Hello. I just joined Stage 32 at the recommendation of a friend. I'm a Chicago based author with 12 novels and 20 short stories/novellas published. I do have a film background (MFA at NYU) but have been lured away from film-making to write books. It's not that I dislike film -- not at all -- I watch them all the time and still feel the magic every time the production/distribution company's logo flashes across the screen at the start. But writing a book has proven to be the hardest challenge I've ever taken on. It doesn't get any easier, either, even though I've written a dozen novels. (sigh...) I've been told I write "cinematically" (after NYU I should...), and I have to be able to see a scene, complete with establishing shot, pan or dolly and intercutting close-ups, before I can write it. So I've produced a bunch of films, at least in my head. :) At any rate, glad to be here, and if anyone wants a closer look at my stories, just ask... or click over to my website (the books and short stories tab). Thanks.
Introduce Yourself : Crime & Historical Thriller Author by Libby Fischer Hellmann
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Libby, it sounds like you are doing just fine. I write cinematically too. Right now I am working on a sizzle for children's TV show with the difference that I am sketching out the set and characters that I have kept in my head. Sometimes I will even make a little 3D set and walk cardboard cut outs of my characters through it to see what opportunities I might have missed or more importantly what torture I am accidentally creating for my puppeteers. I am in the middle of reading Steven Pressfield's book, THE WAR OF ART. It's helping me to strip away some subtle forms of procrastination and get beyond regret. I am not standing on the station platform anymore, I'm getting on the train. I am writing scripts and creating graphic novels when I am not busy doing by day job in pre-production as a VP of Creative Services. It sounds like you are ten leagues ahead of me and moving at about 33,000 rpms. As one of the very smart people I have found that I usually have the best excuses for holding back... --- G
Hi, Libby! I'm a writer, too, and I love the challenge of the blank page, knowing that it's no one else's job but my own to tell a good story. But I also like shooting my own short scripts, knowing I can rely on others to make the material the best it can be. I think writing both short stories/novels and screenplays is the best of both worlds. I will keep an eye out for your name when I go book shopping. I'm reading Stephen King's "Joyland" right now. What are you reading?
Thanks everyone who commented. Boomer, thanks for the warm welcome. Graham, you and I will have a contest for "Best Procrastinator." I'll do anything to keep from writing. Really. I'm not sure how these books actually came to exist. Rubber bands and spit probably. Nolan, you sound much too well adjusted. :) I'm reading Palace Of Treason right now, the 2nd thriller by Jason Mathews. So far, okay, but not as gripping as Red Sparrow.
Haha, thanks, Libby. Jason Matthews, hmm, haven't heard of him. Have you read Child 44? I really like historical fiction sometimes and that one was hard to put down. I wrote a couple of crime shorts for a friend's website a while back and it was a lot of fun. I recently read some Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and it really made me wanna write again in that genre.
Welcome Libby! Always great to greet another Chicagoan to Stage 32!
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Actually the best book I;ve read all year is I Am PIlgrim by Terry Hayes, who is... wait for it... a screenwriter himself. It was an amazing read. Hi, Don... yes... we're neighbors.
Terry Hayes? hmm, haven't heard of him, either. Best book all year? Oh, I don't know. I really liked Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto, also a screenwriter! haha...well, have a good weekend!