I've been quite busy with several projects, so haven't had much time to get on here.  Taking a little break right now between drafts so thought I'd let everyone know what's been going on. 

Finally got around to completing The Magic Box 2, a sequel to a children's book I wrote back in kindergarten. Naturally it's much more sophisticated than the original, which is available at DaJa Vu Books, and this time the box turns into a boat, and there will be Pirates! Lots of pirates! As soon as Jason gets around to illustrating it, we'll have it ready for publication.

I also got a YA horror novel (think Goosebumps) I wrote back in 1998 edited and ready for publication. It'll be sold exclusively on Amazon.com as soon as Jason finishes the cover art. Anyone noticing a pattern here?

Then I finally finished a script that readers of this blog will know I had major problems writing. Doesn't look like that's going to go anywhere, though, yet. Still needs a lot of character work.

Last week I finished the second draft of a screenplay I'm adapting from a novella by a friend of mine. Can't say too much about that now, though as the project is still in the early stages. Once we're ready to go in production, expect to hear a lot about it.

Currently I'm working on a novella of my own and researching several other projects while I attempt to sell some of my short stories to magazines. Anyone in need of a short story about a former Nazi haunted by the ghost of a little girl he killed?

I'm Back

I've taken a hiatus from blogging and the internet in general because I decided it was time to do away with any form of socialization whatsoever and focus on finishing several projects we have in development.

A few weeks ago I finished the rewrite on Tony's Doll, which I wrote back in 98. Friday I completed the first draft of what will perhaps be our next film, an as yet untitled 70s style thriller. I actually enjoyed writing this one and am really looking forward to filming it.

I've also been catching up on some movies.

Saw series worth checking out.

Friday the 13th franchise: how did these movies get so popular? they suck.

In the Name of the King: Uwe Bol should stick to vampires.

Death Race: Excellent movie.

Australia: Confused movie

It's awesome knowing a mechanic who can give you an idea for a major plot element in the process of explaining what kind of car trouble I could use to get my characters stranded near a creepy farmhouse. Thanks James, you rock!

Spending time with long lost friends is a good way to spend an evening or two.

Had a good day of writing. Got through ten pages of the script. Some of it was rewriting the opening of earlier fragments, but there was a lot of added stuff too. Hopefully finally found my way into the story and things will pick up on it. Finding a lot of inspiration for this project now, seems to be every where I look.

Back from Christmas Break

Had a good day of writing today. I've begun editing a short story I wrote, "Remnants" about a former Nazi death camp officer who is haunted by the ghost of a girl he murdered. I sent it off to All-Story because they pay the most, and also because it's a much better story than a lot of the crap they've published in the magazine. Guess the whole ghost thing turned them off, yet it's much more literary than horror. It's not a ghost story, more about a  lonely old man's decent into madness. The ghost is just gravy. Thankfully Weird Tales is back in print, so in a few weeks I'll be sending it out the them. 

Got some work done on the as yet untitled screenplay I've been working on; the one I've had so much trouble with. I was cleaning up my office space on Christmas Eve-yes, that's how exciting my holiday was-and found a rough outline I wrote for it at least a year ago. Not really very helpful with the way the story has been changed around, but it did renew my interest in the project. Got started on it this afternoon and was just building up steam when my piano student who was supposed to be out of town today, showed up in the driveway. Ughhh. So, hopefully the inspiration will come back to me tomorrow.

If you haven't already, check out the special Christmas posting I did for DaJa Vu Films. It's funny if I do say so myself. My humor is a little twisted, though.

Also, if you're not watching Dollhouse, you really are missing out. Unfortunately, the first four episodes of this season are no longer available online. Good news: Season one is available on DVD!

1st Draft of The Magic Box 2

Just finished the first draft of The Magic Box 2. Probably the easiest thing I've written since the first magic box back when I was six years old. It's going to be a fun little book once it's polished and illustrated. 

The most difficult thing about writing it was having to revert to a grade school vocabulary. I've learned a lot of new words since then. Words like shimmering for instance. Do five year olds know what shimmering means? I'd ask myself. Just to be on the safe side, I would think about what I really wanted to express by the word and choose a simpler form.

I also had to refrain from writing in the moral gray area where most of my characters tend to reside. Example: I had a scene planned out where a pirate captain explains that the buried treasure he and his crew are digging up belonged to someone else, so technically it was stolen-stolen treasure.  The end of the book depends on the main character (we'll call him moral compass) taking the treasure the pirate captain offers him. And I couldn't have Moral Compass taking anything that he knew was stolen, so I had to toss my original notes and rewrite the scene so that the treasure they are digging up belongs to the pirate captain. Splitting hairs, I know, but it was a very important hair.

Glad to know that tomorrow I am going to be returning to my morally ambiguous and anti-heroic characters.

Faded

I was taking Jason to a friend's house when it came over the radio that Brittany Murphy died today. I always feel a bit strange when effected by the death of someone I didn't know and never met. How is it possible to feel like I've lost a friend I never had in the first place?

A lot of celebrities have died this year. But none of them touched me like Brittany Murphy's death. Michael Jackson was a living legend; how can one even begin to relate to that? Patrick Swayze and Farrah Fawcett were both icons; symbols but also very human. Heath Ledger was a rising star.

They were all in unique positions, which unless one had shared the experience, it would be very difficult to identify with. Perhaps it's because she began her career playing the weird, unattractive best friend (Boy Meets World, Clueless). Everyone I'm sure has felt like that, bottom of the rung. But how many of us have felt on top of the world?

After losing weight and bleaching her hair, it seemed as though her career was taking a turn for the better with her fantastic performance in Don't Say A Word. A role not many would have been able to pull off. But then came movies like Just Married and Uptown Girls. Movies written by the numbers, passionless and empty. Movies that were far below the great talent she possessed. Movies that she or her manager probably thought would make her the next Sandra Bullock. Unfortunately they accomplished the opposite and her career spiraled into cinematic obscurity.

Perhaps it is this quality that made her more accessible; someone I could identify with. Even in the movies she headlined, she always seemed to be forced to take second chair to co stars like Ashton Kutcher and Dakota Fanning. She wasn't a star but a very talented actress who was in a few high profile films. An artist, not a celebrity. A real human being and not an image. Tangible. Someone like you or me.

Faded

I was taking Jason to a friend's house when it came over the radio that Brittany Murphy died today. I always feel a bit strange when effected by the death of someone I didn't know and never met. How is it possible to feel like I've lost a friend I never had in the first place?

A lot of celebrities have died this year. But none of them touched me like Brittany Murphy's death. Michael Jackson was a living legend; how can one even begin to relate to that? Patrick Swayze and Farrah Fawcett were both icons; symbols but also very human. Heath Ledger was a rising star.

They were all in unique positions, which unless one had shared the experience, it would be very difficult to identify with. Perhaps it's because she began her career playing the weird, unattractive best friend (Boy Meets World, Clueless). Everyone I'm sure has felt like that, bottom of the rung. But how many of us have felt on top of the world?

After losing weight and bleaching her hair, it seemed as though her career was taking a turn for the better with her fantastic performance in Don't Say A Word. A role not many would have been able to pull off. But then came movies like Just Married and Uptown Girls. Movies written by the numbers, passionless and empty. Movies that were far below the great talent she possessed. Movies that she or her manager probably thought would make her the next Sandra Bullock. Unfortunately they accomplished the opposite and her career spiraled into cinematic obscurity.

Perhaps it is this quality that made her more accessible; someone I could identify with. Even in the movies she headlined, she always seemed to be forced to take second chair to co stars like Ashton Kutcher and Dakota Fanning. She wasn't a star but a very talented actress who was in a few high profile films. An artist, not a celebrity. A real human being and not an image. Tangible. Someone like you or me.