Gardening Kids book

I've been needing to work on smaller projects lately.  I've started working on my gardening kids book.  It's one that I've outlined a few months ago, so it's just a matter of writing (and re-writing) it now.

My wife and I have come up with a small business idea which has taken up most of my available free time.  I've been able to put into practice a lot of the marketing skills I've learned, but there is a tremendous amount that I don't know.  It's in the very early stages, so I won't be going into any details for several months.

That's really it.  My WWII novel is being read (hopefully) by readers, I need to work on my one page synopsis to work on my next screenplay, and I'll continue to write every day when I have the time.

(I can't believe how early I posted this, it must be a record for me.)

Carjackers Sketch and a new commercial about bank fees

I figured out the ending for the carjackers sketch and a couple of other details/characters I needed.  This would be pretty easy to do, so I'll have to put this up maybe for episode six of, "Just Watch It."  Which of course I don't know when we'll start filming.

I haven't decided really what next project I'm going to work on.  I'm thinking about working on the outline for the crazy family feature screenplay, but there are some steps that need to be taken first.  I wanted to get some feedback from Mr. G about it, but I wanted to also send him a couple of other scripts he was interested in.  But before I send any of those, I wanted to work on my one-sheet synopsis of them.  I found an article about it, but it's actually a video to watch and I haven't had the time to pull it up yet (more on that later).  Ugh.  Maybe I'll get my clone to work on it.

I decided to work on something really short so I wrote up another commercial idea which dealt with bank fees.  This was a nice challenge because I had to make bank fees interesting which I think I did nicely.  It's definitely adrenaline pumping.

Sunday the 17th was the Gluten Free Food Fair that Deby's Gluten Free attended.  I texted Doug to see how it was going and he responded that it was completely insane, but insane is good.  He also said the brochure looks great, so I'm happy he liked it.  I'll have to give him some time and then contact him to see if it resulted in any more business.

Storm Kids book, Those Who Remember, and a new sketch!

I finished the first draft of my children's story about a thunderstorm.  This one was a lot of fun to write since it had a comic book vibe to it.  There was a nice little character change that I don't see too often in a children's book.  My son brings this one up once in a while as something that he would like to make with me.  It's a little more complicated than our monkey kid book, so we'll have to wait and see how this one goes.  As usual, I'll put this away for a while and bring it back out with fresher eyes for the second draft.

I finished another draft of my new short story those who remember.  There wasn't anything too big that had to be changed at this point, just a lot of minor tweaks to make it read and flow better, and just making sure it's a good story.  Most of the characters are based on old friends of mine, so I handed it off to Lannie, who knows all of them too.  I'm curious what he would think of it.

I wasn't sure what to start on next so I chose a smaller project, a new sketch about carjackers.  It had been a while since I wrote any sketch comedy, so it took a little while to get back into that kind of thinking again.  I'm also not sure how it's going to end yet.

R.I.P. Robin Williams

I can't begin to explain or understand my thoughts on the passing of Robin Williams.  I'm at a loss for words on such a great talent dying at such a young age (really, 63 isn't that old), and also apparently by his own hands.  I've read the usual stories of his struggle with addiction, but one never sees the personal side to a celebrity.  You can never know how much of their public persona is an act.  But then, we all put on an act, depending on who we're dealing with.

We may never know the demons that he struggled with that would make him think that death was the only answer.  With such a brilliant and long-lasting career, a new wife, and three children, it's hard to think what he could be depressed about.  He was successful in every sense of the word, and could pretty much do anything that he wanted.

The biggest tragedy is those loved ones he left behind.  What must they be thinking on how he will no longer be in their lives and if there was anything they could have done to help him through this dark time of his?

Anyway, it's a sad day and a shame that he wasn't able to find the kind of help he needed to keep going.  He has left a legacy of film and charity work, and the world is a little bit darker without him.

Next draft of Those Who Remember and Storm Kids Book

The next draft is completed for my short story 'Those Who Remember.'  I took a little bit out, but I added a lot more to develop the conflict better like I talked about in a previous post.  It's a bit longer now with 6,359 words and about 23 pages.  I'll put it away again for about another week and do a final read through and see how it looks.  Then I'll look to see who wants to read it.

My Storm Kids children's book is coming along nicely and I've almost completed the first draft.  I should have it done by next week.  There is some growth for the main character which I don't think you see too often in a children's book.

I've also been continuing to work with Lannie on getting his new website up.  We set up his Google + page, and got some photos up for it and linked them to his website.  We also expanded more on the different pages explaining what groups of people he works with.  I also went over his tri-fold brochure and gave some input with changing up some of the copy for it.  It looks really good.

Storm Kids Book and Those Who Remember

It seems my Storm Kids Book is my go to short project right now.  It's a nice little story that is easier to go back and forth to since it's a shorter children's book.

I took a week off to let my new short story Those Who Remember simmer, and now it was time to start on draft two.  I started with reading it again, then addressing the concerns I had while writing the first draft.  Primarily how I think it needed more conflict.  The main character has a nice internal struggle, but I felt there needed to be more of a physical adversary as well.  There was already a minor character that supplied a little of that, so I just added more scenes with him in it.

I've also been helping Lannie get his personal website up (www.lcpart.com), with a gallery link showing his impressive collection of different forms and genres of art he's been doing over the years.  Take a look around at what he's been up too and look back often for more updates from him.

He has been working hard on getting his art school teaching business set up (www.artforlifeco.com) and I helped him yesterday (Happy Birthday Lannie), on getting a tri-fold brochure designed.  I have some experience now from the Deby's Gluten Free one I set up and it was nice to apply my knowledge to help him out.  This one is geared more towards schools since he's looking at that avenue (and others) for teaching.