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WRITING PROJECTS updated August 13, 2010
Peoria and the Pit of Demons feature-length screenplay (the one I used to call Dig) Killer con men, a runaway child, an introverted cop, abused trailer trash, a cartoon dog, and an old Indian woman all battle real demons while unwittingly collaborating on a quest to discover a higher power. 107 pages BACKGROUND: This is my first feature-length screenplay. It was inspired by a short story idea that came to me during a long drive in the fall of 2008. This short story exists within Peoria and the Pit of Demons, told from one character to another intermittently throughout the script; it parallels the action and carries a significant part of the theme. NOTE: This is a script for an R-rated film. It contains violence and explicit language. Halva's Secrets novella in verse This story of a flawed hero with a supernatural power is lyrically told in 120 sestinas. On a small farm a bicycle ride away from a town of gaslights and spirits, a girl is born while her twin dies. Her mother names her “Halva” because she is only half of what should have been. At the same moment, their dog has a litter of puppies who all die but one, one who is bonded to Halva by their shared calamity. The puppy is Halva’s only friend until she discovers she can see her dead twin when the setting sun is low enough in the sky to reveal the dust and spider webs and all the other secrets of the earth. She sees other ghosts, too, and she meddles with these ghosts, for their gain, for her gain, for their scorn, for her shame, until she swears she will meddle no further. Then she finally befriends a human, a girl haunted by an even more tragic death and an evil she still lives with, and evil that can kill. Now Halva must face the gray between right and wrong, and when the rain floods the town and the storm clouds hide all the secrets, she must battle to save her friend’s life and finally learn what will make her whole. 224 pages; 36,000 words Et Two Be one-hour play Et Two Be is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays, Julius Caesar and Hamlet. This original play combines the plots of the two tragedies, and both stories unfold in the impossible juxtapositions of history and geography where Brutus (from Julius Caesar) and Hamlet are roommates. The lightness with which even the most heralded leaders take the idea of war, and the ease and earnestness with which men earn themselves dishonorable deaths, are satirized amongst a bacchanalia of conspiracy, murder, and lust for power. That’s right; it’s a comedy. 49 pages BACKGROUND: This is the second play I wrote for the theatre program I directed. It is designed for a large cast or a smaller ensemble cast where actors play multiple roles. EXCERPT: Act I, scenes 1-2 & Act II, scene 1 Portia's Contest one-hour play Portia’s Contest is an adaptation of Shakepeare’s The Merchant of Venice with an updated setting. Seamlessly combining the Bard’s own words with contemporary language, it takes place at a rural boarding high school around 1970. 45 pages BACKGROUND: I wrote this play while I was directing the theatre program at a private school. It was tailored to fit specific guidelines: one-hour show with a large cast. G Girl television pilot co-written with David Yarbrough Candace, a struggling young comedian who tours some decent comedy clubs and a lot of hell gigs, is approached, for mysterious reasons, by a secret agent to do some freelance work. The assignment involves removing an alien artifact from the office of a skeezy comedy club owner. She accomplishes her mission, but not without a fair amount of bumbling, drunkenness, and life endangerment. Now they want her to do more. 1-hour drama series MORE G GIRL: My pile of upcoming projects includes a novel starring Candace. Outside the Gate feature-length screenplay In the future where the poor live in slums surrounding a gated city and the middle class is long gone, the last honest cop has to clock forty hours inside the haven of the rich and corrupt or his son will die. Now, one case forces him to choose between two ultimate sacrifices. PROGRESS: I'm currently writing the first draft.
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