• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Jill Hedgecock

Fiction Writer

  • Home
  • Jill Hedgecock
  • Events
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • Contact
  • Services
  • Sign Up

celebrity

Meet Emmy Award Winning Screenwriter and Historical Fiction Novelist Alan Brennert

In one paragraph, tell us about your new book, Palisades Park.

Like my novels Moloka’i and Honolulu, Palisades Park tells the “history behind the history” of this renowned amusement park, as seen by young Toni Stopka, daughter of concessionaires, who dreams of becoming a daredevil high diver.  Performers, pitchmen, the civil rights demonstrators picketing the gates, the underworld bosses meeting in secret across the street…all their stories are intertwined in a narrative that spans the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, up to the park’s closure in 1971.

What was your favorite novel or screenplay to write?

I enjoyed writing Palisades Park, but the novel I enjoyed most was Moloka’i.  I got up every day excited to begin work on that book, because I was writing about a place that I loved—Hawai’i—and a little-known part of history that no one else had approached in quite this way.  I did my research in the morning, wrote in the afternoon until dinnertime, and often went back to my computer in the evening if I had a problem that still had to be resolved or a if a new idea had occurred to me that I wanted to get down.

What do you see as the biggest difference between writing a novel and a screenplay? 

A screenplay is a blueprint for a film, and my job as a screenwriter is to tell the story through action, dialog, and minimal scene description.  But when I’m writing a novel I’m not just the writer, I’m the director, the actors, the location scout, the set dresser, the wardrobe supervisor—I have to create the entire world of the story in words.  Each medium has its own challenges and its own rewards.

Tell us about winning an Emmy for your work on the television show, L.A. Law, in 1991.  Did you get more satisfaction for this achievement, for the People’s Choice Award, or for winning the Nebula Award for “Ma Qui”?

The Emmy was something I had dreamed about winning since I was a kid—literally.  Growing up, my idols were writers like Rod Serling, Paddy Chayefsky, Ernest Kinoy, James Costigan—the men behind the “golden age of television” of the 1950s (most of which I didn’t experience firsthand, being a bit too young, but discovered through reruns and movies).  So it was quite a rush being up on stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium when L.A. Law won for Best Drama Series.  But I’m very proud of my Nebula Award as well, since that was a validation of, and my first award for, my literary work.

What authors or people have most influenced your writing career?

 It’s an eclectic mix: authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, Jonathan Strong and Ray Bradbury; playwrights like Robert Anderson and Thornton Wilder; and the aforementioned Serling, Costigan, et al.  I’ve gone on to write in all those media—books, a play, film—and I like to think I continue to be influenced by good work in each field. (Moloka’i, as I’ve said elsewhere, was inspired by a fine novel called Consider This, Señora by Harriet Doerr, Honolulu shows influences of the work of Arthur Golden and Lisa See, and Palisades Park owes something to Larry McMurtry’s The Desert Rose).

I understand that you are transforming one of your first novels, Time and Chance, into a screenplay.  As you revisit this work, where do you see your biggest improvement as a writer over time?  Is reworking this novel like visiting an old friend?

I had the opportunity to bring Time and Chance back into print a few years ago, and in the process I found myself doing a fairly heavy polish on it.  I didn’t change anything in the story, just polished or simplified the prose where it seemed too flowery or where the syntax was a bit rococo.  I performed what I like to call a “semi-colonectomy,” deleting vast numbers of unnecessary commas, semi-colons, dashes, and ellipses that I would not use when writing a novel today.  It made me realize that my prose style has evolved since 1990 (when Time and Chance was published)—it’s cleaner, leaner, smoother.

Do you enjoy book tours or writing more?

I’m essentially an introvert who can be extroverted when the occasion demands (you have to be to work in Hollywood, where you collaborate daily with so many people).  So although I do enjoy book tours and meeting readers, I’m at heart happiest when sitting in a room writing.

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about Alan Brennert.  To learn more, visit his website (http://www.alanbrennert.com).

 

Filed Under: celebrity, Publishing, Reading, resources, screenwriting, Writing Tagged With: Alan Brennert, emmy, Hawaii, Honolulu, L.A. Law, Molokai, Rod Serling

TV PERSONALITY STEVE PAULSON DISCUSSES MULTIMEDIA BOOKS

I have been doing blog interviews as part of my critique group blog: writers on the journey and am reposting some of them on my personal blog.  Here is  meteorologist Steve Paulson’s interview:

 

In one paragraph, tell us about your new multi-media photo eBook, What’s Up Bangkok.

It’s an interactive multimedia eBook with pictures, video, maps, audio, external and internal links highlighting International Photographer and good friend, Daniel Herron. He’s from the Bay Area, Mountain View, but is now based in Bangkok. He takes great photos so I suggested we do an eBook showcasing his work with a focus on travel to Thailand through interactivity.

What do you think are the advantages of multi-media books and what genre do you think best suites this format?

You can do some much more through interactivity. With an iPad, enhanced features such as video and even audio can take the reader on a journey which isn’t available in print. Many magazines are now taking this path. “Entertainment Weekly” is cutting edge by offering a download of their weekly publication. Movie Trailers, additional video of movie star interviews plus direct links to Musical artists where you can buy one of their songs online are all possible through interactivity. Can’t do it in print. Best genres are Cookbooks, Children’s Books, Travel and believe it or not, Japanese Anime. Comic books are going through the roof as eBooks.

What should an author that is planning on using multi-media consider before taking the plunge?

Either Doing It Yourself (DIY) or farming it out. Some eBook building platforms aren’t that difficult to learn but like anything new, they take time. Do you want to build an eBook or an App? There’s a huge difference. If you farm your work out, make sure you have deep pockets. How much interactivity are you considering? Only pictures? Not that difficult. Adding any audio or video? Not you’re talking work. Our eBook completely taxed the platform we used. We made them better but not before a lot of frustration. I can’t tell you how the littlest things stopped me cold. Usually, I figured it out but sometimes, I had to ask for help.

What have been the biggest challenges in tackling this media and would you do it again? 

Biggest challenge was having interactivity work not only on my computer but transferring it “clean” to an iPad Took two months for our eBook to playback the way I wanted it on an iPad. A lot of platforms say they’re interactive but most are vanilla. Yes, I would definitely do it again and already have two new projects in the pipeline. Here are two cool examples but trust me, this took a lot of work:

http://vimeo.com/24579915

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9fJ52i4h6I

What platforms exist and do you recommend any of them for authors that want to make their novels multimedia? Would you have a different recommendation for nonfiction?

If you use an iMac, then I would recommend iAuthor. Most authors use WORD for print and that’s fine but if you’re considering multimedia or interactivity, many Platforms won’t work on a PC. Your best bet by a mile is a new iMac desktop with iMovie, iPhoto and Garageband. You’ll have to teach yourself how to use those but workshops plus One-on-One help is available at Apple. For our book, we used “Aerbook.” Located in San Francisco. Excellent customer service for code issues or help in understanding how to build something. I think they’re a great first eBook option if you want to build a children’s book or quick travel book. Other Platforms include “Inkling”, “Bookbaby” and “Vook”. Fiction or nonfiction would both work. If you really want to go all out, learn or pay someone who knows Adobe InDesign CS6. Probably the slickest option available but it’ll cost you some serious bank.

Did your background in television help you? 

No, not really. I’m a visual person anyway so this was all in the same vein if you will. We did have access to our Audio Booth so we had a great option for sound quality.

What can an author expect financially if they do the work themselves before and after their book is published? 

Try and do it yourself because you’ll save a ton of money. The sweat and frustration equity takes a toll but I was quoted $5000 to build our book and I did for just under $1000. Don’t expect to get rich. 10 months of work and we listed our eBook at $3.99. Most readers/viewers simply won’t pay too much online. For the amount of time and effort I put into building our eBook, it should be listed at $19.99 but I doubt we’d sell too many. Don’t forget, Apple iBooks takes 30% then your Distribution source (ours is Aerbook and we use their Retail Store) or Payment Channel, will take anywhere from an additional 5% to 12%. That doesn’t leave much left for you.

How long does adding multimedia content typically take?

Took me about 10 months. Do a rough draft on time then double it. For a basic picture book with only a little bit of interactivity, I would think two to four months.

What about copyright concerns?

This is a great question and big concern. We had to completely revamp our eBook on the day of publication due to the owner of Aerbook saying there were copyright issues.  Dropped all copyrighted music and went back in and built everything using royalty free music. Royalty free music (on iTunes) or original songs are your best friend!

Can you provide some useful links?

Aerbook: http://aerbook.com/site

iAuthor: http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/

Inkling: https://www.inkling.com

Bookbaby: http://www.bookbaby.com

Heavy hitters called Aptara: http://www.aptaracorp.com

Payment System you link directly into your eBook—Gumroad: https://gumroad.com

Carla King, eBook author/Self-Publishing Bootcamps: http://www.carlaking.com/book

 

Filed Under: celebrity, Publishing, Reading, resources, Writing Tagged With: blog interview, Daniel Herron, how to, multimedia book, photo ebook, Steve Paulson, TV personality, What's Up Bangkok

Favorite Dog Celebrity: Shadow

My favorite celebrity dog isn’t Lassie or Scooby Doo.  It isn’t Marley or Snoopy or Spuds MacKenzie or Benji.  It isn’t Frasier’s Eddy or Wishbone.

Of course, it is Shadow.  Not the Shadow of my book, but Shadow, the Golden Retriever, in the 1993 movie, Homeward Bound.  I love his loyalty, I love his wisdom.  I love his unfettered determination to make his way home to his master, Peter.  He epitomizes the ideal dog.

With all that adulation, you might suspect that the Shadow in my book is named after this Shadow.  But that wasn’t the case.  The Shadow in my book is named after my own dog, whose name came from his behavior.  After I rescued him, he followed me everywhere.    My own Shadow and the celebrity Shadow do have one thing in common though.  They are both very special canines.

Filed Under: celebrity, Dogs, movie Tagged With: Benji, celebrity, Eddy, golden retriever, Homeward Bound, Lassie, Marley, Rin Tin Tin, Scooby Doo, Shadow, Spuds MacKenzie

Footer

UPCOMING EVENTS

Ekphrasis Speaking Event at Orinda Library 5/4/23

I’ve been chosen to speak about “Contentment” my art initiator project on Saturday at the Ekphrasis Reception on 5/4/23. The speakers will be on hand from 3 to 5 pm and the talks will be held at the Orinda Library Auditorium between 3:30 and 4:30 pm.

12/7/23 Event- New Zealand Great Walks and Great Bird

Mount Diablo Audubon Society presentation, Main Speaker, 7:30 pmPleasant Hill Community Center at 320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill, 94523

SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Sign up announcements and book reviews

Latest Post

  • Guest Blog Post on Writing Endings June 19, 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Jill Hedgecock · Goshawk Press