Tuesday, October 6, 2015

It's a Screenplay!

Many people, after having read “Death Is A Relative Thing” have written, or come up to me personally and said that they think the book would make a great movie.  Of course,  I agree, but where does one begin on that journey?  I’m still navigating the choppy waters of novel writing and promotion- and I’m barely finding time for that.  Screenplays, well, those are a totally different type of writing, and not one I feel I could be successful at. Or have the time to learn.

Enter Annette Barbera.  Earlier in the year I learned that Annette writes screenplays. She read my book, laughed, (whew!) saw potential, and committed to investing her time and knowledge.  A partnership was born.

And now it's so close to being finished.  I've just read it through one last time and I have to say, I love it.  She obviously has talent, because  the screenplay can make me laugh, and I know all the punchlines.

So it’s going back to Annette for a few more tweaks and then, well, I’ll be following her lead.  She has ideas about where to send it and knows protocol. I’m just so happy that this opportunity is presenting itself and I guess we'll see where this journey takes us.  It’s exciting to know that the novel now at least has a shot at getting in front of a producer who could take it to a whole other level. It’s sort of like having a bought a lottery ticket vs. not having purchased one. It’s a longshot, certainly, but we need to be in it to win it.

So I wanted to say a long overdue  'Thank You'  to Annette  for her  perserverence, and for keeping the story as true as possible given the switch in mediums.

And may we one day be watching April run a little heavenly interference on a big screen!    

  


Friday, August 7, 2015

Blink


I sat across from her grey haired, tiny frame.  She watched  me as  I centered the  sifter over a bowl and squeezed the handle with abandon, a white plume applauding my efforts.

One cup…two cups…three cups.
“See how I take the knife and level off the flour?  That’s why my cakes are perfect.”   She would laugh   A little sound really, for she wasn’t known to ever do anything in a  big way.  We cooked together some Sunday mornings.  Pancakes, biscuits. Cookies.

And then I blinked and she couldn’t remember how much flour she had already poured...

“Always use pinking shears for cutting fabric.  It keeps the edges from unraveling and NEVER EVER use them to cut paper.” Her bright blue eyes were sober...scissors were serious business. Her tiny fingers cut around the pattern, then sewed perfect seams- She made me clothes until I was about ten. 

It’s then that I blinked. Her eyesight was fading and her hands would shake and she just couldn’t thread a needle any longer...

“You know, It is just as easy to marry a rich man as a poor man, and short stubby toes are the sign of royalty.” She would talk to me as I threaded buttons stored in an old cookie tin while she moved a yellow stepstool across the linoleum  kitchen floor, cleaning, pulling out a spaghetti bowl, making sure the plastic wrapped sofa was clean. 

I blinked and then she couldn’t walk without the help of my arm

And when I blinked again, she was gone 

My daughter was born on what would have been her 90th birthday.  A final gift that keeps her with me. 

And now, my sons who were once my babies, have their own.  Watching them,  I know  they will never be the same people they  once were.  It happened in a moment,  during that tiny sliver of time between not being a parent and falling in love for the rest of your life with a squalling, squirming, messy, noisy little thing.

 I find myself in the space my grandmother once held and I can only hope my grandchildren will remember...smiles, hugs, crochet hooks and silly songs, paints and pianos...

When they blink.


Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year!!

It’s a NEW YEAR-and so many wonderful things are happening in my life.  The biggest news is that I'm going to be a grandmother! I'm so excited- and crocheting...a lot!  I quit smoking cold turkey a week ago and I'm feeling wonderful about that and I curbed my caffeine addiction recently also.  

 Because I'm so darned happy, I'm going to kickstart it with a 25% off coupon for my e-books at Smashwords.  It’s available in all of these formats:  epub mobi pdf rtf lrf pdb txt html, so you can use it with all those new Kindles, computers and iPads you all got over the holidays!  The link to the first book “Death Is A Relative Thing” is right here http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/469520 and the coupon code is YZ25L. The sequel, “Relative Identity” is also discounted.  Find it here, http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/476254 and use coupon code XA53L.  That’s a lot of laughter for only $3.74 each e-book.  The coupon is  good until Feb 01, 2015.  

Wishing you all the best for 2015.  

Holly