On the Cusp of 2023

This has been a frenetic past twelve months, and with two days left in the year, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect before looking forward to 2023. As far as writing goes, the first half of the year was thrown into disarray by the chaos of life that happened between December 2021 and July 2022. 

But, by August, I steadied the ship and emerged with a New Tale to tell. One that I otherwise would not have discovered had it not been for the chaotic first half of the year. New stories appear at different times, but great new stories don't emerge every day. So, I am treating this one with great care. 

At the same time, I was beginning work on the release of House Fly. It had been a few years since I had done much with the story. There was a point a few years ago where I thought I would write the entire Animalz universe as a novel series. It turns out that I much prefer writing either the screenplay or the novel for a story. When you write both the screenplay and the novel for a story it loses a bit of that magic that makes writing fun. 

While I am a bit of a plotter when it comes to my writing, I do like to let the story take me in ways that I had not expected. So I do enjoy writing by the seat of my pants. However, I enjoy completing stories more than anything. Because I like starting on something new.

Which is why I am looking forward to the New Year. 

To wrap up 2022, I  made great strides in solidifying four TV Series packages but had to push the Screenwriting "Pitch & Query" period to 2023 because life happened. Some of the tough parts of this year helped create a wonderful new world. This is the jewel of 2022 for me and I hope to polish it in 2023. Much of 2022 was about doing what I needed to do this year so that I could invest in myself in 2023. And with that investment be able to create a load of new material in the new year. And on top of that, I released a new book in the Kindle Vella format. 

House Fly started as a short story add-on to the Animalz 4-hour screenplay that I first wrote way back in 2010. It tells a more personal tale than much of Animalz, which is an epic sci-fi story. I am thrilled to finally have a piece of that universe out in the world.

Heading into 2023, I have my head held high because I am proud of not only the writing work I accomplished this year but also all the other hard work I put in to have me in a great position to start the new year. 

The "Pitch and Query" period in the spring is my top goal to start the year. The need to re-educate and re-immerse myself in all things Film and TV is priority one. Then I will blend in other writing work; this will be compiled of both screenplay and literary work. 

Having spent much of the time since 2019 working on TV series, I am wanting to change focus to work more on Film and Books in 2023 and beyond. But not entirely. This all must sound like code to most people, though I assure you there is a purpose to the chaos.

By the end of next summer, my hope is to have sold a script, written this new amazing TV Series, prepare House Fly II (Harold and the House Fly) for release, complete a two-part novel series, begin work on another long-term omnibus of stories that make up the coolest story I've ever imagined, and write my first stand-alone novel. 

It's a lot. Believe me, I am well aware of the work it would take to achieve all of this by September. The essentials are the "Pitch & Query" & research period between now and April. This will be my factory for the year where I will build the structure for what will take place. I want to release House Fly II at the same time I released House Fly this year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

After February and before September, I will need to prioritize the new TV Series, House Fly II, completing the novel series, and one more new story. By March I will be open to working on "any" new project, whether that be my own or a collaboration. I always try to make time during the year for collaboration. However, I have plenty of projects lined up to fly solo on as well. And, in truth, I need to knock out a few of them next year, if possible. 

So, yeah, I anticipate mocking these plans by September. It always happens. I make big plans and things happen that muck it all up, then I am left scrambling to make good use of the time left in the year to complete things. The investment in myself will help but I anticipate being back here next year with a plan for 2024 that may have some of these same projects on the list. 

2023 is an important year, as are they all, but it also marks a shift to the Third Stage of my writing career. The First Stage was when I was transitioning from being a filmmaker and actor to focusing solely on writing. This happened between 1999 and 2010. I wrote some of my favorite stories during that time. 

In 2010, I wrote Michaelmas, House Fly, and Monarch. I was tired of writing films, largely because I wrote anthologies that were better suited for TV Series before streaming was a viable thing. It was a big year for me creatively. I was taking classes and made an investment in myself so that I could properly write books as well as screenplays. 

While I found modest self-publishing success to start off with, I realized it would be very difficult to make substantial money by self-publishing. And I came to accept that I may not find huge success as a writer, regardless of my exhaustive efforts. I came to accept that the writing of a story sometimes may be the only reward, so I celebrate the completion of every story. 

By 2013, I shifted my focus to TV Series because that format not only best reflects my writing style but also allows me to churn out several in the time it would take me to write one novel series. None of us are getting any younger and no one has paid me a million dollars for anything, so I needed to maximize the use of my time. 

Standing on the breach of Stage Three in my writing career, I have a load of experience and work at my back. I have learned innumerable lessons along the way, some have even made me a better writer. My vision for stage three has me wanting to reach a larger audience and see my work on the screen. 

Like Jon Snow, up until now, I have refused to bend the knee, having been largely satisfied to plod along with my work without desperately seeking validation. Don't get me wrong, I have attempted to sell scripts and books along the way, but it has never been my driving force. The work is what has always mattered most to me. It sounds corny and cliche but it's true. 

As we were honoring my recently deceased father, my uncle once said in all seriousness in regard to attaining money and validation for my writing, "What are you waiting until you are dead?" His callous and inconsiderate words and myopic view of the world struck a nerve.

But family is family. And God love him. Why I have let his hateful words stick in my craw all these years I will never know? Maybe it is because deep down I know that I should be more concerned with making money and obtaining validation for my written work.  

Until I sort that out, I guess I'll just keep on making writing plans and put forth maximum effort this Spring to try and make some kind of good impression on others. 

Beyond a concerted and sustained effort to reach a broader audience with my stories, I also want to branch out a bit -- try new things creatively. I have now written and published three novellas since releasing the novel series Monarch. Novellas are fun to write as they tell a simple story with no muss or fuss. While I have House Fly II and a novel series to release over the next two years, I want to write an All-American novel. A simple story like the novellas but with a bit more substance, more for readers to sink their teeth into. A 300-500 page stand-alone story that will break your heart and also restore your faith in humanity, maybe even challenge you to think outside the box. I have two stories in mind to start down that path. 

To be continued... 

Holiday Writing Prep for 2023

By this time next week, I will be releasing the last three episodes of House Fly on Kindle Vella and I starting to think of my other projects. Over the next three weeks, I will hone my Writing Plans for 2023. Life tends to happen and those goals can slip away. Yet, they are good to set for oneself. And I am hopeful for the next year.

As of today, there will be a heavy mix of literary and script work for the next 12 months. Let's start with the Lit work. There are at the minimum three projects I need to address.

1) House Fly Part Two, which I will either release first as House Fly II on Kindle Vella (depending on the reception to House Fly) or I may just release as the novel Harold and the House Fly as an ebook and paperback book. The goal is to have both available by the end of 2023.

2) I have a number of new projects in mind for the new year. Several of them could be either a novella or a novel. I think I will leave the new series ideas I have to be written as either a TV series or Mini-series. Therefore, I do plan to write at least one new novel or novella in 2023.

3) The reason I am reluctant to write another big novel series is because of the one I have been working on for years. When the pandemic hit, I was in TV series mode and shelved the novel series in hope of returning to it this year. Things came up this Spring and I had to postpone my return to the Hollywood Hills.

This series is comprised of two parts. Part One needs a rewrite and could be ready to go by the end of 2023. However, I may hold off until 2024 to focus on the release of Harold and the House Fly. This also makes sense because I am 35,000 words into Part Two, roughly halfway through the first draft. Rewriting Part One and completing the first draft of Part Two in 2024 seems a good goal.


As far as Screenwriting, I have been banging on about four projects to pitch for two years now. It is no longer the same four stories, but the number I have been focused on has stayed the same -- 4. In 2023, I have plans for those four projects and at least one other project, possibly two.

1) The Four TV Series. While I have four to pitch, I will likely focus on two of them, to begin with. As Spring moves along I may incorporate one of the others. Or I may hold those two back to pitch in September. That was my plan for this year, but, again, things came up this Spring and pushed much of my plans for the year back several months.

I need to take the next step as far as screenwriting. This all started long ago and I have been content enough to just write and test the waters without really maintaining a sustained professional approach in trying to get my written work properly produced. Hopefully, I have learned enough lessons through the years and will make smart, calculated moves going forward that will lead to the production of one or more of the stories I have to offer.

2) As far as new stories, I am at a point where I have about a dozen or more stories I could sit down and start writing at any time. Yet, I am no longer a 24-year-old novice with time to cut his teeth writing whatever comes into my head. Movies are no longer king. TV rules. And Tik-Tokers make millions for dance routines or other two-minute distractions. I am not keen on making short films again. My dance moves were never that cool anyway.

There is one new story that has my head twisted into a pretzel in a good way. It came about this Summer as a result of assisting my uncle. It is a decades-spanning series that weaves together the past and present in a way that is meant to be inspiring. The initial idea was simple, but the longer I worked on the world build the more I realized how complicated the tale actually is. Once I get some free time, I will first return to the world build on this story. With the objective of completing the pilot before Summer.

3) With so many new stories in the pipeline, I may be more likely to write a second new screenplay as opposed to a second new novel next year. That opens up the potential for writing a new movie script because a few of the story ideas I am most attracted to are stand-alone stories.


To sum it up, as of today, as far as Literary work, I expect to release part two of House Fly by the end of next year, rewrite part one of another novel series, complete part two of that same series, and begin work on at least one new project. As far as Screenwriting work, I expect to begin querying with at least two TV series this Spring (possibly adding two other TV series to the mix by September), I'll write the pilot for the project I came up with last Summer, and the plan is to write one or possibly two more scripts (one TV series and/or possibly a movie script) by the end of 2023. This last bit is probably the most subject to change to allow for flexibility. 

Need to use my free time better in the New Year, if I am to write at least one new book and script on top of the other writing needed to complete House Fly and Part Two of the Novel series.

I'll readdress this after the New Year, but for now, this seems like a good enough set of writing goals for 2023. Let's get to work!

HOUSE FLY

Since publishing my last blog post back in March, I was surprised to see that I had started drafting more than 10 other blog posts. When I realized that they were mainly updates of stuff from previous blog posts, I decided not to publish them. So, to avoid boring myself, and you, I will try and better balance what I publish here. 

I do have an exciting update to share with you. While I have mentioned this story before on Twitter and Facebook, I am publishing HOUSE FLY on Kindle Vella later this month.

This will be your introduction to the world of ANIMALZ. I am thrilled to finally be able to begin sharing it with you. Animalz was the first of my own stories that I fell in love with. A miniseries that I will begin pitching in the Spring. It was the third anthology script I had written where the story spans decades and yet each of the tales is intertwined with the others. The concept is huge and so appealing to me as a fan of cool stories with an epic scope. 

I had written numerous scripts before, but none of them had me wanting to stand in line to see them on a big screen until I wrote Animalz. Originally, it was meant to be a stand-alone movie. When the movie screenplay turned into a 250-page two-movie series, I realized that I had too much story to tell for a single movie. I sat on the series for years, happy enough to just be in love with the story. But I still had new ideas for this universe. That was when I sat down to write House Fly as a short story. Again, I wound up with more story than I had intended. 

The first three episodes of the twelve-episode House Fly will be released as a Kindle Vella on 11/29/22. It is part one of the two-part story HAROLD AND THE HOUSE FLY, which will be released as an ebook in 2023.  

Synopsis: Set during the summer of 2006 in the town of Silver City. Harold is new to the area, a recent divorcee at a crossroads in his life. Lured to the area by a too-good-to-pass-up job opportunity. A multi-billion dollar company owns most of the town and has set Harold up in a sweet house in a new neighborhood. And all he has to do is test their products and provide feedback. What could go wrong? 

Desperate to get back into the game, Harold wanders into the world of online dating to try and find the right woman. His early efforts are trial and error as he learns the ropes of dating in the 21st century. Things get interesting when a house fly enters his new home & agitates Archie, Harold's playful yet territorial beagle hound.

 Release Dates(s): Episodes 1-3 (11/29); Episodes 4-6 (12/6); Episodes 7-9 (12/13); Episodes 10-12 (12/20)

 Clear your Tuesdays after Thanksgiving and take a trip to Silver City via Kindle Vella. 

Four Weeks?

After a rather creatively stagnate 2021, positive steps have been made this year. TBF I was laying the groundwork for this push last year. The objective? Pitch Four TV Series. And try and do it before summer. 

Pitching one project is hard enough, what the hell makes me think I can get four projects ready to pitch before summer?  Not sure how that sounds to you, but it's (NUTZ) definitely a challenge. I sometimes get a wild hair up my backside and try to tackle nearly impossible tasks.

Why these four stories and why now? 

How to explain this? Well, every decade I set BIG writing goals for myself. Those include screenwriting and literary writing goals. I have been a little slack with my literary work for the past decade since I released Monarch. I have worked on a number of literary projects since then -- Psykosis, The Wake of Newton/ Michaelmas, Un-published Story #1, and Un-published Story #2, but I really wasn't that motivated to crank out books. So I pushed the rewriting of the later two to focus on screenwriting when opportunities arose. 

When I wrote the first draft of Monarch back in 2010 I was frustrated with screenwriting. Once I left LA in 2001, I also lost touch with my contacts. Not like I had a rich vein of them or anything, but I knew enough people that had I stayed I could have fostered those relationships. 

By 2009 I had grown tired of the Atlanta film scene as well. The tax breaks were new but my frustrations were not, and at that time all the projects were imported from LA and the talent in the ATL was not taken seriously. So, once I released Monarch, I decided to only work on screenwriting projects with other screenwriters. Hoping that they might bring connections that might help us get our projects in the right hands. 

I met and worked with some amazing people over the past decade. During that time, I worked on nearly a dozen screenwriting projects. Even had a script that I worked on optioned by Tony Kaye (American History X). Many of those projects were collaborations with a number of brilliant writers.

It wasn't until the pandemic started that I actually worked on my first solo screenwriting project in thirteen years. A story that I had been marinating for nearly a decade. 

That brings us to the four screenwriting projects that I am currently working on. 

*   Project #1 - My precious. A mini-series that was once a two-hour movie script. I have hidden this one away from the world for well over a decade. I actually started to write it as a novel series. The success of streaming services had me reenvision it as a six-part mini-series instead. 

*    Project #2 - Another older story that I liked so much that, in this case, I actually did write it as a novel series. Writing a screenplay is one thing, writing a novel based off of a screenplay is something else altogether. I have yet to do all the necessary rewrites on the novel series, which has bugged me. It is also why I have added it to my list of summer writing projects. This is the project from which Michaelmas originated. I have tried to make this project as timeless as possible so that no matter how long it takes to get in front of people it will still be relatable and won't be dated. 

*    Project #3 - This project is a collaboration that started off as something completely different than what it has become. It was originally meant to be a project that could be filmed here in Georgia on a shoestring budget. We wrote this in 2016. By 2017 I was busy working on three literary projects. It wasn't until 2019 that we started to work on this series, incorporating some of the work we had done back in 2016. We worked with a manager for nearly a year on polishing this story. She's ready to go, but the bible needs a polish. 

*    Project #4 - The Super Series. Three seasons wrapped into one intense season of awesomeness. This new vision to the series came about last summer as I was thinking of the third season for the series. It was then that I realized that I could use the third story as the central focus of a double-feature pilot to maximize the WOW factor. The whole idea about merging these was to give the entire season a WOW factor. To make each episode must-watch TV. I want each episode to feel like a stand-alone movie that people will want to rewatch over and over again. With easter eggs and cameos and a unique style that will make it stand apart from other series.

All four of these projects mean the world to me. And I write not to get paid but to tell good stories that I would want to watch. And I would watch all four of these TV Series because they offer what I like to watch.

 Project #1 spans decades and blends sci-fi and horror thrills. I often try and think about the future through my writing and this tale was one of the first stories that I did that. Plus, there are current events that parallel events in this story, which I saw coming over a decade ago. 

 Project #2 is a proper sci-fi/horror anthology series, with seven 30-minute episodes. If you like Creepshow and Jumanji, then brother this is the series you don't want to miss. 

 Project #3 is another one of those stories where I sat down and thought about the future. Where  Project #1 spans decades, this tale is set in the future and deals with survival in an Apocalyptic landscape. 

 Project #4 is the culmination of all that I have learned as a writer, with my penchant for blending tales together to create a more dynamic overall tale. The world build I did on this last fall helped relight my creative spirit. I will be ready to pitch this tale three different ways: As the Super Series, or using two of the separate pilots to pitch those two seasons on their own merits. I want to start by pitching it as the Super Series, but then be able to pivot, if necessary, to show how it can actually also be done as a more traditional type where you do one storyline per season. The only real change would be that the way the  Super Series sets up the third story would have to change. 

For me to be ready by my self-imposed deadline of April 15th, I will have a lot of work to do. Having all four ready to pitch is the plan. However, because there is loads of work to do between now and then, and I do intend on querying and pitching people this spring, I am willing to adjust based on where things stand. If I have to begin the query process with only two series ready to go, so be it. 

I am also willing to streamline the pitch packages at this point. What I may be willing to sacrifice are two bibles for the older projects. While I still need to complete them, I know these projects like the back of my hand. And if I cannot complete them during the next two weeks, then I may push forward with pitching them anyway. A bible is a detailed breakdown of the entire series. 

Having a bible, a solid pilot, a killer logline, a synopsis, an elevator pitch, and a project pitch for all four series is the main objective. I will query and pitch this spring. How many projects I pitch this spring will depend on these next four weeks. 

The Four (Update)

Over the holidays, I shifted my attention to three TV series and put a novella on the backburner. 

The grand plan for 2022 began with my focus on four TV series. How it will end will depend on how long it takes me to get those four projects and myself pitch-ready. The latter of the two is arguably the more difficult task. But after a humbling 2021, I think I am ready to go again.

What does pitch-ready mean?

As far as written work that means, most importantly, four solid pilot episodes. But that is only a part of the written work that needs to be done. Each series needs a catchy logline, a synopsis, a bible, and an elevator pitch. And in some cases, I may do a pitch deck, a step outline, and/or a treatment, but I will try and avoid those if possible. 

Once I have all four of these projects and myself ready it will be time to pivot. With the pandemic, hopefully releasing us all from its clutches this year, I am ready to go all-in once again. And I am also open to writing more literary material. But first, I have to spread the word about four amazing tales that I strongly believe millions of people would love streamed into their homes. 

Finding the right people is one part, selling them on a story is another, but the trickiest part is to sell them on me. My ideas are fresh and thrilling but I have been plodding along at writing for a few years now and stayed off people's radar for the most part as I stockpiled stories and sharpened my skills. 

I know I could be a golden goose for the right producer(s). Not that I believe that everything that I have written is a golden egg. Hardly. But my experience over the past twenty years has shaped me into a prolific world builder. 

Each of the four TV series that I will be putting up for sale this year originated in my head. I don't write other people's stories. I am not looking to be hired to write an episode of the Mandalorian. Although, The Book of Bobba Fett probably could have used my help.

These four series are original stories that have been inspired by my observations of society, art, and the world and the universe over the past two decades. They are in some ways a reflection of that time and in some cases a look into the future based upon those observations.

In the early 2000s, I struggled to pitch my own writing projects. My self-confidence was low and sometimes just getting read was difficult. It was probably for the best because my early screenwriting work was a little clunky.

The fact that I have had to work away from writing in order to have time to write has taught me a lot. I've learned to be able to separate myself from the work enough to be a bit more objective when need be.  I am a much better salesman too. 

The next few months will be a bit chaotic as I work to polish these projects and prepare them and me for the pitch push. This is my entire writing focus as of now. However, to keep my mind fresh I hope to begin the world build on one brand new project by year's end. Also, I am looking to possibly publish House Fly before 2023, which may become a top priority in the summer. And I may have to push a new project to 2023 to properly prepare House Fly for release.  

This is a year to pivot and I have been promising myself a chance to do so for the past year. I was frustrated to not have the time to do so last year for a number of reasons. As of right now, it looks like I have done enough over the past year to allow myself to make that pivot this summer. 

Last summer was hell. I had just come off a big rejection and a separate opportunity to invest in myself fizzled out. Yet, I have bided my time since then, put my nose back to the grindstone, and just carried on. Because I did that I am now sitting in a better position today than I have in over a decade. Now I am able to make that pivot this year. To hopefully make the progression I need to get me and my written work where it needs to be. 

We will see. I am very hopeful for the rest of the year and the opportunities that lie ahead.