The writing bug bit early...

I was scratching my own little made-up tales on my father’s bills before I understood the concepts of “no” and “that’s a permanent marker!” They were more hieroglyphics than anything else – a secret language I’d created because I was having difficultly learning to write English (learning disabilities, what can you do?) The key element in all those early stories? Explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. (When you’re 4, explosions are the epitome of conflict.)

By age 8, I'd moved on to filling stacks of notebook-paper with exuberant tales of world saving, blatantly ripped off from Star Wars and James Bond. There were still lots of explosions in those stories too, but by then I’d learned that the essence of good writing was subtlety, so I changed all the big booms to little ones.

As a teenager, I was told repeatedly (and loudly) that being a writer wasn’t a “possibility.” No money it, you see. “Go to Business School like everyone else.” So after taking to heart all that advice, I went ahead and got my Masters in Counseling from George Mason University, circa 1993. I then embarked on a 12-year mission, seeking out diverse populations from Gay teens to mentally ill adults to abused children and boldly did whatever I could to make their lives better. (Yes, yes. I watch Star Trek too.)

I was also writing the most cinematic case notes and court reports I could possibly get away with. (ZOOM IN on SCURRYING RATS! SOUND of doors slamming! FOG as the Social Worker ascends the RICKETY STEPS !) Judges on a good day are far tougher critics than Ebert on a bad.

After burning out (twice), I finally had a life-changing incident involving a pen and pistol: I had a pen, my client had a pistol. I figured that life was more about silly dreams than eulogies so I decided to go for broke (and with a mortgage and car payment that’s not just a literary flourish) and chase after that youthful fire.

My script Paris, about an ass-kicking private detective who’s also gay, showed me a writing career just might be possible by achieving semi-finalist status in the 2003 Scriptapalooza screenplay competition, placing as a top 100 finalist in the 2004 Project: Greenlight contest, and landing me a spot 2006 MFA Screenwriting Class at UCLA.

And interestingly enough, that script had explosions too.