Busy day at the office

Posted on July 30, 2010 (Subscribe to Blog)

My first stock order of Mountain of Whispers books arrived by UPS this morning, so I've been busy mailing off packages to those who have bought copies already, and a few more to those who either won or earned free copies.

If you want a copy, buy it here.

I received an email to ask whether I would like to appear on a local TV channel to talk about the new book, and of course I said yes. That's on August 12th, UCTV channel at 11.30am (assuming it's all confirmed).

I was interviewed for the Breakout Books blog. I like this kind of thing; it's much easier for me to write down my answers than sit quaking in front of a camera or audience. Having said that, I'm looking forward to doing the rounds again, if I can organize some book talks and things; meeting people in person is by far the best way to get the books Out There.

My agent, Whitt Brantley, has requested that I write a screenplay for Island of Fog. He's currently speaking to traditional publishers, trying to find a buyer for the manuscript, but at the same time wants to continue pushing the novel at TV and movie producers, and for that he says it's a lot easier when it's a screenplay rather than a novel. I've never written a screenplay, but have seen how they're formatted and have a general idea how to do it. I wrote ten pages and he liked them, so now I'm forging ahead with a bunch more pages. Here's an example:

Sample of ISLAND OF FOG screenplay

There's a specific way to indent text, and I've been following those methods closely thanks to a free bit of software called Celtx that does all that stuff for you, and allows you to get on with the writing part. What I find interesting is that, in the screenplay world, each page on average should represent one minute of screen time. I think my example page here is a little more than that, but it probably evens out. If a movie producer is given a 300-page screenplay, it's an automatic no-no because that screenplay, in theory, represents a 5-hour movie, which is not going to happen unless your name is Peter Jackson.

Meanwhile, I continue to work at my day job (website design) and am hoping to get started on some Island of Fog minichapters fairly soon. Busy busy busy!

Comment by MING on Sunday, August 1, 2010...

I don't know if it is just me, but I could see a movie play in my head while reading that screenplay! :-) By the way, this page looks a bit different - the background wasn't black, was it?

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Sunday, August 1, 2010...

Different? The background has always been black, Ming. The only difference is that I altered the bit on the right, combining the three books into one panel. I also added a dragon picture to the top of the home page, and changed the link "Home" to "Blog." But otherwise, everything is the same. :-)

Comment by JULIE@OWLSDENE on Monday, August 2, 2010...

Like Ming, I could see this clearly in my head, Keith. Seems like things are really 'On The Up' for you at the moment. I hope it all takes off. All ready I can see your name in bold at the bottom of books and films. Good luck.

Comment by MING on Monday, August 2, 2010...

I get it! I was confusing the background with the one on Twitter! Silly me. :-)

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Monday, August 2, 2010...

Julie, where are you already seeing my name in bold at the bottom of films? I wanna see too, and claim my royalties!! Hehe. :-)

I really must get on with some more of that screenplay this week.

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