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Just click a question and it will take you there.Where do I get my ideas?I often think about how life throws tests in our path and how we react to them reveals our true selves. And then what happens when we learn that truth? Is your life more open, more honest? Or is the truth of who we are, or have become, too painful to accept? I know a lot of my stories revolve around those very questions. In my home page, I explained how the CRY OF THE DOVE adaptation came about. But even though the true story contains plenty of drama, it still needed some embellishment including a villain that was directly in conflict with my characters, Louise and David, putting them in harms way, and how their love for each other and their faith drove their decisions. David, the author of the book told me of a childhood friend who was Moslem and Majeed came to be. In the case of SHADOW SEEKER, I wondered, what if your whole life was built upon a deception? Thus my characters Jennifer and Mark were born. I then read countless news articles of children who are never told about their parentage, either from adoption, or out of wedlock and the possibilities for the story's direction were endless, but it quickly began to narrow to the sad fact that Jennifer was a pawn and her life was destroyed. Mark, too, was a pawn, but found the strength to embrace and accept his heritage--on his terms. For STONE OF HEAVEN, I'd read a small article in the newspaper about the rediscovery in Guatemala of a vast deposit of blue jade, as well as a blue jade road, being uncovered by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Imagine all the possibilities with that bit of real information! I studied various versions of the Popol Vuh (the sacred book of the ancient Quiché Maya.) While I took liberties with the actual Maya myth of Itzamna Ahu, there are other culture's myths that are believed today, such as jade being a lazy stone and twins possessing powers that mere siblings don't. THE CHRISTMAS LEGACY came about because Audra Harders (see links page) needed a concept for a novella. I suggested a Scrooge-like story set in the Old West, complete with children, (alas no ghosts.) However this Scrooge was female. Well, Audra noodled with it for awhile and decided novellas weren't her cup of tea. I asked her if I could run with the idea and she graciously gave it back. My Scrooge eventually left the old west and became a conglomeration of all the high profile business women of our time, BUT Ella is distinctly her own person. IOKASTE came about when I was writing freestyle using the prompt "something at the end of your street." Well, I'd wanted to write a Disneyesque story for a long time and space has always intrigued me. My heroine and hero are uber smart siblings who don't fit in and want to be someone other than what they were born to be. Emotions we've all experienced at some point in our lives. RETIREMENT IS HELL is about how we waste human potential because of arbitrary age discrimination. As I studied how we as a society treat age, it became painfully obvious how often we ignore the fount of wisdom our silver generation can offer. I think it's because our instant gratification lifestyle just won't take the time. What's the difference between scripts and novels?Wow, that's a biggie and I wish I had time to give you a complete answer! I actually have a lecture on that very subject that I've given to online classes and writer's groups. But my short answer is twofold; page count and words. You have approximately 120 pages in a script to tell a complete story vs. 250+ for a novel. Secondly, there is NO INTERNAL NARRATIVE as there is in a book, so you know the character's thoughts by how he behaves--a physical proxy--the subtext of the dialogue, his actions or perhaps his inaction. And some people believe dialogue is the last element you add to a script. So, whereas a lot of readers read novels for the sparkling, tense, vibrant dialogue, you watch a movie to see what's happening. As I said, there's so much more, but I hope I've given you a bit of the differences. How much time do you spend writing?I'm a great believer in meeting deadlines. I've just written an article about that very subject if you want to click on the line. I try to write consistently 6-7 hours the days I'm working outside my office. There are some days the time flies and I can't believe it's time for the evening news and I accomplished so much. Other days the words and ideas seem to be stuck in tar and the day is long and tedious. Thank goodness most days are a middle ground of those extremes, though I'd love to be in first category more often!
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This site was last updated 02/03/08