Adrian Stephens's Blog - Posts Tagged "ghostbusters"

I received a text message from one of my closest friends the other day. He told me that he had finally started reading my book, and he was enjoying it. He was actually excited to tell me this. He finally got around to it, and he was burning through the pages.

When I received his text, I couldn't help but to smile. In talking to other authors, I've heard their frustrations with family and friends (let's call them framily to save space) who hadn't read their novels. They take it as a lack of support for their work.

In a way, they are right. The problem is, they fail to see it from their framilys' standpoint. Our framily have known us a long time. They know us a certain way, with a certain personality, and they know our strengths and weaknesses.

More than that, they care about us. While many authors feel that if their framily cared they'd read the book, I realize it's their caring that makes some of them hesitant to read it. Why? What if it's not a genre they like? What if it's just bad? What if it's so bad that they have a hard time getting to the end of it? Now, we'd all like our framily to have more faith in our abilities but, especially when it's our first book, is it fair to ask them to expect that we have a talent that to this point may have been hidden?

Let's face it, we all think we can write, or we wouldn't have taken the time to do it. But, just because we think
can write, doesn't make it true. Even if we have a brilliant idea for a story, the ability to develop it, create interesting characters and put it all together for a well developed novel eludes enough of us to warrant the fear.

The last thing our framily wants to do is tell us they didn't like the novel we worked so hard on. And it's hard to lie and tell someone they've got talent if they don't believe it. It's much easier to have excuses why they haven't been able to read it. It may not even be a conscious decision, but it happens.

Having had several of my framily seemingly excited to tell me that they liked my book, I recognize that it's really not even excitement. It's relief. A weight has been lifted. They don't have to lie or make excuses. They don't have to trudge through the pages. Relief.

I made a decision when I started writing In My Shoes (and even my Ghostbusters III treatment) to do my best not to put people in that position. I don't ask people if they've read my book, and I don't ask them how they liked it. It's not that I don't care, I just don't want to put them in an uncomfortable position. If they want to talk about it, what they liked and what they didn't, I'm always more than happy to talk about it. I'm proud of it, so talking about it is quite fun for me. If they gush too much, I get a little embarrassed, but I still enjoy it. And when they tell me they loved it with that hint of excitement/relief, I still can't help but smile.

If you haven't read In My Shoes yet, I hope you do, and I hope you enjoy it!

Last night I had the strangest dream. No, this isn't a Matthew Wilder song. If you've checked out my blog or website before, you are probably aware that I had written a screenplay treatment for a Ghostbusters III concept I came up with. If you'd like, you can check it out here. Nothing ever came of it, but I still like my story.

So anyway, last night I dreamt that I met Bill Murray. The dream was strange, and there were lots of little details that stood out yet seemed irrelevant. I also think it important to mention that I'm not obsessed with Bill Murray or Ghostbusters, and that this is the first dream I can ever remember having about him. Here goes.

It started with me noticing that Bill was driving a silver Mercedes next to where I was standing, though I didn't realize it was him at first. He said something to me, which I can't remember, but by the time I realized it was Bill Murray, he was halfway down the street. I started chasing after him. He wasn't driving too fast, just fast enough that I couldn't catch him for about five blocks.

I had the feeling that he knew I was running behind him, I don't know why. Eventually, he stopped and waited for me to catch up. When I did, for some reason I was able to just open the passenger side door and get in. Bill didn't seem particularly surprised or bothered that I just got in his car, and he just kind of stared at me as I tried to gather what to say.

But, what do you say to Bill Murray? Especially when you just got in his car without asking. I don't know, and in my dream I didn't either. I couldn't just tell him about the screenplay treatment. Let's face it, the guy has probably been inundated with people giving him story ideas, and asking if he's going to do Ghostbusters. So, I did the only thing I could think of.

"Bill, I'd like to take a half hour of your time. I know you're busy, so just go wherever it is you're going, and I'll buy along the way. You can drop me somewhere before your destination and I'll take a cab home."

He thought about it for a minute, and decided that was a fair deal. If only it were that easy. First up, he drove us to 7-11 (a convenience store for those who don't have them near you). He asked me to go in and buy him a burrito (I had a burrito for dinner last night). Inside, I decided on the bean and cheese burrito for him, since he didn't specify, which he liked.

Back in the car, Bill asked me what I wanted. I decided since I had him hooked with the burrito and all, I'd just go for it. I told him that I had heard a rumor that he was secretly filming Ghostbusters III and asked him if that was true (I don't know where I dreamt that rumor up). He hemmed and hawed and ended up telling me something about legalities and not being able to disclose.

I then asked him why he had been so hesitant about doing a third film. He mentioned that the first film had done really well and they had made him a bunch of monetary promises for the second film, but they didn't come true because the second film only pulled in $700 (don't know where that number came from). He asked me if I had seen the second film, and I told him I didn't think it was nearly as good as the first. Bill conceded that it wasn't as good to him either, which was another big reason he didn't want to do the third.

At this point I nonchalantly mentioned that I had written a screenplay treatment for Ghostbusters III. He asked if he could see it. I told him that I didn't have a copy on me, since I didn't know I was going to meet him today, but I could pull it up on my phone if he wanted.

Just as he was getting ready to reply...I woke up. I never even got to see where he was going.

I've never been one to look up dreams and their meanings, but I would imagine 'they' would say that it had something to do with reaching for goals that are not within my grasp and achieving some status I have not yet reached. Even more so, I would guess there would be something said about chasing my dreams.

Truth be told, I'm not all too worried if Bill Murray (or any of the others in Ghostbusters world) never read my treatment. It is far-fetched to think that anyone in Hollywood is going to be finding my treatment and finding inspiration.

I do have much higher expectations for my writing. This is my first year of calling myself an author. Though I have been overall pleased with the sales and reviews of In My Shoes, I have a long way to go before there will be any events in anticipation for my next work. But that's okay. I am following my dream. It took a long time to realize this was my dream, and now that I've found it, I'm not easily letting go.

All of us dream. Not just the kind we have when we are looking at the back of our eyelids. We all have something that we desire to do or be above all other things. For me it's having people out there who enjoy my writing. As we say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012, there is no better time than now to start making your dreams come true. But as you work toward your dreams, I hope you will all consider that everyone is out there trying to make their dreams come true. Some are unrealistic, and that's okay too. Instead of shooting others' dreams down, encourage them...to do it to the best of their ability. Wish them luck. Offer constructive criticism. Because next time, the dream could be yours.

Happy New Year!