And so the process begins anew… Another book – the fifth. The biggest and most promising by far. First there was “…And The Moon Howls”. A Vietnam veteran wanders back through his life, from cavalry grunt, to special ops, to retiree and realizes that although pulling pints in a shack on a beach in Phuket, the jungles of Vietnam are not as far away as he’d like. Think: “Deer Hunter” meets “The Bourne Identity”.

Then came “Billet-Doux”. An affair of letters, from “A” to “X”. Think: “Griffin & Sabine” meets “9 1/2 Weeks”.

“Entree To Asia: A Culinary Journey” became an instant bestseller, due in no small part to its direct tie-in with the PBS television series of the same name, which I wrote, produced and directed. Half travel meditation, half cookbook, ETA sold worldwide, and did especially well — ironically, I thought — in Southeast Asia. The publisher placed the book in its own free-standing kiosk in separate ‘travel’ and ‘cookbook’ sections of bookstores across the region. As the Boston Globe said: “…Julia Child meets Lonely Planet…”

Afterwards, a lengthy internal Intranet posting written while I was Film & Television Consultant for Globalmedia (dot) com, became an outline for a book on the comparative history of multimedia interactivity. “Content: The Once and Future King“ was never published, even though an impressive advance was dangled by a famous publishing house. At the time — March 2000 — the Internet was changing its spots almost on an hourly basis. It made no sense to me to attempt writing a book that was obsolete the minute I handed in the manuscript.

(Note: The link above will take you to the first page of the book pitch. It can also be found in the navbar under ‘Content’.)

And so, to the first woman to drive around the world. Sixteen-years old. 1922. Canadian. Publishing contract should be in hand in a matter of weeks. And then the heavy lifting begins.

This true story is historical biography with contemporary appeal.  Its story-driven narrative explores themes such as adventure, rebellion, desire, conflict, family, danger, betrayal, redemption and ultimately survival – both literally and figuratively.

The female protagonist was equal parts Amelia Earhart and Mata Hari, with just enough Hollywood thrown in to make headlines and newsreels around the world.

Her life was the stuff of dreams, with more than its share of nightmares.  Even the lives of those who came into contact with her were never the same.

Think: “Driving Miss Daisy” meets “Natural Born Killers”. Maybe.