Another summer, another chance to catch up on your reading list. In the mood for an action-packed true crime story about a citizen’s sleuth on the trail of a fugitive? Want to brush up on your screenwriting before you get your next project going, or get some insight from your favorite comedy writers? Or perhaps you’d prefer a witty novel about a young man and his drag queen fairy godmother.
Whatever suits your fancy, SFTV has got you covered. Add these new releases from SFTV faculty to your ultimate summer reading list:
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
Professor David Clawson’s debut novel is a modern retelling of the Cinderella story with a twist. The book has been getting early accolades: Kirkus Reviews calls it “A fresh, funny, new twist on a classic fairy tale,” and School Library Journal chose it as one of their hot April picks, “guaranteed to fly off the shelves.”
The book comes out May 30, but is available for pre-order. Check out the synopsis:
“Chris Bellows is just trying to get through high school and survive being the only stepchild in the social-climbing Fontaine family, whose recently diminished fortune hasn’t dimmed their desire to mingle with Upper East Side society. Chris sometimes feels more like a maid than part of the family. But when Chris’s stepsister Kimberly begins dating golden boy J. J. Kennerly, heir to a political dynasty, everything changes. Because Chris and J. J. fall in love … with each other.
With the help of a new friend, Coco Chanel Jones, Chris learns to be comfortable in his own skin, let himself fall in love and be loved, and discovers that maybe he was wrong about his step-family all along. All it takes is one fairy godmother dressed as Diana Ross to change the course of his life.”
Write to Shoot: Writing Short Films for Production
Professor Marilyn Beker’s new screenwriting how-to book instructs budding screenwriters and filmmakers on how to showcase their strengths, tailor projects to shoestring budgets, resources, and practical production parameters without sacrificing the quality and punch of their screenplays, whether they’re creating a sizzle short for an unproduced feature script, an independent creative work, or a soapbox to promote a cause.
The Last Master Outlaw: How He Outfoxed the FBI Six Times – but Not a Cold Case Team
Professor Tom Szollosi’s true crime book, co-written with Thomas J. Colbert, details the cold case of a 1971 skyjacker, D.B. Cooper, who vanished out the jet’s back door and became an instant legend. Now a determined citizen sleuth has assembled a forty-member cold case team, spearheaded by former FBI agents, to solve the mystery. After a five-year quest, they believe they have succeeded – with a fugitive at trail’s end. The book recently won Bronze in the True Crime category of the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Professor and Screenwriting Department Chair, Jeffrey Davis, along with co-author Peter Desberg, have done it again! As a follow-up to their Show Me The Funny! comes Now That’s Funny! The book provides an intimate look into the minds of twenty-four of Hollywood’s funniest comedy writers, who have given us such shows as: Saturday Night Live, Monk, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Simpsons and more!
“Using a Q&A format, the authors provided each writer with a story idea and let them run with it. Each of the writers was told there were no rules, no boundaries, and no limits! Because everyone started with the same concept, the authors could see how some writers jumped in and began creating, while others asked lots of questions; how some writers stuck closely to the premise, while others turned it on its head. What emerges is an entertaining look ― illuminating and hilarious in turn ― at the creative process behind hit TV shows and movies.” The book hits shelves June 15, but is available for pre-order.
Grab some shades and head for the beach..happy reading!
