our first location for the shoot. By the time we secured the site in Exeter, our third, the hotel was 45 miles away. We purchased rooms via Priceline.com and couldn’t switch. But it was a great price on some nice rooms. Besides, our leading lady was from Fresno. It worked to stay near her and all travel to the shoot together. It wasn’t a horrible inconvenience, except for the fog. We were warned about that even before reaching Fresno. There were fog visibility checks along State Route 99. That didn’t make much sense until the Saturday morning when we couldn’t see the IHOP across the parking lot from the hotel. Travis thought he had awoke in a Stephen King movie. Reaching Exeter was really scary. We all had eyes peeled for the sudden appearance of trucks stopped on the road.

Our location for the trailer shoot was a ranch in Exeter, CA that often host weddings, corporate team building and other events. The owners were connected to our horse wrangler and pistol provider, Rich Kreps, a resident of the area and a client of our partner. Our hosts were lovely, salt of the earth type folks with a great 20 acre spread where we found several kinds of backdrops for scenes and photos. Because the ranch hosts all sorts of events, our location had niceties that we weren’t expecting like a dressing room for our actors and some facilities that were nicer than what we rented for Demon Under Glass. We were expecting rustic, we got comfortable. And the family couldn’t have been sweeter people. Their five year old son, an Adorable Little Fellow (Alf), was with us most of Saturday and a good bit of Sunday. He was a blonde, blue-eyed, freckle faced cutie with limitless imagination and endless patience. It was really hard to leave him, especially after he volunteered to have his father build us a house on the property. He thought that because we were in a hotel that we were homeless. I’m keeping the offer in mind.

The ranch was not the frontier, but it had enough rustic feel to work for our needs. We had two scenes for Saturday. The first was Shadow Smith alone on a trail, exhausted from life on the run and paranoid about faceless foes. The second is Shadow enjoying a safe and soothing bath from warm water in a rain barrel. Unbeknownst to him, KD Delaney is watching from nearby. They seemed to be simple scenes because they were short and had no dialogue. Ha! We scoff at simplicity and somehow thwart it. The trail scene involved a horse. That adage about not working with animals or children exists for a reason. In this case, it’s the temperament of horses. They do not like strangers or surprises. Doc, the horse Travis would work with, was not an exception to that rule. He also didn’t like crossing wet areas or mounds in the grass. Doc had definite ideas of where he would go. The problem was that in the scene, Shadow is exhausted and not really steering the horse. Thus, Travis had to steer a very stubborn animal while looking like he was about to lapse into sleep. That part of the shoot took a while and involved much that could go on a gag reel.

Somehow, that scene got done, but the sun was low when we went for the rain barrel footage. And though we had many niceties, we did not have anyway to heat water for the rain barrel as planned. Travis had to pour handfuls of cold well water over his head and down his torso. And it wasn’t a quick scene, because we had to make sure the rivulets of water were visible on his skin. Our poor Shadow was soaked and freezing in bright sunlight by the time we finished. He was a trooper though. He poured all that cold water over himself and looked like he was enjoying it. I admit I was.

Our adventure continues in The Outlaw Has No Boots, the exciting sequel to The Vampire Had No Pants. Watch for it this Sunday.

Holi-daze – February Edition
Okay, there are too many holidays in this one, short month. There is Ground Hog Day, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Chinese New Year, President’s Day and on top of all of that, Black History Month. That’s a lot of pressure for a holiday minded person like myself, especially while readying for a shoot. I did what I could.

I didn’t get to Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez much. I did enjoy some lovely cold fried chicken and a glass of red wine while watching Peter Mansbridge in LA covering Super Tuesday for the Canadian Broadcasting. That was a real treat though I would have loved to see him in person, not streaming on the web. It was a pretty hot time. For the Chinese New Year, which is my year, the Year of the Rat, I made potstickers and low mein and sent well wishes to everyone. My wish for me and for Jon, aside from making a new film, is a return to France. It has been too long without a visit. As for the rest, I’m watching Black History being made this month. I don’t think that can be topped.

Author Stuff

I am still working on A Soldier’s Fate every day. I’ll be inputting until the wee small hours tonight. The caption contest is still on hold. Be patient.

Film Related Blog Delay

The blog will be a day or two late. We're just back from shooting The Gunslinger promo and need to fall over. It'll be a hoot though.

Gung Hay Fat Choy, Yall!

It is the Year of the Rat, my year. Shut up! May prosperity and good fortune find you and all you love!

And a belated laissez les bon temps rouler for Mardi Gras! I hope you debauched well and are now repenting.

I'll not likely blog Sunday as we will be returning from the shoot. Check anyway but late in the day.

Secret Service, Pixels and Codpieces

Warning: If you find yourself here via a google search for such things as TV shows or films, recipes or cities, this blog has some facts. However, this blog is one author’s very twisted musing on many weird things. It is sometimes graphic in content. If you read on, don’t write to yell at me.

Bush Vs Brentwood

There was a short but intense skirmish in LA’s Entitlement Zone (I cover the definition of that terms in the sybpress Blog entry Our Vida Locas). Bush was in town for some sort of Republican function in Bel Air. That’s not a large portion of the Zone, but his travel plans caused a monumental disruption to the entire area. We thought our commute would be affected, but the street we were on was cleared mid-way to UCLA. We found out the extent of Bush’s travel arrangement when we spied Marine One parked on a ball field a short distance from Sunset Blvd. Then were the Secret Service dudes and a phalanx of LAPD motorcycle cops. And they were all there to guard an empty helicopter. We couldn’t imagine how much firepower he had riding with the car. Our colleagues never saw any of this. They were caught in the mother of all LA traffic sams when the 405 was closed as was Sunset Blvd while Bush was on the move. There were no signs indicating why everything was standing still and goodness knows the Entitlement Zone doesn’t listen to AM news radio. They just do what they always do – try to plough through as if nothing was going on. There were near accidents and a lot of screaming and cursing. I don’t blame the Secret Service for closing the roads to traffic. In that neighborhood, someone driving a Hummer while on the phone, listening to an ipod and drinking coffee is likely to broadside the presidential limo and then be annoyed at being made late for a massage.

We got a kick out of seeing that big helicopter. And I have a soft spot for the Secret Service. I had more than one opportunity to interact with them while I worked at the Center City District in Philadelphia. The first time was during the wedding of Max Kennedy (son of Robert) to Victoria Strauss (heiress to the Pep Boys fortune). The Secret Service was with Ted Kennedy and I was part of Papparazzi control. They were very polite and professional for being really heavily armed.

What’s in a Name – Codpieces!

I’ve been shopping for the Hidden Passion Films (HPF) shorts since the mass visit to the costume house last week. I knew I was in for a long and strange internet journey when the costumes for the western proved to be a more difficult search than I thought. Vendors sometimes have different terms for clothing items. The search under old west gets far different listings than western. But the key word I really needed was frontier and I only got that while looking at the image results from one search. That took hours after last week’s blog, but it wasn’t the most frustrating search of that day. Finding fantasy clothing for The Gift of Surrender (GoS) has been surreal. Again, terms were a problem. Tunics mean different things to different vendors. Much of the clothing is custom made and thus either too expensive or too long to wait for delivery. The search was annoying because many of the men’s items like bracers for Everquest and Warcraft characters. I can’t have David wear pixels! There’s no protection against a horse’s saddle. I had no idea that there was a whole cottage industry behind elven-style wedding dresses. It was interesting, but not very helpful. And almost every site I found had a fine selection of codpieces. One had a zippered pocket for your renfaire bucks. Why, I asked myself. This was one answer:

What IS a Codpiece anyway and why do men prefer them?
Firstly, they are comfy. Ask any man brave enough to try one on.
They are a "Boxers~ not Briefs" expression of personal freedom. AHHHH!
They are also quite useful in attracting attention to your...ahem...best feature. Kind of like the Wonder Bra, if you will. AND... Chix dig them. 'Nuff said.

Okay, that’s their story, but it wasn’t helping me with my costume issues. I’m stilly searching off and on. However, the focus is on The Gunslinger. We’re four days from the trip north to do the short. We’ve got all of the costume issues solved and have almost all of the props. I’m going to have a practice run at food styling this afternoon. I’ll post photos of the experiment on the myspace page for HPF.

Caption Contest

I’ll post the results later today and a new one in two weeks. We’re just too busy with the shoot right now.

Holiday Posts

It's a crazy week with Mardi Gras and the Chinese New Year coming up. I'll have a rare mid-week post about those. I am of the Year of the Rat, so there must ne celebrating. As for Mardi Gras, it involves sybaritic indulgence. Of course, I'll be celebrating.