One upon a time…
I learned about story. And I was hooked.
For me, it all began when I was a little girl and my Pop-Pop would tell me Hulk storie about the Blue Hulk and the Purple Hulk and of course, the Green Hulk. On my father’s side, my grandparents gave me beautiful hardbound books with gold writing on the spines, jewels that I was afraid to open for fear that the magic would disappear.
Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories” (and everything else he did in the 80s) shaped my imagination as I visitied his worlds when I shut my eyes. And stories like “Back to the Future” and “The Wizard of Oz” and “Star Wars” gave me my insatiable desire to live inside a story.
Who needs the REAL WORLD when there’s MAKE BELIEVE?
In third grade, I was sick at home for three months and I began to write. I wrote about bears in bikinis, about foods I tried and hated. I wrote about haunted houses and candy mansions. I tape-recorded films and wrote down the dialogue (ask me to recite the first twenty minutes of The Wizard of Oz!).
In fourth grade, I won first place for a writing contest at my school. That poem was sent to the state level by my teacher, and won first place for the state of Florida.
You could say, I was hooked….
In fifth grade, my teacher read my short story titled “My Voyage with Columbus,” and she wrote at the top that I should save it for publication. Me? Publish a story? I thought authors were like celebrities or royalty, born into an existence that us regular folks could only dream about. Boy was I wrong!
As an adult, I wrote my first novel titled “Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light,” a story where an everyday kid becomes a hero, because to me, that’s what story should do.
It should leave you with a feeling deep inside that you can become a better person too.
It should take you to a faraway land and challenge your beliefs and ideas and stretch your mind.
It should make you laugh, cry, jump in fear, and sigh with peace.
A story should be everything your life can’t, because that’s what writers do…
We restore order with imagination.
The real magic, though, happened after I published the books, when I was fortunate to share my stories and message with kids. Seeing my books through their eyes, makes me want to become a better writer. Hearing how my message has impacted their lives, makes me want to become a better person.
From Print to Screen…
In 2021, I made a tough decision to end my journey as a publisher and embark on a career as a screenwriter. In just 15 months, I sold my first feature length screenplay and began writing the novelization adaptation. I’d always wanted to be a screenwriter and now I am a PROFESSIONAL Optioned and Produced Woman in Film! Follow the blog for details! So much good stuff…
Questions? Comments? Use the form. (I tried Harry Potter owls, but they got stuck at Platform 9 & 3/4s.)