**Waves a sniffly good-bye at the month of June…**
How about an update of everything I’ve been working on?
On the fiction side, I’ve started outlining the second book of my Shinjuku Shadows Trilogy. Book 1, Tokyo Blood Magic is at the publisher, Shadow Alley Press, churning through the editing process.
Another smaller, but no less important, project is the next book in the Adventure Kids series, Blackbelt Chloe and the Birthday Cake Catastrophe.
I typically write short stories in the cracks between major projects as a kind of brain cleanser. It gives the creative brain cells a fresh flavor, and has the added benefit of helping erase the major project from the memory banks. This is necessary for the editing/revising process; I can go back with fresh eyes, but in a shorter time frame. The key to effective revision is to look at a piece as if for the first time, which is tough when it’s still in your head. I might have to put down a finished draft for six months, but I don’t have that kind of time to wait. Working on something else shortens that time drastically.
I’m also working on Book 2 of a ghostwriting project, a contemporary fantasy series. Book 1 is out now. If you’re curious about where to find it, whisper to me privately and I’ll spill.
The audio production of Junk Magic and Guitar Dreams is in full swing.
I have to tell you, the two voice actors are knocking that book out of the park. As I review the files, I cry, I laugh, and so will you.
Ian Hawkins brings a youthful voice and energy and some well-executed comic timing to Otter’s scenes. Najah Johnson‘s warmth and verve make Lika’s scenes jump out of the headphones. And both of them have serious acting chops. I couldn’t be more pleased.
I’ve auditioned voice actors before, but for some reason, this project went to a whole new level. About 110 talented voice actors sent audition samples, so the winnowing down process took some time. A small percentage were clearly not a good fit, but even cutting the field in half was hard. By the time I was down to the Top 10, I had to enlist my Chanel and Kaylen to get it down to the Top 5, then the Top 3.
In the end, however, we all agreed on Ian and Najah. I’m so excited seeing it come together.
Screenwriting News?
As you may or may not know, I’m an (aspiring) screenwriter. I’ve won some awards and contests, a couple of trophies, but as yet nothing has been produced or optioned. So when something positive happens, it’s a great shot in the arm and lets me know I’m on the right path. As the movie industry is so notoriously capricious, I keep my fingers crossed but my expectations low.
Last year at the Crimson Screen Horror Film Festival, I met an interesting guy, a talent manager for a number of well known actors and directors, including the director who invented the modern zombie genre. If you’re a horror fan, you know who I’m talking about. Anyway, last year, this manager had directed and produced his first short film and it won a couple of awards at the festival that weekend, as well as many other awards in the subsequent months. He and I hit it off and have stayed in contact.
Last week, he called me, asking me if I had any scripts that met a certain set of criteria, things that could be filmed under current COVID restrictions. (COVID has literally shut down the entire film and television industry. No one is shooting anything due to social distancing restrictions, and probably won’t be for several more months.) He told me he was reaching out to a select handful of folks he’d met at festivals last year, and did I have anything that might fit these guidelines. So I said, “Absolutely,” did a revision of Where the Devil Resides over the weekend, based on some great notes I’d gotten from another screenwriter, and fired it off this morning.
The film industry is, in fact, all about who you know. There’s nothing nefarious about it–although it can be cruelly exclusionary as a side-effect–it’s simply that because filmmaking is such an intensely collaborative undertaking, people like working with their friends, people they know they can rely on (in a sea of flaky weirdos). That’s why you so often see directors working with the same actors over and over.
So, film festivals are great for getting to know filmmakers and actors. They are also great for spending a whole weekend just geeking. the. hell. out. over movies.
Regardless of whether anything comes of this, it felt like a milestone. A long-time industry pro called me, and asked to read something of mine.
Fingers crossed, expectations low…fingers crossed, expectations low…fingers crossed…