Every so often one of my fans will tell me that they think one of my series, either the Big Lake series or John Lee Quarrels, or most recently Tinder Street, should be made into a movie or miniseries. I’ve received a couple of feelers over the years but nothing serious at this point, and I’m not holding my breath.
I know some authors who have had their books made into movies or TV miniseries. Some of them have made a lot of money from them, but not one has been happy with the end result. I think maybe that’s because our books are kind of like our children, and we like them just the way they are. How would you feel if you sent your blonde-haired son or daughter to a friend’s house for a sleepover and they came back as a brunette or a redhead because the friend’s mother thought they would look better that way? I guess it’s kind of the same thing.
We have all seen movies made from books we have read and been disappointed. Sometimes I have watched a movie and thought I probably wouldn’t want to read the book it was based on, and then when I eventually did, I found that it was good after all. But I don’t ever recall watching a movie first and then being disappointed in the book.
The other night we watched Radium Girls on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s an excellent movie about how women working in companies that painted luminous dials on watches and gauges were sickened and killed by radiation poisoning. It also tells the disgusting levels the companies responsible went to to avoid accepting any responsibility, even though they knew radiation poisoning was a danger to their workers’ health. It’s a tragic story based on real events, and I recommend it. I’m looking forward to reading the book The Radium Girls by Kate Moore.
A miniseries we started to watch and quickly grew disgusted with was Underground Railroad on Amazon Prime. Later someone told me that if we liked all of the violence in Django Unchained, we would like this series. We didn’t like either one and just as we walked out of Django Unchained, we changed the channel to regular network TV and watched something else. I’ve seen more than enough blood and guts and gore and needless violence in my life to want to watch it exploited on television for recreation.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Big Lake Scandal, the fifth book in my Big Lake mystery series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with U.S. addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.
Thought For The Day – The only reason I have not unfriended some people on Facebook is because their drama keeps me entertained while I’m on the toilet.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Thank you for the warning about “Underground Railroad.” I have an interest in the subject of the Underground Railroad and have visited some of the local places that were stops. While I realize that slaves were often brutalized and that those caught trying to escape to the North were treated horrifically, I don’t care to watch violence for violence’s sake. I will skip this miniseries.
We made it through two episodes of Underground Railroad before gave up in disgust. Why would anyone spend the money it took to make such garbage?
You hit the nail on the head with both movies Nick. Radium Girls was excellent and shows that big business has been ruthless and uncaring forever and Underground Railroad was no more than a slasher movie disguised as history. No historical merit to it at all.