Red Light, Green Light, GO!

treat*ment [noun] the presentation or discussion of a subject.

In Hollywood 'the treatment' refers to a document written by screenwriters so that executives might have an overview of a screenplay's story, structure, and characters prior to the screenwriters going to draft. The treatment is an attempt by executives to correct, advise, change, and or doctor the screenplay prior to the writers writing and becoming so very enamored with every word they write and their characters speak so that the screenwriters never want to change a single comma thus leaving the executives with whatever drivel the screenplay writer drips out of their fingertips onto the page.

Ah, the treatment. Mike and I have been working on a new one for...a while. And somehow this little bitty treatment, 'really, guys we only need a couple of pages.' Has turned into a monster at 17 pages SINGLE spaced. Single. Now any writer knows that 17 pages single spaced...is well...it's about 40 pages double. Wow. But we've nailed it. Finally. Or pretty much. There are of course more notes. (See post from January 27 regarding notes.) But notes are to be expected. Always. But now, after oh...one, two, three, four....okay five passes, it seems everyone is onboard with this treatment; three producers and two writers.

So now: Green Light, GO!

The fun part begins. We start to write. The script. The real thing. With the scenes, and the characters and the romance and the funny bits (oh please let the bits be funny) and the drama....and the funny bits...I mentioned the funny bits right? And once we have a draft, a really solid draft we turn it in to the producers. And guess what?

Same dance different tune. More notes. More rewrites. But if we do it right? It won't just be a Green Light to write...but a Green Light to make a movie.

xoMaggie

The Next Three Chapters of Billionaire

And with one big 'woosh' from my Mac Mail the first three chapters of The Billionaire's Proud Mistress are gone. Off to London. To the wonderful editor that chose me as runner up for the Harlequin Presents Writing Contest.

And now the nail biting begins. As I prepared to press the send button my heart palpitated, my stomach lurched and my palms...well they got a teensy-weensy sweaty. Why? Because this is Harlequin. The big boy (or big girl) in romance and Harlequin Presents is the creme de la creme of category/classic romance.

Why romance? Because I love, love. In film I write romantic comedies, in television I write about women and their relationships and even my first two books had large romance elements to them. Plus I am so fond of the HEA - Happily Ever After. Life is so very tragic on it own. And please don't get me wrong, I love a good tear jerker, or literary novel or women's fiction, but I also love the stability and security that a really well written romance provides me, as a reader.

So now I wait. And cross my fingers. And continue working on the rest of the book. And the next script. And the notes from the director.

xoMaggie

Hollywood Couch & Water Tour

So more news from the Hollywood trenches. An update, if you will.

The script that we wrote, and is beloved by all that read it, is alive and kicking. In fact, one of my most favorite directors in all the world is interested in directing. (And no, I will not say their name as I am outrageously superstitious and don't want to jinx myself.) But as the director loves the project, we (Mike and me) are sitting down with the wonderful director tomorrow. For breakfast. And notes.

The director has notes. Everyone has notes. To be a professional writer in Hollywood is to realize there WILL ALWAYS BE NOTES. And it is our job, as professionals, to take them, incorporate them, and make the script better. Not to say that all notes are created equal.

They're not.

But most notes have at least a little bit of somethin' behind them. Meaning if you dig deep enough a note that appears nutty can actually point you in the direction of even a tiny crack in the script that needs a fix.

Then next week...more meetings. Many more meetings. And a treatment. For a new script.

I'll keep you posted.

xoMaggie

The Billionaire's Proud Mistress

The opening chapter in my classic romance, The Billionaire's Proud Mistress is up at iheartpresents. This is the chapter that caught the eye of the Harlequin Editors and snagged me the runners up slot in the Harlequin Presents Writing Competition. For which I am EXCEEDINGLY thankful and not just a little shocked! I am hard at work implementing Bryony's notes and fingers crossed The Billionaire's Proud Mistress will be available soon.
xo
Maggie

Yeah, yeah, I'll Take Care of It

Oh my sad tale of woe continues. I dropped off my little baby on December 31 expecting a 7 - 10 day wait. 'A little longer than usual' my genius said 'because of the holidays.' I could understand that. So when he asked 'should we ship your computer to the store or your home once it's fixed' I thought why not save a trip ship it to my house.

'Is this your address?' he asked and then rattled off my OLD address.

'No, we've moved.' I gave him the NEW address and toddled away looking longingly over my shoulder as he took my computer to the back room.

I arrived home and checked out my receipt and I noticed that at the top is my OLD adress. I immediately picked up the phone and called my Apple store. I tell them the problem and a guy quickly takes down my address and says 'yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it.'

Now there are some sentences in the English language that instill confidence that a task will be completed such as : Right Away! or Yes, madame I shall do that post haste.' But 'yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it' is not one of the sentences that instills such confidence. But I trusted that this fellow would do as he said.

So I waited.

On the 6th of January (7 days later) I decided to check on the status of my computer. I call the store where I am put on hold for a very very long time. A woman returns sounding a bit out of breath. 'Miss Marr, you need to call apple care since you chose to have your computer sent to your home.' Okay. So I call Apple Care they tell me that there is no status update other than the technicians ordered the part to make the repair. I then say, what address do you have to ship my computer to? He recites the OLD address. I give him the new one and cross my fingers. He tells me I need to call my Apple Store and update my address with them.

Been there, done that.

But I dutifully called AGAIN. I asked my Apple Store what address they had and they recite back to me my OLD address. I then asked them AGAIN to change my address.

I've reached Panic Level Yellow. My old address is an empty house because the buyer will not be moving in until February. But it is close to our NEW address so I asked my husband to check for Fed Ex tags at the house.

I called on the 10th because I am now SURE my computer will be sent to the wrong house. But the Apple Care tech informed me that no it hasn't shipped. On the 11th my Apple Care tech forwarded me a link where I can check on the status. I finally look at the link late on the 11th. There is a Fed Ex number! Yippee! The computer has been shipped. Where is it, when will it be here. I click the link.

Oh. My. Goodness.

My little baby was shipped on the 4th! Of January. After I called the Apple Store to update my address and got the 'yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it' guy and before I called Apple Care.

Guess who didn't take care of it.

Fed Ex tried to deliver my computer to my old address since the 6th. I call the Apple Store. I call Apple Care. If only the guy who had said 'yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it,' had actually taken care of it.

Today my computer is in Fort Worth. Friday it is supposed to be here in my hot little hands. We'll see.

PS Fed Ex put NO door tags on the house, we checked. Big Business failed all the way around.

xoMaggie