Tag Archives: success

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35 Days to 35: So many, many shades of grey

Yesterday, I said that it was the most boring entry thus far on my journey blogging about the creation and distribution of our book.

I was wrong.

Today. Today is bound to be the most boring. It was all shades of grey. Not the naughty kind, the literal kind that come from turning about a billion color photographs taken during the filming of No Lost Cause to ‘black and white’ or, more accurately, ‘grey and less grey.’

First, I had to locate all the original photos used in the book. Thankfully for present me, past me had sorted most of those away in a folder. For the benefit of future me, present me then re-saved all those same photos in a different folder, optimistically labeled ‘black and white.’
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MY MOVIE IS ON TELEVISION!!

I interrupt this ongoing blog about the book to say:

MY MOVIE IS ON TELEVISION RIGHT NOW.

I’ve heard it’s been on the Parables Network before, but tonight it’s on Directv on the upliftv channel. (379 for those who have it) My cousin was kind enough to let me know it came on at nine. She also took some screen shots for me.

Thank you, Stacie, for absolutely MAKING my night.

Guys, this never, ever gets old, or less exciting than before. It’s incredible. What a gift of encouragement (straight from God) while working on this book.

Never give up, friends!! I’m going to go squeal some more now. 😀

Photo by Stacie Stivers

Photos by Stacie Stivers

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35 Days to 35: Greyscale Gloom

In possibly my most boring blog post yet, I will update you on the book accomplishments for today. For today, all I did was book.

I finished two of the four items on my to do list from yesterday. Originally, I wanted all of the photos in the book to be in color, but upon investigation on CreateSpace (our likely venue for publishing) I learned just how expensive that luxury would be. So, I had to take my Mom’s adorable, brightly colored dinosaurs and turn their green scales grey. It felt criminal to do so. It’s just not the same. 😦

corner veloci_edited-colorcorner veloci_edited-1

She proposed I name him Arthur (or Author.) I like Veloci. Or Obby, for Obstacle, which is what he represents in the book. He is the illustration of the obstacles we had to overcome when completing our film.

What do you think? Any other ideas? Better ones?
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35 Days to 35: Weekend Plans

It is February 6th, so that means I have twenty more days to try and finish up the book. On one hand, I feel like that is plenty of time, but on the other, oh so familiar worried hand, that doesn’t seem like time enough. Especially given my work and theatre schedule during the week.

Therefore, my immediate weekend plans, beginning right now, are to work on the book. Specifically, I want to:

-Insert the new (utterly adorable) illustrations my Mom completed and turned in.
-Begin working on the edits that Rachael found when reading through the manuscript.
-Do some revisions of my own and update some of the information.
-Take the fantastic advice given me about my book cover design, tweak and refine it.

I’m putting my plans on here to force some accountability to myself. The weather is supposed to be lovely this weekend, and while I’d like to be outside enjoying it, there is much to be accomplished. That is part of the price you pay for ardently pursuing a goal. Perhaps I will compromise and open a window!

Sometimes I get cranky and feel like I’d rather go watch a movie, but then I remember that no one else is going to do this for me, and putting it off doesn’t make it happen. I have to make it happen, and the ‘sooner I get to it, the sooner I can get through it.’

….

Hmmm…it appears that’s the best encouragement I have for you today. Something that reads like it would be better on a tee-shirt. :/

We’re all allowed off days, right?

Right at 35 days before my 35th birthday, Rachael and I found out that a book we wrote about our experience making our first film “No Lost Cause,” was being returned to us by the publisher after a year of waiting for it to be printed. Instead of wallowing in our collective misery, I committed to blogging every day while I searched for ways to overcome this perceived rejection and obstacle to our goal. I currently also have about three other projects brewing at the same time, and write about the progress of each of them. This is part of that series.

Read the first entry here: https://ashleyraymerbrown.com/2015/01/23/35-days-to-35-dealing-with-rejection/

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35 Days to 35: Harper Lee Prints Again

 

“Stand up, Jean Louise. Your father’s passin’.”

Atticus Finch is number one on my list of perfect fictional fathers. When I wrote the script for The Hepburn Girls, I wasn’t sure how to write an older, male, father figure for the main character, Katherine. He needed to be someone who dispensed wisdom with a firm, yet kind demeanor. Even though they aren’t related by blood, he effectively has a heavy hand in raising her, and shaping her future. I just wasn’t sure how to approach it until…Atticus. I just thought to myself, “How would Atticus handle this situation? ” That was the foundation that I built an entire character on.

Today, news was released that Harper Lee, Atticus’ creator, and author of To Kill a Mockingbird is finally, finally publishing her second book. Really her first book. According to reports, she wrote Go, Set a Watchman first, with a grown up Scout and older Atticus.  During flashbacks in the novel, her publisher was enchanted by the young version of Scout, and encouraged Lee to write a prequel.
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35 Days to 35: Rehearsing Joy

 

Today, I took a break from the book. I felt like this weekend we spent enough time together, so I took care of small projects and mostly looked forward to tonight. For tonight, we began the six week rehearsal process that will bring It’s Complicated: An Evening of One Acts About Life, Love and Other Important Things from ‘page to the stage.’

Because this kind of show gives us the freedom to do so, we (Russell, Jill and I, who are sharing directing duties) have broken things down into three groups.
Group A rehearsed today, Group B tomorrow, and Group C on Thursday. We arranged it so that actors who are driving longer distances have all their material rehearsed on one night, making the process a smoother and more enjoyable one during these chilly winter nights. If people are donating their time, we certainly want to do our very best to show them we value that time.
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35 Days to 35: Super Book

 

After the nail biting incident last night, I went to my room with a queasy stomach and a headache, drained and frustrated by the lack of ‘fast enough’ results on designing the book cover. I am decidedly from the “I want it now” generation.  Last night, I dreamed about the book cover and woke up still feeling exhausted and physically ill.

This. This is what I do best. Worrying. Did it help the book cover magically materialize? No. All it did was make me feel sick, cranky, and distracted.

Today, I sat down again and decided to do some research. While most of America is gearing up to watch the Super Bowl, I was determined that Sunday would come to a close without a book cover.
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35 Days to 35: Back Story

If I’m chewing my fingernails, it must be a day for design. I had the bad habit of chewing my nails when I was a child, but managed to break myself of it long ago. That is, unless I’m designing something. As I stated before, I don’t have my Mom’s talent for illustration. I have to make do with a limited computer program and a stunted artistic mind. I started off today with nice long(ish) nails. No longer.
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35 Days to 35: My Mother, the Artist

My Mom Rebekah is a woman of many, many talents, although she wouldn’t see it that way. She’s recently added ‘published author’ to that repertoire. One of my favorite talents of hers is her artistic ability. I can remember growing up and being in awe of her ability to make things come to life. Norman Rockwell is my favorite male painter, but without a trace of hesitation, I can say that she is my favorite female painter.

She imbues every painting with so much life, light and color. To me, she has an instantly recognizable style. They seem to leap off the canvas. She’s also tried her hand (successfully, in my opinion) to wood carving, ornaments, gourds, pumpkins, and the like. While not having a lick of this kind of talent myself, I do enjoy bragging about hers.
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35 Days to 35: It’s Complicated

An Evening of One Acts. That sounds so simple. So straightforward. So….boring.

If a community theatre is putting on a show that their potential audience hasn’t heard of before, which we are, because four of the five are written by me, and two of the four I wrote specifically for this show, then the title is pretty important. It’s like an outfit you pick out for a first date. It’s the first thing your audience will see, and often a snap judgment will be made based on that title. I want the reaction to be more, “Ooo! That sounds good! I think I’ll go see it”  rather than, “Yawn. I’d rather stay home and watch a Netflix marathon of Friends. 

An Evening of One Acts just wasn’t cutting it. Based on that title, I didn’t even want to come see the show. I was racking my brain trying to come up with a unifying theme for the subject matter. There was so many themes to choose from: Love, Life, Literature, Friendship, History, Second Chances, Second Loves, Second Thoughts…

SO MANY COMPLICATED THINGS.
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