"I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I write and I understand." – Chinese Proverb
“A wise man hears one word and understands two.” -- Yiddish Proverb
“Build it and they will come.” – Hollywood Proverb
“Your proverb here.” – (I’m renting out space to subsidize my upcoming trip to Las Vegas.)
Welcome back, readers! Today’s theme is: "Absence makes the heart grow
fonder" or maybe it’s “Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Assonance? Absinthe? Ambience? Ambien? Tell me if I’m getting close.
After all, many of you are poets and know about matters of the heart.
To vote for absence making the heart grow fonder, text 2468 to message
1357 on your cell phone. To vote for abstinence, text 2469 to message
1358, and so on. Each vote costs $5, with all proceeds going directly
to the Las Vegas Fund & Gambling Museum.
I’ve had an interesting few weeks, career-wise. A literary review has
agreed to publish my article, an agent is giving me a second chance and
a producer is reading my screenplays.
Let’s recap. My article called, “Genetically Mapped” will be published
by The Lehigh Valley Literary Review. (I’ll also lead a writing
workshop in the Lehigh Valley, which is a bit removed from the big city
but so what?) If you’re wondering how much I will make from this modest
bit of exposure … I think I’ve told you this before -- man, you are in
the wrong place. It’s a writing credit and a small success such as this
should be savored. If you insist on inquiring about financial details
of a creative process (even the salesmanship is creative) then you are
certainly going to annoy artistic people.
How do I know I’m a sensitive artist-type? Because I cried recently at
a high school performance of “The Music Man.” You know the song that
got me? It was, “Till there was you.” It broke me to pieces. A few
songs earlier, I had gotten goose-bumps while listening to “Trouble,
right here in River City.” So, if you’re reading this because you think
I can “self-help” you to instant fame and fortune, you really are in
trouble with a capital “T” and that rhymes with “B” and that means
you’re reading the wrong Blog. Try a website called
“Winningatallcosts.com.” Those people (located in Hollywood, CA,
naturally) will probably have what you’re looking for. In this blog, I
try to inspire and guide. You come here for goose-bumps and kinship. (I
feel a case of both coming on right now.) Fame and fortune are
overrated anyway, or so I’m told.
Here is a follow up to three items I mentioned in my “hiatus” blog: the
agent in Pittsburgh, the producer in NYC and the writers’ group
smack-dab in the middle of nowhere.
BTW, smack means to slap; dab means to apply. So together the words
“smack-dab” are akin to tossing a glob of ketchup on a burger and
rubbing it in good. Or like throwing some mustard on the map of
Monrovia and circling the spot. It’s a way of double-marking your
territory. Spit on the ground, grind in the dirt. “Smack-dab.” I doubt
you’ll find that definition at dictionary.com.
The agent did not want to represent my screenplay called, “Summer At
Saratoga.” She wrote, “I think the concept is workable but something
needs to be added.” Goodbye and good luck usually follows a line like
that. Not this time.
Considering the fact that she’s an agent, that’s a very nice note. But
wait! She gets nicer. She also writes, in reference to my project list,
“I see that you have some other work so you may want to send me some of
your other projects. Just because this one didn’t hold my interest that
isn’t to say another one might fair totally differently.”
Halleluiah! She’s giving me the benefit of the doubt and an open door.
(I can’t believe she’s an agent.) What’s next – a back rub? Anyway, I
thanked her for the opportunity and sent my screenplay based on my
nationally distributed comic book, “Superfan 2020,” along with a stage
play, a children’s book and a few movie treatments. Normally, I would
not submit so many projects (as to not overwhelm the reader) but she
had clearly asked to read “other projects.” So I’m waiting here, in my
river city, hoping she signs me for her team. If and when she does send
a contract, do you know what I’ll do before I read it? I’ll sign it!
Most contracts between writers and agents favor agents. I’ve been on
both sides of this particular contract, so I’m in the loop. Trust me,
an unknown writer usually gets a raw deal from a known agent. But
nothing can happen unless you sign the darn thing, so I recommend you
sign it, unless it’s so horrible that you can’t live with it and the
simple thought of signing it makes you hate yourself. Joan Jett’s
original lyric wasn’t, “I hate myself for loving you.” It was, “I hate
myself for signing you.” But if she hadn’t signed with an agent, nobody
would’ve ever heard of her or any of the Blackhearts.
Meanwhile, I’m hoping that the NYC producer wants to work with me,
based on the scripts I sent last month. She had written, “Sounds like
you have a bunch of irons in the fire! I would love to read some of
your work. Send me what you believe to be your strongest script.”
I sent three projects and pushed for a possible meeting in NYC, which
is only 90 minutes from my apartment. This woman is a lawyer, looking
to make a transition into the film industry in development and
production … who is actively seeking screenplays. The person who
introduced me to the producer told me, “I will be expecting my cut when
one of your projects makes you a millionaire, and I know you won't
forget me.”
It’s always nice when people say, “Don’t forget me when you get rich
and famous.” (A lot of people have told me that but I forget who they
are.) Seriously, when I say I won’t forget them, even if I get rich and
famous in the year 2045, they laugh … but then they notice I’m not
kidding. Maybe I will get famous when I’m 90 years old. They’ll scream
at me, “Don, you’re rich and you’re famous” and I’ll yell back, “Why
are you screaming?”
Finally, with regard to my gig leading a workshop for the Lehigh Valley
writers’ group, which is smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, let me be
clear: if you publish or produce my work and then ask me to come give a
little chat or lead a writing workshop, I’ll be there, even if the
freeway collapses.
“Publish my work and I will come.” – Rutberg Proverb
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