The worst form of violence.....

poverty.

--Mohandas 'Mahatma' Ghandi

When life throws you curves ...

Spiff up your karma.

Even when others don't - keep your word.

Maintain your integrity.

Do great work.

Be aware of what is really going on, not what is expressed.

Keep learning.

Treat people well, even when they do not return the favor - but get away from anyone who does not treat you well.

Get reliable support; people with good judgement.

Speak up - tell the truth as you see it.

Realize the universe has something much much better in store for us as long as we don't get mired and stuck in a situation that leaves us no options to improve.

Beware the person unwilling to listen, budge or negotiate.

Define what you want that's different from what you have now; how you'd like to see your situation change.





















Be grateful for every experience and lesson this situation (or relationship) taught you.

Move on. To a healthier, more positive, communicative and supportive situation/relationship.

Most importantly - get everything you need to take care of yourself in writing; don't expect anyone to watch out for you, even if they insist they will.

Have fun through it all; as long as no one is seriously injured - emotionally or physically or both - don't take any of it too seriously.

Writing about the past

I'm writing a screenplay that takes place in the late 1970's ... so I've spent most of the day going through old photos, online images and news of the time as well as sparking memories I've not thought about for .. well, almost 30 years.

I tend to remember the big ticket items - the major events - but many details and names have eluded me. Perhaps for good reason.

Since my screenplay is based on a true story, the research needs to be impeccable. Even though it's based on my own experience, all the facts and tone of the time and environment need to be accurate.

So there are the bell bottoms, disco, faux 'fro's, huge glasses and all the other elements that in hindsight can be experienced as embarrassing. As in, "What the heck were we thinking?"

We saw it as a time of newfound freedom and unbridled expression - but the euphoria of freedom can obviously have hidden costs.

And some not so hidden.

PNWA Screenwriting Workshop News!

Folks attending my "A Practical Guide for Screenwriting" seminar at the 55th Pacific NW Writers Association Conference July 24 (Sea-Tac Hilton and Conference Center):

Script Fly, my favorite resource for professional scripts, is giving you a generous discount on any scripts you buy from them!

I'll let you know how to get the 25% discount after you've registered; of course shipping is not included, but you can receive most in .pdf (no shipping fee) as well as hard copy form. I prefer hard copy, because I like to hold the script and make notes on pages along the way.

I'm not getting any money from this offer, I just want to let you know about Script Fly and what they have to offer student and professional writers. I believe one of the best ways to learn about writing great screenplays is to read more scripts than books about how to write them!

There are free script outlets online as well, but Script Fly has a great selection of very current and classic screenplays from their original sources you can't find anywhere else, and I've yet to find a transcripted movie "script" that is helpful.

The Script Fly offer runs from now through August 31, 2010.

The workshop focuses mostly on the script writing creative process, helping you decide how best to create the story you want to tell onscreen. Practically.

Here are a few hints to get you started:

1. If you have not written a screenplay, don't sweat the format - too many people get swept up in worrying about whether the terms and pages look "right" rather than concentrating on the story and characters. If you read several great professional screenplays, you'll see similarities and differences.

2. Look around. What is in your environment that tells us *visually* who you are? Notice those things that are apparent and those things that are more subtle. Then, most importantly - what is missing. What is not in your surroundings that tells us something very important about you.

A Practical Guide for Screenwriting

That's the title of the seminar I'm presenting at the 55th Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference this summer.

My workshop takes place Saturday, July 24th, 10am, at the Sea-Tac Airport Hilton Hotel and Conference Center. The room number will be made available after you register. Workshops normally run 90 to 120 minutes; I hope it's a full two hours, but won't know until the schedule is released.

I'll be talking about the ins and outs of screenwriting that I've never heard at other screenwriting workshops, most of which are held by folks who are script analysts and writing teachers rather than professional screenwriters who actually write and create scripts. So expect different.

It's down to earth, hands on, from the trenches information I've learned over the years from actually doing the work. These insights should help experienced screenwriters as well as those who wish to be screenwriters.

It's about telling our onscreen stories from the page: how to do it most effectively, how to build successful habits, how to have fun doing what is ordinarily a solitary, stressful endeavor. Myself, while I work harder than anyone I know, find writing enjoyable and exciting - even its most isolating, grating, tedious aspects.

Being a writing coach as well, who has worked with dozens of writers one on one, I plan to fill the room with wall to wall effective writing tools, then show you how to use them IRL (in real life).

Warning: my seminars are not for the humor impaired. The material may be serious, but our time is designed to be enjoyed, so we'll definitely share a laugh. Or two. Or three!

Several literary agents will be on hand for conference participants to meet - be sure to check out the PNW Writers Conference website as their names and material they seek are posted over the next few months; appointments are scheduled with them on a first submitted, first considered basis.

I'll also be autographing my book The 100% Solution Friday evening, July 23, at the Barnes and Noble mini-bookshop at the Conference Center, in case you want to drop by and ask any questions about anything you want me to cover at Saturday morning's workshop. And perhaps even pick up my (autographed!) book!

I'll mention this a couple more times before the conference. Hope to see you there!

Happy (Lunar/Chinese) New Year!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! It's the year of the tiger!

Coincidentally, Valentine's Day and the Lunar New Year fall on February 14 this year.

I'm a monkey - check out your annual zodiac animal and personality here!

If you were born in a year of the tiger, you will have much good fortune in 2010!

Among the traditions of preparing for the new year is a thorough house cleaning - especially windows, so all that good fortune makes its way into your home!

..as we treat the least of us ....

Here's an Erika Schultz photo of Oso, a dog rescued from the war in Afghanistan, flown to be with his new owners in the Seattle area.

Read The Seattle Times' story here.

This traumatized - yet friendly, affectionate dog will have a battle zone-free life the rest of his face licking, well fed days.

He's staying at a safe animal rescue haven for his quarantine period, then it's a short trip home to be with with his rightful owners, who eagerly anticipate giving him the tender loving care all creatures great and small deserve!

Training for life

Gifted performers and athletes often make the career-ending mistake of believing they don't need to train as hard or as much as their teammates or peers.

Without naming them, some young athletes celebrated for their exceptional talent and performance always run into a wall sooner or later - normally sooner - if they don't train, and hard.


The reason for training is not just to make the most of one's talent - but to build stamina and prevent injuries, which insures their ability to continue doing what they love for a long time.


A one-time youthful baseball phenom had a prodigious home run record. While he was happy with his performance, considering himself fortunate. Sadly, his training regimen was sporadic, leaving his teammates unhappy. They knew he would ultimately hurt the team, but said nothing because there was his current blockbuster record, wasn't there - and they couldn't argue with that.


Sure enough, soon after his career seriously stuttered because of injuries. Injuries that, most probably, could have been avoided by smart, consistent training starting at a young age.



Not focusing on off-the-field preparation is a short term gain, long term loss mentality. It does not prepare individuals for a long and achieving future, able to weather the highs and lows with equal aplomb.


Most businesses will ultimately fail for the same reason. They want to push for the highest profits NOW, rather than putting in the tough work it takes to plan for consistent and stable production, along with stable profits over the long haul.


Constantly pushing for the highest profits NOW means more and more injurious cost cuts - cutting corners, cutting experienced work staff and slashing other necessary costs that result in decreasing the quality of the product, desperate employees making desperate, cheating and often illegal decisions to save their jobs or status or bonuses.

Those at the bottom scrounge for crumbs and hang on to a ship that will ultimately sink as it currently performs; those at the top develop a something-for-nothing sense of entitlement = demanding phenomenal salaries and ridiculous bonuses for precious little contribution.

One of the - if not *the* most gifted basketball player in the history of the sport, Michael Jordan, comes to mind. Unlike the rest of the players, the lesser talented athletes, Jordan showed up early to practice - and stayed after everyone else left. To practice some more.

He was the one player who did not "need" to put in extra practice, but he did anyway. For himself. To be a better player. He was alone on the court, practicing to prepare, practicing to adjust - in order to play the same team better next time.

No doubt coaches and/or family influenced his keen work ethic and attitude as a youngster.

Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are two champion athletes with a strong work ethic whose understanding of establishing and maintaining a practice and preparation/training regimen early on has paid off. Both, incidentally, were strongly influenced by Peyton's father, former famed Saints quarterback Archie Manning.

While a young age is the best time to instill a strong, systematic work ethic, you can start all over at any age.

The key is to start where you are.

If you decide to train for a new body, remember that your age, weight and condition will tell you where you are capable of beginning. And slowly. With appropriate movement and diet, not overworking a system ill prepared for pushing yourself too hard. A friend of mine recently spent three days of agony after starting out with a New Year's resolution too harsh workout.

Remember being constant, consistent, and persistent is the key.

Do this to create a habit. Without a habit, we'll have a hit-and-miss record, whether it's watching our weight or hitting home runs. Success is actually a habit. Even when we run into pitfalls here and there, we still have a sense we can succeed in the end if we establish this habit in at least one area of our lives.

Keeping your word to yourself is the definition of success. Whatever you do, keep your expectations and goals real and within your ability to reach them. Low to start, raising the bar as you move along the scales of success. Keeping your word to yourself establishes the habit of success.

It's also a terrific way to be a good role model for children.

The "quick start" may in the end be a sabotage effort.

Whether learning to be an actor, writer, director, athlete or simply a happy person - start with what feels safe and successful, no matter how easy it may seem. One step at a time. One baby step at a time. Building on the stamina and power you gain, those steps can become leaps, those leaps can become vaults higher than you ever imagined.

The reason to start at a level at which you can keep your word to yourself is that it avoids the inner turmoil that will be the real cause of any setbacks. Once we stop keeping our word to ourselves, the mind games begin. We're failures, we're not what or who we appear to be - so we're phonies who don't want to be found out- and on it goes.

Success starts by just keeping your word to yourself - you can build on that success with more success over time because you feel good about yourself. You are authentically you, not someone you're trying to be.

I've gone through just such a process recently in two areas of my life - where I have in the past failed miserably. And so far, so good. As long as I keep my expectations low and my hopes high, it's working. I'll explain exactly what I'm referring to after I've had a record of success long enough to show a significant difference.

I share it with you today in hopes that it may help you as much as it has me!

Something else I'd like to share - Oprah.com has a program you can download called the O Dream Board; it's a method to help you visualize what you'd like your life and future to be. It's simple and easy if you have minimal computer skills. Remember you can use photos from any source since it is for your private use only and not for publication. My friends and I are enthusiastic about how cool it is and how it infuses us with great feelings about the future!

TWT Foreign distribution is underway!

Spotlight Pictures represents our film THE WHOLE TRUTH starring Elisabeth Röhm, Sean Patrick Flanery and Eric Roberts for distribution in all nations excluding the US and Canada!

We're proud to be associated with them - they're top professionals.
















You can see their trailer and artwork for TWT here.



Domestic (US and Canada) distribution begins soon!




News as it happens!

Never a failure, only a lesson

"Never a failure, only a lesson," is Rihanna's newest tattoo.

"It's OK to make mistakes," she told Ellen DeGeneres, "just don't make them twice."

Up here, Rihanna!

She says we have to take chances and be willing to make mistakes .. but learn from them and don't repeat them!

Mark my words, this artist will be around for decades to come.

She has the juice - immense talent, smarts, *strong work ethic,* risk-taker, down to earth and the former tomboy is unaffectedly gorgeous.