So I was hired by an author to offer ghostwriting and story structure services, and at 11years old she is my youngest client so far. When she 1st started talking about the idea my very 1st thought was no.
Hold on…let me explain.
The lifestyle I enjoy does not present opportunities for me to interact with children on a consistent basis. The 1st half of my adult life was spent employed and jet setting as a sailor and I cuss like one. Because of me one of her very 1st sentences was “fucking blanket.” And trust me when I tell you this, her father was not at all pleased. Let’s not forget, as all of you are well aware, the fact I am entertained by the unsettling and the macabre and that’s the way I express my self creatively. So that’s why I was thinking that maybe I wasn’t the right person for her.
But as I listened to her plot line I realized three things that changed my mind. First off I can not tell you how incredibly awesome it feels to have someone completely trust you enough to completely hand over their work, and that fact alone changed my mind.
The 2nd thing is if I can pull this off, and by that I mean, taking her ideas and writing a story that is age appropriate in content, language, and dialog and making this story exactly how she images it, that was catapult my skills as a writer.
And the 3rd is developing better people skills. The clients who hire me thru Seattle Crystal Concierge don’t really care how I get the things they want done, as long as I get them done. So basically I’m working the way that I want and doing the things that best for me. When I hire someone to do a job for me whether it be an employee, intern, outside vendor or contractor I expect for things I want done to be done without question, and when it comes to my writing you can times that expectation by infinity. So with this new client I now have to wear that shoe on the other foot.
Because there is no way on God’s green earth that I will be able to speak to her the way I’ve been known to speak to adults without having her mother put a gun to my head and pulling the trigger, I’m kind of looking forward to this project.
I need to be able to interact with children, understand them at their level, and be aware of their presence so that my friends don’t cringe every time I start talking. I need to be able to knock it down a notch and write a creepy little story that the whole family can enjoy, I mean for the love of God, The Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson is rated PG-13. The more I think about it the more and more I’m glad that I said yes!
She has given me permission to post her both her story and what I’ve added to it on my blog, and hopefully she’ll post it on hers as well. With out further a due let me present to you the 1st section of Molly V's: The Girl in the Cloak
Molly's Raw Talent:
“I was a happy little girl...”Rain started to say. “I was lost in a forest fire and my parents did not send a rescue search party for me”She looked up at the night sky.then she closed her eyes.”then when they found me,the put me with new parents,witch made me stressed.then when i was 17,i left.”She paused and then continued to speak."but when I had my real dad, he gave me a black cloak and magic buttons.I thought he was joking...”she opened her eyes and stared down at the cloaks button."my new mom said to through it away,but I said a plain “No”.she started to yell at me.”She sighed.”then one night I left with my white t-shirt,torn jeans,converse and my cloak.then thats when I turned evil.”she opened her mouth and felt her sharp fang.
Molly's Cloak with my devilish details:
Rain was walking through the dark quiet forest; she took long deep breaths to draw in the fresh air of the night.
Rain had been a happy girl and she smiled to herself when her fingers ran across one of the buttons on the cloak her father had given her. When he gave her black cloak he mischievously told her that the buttons were magic and then they both started laughing because Rain mistakenly thought her dad was joking.
A tear left her eye as she looked up at the night sky and then closed her eyes. When Rain had been a young girl she and her family were camping in this forest. They had pitched their tent and gone to bed. But it wasn’t the sun that woke them up, it was the noise of stampeding animals. When they opened the tent to see what was going on they saw deer, a huge black bear and four mountain lions all running together.
Rain thought that it was very scary for animals running next to the ones that they would normally hunt, when she turned to see why all the animals were running together and her answer came before she could ask it. The forest was on fire.
In the fear and confusion for survival Rain and her parent got separated. When she was running for her life Rain tripped and fell into a deep muddy ditch. She hit her head and passed out. Because everything around the trench Rain had fallen into was wet, it saved her from the fire.
Rain was awakened by the panic shouts in her ear and light slaps on her face of a firefighter, and it wasn’t until she was in the hospital that she learned her parents had perished. Rain enjoyed walking alone in the woods because it gave her time to think but really it was because this was the last place that she had been with her family.
Rain’s extraordinary beauty was a gift from her parent, but since their death it had become Rain’s curse. Her foster mother was so mean to her that Rain was willing to bet that Cinderella lived a better life. Her foster mother was always telling Rain how ugly she was, fed her the smallest meals, and forced her to sit at the table and watch her real children eat large meals and delicious looking deserts that made her mouth water and her stomach growl.
One night of her 17th birthday her little foster brother opened the closet door to where Rain was force to sleep. He looked very sad and scared at the same time. Tucked secretly away in his pajama bottoms was a half eaten fried chicken breast and a piece of smushed chocolate cake. Way more food than she had been given for dinner.
Both children started to cry and through her tears Rain ate the chicken so fast she almost chocked. Rain had only taken two bites of the sweet cake when the wicked evil witch queen snatched open the door. She was so mad that she slapped her real son in the face really hard two times in a row. Then she grabbed Rain by the hair and dragged her down the stairs and threw her outside into the rainy night. Rain was only wearing a torn pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She ran across the back yard and got inside the doghouse to keep dry.
One of the girls threw Rain’s black high-top Converse out of her bedroom window down to her, when she left the cover of the horrible smelling doghouse to get the shoes the next thing the girl had thrown out of the window made Rain stand still, barefoot and breathless in the freezing rain. It was her black cloak.
From the very beginning the wicked evil witch queen had tried to steel and destroy Rain’s cloak, and Rain had not seen it for years, so to see it floating down to the ground like snow from heaven meant that one of the girls had hidden it away and kept it safe. This made Rain both very grateful and very sad at the same time.
She retrieved her shoes and cloak and put them on, she turned to look into the bedroom window and knew all three of her foster sisters and brother was watching her from the dark. She kissed her hand and threw the kiss towards the window, repeated the act with her other hand, then she put her hands flat together like she was praying and took a bow of thanks.
She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head and turned and walked away. Her foster siblings knew that they would never see Rain again and as she walked through the gate to promised safety she could hear them cry.
As Rain walked away from her little private Hell on earth she smiled revealing for the 1st time since her parents death her long sharp fangs, and that was the night Rain decided to use her father’s gift of magic for evil.
***
She loves it so far and approved of almost everything, I have to remove the word Hell. Doh! You can take the girl out of the sea...
Please check back every Monday as the approved sections will be update and posted =D
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
At all cost stay true to yourself, and your vision
So we’re back on track with The Darkness. One of the 1st things that was said to me at the very beginning of this process was how writing the story is the easy part, now the hard part begins. I cannot tell you how painfully true that is.
Once your story begins the transformation from story to book you have a ton of other crafts involved to make that book come true which means there are a lot of other creative forces involved.
The last two months has been extremely stressful because someone else’s vision started to creep through and it's a very different vision than mine. Though I have been writing for years this is 1st book and I am very excited and humbled to be here and I was not prepared for this process.
So when suggestions and ideas were made that I wasn’t 100 and 10% supportive of, I tried to be accommodating. Before I knew it these other creative forces started to eclipse mine and I was losing the control over what I wanted The Darkness to look and read like. This person has been in the industry for decades and was only offering different points of views and visions. However knowing that did not prevent it from feeling like a hostile takeover.
Because I was so afraid of hurting someone’s feelings I did not say anything and I was miserable, I was bitching to my friends, my sister lost patience with me and basically told me to stop calling her to whine and deal with it and I had a headache for almost a week straight.
Everyone knows that I’m Stephen King’s # 1 fan, and that my admiration for Dean Koontz boarders on stalker status and because the late Octavia E. Butler lived in the same state as I do…well those records have been sealed. There are books written by them that I’ve read and didn’t like, and a few I didn’t finish and there is no way in hell that I can read more than about 6 pages of Clive Barker’s work. But do you think they give a rats ass about what I think, I mean who the hell I am?
My point is no matter what you need to fight for your voice and your story once you get to this process because if you don’t you’ll release a book you’re less than happy with. The author’s mentioned above took and still receive tons of criticism and bad reviews…but they wrote stories that are true to their vision and idea’s, and where are they now? Living in gated communities protected from stalker fans like me.
I spent almost six days trying to find a way to explain to the powers that be that our creative visions are different and don’t fit well together because I wanted to be careful. I didn’t want to express my concerns the way I did when I was venting to friends or be as frustrated as I was right before when my sister hung up on me.
So after rewriting and rewriting my concerns, explaining how I felt and requesting that my vision...mine, be realized I sent the email.
I tried; I really did do the best that I could not to step on toes or hurt anyone's feelings. I spent six and a half years sailing with the 7th fleet along side some of the meanest men in America and I have learned how to use my words as weapons, so I really did try not to be mean or hurtful so that no one would be upset and that my point was made and heard …but it happened anyway.
My friend told me that “Telling someone you're not 100% happy with their work or with your working relationship is never easy and it’s expected that someone’s feeling will be hurt. You just say what you have to say to get your story written and published the way you envision it and everyone will be Happy in the end.”
It was extremely hard to send that email, I’m not happy that I made someone feel bad, but it needed to happen so that I could stay true to family, my friends, myself and to The Darkness, so I had to step up to the plate and say something and as my fellow writer or artist I hope you do too and because that’s my wish for you, in closing I would like to quote my friend once more because it just doesn’t apply to me.
It's YOUR Story. You’re a GREAT Writer. Have Faith in that.
Once your story begins the transformation from story to book you have a ton of other crafts involved to make that book come true which means there are a lot of other creative forces involved.
The last two months has been extremely stressful because someone else’s vision started to creep through and it's a very different vision than mine. Though I have been writing for years this is 1st book and I am very excited and humbled to be here and I was not prepared for this process.
So when suggestions and ideas were made that I wasn’t 100 and 10% supportive of, I tried to be accommodating. Before I knew it these other creative forces started to eclipse mine and I was losing the control over what I wanted The Darkness to look and read like. This person has been in the industry for decades and was only offering different points of views and visions. However knowing that did not prevent it from feeling like a hostile takeover.
Because I was so afraid of hurting someone’s feelings I did not say anything and I was miserable, I was bitching to my friends, my sister lost patience with me and basically told me to stop calling her to whine and deal with it and I had a headache for almost a week straight.
Everyone knows that I’m Stephen King’s # 1 fan, and that my admiration for Dean Koontz boarders on stalker status and because the late Octavia E. Butler lived in the same state as I do…well those records have been sealed. There are books written by them that I’ve read and didn’t like, and a few I didn’t finish and there is no way in hell that I can read more than about 6 pages of Clive Barker’s work. But do you think they give a rats ass about what I think, I mean who the hell I am?
My point is no matter what you need to fight for your voice and your story once you get to this process because if you don’t you’ll release a book you’re less than happy with. The author’s mentioned above took and still receive tons of criticism and bad reviews…but they wrote stories that are true to their vision and idea’s, and where are they now? Living in gated communities protected from stalker fans like me.
I spent almost six days trying to find a way to explain to the powers that be that our creative visions are different and don’t fit well together because I wanted to be careful. I didn’t want to express my concerns the way I did when I was venting to friends or be as frustrated as I was right before when my sister hung up on me.
So after rewriting and rewriting my concerns, explaining how I felt and requesting that my vision...mine, be realized I sent the email.
I tried; I really did do the best that I could not to step on toes or hurt anyone's feelings. I spent six and a half years sailing with the 7th fleet along side some of the meanest men in America and I have learned how to use my words as weapons, so I really did try not to be mean or hurtful so that no one would be upset and that my point was made and heard …but it happened anyway.
My friend told me that “Telling someone you're not 100% happy with their work or with your working relationship is never easy and it’s expected that someone’s feeling will be hurt. You just say what you have to say to get your story written and published the way you envision it and everyone will be Happy in the end.”
It was extremely hard to send that email, I’m not happy that I made someone feel bad, but it needed to happen so that I could stay true to family, my friends, myself and to The Darkness, so I had to step up to the plate and say something and as my fellow writer or artist I hope you do too and because that’s my wish for you, in closing I would like to quote my friend once more because it just doesn’t apply to me.
It's YOUR Story. You’re a GREAT Writer. Have Faith in that.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Moive Night with Crystal
Hellooo Peoples!
So last night I hosted my 1st movie night with friends there were so many men in my house I thought I had died and gone to Heaven...or maybe found a secret section of Hell reserved for only for the people who are really good when there being really bad =D I'm not sure what happened to all my double X chromosome friends who RSVP'd and didn't show up but for those who did...you rock!
We watched Eden Lake which was reviewed last week, and basically, like I said...that movie Rocks! Smoking hot Sami Chohfi, lead singer for the Blue Helix showed up with horror movie buff, Curt MacCormack the bands drummer(who fucking rocks btw)and he didn't even see the ending coming!
With most of my client's summering in Europe, Seattle Crystal Concierge being nearly self sufficient, the reworking of The Darkness, writing the sequel, re-reading and picking my favorite short stories and writing new ones for...And They All Lived Happily Ever After, and of course entering tons of writing contest I can spend days and days happily locked inside my home playing music loud enough to block out the summer sounds of birds signing, children playing, dogs backing and my Psycho Suzie neighbor up staying up for days and days at a time just writing and writing.
But for some reason this horrifies and bewilders the newest members of my circle of friends..my family and friends who know how I am when I'm writing are use to it and pretty much wait for me to emerge from my writing hovel, but these newbies call me constantly show up at my house unannounced to make sure "I'm ok" (grrrrrrr)
So to appease my friends who have the ability to show up at my door anytime they want to I decided to host a movie nite once a month but judging those who were in attendance verse those who were invited I might have to amend my original once a month hang out with friends nite to twice a month.
Because the movies I enjoy are so brutal in nature I think I'll do movie night for the guys and maybe a spa nite for the girls HUGE emphasis on spa nite. I had sooo much fun last night surrounded by too much food, super chill people and watching a movie with such a unhappy ending that I might have to wait awhile for spa nite...if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?
Til next time guys!
So last night I hosted my 1st movie night with friends there were so many men in my house I thought I had died and gone to Heaven...or maybe found a secret section of Hell reserved for only for the people who are really good when there being really bad =D I'm not sure what happened to all my double X chromosome friends who RSVP'd and didn't show up but for those who did...you rock!
We watched Eden Lake which was reviewed last week, and basically, like I said...that movie Rocks! Smoking hot Sami Chohfi, lead singer for the Blue Helix showed up with horror movie buff, Curt MacCormack the bands drummer(who fucking rocks btw)and he didn't even see the ending coming!
With most of my client's summering in Europe, Seattle Crystal Concierge being nearly self sufficient, the reworking of The Darkness, writing the sequel, re-reading and picking my favorite short stories and writing new ones for...And They All Lived Happily Ever After, and of course entering tons of writing contest I can spend days and days happily locked inside my home playing music loud enough to block out the summer sounds of birds signing, children playing, dogs backing and my Psycho Suzie neighbor up staying up for days and days at a time just writing and writing.
But for some reason this horrifies and bewilders the newest members of my circle of friends..my family and friends who know how I am when I'm writing are use to it and pretty much wait for me to emerge from my writing hovel, but these newbies call me constantly show up at my house unannounced to make sure "I'm ok" (grrrrrrr)
So to appease my friends who have the ability to show up at my door anytime they want to I decided to host a movie nite once a month but judging those who were in attendance verse those who were invited I might have to amend my original once a month hang out with friends nite to twice a month.
Because the movies I enjoy are so brutal in nature I think I'll do movie night for the guys and maybe a spa nite for the girls HUGE emphasis on spa nite. I had sooo much fun last night surrounded by too much food, super chill people and watching a movie with such a unhappy ending that I might have to wait awhile for spa nite...if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?
Til next time guys!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
DVD Pick of the week: Eden Lake
Eden Lake
Plotline: When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize the couple in unimaginable ways, and a weekend outing quickly becomes a bloody battle for survival.
Scariness Factor: Is cranked way up! This is got to be one of the disturbing & frightening movies I have recently seen because the monsters in this movie are children and the things they’re doing is unbelievable.
Gross-Out Factor: N/A
Complaints: None
High Points: What I liked the most about Eden Lake is that, not your average run-of-the-mill city slickers lost in the woods movies, is that most of Eden is shot during the day. The breath taking beautify of the wilderness offers a stark contracts to these children’s wild and brutal behavior. Another thing that director James Watkins does really well is point out how much Janie (our leading lady) loves kids and when she has to defend herself from them, even though she doesn’t have a choice, it doesn’t sit well with her. One of the closing lines in Eden Lakes is “but they’re just children.” Which they are and that’s what makes Eden Lake all the more chilling.
Stars: 5 Stars
Where I rented it: Blockbuster
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
My world from the view from the tip of my pen...
So for the most part I have spent every last ounce of my free time, of what has been a gorgeous summer so far, indoors writing...and I really wouldn't have it any other way. I've just finished a new short story for my anthology "...And they all lived Happily Ever After" and am working on another one.
The one I've finished is called "The Monster" and I'm not sure if I like they way it ended so I'm going to read it again next week and see if there is anyway I can make it stronger. The one I am working on is called "Amber's New Friend" and I have having a fucking blast with that one! I am super excited about the shorts that will make up "...And they all."
Things with Artificial Light are coming along really well I'm really having a good time with Artificial and can't wait to see how it turns out. Things are kinda of slow with the reworking of The Darkness but honestly I wish things were moving much faster than they are...oh well there's not too much I can do about it so I'm going to try not to drive myself insane. I'll be posting the DVD pick of the week tomorrow and it's one of the most fucked up movies I've seen to date, so don't forget to check back in for the review.
The one I've finished is called "The Monster" and I'm not sure if I like they way it ended so I'm going to read it again next week and see if there is anyway I can make it stronger. The one I am working on is called "Amber's New Friend" and I have having a fucking blast with that one! I am super excited about the shorts that will make up "...And they all."
Things with Artificial Light are coming along really well I'm really having a good time with Artificial and can't wait to see how it turns out. Things are kinda of slow with the reworking of The Darkness but honestly I wish things were moving much faster than they are...oh well there's not too much I can do about it so I'm going to try not to drive myself insane. I'll be posting the DVD pick of the week tomorrow and it's one of the most fucked up movies I've seen to date, so don't forget to check back in for the review.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
DVD Pick of the Week: House of the Devil
House of the Devil
Winner of the 2009 “Best Feature Film” for the Birmingham Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, winner of the 2009 “Festival Trophy” award for Screamfest and winner of the 2010 “Producers Award” Independent Spirit Award.
Plotline: In the 1980s, college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret; they plan to use her in a satanic ritual.
Scariness Factor: Is off the scale! It’s extremely creepy and suspenseful in the way of John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween, the 1st Friday the 13th on Crystal Lake, and Fred Walton’s 1979 When a Stranger Calls! There are some really good “jump” scares and if you’re like me, you’ll be screaming warnings to the babysitter not to go in that damn attic!
Gross-Out Factor: There is only one part in House of the Devil that is kinda gross, it’s towards the end of the movie during the ritual.
Complaints: N/A
High Points: The House of the Devil was filmed in 2009, but watching it you’ll swear it’s an 80’s horror film. To help with the illusion of time travel there are a couple of actor’s that starred in older horror films that we all grew up watching and loved.
Overall: There is a reason why House of the Devil is an award winner, this is a scary film with a well thought out plot and the fact that the film makers takes us back in time a full decade, with feathered hair, high waste jeans, smoking inside restaurants and a tape player walk-man to do so is flawless.
Stars: 5 Stars!
Where I rented it: Blockbuster
Monday, July 12, 2010
The reason I hate the summer!
So I get up this morning super excited because I'm going to spend my 2nd day at a street fair because I had soooo much fun the day before. I open my front door to find I've been trapped inside by a huge spider wed and a giant spider! I slammed the door and resisting the urge to Dial 911 I started flipping thru my phone to see who can rescue me. I end up running to my bedroom window and start screaming for help. My self proclaimed "red-neck" neighbor jumps over my fence shotgun in hand and runs to the window to see who he can shoot.
Thru my hysterical tears I tell him about the spider that's trying to break in to my house and kill me...and to his credit he kills the spider opens the door and pours me a glass of water and says, "Yeah he was pretty big but I kilt it so your ok now." And he kept patting on the back and telling me I was ok now "cuz its dead." And he didn't even laugh at me.
He stays with me until I leave the house and even walked me to my car and tells me if I need anything he's just next door, I don't even want to know what my other neighbors thought at the site of the two of us. So I spend the day outside, eating too much junk and spending too much money and made it home without incident.
About an hour ago I get out of the shower and on the wall above my couch is another spider bigger than before. So I throw on a coat over my towel and run my naked ass next door, He gives me a tee shirt big enough to cover everything and comes over to my house to take care of the other spider...who by this time moved from the spot on the wall, so he had to look for it and thank God he found it and destroyed it. He shrugged his shoulders and offered..."well everyone is afraid of something." As I started to cry. He said "You know where to find me" as he left and said he would be back tomorrow to spray around my house for bugs.
Thank God because its the bugs that I hate most about summer.
Thru my hysterical tears I tell him about the spider that's trying to break in to my house and kill me...and to his credit he kills the spider opens the door and pours me a glass of water and says, "Yeah he was pretty big but I kilt it so your ok now." And he kept patting on the back and telling me I was ok now "cuz its dead." And he didn't even laugh at me.
He stays with me until I leave the house and even walked me to my car and tells me if I need anything he's just next door, I don't even want to know what my other neighbors thought at the site of the two of us. So I spend the day outside, eating too much junk and spending too much money and made it home without incident.
About an hour ago I get out of the shower and on the wall above my couch is another spider bigger than before. So I throw on a coat over my towel and run my naked ass next door, He gives me a tee shirt big enough to cover everything and comes over to my house to take care of the other spider...who by this time moved from the spot on the wall, so he had to look for it and thank God he found it and destroyed it. He shrugged his shoulders and offered..."well everyone is afraid of something." As I started to cry. He said "You know where to find me" as he left and said he would be back tomorrow to spray around my house for bugs.
Thank God because its the bugs that I hate most about summer.
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