My "mission accomplished" announcement of my victory over Cyberspace appears to have been premature. . . . however, I won't cut and run, I'm staying the course. So here we go again. Several of you have remarked on the differences between the Jesse Stone films, and the Jesse Stone novels on which they are based. As I have said, the average script for a two hour TV movie is about 87 pages long. If it is based on a 300 page novel, there will, of necessity, be some cutting. Beyond that, it is two different kinds of story telling. In film, there is no need to say "she was wearing a black sweater and white pants." The camera shows you this. What might make a good scene in a book ("In the pitch black room, unable to see a thing, Jesse took out his gun and held it at his side"), might not work so well in a film. A lot of characters may enrich a book, but clutter a 90 minute film, and cost money (actor's salaries) to boot. And so forth. The next Jesse Stone (#5), THIN ICE, will start shooting in August. It is not based on any particular book. It is an original script. Tom Selleck will continue to star as Jesse Stone. Meanwhile my novel SPARE CHANGE (Sunny Randall) is out now. The next Spenser, NOW & THEN will be out October 23. I have recently completed a second western novel about Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. It is titled RESOLUTION, and should be out sometime next spring or summer. Meanwhile all the signs continue that Ed Harris will start to shoot APPALOOSA in the fall. And in case you didn't notice, or are in denial, the Red Sox are leading the American League East by 11 1/2 games, 12 games over the Yankees. One never knows, but so far so good.
rbp
