Something I did during my drive back from South Carolina was try and take a cold hard look at reality...and it wasn't pretty. First I inventoried my writing projects --
Screenplays -- 19 that are outright mine, 6 planned
Plays -- 3 written, 1 planned
Books -- 6 titles published (5 need to be republished), 8 planned.
Screenplays and plays are difficult because I have to get somebody else interested in them for them to get seen or made. If I want to do that, they have to be viable projects, so I have to start working my ass off to get them out to the right people. Meaning polish them into perfection, as close as I can get, and start pushing them. Hard.
Books, I can publish myself...though STARbooks Press has indicated they'd like more of my work, so that might be okay for ...Owen Taylor and even Carli's KILLS. I may even see if they want to do a second edition of Bobby Carapisi and Porno Manifesto. But HTRASG and RIHC6 are probably going to be done through me.
I'm still debating turning The Alice '65 into a book. Same for my other mystery, Brand of Justice. I'd also like to work up Bugzters as a book for kids. But that's a LOT to do.
So...my great-grandmother lived to be 95 and sharp as a tack, until she fell and broke a hip. My maternal grandmother lived to be 79 and still had her full mental capacity until cancer took over. My mother lived to be 83 and was good, mentally, till the last few months of her life. My father was sharp till he was almost 80 and diabetes got him.
Meaning my odds of living to around 80 are good, as is the possibility I'll still be cognizant...but mitigating that is the fact that my maternal great grandmother and two other members of that side of the family had dementia or Alzheimer's (they called it hardening of the arteries, back then), and my paternal grandmother and grandfather died of heart disease -- him in his fifties, her in her eighties.
What this boils down to is the truth of time. I'm old enough to understand I won't be around for a whole lot longer. I need to get my ass in gear and do right by my characters, and the way to do that is to get them into a position to where they can tell their stories, no matter what medium is chosen.
So...next comes figuring out what steps to take to make that a reality. Considering the lack of open doors in Hollywood, I think my first priority, once DM is published, is to get an agent and start shopping my work. Since I'll be in LA the first week of February, I should start that ASAP.
Oh what fun...
Screenplays -- 19 that are outright mine, 6 planned
Plays -- 3 written, 1 planned
Books -- 6 titles published (5 need to be republished), 8 planned.
Screenplays and plays are difficult because I have to get somebody else interested in them for them to get seen or made. If I want to do that, they have to be viable projects, so I have to start working my ass off to get them out to the right people. Meaning polish them into perfection, as close as I can get, and start pushing them. Hard.
Books, I can publish myself...though STARbooks Press has indicated they'd like more of my work, so that might be okay for ...Owen Taylor and even Carli's KILLS. I may even see if they want to do a second edition of Bobby Carapisi and Porno Manifesto. But HTRASG and RIHC6 are probably going to be done through me.
I'm still debating turning The Alice '65 into a book. Same for my other mystery, Brand of Justice. I'd also like to work up Bugzters as a book for kids. But that's a LOT to do.
So...my great-grandmother lived to be 95 and sharp as a tack, until she fell and broke a hip. My maternal grandmother lived to be 79 and still had her full mental capacity until cancer took over. My mother lived to be 83 and was good, mentally, till the last few months of her life. My father was sharp till he was almost 80 and diabetes got him.
Meaning my odds of living to around 80 are good, as is the possibility I'll still be cognizant...but mitigating that is the fact that my maternal great grandmother and two other members of that side of the family had dementia or Alzheimer's (they called it hardening of the arteries, back then), and my paternal grandmother and grandfather died of heart disease -- him in his fifties, her in her eighties.
What this boils down to is the truth of time. I'm old enough to understand I won't be around for a whole lot longer. I need to get my ass in gear and do right by my characters, and the way to do that is to get them into a position to where they can tell their stories, no matter what medium is chosen.
So...next comes figuring out what steps to take to make that a reality. Considering the lack of open doors in Hollywood, I think my first priority, once DM is published, is to get an agent and start shopping my work. Since I'll be in LA the first week of February, I should start that ASAP.
Oh what fun...
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