Writers Tricks of the Trade VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 | Page 26

who only copied their parts from records. I
read charts and played arpeggios.
S O , YOU BECAME A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN , NOT A
WRITER ?
Yes. Throughout the 1970s to the mid-
80s, I toured as a backup and session
musician. Then it was time to grow up, or
something like that. So I entered the
corporate world in 1985, excelled and
achieved corporate positions in two national
conglomerates—positions that no one
without a 4-or-6-year college degree had
ever reached—especially a former musician
and hippie.
W ELL , I KNOW YOU DIDN ’ T STAY IN THE CORPORATE
WORLD . W HAT NEXT ?
By 1999 I realized I didn’t want to grow
up to be like those people, or putting it
another way, like they wanted me to be, so I
left New York City and northern New Jersey
behind and drove to Los Angeles to write
my first manuscript detailing a slice of my
life, I called it THE BOSS ALWAYS SITS
IN THE BACK. To this day I jokingly recall
The Boss was, “…one cathartic sonofabitch
to create and complete.”
I FIRST MET YOU WHEN YOU WERE LAUNCHING THAT
BOOK . I READ IT AND LOVED IT . A LOT OF OTHERS
LOVED IT , TOO .
After reading the recently completed 279
pages of The Boss, documentary producer
Ashley Rogers immediately became a fan.
She took me to the Century City office of
her attorney Howard Frumes and presented
the hefty manuscript. That was followed by
the attorney presenting me with a litany of
reasons why “he’ll never get a book like this
sold in L.A.”
H OW DID YOU REACT TO THAT REJECTION ? The
story of how small and insignificant I felt
W INTER 2020
after that meeting has become legendary in
literary and screenwriting circles on both
coasts. Yet, I have to say, “The lessons I
learned during that 30 minute-or-less
meeting will stay with me for a
lifetime…and maybe a little longer.”
H E SAID IT WOULDN ’ T GET PUBLISHED , BUT TOOK IT
HOME ?
Yes, Howard had taken the manuscript
home. Fortunately, in what I still refer to as
“A very lucky moment for me,” he said he
looked at the cover, became intrigued,
picked up the manuscript and started
reading. Between the writing and the story
itself, he didn’t stop. He said he couldn’t
stop. Since then, Howard Frumes has been
my literary attorney, source of moral support
and a friend.
I’ M CURIOUS . W HAT ADVICE DID HE GIVE YOU ?
Based on his suggestion, I honed the art
of screenwriting, cleverly allowing him to
pay the bills. Howard then suggested I write
five screenplays of various genres, just to
see if I could do it. I thought, “What a
brilliant idea.” The brilliant idea took four
years.
L ET ’ S FAST - FORWARD A LITTLE . S O , YOU ACTUALLY
WROTE THOSE SCREENPLAYS . T ELL ME ABOUT THEM .
The first was the
adaption of, THE BOSS
ALWAYS SITS IN THE
BACK, followed by the
action/murder mystery
THE DELIVERY MAN and
the romantic comedy
MAD AVENUE. I also co-wrote the screen-
plays RUBDOWN, a drama, with Laura
Fuino, and a mob comedy combining
horrific undertones, DEADFELLAS, with
Steve Barr. After I completed the five
P AGE 21
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE