The following story was sent to me by my pal and key source of cat-related news, Nitin Arora. You can find out more about Lewis the cat from the Connecticut Post; you can find out more about Nitin at his own, fine site.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Residents of the neighborhood of Sunset Circle say they have been terrorized by a crazy cat named Lewis. Lewis for his part has been uniquely cited, personally issued a restraining order by the town's animal control officer.

"He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot, each with a long claw," Janet Kettman, a neighbor said Monday. "They are formidable weapons."

The neighbors said those weapons, along with catlike stealth, have allowed Lewis to attack at least a half dozen people and ambush the Avon lady as she was getting out of her car.

Some of those who were bitten and scratched ended up seeking treatment at area hospitals.
Animal Control Officer Rachel Solveira placed a restraining order on him. It was the first time such an action was taken against a cat in Fairfield.

In effect, Lewis is under house arrest, forbidden to leave his home.

Solveira also arrested the cat's owner, Ruth Cisero, charging her with failing to comply with the restraining order and reckless endangerment.


Thanks Nitin!

Next stop on my sporadic book-plugging tour of America: Columbia, SC, courtesy of the good folks at the Richland County Library. Their website's pretty groovy for a library site, complete with a "Book Buzz" page (tagline: So many books... So little time).

I'll be there next week (April 4th, 10 a.m.) and will be interviewed the day before by DJ Gary Poszick on local radio station 620 AM (I'll be on around 2.45 p.m., for those of you in that neck of the woods).

He's the host of a show called Health, Wealth and Happiness, and I'm hoping the middle part will rub off on me. I'll let you know how I get on...

The Italian version of Milk Treading has been published and is getting some good reviews.

On the Internet Bookshop site (IBS is a fine purveyor of international publications), one Cristiano Fabbri gives Traffico di Latte 5/5, saying: “This Scot has written a strange and shocking novel. The book’s cover already got me curious and then it kept all its promises.” (Or something like that – my Italian’s pretty rusty.)

‘Mario” only gives the novel 4/5, but he wants more. “Che roba!” he writes. “I hope more mozzafiato books like Traffico di Latte come out soon!”

Er… is there a translator of Italian slang in the house?

Stairway to Heaven is the movie-length first episode of The Crow TV series, cancelled after one season. It's made up of two distinct halves, so that it can be repackaged as two 45 minute episodes by the US networks.

The first half retreads old territory. In fact the new bit - hero Eric Draven arrested and interrogated by a bossy cop - is the most interesting.

The story's NYPD Blue theatrics can't compete with the flashy visuals, sweaty violence or (modest) budget of film version. It's too bright and the characters are too nice - as this is family viewing, Eric refuses to kill anybody. Such strong morals are pretty commendable for a dead guy, but the 'avenging spirit' theme is diluted and the Crow's wings are clipped.

Stairway is set in British Columbia; not the Goth hot spot of North America, although the setting makes a change from New York or L.A. Eric's still a musician, yet the music he plays is TV exec rock. There's less dark humor in this version as well; the neighborhood cop is no Ernie Hudson, with a deeper character, but less to interest viewers. Soppy bad guys and a cute kid provide much-needed comic book relief.

The second half is darker and scarier; all the characters get a chance to shine, including a new heroine. Eric's evil nemesis is underused and his appearances seem rushed. Perhaps, in the best tradition of Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty, the bad guy will return for further development.

Stairway to Heaven owes more to Buffy than the Crow comic strip. Despite the gripes, this feature-length story showed promise for an enthralling action series.

My Screenwriting Insider site continues to grow and develop as it hits its 4-month mark. I'm trying to pack in as many new resources as my time allows, so that means weekly scriptwriting articles, archived postings, a couple of free e-books that you can download and plenty more besides.

Now, the tricky part. As often as I can, I'm trying to anticipate creative problems that you storytellers out there encounter. Writers send me questions and I post my answers on the site. But I'd love to see more. So if you have any burning Qs about writing, let me have 'em and I'll answer them as best I can.

Back in December '05 I sent a copy of The Kitty Killer Cult to Tom Warner, co-owner/manager of Litchfield Books on Pawley's Island, SC.

He's just got back to me today explaining that, although he and his wife found the book "interesting," he doesn't want me to visit his store because the book would "not be appreciated" by the women who make up 90% of his customers.

Is this true, fair readers? Are my books appreciable only by men? Or does Warner believe that only guys like reading mystery novels?

Leave a comment, and let me know what you think!

I'm disappointed to learn that Christina Rhodes, a very talented local actress, is leaving Charleston for New York next month. I'm pleased for her, but disappointed for selfish reasons - I wanted to put her in my next movie!

Christina - pictured left with Trevor Erickson - has been doing a lot of plays since she moved here a couple of years ago, including South, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Mary Shelley: Creature of Fire, Delta Dancer and A Thurber Carnival (which I reviewed this week for the City Paper).

Christie has done great work here, and I know she'll do lots more up North. I'll miss her!

Work

The other day my wife, Ros, noted that I don’t write for myself much anymore. When she met me I would always be scribbling down notes, poems, jokes and anecdotes. Then real life got in the way, and these days I spend most of my time writing for other people.

It makes sense. The other people pay better than me, and sometimes it’s tough to devote time to creative writing without the certainty of it seeing the light of day. This kind of writing can be seen as an act of selfishness – devoting time to yourself, to please yourself – or an act of faith.

I prefer the faith angle. Okay, not all the bits and pieces that I write will reach a vast audience. But I keep working, sure that some of it (the best of it) will get through.

With my flibbertigibbet mind I usually find myself working on a few projects at once. At the moment the most concrete of these include Cat City, the third and final Julius Kyle novel; a screenplay for an action movie with a working title of Unit; a World War I movie called Men of War and my regular factual pieces for newspapers and magazines.

Those flights of fancy are squeezed in between directing Liberty, prepping my next feature and raising Sam. He’s turning into a real movie brat, hanging out on set and charming the cast and crew. No doubt he’ll take up a very uncreative profession when he grows up, just to be different from his dad. I’m hoping he’ll be a chemical engineer.