Tag: writing

Sheldon & Amy Rock the Planet, much like the Big Bang!

Coitus.2.BobNewhardBob Newhart, dressed as Obi Kenobi, acting as a sex therapist to Sheldon in a dream sequence? Sheldon has decided to give Amy his genitals for her birthday. It tickles this writer’s desert-dry funny bone to the core.

Sheldon doesn’t know the first thing about ‘coitus’ other than the definition he’s read in a dictionary: ‘physical union of male and female genitalia accompanied by rhythmic movements’. That in itself is too funny for words, especially when delivered by Sheldon.

Chuck Lorre and his writing team have brilliantly joined the much awaited Star Wars movie with Sheldon and Amy’s very first romp in the bedroom and they rock the planet, much like the big bang.
The episode starts with the  beginning crawl of a Star Wars movie, credits.star.warsa spoof about Sheldon ‘going where no man has gone before…’ Continue reading “Sheldon & Amy Rock the Planet, much like the Big Bang!”

Interview with Author, MJ Moores

MJ Moore@ Work 1 - 180dpi (Medium)TS. This is one of more in depth interviews that I have had the pleasure to do. MJ. delves into the writing process. Why we do it, what we are feeling, what we experience when we write. I hope my readers enjoy this one as much as I did.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please provide a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….) Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

MJ. My ‘dream’ work space would be in the midst of nature somewhere where the bugs didn’t bite and the weather was extremely temperate – lol! However, my actual work space happens to be one of two places in my home: my office or my craft room. It all depends on how much juice my computer has at the time and how severely external forces work to distract me 😉

Q. Do you have any special rituals Continue reading “Interview with Author, MJ Moores”

Happy Holidays!!

Dog.Cat2Wishing all my family, friends and fans the merriest and happiest of holiday seasons!  Hold your family close and your nog closer.  May you have a New Year filled with good health, prosperity and laughter.

Sadie, 2012

Thank you all for your support of my work this past year!

Dog4Dog1

Pop Culture Expressions

2A.girl.write..mouse_1I was rattling on, to my 82 year old brother, about ‘cc’ing’ my email to a team of people.  I stopped…realizing that he had no idea what I was talking about. And then he confirmed by asking, “you mean your private email went to other people? That’s not good.” 

It got me to thinking about our urban dictionary and how we use ‘pop’ phrases. I’m no ‘spring chicken’ (a different decade) but I can’t help using today’s vernacular. So with a giggle and an abiding love of words, I thought I’d write a post about it.

CC:  ‘I cc’d it to the team.‘  cc:  at the bottom of a paper letter or memo meant that the people listed got a copy of the message.  Today if I ‘cc’ Joe Smith, it would really mean I made a copy of Joe.

I’m Going to Starbucks:  Everyone on the planet knows this phrase means you’re going for a coffee.  Continue reading “Pop Culture Expressions”

The Wedding Crasher * A New Short Play

Wedding.Crasher.Cover.doNot long ago I heard this true story.  Inspiration struck and I dashed to my computer and began typing a new 10 minute play.

Synopsis: This can’t be happening on Susie’s wedding day. It’s a girl’s dream wedding and everything is perfect. That is until a small plane suddenly circles the venue and her ex-boyfriend jumps out and begins his descent, trails of smoke shooting out of the heels of his boots. Susie and her father are just pulling up to the dockside in a white festooned boat, to where her groom and two hundred guests are waiting.

For the father of the bride, it’s the last straw. He reaches for a flare gun, and before Susie can react, fires it into the air. Unfortunately for the sky diver, flare guns cannot be aimed. The flare hits the parachute and ignites it. Chute blazing away, Susie’s ex plummets into the wedding tent. Unscathed, he struggles to free himself of parachute and lines. The wedding cake and various food trays have not fared so well. Will the wedding proceed as the police take the heartbroken suitor away? 1f. 4m.

I hope you find this story as hilarious as I did!

To view all of my ten minute plays, click here   All Scripts and Books are on www.amazon.com
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London and M.J. Moores. Coming in December!  My review of a new release by Dean Koontz, Ashley Bell.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

A Great Holiday Gift Idea!

Dog4Running out of ideas for that hard-to-buy-for person on your gift list.  Or maybe you are looking for a really unique gift…

These Journals-Handbooks are customized just for you!  275 blank, lined pages for the writer who dwells in all of us.  Each page margin is embedded with quotes from famous writers, playwrights, actors, directors, singers.
“The difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug.” Mark Twain

There are sections on “How To…’.  How to get started, how to develop rich characters, how to write a play, how to tell a story, CW.Cover.Scanhow to write poetry and more!

Four wonderful covers to choose from. Neon.RMWO_cover_spine_REV84_copy
Boost.CoverSLofWomen 

You still have time to order from www.amazon.com or scroll down and order from this post.

“I’m in love with the potential of miracles. For me, the safest place is out on a limb.” Shirley MacLaine 

“For those who can do it and who keep their nerve, writing for a living still beats most real, grown-up jobs hands down.”  Terrance Blacker
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London, Matt Jorgenson, M.J. Moores, Mark Koning and actor/narrator Tavia Gilbert.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

Authors, Where Do You Find Your Characters?

Over and over again, I preach the concept:  ‘let it flow’, ‘let your characters take you on a journey’, ‘If it’s going well, I will happily be just the typist’.

I recently interviewed Dean Koontz and here’s what he said on the subject:

Photographer: Thomas Engstrom

“And then I start. In the first few chapters, the lead characters are forming, and I am learning who they are. I’ve often said that if I give characters free will, if I don’t plot out the story and instead present them with a problem and watch them deal with it, they begin to take on a life of their own, frequently surprising me with the choices they make. This is mysterious and exciting. When it’s going well, it’s simultaneously an intense intellectual endeavor and an almost dream-state journey of wonder and emotion.”

Author, Matt Jorgenson recently said when asked: Where do you first discover your characters?
“Initially I don’t think of them as characters. It’s kind of like arranging furniture. I need OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAsomething tall here, wide there, elegant there. I often just plop them in for the energy they lend to the development of the story. When I’m unable to sit at my laptop and write I will often sketch out backstories for some of the characters with pen and paper based on what seems reasonable according to how they act/function in the story and then weave those details back in later.”
Continue reading “Authors, Where Do You Find Your Characters?”

Interview with Author, Matt Jorgenson (conclusion)

Q. Matt, what do you think makes a writer great?

MJ. I’m not sure I can answer this question. Great at what? Pulp, drama, sci-fi, literature, westerns, journaling, ad copy? What age group? For what audience… to what end? I think writing can be a marketable skill that an individual sells in many different types of marketplaces or it can be an intensely personal undertaking. A passionate act that doesn’t need a reader, aside from the originator, to have value. I think, maybe, if someone has a desire to write, and they do, that’s great.

Matt and his sons wrestling a mean ole' gator
Matt and his sons wrestling a mean ole’ gator

Q. What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?



MJ. First, an intense flurry of writing. Immersion in the developing story. Long daily sessions of virtually unedited writing. Until I hit a wall. Not a barrier or an obstacle. A wall. There’s this sense that the ending is near. Then I mothball it for a while. Do other stuff.
A week or six months later I will print it out, do a full read, and edit what I have. This reacquaints me with the story. Ideas about how to finish start to percolate and I begin looking for a cover artist. I look for someone whose creative strength is visual art. Someone willing to read the manuscript and go with it. I love the collaboration, the surprise, seeing what they pick out from the story for cover art.
I typically hand off a revised draft to my wife at this point for additional editing and then hunker down, finishing it up and polishing the final draft. It helps if I’ve booked a show or festival or other event and have time pressure at this point. Continue reading “Interview with Author, Matt Jorgenson (conclusion)”

That Magical Space Where You Write…

writers, fiction, create, authors, children's books, art, painting
this author’s studio

I think one of your tools, as a writer, should be a special work space.  Do you have an extra room? Even, if its all you have, a large closet will serve.  Somewhere you can call you own, a space that will, I promise you, become a creative oasis. Where no one enters except  by invitation.

And it can change from day to day. I have interviewed many authors and they write on the beach, a coffee shop, on the train, in a lonely cabin in the mountains.

An author's work space... the train
An author’s work space… the train

I’ve always had the luxury of a spare bedroom to call my studio.  On my walls I am surrounded by my own water color work, framed letters from my publisher, photos of theatre productions. In one corner is my desk and a comfortable chair.  My desktop computer has the place of honor as I do all my writing there.  I simply can’t write long hand as I cannot write fast enough when the spirit is on me!  I type seventy five words a minute and sometimes that’s too slow.  Continue reading “That Magical Space Where You Write…”

More with Matt Jorgenson, Writer (part three)

matt with motorcyleQ. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

Initially I don’t think of them as characters. It’s kind of like arranging furniture. I need something tall here, wide there, elegant there. I often just plop them in for the energy they lend to the development of the story. When I’m unable to sit at my laptop and write I will often sketch out backstories for some of the characters with pen and paper based on what seems reasonable according to how they act/function in the story and then weave those details back in later.

Q. What inspired your story/stories?

I suppose most of my stories are inspired by a frustration with the status quo and comfort zones. Particularly when there is needless pain or discomfort. A little orderliness and predictability can be nice, sure. What breaks my heart is watching and listening to people take a rote approach to life that’s making them miserable. Whether it’s their job, their relationship, their sexuality, drug of choice, inherited system of morality, or favorite hockey team… hanging on to some inherited or cultural obligation that blocks a person off from experiencing all that’s great with the world as they tick closer to death is truly tragic. Continue reading “More with Matt Jorgenson, Writer (part three)”