The Substitute Bride

I’m a romantic and I’ve always loved attending weddings; partly because of the festive atmosphere, the romance, and of course all the bling. And, like millions of people worldwide, I got caught up in the excitement of the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton and I was inspired to write these stories. While royals aren’t the stars of The Substitute Bride, I think you’ll enjoy these everyday characters and their engaging stories. (The Bride on the cover kind of looks like Kate, don’t you think?) Another difference is that the royal wedding went off without a glitch, whereas in these stories, things don’t quite go as expected.

The eBook is available at Smashwords.com in several formats for most e-reader devices or just to download on your computer, and also at Amazon.

What I did was sign up for the 48 Hour Film competition.  As you may know, entrants have no idea what genre they may get, nor do they have control over rules of the “city” imposed elements regarding the required character, dialogue line, and prop item. And just as the name implies, you only have 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film. From 7 pm on Friday to 7 pm on Sunday, to be exact.

A House To Herself

I signed up as a Team Leader. It was only one weekend and I could come away with a thriller.  There were a few things working against us—primarily the luck of the draw. Would I get a genre I could work with? I could make a drama/thriller, or an action/thriller, or most of the other genre combinations. Just about the only genres out of the possible 20 that wouldn’t work was comedy or musical. I didn’t want to draw either of those.  What about all the other important ingredients of a good thriller—casting, music, and setting? I got to work, doing the stuff that we are allowed to do in preparation of the 48 Hour kick-off. I assembled a team.

With the experience of my prior two short films and assisting on a feature horror film under my belt, I was all business recruiting the cast and crew, and about finding the perfect location. Flexibility is key in making a 48 Hour film. But the one thing I wanted set in stone was the location. That way I could spend my time and creativity on the important things.

Of all the things a director does to bring a script to life, and there are literally hundreds of things, I found the three key elements are: story—story—story. No surprise there. But I only had a few hours on Friday night to write the script. It certainly wasn’t going to win any Oscars.  On the other hand, I learned there are other important factors in making a film in a weekend: a phenomenal cast, a resourceful crew, and the ability to go without sleep.

Making a movie is much more collaborative than writing a book. Even though I was also the director, I couldn’t possibly have the final say in every detail (not in a 48-hour film).  I wanted my team to use their creativity, too, and I think the end product turned out pretty good.  We had a blast making ‘A House to Herself’ and I hope it gives you a shiver or two.

See the short film on my web site: Mi Casa Su Casa Productions and read the full three-part blog entries.

R.L. Stine

VMJ: It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Stine.

RLS: You can call me Bob.

VMJ: Thank you, Bob. I know your books are popular around the world and have been translated into 35 languages. But how many books have you written?

RLS: 330 that includes Goosebumps, Fear Street, and other book series.

VMJ: Wow! And how many copies of your books have been sold?

RLS: Over 400 million.

VMJ: Amazing. That’s just phenomenal.

RLS: (blushes) Thanks.

VMJ: Let’s back up for a minute. Where did you attend college?

RLS: Ohio State. I graduated with a B.A. in English then was a social studies teacher before I moved to New York to become a writer. Actually, I had a magazine background when I arrived in New York.

VMJ: So you moved and became an overnight success in New York?

RLS: It took me 20 years to become an overnight success. I wrote joke books, educational books and a humor magazine for Scholastic.

VMJ: What was your first novel?

RLS: My first novel was a Young Adult book in 1986 called Blind Date. We launched the Fear Street series in 1989. That was about the time my son was a teenager.

VMJ: Hmm… I see an interesting correlation there, Bob.

RLS: Uh-huh. You have teenagers?

VMJ: I do. When did Goosebumps come about?

RLS: 1992

VMJ: How many books do you write a year?

RLS: At this time, maybe seven books a year. I used to write 24 a year, so that’s a relaxing schedule.

VMJ: Holy moly. That’s scary. How was that possible?

RLS: I’m lucky never to have writers block. I create outlines and character sketches before I begin each book.

VMJ: Aha—the secret to your success revealed! Are you only writing Goosebumps books now?

RLS: Six Goosebumps and other projects.

VMJ: And you also write adult thrillers?

RLS: Three so far: Superstitious, The Sitter, and Eye Candy. The Sitter is currently being developed for a feature film and in July of 2012; I’ll have a new adult horror novel published.

VMJ: I’m still awed by the number of books you write year after year.

RLS: It’s discipline. Also, I love it.

VMJ: And that discipline is no doubt responsible for the impressive awards you’ve accumulated.  Let’s see, you’ve won the Nickelodeon Children’s Choice Award, the American Library Association Award, and the International Thriller Writers’ Thrillermaster Award.

RLS: Not bad for a kid who used to type out jokes on a typewriter and hand them out to classmates in elementary school, wouldn’t you say?

VMJ: Not bad at all, Bob. But can you set the record straight? I heard a rumor that you started out your writing career in New York by writing fake interviews for fan magazines. Is that true?

RLS: Uh, I hear my wife, Jane, calling me from the kitchen. You’ll have to leave now. Bye!

The artifacts selected for the capsule impressed me. Everything was “so” Los Gatos. For example, a bottle of wine donated by Fleming Jenkins Vineyard (Peggy Fleming’s Los Gatos vineyard); A red Netflix envelope, containing the DVD of The Social Network; An Apple iPad (Los Gatos is home to Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak and Netflix headquarters); Menus from local restaurants; and scrolls with personal notes from town residents along with messages from 50 selected community leaders—my message included.

I had a blast, as you can see from the above photos.

Do I talk about my upcoming debut novel being released in hardcover? Certainly hardcover books will be relics in 76 years. Readers will likely use some sort of reading device far more advanced than our e-book readers and they won’t understand what a huge deal it is for authors to see their words in print. Will they think I’m crazy if I say I spent 20 years learning the craft of writing so that a publisher will buy and publish my book and pay me a fraction of what the book earns? I’m sure future writers will simply self-publish when their works are complete. Do I talk about blogging and how I toiled to drive traffic to my website and pursued comments to my blog posts since that helps writers become ‘discoverable’? Would they ‘get it’ if I explain that writers strive to be at the top of the rankings when someone ‘Google’s’ their name? Will Google be around in 2087? What about the other social media tools we writers of today spin our wheels engaging in—hoping to gain followers, friends, fans, and of course readers? If I describe how writers eagerly anticipated booksignings in bookstores, could they visualize it? Surely these will all be foreign concepts in 76 years.

Even if the readers don’t understand what a book, blog, website, or Google is, I think they should know how we writers sought to connect with people, not just audiences for our book, but people in general. We made every effort to share our ideas, stories, and experiences. We didn’t want our words to languish on a shelf. I guess ultimately we just want our words to have relevance. All the above activities were not the end goal. The goal was to touch readers and make a difference in their lives. I imagine that writers will always seek to do the same regardless of the year. Whether informing, inspiring, or entertaining, we want our writings to have mattered.

Okay, now I think I know what I’ll say.

If you were given the opportunity to make history with your words—what would you write?

Time Capsule Ceremony

I’ve been invited to be a part of history.

The Town of Los Gatos is holding a Time Capsule Ceremony this week.  Construction of a new town library is underway and the time capsule will be buried in the garden terrace. Instructions will inform residents of the future to unearth the time capsule in 76 years, on the town’s bicentennial. I’ve been asked to submit a message about my life today, a message that will be read by people living in a completely different world.

A collection of photos, articles, and memorabilia will be placed in the capsule, along with an iPad loaded with interesting information that tells the story of daily life at this moment in time (and an iPad recharger of course). My personal note will be one among many others of those who were invited to submit. This is quite an honor and I’m stressing over what to write about. Several thoughts come to mind.

Trailer Park Diva

AOL has published my story about how the bad economy has turned my world ‘upside-down’ and how a diva like me ended up in a trailer park. Located in the ‘It Happened To Me’ section, you can read the full story here: My Daily.

Can a woman still be a diva if she lives in a trailer park? Follow the continuing journey on my just launched blog at TrailerParkDiva.com

It’ll brighten your spirits and show you that just because there’s a recession doesn’t mean you can’t look good, feel good, and have fun.

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life, she will choose to save the infant’s life without even considering if there are men on base.

~Dave Barry