Genre: Teen Drama / Science Fiction / Love Story

Medium: Television

Short Synopsis:

A young girl’s encounter with extraterrestrial siblings opens her eyes to the reality that aliens are among us. Years ago, a group of alien children were kidnapped, taken to Earth and separated from each other. Some of them grew up knowing their true origin, while some were raised as humans. Now, as secrets from their past are revealed, the alien teenagers and their human allies are faced with life-altering choices. Do they belong on Earth, living with the family and friends they know? Or will they attempt to return to their homeworld and seek a different destiny?

Genre: Sports Drama

Medium: Television

Short Synopsis:

Last year, Coach Bobby Jones was a rising star in men’s NCAA basketball. But after the painful tragedy of losing one of his players, Bobby’s life and team is shattered. Seeking to escape, Bobby takes up the reins of a record-holding high school team back in Oklahoma. However, the diverse team is fractured and Bobby is a broken man, recovering from the fall-out of his past. Can Bobby heal and become the leader they need or will he crumble under the weight of this basketball-obsessed town?

Genre: Science Fiction / Coming-Of-Age

Medium: Television

Short Synopsis:

What would it be like to attend a school where your crush on can read your thoughts, the bully you hate can hypnotize you, the needy kid can teleport to wherever you are, and your classes try to teach you not to kill people with your mind? All the while, you’re hopelessly in love with the girl whose powers are making her go insane. For new student Linder, this is his life at the mysterious Remont Academy. The brochure never prepared him for the reality.

Genre: Western, Supernatural

Medium: Feature

Short Synopsis:

Dover, an ex-bandit, is released from prison after a five-year stint. On his return home, he meets a strange figure who offers him an ornate gun in exchange for food. Little does Dover know that he just made a trade with a demonic host. Dover quickly learns the special nature of his new gun – it never misses a shot. But there’s a steep price; the gun is cursed and begins to taint Dover’s mind, driving him toward bloodlust and cruelty. Realizing the danger he poses to his reunited family, Dover sets off on a journey to end the curse and free his soul. His struggle to resist evil will bring out the hero he never truly believed he could become.

Genre: Science Fiction / Dark Comedy

Medium: Feature

Short Synopsis:

Once the most feared super villain in America, Obsidian is now a laughingstock. Captured after a brain injury left him powerless, he has spent the last 7 years trapped in a cell. Obsidian longs for payback after suffering abuse at the hands of his cell-mate, Bad Mojo. When Bad Mojo and his co-horts stage a break out, Obsidian and his sidekick are inadvertently freed. Obsidian refuses to let his rival take his former place at the top of the super villain food chain. He will stop Bad Mojo by any means necessary – even if it means becoming a superhero.

1. ALIAS

I do believe Alias was the second show I watched that aired on one of the Big Four networks during primetime. (The first was Dark Angel.) I was just expanding beyond my WB, MTV, and teen cable channel days into the wider world of “adult” television. If memory serves, my mother introduced me to the program.

The premiere episode blew my mind. Jennifer Garner’s incredible red wig. The fight sequences. The crazy spy hijinks and the crazier family drama at its core. The cruel but perfect cliffhanger endings. Arvin Sloane, nuff said. Marshall Flinkman, nuff said. I was hooked right out of the gate. As the first season went on, it kept up the quality and also introduced two serial storylines that kept me begging for more. The first was the forbidden love between Sydney Bristow and her handler, Michael Vaughn. The second was the mystical/science-fiction element of the Rambaldi devices. I feel pretty confident in asserting that Alias had one of the best first seasons ever. The writing was great, the cast was fantastic (especially Jennifer), and the production values were high. Season two, with the addition of Lena Olin, continued the greatness.

But beginning in Season 3, the bloom began to fall off the rose. The initial blow was Vaughn’s marriage to one of the worst characters in show, Lauren Reed. Then the Julia Thorne storyline went nowhere interesting. Shocking twists started to become less “shocking” and more “WTF, that made no sense”. The characterization of Sydney’s mother, Irina Derevko, switched from evil to good to evil and back again so many times I got whiplash. Sydney discovered an unknown half-sister (why?). Though Mia Maestro did have the prettiest hair, which I coveted, so maybe that plot balanced out. But the cool spy-fi crossed the line into bizarro-land with Arvin Sloane imposters, the “vampire” episode, giant floating red orbs the size of cities etc. Even worse was the whole Michael Vaughn = Andre Michaux debacle (double why?!). Alias lost its way and never really found it again. I have never been more disappointed by a series finale than when Jack blew himself up to trap the immortal (really?) Sloane in a cave and Sydney killed her mother in lame fashion. At least Sydney and Vaughn ended up together but that was the only item in the plus column.

Despite its fall from grace, I would still rank Alias in my top 15 favorite shows. Any show that I still go back to rewatch today is worth ranking in my favorites. When this show was on fire, it was ON FIRE. When it tripped, it fell hard. But I’ll always admire it for swinging for the fences. No risk, no reward.

Note: I was initially going to do this post about Roswell but that’s going to have to wait because I started to feel the rage blackouts coming on when I thought about it. I need to work my way up to that one. I think next in the series will be Charmed, then Heroes and then Roswell. Stay tuned.

Three years ago, my sister had this brilliant idea that we should write a book.  I’ve wanted to write one for years but, whenever I sat down to outline my book idea, I felt overwhelmed. (Writing scripts is hard enough)!  When my sister’s friend jumped on board and said she wanted to write with us, I started to get excited.  The book is about three young women from different backgrounds as they share their life experiences in regards to their career, relationships, day-to-day life and family.  After working on the book for a few months, my sister and friend decided they didn’t want to write anymore.

I still want to write a book and I have a few ideas that I would love to share.  I’ve decided to upload a couple of chapters of the book I was working on.  I’m also working on another book and I’ll post ideas or chapters for that book too.  The title of book one is called It Goes On and the second book I’m working on is called Rut for now.  I wanted to share a chapter from It Goes On.  I’m still working on the book and this was the first chapter I wrote.  I’m still outlining and figuring out the characters.  In this chapter the main character Sophia (24 years old) meets the perfect guy at her friend’s party. I’m still tweaking this chapter.  I’ll post the revisions on the blog and you can see the progression.

Karma

Dearest Tabitha,

I know I’ve been MIA lately.  Things have been a little crazy but honestly your letters are keeping me sane.  I need to catch you up on all things Sophia.  A couple of months ago, I met a guy and I’m engaged!  You can pick your jaw up off the ground; I’m just kidding.  I did meet someone and I know I should have called you.  I lose friend points…I’m sorry.  From now on, I’m keeping you in the loop!

I bet you’re shocked I actually met someone that I really liked.  You and Kristi are always teasing me because I have high standards (which is a good thing).  Kristi claims I’m way too uptight and I need to stop being so picky.  All I want is a guy who gets along with his family, has a job and went to college— is that such a bad thing?

Lexi loves to psychoanalyze me.  She claims that I’m the “guy” in relationships because I’m not romantic and I hate talking on the phone.   I just hate long meaningless conversations.  The last guy I talked to called me four times a day because he just wanted to hear my voice—it drove me crazy!  I’m just not a huge phone person; I would rather just talk in person.  I will admit I am a bit of a homebody and I don’t like overly affectionate guys. But all that changed when I met Jesse.

It was a typical Friday night.  I was curled up on my couch, drinking wine and watching The Breakfast Club.  I know you’re rolling your eyes, Tabitha.  You don’t love the great John Hughes like I do. Seriously you are missing out on some timeless movies…but that’s another conversation!  Anyway, I was just getting to my favorite part (the dandruff scene) when Kristi calls me up.  She decided to have a little get-together at her place and wanted me to come.   I said no at first but Kristi never takes no for an answer and somehow convinced me to head over.  I threw on some clean jeans, a decent top and I drove over to Kristi’s apartment.  When I got there, I was greeted by a group of drunken men (it wouldn’t be a Kristi Jacobson party without drunken fraternity guys).  This was definitely not some “little” get-together and I instantly regretted going.  I pushed my way through the hot sweaty bodies and rushed towards the door.

“Sophia!” Kristi shouted over the throbbing music.

I sighed and plastered a smile on my face.  Kristi ran over to give me a sticky hug and that’s when I noticed him.  Standing next to her was an Adonis with penetrating hazel eyes.

“I want you to meet Jesse,” Kristi gave me a wink and looked pleased.

“Hey,” Jesse’s rich baritone voice greeted me and he shook my hand.

Jesse was the kind of guy that could stop traffic; okay maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but he was definitely easy on the eyes.  He was tall, dark and handsome.  He also had an infectious smile.

“Kristi’s told me all about you.  I finally get to see you in the flesh and I like what I’m seeing,” Jesse gave me a mischievous smile.

I sort of just gawked at him for a moment.  Did he just say he likes what he’s seeing?  Normally, I don’t fall for those stupid lines but I let it slide.

“Well I can’t say Kristi’s mentioned much about you.”  I glared at my friend.

Kristi loves playing matchmaker but usually she has horrible taste.  How could she forget to tell me about Jesse?  Kristi cleared her throat and smiled at us.  She rocked side to side, just staring.  I gave her my famous “go away” look and she finally got the hint.

“All right well, I’ll let you two talk.”  Kristi gave me one more wink and bolted.

There was an awkward silence right after Kristi left and Jesse chuckled a bit.  We ended up moving away from everyone and sat on Kristi’s wine stained sofa.  I try to fill the silence with random stories.  I tell Jesse about my love for sports and travel; he just listened intently.  After rambling for thirty minutes, I apologized for talking his head off.  Jesse just tells me that I’m captivating and of course I got the giggles.  No one has ever said they found me captivating (more brownie points for Jesse).

“Vous etes trop mignon.  That means you are too cute,” Jesse told me.

I gave him a huge grin. “Is that French?”

“Yeah, I studied abroad in France for a year.  I’m pretty much fluent now. ”

I started to swoon but I quickly pulled myself together.  I love everything French—the food, people, fashion, pastries, macaroons…the list is endless.  Hearing him speak French was such a turn on.  I was a little shocked at how much I liked Jesse, especially since I met him less than an hour ago.  I’ve never felt this much of a connection with any of the guys I dated and I wondered if he also felt a spark.  I leaned back against the sofa, and listened to Jesse talk about his time in Paris, his family and his passion for medicine.

In my head I was doing a victory dance.  He was extremely close to his family, had a job, went to a great school and wants to be a doctor!  I also wanted to run over to Kristi and give her a big hug.  This guy was perfect!  We continued to talk and then we noticed that we were the only people left and Kristi was passed out on the floor.

“I had a great time talking to you.  I was actually going to stay home tonight.  I had a date with John Hughes and a pint of Dreyer’s ice cream, but I’m glad I came out,” I told him.

“Nice, a fellow John Hughes fan.  My sister used to watch Sixteen Candles all the time.  I would pretend to hate it but secretly I wanted to be Jake Ryan.”  Jesse smiled sheepishly.

Seriously could this guy be anymore perfect?!

“You’re a great girl.  Let me get your number.” He pulled out his cell phone and we exchanged numbers.

I practically skipped to the door. When I knew the coast was clear and I was safely in my car, I let out a little squeal.

A week passed and I got a text message from Jesse asking me out to dinner on Friday night.  I quickly replied sure.  When Friday rolled around, I paid extra attention to my outfit.  I wanted to look amazing.   When Jesse picked me up, he gave me flowers and took me to an Italian restaurant.  We talked like old friends and laughed at our crazy stories.  The night ended too quickly and, before I knew it, we were back at my apartment.  We made plans to hang out again the following Friday.  I enjoyed hanging out with Jesse and getting to know him more.  We had so much in common and I started looking forward to our dates.

One Friday night, I went over to Jesse’s apartment.  We were watching a movie but I couldn’t concentrate on the film; my eyes kept drifting to photos of Jesse with some other girl.  I knew instantly that the girl must have been Jesse’s girlfriend (the pictures of them kissing gave it away) and her pictures were everywhere in his apartment.  I guess it was obvious I was staring at the photos because Jesse turned off the movie and looked at me.

“That’s my ex-girlfriend.  I meant to toss those photos out but I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet. ” Jesse leaned over and kissed me but I couldn’t really enjoy it.  I wanted to push him away and ask him about his ex but, for some reason, I couldn’t bring it up.  There were all these warning signs that this relationship or whatever we had wasn’t going to last but I kept pushing those thoughts away.

Do you remember how I would get annoyed when a guy called me all the time?  Well that was me in my relationship with Jesse.  I was the one who called him and Jesse never called me first.  In fact he never called me at all; he would only send text messages.  I also wanted Jesse to be more affectionate.  I wanted him to hold my hand in public or put his arm around me when we watched movies.  Whenever we were alone, he would just start kissing me when I wanted to talk.  I wanted to get to know him more and learn his secrets, desires and fears. But he kept me at a distance.

After one of our date nights, I decided to be honest with Jesse.   We were watching Family Guy and Jesse started to kiss me but I pushed him away.

“I want you to know I really like spending time with you.”  I was surprisingly nervous and felt vulnerable.

“I’m going to have to stop you right there,” Jesse patted my leg and focused on me.

My face suddenly got really hot.  What was he about to say?  He looked really serious and was studying my face.

“I want to take things slow.  I just got out of a five year relationship.  I wasn’t even thinking about dating and then you came along.  You were so easy going and great to hang out with…”

My mind was in over drive.  Everything started making sense.  No wonder he had his ex-girlfriend’s pictures still up in the apartment (although I still think he should have removed them when I came over). I totally understood why he was so guarded.

“My ex-girlfriend was the love of my life and, when we broke up, it really killed me.  I mean it destroyed me.  I felt like someone just took a knife—”

“I get it,” I put up my hand to stop him from going any further.

Jesse reached over and began to pat my leg again.  My mind was still spinning and I was trying to digest everything he was saying.

“So do you still want to hang out?”  I asked.

I wanted to slap myself.  Why did I ask him that question?  I should have just walked away.  Clearly he is still hung up on his ex-girlfriend.

“Of course I still want to hang out with you.  I just want to take things slow,” Jesse gave me a smile and I was like putty.

“I can do that,” I told him.  Jesse leaned forward and started kissing me again.

A week passed and then two weeks but I don’t hear from Jesse.  I didn’t want to call him or send him a text message. He kept stressing that he wanted to take things slow, but I didn’t really know what taking things slow meant.  Was I supposed to wait around for him to call me?  I started to overanalyze everything and I needed to take my mind off of Jesse.  I spent more time with Lexi and listened to her vent about men.  We would watch Dateline and, in between the commercials, Lexi would complain about the male species.  As Lexi continued to talk, I started to think about Jesse and how I probably wouldn’t hear from him again.

I was pleasantly surprised when I did hear from Jesse a week later.  He called me, which was weird since he only sent me text messages.  We chatted for a while and he told me that he was sorry for not calling me. He had been busy studying for the MCATs.  I asked him if he wanted to get together before his test and there was silence on the other end of the phone.

“I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

I slumped down on my couch and nodded my head.  A part of me knew that this was going to happen so I wasn’t surprised, just a little sad.

“Soph, you’re a great girl.  I thought that I was ready to be in a relationship, but being with you just makes me think of my ex and how much I miss her.”

Ouch.

“You’re amazing and I really respect you so that’s why I’m being honest.  I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around,” Jesse said to me.

I listened to him ramble for a while.  I told him I understood and quickly hung up the phone.  I curled up into a ball and just laughed.  Luckily, Lexi was on a date because she probably would have thought I was crazy.  Sure, I was sad that things didn’t work out between Jesse and me.  I liked him a lot but there were so many signs that I kept ignoring.  When I saw the pictures of his ex-girlfriend, I should have run for the hills.  He tried to tell me that he wanted to break things off when he said he wanted to take things slow but I didn’t get the hint.  I started thinking about all of my past relationships and how hard I’ve been on men I dated.  I thought Jesse was the perfect guy but no one’s perfect.  I was blinded by his charm, his great job and the fact that he went to a top-notch school—but I deserved better.  I wanted to be with a guy who was just as head over heels for me as I was for him.

A few weeks ago, I met this guy at a party and he asked me if I wanted to dance.  We danced for a while and then we started talking.  I asked him what he did for a living and he said he was unemployed.  Normally, I would have completely written him off but I didn’t this time.  He had graduated from college a year ago and he wanted a break before he started his career.  He told me what he wanted to do in the future and I realized that he had a lot of drive.  We didn’t have a lot in common.  Not like Jesse and I but that didn’t matter.  We exchanged numbers and, when I got home for the evening, he called me to see if I made it home safely.  We chatted a little more about nothing in particular and then we hung up.  It was actually nice getting a call instead of a text message and I didn’t mind our meaningless conversation.

Love,

Sophia

P.S.  I miss you!!

•  Lord of the Rings: This movie is a classic.  All I can say is Peter Jackson is brilliant.    This movie will be remembered for generations to come.

Now – I still love Lord of the Rings…such a great movie!

• All the President’s Men: A Classic.  Dustin Hoffman was brilliant.

Now – Apparently, I really liked using words like classic and brilliant.  Anywho, this would make my Top 10 list now.  I have a bit of a soft spot for ATPM.  I wrote about the film when I was applying to USC and I got in.  This film will always be one of my favorites.

•  Road to Perdition: Touching father and son movie.

Now- I still like this movie but it wouldn’t make my Top 10 list now.  I went to see it with my friend when I was in 10^th grade.  We bought tickets for Stuart Little and the plan was to sneak into Road to Perdition.  Well one of the ushers saw us and escorted us back to Stuart Little.  I was fuming because I desperately wanted to see the other film (I love Tom Hanks).

I walked with my friend to the restroom and a woman coming out noticed that we were upset.  I end up telling this stranger that I really wanted to see Road to Perdition but I wasn’t old enough.  She grabbed my hand and stomped over to the usher.  The woman claimed she was my mother and she gave us permission to see Road to Perdition.  The usher gave us a wink and we walked into the theater.  I was on cloud nine because I got to watch a Rated R movie.  I never did get to thank the woman who pretended to be my mom.

•  Finding Nemo: Another great father and son movie.

Now- I still love Finding Nemo but I don’t think it would make my Top 10 list now.

• Harry Potter: I love this movie and Rupert Grint is so adorable.  I like how the movies are pretty faithful to the books.

Now- I still love Harry Potter.  I was devastated when the movies ended…sigh.

• Undercover Brother:  This movie is hilarious!  I recommend this to anyone who needs a laugh.

Now- I liked this movie?  How did Undercover Brother make my Top 10 list?  Oh well we all make mistakes.

• While You Were Sleeping: This is one of my favorite romantic comedies.  I love the story and the characters.

Now- I watch this movie every Christmas.  It’s great but not on the Top 10 list.

• Billy Elliot- I wrote…I want to dance like Billy.

Now-   I still want to dance like Billy.  I love this movie.

• The Passion of the Christ: I don’t know if I can watch this movie again.  It was intense and it moved me.

Now- I remember being a wreck after watching this movie. When I was walking to my friend’s car a group of guys asked me if I had just watched The Passion.  I guess they could tell by my bloodshot eyes.

• Hellboy: I just wrote that I loved the movie and I was in love with the actor who played Hellboy.  I’m pretty sure the actor was in his late 40s/early 50s at the time…hmm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that.

Now- I’m not so much of a Hellboy fan now.  Loved it in high school but this doesn’t make my Top 10 list.

My final thoughts:  I can’t believe I don’t have a John Hughes movie on my list!  Seriously what was I thinking?  Readers what are some of your favorite movies?

We’ve fallen into a bit of a rut, I’m afraid. Procrastination and distraction have been the name of the   game for far too many weeks. So I thought it’d be good to remind ourselves that we do indeed have seeds of ideas just waiting for the spark of motivation and creativity to make them sprout. “Release us from our burial in the barren cold ground of writer’s block wasteland!” they cry. Well, we might not get to all of them but, by God, we’ve got to get through and rescue some of them. First step: sharing them. So here’s some loglines to check out. If we have any readers of this blog, let us know your thoughts. Any sound good? Any make you go “huh?” It’s okay, you can tell us.

Freaks of Many Tongues – A wacky department of foreign language teachers bands together to help their most awkward member win the heart of the high school’s most popular teacher.

Dougal McDougal and Mr. Tupper – When his wife announces she wants a divorce, a husband teams up with his father-in-law to save his marriage by any means necessary.

Blind – With his remote village facing a devastating drought, an old, blind woodcarver must complete a dangerous pilgrimage through the wilderness to reach aid.

Scream Aim Fire – A former outlaw receives a cursed gun from a demonic trickster, turning his quest for redemption into a literal battle for his soul.

Rebound – After a deadly shooting at his gym, a broken college basketball coach returns to his Oklahoma hometown to take the reins of a troubled high school team.

Come Awake – A teenager, given a vision of when she will die, has seven days to prepare her unsuspecting family and friends for life after she is gone.

Jacob Little – A chubby loner boy develops an unlikely friendship with his eccentric music teacher and becomes a famous opera singer at age eleven.

Terminal- An arrogant young girl, who is forced to volunteer as a candy stripper, falls in love with a terminal patient.

Black Sheep – When a woman’s brother is killed, she becomes the prime suspect. She must prove her innocence, though even her family believes she’s guilty.

Legacy- A woman, who grew up in a family of football legends, faces intense adversity when she becomes the first female college football coach.

I’ve been thinking about this question quite a bit lately: how do you know when your piece is done? Are you ever REALLY finished or do you just reach a point where you let go and let God?…Until you come back again later to tweak it and then you let it go again.

Sometimes you reach the “end” of a script and sit back and you’re happy. It’s much better than your last project. There are scenes and characters you love. The dialogue actually says something worthwhile (at least to you). The script is sent off, you feel good, and you’re free to move on to something else.

Then you come back to it weeks or months later. It’s been awhile so you want to read it again and remind yourself of what you accomplished. But it’s not the same. It’s still good but maybe not as good as you remember. You picture strangers reading it: people you want to take a chance on you, people you want to hire you. Is it good enough? Will it stand out? Is it the best representation of what you can do? Suddenly you’re not sure. Maybe you haven’t shown all that you can do. Just one more pass and then you’ll get back to focusing on your next project!

And the cycle continues. So when do you have to cut the cord? Eventually, there’s got to be a point of diminishing returns. I’m sure there’s no magical number of drafts to reach but maybe someone out there has some helpful insight on this dilemma.

It’s just too hard to start new stories when, in the back of your head, you’re still coming up with ways to add some shine and polish to your last grand adventure. – Noni