Interview with Pat Silver-Lasky, author of 'Ride the Tiger'
ABOUT PAT SILVER-LASKY
Pat Silver-Lasky wrote as a team with her late husband, the well known Hollywood screen writer and author, Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., son of the film pioneer. Jesse Lasky, Sr.’s company, Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company produced the first full length motion picture in Hollywood, The Squaw Man. Jesse, Jr. wrote 40 films, 8 for C.B. DeMille, including The Ten Commandments, and Samson And Delilah.
With Jesse, Pat wrote 4 books (including the American best seller historical novel, The Offer), 8 produced films, nearly 100 produced TV scripts, (including the award winning 'Explorers' series ('Ten Who Dared' in U.S.A.). Their verse play, 'Ghost Town' won several awards in the States. In 1984/6 their TV series, 'Philip Marlowe' won three awards in the USA, and in Holland. Jesse Lasky Jr. died in 1988.
Born in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., Pat attended the University of Washington as a Drama Major, Stanford University and Reed College, where she produced and directed their first play.
She produced, wrote, directed, and acted (as Barbara Hayden) in the first live TV drama series from Hollywood: 'Mabel's Fables', for KTLA (Paramount), appeared in feature roles in films (Sammy Fuller's The Crimson Kimono) and played leading and co-starring roles on television, and directed for the theatre in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
As an A.S.C.A.P. writer, she wrote lyrics for 14 published and recorded songs, including "While You're Young" for Johnny Mathis's album, "Portrait of Johnny". She wrote the lyrics for two films at Columbia Studios.
Pat has lived in London since the early 1960’s and has duel citizenship. In 1987 she and Jesse wrote the play, 'Vivien', based on their book, "Love Scene", the story of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Pat directed its highly acclaimed first production at the Melrose Theatre, Los Angeles, 1987 and directed the London Rehearsed Reading of 'VIVIEN' in 1992.
Pat served as a Story Editor on the second MARLOWE series (see credits), has written articles and interviews, contributed to various British antique journals, written short stories for international magazines including a 1999 series of romantic short stories for the magazine, A World of Romance.
She has lectured on script writing at several American Universities, was Script Consultant and guest lecturer at the London (International) Film School for eight years until 1999.
Her book, SCREENWRITING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY was published for B.T. Batsford Books (Chrysalis Publishing) in March, 2004.
To find out more visit her website at : www.Pat Silver-Lasky.com or her blog at: http://pat-silver.blogspot.com
Q:
Welcome to The Writer's Life, (Pat). Can you tell us a little bit about
yourself and how long you’ve been writing?
A: : My life’s a triptych punctuated by
celebrities. I’ve been married three times and it has brought me into three
different worlds, but always in some area of the creative arts. It has
introduced me to the domain of entertainers, entertainment - and entertaining.
My first husband was singer, Tony Romano. My second Jesse Lasky, Jr. was the
son of a film pioneer, whose Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company produced the
first full-length motion picture in Hollywood, in 1913. Jesse, Jr. had
written 30 films including The Ten
Commandments, and Samson And Delilah.
As a team we wrote another 10 films, 4 books including American best seller
historical novel, The Offer, 8 films,
nearly 100 TV scripts, the award winning docudrama, Ten Who Dared, several of The
Avengers series, and served as a writers and Story Editors on the Philip Marlowe series. Our verse play, Ghost Town won several awards in the
States. In 1987 we wrote the play, Vivien,
based on our book, Love Scene, the
story of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. the most romantic film couple of the day (think Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt).
Q: Can
you please tell us about your book and why you wrote it?
A: As a one-time actress and writer and part of
the international film world, I wanted to tell the story of an
actress who gets involved way over her head - with fame, money and sex. I've known many stars and directors
personally: Orson Welles, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Sheridan, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby,
and dozens more. I've spent time in Las Vegas with my first husband, singer
Tony Romano, and knew Frank Sinatra. Jesse and I wrote a film on location in
the Swiss Alps for Omar Sharif. I understand how the industry affects people
who give their lives to it. Ride the
Tiger was the result. The character, Madelaine Brent is a
survivor in the film world, the Las Vegas show-time scene and in the art of
love. She wants everything life can offer and doesn't foresee the consequences
her actions will have on the men in her life and her beautiful daughter Cathy,
who has taken a dangerous path. Maddie's agent once warned her with an ancient
Chinese proverb: ‘She who rides the tiger better not dismount.’ Is Maddie about
to fall off? Maddie’s path leads her to
a place she didn’t expect because
sometimes, everything is too much and somebody gets murdered.
Q: What
were some of the biggest challenges you faced writing it?
A: After years of experience as a published writer
with knowledge of the film world, I wanted Ride
The Tiger to be exciting to entertainment insiders and as well as general
readers. This is a story for film buffs, thriller fans, and maybe Freudian
analysts – although, would it be the characters or me they would analyze? I
wanted to test the newest market which is certainly ebooks. So far, reviewers
have liked my book so I'm hoping the press will be on my side. That's the
biggest challenge: finding a voice in the marketplace.
Q: Do
you have a press kit and what do you include in it? Does this press kit appear online and, if so,
can you provide a link to where we can see it?
A:Yes. My press kit can be found and down-loaded from: http://patsilver-lasky.com/presskit.pdf
Q: Have
you either spoken to groups of people about your book or appeared on radio or
TV? What are your upcoming plans for
doing so?
A: Jesse Lasky, Jr. and I toured and did
many TV and radio shows in the States and the U.K. with The Offer (Doubleday, 1982) and also with our biography, Love Scene, for (Crown 1978).
Q: Do
you have an agent and, if so, would you mind sharing who he/is is? If
not, have you ever had an agent or do you even feel it’s necessary to have one?
A: Jesse and I were with William Morris in
the States many years ago for films and books. In the UK we had a series of
excellent agents. I now have an agent in New York for one historical novel (as
yet to be discussed) and another in California for a book of 460 letters from
Jesse Lasky, Sr. to Jesse Jr., that explores the story of early Hollywood. I
didn't submit Ride the Tiger to an
agent I wrote it since I moved to Orange Country and wanted to test the new
market for eBook readers - which so far, really doesn't interest agents. We're
all on a learning curve. We are into the age of readers on ebooks, Eventually, I would like
the book to be filmed. I would happily write the script for a cup of coffee and
a smile.
Q: Did
you, your agent or publisher prepare a media blitz before the book came out and
would you like to tell us about it?
A: We are now on a virtual ebook tour with PumpUpYourBook to make readers aware that Ride The Tiger will to be available on
all eBook formats: Sony Reader Store, Kobo, iPad, Nook, Copia, Gardners, Baker
and Taylor, and eBookPie for only $2.99. but they can still order the trade
paperback from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $12.95.
Q: Do
you plan subsequent books?
A: Do I stop? Hopefully, I'm going to have $cam$ $cheme$ $cumbag$ out for this
Christmas, which I've created with Peter Betts. It’s a light-hearted look at
conmen through the ages. I'm also working on a book called Hollywood Hotpot, Little Meals for Big Wheels - My days with the
stars. It's a cook and tell story - about people like Jack Lemmon who used to
come to our New York apartment to play our baby grand and eat, and Orson Welles
who invited me to tea, and Marilyn Monroe for whom I shared a vocal coach - and
Stan Laurel who lived next door and seemed to live out of tin cans. There are a
few other books still in the brain wave stage.
A: Wikipedia seems to have given me a bit of space.
It can now be ordered from all the
ebook websites as well as Amazon.
Thanks so much for investigating
Ride The Tiger. I'll look forward to
conversations with my readers. My long ago friend Barbara Taylor Bradford, a
busy best seller, just wrote me on facebook that she is going to try to read
the book. She felt let down by 50 Shades
of Gray.
ABOUT RIDE THE TIGER
Fame, money and sex, that’s what tinsletown is all about. Madelaine Brent wanted them all and she always got everything she wanted. But sometimes everything is too much and somebody gets murdered. Maddie remembered an ancient Chinese proverb her agent told her as a warning, so long ago: ‘She who rides the tiger better not dismount.’ Was she about to fall off?
This is the deeply penetrating story of a film star who puts her career and her erotic desires above all else. Madelaine Brent is willing to undergo the tortuous beauty treatments that will keep her on top - a survivor in the film world, the Las Vegas showtime scene and a survivor in the art of love. But Maddie does not foresee the consequences her actions will have on the men in her life: her British film director husband Charles who is devoted to her, the one-night stand she thought she could dismiss, the French film star who fathered her child, the young writer-director she seduced and the actor who holds her spellbound. Her beautiful daughter Cathy, alienated from her mother, has taken a dangerous path that leads to prison. Maddie’s path leads her to a place she didn’t expect - and a trail of murders.
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