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The Golden Theme is the study of writing's essential commonality-the question of what makes writing and storytelling vital to human nature-by award-winning writer/director/producer Brian McDonald.
Invisible Ink is a helpful, accessible guide to the essential elements of the best storytelling by award-winning writer/director/producer Brian McDonald. Readers learn techniques for building a compelling story around a theme, engaging audiences with writing, creating appealing characters, and much more.
Tribal Rugs: Treasures of the Black Tent is the definitive work on this subject. Dedicated to one of the most ancient crafts of the world, this book leads its reader through the history of the tribal rug. Featured content ranges from the oldest complete rug in the world (dated to the fifth century BC) to the weavings of the nomadic peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia, compiled from the 19th Century up to the present day. Each chapter introduces a different group of tribes, illustrating the rugs, carpets, kilims and utilitarian bags attributed to their weavers. This book is both a celebration of the woven legacy left by the tribes and a tribute to the skill and artistry of the women who created these magnificent artworks. It aims to provide an introduction for the novice, and entice the more knowledgeable to further study.
In this powerful memoir about three generations of New York City policemen, Brian McDonald chronicles a hundred years of dedication, disillusion, heroism, and tragedy behind the blue wall of silence that separates a cop from the rest of the world. His grandfather, Thomas Skelly, entered the department in 1893, when the NYPD was little more than a brutal gang of organized enforcers and Tammany Hall a corrupt political machine that could make or break an honest cop's career. His father Frank's career would span World War II through the 1960s, taking him from street cop to squad commander of the Forty-first Precinct. Better known as "Fort Apache", it was a place from which few cops emerged whole. His brother Frank McDonald, Jr., went on to become a decorated officer, waging an undercover war on drugs and crime. From turn-of-the-century Brooklyn to the South Bronx in the 1970s to the bedroom communities of upstate New York, My Father's Gun combines a rare and intimate family story with turbulent social history.
From Brian McDonald and Les McClaine comes Old Souls, a supernatural graphic novel about addiction, obsession, and the things we do for family. Chris Olsen has a good life. He has a regular job, a wife and daughter who love him, and a promising future. By any measure this is a good life, but it isn’t his first. When a troubling encounter with a homeless man triggers something inside Chris, memories of his past lives bubble to the surface. A lost Chinese boy, a wailing grandmother, and a love so powerful it never left his soul—all compete for his attention. Chris sinks deep into the seedy and seductive world of “grave robbers,” vagrants known for their ability to relive their former lives. But can he find closure to a tragic episode in his past without losing himself in the process?
Ink Spots is a collection of brief but powerful essays on writing, story structure and filmmaking by award-winning writer/director/producer Brian McDonald. With inspiring wit and wisdom, he will not only teach you how to be a better writer, but a more observant person and a better student in any field. You'll find yourself uncontrollably thinking deeply and analytically about writing, film or anything else you are passionate about in life.
'Lifts the lid on London gangs of the last two centuries' THE WEEKLY NEWS 'Lays bare the truth behind the capital's underworld far before the Krays and the Richardsons became well known' THE WHARF 'Incredible real-life tales' SOUTHWARK NEWS Long before the Kray twins, London was plagued by gang warfare as vicious as anything that was to come. From the 19th century onwards, violent mobs fought pitched battles for territory and local pride. The Bethnal Green Boys hunted Hackney's Broadway Boys, Clerkenwell took on Somers Town, the Red Hands prowled Deptford and the Silver Hatchets terrorised Islington, while the police and judiciary seemed powerless to stop them. The first-ever history of thes...
She thought she’d found Mr. Right—until it all went murderously wrong—in this true-crime tale with “all the elements of a grand tragedy” (Library Journal). Elizabeth Lochtefeld was a glowing, charismatic, and driven businesswoman who’d built a small fortune in Manhattan before settling into a new life in one of America’s most elite resort communities. In her mid-forties, she planned to dedicate the rest of her life to charity—and to marry and finally start a family of her own. When Lochtefeld met thirty-seven-year-old Tim Toolan—a tall, handsome Columbia graduate and Wall Street ace who’d achieved a VP position at Smith Barney—she thought she’d found Mr. Right. She told friends she was in love. She hinted at marriage. But soon she saw past the golden-boy facade, finding a deeply troubled man with a history of erratic behavior—a man given to violent mood swings who’d been fired from his job after trying to steal an $80,000 Roman bust from a Park Avenue antiques show. And two days after she ended the affair, she lay dead on the floor of her Nantucket cottage . . . “Poignant [and] truly chilling.” —Kirkus Reviews Includes photos
Freeman, an original screenplay, is western about a former slave, living out West with his wife and child, building a new life. Accused of stealing, he is forced to become a fugitive. To evade the posse on his trail, he finds himself using the same tricks he used as a runaway slave. Problem is, Freeman's also being hunted by an expert tracker by the name of Cage who's a former profession? Slave-catcher. And he knows all the tricks. This taut page-turner is followed by the author's insightful notes on the screenplay's construction. This book will help authors navigate the maze that is story construction as well as teaching how to affect one's audience deeply.