Wednesday, April 16, 2003 3:01 PM
Editors note: Do you know a Press Club mem- ber who has enjoyed a recent career boost, award, book publication or other interesting news? We’d like to hear about it. Please send us a note at info@lapressclub.org, no longer than 400 words, and your name and phone number, and we’ll con- sider adapting the information for use in Profile of the Month.
Dave Ferrell is a veteran reporter for the Los
Angeles Times, where he has distinguished himself
as one of its finest writers and was nominated for
a Pulitzer in the late 1990s for his lyrically written
series on the edgy people who inhabit the world of
extreme sports. Dave, a Press Club member for
five years, has now achieved another career milestone with the publication April 1 of his first novel, the murder mystery “Screwball.”
The book, set in the world of major league baseball, is a black comedy with so many dark laughs it was chosen by the Mystery Guild and by Book of the Month Club as a Featured Alternate. It has already caught the eye of actor and producer Danny DeVito, whose interest in black comedy is seen in such movies as “War of the Roses,” and “Throw Mama from the Train.” As a result of DeVito’s interest, Universal has an option to adapt the book to a movie.
Published by William Morrow Co., a division of Harper Collins, Dave says the book took five years to write — between his busy days at the Times. The name “Screwball,” was picked by Dave’s first agent, the well-known Sandy Dykstra, agent for Amy Tan and other bestselling authors. But as Dave tells the tale, after months of work getting the book just right, Dykstra one day declared it wasn’t working, asking Dave: “Does it have to be about baseball?”
Dave’s ultimate success is a testament to writers who kept try- ing even when the chips were down. He wrote his first novel, another murder mystery, in the early morning hours before heading to his job at the Times in the early 1990s, but could not find a publisher. When things looked bleak for this, his sec- ond novel, he refused to give up. Without an agent, Dave turned for help to his for- mer Times boss, Noel Greenwood, now a respected freelance book editor, and Greenwood “showed me where it needed work,” says Dave.
When Dave felt the book was ready, he called an old acquaintance — now a superstar in the world of murder mysteries — bestselling author Michael Connelly. Dave wondered, would Connelly, author of “Angel’s Flight” and many other great
police detective novels set in Los Angeles, consider reading the book and writing a short blurb for possible use on a back cover? Connelly graciously agreed, loved the wild story with its twists and turns, and insisted on sending the book to his superstar agent, Philip Spitzer.
Says Dave: “Michael Connelly was very kind, one of these things you will always be grateful for. He passed the book on to his agent, and when his agent eventually got around to reading it, he said he liked it and sold it within two or three weeks — like whammo!”
Now that he’s an overnight success, Dave has been granted a leave from the Times in order to write his next book, and is already working on another black comedy.
If you’d like to meet Dave, he will appear at the following book- stores and events in April: 7 p.m. April 8 at Dutton’s in Brentwood, 7 p.m. April 17 at Vroman’s in Pasadena, 7 p.m. April 22 at Barnes & Noble on PCH in Long Beach, 7 p.m. April 23 at Barnes & Noble in Tustin, 7 p.m. April 24 at Borders in Yorba Linda and 11:30 a.m. April 27 at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the L.A. Times Pavilion at UCLA. Dave will also participate at the book festival that day at a 2:30 p.m. panel, “Freaky Deeky: From Hell to Hilarious.”
