June is going to be the craziest month for myself and my family. I will be going to the Austin Television Festival the first weekend. The same weekend my kids finish their school year and I will be flying home on the day my son starts his immersion therapy. About two weeks of the start of summer break with three children again will be interesting. My son will have the therapy 5 days a week for three hours in the morning, so it will be like he is still in school. My daughter decided she doesn’t want to do anything fun for the summer, like sports, but I think I will sign her up for at least one thing just in case. She has made so many friends in the neighborhood, I don’t have to really worry about her being bored. The last weekend of June and first of July, the whole family will be in Florida to visit my husband’s 2 older sons and, after our time with them, going to Disney World for the first time. I am super excited and we have decided to put out the extra money to stay close to the resort to save time. When the kids need a break, we just take them back to the hotel. Naps can happen while someone takes the oldest to the pool or more of the part. I know my husband will delight in the nap times.
Once we return, I hope to just chill for a couple weeks. If I get to go to San Diego Comic Con, of course I will go, but getting badges isn’t looking very likely this year. 🤷♀️ Will see. There’s also the Austin Film Festival and another festival in Setptember. If my script gets an award at the other festival, I will definitely be going to that one. Short trips though. We shall see. I am debating going to a novel writers conference. If not this year, then next year maybe. It’s a completly different industry and I want to make sure I’m as versed as I can in both as I go forward. Right now, I just want to finish this “short” script I started that has turned into something much longer than anticipated. Up until two days ago I had every intention of keeping it under 40 pages, but then I added a twist which changed the whole dynamic and, therefore, length of the story. This could be really awesome, or it could bite me in the ass. I just know I really want to see this one go somewhere, festival wise. I would be really disappointed if I have a script I can’t do anything with because of the length being neither a feature or a short. I could make it a series but it would have to be rewritten. Wish me luck on that front. I think I’m going to need it. 😬
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What do you do when the short you’re working on is turning into NOT a short. I had thought it would be much shorter but it’s looking like it might be 70 min, or there abouts, long. I had no intention of writing a feature and I don’t want to make it a pilot. Who knows what will happen. I’m going to just tell the story and see what I come up with after. I’m still really proud of the story though. I like where it’s going and I’m at the middle now, Where things are about to get juicy.
In other news, my oldest daughter might have an ear infection as well. Last night was the fourth day in a row she had complained about it. No fever or pain that is crazy so I didn’t call the dr until last night. Will see if I have to take another kid to the doctor today. The dog already has an Appt. When my husband gets home I’m demanding time off for a pedicure. Time to gear up survival mode to get everyone ready for school and on the bus! Happy Friday! im going to go full parent here today, y’all.
You all know my baby, Adalyn, has had a cough since before I left for the Screencraft writers summit. When I got back, it was worse but the doctor said everything was still good, just a virus. Flash forward to about a week and a half later and the baby suddenly has a fever and puking. You would assume stomach bug but it didn’t seem right to me. I thought maybe it was something to do with the cough she still has. Take her to urgent care on Monday evening. Dr there says she’s teething and just has a virus, here’s some Zantac and Zyrtec, off you go. To his credit, he did test for flu and strep, both negative. My husband delays his work trip, thank goodness, and waits to see how the baby does. Next day, baby has another appt with regular doc. Get there and doc finds a mad ear infection. 🙄Because is the vomiting, she gives Adalyn a shot of antibiotics. Husband leaves for his trip and my parents help with dinner and getting kids to bed. The minute they leave 7:30, the baby starts crying and doesn’t stop until 10pm. 😞 The pain is just too much for her. Finally she sleeps. Next day, follow up with doc. Oral antibiotics now. My oldest daughter turns up with some sort of allergic reaction to something out in the back yard, a rash all over her arms, hands and cheeks. 🤷♀️ I’m hoping to get a morning off this morning but my sitter messaged me earl this morning to tell me she has the stomach flu. Poor thing. Oldest got up early but all in all the night wasn’t too bad. At least I got some sleep. Now, to get everyone ready for school. I have a parent/teacher conference meeting later today for my son and a vet appt for my dog tomorrow, she can’t be left out of the “there’s something wrong with me” while daddy is gone. I had to take a break from writing this entry to get the kids ready for school. And between then and now I have since taken the baby BACK to the doctor for a possible allergic reaction to the oral antibiotics. A few minutes following giving her the second dose she broke out in a rash. Take her to the doc and she tells me it’s probably viral, the rash, not due to the antibiotics. Phew! Ok. So back home. Baby is super cranky still. Got everyone home from school now, plus a friend for a play date, and the littles are down for another nap. It has been a friggin’ whirlwind this whole week. My husband gets home late tomorrow night and Saturday we have a birthday party to go to next door. Thank goodness that seems like it will be a relaxing event. I can see us all going as a family and then one of us taking the babies home for their nap time and letting the oldest stay to have fun and the other parent socialize. And AND! Avengers comes out today. That means I have all of my MUTE words on for Twitter. I will try to avoid other social media just for that same reason until we can see it ourselves. If you’re a parent, you know how hard it is to get to see something you’re dying to see and have three children, with one of them being sick. 😞 I am a die hard Marvel geek, so it’s going to kill me if I can’t see it this weekend. Hubby and I saw a movie last weekend but I’m sure my parents would be up for watching the kids again for me. It all has to be strategically coordinated. I always go to movies during nap times. This way, we put them down before we leave, and the parents don’t usually have to worry about feeding the kids meals or bedtime. Less headaches that way. Well, off I got to starting another scene for my script. You all have a fantastic day! And, remember, don’t be a dick! Don’t spoil Endgame. I’m sitting here with my really sick baby and thinking about all I need to do writing wise (house chores have already been put on the back burner), and it hits me. I don’t have any coming up deadlines that I haven’t put on myself. I don’t work for anyone other than me. My husband works long hours so I can focus on being a writer and take care of our children. And I STILL feel stress. The book I’m writing is the biggest stress maker. I know there are people out there, albeit probably just a few, who want to read the conclusion to the Descending series sooner rather than later. I feel really bad as a writer that I’m not feeling the groove of the story. With the first two books, I had to force myself to stop writing and sleep. This go around I have to force myself to write it. I don’t want to do that! I want to FEEL the story, like I hope someone feels it later when they read it.
I have a new short I wish I had more time to work on. I have a feature I know will take at least a week to edit properly, if not longer and all of that with a really sick baby on my hands. We aren’t completly sure what’s going on. It’s not your average virus going on, but off to her regular pediatrician in about thirty minutes. I feel so bad for her. She’s usually a really happy, active baby. But the last three days she has been listless, feverish, no appetite, vomiting. Not your usual stomach bug or cold. She tested negative for flu and strep, and we know she’s teething but that doesn’t answer for all of those things together. With all of that, I still have to take a time out and pat myself on the back. I have written and published two books (yes, I know, I’m not exactly what you’d call an “accomplished” author just yet, but still, that’s a big deal). I have gotten quite a few award statuses for my pilot script. I hope to do the same with my horror short and again with my sci-fi short later on. I do all of this while making sure kids get on the bus, are fed, loved, not kill one another, or themselves with their dare devilish adventures. Keep the house clean, laundry, dishes, animals alive, bills paid. Oh and I forgot, on my free time, I am judging films for an online film festival. I know it sounds overwhelming, but I have been making it work. And I taking this moment, right now, to tell myself “Good job.” I’m going to stop putting myself down for it, for just this one moment because we all know my anxiety wont let that slide forever, and accept that I wrote some good stuff, people enjoy it, my kids are healthy and happy, usually, my husband has clean clothes when he goes to work and the animals’ only complaint is when I can’t sit still long enough to pet them. If you haven’t done that for yourself in a while, take a time out and do it now. Right now. That’s an order. We need it. I’m one of the lucky ones, I know there are some people doing it out there, exactly what I’m doing, alone, as a single parent. And THAT is true superhero stuff. 👏🏻 ❤️ As my sick baby sleeps and I work on getting the big kid to school while middle child is at speech therapy with grandma, I’m going to try and sneak in this post.
Its so busy right now, My life, that is. I wanted to have this new shirt script done by now but life has gotten interjected. My husband had to work really long hours last week and then a little on Saturday and he was sick then as well. We worked a little outside, long overdue, while he was home, had our holiday and then a really sick baby. I’m talking lethargic, feverish and then later puke. So rather than freak out about my self assigned deadlines for my projects, I’m going to put them on the back burner today and just worry about the baby. She seems to be on the other side of the fever, thank goodness, but she’s still throwing up. Hopefully after this really long nap she will be a different, healthier, baby. I will just keep my phone close to network and do any writing via my phone. If I can, I would like to see a first draft for this short done by the end of the week. I think it’s possible too. I’m already about a third into it now. I really like the concept and the mental outline I’ve given it. We shall see what others think when I have someone read it for feedback before submitting to competitions. WeScreenplay has a short competition open right now I’d like to submit to. Maybe after next week I can work on editing the feature and/or the book writing. A couple days ago I found a trailer for a new DIFFERENT superhero movie. Not DC. Not Marvel. New! It’s a female lead(s) movie, AND its cast is majority POC. It looks so good!!! The story, the doomsday feel of the earth ending, the raw heart in the substory between a mother and daughter and their individual powers that can save the planet. Alright, so here’s the catch, it’s only playing at select theaters and due to its low budget advertising, very little people know about it, which means it probably won’t be in theaters after today or this week. Right when new movies come out on Friday, like Marvel’s End Game. Which, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for, too, but let’s face it, something so big will wink out the small fish that Fast Color is. And so, I pleas with you all to watch the trailer below and, if you’re like me, go see a movie today! Spread the word, even if you can’t go see it! Share the shit out of this because it sucks so bad that a movie that looks as good as this isn’t going to reach nearly HALF of its targeted audience because hardly anyone knows about it. i wonder what the rules/laws are for writing my own revampeD version of an old movie? There’s one in particular I would love to write. I’m sure there are liscensing and whatnot to go through but I think make next year I will delve into it a little more. This year, I am
completly booked with projects. I have literally ally dozed off twice while typing this. The kids are finally asleep, I had a cup of coffee a couple hours ago to help me push through this part of the night to write. Doesn’t look like it will be happening. i guess I will watch a short show while I take care of some mom stuff and then get to bed early. Alright, that makes for a total of five times. I gotta go! I started anew script yesterday. I found that I should probably take a couple more days break on the book. It seems like I don’t have the groove for it, then when I start get get into a flow, the kids wake up. It’s getting frustrating. Scripts are so much easier for me to write though. And the script I need to edit will take a lot of brain power. Editing is so much more challenging that writing the first draft. Sooooo that’s how I started the new script. I’ve had this idea for a while and forgot to write it down. From out of the blue at nap it came to me again, so I wrote a concept (no time for outline) and started writing. I maybe finish it before Sunday if I’m lucky. It’s a short. I think. It could be a feature. It could even be a tv series. We shall see!
Editing the feature will I’ll have to wait until until my husband isn’t working weekends and 80 hour weeks. 😞 It’s been a rough couple weeks since he’s been short a couple people in the office. Wish us luck and have a great weekend everyone! I’m going to do it again! I’m going to take a trip to somewhere I’ve only ever had a layover in and meet new people who share my passion in television and writing. There will be inspiring and amazing people there and I will get to listen to their stories and wisdom. I’m going to the ATX Television Festival in Austin! I volunteered and not everyone gets to do that, and I got approved! I will still be purchasing a badge so I can do panels and fun stuff between the volunteer time, and I will immerse myself in the whole experience of it all.
That same month, June, my kids will be getting out of school, my son with start immersion therapy for ASD and we go on a family vacation to Florida to visit my step sons and go to Disney World. It will be extremely busy but we all will have earned it. My husband has been putting in a lot of insane hours at work, and it is only going to get worse from here on. If I finish my book before the end of May, like planned, I will be really surprised. Finding time to myself to write has become difficult. Nap times are it but some days I have to use that time to do chores or do self care, which is just as important. Speaking of, my baby is awake now from her morning nap. I got 45 minutes of writing time this go around, I think she’s not feeling well, but I hope to get in a solid two hours later today during the big nap. I’m having a hard time writing this book. The groove of it isn’t there yet. I know I will find it and I’m not NOT writing on it, but I feel compelled to work on other things. To help this, I work on the book a few pages and then work on a script. Which I don’t usually do. I have always just worked on one project so as not to get confused, but it’s not working. I feel my momentum is burned out if I stick to just one thing and I’m not feeling it right now. I would probably walk away. At least this way I’m getting something done. Editing my feature script is a good side project as it would have been the next thing on my list to do anyways. Well, I have to go get my beautiful baby now. You all have a fantastic Thursday!!! I’ve learned a few things in my writing from this short script challenge I entered. I finished my script in one day, and edited it about four times. After talking with a new friend (writer/producer) I learned to pick out the extra description that can be removed from the scripts I write. I know its from the novel writer in me. Though I hate writing a lot of description in my stories, I still can’t help writing some in my scripts. With all this in mind, I went over Summons again and did some snipping here and there of descriptive parts. With that, I uploaded the new revisement for all the other competitions I am already entered in that just haven’t do notification yet on winning selections. Fingers crossed that the new edit helps me there.
And here I am now. I am supposed to go back to writing my book but I’m not feeling the book. I’m going to try and finish the scene I started yesterday and hopefully that will help my brain get into the groove. Again, THIS is why I have so many ongoing projects at one time. Speaking of which, The Hunt is not officially with the editor. Once that’s back I will work on edits, of course, and then publish. This will make for three books published, and one more to go for the Descending series. The Hunt....I know I WANT to do a series, but I think I can make it into a stand alone as well. We’ll shall see. I also have a short story I want to publish, for free, somewhere. Not sure where. Maybe Smashwords has a platform for short stories. Who knows. Maybe I can get an anthology book put together with other authors. That would be pretty cool. Well, I’m off to work. Who knows how much I will actually get done. LOL |
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