Still Struggling With Your Spec Screenplay? Stop Right Now.

If you are working on — or worse, thinking about starting work on — a spec screenplay, stop right now. Continue reading “Still Struggling With Your Spec Screenplay? Stop Right Now.”

The Improbable Journey of Berta Benz: The Movie

Okay, here’s a simple question: Who invented the automobile? Bet most of you, if you’re in the U.S., said Henry Ford who invented the Model T. If you did, you’re wrong. Look, my headline (and the photo here) is a bit of a clue, okay?

In fact, Wikipedia will tell you that a German named Karl Benz invented the first gasoline-powered automobile in 1885. (Ford developed the first mass-produced (assembly line) automobile, the Model T in 1896.)

Wikipedia is a little bit off the mark. It ignores the role played by Benz’s wife, Berta. Karl used Berta’s dowry for his various ventures including the invention of the horseless carriage, but he applied for the patent for his horseless carriage in his own name since back then married women could not apply for patents. Continue reading “The Improbable Journey of Berta Benz: The Movie”

Missing Girls & Small Town Secrets In Three Must-See (European) TV Thrillers

I took a mini European vacation recently — without leaving the comfort of my own home. In between finishing the readable draft of Book3 and starting revisions, I bought a first class seat on a murder mystery tour of Europe.

It’s all easily done if you subscribe to a few of those streaming video services like Netflix or Acorn TV. Good value, I think — even if you are already paying about $200 a month for your bundled cable TV, internet and (useless) landline. Continue reading “Missing Girls & Small Town Secrets In Three Must-See (European) TV Thrillers”

Rest In Power : The Trayvon Martin Story Is Must-Must-See -TV

The shooting death of unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin by a fat-faced, ranting cop wannabe “woke” me — as it did many others in white America — more than six years ago in February 2012. Trayvon, a 17-year old African-American was walking along a path in a gated community in Sanford, Florida where he was visiting with his father when George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer shot him through the heart. Continue reading “Rest In Power : The Trayvon Martin Story Is Must-Must-See -TV”

The Staircase Hubby: Charmer Or Psychopath?

There are some fascinating tidbits of information you will NOT see on The Staircase, the 13-episode true crime docu-series currently streaming on Netflix. One of them is the full story of the blowpokes. It relates to the fact that in September 2003 while he was on trial for the first-degree murder of his wife, novelist Michael Peterson called an antiques store in Maine and ordered three blowpokes to be shipped overnight to his home in Durham, North Carolina. Continue reading “The Staircase Hubby: Charmer Or Psychopath?”