Category: Authors

15 Fast-Talking Facts About “Get Shorty”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Fast-Talking Facts About Get Shorty.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. “SHORTY” WAS DUSTIN HOFFMAN.
Danny DeVito’s Martin Weir character was modeled after Dustin Hoffman, who Elmore Leonard dealt with when the actor expressed interest in an adaptation of the author’s LaBrava.Weir’s very specific food order at a restaurant was based on Hoffman ordering off-menu at a lunch meeting with Leonard. Hoffman suspected he was Shorty after the book came out.

3. QUENTIN TARANTINO CONVINCED TRAVOLTA TO PLAY PALMER.
Travolta said no to Sonnenfeld. Twice. His Pulp Fiction director convinced him to change his mind.

15. ELMORE LEONARD LOVED IT.
“Definitely, it’s the best adaptation I’ve had,” Leonard said at the time of its release. At that point, 12 of his books had been adapted into movies. He also said he never realized how funnyGet Shorty was until he saw the film.

9 Celebrities Reading Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”

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Today we have a trick and some treats thanks to Andrew LaShane and Mental_Floss who present 9 Celebrities Reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven.

The celebrities are Christopher Walken, James Earl Jones, Sir Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Stan Lee, John Astin, Basil Rathbone, William Shatner and Tay Zonday.

What, what’s the trick you ask?  Well, the art above shows Sylvester Stallone as Poe, but Sly isn’t one of the celebs reading The Raven.  [No wisecracks about that’s a treat, please.]

The treat then?  Vincent Price’s reading embedded below!

13 Facts About L. Frank Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz

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Joy Lanzendorfer and Mental_Floss present 13 Facts About L. Frank Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. BAUM FRAMED THE PENCIL HE USED TO WRITE THE NOVEL.
L. Frank Baum—former chicken rancher, traveling salesman, and theater manager—had already published two successful children’s books when he started The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1898. He finished the book in October 1899. He must have been proud of his work, for he framed the pencil stub and hung it on the wall of his study. On the attached paper he scrawled, “With this pencil I wrote the manuscript of The Emerald City.”

2. HE GOT THE NAME “OZ” FROM HIS FILING CABINET.
At first, Baum had trouble coming up with a name for the magical land Dorothy visits. Then one day he found himself looking at the filing cabinet in his study. There were three drawers marked “A to G,” “H to N,” and “O to Z.” And so Oz was born.

9. THE BOOK SOLD OUT IN TWO WEEKS.
Full distribution began in August. According to the publisher, the first printing of 10,000 copies sold out in two weeks, followed by a second printing of 15,000 and a third printing of 10,000. In November, there was a fourth printing of 30,000 and in January, a fifth printing of 25,000. That’s 90,000 books in the first six months. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz remained a bestseller for two years.

11 Books That Scared the Master of Horror, Stephen King

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Amy Sachs and Bustle present 11 Books That Scared the Master of Horror, Stephen King.

I haven’t read any of ’em.  There are a few on King’s list I will want to check out.  Truth be told, I’m still working my way through about four book cases full of books to be read… with more than a couple by Stephen King.  (Of course there’s always room for another books to be read book case — just don’t tell my wife.)

Max Allan Collins’ Interview: Nate Heller, Batman, Quarry, Wild Dog and More!

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Max Allan Collins is one of my favorite novelists.  Collins’ Nathan Heller historical novels are buy-as-soon-as-they-come-out must reads.

Collins discusses…

  • the soon to be released trade for Wild Dog [co-created with artist Terry Beatty]
  • Ms. Tree [also co-created with Terry Beatty]
  • the upcoming Quarry tv show [based on Collins’ hitman Quarry novels]

“The Six” by George Pelecanos & Andrew Ewington and Mack Chater

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I am going to be all over this one.

From master author George Pelecanos, (HBO’s The Wire, The Pacific, Treme), comes a searing tale of warfare at its worst and fighting soldiers at their best. When the wife of a former Marine buddy finds herself a target of a vicious Mexican cartel, she ends up turning to her husband’s old squad for help. Sergeant James McQuade and five former members of the Five-One Sand Scorpions find themselves outnumbered and outgunned against the most lethal and unpredictable enemy they ever went head-to-head with.  It was someone else’s war but it was their fight.  Just the way they like it.

The Six, written by George Pelecanos with Andrew Ewington, art by Mack Chater  from Michael Bay‘s 451 Media Group this November.

Source: Bleeding Cool.

16 Nostalgic Facts About “Stand by Me”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 16 Nostalgic Facts About Stand by Me.  Here are three of my favorites…

3. COCA-COLA ALMOST SHUT DOWN THE MOVIE ENTIRELY.
The soda company bought Embassy Pictures, the film’s original production company, and announced they weren’t going to fund Stand by Me just two days before they were set to start shooting. Television legend Norman Lear—who had worked with Reiner for years on All in the Family—was one of the three owners of Embassy prior to its sale. He believed in the project enough that he agreed to personally foot the film’s $8 million budget.

14. STEPHEN KING WAS IMPRESSED.
After Reiner screened the finished product for the author, King excused himself for 15 minutes. When he returned, he said it was the first time one of his stories was successfully put on film. King even applauded Reiner for changing it so that Gordie picks up the gun instead of Chris, wishing he had thought of that in the first place.

13. REINER CAME UP WITH THE TITLE.
Columbia Pictures didn’t like the idea of using The Body as the movie title for a variety of reasons. Reiner thought naming it after the Ben E. King song that plays at the end of the movie would be good. Co-writer Raynold Gideon said Reiner’s suggestion was the “least unpopular option.”

The Best Opening Lines from Crime Novels

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Sam Wiebe and Eric Beetner got together to discuss some of their favorite crime novels’ opening lines.

It’s interesting reading and while we’re at it, here are three of my favs…

“They threw me off the hay truck about noon.”  – James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice

“I turned the Chrysler onto the Florida Turnpike with Rollo Kramer’s headless body in the trunk, and all the time I’m thinking I should have put some plastic down.”  – Victor Gischler, Gun Monkeys

 “I poisoned your drink.” – Duane Swierczynski, The Blonde

John Ridley and “American Crime”

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I discovered John Ridley through his novels.  He’s an amazing writer.

Ridley is probably best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave. 

Ridley is also the creative genius behind the series American Crime.  The series is unlike anything on television.  The emotions are so raw, so real, that it was hard to watch some episodes.  But I’m glad I did.  What a ride!

If you tuned in to the series or want to know more about it, why not check out Anna Lisa Raya’s interview with John Ridley?

Source: Deadline.