Mark Freeman's Blog, page 3

Th Wall of Rejection

I know it's hard to believe, but when I first started writing, and submitting my writing to editors and publishers, the intranets was just a twinkle in Al Gore's eye.  It was a lengthy and arduous process.  Not the writing, I loved the writing.  It came quickly, and easily. Long nights fueled by inspiration and youth.  The mailing of the writing and waiting part of the writing was a long process, though.  Costly to an extent too – snail mail being what it is and all, but it was the long delay that gnawed at me late at night.  It was the constant waiting and wondering.   Would this be the piece?  Would this be the editor?  These were the thoughts that crawled like carpenter ants along the inside of my skull.

I kept every rejection letter I ever received.  I tacked them to the wall over my desk and computer.  They equally mocked and inspired me from their place of dubious honor on my wall.  When not focusing on the monitor and my words, my eyes would drift to the letters and they would taunt me to write more, better.  Goad me into writing something worth publishing.   I wrote my first novel beneath them.  Later on, after my wife convinced me to take them down and go in a different decorating direction, they mocked me through my mind's eye to write The Kindling of GreenFyr.

And then came the interweb and rejection is now much faster.  You receive your responses almost within minutes of sending out a query in some cases.  Rejection has never been so efficient.

I'm feeling those ants inside my skull again as I wait to hear from festivals about our short film, The Dragon Wall.  The process now is similar to those early days of sending out my short stories and manuscripts.  Submit our film and wait several months to hear if we've made the cut.  It's easier, if not any cheaper, than snail mailing my stories.  There's a wonderful website, withoutabox.com, for submitting to festivals that makes it a one stop shopping of sorts.  It also keeps all of your submissions' status a keystroke away, allowing me to gaze up at my wall once more, waiting to see if we've made it or not.  We should start hearing any day now and over the course of the summer, but that knowledge does not assuage the ants in my skull.  They keep crawling, slipping in and out of the sulci of my brain.

In the end, though, the result has been the same.  That website has become my new wall, lingering just out of reach, watching me, prompting me to write more, better.  I'm not sure it'll become the rejection wall like the previous.  I'm hoping not, but either way, it's pushing me now, which I guess, in a way, is all ready a win.

Where Have I Been?

So, in case anyone is wondering where I've been or what I've been up to, please stop by www.thedragonwall.com or visit us here on WordPress at www.thedragonwall.worpdress.com and check out our blog, Writings on the Wall.

 

Thanks!

How to Make a Movie: Step One.

Check out The Dragon Wall's blog!

http://thedragonwall.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/how-to-make-a-movie-step-1/

We’re Making a Movie!

The first blog for The Dragon Wall is up.

http://thedragonwall.wordpress.com/

We're Making a Movie!

The first blog for The Dragon Wall is up.

http://thedragonwall.wordpress.com/

Distractions and Announcements

I know, I know, I know.

I'm a lousy blogger and I never post. Both true. I do, in fact, feel guilty about it. However, I do have a good excuse for not posting – well, lately at least.

I've been working on a short film adapted from one of my short stories. Very exciting stuff. I'm acting as producer and have adapted the story to screenplay. And this is what's been keeping me very busy of late.

In fact, I'll actually be blogging on the film's webpage and linking it here if I can figure it o...

Strangers & Sarcasm

My five-year-old daughter, Barrett, discovered sarcasm yesterday.  We were driving home from school and she asked me what sarcasm was, I defined it  never thinking she'd get it right away.  Later that night she took it out for a test run.

Daughter: "Dad, dinner's really good tonight."

Me: "Thanks, Bear."

Daughter: "Yeah, I was being sarcastic."

She said this giggling like a maniac.

Later that night.

Daughter:  "Dad, like your hair."

Me:  "Yeah?  Thanks, B."

Daughter:  "Sarcastic again!"

Today we went ...

Let Them Grow Up First

I was dropping my daughter off at pre-school the other day, which is always harder on me than her, when another parent stopped me.  It took me a moment to give her my full attention because I was still distracted by my daughter and making sure she had everything she needed for school.  Backpack? Check.  Hat and mittens?  Check.  Snow pants? Crap, did I pack her snow pants?  Yeah, phew, check.  You get the picture.  She's also, always, the first student in line.  While all the parents tend to ...

New Cat

New Cat only arrived on our doorstep a couple of weeks ago now, but as she sleeps snuggled in next to my oldest daughter, I'm thinking she's already settled into our family.

It was a pretty cold night.  The thermometer read 0, and the wind was whipping, causing our motion-sensor-light on the garage to keep turning on.  I thought I heard meowing while I was working earlier in the evening, but I couldn't find the source.  Later on that night, while my wife and I were reading, I heard it again...

Irrational Father Fear #27

Pipe cleaners.

Yeah, you read me right, pipe cleaners?  Whoever thought that taking sharp wires and covering them to look like cute caterpillars would be a good idea was a moron.  Seriously.

I've had this discussion with my wife before, and she mocks me openly about it, but they just kinda freak me out.  Especially in the hands of my two daughters. "But they're soft and fuzzy," she laughs.  Okay, so if I cover my chainsaw in cute and fuzzy I can let my kid play with it then?  I don't think...