Kenneth Atchity's Blog, page 46
May 20, 2022
Author Interview – Kenneth Atchity on is latest Release – My Obit, Daddy Holding Me
My Obit is an autobiography that explores the scenarios on family dynamics. Kenneth, what made you decide to write this autobiography at this stage of your life?
It occurred to me a few years ago that I might just end up dead. As a writer I hated the prospect that someone else might write my obit, and decided it was my job to do it myself!
What made you decide on throwing these into the mix?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
The story of me is rich and funny and full of surprising twists and turns. One of the richest parts of life for me has been the food I loved along the way so I decided I needed to share that as well—plus my son insisted (he is an excellent cook!).
Which recipe is your favourite?From a sentimental viewpoint, it’s the recipe for my Lebanese grandmother’s beans, “Tata’s beans.” For sheer culinary delight, it’d be the recipe for kibbeh nayah, tartare mixed with wheat.
Who was the biggest influence in your life?Aside from my father and mother, I’d have to say it was the Jesuits, starting with Edmund Ziegelmeyer who stopped by our house every day beginning when I was 10 to teach me Latin and to inspire me to learn many languages.
If you could go back, what is the one thing that you would change in life?I would have liked a role in The Godfather!
Would you say that all families are dysfunctional in a way?Absolutely! Ambrose Bierce (Devil’s Dictionary) defined a family as, “a random group of characters who one would otherwise encounter only in a prison break or a train wreck.” So, to idealize the situation, it’s up to us to go out there and build a family in our own image and likeness—and that becomes your true family (though it may include a couple from the bloodline).
Would you say this book is a journey for yourself on self-reflection?Yes indeed, in every way. That’s why it took so long to write it because it’s all about getting my story straight and recognizing that the happiest life is the one whose self-narration is the strongest and most heroic.
If you could go back, what is one thing you would have liked to have more time to pursue?For sure, I would have liked to study music, play the piano, and learned to dance properly! I’m proud that I’ve composed a half dozen songs (lyrics) some of which appear in my movies and could have led a happy life just writing songs.
For many people, family dynamics is a major part of their day-to-day life, society’s expectations etc. In a nutshell, it’s a serious issue. What made you decide to portray it in a comedic, philosophical sense?It’s only serious if you’re not an optimist with a sense of humor.
How long have you been working on this book? Is it something you just sat down and decided to write or is it something compiled over time?I started it fifteen years ago and have been fiddling with it ever since. It was stop-and-go because I had constantly to wrestle with point of view—from what perspective to tell my story? And, of course, what to include, what not. At one point the draft was 900 pages before I decided it MUST be cut into several books. I’m hoping to publish Vol. 2 by the end of 2022.
What do you hope readers gain from reading this book?I hope they enjoy it, learn something, and laugh a lot. And I hope they learn to take charge of their own stories and realize that power is life’s greatest gift. If you want a happy ending, you have to shape it.
What is next for Kenneth?Aside from producing movies and series, which is ongoing, I’m gearing up to write a novel about the new age we live in, a post-truth age in which heroism is being redefined and communication tested to the maximum.
Author Interview – Kenneth Atchity on is latest Release – My Obit, Daddy Holding me.
My Obit is an autobiography that explores the scenarios on family dynamics. Kenneth, what made you decide to write this autobiography at this stage of your life?
It occurred to me a few years ago that I might just end up dead. As a writer I hated the prospect that someone else might write my obit, and decided it was my job to do it myself!
What made you decide on throwing these into the mix?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
The story of me is rich and funny and full of surprising twists and turns. One of the richest parts of life for me has been the food I loved along the way so I decided I needed to share that as well—plus my son insisted (he is an excellent cook!).
Which recipe is your favourite?From a sentimental viewpoint, it’s the recipe for my Lebanese grandmother’s beans, “Tata’s beans.” For sheer culinary delight, it’d be the recipe for kibbeh nayah, tartare mixed with wheat.
Who was the biggest influence in your life?Aside from my father and mother, I’d have to say it was the Jesuits, starting with Edmund Ziegelmeyer who stopped by our house every day beginning when I was 10 to teach me Latin and to inspire me to learn many languages.
If you could go back, what is the one thing that you would change in life?I would have liked a role in The Godfather!
Would you say that all families are dysfunctional in a way?Absolutely! Ambrose Bierce (Devil’s Dictionary) defined a family as, “a random group of characters who one would otherwise encounter only in a prison break or a train wreck.” So, to idealize the situation, it’s up to us to go out there and build a family in our own image and likeness—and that becomes your true family (though it may include a couple from the bloodline).
Would you say this book is a journey for yourself on self-reflection?Yes indeed, in every way. That’s why it took so long to write it because it’s all about getting my story straight and recognizing that the happiest life is the one whose self-narration is the strongest and most heroic.
If you could go back, what is one thing you would have liked to have more time to pursue?For sure, I would have liked to study music, play the piano, and learned to dance properly! I’m proud that I’ve composed a half dozen songs (lyrics) some of which appear in my movies and could have led a happy life just writing songs.
For many people, family dynamics is a major part of their day-to-day life, society’s expectations etc. In a nutshell, it’s a serious issue. What made you decide to portray it in a comedic, philosophical sense?It’s only serious if you’re not an optimist with a sense of humor.
How long have you been working on this book? Is it something you just sat down and decided to write or is it something compiled over time?I started it fifteen years ago and have been fiddling with it ever since. It was stop-and-go because I had constantly to wrestle with point of view—from what perspective to tell my story? And, of course, what to include, what not. At one point the draft was 900 pages before I decided it MUST be cut into several books. I’m hoping to publish Vol. 2 by the end of 2022.
What do you hope readers gain from reading this book?I hope they enjoy it, learn something, and laugh a lot. And I hope they learn to take charge of their own stories and realize that power is life’s greatest gift. If you want a happy ending, you have to shape it.
What is next for Kenneth?Aside from producing movies and series, which is ongoing, I’m gearing up to write a novel about the new age we live in, a post-truth age in which heroism is being redefined and communication tested to the maximum.May 18, 2022
DENNIS PALUMBO on “Writers' Block is GOOD News for a Writer” at the APA Caucus on Medical Humanities in Psychiatry - May 24th
Co-Founders and Co-Chairs: Vincenzo Di Nicola and Andrei Novac
APA Annual Meeting – New Orleans, LA, USA
Grand Ballroom B Tuesday, May 24, 2022 9-11 am EDT
A special inaugural lecture for our founding members by Dennis Palumbo
A psychotherapist and successful writer addresses an occupational hazard – the writer's block
DENNIS PALUMBO, M.A., MFT “Writers' Block is GOOD News for a Writer”
In this short talk, author and licensed psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo addresses some conventional misconceptions about so-called “writers' blocks.” He’ll explore how and why such “blocks” create anxiety, reinforce negative self-concepts and undermine creative potential in a writer. Then he’ll present a new way to frame what a “block” actually is, and how successfully navigating it results in deeper, more personally relevant writing.
DENNIS PALUMBO, M.A., MFT is a writer and licensed psychotherapist in private
practice, specializing in creative issues. Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year; Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.), Dennis Palumbo is a licensed psychotherapist and author. His mystery Fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Strand and elsewhere, and is collected in From Crime to Crime. His series of award-winning mystery thrillers (Mirror Image, Fever Dream, Night Terrors, Phantom Limb, Head Wounds, and the latest, Panic Attack) feature Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police. Recently, Dennis was the technical consultant on the upcoming F/X TV series THE PATIENT, created by the writers of THE AMERICANS. For more info, visit www.dennispalumbo.com
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
May 11, 2022
A.M. Adair Author of the Elle Anderson Thriller Series Interviewed on Heroes Behind Headlines
The First Woman To Operate With the Navy SEALs
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Before 2006, no woman had ever embedded to operate within a SEAL team, nor had a non-SEAL Counter-Intel officer ever been assigned to a platoon. Until A.M. Adair.
Listen to her amazing now.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Before 2006, no woman had ever embedded to operate within a SEAL team, nor had a non-SEAL Counter-Intel officer ever been assigned to a platoon. HBH is honored to welcome the pioneer who broke down both of those barriers at once, Chief Warrant Officer Ama Adair.
Ama discusses the immense challenges she faced and tells the incredible story of an operation where she helped a SEAL Team target and take down not one, but two of the most wanted Al-Qaeda targets in Iraq.
Not only has Ama’s career been filled with firsts, but she also continually demonstrated the highest level of skill as an intelligence officer and interrogator and has the medals to prove it.
May 9, 2022
Author Daniel Moskowitz
Author Daniel Moskowitz in the photo below holding his book Bronx Stagger in an unintentional shameless act of self-promotion.
Moskowitz volunteered to help his former colleagues organize assigned Family Court Attorney's rally for better pay. Sometimes good deeds do go rewarded. His novel takes place in Bronx Family Court, the busiest court in NYC.
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Court-appointed lawyers demand better pay in a protest at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office on Thursday.Credit...Jeenah Moon for The New York TimesLawyers who are known as panel attorneys and who represent children and indigent adults, have been departing the system by the dozens over the past decade, leaving many of the most vulnerable New Yorkers without their constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel. The attorneys say that their ranks are thinning because their salaries have not risen in close to two decades, and they are now fighting in court to change that.
Sex, Drugs, & Rock ‘n Roll are on the docket of Bronx Family Court, the busiest court in NYC. Schwartz the Lawyer fights for justice for families while struggling with personal demons that place his own family Sex, Drugs, & Rock ‘n Roll are on the docket of Bronx Family Court, the busiest court in NYC. Schwartz the Lawyer fights for justice for families while struggling with personal demons that place his own family risk.
Available On Amazon
April 29, 2022
My Obit: Daddy Holding Me by Kenneth Atchity
My Obit: Daddy Holding Me a page-turner filled with poignant family experiences, explosive sibling rivalry, literary adventures, ethnic cooking, wide-ranging storytelling, the workings of the brain itself--and what can be learned about life from playing tennis for decades.
"I’ve lived a lifetime of literary adventures by refusing to be relegated to a niche. In My Obit: Daddy Holding Me, my storytelling passion and family and professional anecdotes provide humor and insight into my hugely self-determined life."
~ Ken Atchity
Advanced Praise for My Obit: Daddy Holding Me:
“Powerful. Honest. Heartwarming. A courageous examination of the secret nooks in the soul that expose to the self who we truly are… and why. Atchity’s memoir is riveting, reflective, and revealing. A MUST read!” – Tracy Price-Thompson, bestselling novelist
“My Obit: Daddy Holding Me by Kenneth Atchity is a compelling autobiography worthy of the analogy of Sisyphus discovering the burdens and pleasures of each push of the rock up the hill of his extraordinary life.” – Norman Stephens, producer, former head of Warner Brothers television.
April 27, 2022
A Screenwriter's Life in the Waiting Room
How long can I wait?
Screenwriters ask me that all the time, becoming impatient and anxious that their script is taking so long to make it to the screen.
My answer surprises them:
Don’t wait at all.
Waiting is a massive waste of time and can lead to depression and/or existential despair, and who knows what else. Write something while you wait. Plant another seed, cultivate it, and train it to grow straight. And while it’s taking its sweet time to bud and then bloom, do something else. Start a new spec script!
Back in my own “waiting room” in the sixties, I reviewed a great book by Barry Stevens: Don’t Push the River, It Flows by Itself. I translated Stevens’ Zen advice to Hollywood where every project has its own clock and will happen when and only when that clock reaches the appointed hour. Other than keeping that project on track the best you can by responding when asked to or when appropriate, there’s nothing much you can do—other than financing it yourself (a serious option, by the way) to speed up that project’s clock. By the nature of things, the project clock is invisible, which means extra frustration for the creator—unless you refuse to wait.
Recently, I, and my dear producing partner Norman Stephens, produced a sweet little Christmas movie called Angels in the Snow. I had only been trying to get that movie produced for twenty years! I sold it to TNN once and came close to a deal at Hallmark another time. My client Steve Alten’s Meg is currently, after twenty-one years, shooting in New Zealand. What was I doing for the last twenty years? Writing twelve scripts and producing other films for television and cinema, managing hundreds of books, writing and publishing ten of my own, playing tennis, traveling, having a wonderful life. Not waiting.
Waiting makes writers neurotic. If I allowed myself to express my neurosis, as many writers have not yet learned not to do, I would drive those involved in making my or my clients’ stories into films crazy—and risk losing their support or return calls. The question I personally hate hearing the most, “What’s going on?” is one I have to force myself to refrain from asking. Your job, when it’s your turn to move your story forward, is to “get the ball out of your court” as efficiently, as well, and as soon as possible. Then, on that particular project, you have to wait for it to be returned to your court. Very few actual events requiring your help occur along the way, leaving a huge gap of dead time in between them, like super novae separated by vast time years of space. But it’s not dead time if you use it for something else creative.
If the glacial pace of the Hollywood creative business fills you with dread, you’re in the wrong business or you’re dealing with it the wrong way. Don’t wait. Do. As the great photographer Ansel Adams put it: “Start doing more. It’ll get rid of all those moods you’re having.”
Writer/producer/literary manager and former professor Ken Atchity’s most recent book for writers is Sell Your Story to Hollywood: Writer’s Pocket Guide to the Business of Show Business (to accompany his online course realfasthollywooddeal.com. This article is adapted from that book.
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April 25, 2022
Readers Are Loving Dr. Dave Davis’ A Potter’s Tale
"Has more twists and turns than a mountain stream."
"This powerful story is artfully crafted and beautifully written."
Get in on the Conversation by Leaving Your Own Amazon Review Today!
A Potter’s Tale Out Now: https://lnkd.in/g8gtJGq4
April 22, 2022
Read all about Born to Talk Radio Show's with Marsha Wietecha's interview with Ken Atchity
AUTHORS, BORN TO TALK RADIO SHOW, ENTERTAINMENT
Ken Atchitywith Marsha Wietecha
My guest on the Born To Talk Radio Show Podcast, on March 7th, from 1-2PT is Ken Atchity.
Ken is the CEO of Story Merchant. He is the author of over 20 books. His latest is My Obit: Daddy Holding Me. It was named the Hollywood Book Festival Award Winner for 2021.
Let’s Meet Ken.To start with, Ken spent his first career as a professor focusing his efforts on understanding stories and helping writers get their stories told. “I believe we can change the world through stories. I believe in making a difference in the lives of others through the power of storytelling.” Ken has served storytellers since 1996 as a literary manager and producer, developing and selling hundreds of stories for film and television. Ken is a self-defined “Story Merchant.” Not only is he an author, but he has also been a professor, producer, career coach, teacher, and literary manager. Ken is responsible for launching dozens of books, films, and brands.
Over his career, Ken has produced over 30 films. Now Ken’s Story Merchant companies provide full-service development, management, production, and brand launch for commercial and literary writers. Atchity Productions brings stories of all kinds to the big and little screens, developing film and tv productions.
Story Merchant.The Story Merchant Companies were formed to serve the needs of storytellers, publishers, and production companies. Each company provides a different service that is supported and supports the other three. If they believe your story has commercial potential but needs work they can use their coaching or editing services. Through The Writers Lifeline or Story Merchant, they can bring it to market standard before pitching to publishers or film companies.
Author.My Obit: Daddy Holding Me.
When asked why he wrote his book, his answer was crystal clear, “Because I didn’t want anyone else to write my obit.” Filled with humorous anecdotes, pictures, and a unique perspective from an immigrant’s child growing up in the south. This memoir offers the reader a dive into childhood trauma and learning to rethink those experiences.
I love his explanation of patience. “I learned that patience is the root of accomplishment. It can be a bitter root unless you turn it sweet. What turns patience sweet is finding something else to do while you’re waiting.”
In Closing.
Accordingly, Ken’s life passion has been finding great storytellers and turning them into bestselling authors and screenwriters. You might find inspiration in writing your own story, we all have them. Some are the same and some are entirely different, but that’s what makes life interesting.
Trust me when I say this, Ken is a very interesting man with a great story!
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