It has been since March 2017 since I last posted to this blog. Almost seven months. I apologize for being away so long. There have been some health issues, both with me and with my beloved wife, but we seem to have things on an even keel now.

Speaking of an even keel, things are going swimmingly with my new literary manager who handles my screenwriting. She lives and works out of Beverly Hills, and is quite enthusiastic about my work and believes in my talent. Big meetings are set up at AFM (American Film Market), which happens next week in Santa Monica. We have a horror feature film project we’re trying to get funded, and it all revolves around one of my scripts. She is meeting with international financiers who have already expressed a strong interest in the project, both because of the strong cast we’ve already assembled (several high profile horror actors are on board), a hot, up-and-coming directing duo, and the relatively modest budget we need to get the film done.

Fingers crossed!

Rather than sit by the phone awaiting the news, I have instead decided to dive back into writing another novel. My experience writing NOCTURNAL after dedicating the better part of twenty years dedicated almost exclusively to feature film screenplays  was quite liberating. I flexed writing muscles I didn’t even know I had. I am eager to repeat that process, and plan to split my creative time between the two disciplines. I even wrote a short story I plan to send out to magazines and literary reviews in the hopes of getting published. Regarding short stories, it is not about the money, as the money is negligible when compared to novel sales and screenwriting, rather it is about building your street cred as a writer. If I am successful in achieving publication, I will write about it here in a future blog post.

The thing about being a writer — a true writer — is to not allow yourself to become pigeonholed into one type of writing or genre. A writer who considers themselves an artist will at least attempt to master multiple formats. In my case, novels, short stories, and screenplays. And within screenplay writing, I have not only written feature film scripts in multiple genres (horror, scoff, action, thriller, film noir), but I have also written a half-hour comedy pilot script for a series that has not yet been produced. In addition to that, I am working off and on on a one-hour drama series that, if sold, would be suitable for premium cable TV (HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc.)

So to you writers reading this, I say, don’t be afraid to leave your comfort zone. Strike out into other formats, other genres than what you’ve worked in before. A story is still a story, character is still character, and plot is still plot regardless of the format in which you present it.

So keep crashing through boundaries. Keep scaring yourself. It will keep you on your toes, and help you create better art.

I shall endeavor to do the same.