Strike-Idled Screenwriters Get Creative

Filmmaker takes reduced role in union after Leatherheads flap

(NEWSER) - George Clooney has all but severed his ties to the Writers Guild after a dispute over screenwriting credit for the new film Leatherheads, reports Variety. The film's director, co-producer, and star says he overhauled a weak script, but a 2-to-1 arbitration vote went against him. He didn't publicize the move because the strike, which he supported, was imminent. More»

But plot suggestions could pose legal pitfall for scribes

(NEWSER) - Picket lines are offering a rare opportunity for fans to get in touch with their favorite striking screenwriters. In LA, "Heroes" buffs and aspiring filmmakers are trekking alongside some of the 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America to lend their support, network—or just get an insider's peek at the industry. Some fans have even started solidarity websites. But it's not all fun and games. More»

Yet another occupation for busy actor

(NEWSER) - Jack-of-multiple-trades James Franco is about to peddle his latest endeavor on Amazon. The actor's first novel, Actors Anonymous, has been acquired by Amazon's new fiction editor and the tome will head directly to the company's online store. The work is supposed to be a barely-fictionalized version of Franco's own experiences, reports the New York Observer . Franco's first book of short stories, Palo Alto, won less-than-stellar reviews from Gawker , which is also less than thrilled about the upcoming book. More»

Stephen King, Christopher Hitchens make the cut

(NEWSER) - If you need a book recommendation for holiday reading, look no further than the New York Times ' list of the 10 best books of the year. Five are fiction and five non-fiction:

• 11/22/63 by Stephen King: A time portal sends an English teacher back to 1958 to try and stop Lee Harvey Oswald. King reflects "on questions of memory, fate, and free will as he richly evokes midcentury America."
• Swamplandia! By Karen Russell: "Exuberantly inventive language" marks this story of "a heroine who is wise beyond her years" as she tries to preserve her family's way of life. Also, an alligator theme park is involved.

Author's debut was 'collage of others' work'

(NEWSER) - Bookseller Quentin Rowan appears to have forged a writing career entirely by raiding the contents of his shelves. Publisher Little, Brown & Co. recalled every single copy of his debut spy thriller, Assassin of Secrets—written under the pseudonym QR Markham—after discovering that passages had been lifted from more than a dozen other spy novels, both classic and contemporary, reports the Wall Street Journal . In one place, a nine-paragraph passage lifted from a Robert Ludlum thriller flows cleanly into a seven-paragraph passage plucked from one of John Gardner's James Bond novels. More»