THE HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE AND BOOK NEWS

THE HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE

I've been living in Los Angeles a long damn time now. It's a maddening town. Selling a screenplay isn't so much about having talent and a great script as it is about having the right connections. People will disagree with me, but that's the truth. So the next time you see a two hundred million dollar turd on the big screen, you'll know why. I get mad when I see books about screenwriting in Hollywood or lectures, where the speaker says, "all you have to do is write a great script." They're not telling people the whole truth. It helps to have a great script. But that's only the beginning.

That being said, anything is possible. I'm a pessimistic optimist. If I wasn't, I would have moved out of LA long ago. Then again, it is nearly 80 degrees outside with blue skies and sunshine.

Finally, now with an independent producer I'm working with on the Paramount lot, things are starting to look promising. We're out with a TV show. Things are slowly starting to fall into place. But, we spent much of last year pushing a boulder up a mountain.

So, as jaded as I am, I'm also hopeful. Maybe this will be the one. If not, I will keep on trying.

"THE BLACK ALBUM: A Hollywood Horror Story"

Amazon has begun promoting the book, I'm looking for publications that will review it, and I've also rewritten the original screenplay. It's scarier and darker, delving even more into the psyche of the characters and what they're going through. After being persuaded, I'm pursuing a reboot of the movie either as an indie or a small studio horror film. We're currently out to some investors.

"SPOOK: Confessions of a Psychic Spy" 

I've finished writing the book and handed it off to my editor a week ago. So far - she's halfway through the book - I've gotten rave reviews from her. She really enjoyed TBA (or at least she told me she did), but she said she likes "Spook" way more. In a way, I feel like "Spook" is my first novel. I wrote TBA in a breezy pop culture kind of fashion. I wrote "Spook" like a novel. I hope it is regarded as an important piece of literature. 

While the editor is going through the book, I'm now planning a photo shoot for the book cover. Whereas, I just slapped something together for TBA, I really want the book cover for "Spook" to be slick, iconic and eye-catching.

I am curious how it's going to be received. After-all, as an African American, I have a book coming out with the image of a Black man on the cover and the title Spook. Then again, this novel is supposed to spark lively debate and explore hard issues that we don't want to discuss. 

As bizarre as it sounds, I describe "Spook" as "12 Years a Slave" meets "James Bond." And if you think I'm jumping on the "12 Years" bandwagon, know this, I'm adapting this novel from a screenplay I wrote over three years ago. 

Anyway, that's all the updates for now. In a few weeks, I will be writing my first YA novel and my creative wheels are already spinning in that direction.

Sincerely,

Carlton Kenneth Holder

The Hell Board

Images courtesy of "The Black Album"