I do not hail from a family of wise women.
My great-grandmother Maria Steenebeken had 14 children and on her way to America, she accidentally left two behind. I guess this was before they invented the head count and it must've been a lot like a field trip gone awry; the bus stops to gas up at a...
There was a time when I thought being depressed was good for my writing. I believed having a morbid take on the world gave me gravitas, but I’d begun to wonder if staring at the night sky while smoking three cigarettes at the same time was not me living my best life.
My therapist...
Why self-promotional stuff feels dirty and not in a good way
We held the first "Pitch Like a Pro: How Screenwriters Sell to Hollywood" master class recently and, friends, we doubled capacity making my heart swell with pride and/or cardiomegaly.
One of the topics we covered was how to craft...
One argument to go off-line is so you can be a living, breathing human being once more.
It was nothing personal, my tumbling off the internet to tend to real life. Come to find out, real life is consuming and wonderful and filled with what I’ve come to call “galloping...
A throwback to Aug. 2020 during the COVID-19 quarantine
When in the grip of a global pandemic, you may find crafting to be a delightful way to pass the time. Today or tomorrow or whenever, who cares, you can create this DIY classic, “Lemon with Googly Eyes,” by following these simple...
As a screenwriter, I often think in terms of story structure; beginning, middle and end. More specifically, Act One, Act Two and Act Three.
Having had a landmark birthday this year got me to thinking. Am I living a story well-told? If my life is a movie, what do I want Act Three to look...
The Art and Commentary of Sculptor Carl Hopgood
Out of the five artists exhibiting at UTA Artist Space in a show called Fragile World, it is British artist and Soho House member Carl Hopgood who delivers sharp social commentary with wit. This, in the aftermath of a global pandemic. His fifteen...
There is something magical about Julia Cameron. She is the godmother of creativity, a force of nature in her 70s who urges us to write our morning pages.
You might know her as the author of “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.” She was hailed by the New...
Austin is my hometown. My first job was pouring pitchers of beer at the Broken Spoke dance hall, home to Willie and Waylon and the boys. I was 13. Was this legal? Not by a long shot but the owners, James and Netta White, were awesome. In lieu of paying me a salary, they let me pull the...
