A 30 DAY CHALLENGE DAY 2 WRITING A SURPRISE ENCOUNTER

Yesterday, I wrote of how I had always desired to be a writer, but lacked self confidence and skills to sell my work.  

Well it is strange how the universe acts at time.  Today I went to the Central Library here in Aurora and was in the usual process of looking for work online, when an announcement came over the P.A. system.

The announcement was an invitation to come to the main exebition room and meet nearly 40 plus local authors and see their latest works.

Well I decided I would go, after I finished my job hunt.  I intended to spend maybe thirty minutes all together, I didn't think there would be that many authors, nor did I expect them to be so open about the process they went through to get published.

I was wrong they were more than willing to discuss their process of how they got published, and what they have to do to get their books sold.

Many said that they had gone the self publishing route, one actually had to set up their own in home printing system and  then a company would handle the distribution to stores and ebay.  

For many they do both e-publications as well as the more traditional physical publications.

But what was extra special for me, was that I had the opportunity to meet two writers I admired for many years.

The first was a former reporter for the Rocky Mountain NEWS, he wrote both entertainment and sports commentary and in the 1980's he had a Sunday night talk show on KPPL, called Talk of the Town, the legendary Walter Dusty Saunders.

Dusty, and I had crossed paths a few times in the past, for I had won a few of his trivia challenges, and he was on occasion at the event.

And ironically Dusty Saunders is the only surviving personality of people from the 1980s' I had met.  Alan Berg, a talk show host on KHOW, radio was killed in 1984.  Early in 1984 at the White Spot on East Colfax Ave and Colorado Blvd.  I met both Allan Berg and Ken Hamblin, another Denver area talk show host of the time.

Allan Berg of KHOW Radio

Ken Hamblin of KHOW Radio

The other local personality was Gene Amole, a radio performer who hosted the morning show on KVOD, Denver's classical music station.

Every Friday, Gene Amole would close his morning show on KVOD with the Friday Morning Waltz, he would create vivid story telling of a fairy tale castle, where every Friday Princes, Princesses and others would come together and dance to Motzart, or Chopin.  The waltz would always begin with the arrival of a person via a carriage and end with the waltz in full swing.

The other writer who I have admired since 1999, was Bob Scott,  Bob Scott wrote a book that set the world on edge.  BLOOD AT SANDCREEK, debunked the hundred year old myth of the massacre that alegidly took place in 1863.  Bob Scotts' book revealed that there was political collusion that was behind the lie of what happened at Sand Creek, even though the President, Abraham Lincoln knew that there was no massacre he supported the lie to avoid a second front with the Native Americans in support of the Confederacy in the West.

Scott was as amazing to talk to, and has since published several other books on Colorado history that are as indepth and explosive in some ways as BLOOD AT SAND CREEK.

So, after two hours, I left re-energized to get back into writing and look at new possibilities.

Who knows what will happen next.
   

A 30 DAY CHALLENGE. DAY ONE Don't give up...

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that the last thing I do is participate in month long challenges.  I am of the opinion that I write when I want, about what I want and not because I have to.

For me writing is something I do, because I enjoy it.  However once upon a time, in a city far far away I thought I was going to be the next George Lucas, or Stephen King or Edward Allan Poe.

When I was 17 I really got the bug, I saw STAR WARS, and had read the article in TIME magazine about how a twenty something, unknown filmmaker named George Lucas had managed to write and produce the most successful film of all time, the original STAR WARS.

I had all kinds of ideas and I began to write my own version of STAR WARS, fairly complex for a seventeen year old, I even created my own models of of the starships and star fighters for the film.  

But I never took that most important step, selling the script.  I knew that this would be epic, but I just didn't know how to sell a script and worse still have the self confidence to sell it.

When I was 17 I was living at home, like most teen-agers, but I just had no desire to leave the safety of my home, belief that I could survive if I did, or knowledge of how to survive and sell my dream.

So my epic collected dust and got lost over time.

But I tried again in 1984.  I had always loved the original STAR TREK, and felt it could have been so much more, so I began my own version.... "A Bold New Frontier"  an epic space opera featuring Hahn Wilhelm Ryker, a 23 year old who ends up as the commander of the United Worlds Exploration and Colonization Ship Endeavor, after her captain dies while leading a landing team.  

What made "...Frontier" different from any science fiction series of the day, was it looked at the religions of the cultures it explored as well as the politics and sex.  I was 24 at this point and exploring world religions, while studying to become Catholic.

I had mapped out nearly 20 episodes, since back then the average run was 26 episodes, I had put together a outline for the series, based on the outline for the original STAR TREK, if you are going to borrow, borrow from the best.

Then again I stopped dead in my tracks, and again I had even come up with designs for costumes, props, sets and models of all the starships in the series.  I had ideas for casting.  Shirley MacLaine was a consideration for a lead character, some one who was both a novitiate nun and legal officer for one of the star ships.

But again I failed to act.  Little did I know that in 1993 a Television series would co me out, that had many aspects of "...Frontier" and that series would run for 5 years.  What was the series?  BABYLON 5.

While  J. Michael Straczynski made some major changes, in his format, two elements he kept in place, was the fact that religion was explored in many episode of the series and the characters were very flawed and human.

So I missed another opportunity.

Even today, I do not trust myself enough to present my works beyond creating the work, or posting it on line.

Will I get beyond this?  I would hope so.

My advice to anyone who thinks you are a writer, don't make my mistake.  Present your work to a publisher, producer or agent.  The worst that will happen is you get a rejection notice.  The best, you may be the next George Lucas, Stephen King or Edgar Allan Poe.

Don't give up before you try.