15 for 15

In this dramatic and entertaining book, Author David Lee Morgan, Jr. shares stories that offer a unique and unequaled perspective into the 2019 season and the Tigers’ quest for that elusive state championship. There are stories of triumph, and in some unfortunate cases tragedy, yet, this football family and community continued to show why it is so special, and why it is such a unique community.  Foreword by Former OSU Buckeye Coach Jim Tressel.

A Screenwriter’s Companion

“I was a writer before I knew what a writer was.” -Joseph Dougherty

Joseph Dougherty has been a successful playwright and television writer, producer, and director for more than thirty years.  He’s written for breakthrough series that have changed the way we look at television drama, from thirtysomething to Pretty Little Liars, winning everything from Emmys to Teen Choice Awards along the way.

In A Screenwriter’s Companion, Dougherty offers insights and advice both practical and nonpractical to writers and would-be writers.  

Dougherty’s voice comes off the page with anecdotes about the writing process, hard-learned tips for survival in “the business,” and reflections on the influences that led him to a successful career.  Honestly, entertainingly, without cynicism, he gives readers permission to embrace the writer they want to be, so they can experience the rewards and satisfactions of writing.  

Beyond an insider’s take on story and structure, dialogue, action and outlining, A Screenwriter’s Companion is as much mentor as it is manual.  With every insider observation about how to keep a potential producer reading till the last page of a script, there’s encouragement to explore your thoughts and memories, things a writer needs to embrace in order to become more than “a pro.”  In short, to see writing not as merely a career, but as a way to greater self-understanding.

With a foreword by Scott Ryan (thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history)

thirtysomething fans will want to read thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history with an Afterword by Joseph Dougherty. 

Books purchased here will be SIGNED by Joseph Dougherty.

You can order the Ebook by clicking here.

Barbra Streisand The Music

On February 25, 1963, Columbia Records released The Barbra Streisand Album. The first song was “Cry Me a River,” and with that a star was born. Barbra Joan Streisand had a zany personality backed by a talent that Stephen Sondheim once described as “one of the two or three best voices in the world of singing songs,” adding “It’s not just her voice but her intensity, her passion and control.” Harold Arlen, another of her favorite composers, commented, ”This young lady . . . has a stunning future.” With all-male rock groups like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Four Seasons ruling the charts, no one expected a twenty-year-old female singer from Brooklyn to not just hit No. 1, but repeat that accomplishment every decade that followed all the way to the next millennium and become the best-selling female recording artist of all time.

Now, for the first time ever, comes the definitive book on the extensive recording career of this towering cultural icon, the Funny Girl considered by many to be the most talented singer of her generation. Barbra Streisand: The Albums | The Singles | The Music takes readers on a journey through every album, soundtrack, and single Streisand has released over the past sixty years. Our guide on this musical tour is Matt Howe, who has run Barbra Archives, the definitive Streisand-themed website, since 2003. He also has assisted Team Streisand on her Release Me album series.

Besides analysis of every studio, live concert, and official compilation release, the book contains over three hundred FULL-COLOR photos from the albums, press kits, and Streisand herself. Also included are features on both Streisand’s signature songs (“People,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “Evergreen,” “The Way We Were,” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”) and on her longtime collaborators (Sondheim, Marty Erlichman, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and others.)

No gossip. No dirt. Just a deep dive into over seventy albums from The Greatest Star.

This an oversized hardback book with full-color illustrations, printed on premium paper.

But, Couldn’t I Do That?

How do I get my book out to the world? Which program should I use to design a book? How do I make an eBook? How can I use social media to sell copies? Do I need an ISBN? What is an LCCN and how does it help me?

Navigating self-publishing can often mean entering a world of confusion. Lucky for you, there are people who have already ventured down the path and made it out on the other side. Writers, publishers, and designers Erin O’Neil (Author of Gui Ren and a 30 under 30 honoree of the International Literacy Association) and Scott Ryan (Author of The Last Days of Letterman, Moonlighting: An Oral History and the managing editor of The Blue Rose magazine) answer all your publishing questions and more in But, Couldn’t I Do That? Answering Your Questions about Self-Publishing.

Erin & Scott lead future bestsellers through the self-publishing process from idea to distribution. This book recounts how Erin self-published her debut book and what she learned from the experience, from blogging and promotional library appearances to online storytelling events and conferences. Scott tells how his first book was with a major publisher and how he ended up starting his own publishing company for the books that followed. He now is the co-president of Fayetteville Mafia Press, featuring multiple authors and world-wide distribution.

Chapter topics include: why self-publishing, how to create a cover, using social media to promote your work, the best writing software to use, how to design a book, purchasing ISBNs, how to get your book to print, the importance of a peer group, and how to truly set yourself up for success.

Stop wondering if you can self-publish your next book. You can, and this book will tell you how.

Table of Contents

Introduction

  1. How Did Erin Do That?
  2. How Did Scott Do That?
  3. How Do I Develop a Story?
  4. Why Self-Publishing?
  5. How Do I Design a Cover?
  6. How Do I Promote My Book?
  7. Which Softwares Do I Need?
  8. How Do I Design My Book?
  9. How Do I Get a Barcode and an ISBN?
  10. What Else Do I Need?
  11. Can You Tell Me One More Time?
  12. Setting Yourself Up for Success

 

Conversations with Mark Frost

Mark Frost, co-creator of both the original Twin Peaks and The Return, is often lost in the shadow of co-creator David Lynch in the eyes of critics and scholars — one newspaper even called him the “Other Peak.” In fact, Frost played at least as crucial a role in developing the narrative, mythology, and aesthetic of what has come to be revered as one of the most artful and influential shows ever to air on television. This book, comprising a series of interviews with Frost over the course of a single year, finally and fully acknowledges the extent of Frost’s contributions not only to those series, but also to American television in general, as a writer/producer on Hill Street Blues and other shows, and as a mentor to numerous other writers. The book traces the arc of his entire life and career, from his boyhood days in New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, to his nascent playwriting career in Pittsburgh, to his days as a writer at Universal TV’s famed factory of the seventies, to his work on Hill Street Blues alongside such industry titans as Steven Bochco and David Milch, to his multiple collaborations with the famously enigmatic Lynch, who perhaps emerges as slightly less enigmatic in the pages of this book  Conversations with Mark Frost ” deconstructs that legendary partnership, while at the same time exploring Frost’s values, influences, thematic preoccupations, and approach to creating art — for the screen, the stage, and the printed page — as well as his thoughts about such topics as politics, extraterrestrial live, ethics, and the future of the human race.

To order the Kindle version of this book, click here.

Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared

This is a limited edition COLOR version of the book. For the Black and White release, click here.

In 1990, David Lynch was on top of the world. Wild at Heart won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Twin Peaks was the hottest show on TV. In 1992, he released Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. It sure is amazing how fast coffee can get cold. The film was not well received, to say the least, by critics or ticket buyers. It seemed like the verdict was in: Twin Peaks was dead and wrapped in plastic. Thirty years later, the film is thought by many to be Lynch’s masterpiece. Author Scott Ryan (The Last Days of Letterman, Moonlighting, thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, The Blue Rose, Scott Luck Stories)

was among the few Twin Peaks fans who saw the film on the day it was released and loved it from the beginning. He takes an in-depth look at the film, its legacy, and the people who created it, weaving in his own story of how the film has inspired him throughout his life, and still does. 

The book features Interviews with cowriter Bob Engels, editor Mary Sweeney, DP Ron Garcia, lead actress Sheryl Lee, lead actor Ray Wise, and other cast members, as well as Ryan’s essays covering the different iterations of the script, Angelo Badalamenti’s superb score, the fandom, and the lore of the The Missing Pieces (the feature-length compilation of deleted scenes that went unseen for over twenty years before premiering at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles on July 16, 2014, followed by a Blu-ray release as a component of Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery).

Ryan also recounts his own journey as a Twin Peaks fan for over thirty years, the friends and celebrities he has met through the film.

This is an ambitious, unique exploration of one of the darkest films ever created by the master himself, David Lynch, presented with Ryan’s trademark humor and provocative insights.

Scott Ryan is the host of The Red Room Podcast, a contributor to Twin Peaks: Fan Phenomena, coeditor of The Women of David Lynch, copublisher of Conversations with Mark Frost and Laura’s Ghost: Women Speak about Twin Peaks, and managing editor and creative director of The Blue Rose magazine.

 

Last Days Of Letterman (Soft Back)

 

On May 20, 2015, Dave said, “Thank you and goodnight.” The Foo Fighters sang “Evermore,” and Late Show with David Letterman ended its run. The final six weeks of the series had guests like Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and the Obamas. All names you have heard many times. But it was the people behind the scenes who pulled off these twenty-eight unforgettable episodes of late-night television.

Author Scott Ryan conducted over twenty interviews with the staffers of David Letterman. Most of the participants had never given interviews before. The writers, directors, producers, and stage managers offer a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to work on these shows. Find out what it takes to write a Top Ten list and book a president for a guest spot, and what it was like working at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Long time Letterman writer Bill Scheft penned the foreword for the book. Included are over 100 color photos from staffers’ personal collections, as well as publicity photos from the show. Get the first truly inside look at creating an episode of Late Show.

Interviews with:

Barbara Gaines – Executive Producer; Sheila Rogers – Supervising Producer/ Talent Executive; Randi Grossack – Associate Director; Kathy Mavrikakis, Supervising Producer; Rick Sheckman, Associate Producer; Brian Teta – Supervising Producer/Segment Producer; Sheryl Zelikson – Music Producer; Jay Johnson – Creative Director, Digital Media; Jerry Foley – Director; Michael Barrie – Writer; Lee Ellenberg – Writer; Jim Mulholland – Writer; Joe Grossman – Writer; Jeremy Weiner – Writer; Steve Young – Writer; Vincent Favale – Executive of Late Night Programing; Eddie Valk – Stage Manager; Bill Scheft – Writer; Janice Penino – Vice President, Human Resources; Jill Goodwin – Writer; and Mike Buczkiewicz – Senior Producer/Segment Producer.

Author Scott Ryan (thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, The Blue Rose, Scott Luck Stories) weaves together memories from the staff together with moments from the show in this new book recounting the final six weeks of Letterman’s historic thirty-three-year reign as late-night talk show host.

Would you rather the eBook? Order the Kindle here.

Laura’s Ghost

 

Laura’s Ghost explores the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks, including the legacy of Laura Palmer, a character who haunts and inspires. This book features essays and interviews with Sheryl Lee and and women behind the scenes of the show as as well as the academic and fan communities.

This book will not be released until October, 2020. Pre-orders help with printing costs, so we appreciate your support early and often.

Lost Highway

In 1997 David Lynch released Lost Highway starring Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty and Natasha Gregson-Wagner. The film came and went and critics famously panned the film. While it did span a top 10 soundtrack, the film has largely been forgotten until now. In 2022, the film was remastered and rereleased. Film lovers, Lynch fans and critics started to take notice.

Author Scott Ryan, Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared, The Blue Rose magazine, has turned his interviewing sites on the cast and crew off Lost Highway to write maybe the first book ever to focus on this forgotten Lynch film. The book has interviews with Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Producer Deepak Nayar, Production Assistant Sabrina S. Sutherland, DP Peter Deming, Camera man Scott Ressler, Actress Natasha Gregson-Wagner and more. The book also covers the film, the script and the famous soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti and Trent Reznor.

ISBN: 9781959748021

 

Moonlighting: An Oral History

In the spring of 1987, over sixty million viewers tuned in to watch Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis) “get together” in one of the most famously controversial scenes in television history on Moonlighting, ABC’s groundbreaking series about an epically mismatched pair of private detectives . Two years later, the show was canceled due to low ratings. What happened? In Moonlighting: An Oral History, author Scott Ryan (The Last Days of Letterman) interviews over twenty members of the cast and creative team to get to the bottom of this perplexing mystery, uncovering hilarious, provocative, poignant, and sometimes flat-out crazy never-before-told stories about what went on behind the scenes during production of this unforgettable series. Cybill Shepherd, Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong, creator Glenn Gordon Caron, producer Jay Daniel, writers, directors, editors, and more—they’re all here, piecing together the incredible story of late scripts, backstage fights, pregnancies, and broken bones, all told for the first time. Enjoy the cases, the chases, and all the conversations in Moonlighting: An Oral History.

Order the Kindle version of Moonlighting here.

The real story of this pioneering television series and the extraordinary behind-the-scenes challenges, battles, and rewards has never been told  — until now. Author Scott Ryan (The Last Days of Letterman, thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, The Blue Rose, Scott Luck Stories) interviews over twenty people, including the actors, writers, directors, and producers who made Moonlighting such a dynamic, unforgettable show, delving deep into their thoughts and feelings as they relive this magical moment in pop culture history in this full color oral history.  

 

Myth or Mayor

The Ryan family tree was fractured in the early 1970s. The patriarch of the family became Mike Ryan who expressed little interest in discussing family history, passing on only a short story about his father being Mayor of Massillon, Ohio, to his son, Scott. The story of Mayor Ryan was eventually passed on to Mike’s grandson,  Alexander J. Ryan, the author of Myth or Mayor: The Search For My Family’s Legacy. With no family members to inquire about Mayor Ryan and no references of him on Google, the efficacy of Mayor Ryan remained ambiguous but unquestioned until the Summer of 2021.

 

Myth or Mayor takes readers on the journey of discovery into the life of Raymond F. Ryan and his relationship with the small Rust-belt city of Massillon, Ohio. Alexander Ryan researched newspapers, city records, and even reconnected with Ryan family members who had been estranged for a generation to uncover the story of Raymond Ryan. Learn the true story of the Ryan family history with more twists and turns than a Massillon/McKinley High School football game.

Author Scott Ryan (Moonlighting: An Oral History, The Last Days of Letterman) completes the family story with an emotional Afterword that connects his family ties with the city of Massillon.  The father and son writing team will send readers away with a rounded view of small-town living, the importance of history and family, and a look at an America gone away.

 

50% of all profits will be donated to the Late Night Scholarship fund, a Massillon-based nonprofit organization managed by author Alexander J. Ryan.

You can click here to order the Ebook.

 

Soft back thirtysomething at thirty book – Signed

 

Soft back version of the oral history of thirtysomething at thirty.

thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history is the new book released by Bear Manor Media. Author Scott Ryan interviewed all the main cast and writers as well as some of the producers, directors and guest actors of the 1987 series, thirtysomething. This book also contains never before released photos as well as the script to the final episode that was never filmed, due to a law suit. The interviews are combined into an episode guide where you can hear the story of thirtysomething from the talented people who created it. With a Foreword by Ann Lewis Hamilton, an Afterword by Joseph Dougherty, an essay by Peter Horton (Gary) and interviews with Ed Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Ken Olin, Timothy Busfield, Melanie Mayron, Peter Horton, Polly Draper, Patricia Wettig, Scott Winant, Paul Haggis, Winnie Holzman, Richard Kramer, Dana Delany and many more.

Read The Press Release for the book.

The Last Decade of Cinema

“I feel like Scott Ryan could have written this directly to me and others in our generation who have basically ‘given up’ on movies. It is at once tribute and eulogy, so bittersweet.” – Screenwriter Helen Childress (Reality Bites)

“The nineties are lucky to have Scott Ryan.” – Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner (Two Girls and a Guy, Lost Highway)

Ah, the nineties. Movies were something in those days. We’re talking about a decade that began with GoodFellas and ended with Magnolia, with such films as Malcolm X, Before Sunrise, and Clueless arriving somewhere in between. Stories, characters, and writing were king; IP, franchise movies, and supersaturated superhero flicks were still years away. Or so says Scott Ryan, the iconoclastic author of The Last Days of Letterman and Moonlighting: An Oral History, who here turns his attention to The Last Decade of Cinema—the prolific 1990s. Ryan, who watched just about every film released during the decade when he was a video store clerk in a small town in Ohio, identifies twenty-five unique and varied films from the decade, including Pretty Woman, Pulp Fiction, Menace II SocietyThe Prince of Tides, and The Shawshank Redemption, focusing with his trademark humor and insight on what made them classics and why they could never be produced in today’s film culture. The book also includes interviews with writers, directors, and actors from the era. Go back to the time of VCR’s, DVD rentals, and movies that mattered. Turn off your streaming services, put down your phones, delete your Twitter account, and take a look back at the nineties with your Eyes Wide Shut, a White Russian in your hand, and yell “Hasta la vista, baby” to today’s meaningless entertainment. Revel in the risk-taking brilliance of  Quentin Tarantino, Amy Heckerling, Spike Lee, Robert Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson, and others in Scott Ryan’s magnum opus, The Last Decade of Cinema.

ISBN: 9781949024708

Ebook: 9781949024715

Cover by Hannah Fortune

The Women Of Amy Sherman-Palladino

 

Smart, witty, quirky, loquacious, female-centric, drenched in pop-culture references — Amy Sherman-Palladino’s singular TV voice has won her legions of fans and critical appreciation over the past two decades, thanks to shows like Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Sherman-Palladino – the first woman ever to win Emmy Awards for both comedy writing and directing in a single year – may write about different decades and milieus, but her sensibility is unique and unmistakable throughout. Her greatest contribution may be her pantheon of unforgettable female characters, including Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy), Michelle Simms (Sutton Foster), Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein), and Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan). In The Women of Amy Sherman-Palladino, writers from different walks of live – scholars, critics, writers, comedians, dancers —  take us on a journey through the worlds of Stars Hollow, Paradise, and fifties New York City as they explain their own connections with these characters, and how they have influenced their own lives.

The Women of Amy Sherman-Palladino is the second book in the Wome of . . . series from Fayetteville Mafia Press, after The Women of David Lynch, published in June 2019. This unique series, brought to you by Scott Ryan (The Blue Rose Magazine, Last Days of Letterman) and David Bushman (Twin Peaks: FAQ, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: FAQ) covers great female characters in television and film.

1. Introduction: Three Pilots + One Funny Girl = Multitudes of Amys By Scott Ryan

Part 1: Our Little Corner of the World

2. Growing Up Gilmore By Hannah Klein

3. The Jewishness of Midge Maisel By Darren Richman

4. “But None of That Means You Shouldn’t Try”: Bunheads, Perseverance, and My Love of Teaching By E. J. Kishpaugh

5. The Marvelous Ms. Hirsch By Noelle P. Wilson

Part 2: Rory and the Final Four

6. What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Gilmore Girls By Célèste Fohl

7. All Her Brains and Talents: The Failure of Rory Gilmore By Constance Grady

8. Fandom and Final Words By Lynn Messina

9. Rory Gilmore, the Patron Saint of Good Girls By Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Part 3: Mothers and Daughters

10. Rose Goes to Paris, Mrs. Weissman Stays Home: How Rose Weissman Defines and Defies the 1950s American Housewife Ideal By Radhika Mitra

11. Bunheads’ Michelle Simms: An Unlikely Inspiration in Paradise By Claire Kretzschmar

12. The Indian Mothers and Daughters of Amy Sherman-Palladino By Proma Khosla

13. Thank God Midge Maisel Doesn’t Mother Much  By Alison Star Locke 

14. Watching Gilmore Girls, Watching Ourselves: A Storyteller Comes Home By Elisa Lorello

Appendix: Interview with Kaitlyn Jenkins

The Women of David Lynch

 

David Lynch has been accused for decades of sexism and even misogyny in his work, due largely to frequent depictions of violence against women. Yet others see in Lynch’s work the deification of the female, and actresses like Laura Dern and Naomi Watts jump at every opportunity to work with him. “He is the master of the juxtaposition of the creepy and the sweet, the sexual and the chaste,” wrote W’s Lynn Hirschberg. “And at the heart of this tense, intriguing friction, you will always find Lynch’s women.” The Women of Lynch is a deep, provocative dive into this paradox, featuring twelve essays, thought pieces, and impressionistic interpretations of Lynch’s depiction of women on screen by an eclectic array of accomplished female critics, scholars, performers, and writers, each tackling this vexing conundrum in her own unique way.

Order the eBook at Amazon.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped Book

Twin Peaks Unwrapped has over 200 episodes, and now they have a book. Hosts Ben & Bryon have interviewed just about every actor on the show, writer, fan and crazy theorist over the 200 episodes. The book compiles all they have unwrapped about David Lynch & Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks over the past few years. There also is a ton of new content from people who have not guested on the show like a Special Agent that we all know and love: Agent Cooper. Kyle MacLachlan talked with Ben and Bryon for the book. There are ton of more surprises.

Twin Peaks Unwrapped has supported all the art in the community and now it is your chance to support them.

Listen to their podcast here.

Follow them on Twitter and Facebook.