Thursday, August 21, 2014

Screenplay Done

screenplay and small stack of notes
Now that the screenplay is done and the client is happy and the all-important copyright has been registered, I can finally talk about that screenplay project with you. 

It’s been a crazy ride and a steep learning curve, but I think we have something worthwhile. As if I would say anything else, of course. I put blood, sweat and tears into this project. It was hard not to get too attached to the characters and then have to change them completely. One week the lead character was a middle aged real estate millionaire, then a wealthy investment banker, next a young reporter, before finally settling as a young venture capitalist with a tech background looking to start a business in Detroit. And that was just one character!

But before I get too deeply into the screenplay story itself, let me tell you about my client and his reasons for hiring me to write this story with him. He’s an 80-year old self-made man, doesn’t look a day over 70, if that old, who made his fortune in Seattle real estate. And at times was quite ruthless about it too from what I can glean from his stories. He’s an old time gambler with hints of big games in Vegas in the old days. Most days he still plays a couple of hours of tennis and bridge whenever he can. 

But none of that is leaving him feeling fully satisfied with life at this stage. He wants to leave a legacy for his kids and grandkids. And what better way than to see your name up in lights, as the old saying goes. 

The idea for the screenplay first took root in his fertile imagination after seeing a documentary on the decline of Detroit, Detropia. As a real estate developer his first thoughts were on what he might do, if he had enough wealth, to revitalize a city teetering on the verge like that. Initially the story was fairly pedestrian in its premise, but it quickly became more than that. 

Some of his deep down motives are fueled by a desire to leave a better planet for his offspring. One where we’re no longer using up every last crumb of the planet, where we’re not continuing to make more, consume more, pile up more trash and stomp on others who have less.

A tall order!

After many outlines and drafts and revisions we settled on electric transportation as the way to save a city. Borrowing from a future we both anticipate will come where electric batteries are more robust, not lithium-ion anymore, and able to power buses, trucks and cars with ease for significantly long distances. And, while we’re at it, why not make it an international effort bringing countries closer together and dramatically reducing pollution. But don’t worry, we didn’t make it sappy, we were sure to add in tension, conflict, history, and even a bit of a love story, oh, and we’re envisioning a Motown soundtrack.

Log Line for “Rescue Me”:  Her technology fulfilled a promise to her grandfather, brought the two largest economies closer together and saved a city.


I will blog more about the screenplay and efforts to see it into production over the next few months, so stay tuned. Or contact me for more info using the comment section. 

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Give Away Winners!


I had a such a lovely response to my August Give Away contest that I opted to randomly choose 3 winners to receive a digital copy of  Tales from the Fountain Pen!

And they are:

Eva
Laura
Lisan

Dear winners, enjoy the book and feel free to let me know in the comment section what you thought of it, or write a review at Goodreads.com or your favorite E-book retailer.

For the rest of August I am still taking author questions and I'll post a link here to the questions already asked and answered.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6426879.E_Lynn_Hooghiemstra

Looking forward to answering more of your questions.


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

August Book Review



Something more than night
by: Ian Tregellis

In the mood for something completely different I downloaded this book onto my kindle before my trip to the old country last month. I started reading it on the flight over and was sucked in from the first line. 

The premise is impossible and yet completely plausible. Someone has murdered the angel Gabriel and on top of that the Jericho trumpet is missing. Angels are trying to make a break for freedom; to escape the heavens. There is the ‘Voice of God’ and a human female set up to either take the fall or solve the crime. 

Written in the style of a classic ‘Noir’ as in Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler, it features the patois of the style in the form of a hard boiled fallen angel, Bayliss who narrates most of the book. Toss in a dame “who was going to be trouble”, a priest with a secret, stigmata nightclub dancers, and a world on the verge of collapse. 

The story takes remarkable twists and turns, tosses in all kinds of interesting heavenly characters with bad manners and unfolds toward a satisfying and surprising ending. Despite all those ‘out there’ characters there is a real poignancy in the human relationships which run through the story and befuddle the heavenly beings who turn out to be remarkably self-absorbed and uninterested in the world. 

In with the religious allegory is a healthy sprinkling of - quantum - physics and plenty of homage to the great noir writers. 

The author has done his research and has put together a great story. Not your average ‘whodoneit’ which makes for a good change. I wasn’t sure he could pull it off when I’d read the description, but he has.  Think the Maltese Falcon in heaven to get some idea of this book. 


I highly recommend it. 

Friday, August 1, 2014

Enter the August Give Away

It's August! Time to enter the Give Away for a digital copy of Tales from the Fountain Pen.
To enter send an email to: elynnh2write (at) gmail (dot) com.

* the fine print: give away open to all countries. Emails will be deleted after contest closes Aug. 15th. Emails will not be used for any other purpose. The email box will go away after contest closes.

Good luck!