Hollywood, here I come!

In early November, along with eighty of my traditionally published crime-writing colleagues, I was  invited to attend "Sisters in Crime Goes To the Movies: Selling Your Book To Hollywood," which turned out to be one of the best conferences I've attended -- ever.  Sponsored by Sisters in Crime national, organized by the Los Angeles chapter, and subsidized by Author Coalition funds, participants stayed in funky hotels in the heart of old Hollywood and attended sessions at the Writers Guild of Los Angeles where we met the best screenwriters, agents and producers in the biz, including those responsible for such great TV shows as Law & Order, Monk, Deadwood, CSI ... the list goes on and on. 

After checking into the Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel near the intersection of Fairfax and Beverly, I joined Sujata Massey and Caroline Hart for an evening event at the Cerritos Public Library, a stunning new $40 million facility that might well have been designed by Walt Disney, but that would be a slap in the face to Charles Walton and Associates of Glendale, California who were actually responsible for this, the first titanium-clad building in the United States. 

The next morning, we toured Sony Studios, and in the evening drove to Encinitas for a well-attended program for the American Association of University Women at Barnes and Noble.

The following morning, we were guests in the audience of The Dr Phil Show (honestly, some of those people need to GET A LIFE!!), then spent all day in the classroom, learning from top pros in the business how to pitch our novels.   The secret? Twenty-five words or less.  High concept.  "Bambi meets the Godfather" or "Miss Marple meets The Perfect Storm."  Like that.

Saturday found us scattered throughout Los Angeles for group signings at area bookstores.  I appeared at the Mystery Bookstore with a dream panel -- Anne Perry, Naomi Hirahara, and  Sujata Massey, an event that was later featured as Picture of the Day in Publishers Weekly.

Satruday night we attended a private screening of Showtime's Dexter (ooooooh ... hands-covering-my-eyes scary) and finally, on Sunday, were given the opportunity to pitch our novel to a real producer, from well-known independents to senior executives at studios like Universal and Dreamworks.  Fingers crossed!