landed in the TOP 3 at the 12th Annual Story Pros Awards for Screenwriting in the Family Category.   What does this mean?   The biggest prize is the encouragement this gives me.  Writing is hard.  There are no short cuts.  And there is far more rejection along the way than pats on the back.  The […]

So yours truly just found out that his screenplay is a finalist in the Story Pros Screenplay Contest.   Last month I found out I was a quarter-finalist…then last week a semi-finalist.  I tried to temper my hopes as I kept advancing.   I’ve been here before.  And then just a few days ago, THE […]

MELODY (a 4 year old girl who stutters, hates school) I don’t f-f-fit in.   LUCY (her tough-minded mother) Your teacher called you extraordinary.   MELODY They stare.   LUCY Let them stare.  You’re worth looking at.   This exchange above is from my latest screenplay about a young, brilliant girl who is off-the-charts gifted […]

My brother Bob took all the photos you see in this post.   A big thanks to him!  I created a blog around the photos he took.  Check out some of  his awesome work on his website Quietlife Photograhpy.  As we enter the spring/summer, I thought this would be a good time to chop off my […]

The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite films.  From a writing point of view, it inspires and makes me want to sit down and write the next great script.  Within every person, greatness exits.  But to achieve that greatness, persistence, hard work, patience, rejection, a little luck and a lot of hope all play […]

Disappointment is hard.  Sometimes you can work so hard and be filled with so much hope and good-will, and then it can come crashing down and you feel depleted.   But a word of encouragement about disappointment.  If things come to you a little bit too easy, embrace these gifts gently, certainly appreciate them, but know […]

Speranza is the Italian word for hope.  The photo below is what hope looks like.  A woman who has been through a great deal of pain, loss and suffering throughout her 80 years, but manages to still smile.  It is a sheer miracle she made it to her 8oth birthday.  Recently, my family celebrated my […]

Family.  This is mine.  We can get caught up in the future and planning ahead.   And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of recognizing the present because really, in the end, that’s all we have.  Our family shared this moment at Christmas.  It’s not easy to get this […]