Buzz
by John Wolf

This month, one thing leads to another. I mentioned Erica Miner's new book "Murder in the Pit" was going to be released last month—now is has. I obtained a copy and will talk about this more later. One of the interesting things about Erica's book is that it was written from a screenplay (of the same title). That's a little unusual, but segues into the second book I want to bring to your attention this month and that is Linda Seger's book "Making a Good Script Great." This is a no nonsense guide to developing a great screenplay based on real world examples. In fact, Erica solicited the aid of Linda to do the reverse and convert her screenplay into a book.

First let's get into "Murder in the Pit." What a suspensful mystery centered around the assassination of Abel Trudeau at the Metropolotan Opera House in New York City. Abel was conducting Verdi's opera Don Carlo. This was the opening night on the career of young Julia Kogen, the protagonist and prote'ge'e of the conductor. She was a violinist sitting in the pit. A shot rang out at the same instant that Carlo's friend is shot during the dramatic scene unfolding on stage. Erica skillfully describes the many individuals found back stage is this complex theater, each one with personalities that would raise an eyebrow. Poor Julia is tortured to see friends lives get sweep away in the currents of the investigation along with her dreams to just be the best violinist and be all she could be to impression Abel on her opening performance.

Erica takes us through an Operitic journey to understand how the Met works and all its politics. The twists and turns provide for a fun stoy to become obsorbed in.

So how can she pull off such a complex stroy with such realism? Erica was a violinist in the Met orchestra for 21 years–that's how.

The story not only tells us about the inner workings of the Met, but is a character study as she reveals the interplay among the characters, each one more interesting to follow than the next. This is a book you want to read. Here's the link to obtain a copy. Murder in the Pit Also visit her website: Erica Miner

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Linda Seger's book is a trestise on writing screenplays. It diagrams and charts the elements that have to be present if success is the goal in this highly structured style of writing.

What she aptly describes is screenplays are three act plays. First is the set-up that sets the scene and introduces the characters. Then a turning point occurs to start the story rolling into act two—the development. This is the long segment that pulls us into the story and sets a rythum, in fact the events are called beats and are quite deliborate. The mid-point can produce a turn or key peak in the story, but the development segment breaks into act three with a turning point as well, this time the pace picks up as act three contains the climax of the story. This second turning point is important to push the story toward a conclusion and close any lingering questions.

It is critical to end the story swiftly post climax not to confuse the viewers why the story is continuing. The whole point of a successful screenplay is to draw you in, carry you through the what, where, why and when, and then leave you gasping at the climax, leaving you with the excitement to go tell friends, "You gotta go see this film!"

Linda draws on her experience work on some 1500 screenplays, many of which were major movie successes. She was in the room when the cut were make. She was part of the process and learned from it to write this book.

So if you are the least bit interested in how this exciting writing style works, I would highly recommend not only this book, but Segers entire series of books on successful screenplay writing.

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Book Launch Party for "Murder in the Pit"
Thursday, June 24, 2010
7:00 pm
Mysterious Galaxy Book Store

"A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof." - Rene Char
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