Precious Few

To those (preciously) following and feedback-ing my progress, I wanted to give you an update on my projects. Beware...a lot of it is demoralizing. But to quote Carl Kurtz: "I don't have a cotton candy machine, and I don't plan on buying one anytime soon." I'm a pretty private person, but I believe Lisa Nichols is right in her assertion that I can inspire more people by being honest in about the imperfections in my story than only sharing the successes. Onward: 

>>Delta Phi was a physical and financial blow. I'm still recovering my health and that is on the upswing. The feature has been rejected by every festival I could afford to send it to. 💸 😩 I've kept the team updated, but heard from none of them. I don't know what that says about production, but it hurt all the same. I rewatched it recently and it's just such a delightful film. I plan to distribute it online, perhaps through Amazon or Vimeo. Still needs Closed Captioning.

>>Cope Syndrome has been turned down by almost 70 agencies, with no feedback. 🤨 I can't tell you how much it pains me not to have the published book in my hands to give it to you! My query is solid, so since it's not working, this is likely a better fit for self-publishing. I want to give it a professional editor. 

>>Paint came out much better than I'd hoped. I'm doing an edit on my end, then I'll send it off to an editor/or editing service. 

>>I'm memorizing a series of pitches I wrote for several original TV shows in the event that I run into a rep looking for new talent. (If you know anyone...)

>>I wrote three new short screenplays and a TV pilot. Looking to get a table read. 

>>Wrote a patchy draft of another novel (fantasy). Came out great, but its the first in a series, so it's on the back burner indefinitely. 

>>Saving money now that I have a full-time job :) It's incredibly demanding work, but I'm learning a lot about digital fabrication and VR/AR. It's building stamina that will hopefully come in handy if/when I become a show runner! 😍

In April, I'm focusing exclusively on my TV pilot. I want to edit it and get it a table read, then hopefully a stage read. I can't focus on more than a single project per month and keep up my day job. My commute is still pretty long and time is the only thing you can't recover.

Thanks for listening, for following, for engaging. I heard some uplifting words from readers in the last few weeks, and you can't know how much that means to me. the positivity is infectious! It helps to iterate where I am with my work like I have here, especially that there are others out there who are invested in knowing. ❤️💙❤️

metafiction and Dostoevsky novels

This isn't an in depth analysis. I've had migraines this week on account of little blue lights. The easiest news I have worth sharing is that I'm nearly done annotating Dostoevsky's The Idiot in search of metafictive devices, obscure and otherwise.

Some are obvious, like when the narrator makes comments about the story and the nature of stories. Others are more subtle: some characters try to instigate their own denouements and drama, or have long, ironic conversations about the nature of novels. It's adorable. Dostoevsky's writing is rife with spirit, like those TY beanies with the enormous eyes. 

In the coming weeks I'll be on a project sabbatical, focusing entirely on submissions of original work, and the search for a stable day job. That said, I have client work booked in July and I'm grateful to have had my education (and the SeanWes community) behind me to help me stabilize that aspect of my career. 

Delta Phi, Compassion, Cope Syndrome

After coming out of my biggest production yet, I'm finally taking some time to rest, and just to live. I cleaned out my entire closet yesterday. I'm still used to being mentally active for long hours, so I've got dozens of strong new ideas over the last few days. I'm struggling not to write (yet another) new script and trying instead to focus on my other commitments that I set aside during production. 

I'm on the search for a new job and I've got my eye on a part time teaching position at my alma mater. I absolutely love to teach (teaching is learning) and a part time position would give me more time to write and even time to do some volunteer work, which I sorely miss. Most of my volunteering as a teen was for promotion and event planning, so I suppose I could look for work there as well. 

As far as movies and books go, I finally feel like I have a little to stand on. I'm submitting a precious original feature film, and my novel, though harder to sell, is a rare gem brimming with passion and healing words. It feels good to have both Delta Phi and Cope Syndrome under my belt, but I'm never complacent about these things. I have four other creative projects I plan to dip my hands into this year, including the first in a seven part series about Monty...a fictional man whom some of you know. I'm terribly excited to be working with him again!

Anyway, wherever you are in your creative journey, I wish you the best. Step into the path that your creator laid out for you, because it's where you are most effective. If there's anything I've learned from making Delta Phi, it's the critical importance of compassion, forgiveness, and small kindnesses. So if you're not sure where to start in finding your passion, start there. It will come to you.