LA Times Front Page News: Why I Left LA—and Moved to Joshua Tree
LA Times front page news & profile. LIVE national news interview. Talking about important issues for creatives ... our stagnant pay & spikes in cost-of-living.
Look, that’s me! Front page of the LA Times!
The truth is that I’ve been avoiding writing this post. Why? Because it’s still painful sometimes to process everything I’ve lost since the pandemic. In the aftermath of COVID leading into the double hollywood strikes, I made a drastic choice to leave LA and move out to the desert for one reason—the reduce my cost of living.
It’s hard talking about these things.
I’m “successful.” I work hard and have multiple book deals and income streams. I’m also pretty frugal and down-to-earth.
But none of that shielded me from what happened. And I’m not alone in my suffering. This issue is widespread through all of my industries (film/tv and publishing … and teaching). And it’s finally getting national media attention.
I decided to speak out even if it risked tarnishing my “successful” reputation. That turned into a profile in the LA Times that profiled me and told my whole story.
The easiest thing is to read it. That story ended up running on the front page. Then cable news started calling. Since then, I’ve heard from friends, acquaintances and strangers thanking me for speaking out and highlighting the problem. Many have been out of work for over a year since the strikes first happened.
The reasons are myriad and written about a lot. Corporatization and mergers of all media. Massive contraction of film and tv slates (and publishing). Stagnant pay or reduced—if you’re lucky enough to get paid. Fighting for residuals and royalties that sustain us gig to give, movie to movie, book to book, which these corporations are trying to reduce or eliminate. These industry trends were accelerated by pandemic polices. Then came the cost of living spikes.
Rent increases. The housing market. Inflation (though companies are making record profits, so it’s likely more price gouging and costflation).
Author Stephanie Land has a great Substack that talks about all of these issues that involve affordable housing and challenges for creatives. I highly recommend subscribing and reading her books, too.
The result is an exodus from LA of the creative class. This includes chefs, designers, and more. When a city loses its creative class, it loses its culture.
And it … dies.
It’s that simple. We’re priced out. I could kill myself to live in a box with no rent control in a crumbling neighborhood—or I could move to the desert and reduce my overhead, so I can keep writing. I am committed to my art at all costs. In many ways, it’s all I care about in this world; and it’s how I contribute, too.
I made a choice; it was a hard one. It took me away from a city that had been my home for twenty years since college, where all more of my friends and work contacts live. I’m restarting my life at age 44, in many ways from scratch. I spent the first year in the desert watching my industry go on strike. My manager said, “You picked a good year to be out of LA.” I saw him again recently at WonderCon, along with many other folks.
This was in March 2024 (this year). The catchphrase, which got quoted in the LA Times piece, was already “Stay alive ‘til 2025.” It felt too early in the year to be saying that, but now we’re staring down the barrel of another strike.
I get asked about Hollywood projects a lot. My debut series “The 13th Continuum” was setup at Sony Pictures for TV, packaged with a great producer and writers. They renewed the option to hold through the strikes … and then it, along with many other projects around town, became a causality of the the strikes and contraction.
That doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen; just not soon, I’m guessing.
So, I left at the right time. It’s hard to watch work you’ve spent years building crumble for reasons far outside your control (and pay grade). At the same time that happened, my rent kept getting raised out from under me, totally out of whack with income. Everything got impossibly expensive. I make more money now than I ever have (as a creative), yet I keep being able to afford less.
When I first moved to LA, I didn’t get paid anything. Michael Bay’s company paid me $500/week (yeah, you read that right). But I shared a Brentwood adjacent apartment with a roommate (a friend from Harvard). It was a 2 bed / 2 bath. My share was $650/ month. So, my rent was roughly a little more than 1/4 my income. I had to watch spending, but everything cost less. Technology hadn’t yet invaded our lives where we own nothing and pay monthly. I didn’t even own a home computer or internet.
My roommate had dial-up AOL I used to job search and print out Mapquest (to find interviews in the sprawling metropolis where I constantly got lost). I still had to go to Kinko’s to fax resumes for most job applications. FAX … yup.
This was Fall of 2001 (which was a terribly difficult time to find work post 9/11 … my specific year and class has gotten hammered at every turn). It turns out I probably arrived in town just a smidgen too late (by a year or two), or too early (before Facebook and the rise of tech).
LA was doable when I had rent control. But then when my landlords sold my house, it’s been free fall ever since. Even now, moving to a less expensive area and making more money, my rent and utilities are roughly 50% of my income. My story isn’t uncommon anymore. The math doesn’t math. Yes, I pick up gigs and side jobs. I think I probably have six jobs. Yes, I’m educated, skilled, and work super hard.
Luckily, the Joshua Tree community is vibrant, welcoming to artists, and still more affordable. But even that is beginning to change out here as more folks flee the cities and move out to the desert and other smaller communities. I wonder if it will last.
And it’s worth noting, that we are vulnerable to climate change (which I’ve begun to call “climate collapse”). Right now, as I write these words, we are weathering a record heat dome event. Palm Springs hit an all-time record temp of 123 degrees. Nobody is spared from the damage we’ve wrought to our planet in the end.
I miss LA. But as I said in the LA Times, the LA I miss doesn’t exist anymore.
The city is dying. It’s only for the wealthy elites now.
Creatives are leaving. You know what’s worse?
Young people aren’t moving there anymore. It’s not just LA, but most major cities of the past. I read that 40% of Gen Z still lives at home. Texas is booming. Why? It’s not the politics—it’s the affordability. Period. Older generations enriched themselves and cashed in on housing (many becoming millionaires without much effort) at the expense of their kids ever owning a home or having any housing stability.
I don’t think it will recover in my lifetime, but I hope it will be better for the kids growing up now (who I write many of my books for).
My plan is to keep writing and speaking out, no matter what. If you want to support me, my new book A SACRIFICE OF BLOOD & STARS comes out in September.
THE FIRST REVIEW JUST DROPPED—and it’s great! From Kirkus!
My book available for PREORDER now in all formats.
LA Times Article & News Nation Interview
You can read about my personal journey in the LA Times:
Here’s my LIVE interview on News Nation (10 min):
A Sacrifice of Blood & Stars — out Sept 17th! Preorder now & First Review
On a distant dwarf planet, a young soldier discovers her mortal enemy is her only tie to the world she left behind, in a high-stakes sci-fi romance.
“Old Man’s War meets Dear John. An epic love story set against the war-torn stars.” —Scott Sigler, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the Generations Trilogy
“Conjures the magic of romance amid the horrors of a war-torn future. Fast-paced, filled with action, and alive with love and need. Highly recommend!” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times–bestselling author of the Sleepers War and NecroTek series
“A compelling mystery and an interstellar romance drive this diverting space opera.” —Kirkus Reviews
What do you think? How has your life changed since the pandemic? Leave a comment and let me know!
Hear you on this. Once upon a time in Los Angeles, I lived on a sailboat because I was a young screenwriter and couldn't afford a regular apartment. Turned into one of the best times of my life. I imagine even the sailboats there now are unaffordable...