After much to-ing and fro-ing of emails between myself, Big Patrick and the City Paper's legal advisor, the Palmetto Pointe story has finally been put to bed.

The Executive Producer gave me his phone number the day we went to press - too late to tell his side of the story. A shame he didn't return all my calls when I tried to contact him last year. "The last thing we need is a broke, bitter, lawsuit-happy television producer coming after us," says Big Patrick. Gee, thanks for the reassurance.

The Barnes & Noble book signing went well - the best one I've had since I hit Millennium Music back in 2003. I loved the way B&N introduced me:

"Today we have now-local author Nick Smith here promoting his latest novel, The Kitty Cult Killers. Milk Treading, his first, began this series, which satirizes modern society in the vein of George Orwell's Animal Farm, with edge, inventiveness and humor."

I felt well looked after, even if they didn't always get the book title right! Next up is an event at The Happy Bookseller in Columbia SC, on Feb 7th at 6.30. Sam, who's now six years old, will be with me - he always spices things up with his antics.

With my first Kitty Killer Cult event of the new year fast approaching, I've been catching up on my book's various adventures on the web.

It's been mentioned recently by my US publicist, Peter Handel (who refers to me as an "old client" - is that an ageist comment or does he know something I don't?)

Had to cry off sick from filming today - Ros, my superior half, works in the state hospital and likes to bring her work home with her (germs, superbugs and occasionally a patient or two).

That gives me time to research a City Paper story on a shoddy TV show that cropped up in Charleston last year, Palmetto Pointe. I've watched a lot of bad TV over the years, but I can say unequivocably that this was the worst I'd ever seen.

The feature I'm putting together will be a cautionary tale - how not to make a TV show in SC. Having some money to film it properly would definitely help...

More on the ill-fated PP as my investigations continue...

The entry deadline for this year's Folly Felder Film Fest has been confirmed as May 10th, 2006.

We're looking for anything short & entertaining. Successful entries will be shown in a high profile film event as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC.

If you have a film to submit or would like to put one together between now & May, here's the full lowdown:

Call for Entries

We are currently receiving entries for the 2006 festival. All original short films suitable for a family audience will be considered.

There is a $10 handling fee for each entry (checks made payable to Actors' Theatre of South Carolina) and unfortunately, submissions cannot be returned.

We accept entries on DVD (any region), VHS (NTSC), DVCam or HDV.

Deadline: May 10th 2006

Send your entries to: PO BOX 930 FOLLY BEACH, SC 29439

For further information, leave me a comment!

It's great to see my new screenwriting site taking off, if only because it gives me the opportunity to gibber on about one of my favorite subjects - movies!

I've put together a few free ebooks and whatnot to help writers avoid the mistakes that I've made over the years. The latest is 50 Essential Screenwriting Tips, which will be available to site visitors in the near future. It covers all kinds of stuff, from character development to writing a final draft.

Through the site I recently heard from Gary, a director who attended the same film school as my wife, Ros, and myself. Several years ago Ros heard that his film, Gorgeous Zeroes, had won third place at the Canadian Film Festival. Gary contacted me saying that this was news to him, and did I know if he'd won any money?

Such is the aura of spin - or BS - that surrounds the movie world. Even the filmmakers don't always know what's true, and what's PR. But Gary is a talented and imaginative filmmaker, and he deserves any award - rumored, honorary or otherwise - that he gets.

Jim Sawgrass avoiding that harsh Southern sunlight.

He doesn't mind getting up early - it takes him an hour to put on his Native regalia and tool up with his various weapons (tomahawk, rifle, pistol, knife... you name it).

Back from Georgia, where we captured much ketchup-strewn footage of our American Indian friend Jim Sawgrass knocking off bad guys. I also got the chance to watch some of our footage on a massive HDTV, and if anything the rushes look too crisp and colorful. I can see I’ll be using some fancy filters in post production.

Next up is a scene in Orangeburg, SC, which I plan to shoot early in the morning. The actors don’t like that, because it requires them losing their weekend lie-in. As far as I’m concerned, they’ll only get one crack at this scene, the morning light will make them look cool and if they want to look their best, they’re just going to have to put up with the early start. I’m the laziest actor and I know and I’m not a morning person either, but I’d much rather start at dawn than film in the harsh midday sunlight.

Tomorrow I start a new Acting Conservatory for film & TV actors at Folly Beach, and it's the only one scheduled for a while.

Each actor gets his or her own time slot where we work on scripts and camera techniques. The level is beginning to intermediate - it's easier for me to teach someone from scratch than someone with lots of bad habits from drama school!

This will be the ninth year I've been teaching adults (I taught teens & tweens before that - yipes!), and they never cease to amaze me with what they can do. I'm looking forward to a showcase of these guys' work, sometime in the Spring. Last year's show at the North Charleston Cultural Arts Festival included bits from Checkov, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, and scenes from Glengarry Glen Ross, Good Will Hunting, Erin Brokovich and Star Trek 2. I wonder what this year's actors will choose to do?

Big Patrick, the Arts & Entertainment editor of my local paper, recently sent me to a new exhibition at the Gibbes, my friendly neighborhood museum of art. They’ve got a new show on that marries the terse black and white photography of Walker Evans with the even terser prose of Ernest Hemingway – they both hung out together for 3 weeks in Cuba back in 1933.

With his pithy prose and ear for realistic dialogue, it’s no wonder Hemingway’s work translated to the big screen so well (check out For Whom the Bell Tolls from 1943 or To Have and Have Not from '44 if you don’t believe me). The exhibition has inspired me to cut down on my adjectives and use two words instead of four whenever possible.

Short words and sentences good. Longs ones bad. ‘Nuff said.

With a screenplay that finally seems to be settling down – the writers have been tweaking it throughout production – and a new name (Liberty), Revolutionary War movie Captain Felder’s Cannon rumbles on with filming taking place throughout South Carolina… and beyond.

As director and a character that crops up occasionally in the film, I’ve recently filmed a tavern scene where Redcoats arrest a nest of Colonial spies; skirmishes in woodland areas, shot in multiple locations; contemplative scenes filmed in an unspoilt part of Folly Beach, soon to be spoilt by a range of new condos; and a bedroom scene where I was forced to take my shirt off. I suffer for my art.

Next up are various scenes featuring Jim Sawgrass, who will play a key Catawba Indian in the film. We’ll be working with him at Fort King George, a cool state site in Georgia. From what I’ve heard, Jim’s scary when he yells. I’m going to try to keep on his good side.

Love 'em or leave 'em, author events are still a great way to meet a writer. With that in mind, I'm signing copies of my Cat City thrillers at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Mount Pleasant, Charleston from 2-4 p.m. on January 28. It's in a posh new Towne Center and it's quite a fancy place.

My publicist would prefer that I hobnob with independent (and mystery-oriented) bookstores, but there aren't many of those in Charleston. My publisher likes the box pushers such as Borders and B&N. Me, I just try and keep them both happy.

To find out more about the event, leave me a comment or drop the box shovers a line at (843) 216-9756.

2005: Some Personal Highlights

Okay, I know it’s 2006 now and we should be looking forwards, not back. But I’ve had fun looking back at everything that’s happened here over the past year, and I hope you do too.

JANUARY

Stage 145 performs Trainspotting, a stage adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel. I play Spud and an old drunk, find some passages from the novel to convert into a monologue and help the rest of the cast get their tongues round the Scottish accents. I teach my first class for 4-5 year olds, “Wee Little Actors,” and review a show by pop art bad boy Caleb Weintraub at the Redux Contemporary Arts Center in Charleston.

FEBRUARY

As I hit 33, I’m trained to sword fight by unruly combat coach JC Conway. He keeps his cool, even when one of my fellow trainees breaks one of JC’s brand new weapons.

MARCH

The sword fighting pays off with demonstrations that form part of a “Tides of March” renaissance festival in Folly Beach, SC. One of the papers I write for, the Charleston City Paper, celebrates its annual “Best Of” issue with a prom theme. We don’t really do the prom thing back in England, so this is my official go at it. This month I also start directing Captain Felder’s Cannon, and I become a Soccer Dad.

APRIL

The Kitty Killer Cult launches on April 1st with an event at Barnes & Noble in West Ashley, Charleston. A rainstorm doesn’t deter people from coming, but it makes for a nasty night weatherwise. In Ravenel I start to shoot teaser material for a second feature film, Frankly Charleston. My adult actors (and the wee ones) perform a showcase as part of the North Charleston Cultural Arts Festival.

MAY

May heralds the annual Spoleto Arts Festival, giving me the chance to preview some fine theater productions and art exhibitions. I play Drake Dante for the first time in a murder mystery – no prizes for guessing whodunit – and my 5-year-old son Sam starts baseball practice.

JUNE

I host the second Folly Felder Film Fest, which is even less formal than the first. “You’re losin’ it,” says one patron as we run out of booze on the second night. But everyone leaves the Festival happy, and we field submissions from as far afield as Japan.

JULY

Captain Felder’s Cannon filming continues with two shoots in Historic Brattonsville, where a famous battle known as “Huck’s Defeat” is reenacted. Our own actors blaze a trail in some frenetic action scenes, and we bring some unwelcome visitors home – ticks attached to our unmentionables.

AUGUST

Filming wraps for Dolly the dog’s DVD project, and I lend a hand on a Star Wars fan film called Volition. It comes complete with wire work, tense dialogue scenes and an obscene amount of special effects.

SEPTEMBER

Highland Games are held on a miserably sweaty day at Boone Hall, Mount Pleasant. My third novel, Undead on Arrival, is accepted for publication by Luath Press. Sam starts kindergarten and I’m introduced to the dubious pleasures of purchasing school supplies the day before school starts.

OCTOBER

Rehearsals commence for a new stage production of Romulus Linney’s 2: Goering at Nuremberg, in which I play the British Prosecutor (the guy who gets to nail Goering!). My new screenwriting site is launched and Sam’s wild about Halloween, converting half our house into a “Jail of Corpses.”

NOVEMBER

Goering gets standing ovations, the final teaser footage for Frankly Charleston is shot, and I put a showreel together for talented actress Carolyne Smith. Her reels promptly get lost in the mail.

DECEMBER

My last play of the year is Jeff Goode’s The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, while I concurrently co-direct Christmas in Charlestowne 1782: The British Are Gone! I also play Santa for the third year running, the Take Time Dolly film premieres and my acting students at the Lowcountry Senior Center perform a Christmas showcase.