Zen Monday #255

photo by John Sandel

Pop one open. Let's start the week off right.

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Starting Thursday, 8/15 through Monday, August 19, I'll be part of the "Wonder of Rome" blog hop, featuring writers of historical fiction who know all kinds of cool Roman history. If you can't figure out how Camelot & Vine fits into the Roman theme, or even if you can, come visit my writer blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy.

Screenwriters! Last year's ScriptKitchen was a success, and they're starting up again this fall. Do you want to learn how to make your idea into a finished script? Ask me about it or write to scriptkitchen@gmail.com. You can also like their facebook page and follow them on Twitter @ScriptKitchen.

The Idea Bowl

At the Charles Lummis Home

I've still got a few more things to do to get Camelot & Vine published in all formats, but most of the work is done.

It feels odd to be finished with something I've been working on for so long. With John teaching at the Script Kitchen and working on a couple of film projects, neither of us has had much free time in longer than we care to admit.

So when we take a day off, we don't know what to do with ourselves. Art Museum? (Not in the mood.) Hike? (We always hike, let's do something unusual.) Shopping? (As soon as the book makes enough money!)

There are a million things to do around here, but when the occasion arises, it's hard to think of the right one. So when one of us has an idea ("You'd like the Lummis Home," or "That exhibit at the Huntington sounds interesting"), we write it on a little piece of paper and put it in a bowl. The bowl, made of green glass, sits atop the built-in shelf in the living room.

The bowl is filling up. Soon there will be a day when we're both free. If we can't think of what to do, we'll pull a piece of paper from the bowl.

I don't know if this is going to work, but it's worth a try.

Script Kitchen

UPDATE: 

John and Tara report strong response to Script Kitchen, so they'll open a Sunday class soon. Date and time TBA. Questions? Want in? scriptkitchen@gmail.com

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Tara Samuel and my husband John Sandel finalized plans yesterday for the screenwriting class the two of them will begin teaching in--wow--just over a week. We're pretty excited around here.

Script Kitchen will include 7 students in 6 weekly classes, "focusing on story structure and how the hero determines the tale." John and Tara believe we all know deep down how a good story is supposed to work. (You know when a story doesn't work, don't you?) In their class you'll find out how much you know and how to apply it to creating a screenplay, full length or short.

I'm sorry they're not teaching novel writing. Next time, maybe? I learned everything I needed to know about story structure from John.

There are still a couple of openings. Here's the info:

In the picture, Tara is not taking dictation. I gave her the notepad as a prop because all she had was that little ole' apple and John had a whole bowl of chili. We offered Tara some chili. Really we did.