Coming Soon--John Harrison's Destiny Gardens

My friend writer/director John Harrison (Dune, Donor Unknown, Tales from the Darkside) has written his first novel, Destiny Gardens. It's a love-letter to his hometown, Pittsburgh, and a loving recreation of a particular place and time. Part coming-of-age story and part crime fic,the book will be out next month. Here's the cover to whet your appetite.

We all get by with a little help from our friends--and Kickstarter

David Simkins gave me my first computer. It was a Mac Classic II and the sweetest little machine ever. I loved that computer because it was so user-friendly. I've known David since the Eighties when he was developing a movie at Silver Pictures. He and I pitched a television pilot together and were in a writer's group that included talented people like Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Kevin Messick, James McQuaide and Peter Lenkov. Everybody in the group wanted David to critique their scripts because his notes were so good and he was so generous with his time.

Simkins went on to work on  television shows as different as Charmed, The Dresden Files (with the aforementioned Robert Hewitt Wolfe), Angel, Lois & Clark, Warehouse 13 (and most recently) Grimm. He writes great characters and terrific dialogue and if you tune into a show he's written, you're guaranteed a good time. (And in case you're wondering, the heroine of my Misbegotten stories, Kira Simkins, is named for him.)

David Simkins is running a Kickstarter campaign for his new project Lily, and one of the premiums you can get for your contribution is a critique of a television script by him. Forget the project--those notes alone are worth the contribution.

I know you see a lot of pleas for Kickstarter campaigns, but this one is different. Really. The campaign is to fund a show called LILY, starring Lynn Ayala. It's a crime show but not like the cookie cutter crime shows the networks give us every pilot season. check out the campaign here, and let the creators tell you about it. There's a lot of talent involved and it's going to be something special. Wouldn't you like to be a part of that?  I know I do.

Stephen King's library PSA

I remember this from when it originally aired.

Happy Earth Day

Don't just sit there, recycle something!

Truer words were never spoken.

This is why I love my Kindle so much. There are always freebies available so i don't feel so guilty.

the most important op-ed piece you'll ever read Gabby Giffords has a few things to say

Gabrielle Giffords has written an eloquent, angry, heart-breaking op-ed piece excoriating the Senate for yesterday's vote to maintain the status quo on America's gun laws. You can read it here on the New York Times' site.  Giffords now heads up a group called "Americans for Responsible Solutions," and you can join the conversation on gun violence by going there.

I'm outraged. And I vote. And I will remember this.