Life's Cha Cha

Backward, forward, shake, dip, twirl...

So I was all set and working on my script and then learned the 1000 entry limit on the HBO contest had been met SAME DAY IT OPENED. We used to paranoidly think ABNA was going to do that, but somehow the contest always stayed open almost to the end. I guess there are more script writers with ready products sitting there waiting for a chance. THAT is discouraging. I will keep going, but I will do so at a slower, more careful pace. And then I will get feedback and make corrections and rethink and then someday I will submit it... But there is no longer a rush, so I have had a hard time prioritizing it, March Madness and all...


In the more positive...

I think I am ready to commit again to that fitness plan I got so frustrated with in January. I've spent the last month with vitamin supplements and trying to cope with some other stuff I felt like was interfering in metabolism and attitude... on the 23rd I reach 15 months shy of my 50th birthday and I think 15 months might be about the right time so instead of an open-ended start, I am going to do this as a countdown. (this would be part of that attitude thing)... the goal is to be hot by the time I'm 50... or something... (honestly, it is just to feel fit again and healthy, but clothes fitting fits in that profile, too)


Also positive...

Mari and I on a train in the UK, 2008

I have a house guest coming!!!

There is a distinct and unexpected perk to living in the town where the university library has somehow accumulated a huge number of historical letters. Mari will be my 3rd friend visiting town for the library—in Mari's case the letters are Jimmy Carters, but I have two other friends who have been here for OTHER letters... books they will scan or loan, but the letters are treated more carefully.

Now I've met Mari in person before—twice. She did an exchange in DC when she was in her grad program and came to visit on a break, and she was there when my writing group met in the UK—this officially means that my Norwegian friend is the member of my writing group I will have seen the most in person. A funny thing, considering most of us live in the US.

She will be here the last week of the month and the first of next--working, but we will have weekends. Looking forward to introducing her to the Couch to Keg team.


Also ALSO positive...

The snow is MELTING! All week we get over 45 every day!!! Man, this is HUGE for me feeling hopeful again. I hate feeling like any venture outside is an ordeal. I REALLY REALLY hate wearing two pairs of pants. And it contributes to my fatness, as I sometimes need a ride and often catch the bus for part of my commute instead of walking. My snowboots don't offer the support my feet need, the ice is slippery, the snow is an obstacle and the cold is cold, so now we enter the time of year I can enjoy it outside. I will miss my nice bus driver, but it is for the best.

Guess Who Forgot What Day It Was

HALO fine friends!!! I am late to the party, but it is still first Wednesday, so I will give a go on the Insecure Writer's Support Group...

Helpful hosts for today are: Our awesome co-hosts today are Chemist Ken, Suzanne and Shannon Lawrence! and of course always, the Awesome Alex.  

So my words of encouragement for today are these:  TRY NEW STUFF.

I am currently trying to convert A Shot in the Light to a Screenplay and it is hard, but it is also stretching my brain and making me think differently. The cadence of something I'd like to be a mini-series is totally different--I am jumping between characters more often so the watcher can feel the tension--rather than two "chapters" from each main character they are getting snippets of a minute or two here and a minute or two there... I have no idea if it's working, but I definitely feel like making it visual is a good exercise.

What could YOU do to stretch a bit? Maybe give it a try.

And The Madness is Upon Us...

So theoretically I started my March Madness project yesterday. I have PICKED what I am doing. And the thing that really helped me pick was this:

HBO Seeks Diverse Writers

(Hint: it's a contest)

You may or may not know this, but I'm a girl. And if you read last week you saw one of my project options was converting A Shot in the Light to a screenplay... and then VOILA! A contest to find script writers!!!

So that is what I'm going with. They want 30-60 minutes worth...


I have always envisioned Shot as a bit “mini-series” like, but it's funny—rather than about 10 pages per character scene, I am giving it about half a page then cycling... flashes of what is going on. That insight came from re-watching the first episode of Survivors—a BBC mini-series about... what do you know, a flu epidemic. But I think I can get all the important stuff across for the first “book” in my hour—that would make the whole thing 12 episodes, on the off chance they wanted it... I THINK they are actually identifying people to work on OTHER stuff, but that would be cool, too. They make better money than I do at my day job, and it would be made writing...

The FORMATTING for screenplays is totally wonky... I hope the reference I pulled is actually accurate and I'm doing this right, though I suspect it's a bit outdated. Still, it is getting me going. It can't have changed a TON... there are things too convenient about it (a page a minute estimation, for instance)


And because I only need this to end up about 60 pages, and because most of THIS is work at my computer, scanning the old, converting or rephrasing so the story comes out as a visual (removing thoughts, but getting across the critical stuff through action or a bit of added dialog), but I will keep going with my Kahlotus revision via hard copy... I think I can do both things this month if I really focus.

So that is my madness...

What is yours?

(don't forget—if you want to join us formally with a March Madness writing project (on Facebook), you can do so here: BuNoWriMo)