—John Payne, Miracle on 34th Street
This will be somewhat brief, as I am working on my draft of Antiques Slay Belles for Severn House.
What is remarkable – and tricky – about this one is how good a writer my bride Barb has developed into. I’ve noticed this before, of course – perhaps most strikingly on Cutout, which will be published in April by Neo Text – but on the Trash ‘n’ Treasures books, her improvement over the nineteen (!) titles in the series has been understandably gradual if always impressive.
I have often commented that if I’d been a brain surgeon, Barb would likely have picked that up, too. She had not been a big reader (her favorite mystery series was Nancy Drew) and probably what influenced her most (obviously in her acclaimed short story work) was adaptations of Roald Dahl’s classic tales on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which she watched growing up.
This time she presented me with a 250-page draft and it’s my job to expand it to something over 300 pages. And her writing is so tight and polished now, I sometimes feel more like I’m desecrating the prose, not improving it.
Don’t get the idea you can be a writer of prose fiction just by being smart and paying attention. That helps, and it may be key – but Barb has always had an innate story sense. Her off-hand criticisms of the many movies we watch are almost always spot on. Long before she began writing fiction herself she was my in-house editor. She has learned to be tactful and gentle in her notes, as few writers on earth take criticism any worse than me.
The odd thing about working on Antiques Slay Belles is that it’s tough to improve on something that doesn’t need improvement; but we have a contract requiring a higher word count than what 250 pages gives us, so I can’t just smile and walk away, saying, “Well done!”
It’s a nice problem.
Though the contracts have yet to be signed (actually yet to be received), last week we firmed up distribution for Blue Christmas by VCI Home Entertainment and MVD Home Video.
The Blu-ray (and the film will likely be on DVD as well) will be packed with extras, including a commentary, a half-hour bio film on yrs truly, and highlights from the premieres (and their Q and A sessions). This will probably not be available till October of this year, as the Christmas season (obviously) is the target market for Blue Christmas.
Rob Merritt as P.I. Richard Stone
I may look into a limited signed advance edition of perhaps 50 Blu Rays to see here long before the national on-sale date. Is that a good idea?
Till then, here are the premiere venues, all Iowa:
Collins Road Theater/Cedar Rapids Premiere; March 13th
Palms 10/Muscatine Premiere; March 16th
Last Picture House/Quad Cities Premiere; March 22nd
If you donated to our crowd-funding efforts (at Indiegogo and here at my web site, and qualify for free admission), please write me at macphilms@hotmail.com and let me know which premiere you wish to attend. (My records on who donated what are a trifle sketchy.) We will get you on the comp list. The larger donations include a Plus One, so if you fall into that category, let me know.
We have also entered four film festival events that you are encouraged to attend (and be a part of the Q&A, etc. if we are accepted):
Julien Film Festival/Dubuque – (April 25th-28th)
Iowa Motion Picture Awards –(May 4th) No Q & A, award event.
Iowa Independent Film Festival – (Sept 5th – 7th)
We’ve had a lovely quote from the great Heath Holland at Cereal at Midnight (it’s on YouTube among other venues):
Max Allan Collins proves yet again that he is a master storyteller.”
Heath is one of the best and most winning presences on YouTube in the Physical Media area. I did an interview with him (warning: I blathered on endlessly) that should be posted soon. Heath and I share a number of interests, which is why I responded to his questions as if I’d been vaccinated with a phonograph needle (an oldie but a goodie).
The other YouTube presence I would recommend is the unique Robert Meyer Burnett, who I’ve discussed here previously. He is very funny and extremely (but not obnoxiously) opinionated, an erudite man with a strong comic sensibility. And he knows even more about Star Trek than Barb and me. Full disclosure: Rob is producing the Nate Heller podcast, for which we’ve done a pilot already (starring the great Todd Stashwick of Picard fame as Nathan Heller) with a crowd-funding effort coming up soon.
Here’s a wonderful five-star review of The Big Bundle from Craig Zablo.
Here’s a nice write-up on my Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane documentary, somewhat spoiled by two imbecilic comments.
That doc is offered on various streaming services. Please watch it on one of the authorized sources – the free ones are generally ripping me off.
M.A.C.
