I got cool news today. “Sixes and the One Eyed King,” won the Audience Appreciation Award at the Bluegrass Independent Film Festival. This is our second festival, and I’m pretty pleased that we were able to win an audience, especially when I compare the experience of our cast and crew to those on some of the other films. It makes me even more excited to work on other projects. Success is a wonderful motivator.

Thought of the day

"Gradually by writing you will learn more and more to be free, to say all you think; and at the same time you will learn never to lie to yourself, never to pretend and attitudinize. But only by writing and by long, patient, serious work will you find your true self. And why find it? Because it is, I think, your immortal soul and the life of the Spirit, and if we can only free it and respect it and not run it down, and let it move and work, it is the way to be happier and greater."

-- Brenda Ueland, "If You Want to Write"

Ouch.

Having a wisdom tooth extracted isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. Especially when the tooth has a little hook thingy at the end of the root that expresses its dedication to staying in your mouth. Also new on my list of unfun experiences is having your parked car hit by an uninsured driver whose license was already suspended. It's been a rough week. There's some "storytelling using life experience" in there somewhere, but it will take some time and some more painkillers before I find it.

Thought of the day

"It was only when I began to discover the treats and tricks that came with word assocation that I began to find some true way through the minefields of imitation. I finally figured out that if you are going to step on a live mine, make it your own. Be blown up, as it were, by your own delights and despairs." -- Ray Bradbury

A review of “Sixes and the One Eyed King,” and the trailer, is up on the Movie Sharke Deblore Web site. It’s pretty cool to read nice comments. I hope this film will appeal to “Twilight Zone” fans. I loved that show.

Hounded by horror

One technique I’ve used in writing is to think about a story prior to going to sleep. I find that my sleeping mind develops very creative solutions. However, now that I’m writing horror, I’ve found that I can’t do that. I creep myself out and give myself nightmares. It’s silly for a woman my age to hide under the covers, wondering what “that noise” was, but that’s the curse of living with a vivid imagination. I’m excited about writing in the horror genre. I never really considered it “my” genre, especially because of the whole getting-scared-easily issue. However, I’m drawing on my own experiences to see what is frightening and why, and I’m learning a lot as I study other work in the genre.

I hope to finish scene cards this week. I used to really resist the idea of writing scenes on 3X5 cards and then plotting out the story. I thought it made me more creative to just sit down and start writing. Once I gave scene cards a serious try, I saw how valuable they are to help craft the story and not waste time meandering through it. It’s kind of like a cell phone. I resisted getting one for a long time because I didn’t want to be “chained to technology.” Now, I appreciate having it as a tool to keep in touch when I want. If I don’t want to be reachable, I can simply turn it off. It has taken me some time to see these things as tools rather than as burdens. Learning to employ scene cards simply added to my options as a writer. I still freewrite at times, but it, too, is a tool for the process than a mandate for creativity.

Another advantage to scene cards is that they're highly portable. I worked on them while waiting for a Chicago concert this week. It was a great concert, and with amazing guitarist Preston Reed as an opener. Live music provides refreshment to the soul. I’m headed out this afternoon to hear some local performers as well as to hopefully find some new fall clothing. Provided the stores aren’t to crazy with back-to-school shoppers. I might fight my way through them for some cool pens or spiffy notebooks. I still love buying school supplies.

The Bluegrass Independent Film Festival schedule is up. “Sixes and the One Eyed King” will play this coming Saturday in Kentucky. Ray and Scott Ford are headed back for it; I wish I could be there. Who are Ray and Scott Ford? We’re still waiting to hear from other film festivals, but we have distributors showing at least some interest.

A reflection on passing and remembrance
A former writing teacher, an influential writer and artist, died Sunday. I’ve been thinking about legacies, about the impact of work and life. In a way, writing is a search for influence and immortality, for a greatness beyond our limited daily lives and a hope that something of us remains behind to make the world better for having had us in it. How to measure a legacy? Is it in the number of people influenced? How many is enough to create an admirable legacy? Is it in the size of the change affected, or is it enough simply to have caused people to laugh, to think and to dream? Is it even possible for a person to comprehend or engineer her own legacy? Do some, by seeking to secure a legacy, taint its very essence with their own self-aggrandizing? Is a legacy something we give or something that is given to us by others as they reflect our efforts?