JJ Abrams Envy

I could have been JJ Abrams, the director of the upcoming Star Trek AND Star Wars films. This Tuesday, I sill might get my chance.

In the mid nineties, my then unpublished manuscript Rattlesnake Lawyer was under consideration by a major publisher. We also had a deal with Fox. We were one of three scripts they were considering for pilots. I was told that my producers were going to get someone you've heard of to play the lead part.

I don't know whether the book deal died because the TV deal died or vice versa. The book was published, but let's just say I did not have a million dollar marketing campaign behind me, I had myself and my Saturn driving along the interstate. I did get a few more chances. I was repped by the William Morris agency for a while. We literally sold the story in the room for a series to a major producer. Unfortunately, a writer's strike hit and the project went into turnaround.

Why the obsession with JJ Abrams? We look a bit alike, although he's got more hair, but I'm taller. I loved Lost. You can see echoes of Abrams in my last novel, Lawyer Geisha Pink--the strong, but troubled female lead could easily have been played by an Asian Jennifer Garner.

I do play the "What if" game with myself. If Fox had made the pilot, I'd be living in Hollywood right now. However, I do like my life right now, I'm definitely "keeping it real." I wouldn't have met my wife right now or have my friends.

Perhaps everything is working out the way it's supposed to. This Tuesday, is the amazon.com launch of my eigth novel, Rattlesnake Wedding. There's nothing Abramsy about it-- except that it combines two genres-- romance with legal thriller. Still, if enough of you buy the book on the March 19 book launch day, who knows? It might become a movie.

I know who I'd like to produce it....