Hello friends! Long time, no blog I know. I chose to write privately the past few months. Not everything needs to be made public. (Are you reading that Kardashians?)
Anyways so there's been some fun things going on the past several months:
My husband and I recently joined Netflix and have been
watching ‘The West Wing.’ We're five seasons in. When I was younger I used to tell people I was going
to be the first woman President . Not such a fan of that dream anymore, but the
Press Secretary job (Allison Janney’s role) seems more like my cup of tea.
Surprisingly Chris and I have yet to have some crazy debate over policy
issues we’ve seen on the show. We do agree on many issues just don’t ask us
about how to fix the economy…or healthcare…or affirmative action…or who will
win in 2016. Two more seasons before it ends :( Any suggestions for the show we watch next?
We have two new members of our family who joined us last
month. Yep we got two goldfishes! . There’s a pet store a few blocks
from our apartment. They always have a few dogs playing in the window as people
walk by. (“How much is that doggy in the window? Ruff ruff!) We would love to
get a dog right now, but with a)no yard b) a ‘no doggy’ rule in our lease , we
must wait to get one later. So our goldfishes are filling our animal void at the moment.
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| Hermione and Barack LeBron |
We’ve been in our new place for almost three months and
absolutely love it. We’re closer to a lot more restaurants and shops. One of my
favorite things about our area is a walking path that overlooks the water. On
one side is the Verranzo bridge (connects Brooklyn to Staten Island) and on the
other end is the beautiful Manhattan skyline. It’s my favorite place to go walking and jogging. Sometimes I pretend like the Statue of Liberty is
cheering for me when I run. Haha.
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| Manhattan side |
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| Brooklyn side |
As I mentioned I've been writing a lot lately. There’s
a fabulous screenwriting competition that I discovered called Kairos Prize for
Uplifting Screenplays several years ago that helps beginning screenwriters get into the business. (Kairosprize.com)
The last time I wrote a script from scratch was
in 2008. Over several years I let some trusted people read it and offer
feedback. We got to the semi-final rounds in 2009 and 2012 and quite frankly I
didn’t feel any urge to write again after that. I didn’t feel inspired and knew I needed to be in order to write 100-plus pages.
Needless to say last year I was inspired by an event that
happened to a friend, a very emotional and devastating experience for her and the people around her. I had envisioned writing this story for over a year, before I started writing in February. While I won’t reveal the exact story line I will say that
the story takes place during Christmas (my favorite time of year) and is
dedicated to my friend and other women who have babies waiting on
them in heaven.
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| Editing at the beach. (Everything is better at the beach!) |
So six months after writing,
FADE IN:
INT.-MILLERS'HOME-LIVING ROOM-NIGHT
I now have a solid first
draft that I'm constantly re-reading and re-writing.
I used the Syd Field's mapping method to layout the script in its entirety before I started writing anything on my computer(an index card represents a scene and the different colors represent one of three acts, with the second act split into two sections. That's why there's four colors.)
56 index cards and 103 pages later....'The Pajamas' is completed (first of many drafts anyways.)
I've also had some other things come my way in the past few months. A few weeks ago, a friend back in Tennessee asked me
for some help with doing publicity for her chocolate business as I'm
waiting for a full-time job up here. It helps pass the time and I enjoy being
able to use my skills to help Brenda get the word out about her wonderful
company, Bellafina chocolates.(http://bellafinachocolates.com/)
I’ve been going back and forth with deciding what to post
and what to not post about my job search. (Hints the hiatus from blogging the past several months). Obviously it’s very exciting to have
interviews but it’s also difficult if things don’t work out because people are like
“did you get that job?” and it reopens the wound. However I realize that job searching is an incredibly lonely experience and if I can make at least one person feel like "I'm not the only one!" then it is worth the risk of the possibility I may not get this job.
With that being said, since June 26th, I’ve been interviewing with a law firm in
Manhattan. I’ve had a phone interview, in person office interview, another
phone interview, two computer tests, another phone interview and lots of waiting in between. Just
yesterday I was asked to come back for yet another interview, in person , in
the coming weeks. This makes for seven rounds of interviews (if you’re
counting)
Like I’ve said, the job searching process has been a roller coaster ride. I could write
pages and pages (and I have privately) about the emotions and frustrations that
come with looking for a job, the devastation that comes from rejection emails and the hopelessness that comes after months of no answers.
Brenda, my friend who owns the chocolate company I’m working for, sent me this encouraging note in
an email. It perfectly sums up how I want to feel about this time:
"I believe that someday you will look back on this
period and it will be perfectly obvious what God was up to!"
My advice to those job seeking and waiting. Oh boy is
waiting the hardest part. Work hard on your resume and apply for jobs everyday.
Treat applying for jobs as your full-time job. In the meantime, find something you love to do while you wait. Pick up a new hobby, go for walks and runs, or write a screenplay. Use the time you have to find something you're passionate about. More than all of that though,
surround yourself with positive people. People who encourage you and love you. When nothing seems to be going your way, the people around you will make a huge difference.
"I can see the light that is coming....for the heart that holds on" ('Never Let Go' ~Matt Redman)
