Yup, am on the trail
of another book idea. Apparently, the 1968 London Sydney Marathon book is on
target for publication in November, which seems a long time since I sent off
the final manuscript last December. Now,
that book took four years in the making, so it wasn’t long after it went
winging of to the publisher that I went into a bit of a decline. It was
finished, nothing more to do. A big ol’ empty space opened up, and I got a wee
bit down. Eventually, sitting in a pub on Minchinhampton Common at the beginning
of this year, Rob and good friend Dave came up with the obvious idea – why not
write another book? Long story short, here I sit in Heathrow Terminal Two
waiting for my flight to be called. I’m off to Los Angeles to meet with
potential contributors for my second book idea. That fat giraffe, it seems, is
going to Hollywood!
People are funny –
Heathrow Terminal Two has charging stations, where you can plug in your laptop
or phone. Eventually found one with a free socket, but sitting right next to it
is a flight attendant. Is she using the socket? No! Are there other seats? Yes,
it’s deserted. Did she offer to move? No. So I have had to trail my cable
around her back. Rob says I should complain, but I can’t quite make out the
airline!. Actually, I’m struggling to find my solo travel legs, and it feels
slightly unreal to think that I’m about to get on an eleven hour flight, let
alone that, tomorrow (or rather later today) I will be getting a cab to
mid-town LA, where, courtesy of AirBnB, I shall be staying. Mein hosts L and
G have cats, so have stocked up with antihistamine. They advertise a
home with vintage décor, and she runs a vintage clothing boutique on Melrose
Avenue. Vintage Americana. Absolutely no clue what that might mean!
Wait, you might say,
what is the book about? Well, I originally had an idea to write about an
American actress who more worked for more than three decades in US film and television, but
never as an above-the-title name. It got me thinking, what must it have been be
like to work constantly in front of the camera, appearing in many classic US tv
shows from the sixties and seventies (Star Trek, Mission:Impossible, The
Fugitive, Kojak, Columbo, The Invaders and so on) as a ‘guest star’? Through
the cunning ingenuity of my good friend Bonnie, I got a note to said actress
while she was appearing at a sci-fi fan convention (the note came
with flowers, which I cannot take credit for – like I said, cunning
ingenuity!). Didn’t really expect a response, but three week later, there was a
letter waiting for me, and thus began a correspondence which has led to us
becoming great ‘email friends. Suffice to say, she thought the idea of me
writing about her was ridiculous, but over the past months she has
rather acted as an informal and impromptu guide or mentor. We’ve rolled
various ideas around and as a result, I have decided to explore and research
the experiences of, and attitudes towards women working in the US entertainment
industry once they reach 50, both today and 30 years ago. Am still astonished
to say that, by employing the same tenacity I did with the first book, in the
coming weeks I am actually meeting with a number of women, many of whom are
familiar names and faces. Have no idea how this will evolve, but again, have
decided to talk to these potential contributors in the same way I did the
Marathoniers around the world.
Watch this space!
PS I really don’t have
my travel legs on – I got a coffee and left all my travel documents and
passport behind. Robert, GET A GRIP!
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