Still cleaning out and working on Harlem Treatment...

I should have a treatment that should have been done months ago, finished by the end of the day tomorrow. I'm cleaning out my old writing projects that I started and didn't finish. It's a huge job.

Muddled...

I've been wondering why my interest in each writing project has been somewhat muddled, meaning that I'll write a bit on this, and write a bit on that, but not really get into the weeds with anything. I think I have my solution. For the next thirty days, I'm going to do a spring cleaning. I'm going to toss the things I've stopped and started, but never finished. Next, I'm going to list out the projects that I do want to write and go back over their stories. Strengthen them. Next, I'm going to really work on the beat sheets for all of my projects, scripts and novels. By doing all of this, I think I'll be much more productive.

Further Schools for September...

Right now, I have a number of schools that may book for September: Chapman University, Michigan State, Florida A&M, Northeastern and Hampton. I'll know more in the next week or so. The one thing I do know is that I'll be traveling a lot this year.

So what's next...

With THE BESTSELLERS done, I resolved that this is going to be the final non paid version. I've been working on it since March 07, so if it's not right now, then I'll put it in the pile of "coulda been a contendas".

I'm going to start working on DAISY SUNSHINE. I have the story all worked out, mainly because it's a remake of a forty year old film. But before I do that, I think I need to clean up all of the old fits and starts. For my scripts, I need to get on a concrete ten week schedule, replicating what I did in film school.

But before I do that, I'm going to finish SLAVERYLAND, a novel I began in 2005. It's time to finish it and send to my agent. Let's see if it's any good.

Script finished...

The latest version of The Bestsellers is done. I'm going to spend all day tomorrow going through it, and then send it to a friend to get an impression. She's going to read it over the weekend.

The Bestsellers script...

I turned off my phone today and got a lot of work done on the latest version of The Bestsellers. More than likely, I'll get mighty close to finishing either late tomorrow or early Thursday. After that, I'll do a once over and shoot it to a friend to evaluate. This draft took my eight weeks to finish and it was mainly because I wanted to think about how to make it better and closer to what the ICM agent wanted. I'll work on editing, the dialogue and any scenes that need redoing. After that, I'll send it to the ICM agent to see if she likes it.

After writing the same script over and over for more than a year, I'd definitely interested in working on something different. I have various scripts in states of completion, but I'm going to do a rejiggering of where I place my priorities.

Now that I'm away from Iconoculture, I can pretty much start thinking about my script career without being distracted. I had let that slip as the job took up my time, but I need to get back tied into the mindset I had at the UCLA film school. One step in that direction is my application for the Sloan/Sundance Foundation grant. Yeah, I know I'd said I'd never enter another contest, but this one gives a stipend and access to really good screenwriters who can help with your Sloan script. I could use that in 2009.

As for books, my current book proposal is still out there. My agent emailed me to say that things look positive. The summer is a slow period for editors, but one editor called Manie to say positive things about the proposal. More than likely, we won't know if the proposal sells until September.

At long last, I'm planning the first show from my development deal with TV One. The show will go on their websites first, to see if it gains traction. After that, we're looking to put it on their network schedule.

As for their competitor, BET, I have to check on a show that I pitched them. The person I pitched, SR. VP of Development, let BET, but they told me that they're considering it. We'll see.

Still booking more dates for my Divine Nine lectures. During September, I just might be on the road for two straight weeks.

Anyway, it's 2:30am and I need some rest. I'm going to plow ahead and finish this script tomorrow, so time to go to sleep.

My Raiders...

Is this the year that I can dream? I'm not asking a lot. Just the playoffs. That's all. Just win, baby so we can go to the playoff. We're young, talented, and Al can't move fast enough to mess us up. Come on boys.

TV One...

I'm prepping to shoot my book show for TV One. I want to start shooting in September, so I've been gathering crew and everything else needed to get this done. More later.

In Orlando...

Hey all,

I'm in Orlando right now at the Delta convention. I'm having a blast signing books, but I'm tired as heck. I pretty much stayed up last night writing and by the time I got tired, it was time to get up in the morning. I finished signing books at 6pm, got to the hotel and went to sleep. It's about midnight now and I figure I'll be out in an hour.

No News from the book front...

My agent tells me this is the summer, so the process will be more protracted than normal. So no word yet about my latest book proposal.

On The Bestsellers, the idea is to write about ten pages today. I gave it a rest the past two days, not looking at it. I'm going to go back through and do a little editing and check the dialogue. But I feel pretty confident about the second act, which in most scripts is the flabby act. It's the most important act because it's where the movie actually is, but most folks don't know how to write it.

Big Week...

So, my book proposal is out there and I think my agent will be sending it to more publishers. This weekend, he attended the Harlem Book Fair, so hopefully we got a few bites there.

I'm hoping to finish my latest version of The Bestsellers and then work on honing it next week. I'm going to the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority convention in Orlando this week, and I'll be signing books left and right. I haven't been able to do that in a while and although your feet throb and your hand goes numb, it'll be fun.

In the off hours, I'm going to work on the script. This weekend, I worked on the treatment for the Sloan/Sundance competition. That is due at the beginning of September, but before then, I'm going to see if I can pitch it. If the pitch goes nowhere, then I'll go for the $25,000 prize and write a script.

Next, I'm re-reading the various fiction projects I've stopped and started over the past two years. I'm a little torn between finishing a few of them, like SLAVERYLAND, and starting new and writing a series like I want. I think I'll finish SLAVERYLAND, which has been a three year ordeal to write.

On the lecture front, I need to finish scheduling schools. My goal is to schedule at least fifteen for the fall and then book fifteen for Black History Month. Right now, starting late, I have booked four schools. So I have a way to go.

On the brandGREEK front, I have a meeting with McDonalds on Tuesday. The head of US marketing is cool AKA sorority members, so she was more than happy to get me the meeting. Now that I'm not working at Iconoculture, I'm free to pull out my contacts.

Had a few meetings last week, nothing that really groundbreaking. I do keep getting meeting with people wanting to work with brandGREEK. I'll evaluate each out as they come.

The proposal is now out...

My agent has sent my proposal out today and early responses are VERY, VERY good. More later.

Fast turnaround...

My agent likes the proposal. I have some minor edits to take care of, which I'll probably do tonight or tomorrow. I might get some sleep tonight and pass on writing on and on until the break of dawn.

Sloan Award...

In film school, I was a finalist for a screenplay competition called the Sloan Award. This competition is unique in that it wants scripts with science as an integral part of the story. For a person who is as unscientific as myself, I'm still intrigued by movies like A Beautiful Mind.

On the UCLA film school list serve, I just read that there's another Sloan/Sundance competition dealing with science/script competition open to everyone and I'm going to enter. I'd previously said that I wouldn't enter anymore competitions. But this is going to be an exception. I've had an idea for a scientific script and I'm going to write a treatment for it.

Finished Book Proposal...

I just finished my book proposal. It's the third draft, so I hope it passes my agent's muster. This bad boy came out to 47 pages, with a 25 page sample chapter. I have to admit, I haven't written anything that felt like a book in a long time. At Icono, we wrote a ton of smaller articles. They had their own look and feel, and admittedly I'm not sure I ever got it, but there's nothing like writing a book. So that's done.

Tomorrow, I'm getting on the horn to try to fill up my lecture schedule. I'm off to a good start with three done and two more on the way. But now, it's about filling up weeks. Tomorrow, I'll start at 6am and call schools in North Carolina and New York. September is the month to fill first. I'm looking to book between twenty to thirty schools for the fall, and then fully book Black History Month. I really do have fun lecturing to college students. They reaffirm my regard for black youth.

On the writing front, I have two projects. One is a treatment about Harlem and the other is my script, The Bestsellers. I'll be writing each this week.

Back to lecturing...

Hey all,

I'm now back lecturing on the Divine Nine. On the right, you'll see my schedule for 2008-09. If I'm in your town, feel free to check me out.

Back Writing at 3:30 AM

And it feels so good! I've got Morning Joe on, even though they get on my nerve, and the words are just flowing. BTW, can gas get more expensive? Okay, more later.

Book proposal...

So earlier this year, I wrote a book proposal that didn't sell. It was a book about anti social sports fan behavior and like my agent thought, it landed like a thud on the desks of editors all over New York City. All in all, that proposal was a waste of time and it was a big mistake. There's a reason why you have an agent. Listen to what the hell they're saying. So...

I'm working on another proposal. This proposal deals with hip-hop and has been a topic that my agent has been urging me to write for the past two years. I resisted, mainly because after having been a managing editor of a hip-hop magazine, I was a bit burned out on the topic. But for some reason, the topic began to make sense. I could "see" the book. And as a result, I'm listening to my agent. We've gone through two different versions of the book proposal and I'm almost done with the third. Hopefully, this will satisfy my agent and he'll shop it next week.

Next...The endless saga of The Bestsellers.

Blog check...

Alright, just want to see who's still checking in or using RSS to keep up with the blog. I may start posting more, but I need to know who's out there. So holla at me if you still care about what I'm doing with my writing.

What's been up...

I just got back from a business trip to St.Louis, where I had a great presentation with one of my colleagues. But I'm tired as hell and need to catch up with the rest of my Icono work. I'm going to see how much I can knock out tomorrow.

On the writing front, I'm about to send my agent another book proposal. Been working on it on Saturday nights, don't ask me why, but it's a pretty good one. Can't really say the topic, but it's sort of a history book.

Working on scripts, blah, blah, blah. Nothing really new on that front.

More later...