Making First Contact

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it, we go nowhere."  Carl Sagan

I'm a techno freak. I read science fiction and I watch science fiction. One of my producer friends is trying to get the option for one of my favorite science fiction books (hint, hint, Melissa!) Here's a picture of me on the opening day of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind - at Epcot.

One of my favorite movies is Contact, a 1997 film with Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, who makes first contact with aliens. Although I love science fiction, I've only written three screenplays that have elements of science fiction. Last Woman is more of a thriller with grounded science fiction.  It is about a young female scientist who suffers from a consuming fear of being alone due to a harrowing assault she endured in college.  When she tests a new device developed by her technology company, a strong electromagnetic pulse transports her to a world free of people and fears. But… she discovers that every time she does -- she grows further and further away from her reality and closer to the man who torments her. Another one of my scripts, Technically Soccer, is about a women's soccer team coached by a droid. Another script, Runaway Cricket  (in production at BlackOrb Studios,) is about a runaway girl befriending an alien. The first two are grounded sci-fi. Is Runaway Cricket grounded? 

What is "grounded sci-fi" and how does this set it apart from other types of science fiction? To really understand grounded sci-fi, it helps to first think about the broader sci-fi genre. Science fiction, at its core, imagines how the future might look based on speculations about technology, science, society and more. It asks "what if?" questions and creatively explores the possibilities. This could mean far-future worlds, alien life, time travel, alternate histories, and other mind-bending concepts.

But grounded sci-fi is a specific approach within this genre. The key word here is "grounded." This type of sci-fi tries to keep at least one foot firmly planted in reality. While it still speculates and imagines future possibilities, it aims to do so in a way that feels authentic and plausible based on what we currently know. Here are some key features that distinguish grounded sci-fi:

 1. Realistic science and technology: In Technically Soccer, droids already exist like AI-Me, (pronounced Amy,) which stands for Artificial Intelligence for Maximizing Efficiencies. Grounded sci-fi usually tries to base its speculative elements on real, cutting-edge science and engineering. The futuristic technologies feel like logical progressions from today's capabilities rather than pure magic or hand-waving. There's an emphasis on scientific accuracy and showing how these advancements might realistically function. 

 2. Relatable settings and characters: The worlds of grounded sci-fi tend to resemble our own, just with added layers of futuristic elements. The societies, cultures, and challenges faced by characters parallel contemporary issues in thought-provoking ways. Basically, despite the sci-fi trappings, this world still feels connected to and shaped by the one we know. Both of my "grounded" scripts take place in the present time and in ordinary settings; a house, an office building, and a soccer field. Runaway Cricket takes place in a small town that could be anywhere - on Earth. It is sort of a modern-day E.T., and if you believe in aliens...

 3. Exploration of near-future scenarios: Rather than leaping centuries or millennia ahead, grounded sci-fi often focuses on the near future, anywhere from a few years to a few decades away. It imagines the impact of emerging technologies, social trends, political changes, environmental challenges, etc., within a timeframe we can still reasonably wrap our minds around. I think the science behind Last Woman exists. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic energy that can disrupt or damage electronic equipment. The physics behind EMPs starts with a rapid acceleration of charged particles, which creates an intense electromagnetic field. This field induces electrical currents in nearby conductors - similar to how a changing magnetic field creates electricity in a generator, but far more intense and sudden. The current military significance of EMPs comes from their ability to disable electronic systems. This is one of the small storylines in my script. When the electromagnetic wave hits electronic equipment, it can induce voltage spikes that exceed what the components are designed to handle. This can burn out semiconductors, damage integrated circuits, and corrupt stored data. Could it make someone appear to "disappear?"

 4. Emphasis on plausibility and consequences: Grounded sci-fi doesn't just focus on the "wow" factor of futuristic concepts. It deeply considers the ripple effects, unintended consequences, and socio-economic implications of these advancements. It aims to tell believable stories of how technology intersects with human experiences, both good and bad. I explore this both in Technically Soccer and Last Woman.

Some well-known examples of grounded sci-fi include:

 - "The Martian" by Andy Weir: A realistic tale of an astronaut stranded on Mars, using real science to solve problems.

- "Minority Report" by Philip Kindred  Dick: A world where "precrime" police use psychics to arrest people before they commit crimes.

The book option that I'd like Melissa to get is similar to Minority Report. One of my favorite movies, is The Martian with Matt Damon, and I started a "Mars-like garden" in my backyard. 

But movies like "Star Wars," are superhero stories, far-future tales, and fantasy-leaning sci-fi wouldn't qualify as "grounded" because they tend to prioritize imagination and drama over realism. The picture above is outside Guardians of the Galaxy in Epcot. That is my favorite franchise of movies. 

 Getting back to Contact - the book vs. the movie, there are five differences I found;

 1. Ellie's childhood and relationship with her father: I write a lot of father/daughter scripts because for the past almost thirty years, I've been close to my father after my mother died. In the book, Ellie's father dies when she is quite young, fueling her interest in science and the stars as a way to feel connected to him. Her childhood, relationship with her father, and early passion for astronomy are explored in much more depth. In contrast, the movie begins with Ellie already grown up. It shows some flashbacks to her as a girl with her father, establishing their bond and her curiosity about the universe. However, this backstory is condensed compared to the book. The film focuses more on Ellie as an adult and her present-day journey.

 2. The nature and motivations of the alien message: The book goes into great scientific and philosophical detail about the alien message, its layers of meaning, and what it suggests about the nature and intentions of the senders. Decoding the message is a major plot point that reveals fascinating insights about the aliens. We don't have the luxury to write a 5-hour movie - unless your last name is Lucus or Coppola. Although a limited series is opening up in this area. The movie streamlines the philosophical, not delving as deeply into the message's complexity. The film is more focused on Ellie's quest to understand and respond to the message rather than its intricate content. The aliens' motivations are left more mysterious and open-ended.

 3. Ellie's romantic relationships: In the book, Ellie has a few romantic partners, including her longtime boyfriend Ken der Heer. Her relationships are realistically complex, influencing her emotions and personal journey throughout the story. Actors cost a lot of money, So the movie reduces this, making Palmer Joss Ellie's primary love interest. Palmer is a Christian philosopher, allowing the film to further highlight the faith vs. science themes. The on-again/off-again nature of their movie romance drives character development and provides conflict that isn't as important in a book.

 4. Ellie's role and the machine: Ellie is part of a large team building the machine in the book based on the alien instructions. She is not the sole passenger, with several international travelers taking the journey alongside her. Compare this to the movie where Ellie is the sole American representative and ends up making the voyage by herself due to sabotage and accidents. Having her go alone heightens the drama and keeps the focus on her individual experience when meeting the aliens.

 5. The meeting with the aliens: The book's alien meeting is an incredibly vivid, almost psychedelic journey through time, space and other dimensions. Ellie has lengthy, enigmatic interactions with the aliens who take on familiar forms from her mind. But In the film, the alien encounter is briefer and less abstract. The aliens appear as fuzzy, incorporeal versions of her deceased father. The dialog is more concise and less philosophical compared to the book. 

 But the best line in the movie isn't even in the book; "The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space." Carl Sagan wrote this, but he also wrote the first draft of the screenplay. 

 Sagan and his wife, Ann Druyan began working on the movie, Contact in 1979. They wrote a film treatment over 100 pages long and set up the project at Warner Bros. with Peter Guber and Lynda Obst as producers. Nothing happened, so Sagan published Contact as a novel. In 1981, Simon & Schuster gave Sagan a $2 million advance on the novel. At the time, the advance was the largest ever made for a book that had not yet been written. Guess what? The film reentered development in 1989. With Zemeckis as director, filming ran from September 1996 to February 1997. Carl never saw the movie, he died in 1996. 

 Writing a book after the movie is something I'm very familiar with. Last year, I wrote Mama Dallas and Augie (published by Little Studio Publishing. It is based on two screenplays, one of them that I wrote; Augie. I'm hoping to write the third one, which would be the early years of Mama Dallas (Concetta) in Italy.

If we can dream…hey, that is the title of next month's blog!

 

Waste of Time

 

“You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library” Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

I wasn't born with raw talent - for anything! But I acquired talent over the years. I was shy and stuttered, but I eventually became a public speaker and once spoke at the same conference as First Lady Barbara Bush. We were both in the speaker's lounge, and I wanted to talk to her, but when those big guys with guns started toward me, I hurried back to my own couch area. I'm shy and afraid of everything. I'm like the Gorginites in Small Soldiers; my greatest ability is to run and hide.  In addition, my mother said that I was so uncoordinated as a kid that I could trip over a bobby pin in a shag carpet, but I became a certified yoga teacher. I believe in attacking things with everything that I've got to succeed. I went to college to get a degree in International Agriculture with a goal to teach the world how to grow food. Lots of things diverted my path, but I ended up changing to agribusiness, then business, and finally accounting and computer science. How I got from designing accounting software to screenwriting is for another blog; this one is about education and screenwriting. Do you need a formal education to be a successful screenwriter?

If you have talent, raw talent, and a great idea, run out and buy a book on screenwriting and learn screenwriting software. My first book was by Cynthia Whitcomb, who I'll talk about in another blog, and I have probably read a dozen or more over the years. Of course, my favorite is written by my manager, Alexia Melocchi, An Insider's Secret: Mastering the Hollywood Path and after reading that, I decided I needed representation, but I'll cover that in another blog. This blog is about whether or not an education is important if you want to be a screenwriter. So, even though I was a highly educated CPA and computer programmer when I took off this path, I wanted to learn screenwriting from the best - and I did.

I found out that UCLA had an online screenwriting program.  Jack Sowards (above left,) who wrote Star Trek – Wrath of Kahn and Jim Schmerer (center,) who wrote for some of the most popular series of the 1970s and ’80s, including MacGyver, CHiPs, Vega$, Fantasy Island and Starsky & Hutch, were my instructors.  I met a friend online, Dana Biscotti Myskowski (right,) and when we graduated from the Advanced Program and attended our graduation ceremony at UCLA, Jim and Jack took Dana and me out to dinner.  These two wonderful gentlemen told Dana and me that we were the best writers in the class which gave us both a lot of encouragement to continue. I had acquired talent with education.

I think UCLA is the best, and I have the t-shirt to confirm that. UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television combines theory and practice, with students learning both writing and production. I'm with a lofty group;  Francis Ford Coppola, Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants), and David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man) all studied here.

Of course, the USC School of Cinematic Arts is considered the premier institution for screenwriting - by some. Their Writing for Screen & Television program has produced writers like John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood), George Lucas, and Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Scandal). The program emphasizes both craft and industry connections, with many students getting represented by major agencies before graduation.

When I won the Native American Media Alliance Fellowship, my instructor, Matt Black (Umma with Sandra Oh), was also a lecturer at AFI Conservatory, which offers an intensive two-year screenwriting program. While smaller than some other programs, it's produced by writers like David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot). The program is known for its mentor-based approach and small class sizes. Matt was a huge fan of David Lynch and even has an ear tattoo on his arm in honor of Lynch's Blue Velvet. It is a movie I hate.

NYU Tisch School of the Arts has a renowned dramatic writing program that covers both screenwriting and playwriting. Notable alumni include Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea), Tony Kushner (Lincoln, Angels in America), and Donald Glover. The New York location gives students unique access to both film and theater industries.

Columbia University's Film MFA program has a strong emphasis on dramatic writing fundamentals. Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), James Mangold (Walk the Line, Logan), and Simon Kinberg (X-Men franchise) are among its graduates.

Interestingly enough, one of my two favorite screenwriters, Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network, Newsroom, American President), was actually a theater acting major at Syracuse University before turning to writing - but I think he drips with raw talent. But my best is Chuck Lorre, who dropped out of Suny to pursue a career in songwriting and got his break when he co-wrote the soundtrack to the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Dennis Challen Brown. Chuck jumped right into TV and is the best TV writer of all time, and I'm sure his investment banker agrees. Lorre eventually received an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and gave a keynote address at a graduation ceremony. I hope he paid his library fines first!

So, how would I answer the question about education? Obviously, for some - it isn't necessary, but if you have the time and money and, like me, a quart low on raw talent, go for it. If you're young, spending some time at college can help you grow and make lifelong connections that I didn't have. If you're not in LA, then an online class or fellowship will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. The answer to that question is in your head – did you wake up this morning with an idea so amazing that you must get it on paper? Buy a couple books, read a couple scripts and buy Final Draft or get the free version of FadeIn and start writing! 

If you want to build a career, get Alexia's book, learn about Hollywood and move out there. If you like going to school, pick UCLA (just kidding) or check out your local college and see if they have a screenwriting program. What I don't recommend is getting an MFA and learning creative writing. Screenwriting is creative, but it is mostly writing about life and is about people speaking and reacting through action. I'm not sure learning about Shakespeare and 14th century poets is the way to get good at screenwriting. But when it comes to writing, that quote in Good Will Hunting is right - and that script won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for best screenplay for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.  Like Matt Damon's line, "education might be a terrible waste of money."

Nobody Knows

 

I finished a TV pilot this month with an old friend, Mark, and we entered it into SeriesFest to see if we could get some bites - or bliss. It is a pretty interesting story. Mark and his wife, Arlene, moved to Mexico to find their bliss. In this picture (left) is our cousin, John, Mark and his wife, Arlene. Our TV pilot is based on Mark's comedy book Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak. I got the coverage on it back this month, and it is fantastic!

"The writer has created an absolutely fantastic premise. The concept of Americans (from Portland) moving to Mexico to realize some idealized dream that is far from ideal is great and will provide endless setups for future episodes. I could see this done as a single-camera or multicamera show, though the format is very much a single-camera show. It's a concept that also has wide audience appeal, especially depending on how much you dig into cultural discussions and commentary.  I also love your three main characters, Charlie, Marty, and Adele. The dynamic between Charlie and Marty feels reminiscent of ALL IN THE FAMILY, though with completely different archetypes that fit contemporary audiences. They each have a very distinct personality with its own quirks, positives, and negatives. You do introduce a few locals into the pilot, but it would be great to see them even more so we get a sense of the regulars within this world that our central family will be interacting with from week to week."

Getting back to Mark, decades ago, we found that we liked to write and were both going to the Willamette Writers Conference that summer. We agreed to meet in the big tent for lunch. When Keith and I walked in, I said, "Isn't that your cousin, John, sitting next to Mark?" Yup, in Portland, a town of 2 million+, the only two people we knew - were friends with each other!  Mark and I stayed in touch over the next few decades, and it was Mark who told us when Cousin John died this year. John was an LA lawyer who moved to Portland to find his bliss and write plays. That is also Mark's bliss, writing plays, although he's quite the accomplished comedian and has written for shows like Leno. But his book has been on my Kindle all these years and has been my "go-to" book when I'm feeling sad - which has happened a few times this year. After I read it again this fall, I knew it could be a TV pilot and convinced Mark to take a leap of faith with me. He gave me the option on it and agreed to co-write the pilot.  

I changed "Mark and Arlene" to Marty and Adele - fictitious characters and then merely told Mark's story. He and Arlene have moved to San Miguel de Allende three times! They are now back in Portland. I made a fictitious city, too, to protect the huge expat community in San Miguel "where if you swing an artist, you'll hit a writer and if that writer ducks, you'll hit a jazz musician." In addition, the locals speak Spanish with the speed of a particle accelerator.
So that is what I've been knee-deep in this past month. Here's the Nobody Knows Pitch Deck.

Now, I'm starting on a horror movie, writing it with a famous artist, Guy Vasilovich, based on Edgar Allan Poe's last living relative, titled Last Poe —more on that next month!

A Hallmark Christmas

This month, my best friend, Laura (right,) visited me for a week. There aren't that many people who knew me as my mother's daughter, so we talked a lot about our mothers. 

My mother loved Christmas – every inch of our home was decorated. She made a magical bonbon – and I'm often asked for the recipe. One problem – I don't have it. My mom never wrote it down before she died unexpectedly, and we lost more that day than her secret ingredients.

As kids, I admired Laura's mother; she was a professional woman and they lived in an immaculate house. When I asked why their sewing machine was in the master bedroom when they had both a family room and a rarely used living room, Laura laughed. Appearances were important in her family and nobody touched their formal living room. In our home, the sewing machine was on the dining room table because we ate in the kitchen. For my family, everything was about functionality. Eating was number one; my mother was an amazing cook - in fact, my maiden name was Cook. Mom's dining room and kitchen looked like a Hallmark movie set during a bonbon contest.

Last month, we welcomed a dashing young man, Luis, from Ecuador into our family when my scientist granddaughter, Vrinda Jerome, became Vrinda Silva. He loves to cook! While up in Jacksonville for the wedding, I watched a marathon batch of Christmas movies. A few months ago I had finished writing my Hallmark-like movie, Christmas Bonbons, which is being shopped by the same Hijacked producer Autumn Bailey (On a Wing and a Prayer with Dennis Quaid.) Hijacked was an adaptation from a true book about the heroes of flight 705. Christmas Bonbons was my first Hallmark structured movie. I loved writing it. The 9-acts and Hallmark "rules" are like catnip to a former programmer like me that loves structures.  For those of you considering a career writing Hallmark Christmas Movies, here's the most common format;

Act 1 -  Setup. The heroine has a happy life, but something is missing.

Act 2 -  Inciting incident. She has to travel somewhere; maybe home for the holidays or a  project for work. Often is is snowing when she gets there.

Act 3. Meet Cute. She arrives - and by chance, she encounters the romantic interest, who can be her long-lost first love or involved in her work project. But it can also be a family friend, or the friendly town vet, or even a guy that sells Christmas trees.

Act 4. Debate - as her situation gets more challenging and that frustrating romantic interest is always just there, resulting in many more encounters where the guy makes himself useful, and sometimes frustrates her and she wants to leave, but she has to finish something first.

Act 5. Almost kiss -  they begin to enjoy spending time together. This is also where they touch accidentally, or look into each other's eyes - and then,  one of them says awkwardly, "I should go..." something isn't right about them being together as they almost kiss.

Act 6. Fun and games. They finally get over that reason why things are awkward, find themselves in a snow ball fight, or trying to decorate a tree, or make cookies, and get interrupted right before their lips meet. Sometimes there is a town contest for the best decoration of some sort and they compete.

Act 7. BUT - something is wrong; he said/she said - misunderstandings, rumours, and she thinks she should go back home because she's afraid - or he doesn't seem to feel the same way about her..

Act 8. Finally – one of them, has the courage to tell the other how they really feel thanks the classic mentor who often is wearing a Santa Hat. Feelings are real, they are falling in love! She maybe decides to move back home, or he's going to move to where she lives. A new life is beginning. Their life together matters.

Act 9. They live happy ever after and the whole family (or town) joins them around the Christmas tree for a group picture or singing a Christmas carole.

There are also some of the Hallmark traits and rules;

1. No words like crazy, hate, NO profanity

2. Christmas in almost every scene

3. NO religion

4. Must decorate a Christmas tree

5. Theme uplifting

6. Make Christmas food like cookies

7. No sex scenes

8. Few displays of affection

9. One snowball fight

10. One kiss at the end

11. Must have a happy ending.

I'm not sure my Christmas Bonbons is a perfect script yet, I probably have some rewrites it its future, but I also and I haven't given up trying to recreate that bonbon recipe of my mom's. The difference between a writer and a professional writer is that a professional never gives up. I'd write more this month, but today I'm getting down my Christmas decorations from the attic. I love Christmas.

Reverse Adaptation Mama Dallas and Augie

  “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” — Sylvia Plath

In August this year, I did one of my hardest projects, adapting a book based on a true story into a screenplay. I love to write stories and make up new characters and story worlds, but since all the characters were real and living, my creative license was restricted. I read the book four times to learn about the characters and what happened so I could write dialog and defend it with "I think he could have said this," but I couldn't add fictitious characters or make the existing characters into something they were not. For example, five of the six pilots were men, and although I'd like to have more than one female pilot, I don't think real-life Andy would like to be played by Andrea.

When I've watched movies, I used to be puzzled by the amount of producers and wonder "How many producers does it take to make a movie?" This movie, Hijacked, started as a book option by the first producer, who is now my friend, Melissa. We have two interesting things in common. First of all, she used to own a manufacturing plant in Detroit, supplying parts to the car factories like Ford, GM, etc. I used to own a technology company that supplied software to dealers to enable them to run their car dealerships and submit warranty claims and other data to the factories. Our other connection is my manager, who owns Little Studio Films and recommended me to Melissa. Melissa and her company Helicopter Productions is now developing my series, Last Hand, set in Las Vegas - and she is co-writing with me the pilot episode. The third producer mentioned in my August blog is sending Hijacked out to 20-30 studios, streamers, etc. When one of them bites, that will mean a fourth producer and finally, another producer will actually get the movie made. In order to get certain talent involved, they might want producer credits (and a share of the profit involved.) That is how a movie ends up with dozens of producers.

As soon as Hijacked was done, I got a job to write a screenplay as a sequel to another movie being made, Mama Dallas - Five Points. I had that screenplay as a guide, along with a treatment by another writer. But the best thing was the actual person whose family this story was about. We talked and emailed, and then I researched her family and the era. I read six different books that were about this time and place and watched the Godfather series again - probably for the 4th or 5th time.  I started a Google Docs file of the newspaper articles and facts from Ancestry.com (I'm a hobby genealogist) and, at one point, commented that I could write a book about the Del Gaizo family! Guess what? I wrote a book and the author's proof arrives today!

This was sort of a reverse adaptation. Studios and streamers like to make projects based on existing IP, but so far, the reviews have been great. It was a tough project, I first got a greenlight on September 3rd, then on September 19th, a big "stop, stop!" The text said firmly,  "Don't write the book of Augie; no activity beyond the script." I was sort of fired.

But since I was still writing the sequel script at the same time as the book, I kept making my notes and writing chapters. But I had a deadline. It was my deadline only - I wanted it done before the AFM - American Film Market November 5-10th in Las Vegas, where they planned to feature the two movies. A book would show the whole story, both screenplays and if they read the first few chapters, even a prequel!

I finally got the full green light again to write the book and signed the contracts on October 22, 2024. I sent the book off for Author proofs the next day. I had already had my amazing cover guy working on the cover for a few months. It was a difficult cover because the story involved NYC, trains, ships, and five key characters. I wanted them all on the cover. I had grown to love each one.

But the fun part was that everyone was dead. Okay, that might seem morbid, but unlike Hijacked, nobody is going to say, "Augie would never say that!" In fact, my co-writer and the actual descendant of this family wrote this to me;

"Your creative license was a big jump but so intriguing. It makes the story so much deeper...for me, watching you put all the pieces together is horrifyingly wonderful! I mean that as a compliment. Fabio becomes so much more disgusting with his entitled wealth. You are a marvel." - Jody Fasanella

That one word, "marvel," meant the world to me - but I call her a jewel because she's had this jewel of a story inside her all these years, and she is truly a jewel. Although painful at times to work with everyone involved, in the end, I hope I've made a long-time friend of my co-author, and I hope she can play Mama Dallas someday or the mother in Last Hand. I need her to meet Melissa at AFM!

What's next? I'm adapting my good friend Mark Saunders's book, Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak, into a comedy pilot with 6-8 episodes, which means I go to bed each night exhausted and laughing. Stay tuned for more!

Tap, Tap, Tap

 "Tap! Tap! Tap!" Those are the first three words of the new hardback book that I got for Christmas. It was Nancy Drew 16: The Clue of the Tapping Heels. I don't know where my mom bought it, but I remember that it had that new book smell and it was mine! I didn't have to return it to the library.

Escondido didn't have a bookstore back then before the Escondido Mall was built in 1964. I asked where my mom could have bought it new on a Facebook Group page, "I Grew up in Escondido." Mom isn't around to remember. The consensus was the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew could be purchased at drug stores, grocery stores and even through the Sears catalog, which was a big thing at our house. I'd get my new underwear each year from that catalog and maybe one new school dress (we sewed the others.) 

 

But a new book was a treat, and I still remember this first new one about Nancy tapping out Morse code to get out of a basement. She was a smart girl detective, and I decided to become a detective after reading that. It was a short-lived goal. I was a farm girl, raised out in the countryside of Escondido and belonged to 4-H. I loved animals and wanted to be a large animal vet. My dream college was CalPoly, and I stayed on that path until one revealing day when my lamb got sick, and I needed to give it a shot. 

I woke up after fainting, and being the logical person that I was, I switched to plants and decided to focus on teaching the starving world to grow food. During college, they started killing Americans in Central America, so I changed from International Agriculture to Agribusiness and then to business with a focus on accounting and, later, computer programming. But I never forgot Nancy and my dream. My first solo novel was Murder in the Magic Kingdom, which combined my love of everything Disney and mystery. That title was taken, so it was published as Pixie Dust Death, A Wilma  Wallaby Genius Girl Detective Novel. 

This month, I signed an agreement with a UK production company that wants to develop Wilma Wallaby into an international kids TV show.  As a modern-day Enola Holmes, Wilma Wallaby is an aspiring kick-ass detective who thinks her bully of an older brother is always trying to murder her. You might remember a previous blog where I shared my childhood struggles growing up with a tyrant of an older brother. I still have a cap on the broken tooth from one of our fights that he won. I had a tiny closet in my room, and he'd stuff me in there for hours when my folks weren't home and lock me out of the house at other times. I hated being home alone with Stan. He'd hit me hard and threaten to do worse if I told Mom and Dad. He's dead now (no, I didn't kill him,) but I spent most of my childhood wishing I was an only child.

Getting back to Wilma Wallaby, there was one problem with my book; it was set in Disney World. Trying to get Disney to sign off on a murder mystery set in the happiest place on earth would take years. This month, I had to rewrite it to be set at a fictitious theme park in Florida, which I called Castle Country. It was fun; I invented rides, lands, restaurants, and hotels. There is Medieval Castle Land, Fairy Castle Land, The Swiss Alps and rides like Troll Trek and Screaming Sleds through the Swiss Alps. I think my Viking Cruise trip starting in Switzerland through the Rhine River castles last year finally paid off.

The new title is Wilma Wallaby Castle Caper - A Genuis Girl Detective Novel.

You can read for free with Kindle Unlimited or order it on Amazon. It opens similar to my favorite Nancy Drew - with a tap, tap - enjoy!

Amazon Link - https://us.amazon.com/dp/1736034863

"It had to be snakes," from Indiana Jones

I like snakes. When I find one in the yard, I follow it around, making a lot of noise so we both know who is the bigger animal. I grew up with good and bad snakes. The bad were the rattlesnakes in Escondido. My dad showed me how to always put my bicycle in between the snake and myself to catch the strike in the spokes and to watch it coil. Like a hurricane, a rattlesnake lets you know that it is coming. Lots of warning as It rattles its tail and coils into a tight circle – ready to strike.

A few months ago, my manager did an episode of her podcast, The Heart of Show Business with with Andrea Crosta. The Italian-born, Los Angeles-based Crosta is the founder of Earth League International, a small conservation NGO that operates like a mini-FBI, using undercover operatives to infiltrate wildlife trafficking networks while feeding information to law enforcement about the key players and their modi operandi.

At one point in the podcast, Alexia mentions how Andrea looks like Leonardo DiCaprio - and I remembered how Leo was a villain -- who becomes a hero in the movie Blood Diamond.  Leo also produced Netflix's documentary 'The Ivory Game' about Andrea's work. A few days earlier, I met James Fox during Heidi’s Hage Saga's Virtual Workday https://hanesaga.com/2024-speakers and read James’ series opener, Revolution - The Sol Saga Book 1, where the evil Silas kills his targets and takes over their body and lives -  and thought, what if someone envied a person so much that they decided to take over their life?

Python Pursuit is about a handsome, passionate wildlife conservationist who breaks up one of the biggest exotic pet trade enterprises and creates an enemy that not only wants to take away our hero's life but his identity, too, in the most gruesome way possible. Yes, it had to be about snakes.

My manager is very excited about the script, but I got worried. I'm not a thriller/horror writer. I like writing about Christmas, love, kittens, soccer, and history. Uplifting stuff, funny, with happy endings. In addition, my new friend, Melissa, who is producing Hijacked (last month's blog,) is trying to get the film rights for one of my favorite books -- a SciFi. Over the past year, my manager has acquired coverage for my scripts from Heidi Stangeland, a former book editor – turned screenwriter. She writes Thrillers and SciFI. In addition, I've discovered that everything that Heidi says about my scripts is "spot on." I call her ideas –  the "magical touch" that my scripts needed. Then, it came to me. Why not partner with Heidi?

One problem: I don't like partnerships. My hero, Steve Wozniak, wrote in his book, iWoz “Artists work best alone. Work alone.” I was able to get him to autograph his book with this quote for Keith's birthday and he added…"except with Sandi." 

“Artists work best alone. Work alone.”

― Steve Wozniak, iWoz

How can I consider having a writing partner who isn't the guy I married to? Simple, I figured out that it is a lot like programming. Rarely do programmers "collaborate" when programming. I decided that this could work in screenwriting. We'll get ideas from our manager or a producer who has an existing project or book option that we'll adapt. We can also use ideas of our own. Next, I'll do the the outline, using one of the best structures for the story like Save the Cat or the 8-sequence method that I learned in the Native American fellowship last year and write the screenplay. Then off it goes to Heidi, who will add what the story, characters, or dialogue needs. Character and dialogue are my weaker areas, and Story and Structure are my strong suits. The key in our process is that when I'm finished with the first draft – that is it. Heidi will make all the changes she wants without asking me. No collaboration or committee discussions. I like the saying that a camel is a horse designed by a committee.

Our process will greatly improve our timeline and hopefully prevent creative differences. My hope is that the next time I see the story is on the screen, I want to move to the next project. Speaking of projects, my screenplay from last month, Hijacked, has taken on a production company, Autumn Bailey of AB Entertainment. She produced On a Wing and a Prayer with Dennis Quaid and has been looking for another faith-based airplane movie. This happened by chance. I use a listing service called Inktip, where I have my scripts, and various producers put out "leads" of scripts they are looking for. With 12 feature scripts and another 7 TV pilots, I respond to about 5 leads a week, and finally, someone contacted me and asked to read one of my worst scripts! Yuck. 

But when I responded to her, I thought I'd do a little research and maybe find something nice to say to her - to make up for sending her a vomit script. Well -- I found she produced On a Wing and a Prayer, and  I complimented her and gave the link about Hijacked and told her I used On a Wing as a "comp" for our movie. She immediately emailed me -- "Call me!" I did - right away, and we spent an hour on the phone talking about Hijacked. She always gets asked by Netflix, Amazon, and Apple+ - if she has another airplane/faith movie. I connected her with our Hijacked producer, Melissa and my manager, and a lovefest started. Everyone was in a buzz - but the hold-up was the Coverage for the script. That is when the dreaded reader decides if my script is a Pass, Consider, or Recommend.  It came back as a Recommend (from Heidi) the best! She made some suggestions that I took before sending it off for the WeScreenplay coverage that Autumn likes. I think you can see how this came full circle as Autumn is now a producer of Hijacked, AND has 3 of my Christmas/faith scripts in a 6-month shopping agreement.  Fingers crossed that it will be a very Merry Christmas in a few years!  I have to end this blog and get back to my Python Pursuit - and yes, "It had to be snakes!"