Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 141
October 11, 2018
Made it to 5 pages!
Dunno what it is about a long flight on Southwest, but 6 hours feels harder than a 7 hour flight to London. But...it gave me the chance to go back through the treatment for Dair's Window and tighten it up so it's now 5 pages long. It also gave me something to focus on when a toddler went into meltdown up at the front of the plane.
I have to say, Southwest is doing all they can to make air travel as unenjoyable as possible. And it's not as if you're getting a great price in exchange; other airlines make the same trips for less...but they make up for it in fees and obnoxiousness when you need to change your flight. Like Jet Blue charging me $150 to cancel one part of a trip. And Delta now getting into the act of charging you to select your seat in advance instead of having one assigned to you. It's pathetic.
Okay, rant over. I'm in San Jose, right now, for a job in San Francisco, tomorrow.
I got some very good comments, suggestions and questions from one of my readers:
Where did the broken glass come from? (I know glass is lying around because of the stained glass, but I should note that for clarity's sake.)
Is the unfinished plan for the church window destroyed in the fire as well? (Actually, since it figures into the finale, I should say it doesn't.)
What happens to Wallace? I get the feeling he’s in love with love as an idea. (Important to note -- his outcome should be noted.)
How involved is Dair with the church? Why would he even care? You set the window plan as being for his grandfather’s church. (Here's a detail in the script I left out but should put back in -- Dair's doing it because his grandfather commissioned it, and Dair was already having trouble setting the right image for it when Adam died.)
I don’t really get Setsuko as becoming important to Dair. Does she? (I hadn't even thought about this...and that's bad of me.)
Was Dair’s home really a ski lodge before Adam died? Is that an important detail? (This is a yes, but I'm not sure how to note that...however, I need to.)
This is exactly what I needed to break myself out of my own myopia. When I'm flying between San Jose and Seattle, on Saturday, I'll combine them and merge them into the rewrite I did.
Next draft should be interesting.
I have to say, Southwest is doing all they can to make air travel as unenjoyable as possible. And it's not as if you're getting a great price in exchange; other airlines make the same trips for less...but they make up for it in fees and obnoxiousness when you need to change your flight. Like Jet Blue charging me $150 to cancel one part of a trip. And Delta now getting into the act of charging you to select your seat in advance instead of having one assigned to you. It's pathetic.
Okay, rant over. I'm in San Jose, right now, for a job in San Francisco, tomorrow.
I got some very good comments, suggestions and questions from one of my readers:
Where did the broken glass come from? (I know glass is lying around because of the stained glass, but I should note that for clarity's sake.)
Is the unfinished plan for the church window destroyed in the fire as well? (Actually, since it figures into the finale, I should say it doesn't.)
What happens to Wallace? I get the feeling he’s in love with love as an idea. (Important to note -- his outcome should be noted.)
How involved is Dair with the church? Why would he even care? You set the window plan as being for his grandfather’s church. (Here's a detail in the script I left out but should put back in -- Dair's doing it because his grandfather commissioned it, and Dair was already having trouble setting the right image for it when Adam died.)
I don’t really get Setsuko as becoming important to Dair. Does she? (I hadn't even thought about this...and that's bad of me.)
Was Dair’s home really a ski lodge before Adam died? Is that an important detail? (This is a yes, but I'm not sure how to note that...however, I need to.)
This is exactly what I needed to break myself out of my own myopia. When I'm flying between San Jose and Seattle, on Saturday, I'll combine them and merge them into the rewrite I did.
Next draft should be interesting.
October 10, 2018
Still too long...
I cut the treatment down to 6 pages. Here it is. I still need to slash one full page...dammit.
-----
Dair’s Window
WGA Registration #:
Adair Llewellyn is a stained-glass artist trying to rebuild his life after the death of his lover and years of legal action by the man’s parents.
Adair Llewellyn -- 35, gay, attractive, works in stained glass art, sensitive but stubborn about defending himself from bullies and injustice.
Wallace Caruthers -- 40, photogenic Lawyer, passionate and driven about civil rights for all, defended Dair from the lawsuit against him, very ambitious.
Jacob Massner -- 28, computer geek extraordinaire, lives and works in Tokyo, has no filter and can be myopic but cuts to the heart of things, Wallace’s Best Man.
Setsuko Messner -- 26, pregnant, loves Jacob as he is, writes slash fiction as La Baguette. Speaks Japanese, English, and French. Sees the world for what it is.
Marion Llewellyn -- 60, determinedly beautiful, owns a ski lodge in town, smart tongue, very sure of herself and aware of everything.
Adam Ferrier -- 26, ski instructor, French Canadian, died in an avalanche, disowned by his family for being gay, he pushed Dair into sharing his art with the world.
Reverend Samuels -- 80, frail, an Episcopal minister, walked with MLK for civil rights but does not agree with same-sex marriage. Willing to stay quiet because of Dair.
Act One: After 5 years of fighting vicious lawsuits by his dead lover’s parents, Dair returns home to prepare for his Christmas wedding to Wallace and be host for Jacob and Setsuko.
Act Two: Dair faces an arson attack and push-back from family and the community over the wedding. A physical altercation over the attack puts him in jail, setting the whole town on edge.
Act Three: The wedding is about to begin but Dair realizes he has not allowed himself time to grieve for Adam so cancels it and builds a stained glass window for his grandfather’s church.
It’s winter in Fairview, Washington, and ADAM sings DAIR awake, wanting to fool around; Dair prefers to snuggle, so Adam gets up to make them coffee. Dair hears glass break so goes to check. He wanders into his stained glass studio to find dust sheets over everything and it is so cold and Adam is outside, naked, whispering to him in the snow and --
Dair jolts as his name is called; he was daydreaming in his studio. It’s five years later and he looks every minute of it. The whole studio is covered in sheets, including the frame and diagram for an arched stained-glass window Dair was planning for his grandfather’s church. He holds a stained glass portrait of Adam like it’s the most precious thing in the world as memories of the man haunt him.
MARION barges in to let him know REVEREND SAMUELS arrived, in her usual snarky way. She tells him WALLACE is still in court so will be late. She leads him back into an open airy room that was once a lodge. But Wallace does arrive on time and has a tight discussion with Reverend Samuels about having same-sex marriage encoded into national law to make the Supreme Court’s ruling binding. Samuels is opposed, as is his assistant, NELDA. Marion enjoys mocking her father’s and Nelda’s opposition by pointing out inconsistencies in their beliefs.
Dair calms everyone and they discuss plans for his marriage to Wallace now that he’s back in his home. Set for Thanksgiving Day at five minutes to sunset, per Wallace’s demand, Samuels has agreed to say a few words though he will not officiate. Dair doesn’t care; what matters is family.
Dair and Wallace have lunch in a diner, where Dair is greeted by old friends...and glared at by a few others. We learn he almost lost his home and was forced to live in Seattle until the legal issues were settled. More memories of Adam crash over Dair, but he is able to focus on the moment. Wallace raises the possibility of running for office, and Dair jokingly says that would be grounds for divorce. He also agrees to pick up Wallace’s best man from the airport, the next day.
As Dair and Marion are cleaning the house, Wallace calls to tell him JACOB and his wife SETSUKO have already arrived from Tokyo. Jacob mixed up his days. Wallace is in meetings so can’t pick them up, so Dair goes and takes them to his Seattle studio to freshen up. He finds Jacob has an off-beat way of viewing Dair’s art, then they meet Wallace for dinner at a fine restaurant, where Jacob needles Wallace while Setsuko keeps him in check. It’s revealed Wallace and Jacob were lovers in Tokyo and Setsuko was fine with it. Dair’s not happy at the revelation but Wallace assures him it was only temporary.
En route home, Jacob focuses on his laptop while Dair and Setsuko chat. She writes slash fiction and has her own way of viewing the world. They stop at a stop at a store, where Dair runs into Nelda’s husband, BOBBY, who directs sneering remarks about gay men at him. Dair snipes back then, as he’s leaving, see Bobby throw a bottle of beer at Jacob as he and Nelda drive away. Dair calls the sheriff but expects nothing will be done.
Marion greets the trio with fresh beds and airy comments then heads home. Jacob and Setsuko see Dair’s more personal stained glass art, including the portrait of Adam. Jacob notices the glass is set in a way that makes Adam’s expression change with the light, so updates Dair’s website as a wedding present, using the portrait as the centerpiece. It’s beautiful, once it’s done, but it triggers more memories of Adam, in Dair. Then Jacob sets some music to going and draws Setsuko into a dance, oblivious to the effect it’s having on Dair.
It was Adam’s CD, and Dair remembers their courtship...the support he got from him...the joy they shared...how Adam kept him centered, even in the face of homophobic actions by Bobby and others...but the memories grow darker and more intense until he envisions Adam skiing to work and being caught in an avalanche and smothering...and his body being taken away by his hateful parents after they refused to let him say goodbye.
Dair bolts for his room, memories of Adam crushing him with one additional horror -- he can no longer see see Adam’s face. He used to be able to sketch Adam from memory. Half-dressed, he storms down to his studio and tries to sketch the man...but nothing comes out right. He forgets he’s barefoot in his studio and the glass has cut his feet. He shreds the sketches and takes them outside to burn in the snow, nearly in hysterics.
Jacob finds him so gets him up to a hot shower and removes glass chips from his soles, like Androcles. Dair reveals Adam’s parents sued him for community property, even though the two were not married. He spent five years fighting them, thanks to a homophobic judge who favored the parents. Wallace took over the case, got the judge removed, for bias, and it was tossed out. During this, they grew close.
Jacob gets Dair to bed and lies with him, like Adam used to and Wallace never has, and Dair drifts to sleep. Setsuko finds them and sings Jacob a children’s song so he can also sleep.
The next morning, they wake to a fire in Dair’s studio. All of the artwork is destroyed, including Adam’s portrait. As firemen finish up, Dair wanders out to gaze into the woods and sees a young red fox watching him, unafraid. When it finally skips away, he turns to see homophobic remarks painted on the side of his house, as well. The sheriff is reluctant to call it a hate crime, but Jacob and Marion sneer at his attitude.
Samuels shows up and asks Dair to move his wedding to Seattle, but Dair refuses to be driven off. It’s still four days to the ceremony and he plans to have the place looking great, by then. Samuels leaves, being driven by Nelda; Dair notices a fender on her truck is damaged and blames Bobby’s drunk driving.
Jacob Thinks Dair and Wallace are mis-matched and counsels against the wedding. They argue and Dair disparages Jacob’s inability to decide which sex he wants to be with, which he dismisses as indecisive. Jacob snaps those are Wallace’s words, so maybe they are right for each other.
Jacob and Dair silently work on the house and put up decorations. Marion asks Setsuko if Jacob is going to hurt Dair, and wonders why Setsuko puts up with Jacob. She believes when you love someone, you accept them for who they are. And she adds she thinks Dair will hurt Jacob.
When Dair takes out the garbage, he sees the red fox pounce on a mouse and carry it off...then notices paint scraped on a tree -- the same color as Nelda’s truck. He confronts Bobby in by Samuels’ church, and Bobby denies trying to burn Dair out and snarls he’s sorry Dair wasn’t killed with Adam. Dair jumps him. The fight is vicious but Dair has the upper hand until he is dragged off Bobby by Samuels and others. The sheriff arrives and arrests Dair for assault.
Dair is arraigned on Thanksgiving Eve, with Wallace at his side fighting what he calls ludicrous charges, since the paint on the tree by Dair’s house is from Nelda’s truck and there is a history of animosity between Dair and Bobby. Trial is set for December 15th.
Wallace is secretly pleased about the situation; he can use it to show how gay men and straight men are treated differently by the legal system. As Marion drives Dair home, he remembers driving with her and Adam and how alive they all seemed.
Samuels is waiting at Dair’s home. He’s been asked to leave his church because of the fight. Jacob is shocked Dair is still going through with the ceremony, the next day. Dair reveals half the reason he’s marrying Wallace it to prevent a repeat of what happened with Adam’s parents. Jacob is brutally disappointed at that...and angry.
So the lodge is ready. Guests have arrived. Food is being served. Samuels is there, but he’s refused to even talk to a couple more men who asked if he’d officiate at their weddings, and Jacob is pissed. It’s close to sunset but still no Wallace. Then he shows up with news crews and a couple of State Senators in tow. He’s making this into an event from which to launch his campaign for the legislature.
Dair goes upstairs to finish dressing the wedding...but sees a photo of him and Adam and remembers dressing Adam for one of Marion’s weddings. He sinks onto the bed.
Wallace waits then finally goes up to Dair’s room to find he has not moved. He sees the photo and snarls that Dair has idolized a conniving ski bum into sainthood. Dair says he can’t be what Wallace needs, nor can Wallace be the right support for him. Wallace asks if Dair and Jacob slept together, to Dair’s indignant shock. He would never do that to someone. Wallace goes down to dismiss the guests.
Marion comes upstairs and tells Dair the guests have moved over to her lodge. Jacob is joining them. Dair tells him of a trip he and Adam took to San Francisco, after Adam talked him into exhibiting his work at an art fair. While en route home, Dair asked Adam to move in with him. He also reveals he once caught Adam stealing money from him. Other people have told him Adam was no angel, and asks what Jacob thinks. Jacob replies he doesn’t care what people think, then leaves.
The trial results in a hung jury. The DA promises to re-file the charges, but Wallace says that will never happen. Marion has the last word, as she drives Dair home. She says his art became beautiful when he met Adam...but Adam is dead, and she fears Dair has given up on life.
Dair sits outside as it snows. He doesn’t move...until the fox reappears. With it is another fox. Snow drifts down on them...and they shake it off. And leave. Dair smiles and returns to his studio, still with memories of Adam. As if on auto-pilot, he starts work on the window he promised his grandfather. The project engulfs him as Adam’s ghost joins him and helps him work and makes him sleep...and bit by bit he builds a magnificent window showing Christ in a meadow with the Bible open before him, reading Matthew 7.
He sets the finished window into the church in time for Easter. Samuels invites him to sunrise services at the church, to start the healing process. Dair is non-committal...but Adam joins him to say how proud he is of Dair’s work, and how he will always be with him. Dair leaves, signs his house over to Marion to sell and catches a flight to Tokyo.
As Dair searches for Jacob, Setsuko, Easter services begin at the church. Dair reconnects with Jacob as the sunrise rises over the Cascade Mountains, its light shining through the stained glass window to reveal the image Dair hid in it is that of Adam blessing Jabob and Dair as they kiss.
And so they do.
-----
Dair’s Window
WGA Registration #:
Adair Llewellyn is a stained-glass artist trying to rebuild his life after the death of his lover and years of legal action by the man’s parents.
Adair Llewellyn -- 35, gay, attractive, works in stained glass art, sensitive but stubborn about defending himself from bullies and injustice.
Wallace Caruthers -- 40, photogenic Lawyer, passionate and driven about civil rights for all, defended Dair from the lawsuit against him, very ambitious.
Jacob Massner -- 28, computer geek extraordinaire, lives and works in Tokyo, has no filter and can be myopic but cuts to the heart of things, Wallace’s Best Man.
Setsuko Messner -- 26, pregnant, loves Jacob as he is, writes slash fiction as La Baguette. Speaks Japanese, English, and French. Sees the world for what it is.
Marion Llewellyn -- 60, determinedly beautiful, owns a ski lodge in town, smart tongue, very sure of herself and aware of everything.
Adam Ferrier -- 26, ski instructor, French Canadian, died in an avalanche, disowned by his family for being gay, he pushed Dair into sharing his art with the world.
Reverend Samuels -- 80, frail, an Episcopal minister, walked with MLK for civil rights but does not agree with same-sex marriage. Willing to stay quiet because of Dair.
Act One: After 5 years of fighting vicious lawsuits by his dead lover’s parents, Dair returns home to prepare for his Christmas wedding to Wallace and be host for Jacob and Setsuko.
Act Two: Dair faces an arson attack and push-back from family and the community over the wedding. A physical altercation over the attack puts him in jail, setting the whole town on edge.
Act Three: The wedding is about to begin but Dair realizes he has not allowed himself time to grieve for Adam so cancels it and builds a stained glass window for his grandfather’s church.
It’s winter in Fairview, Washington, and ADAM sings DAIR awake, wanting to fool around; Dair prefers to snuggle, so Adam gets up to make them coffee. Dair hears glass break so goes to check. He wanders into his stained glass studio to find dust sheets over everything and it is so cold and Adam is outside, naked, whispering to him in the snow and --
Dair jolts as his name is called; he was daydreaming in his studio. It’s five years later and he looks every minute of it. The whole studio is covered in sheets, including the frame and diagram for an arched stained-glass window Dair was planning for his grandfather’s church. He holds a stained glass portrait of Adam like it’s the most precious thing in the world as memories of the man haunt him.
MARION barges in to let him know REVEREND SAMUELS arrived, in her usual snarky way. She tells him WALLACE is still in court so will be late. She leads him back into an open airy room that was once a lodge. But Wallace does arrive on time and has a tight discussion with Reverend Samuels about having same-sex marriage encoded into national law to make the Supreme Court’s ruling binding. Samuels is opposed, as is his assistant, NELDA. Marion enjoys mocking her father’s and Nelda’s opposition by pointing out inconsistencies in their beliefs.
Dair calms everyone and they discuss plans for his marriage to Wallace now that he’s back in his home. Set for Thanksgiving Day at five minutes to sunset, per Wallace’s demand, Samuels has agreed to say a few words though he will not officiate. Dair doesn’t care; what matters is family.
Dair and Wallace have lunch in a diner, where Dair is greeted by old friends...and glared at by a few others. We learn he almost lost his home and was forced to live in Seattle until the legal issues were settled. More memories of Adam crash over Dair, but he is able to focus on the moment. Wallace raises the possibility of running for office, and Dair jokingly says that would be grounds for divorce. He also agrees to pick up Wallace’s best man from the airport, the next day.
As Dair and Marion are cleaning the house, Wallace calls to tell him JACOB and his wife SETSUKO have already arrived from Tokyo. Jacob mixed up his days. Wallace is in meetings so can’t pick them up, so Dair goes and takes them to his Seattle studio to freshen up. He finds Jacob has an off-beat way of viewing Dair’s art, then they meet Wallace for dinner at a fine restaurant, where Jacob needles Wallace while Setsuko keeps him in check. It’s revealed Wallace and Jacob were lovers in Tokyo and Setsuko was fine with it. Dair’s not happy at the revelation but Wallace assures him it was only temporary.
En route home, Jacob focuses on his laptop while Dair and Setsuko chat. She writes slash fiction and has her own way of viewing the world. They stop at a stop at a store, where Dair runs into Nelda’s husband, BOBBY, who directs sneering remarks about gay men at him. Dair snipes back then, as he’s leaving, see Bobby throw a bottle of beer at Jacob as he and Nelda drive away. Dair calls the sheriff but expects nothing will be done.
Marion greets the trio with fresh beds and airy comments then heads home. Jacob and Setsuko see Dair’s more personal stained glass art, including the portrait of Adam. Jacob notices the glass is set in a way that makes Adam’s expression change with the light, so updates Dair’s website as a wedding present, using the portrait as the centerpiece. It’s beautiful, once it’s done, but it triggers more memories of Adam, in Dair. Then Jacob sets some music to going and draws Setsuko into a dance, oblivious to the effect it’s having on Dair.
It was Adam’s CD, and Dair remembers their courtship...the support he got from him...the joy they shared...how Adam kept him centered, even in the face of homophobic actions by Bobby and others...but the memories grow darker and more intense until he envisions Adam skiing to work and being caught in an avalanche and smothering...and his body being taken away by his hateful parents after they refused to let him say goodbye.
Dair bolts for his room, memories of Adam crushing him with one additional horror -- he can no longer see see Adam’s face. He used to be able to sketch Adam from memory. Half-dressed, he storms down to his studio and tries to sketch the man...but nothing comes out right. He forgets he’s barefoot in his studio and the glass has cut his feet. He shreds the sketches and takes them outside to burn in the snow, nearly in hysterics.
Jacob finds him so gets him up to a hot shower and removes glass chips from his soles, like Androcles. Dair reveals Adam’s parents sued him for community property, even though the two were not married. He spent five years fighting them, thanks to a homophobic judge who favored the parents. Wallace took over the case, got the judge removed, for bias, and it was tossed out. During this, they grew close.
Jacob gets Dair to bed and lies with him, like Adam used to and Wallace never has, and Dair drifts to sleep. Setsuko finds them and sings Jacob a children’s song so he can also sleep.
The next morning, they wake to a fire in Dair’s studio. All of the artwork is destroyed, including Adam’s portrait. As firemen finish up, Dair wanders out to gaze into the woods and sees a young red fox watching him, unafraid. When it finally skips away, he turns to see homophobic remarks painted on the side of his house, as well. The sheriff is reluctant to call it a hate crime, but Jacob and Marion sneer at his attitude.
Samuels shows up and asks Dair to move his wedding to Seattle, but Dair refuses to be driven off. It’s still four days to the ceremony and he plans to have the place looking great, by then. Samuels leaves, being driven by Nelda; Dair notices a fender on her truck is damaged and blames Bobby’s drunk driving.
Jacob Thinks Dair and Wallace are mis-matched and counsels against the wedding. They argue and Dair disparages Jacob’s inability to decide which sex he wants to be with, which he dismisses as indecisive. Jacob snaps those are Wallace’s words, so maybe they are right for each other.
Jacob and Dair silently work on the house and put up decorations. Marion asks Setsuko if Jacob is going to hurt Dair, and wonders why Setsuko puts up with Jacob. She believes when you love someone, you accept them for who they are. And she adds she thinks Dair will hurt Jacob.
When Dair takes out the garbage, he sees the red fox pounce on a mouse and carry it off...then notices paint scraped on a tree -- the same color as Nelda’s truck. He confronts Bobby in by Samuels’ church, and Bobby denies trying to burn Dair out and snarls he’s sorry Dair wasn’t killed with Adam. Dair jumps him. The fight is vicious but Dair has the upper hand until he is dragged off Bobby by Samuels and others. The sheriff arrives and arrests Dair for assault.
Dair is arraigned on Thanksgiving Eve, with Wallace at his side fighting what he calls ludicrous charges, since the paint on the tree by Dair’s house is from Nelda’s truck and there is a history of animosity between Dair and Bobby. Trial is set for December 15th.
Wallace is secretly pleased about the situation; he can use it to show how gay men and straight men are treated differently by the legal system. As Marion drives Dair home, he remembers driving with her and Adam and how alive they all seemed.
Samuels is waiting at Dair’s home. He’s been asked to leave his church because of the fight. Jacob is shocked Dair is still going through with the ceremony, the next day. Dair reveals half the reason he’s marrying Wallace it to prevent a repeat of what happened with Adam’s parents. Jacob is brutally disappointed at that...and angry.
So the lodge is ready. Guests have arrived. Food is being served. Samuels is there, but he’s refused to even talk to a couple more men who asked if he’d officiate at their weddings, and Jacob is pissed. It’s close to sunset but still no Wallace. Then he shows up with news crews and a couple of State Senators in tow. He’s making this into an event from which to launch his campaign for the legislature.
Dair goes upstairs to finish dressing the wedding...but sees a photo of him and Adam and remembers dressing Adam for one of Marion’s weddings. He sinks onto the bed.
Wallace waits then finally goes up to Dair’s room to find he has not moved. He sees the photo and snarls that Dair has idolized a conniving ski bum into sainthood. Dair says he can’t be what Wallace needs, nor can Wallace be the right support for him. Wallace asks if Dair and Jacob slept together, to Dair’s indignant shock. He would never do that to someone. Wallace goes down to dismiss the guests.
Marion comes upstairs and tells Dair the guests have moved over to her lodge. Jacob is joining them. Dair tells him of a trip he and Adam took to San Francisco, after Adam talked him into exhibiting his work at an art fair. While en route home, Dair asked Adam to move in with him. He also reveals he once caught Adam stealing money from him. Other people have told him Adam was no angel, and asks what Jacob thinks. Jacob replies he doesn’t care what people think, then leaves.
The trial results in a hung jury. The DA promises to re-file the charges, but Wallace says that will never happen. Marion has the last word, as she drives Dair home. She says his art became beautiful when he met Adam...but Adam is dead, and she fears Dair has given up on life.
Dair sits outside as it snows. He doesn’t move...until the fox reappears. With it is another fox. Snow drifts down on them...and they shake it off. And leave. Dair smiles and returns to his studio, still with memories of Adam. As if on auto-pilot, he starts work on the window he promised his grandfather. The project engulfs him as Adam’s ghost joins him and helps him work and makes him sleep...and bit by bit he builds a magnificent window showing Christ in a meadow with the Bible open before him, reading Matthew 7.
He sets the finished window into the church in time for Easter. Samuels invites him to sunrise services at the church, to start the healing process. Dair is non-committal...but Adam joins him to say how proud he is of Dair’s work, and how he will always be with him. Dair leaves, signs his house over to Marion to sell and catches a flight to Tokyo.
As Dair searches for Jacob, Setsuko, Easter services begin at the church. Dair reconnects with Jacob as the sunrise rises over the Cascade Mountains, its light shining through the stained glass window to reveal the image Dair hid in it is that of Adam blessing Jabob and Dair as they kiss.
And so they do.
October 9, 2018
Dair's Window part 2
The treatment is done -- 8 pages. I need it to be 5 and still get across the emotional essence of the story. That's gonna be fun. Cut and condense and fight with myself over nothing. Not looking forward to that.
I've written letters to voters for votefwd.org, urging them to vote. Hand-wrote them, to make them more personal. It was not easy, because my handwriting is hard to read so I had to go slow and be as precise as I could. But they're done and will be in the mail, tomorrow.
I found out, today, my doctor is a Republican. He has 3 daughters but is more worried about young men being falsely accused of rape, something that happens in 2% of rape cases. I told him of my own sisters' experiences with men, as well as a niece, and pointed out too many men think women are just there for their use and not as human beings. His response? "If I had to do it over, again, I wouldn't have gotten married."
I think I'm going to change doctors. A man who should know better is swallowing the culture of victimhood being seized upon by white men. I don't think I can trust his judgement, now. There are other things I find problematic with him. Like I've been getting headaches on the left side of my head, starting in my shoulder, and I feel a slight pressure in my left eye, but without even touching me he decided it's just tension and told me to do some stretches.
So it's on top of that, that he supports a party that wants to hurt me. I get Social Security, now, and the GOP wants to cut that. Same for Medicare. All so they can give more tax cuts to billionaires. And let's not even get into how they'll now go after gay rights and women's rights and voting rights. So those who are on their side are proving to be enemies to me. And don't tell me they probably don't agree with those aspects of the GOP's platform; this is a black and white issue, nothing gray about it.
If you want to hurt me in any way, you are my enemy.
I've written letters to voters for votefwd.org, urging them to vote. Hand-wrote them, to make them more personal. It was not easy, because my handwriting is hard to read so I had to go slow and be as precise as I could. But they're done and will be in the mail, tomorrow.
I found out, today, my doctor is a Republican. He has 3 daughters but is more worried about young men being falsely accused of rape, something that happens in 2% of rape cases. I told him of my own sisters' experiences with men, as well as a niece, and pointed out too many men think women are just there for their use and not as human beings. His response? "If I had to do it over, again, I wouldn't have gotten married."
I think I'm going to change doctors. A man who should know better is swallowing the culture of victimhood being seized upon by white men. I don't think I can trust his judgement, now. There are other things I find problematic with him. Like I've been getting headaches on the left side of my head, starting in my shoulder, and I feel a slight pressure in my left eye, but without even touching me he decided it's just tension and told me to do some stretches.
So it's on top of that, that he supports a party that wants to hurt me. I get Social Security, now, and the GOP wants to cut that. Same for Medicare. All so they can give more tax cuts to billionaires. And let's not even get into how they'll now go after gay rights and women's rights and voting rights. So those who are on their side are proving to be enemies to me. And don't tell me they probably don't agree with those aspects of the GOP's platform; this is a black and white issue, nothing gray about it.
If you want to hurt me in any way, you are my enemy.
October 7, 2018
Dair's Window
I'm working on the treatment for a secondary project to go with my application for the Universal Global Talent Development position, and it's coming together. Especially now that another right wing demagogue has been put on the Supreme Court. It gives the story added meaning.
I just reread the script I initially wrote and it's good but light. I think I'm going to make it a lot heavier and angrier. I'm halfway into the treatment and am already finding ways to do so. I won't actually be rewriting the script until much later, if then. Truth is, I'm not sure why they're asking for this except to see if you can have more than one project or idea for them to use...but it's completely different in style and tone from Find Ray T, so I'm hoping it will show my breadth as a screenwriter.
Breadth as a screenwriter -- I've only written 33 scripts in 5 different genres, 15 of which are my own ideas and 3 of which came from works in the public domain. The rest were work for hire or based on materials I don't have the rights to. Of them all, I think 8 are good enough to show people. The rest are either old writing styles I used or haven't come together in full, yet...and a couple aren't even in Final Draft, that's how old they are.
Of course, The Alice '65 and The Lyons' Den are books, as well, and I like how their stories turned out. I'd want to update the screenplays to match the details of the books...which will take a while. I'm not doing anything like that till I have a first draft of A Place of Safety done. I promised Brendan.
Meaning I'm pulling out of National Novel Writing Month, again. I won't have the time to do it. I've got Underground Guy to complete and put out there in e-book, at least, by Thanksgiving. That, alone, will be a push. And making this application as solid as possible? I'm already seeing myself turn into a hermit. It was with a lot effort that I went out to get groceries and printer ink, today.
Thursday I'm off to San Francisco and Seattle, for a 6 day trip. That will also take time away from my work. But so be it. The nice thing about having a laptop is, you can use it anywhere.
Even sitting in bed while having your dinner...
I just reread the script I initially wrote and it's good but light. I think I'm going to make it a lot heavier and angrier. I'm halfway into the treatment and am already finding ways to do so. I won't actually be rewriting the script until much later, if then. Truth is, I'm not sure why they're asking for this except to see if you can have more than one project or idea for them to use...but it's completely different in style and tone from Find Ray T, so I'm hoping it will show my breadth as a screenwriter.
Breadth as a screenwriter -- I've only written 33 scripts in 5 different genres, 15 of which are my own ideas and 3 of which came from works in the public domain. The rest were work for hire or based on materials I don't have the rights to. Of them all, I think 8 are good enough to show people. The rest are either old writing styles I used or haven't come together in full, yet...and a couple aren't even in Final Draft, that's how old they are.
Of course, The Alice '65 and The Lyons' Den are books, as well, and I like how their stories turned out. I'd want to update the screenplays to match the details of the books...which will take a while. I'm not doing anything like that till I have a first draft of A Place of Safety done. I promised Brendan.
Meaning I'm pulling out of National Novel Writing Month, again. I won't have the time to do it. I've got Underground Guy to complete and put out there in e-book, at least, by Thanksgiving. That, alone, will be a push. And making this application as solid as possible? I'm already seeing myself turn into a hermit. It was with a lot effort that I went out to get groceries and printer ink, today.
Thursday I'm off to San Francisco and Seattle, for a 6 day trip. That will also take time away from my work. But so be it. The nice thing about having a laptop is, you can use it anywhere.
Even sitting in bed while having your dinner...
October 6, 2018
As expected...
The GOP installed a drunk abuser on the Supreme Court so they can get their agenda pushed through, even though the vast majority of Americans didn't want it. The next two years are going to be interesting, to say the least...but only if Democrats will get off their butts and fight back just as down and dirty as Republicans. You don't take cookies to a knife fight...or even a knife to a gunfight. And when they cheat to win, you gotta get nastier than them and show them what brute force really means.
I had a project to work on, all day, so managed to avoid the rhetoric and hate till a little bit ago. Five minutes on Facebook and you'll see the same people who spent 8 years vilifying Obama and refusing to accept him as president telling you it's done, get over it. It's not done. It's just the beginning.
I've been comparing followers of the GOP to a pack of rabid dogs. It's sad they're sick, but their disease has no cure and you run a serious chance of being destroyed, yourself. Better to either isolate them until they die, or put them down. Since the latter option isn't considered acceptable in a civilized society, the former must be followed.
I have to send a second project in with this application for the writer's program. Just a treatment but in some detail and meaning. So...I'm going to update Dair's Window to reflect our new world of hate and bullying. The story has a fair amount of that in it, but it was written before same-sex marriage was legal and we were only being offered civil partnerships. That won't be hard to update.
It's funny, but when I wrote this script 10 years ago, during a writing seminar at Film Independent, gay marriage had been made legal in California, so someone said it was silly to write a script about gay men not being allowed to wed. I told her it wasn't over, yet...and six months later Proposition 8 passed, revoking it.
I think we're about to see same-sex marriage revoked, again, probably as part of states' rights. It may take a year or two, but it'll come before the court...and those right wing bastards on the bench will nullify the previous ruling. Same for abortion rights and voting rights. We need Congressional statutes making those national law...and then be able to protect them against the courts.
I'm not optimistic.
I had a project to work on, all day, so managed to avoid the rhetoric and hate till a little bit ago. Five minutes on Facebook and you'll see the same people who spent 8 years vilifying Obama and refusing to accept him as president telling you it's done, get over it. It's not done. It's just the beginning.
I've been comparing followers of the GOP to a pack of rabid dogs. It's sad they're sick, but their disease has no cure and you run a serious chance of being destroyed, yourself. Better to either isolate them until they die, or put them down. Since the latter option isn't considered acceptable in a civilized society, the former must be followed.
I have to send a second project in with this application for the writer's program. Just a treatment but in some detail and meaning. So...I'm going to update Dair's Window to reflect our new world of hate and bullying. The story has a fair amount of that in it, but it was written before same-sex marriage was legal and we were only being offered civil partnerships. That won't be hard to update.
It's funny, but when I wrote this script 10 years ago, during a writing seminar at Film Independent, gay marriage had been made legal in California, so someone said it was silly to write a script about gay men not being allowed to wed. I told her it wasn't over, yet...and six months later Proposition 8 passed, revoking it.
I think we're about to see same-sex marriage revoked, again, probably as part of states' rights. It may take a year or two, but it'll come before the court...and those right wing bastards on the bench will nullify the previous ruling. Same for abortion rights and voting rights. We need Congressional statutes making those national law...and then be able to protect them against the courts.
I'm not optimistic.
October 5, 2018
Motherfucking Republicans...
So...Kavanaugh's going to be on the Supreme Court, and there's not a damn thing Democrats can do to stop it. The FBI's destroyed their non-partisan reputation and probably have hurt Mueller's investigation with their acquiescence to Czar Snowflake's limitations regarding checking out that overwrought frat-brat of an abusive drunk. And the GOP has given up any pretense at caring about democracy or what the people want.
I'm gonna make a prediction -- within two years, gay marriage will be revisited by the Supreme Court and they will reverse their earlier ruling allowing it. Once they see they can do that without a lot of blowback, they'll rethink Roe v. Wade, nullify the CRA and destroy the ACA. I hope I'm wrong, but considering the sneaky, conniving, backhanded way the GOP lies and cheats and steals elections, with minimal fight from Democrats, we will effectively become a one-party state...just like Russia under Putin and China with her People's Democratic Dictatorship. There will be no way to stop them short of torches and pitchforks and a willingness to let yourself get slaughtered.
I am beyond livid on this. I no longer wish to know anyone who even begins to support these monsters. If you're a Republican, stay the fuck away from me. The same for you motherfucking Christians. Using Jesus to excuse your hate and cruelty, or to do nothing but turn the other cheek and hope for the best, is of the devil, not God, and you are beneath contempt. As Sinclair Lewis said, When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.
We are seeing his words come to life, today.
I'm gonna make a prediction -- within two years, gay marriage will be revisited by the Supreme Court and they will reverse their earlier ruling allowing it. Once they see they can do that without a lot of blowback, they'll rethink Roe v. Wade, nullify the CRA and destroy the ACA. I hope I'm wrong, but considering the sneaky, conniving, backhanded way the GOP lies and cheats and steals elections, with minimal fight from Democrats, we will effectively become a one-party state...just like Russia under Putin and China with her People's Democratic Dictatorship. There will be no way to stop them short of torches and pitchforks and a willingness to let yourself get slaughtered.
I am beyond livid on this. I no longer wish to know anyone who even begins to support these monsters. If you're a Republican, stay the fuck away from me. The same for you motherfucking Christians. Using Jesus to excuse your hate and cruelty, or to do nothing but turn the other cheek and hope for the best, is of the devil, not God, and you are beneath contempt. As Sinclair Lewis said, When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.
We are seeing his words come to life, today.
October 4, 2018
Funny is not my forte...
I'm trying like crazy to make Find Ray T funnier and deeper and more like a real movie than a scripted show...but I have no idea if I'm achieving anything like I want. I chuckle and laugh, but I get the jokes. Question is, will anyone else?
For example -- I've got a running joke through this script about people thinking Damon, the lead, used to be on drugs...and no one believes him when he says he never was. Now due to his crazy actions trying to find Ray Tarkovsky, they think he's fallen off the wagon. There's even a story in a gossip rag with photos of him acting crazy under a splashy headline of Is Damon Payne Back On Drugs? The final bit is during the big ending, when he's desperately free-running his way up a bunch of homes perched in the Hollywood Hills to get to one house at the very top of the road. En route, he passes an elderly couple on their balcony, tossing them a smile and greeting. All very energetic. The old man wonders if he's back on drugs. The old lady says, "Maybe he'll give you some; you could use it." And the old man looks at her, shocked.
I'm also emphasizing Damon is rootless, thanks to being a military brat. He was moved about every couple years. Never had friends or girl friends for very long; if he didn't leave, they did. And he's in the habit of that, still. He drifted away from his ex-wife, Tara, because he was getting too close her and was afraid of what would happen if she left him. Now he's starting to see how wrong he was to push her away.
I'm also getting rid of some of the cute stuff I had in the script -- things that really didn't help move things along. I like them...but it's better without them. The script's going to be close to 120 pages so I have to be careful about anything that's not absolutely vital to the story.
For about ten minutes, today, I considered sending the script for A65 in to a romantic comedy competition fronted by Stage 32 and a woman who'd produced some of Nancy Meyers' films. I'd have had to do a quick rewrite and polish and wasn't crazy about it...but then I read the Terms and conditions and I all but screamed, NO! NO! NO! They would own all rights in perpetuity for not that much money up front and 2% of the net profits...of which there never are any.
Fortunately, Adam was screaming NO right along with me, because I'd have hated to fight him on this...but what they want is ridiculous.
For example -- I've got a running joke through this script about people thinking Damon, the lead, used to be on drugs...and no one believes him when he says he never was. Now due to his crazy actions trying to find Ray Tarkovsky, they think he's fallen off the wagon. There's even a story in a gossip rag with photos of him acting crazy under a splashy headline of Is Damon Payne Back On Drugs? The final bit is during the big ending, when he's desperately free-running his way up a bunch of homes perched in the Hollywood Hills to get to one house at the very top of the road. En route, he passes an elderly couple on their balcony, tossing them a smile and greeting. All very energetic. The old man wonders if he's back on drugs. The old lady says, "Maybe he'll give you some; you could use it." And the old man looks at her, shocked.
I'm also emphasizing Damon is rootless, thanks to being a military brat. He was moved about every couple years. Never had friends or girl friends for very long; if he didn't leave, they did. And he's in the habit of that, still. He drifted away from his ex-wife, Tara, because he was getting too close her and was afraid of what would happen if she left him. Now he's starting to see how wrong he was to push her away.
I'm also getting rid of some of the cute stuff I had in the script -- things that really didn't help move things along. I like them...but it's better without them. The script's going to be close to 120 pages so I have to be careful about anything that's not absolutely vital to the story.
For about ten minutes, today, I considered sending the script for A65 in to a romantic comedy competition fronted by Stage 32 and a woman who'd produced some of Nancy Meyers' films. I'd have had to do a quick rewrite and polish and wasn't crazy about it...but then I read the Terms and conditions and I all but screamed, NO! NO! NO! They would own all rights in perpetuity for not that much money up front and 2% of the net profits...of which there never are any.
Fortunately, Adam was screaming NO right along with me, because I'd have hated to fight him on this...but what they want is ridiculous.
October 3, 2018
Working on Find Ray T...
I'm submitting my script, Find Ray T, to the Universal Writers Program, so I'm going through it to make it tighter and adjusting bits here and there to align it with what I'm saying it means. Part of the process is working up translations of some dialogue into Russian...using Google Translate. I've learned just telling people this bit will be in Russian while keeping it in English is a no-go. You're supposed to use the actual language and put the translation below it in parentheses.
So...here's what I've got, so far --
Eto nikogda ne mozhet byt' kontsom.
This can never be the end.
Nadeyus', ya sdelal dlya vas spravedlivost'.
I hope I have done you justice.
Eto akter, kotoryy igrayet Reya v etom fil'me?
This is the actor who plays Ray in that movie?
On slishkom khorosh.
He is too pretty.
Yego der'mo ne vonyayet.
No Shit.
V tom, chto weeped?
Is that weeped?
Kak ya dolzhen znat'?
How should I know?
On smeyetsya nad moim angliyskim yazykom?
Is he making fun of my English?
Pochemu oni vybirayut etogo cheloveka kak Reya? U devushki bol'shiye shary.
Why do they choose this man to play Ray? A girl has bigger balls.
Chto, yesli my otbrosim yego litso ot shramov?
What if we give his face some scars?
Da ... s molotkom ...
Yes, with the hammer...
YA zabyl, chto ty mozhesh' govorit' po-russki. Vy eto khorosho znayete, da?
I forgot you can speak Russian. You know it good, yes?
This is just the first act, but there isn't much more till near the end of the third act. I'm hoping it won't add much in the way of page count. I'm at 110.
If the script ever does get made, they'll need to have these translations reworked, I'm sure. I learned a long time ago that Google Translate is a bit...awkward in its translation processes. I know enough French to be able to tell when it's not right, and almost enough Spanish (German I gave up on long ago)...but a language with its own alphabet? I'm trusting the gods on this one. Though if one of the studio's readers does speak Russian, I'm sure they'l get a good laugh.
Albeit unintentional.
So...here's what I've got, so far --
Eto nikogda ne mozhet byt' kontsom.
This can never be the end.
Nadeyus', ya sdelal dlya vas spravedlivost'.
I hope I have done you justice.
Eto akter, kotoryy igrayet Reya v etom fil'me?
This is the actor who plays Ray in that movie?
On slishkom khorosh.
He is too pretty.
Yego der'mo ne vonyayet.
No Shit.
V tom, chto weeped?
Is that weeped?
Kak ya dolzhen znat'?
How should I know?
On smeyetsya nad moim angliyskim yazykom?
Is he making fun of my English?
Pochemu oni vybirayut etogo cheloveka kak Reya? U devushki bol'shiye shary.
Why do they choose this man to play Ray? A girl has bigger balls.
Chto, yesli my otbrosim yego litso ot shramov?
What if we give his face some scars?
Da ... s molotkom ...
Yes, with the hammer...
YA zabyl, chto ty mozhesh' govorit' po-russki. Vy eto khorosho znayete, da?
I forgot you can speak Russian. You know it good, yes?
This is just the first act, but there isn't much more till near the end of the third act. I'm hoping it won't add much in the way of page count. I'm at 110.
If the script ever does get made, they'll need to have these translations reworked, I'm sure. I learned a long time ago that Google Translate is a bit...awkward in its translation processes. I know enough French to be able to tell when it's not right, and almost enough Spanish (German I gave up on long ago)...but a language with its own alphabet? I'm trusting the gods on this one. Though if one of the studio's readers does speak Russian, I'm sure they'l get a good laugh.
Albeit unintentional.
October 1, 2018
Personal Essay...
The Writers Program at Universal Studios requires you write a personal essay as part of your application. Here's my first go at it.
I was born without roots, destined by my genes to wander, my main ancestry being that of Vikings -- Norwegian and Danish, with French and German mixed in. From my first year, I have constantly been on the move.
I was born in San Diego, but my parents divorced within months so I was shifted to San Antonio to live with my grandmother. When my mother remarried, it was to a non-commissioned officer in the Air Force...meaning I left even my birth name behind as we continued to change abodes -- Reno (NV), London (UK), Kansas City (MO), El Paso (TX), Grand Forks (ND), Honolulu (HI) -- bouncing back and forth to San Antonio before finally settling there.
Only I did not settle. I could not. I was too used to a different school every year or two. Different friends. Different worlds. I built a career as an artist. Changed to working in a bookshop. I went to two different colleges to get a degree in film; two different colleges for my master’s in screenwriting...which I never finished. I moved apartments and got new cars, soon as they became too familiar. Moved to New York, Austin, Houston and LA, where I continued to change apartments in search of something fresh and new. Worked in more bookstores. Worked in film. Wrote screenplays. Did storyboards. My wanderlust was incapable of being satiated.
I even refused to be encumbered by relationships. Being a gay man, there were easy ways to find pleasure without commitment...until AIDs hit and I found myself an inadvertent celibate. Then I slowly began to realize that what I was doing was hiding, deflecting, refusing to be a part of the world, keeping myself as naught but an observer.
That is when I began pouring my wishes and hopes and dreams into my writing, building characters like...well, like a 10 year-old boy who’s sabotaging the sale of his parents’ home so they can’t move, and a book cataloguer who’s hidden himself away from the world because of a family tragedy, and a fighter pilot seeking a reason to settle down, and an artist desperate for a commitment after nearly losing everything when his lover died, and an actor on the cusp of superstardom who treats his ex-wife and child like a scheduling issue. All of these characters seek something I know I will never have -- a place to belong to...someone to be part of. When I lived in LA, I almost achieved that. Almost.
I now write books and live in Buffalo (NY), handling yet another kind of job -- packing libraries and archives. I travel a great deal, which let me settle into one apartment for eight years, longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere. I'm not here long enough for it to grow too familiar. The wanderlust is held at bay because I’ve worked in places I’d never have gone to on my own -- Salt Lake City (UT), Boise (ID), Lisbon (Portugal), Munich (Germany), Hong Kong, Milwaukee (WI), Key West (FL), Albuquerque (NM), Denver (CO), Birmingham (AL), York (UK), Burlington (VT), Salisbury (UK), Portland (OR), Bangor (ME). My current career has returned me to London on many occasions, and Dublin, Derry (NI), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, New Haven (CT), Boston. I almost feel settled here. Almost.
But I still remain without roots...and so long as that is, my life will continue to inform my work and my work will reflect my life.
I would not...cannot have it any other way.
I was born without roots, destined by my genes to wander, my main ancestry being that of Vikings -- Norwegian and Danish, with French and German mixed in. From my first year, I have constantly been on the move. I was born in San Diego, but my parents divorced within months so I was shifted to San Antonio to live with my grandmother. When my mother remarried, it was to a non-commissioned officer in the Air Force...meaning I left even my birth name behind as we continued to change abodes -- Reno (NV), London (UK), Kansas City (MO), El Paso (TX), Grand Forks (ND), Honolulu (HI) -- bouncing back and forth to San Antonio before finally settling there.
Only I did not settle. I could not. I was too used to a different school every year or two. Different friends. Different worlds. I built a career as an artist. Changed to working in a bookshop. I went to two different colleges to get a degree in film; two different colleges for my master’s in screenwriting...which I never finished. I moved apartments and got new cars, soon as they became too familiar. Moved to New York, Austin, Houston and LA, where I continued to change apartments in search of something fresh and new. Worked in more bookstores. Worked in film. Wrote screenplays. Did storyboards. My wanderlust was incapable of being satiated.
I even refused to be encumbered by relationships. Being a gay man, there were easy ways to find pleasure without commitment...until AIDs hit and I found myself an inadvertent celibate. Then I slowly began to realize that what I was doing was hiding, deflecting, refusing to be a part of the world, keeping myself as naught but an observer.
That is when I began pouring my wishes and hopes and dreams into my writing, building characters like...well, like a 10 year-old boy who’s sabotaging the sale of his parents’ home so they can’t move, and a book cataloguer who’s hidden himself away from the world because of a family tragedy, and a fighter pilot seeking a reason to settle down, and an artist desperate for a commitment after nearly losing everything when his lover died, and an actor on the cusp of superstardom who treats his ex-wife and child like a scheduling issue. All of these characters seek something I know I will never have -- a place to belong to...someone to be part of. When I lived in LA, I almost achieved that. Almost.
I now write books and live in Buffalo (NY), handling yet another kind of job -- packing libraries and archives. I travel a great deal, which let me settle into one apartment for eight years, longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere. I'm not here long enough for it to grow too familiar. The wanderlust is held at bay because I’ve worked in places I’d never have gone to on my own -- Salt Lake City (UT), Boise (ID), Lisbon (Portugal), Munich (Germany), Hong Kong, Milwaukee (WI), Key West (FL), Albuquerque (NM), Denver (CO), Birmingham (AL), York (UK), Burlington (VT), Salisbury (UK), Portland (OR), Bangor (ME). My current career has returned me to London on many occasions, and Dublin, Derry (NI), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, New Haven (CT), Boston. I almost feel settled here. Almost.
But I still remain without roots...and so long as that is, my life will continue to inform my work and my work will reflect my life.
I would not...cannot have it any other way.
September 30, 2018
UG is close...
I've finished what really amounts to a polish of Underground Guy. There was some shifting around of bits in the fist five chapters but overall it rolls along and builds the way I wanted it to. I'll need to input these adjustments and do another pass, just to be sure, but then it should be ready to go.
Something interesting is how Devlin got a bit harsher during this pass. And how he winds up taking even more responsibility for his actions. There's one bit at the very end where I'm not sure if I like how I'm working it...and may change it...but I like how it ends the story so I may leave it alone. Won't know till I return to it.
This is not a mainstream book, by any stretch of the imagination, so I doubt it will ever sell a lot of copies. It's a combination of mystery, suspense, character study and gay sex. Hardly NY Times kind of stuff. But that doesn't mean I'll let it slide on anything. It's going to have my name on it, so I want the book to be as solid as I can make it.
I may be fooling myself about this, but I don't care. I like what I wrote. Truth is, I'm fucking proud of sections of this book and how the mystery comes together at the end. I don't explain it; I show it...and have Devlin nearly killed in the middle of it. Of course, afterwards he puts his spin on it, but it's hardly like an Agatha Christie explanation.
If all goes well, I'll have it out in e-book by Thanksgiving. I'm trying to drum up interest in it by that time, just to see how that works, but who knows if anything I do will make a difference in sales. I'm hardly on the level of Random House or Simon & Schuster, but we shall see.
I'm going to let this sit to get some distance, again, and spend much of October working on a submission to a writing program at Universal Studios. I need to provide a screenplay, a treatment for a different screenplay, a personal narrative, a resume, 1-2 letters of recommendation, and an applications form, all for projects that have wide audience appeal while commenting on one's cultural perspective.
That's going to be a rough one...and probably a waste of time...but never let it be said I used my time wisely.
Something interesting is how Devlin got a bit harsher during this pass. And how he winds up taking even more responsibility for his actions. There's one bit at the very end where I'm not sure if I like how I'm working it...and may change it...but I like how it ends the story so I may leave it alone. Won't know till I return to it.
This is not a mainstream book, by any stretch of the imagination, so I doubt it will ever sell a lot of copies. It's a combination of mystery, suspense, character study and gay sex. Hardly NY Times kind of stuff. But that doesn't mean I'll let it slide on anything. It's going to have my name on it, so I want the book to be as solid as I can make it.
I may be fooling myself about this, but I don't care. I like what I wrote. Truth is, I'm fucking proud of sections of this book and how the mystery comes together at the end. I don't explain it; I show it...and have Devlin nearly killed in the middle of it. Of course, afterwards he puts his spin on it, but it's hardly like an Agatha Christie explanation.
If all goes well, I'll have it out in e-book by Thanksgiving. I'm trying to drum up interest in it by that time, just to see how that works, but who knows if anything I do will make a difference in sales. I'm hardly on the level of Random House or Simon & Schuster, but we shall see.
I'm going to let this sit to get some distance, again, and spend much of October working on a submission to a writing program at Universal Studios. I need to provide a screenplay, a treatment for a different screenplay, a personal narrative, a resume, 1-2 letters of recommendation, and an applications form, all for projects that have wide audience appeal while commenting on one's cultural perspective.
That's going to be a rough one...and probably a waste of time...but never let it be said I used my time wisely.
