Interview with Writer & Filmmaker Marjory E. Leposky

Tell us about your various writing projects. What inspires you? 

To date I have written two feature films: Reasons? and Getting To The Game; two TV pilots, Gables and Who's Jared; one short film, La Fuente (The Fountain); and one animation script/children's book about a cat named Mr. Grumbles. Reasons?, Getting To The Game, and Gables -- the first three -- were written from anger over what was going on in my life and my world at the time. Who's Jared, La Fuente (The Fountain), and Mr. Grumbles were written a few years later, inspired by ideas that came to me and events that happened to me. For me personally, it is a lot easier to research and write from anger than from inspiration.

What made you want to become a writer? 

My parents are non-fiction writers. I never really had plans to become a writer, too. I'm really a filmmaker. I've been told that if I want to move up in my career, I should write my own projects -- but no one explained what went into getting them made: finding an agent or publisher, and raising the necessary funds. So I have had to learn all that myself.

Can you give us a peek into your writing schedule?  

I have not written a script in the past five years. I have spent this time grant-writing and fund-raising, looking for an agent and publisher, and trying to decide if I want to self-publish Mr. Grumbles, which would lead to more grant-writing and fund-raising.

When I am in a writing mode. I just sit down with good music on, and I write in Finaldraft. I do not write the old-school way with cards and strips. I might write an outline. Most of my characters just talk to me, and I write. I find that most of the time I have to do research on the subject I am writing about. I do interviews and "hang out" with the subject.

What is your biggest advice for people who want to write films? 

Don't waste your time and money on those $1,000-dollar writing programs. With screenwriting you need to know the rules before you start to change or break the rules of screenwriting. Do take a screenwriting class at either a community college or university.

What are your favorite children's books? 

The Giving Tree and other poem books by Shel Silverstein; and Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent.

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Start with writing from the heart. Then you need to do re-writes, which no one wants to do. Also, always have a good proofreader.

Connect with Marjory at the links below: 

• Chatterbox Productions Web Site: http://www.ampersandcom.com/chatterbox/ 
• La Fuente (The Fountain) Funding: http://www.ampersandcom.com/chatterbox/FundingFountain.html 
• Funding for Mr. Grumbles: http://www.ampersandcom.com/chatterbox/FundingGrumbles.html 
• Facebook Page for Mr. Grumbles: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Grumbles/744246918938363

Interview with best-selling author & screenwriter William Martin

I am so thrilled and honored to have William Martin as a guest on the blog today! He has written ten novels, an award winning PBS documentary, book reviews, magazine articles, and one of what he calls "the cheesiest horror movies of all time." His first novel, Back Bay, spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List and introduced Boston treasure hunter Peter Fallon. Since then he has been telling the American story, from the Pilgrims to 9/11. His tenth novel -- and fifth to feature Peter Fallon -- is The Lincoln Letter which was published by Forge this past August. In 2005 he received the prestigious New England Book Award, given "to an author whose body of work stands as a significant contribution to the culture of the region." There are now over three million copies of his books in print. He has three grown children and lives near Boston with his wife. He says, "I am fortunate to have lasted for more than three decades in a very unpredictable business." I feel very grateful that he took the time to answer some questions for us about his latest book and his writing process. Enjoy! 

Tell us about your latest book The Lincoln Letter. 

Like all the Peter Fallon novels, it is a history/mystery. Abraham Lincoln loses his diary in the spring of 1862. What was in it? Who got hold of it? And where is it today? Like its predecessors, it's two stories in one. Peter and Evangeline set out to find the diary in the modern day. Their search takes them into the Civil War history of Washington DC. And as they search history, it comes to life. Peter was one of the first of a fictional type that has become quite popular of late: the smart guy searching for the lost historical artifact that can change the world. What separates the Peter Fallon books from the others, however, is that the reader gets to live the history. The Lincoln Letter is both a modern suspense thriller and a historical novel set in gritty, muddy, conspiracy-filled Civil War Washington.

How does writing a novel compare to writing a screenplay?

Much more freedom with a novel. A screenplay should only be about 120 pages, tops. A novel can be however long it takes to tell the story. A screenwriter is an architect, drawing a blueprint for a movie. A novelist is director, writer, actor, cinematographer, set designer, special effects coordinator... Novelists have more freedom to write what they want and usually fewer people offering opinions when they are done.

How did you get started writing? 

I went to LA to study moviemaking. I figured out that the quickest way into the business was to write screenplays. I wrote several that I could not sell (the fate of most screenplays). A producer said, "The way you write, you should write a novel." So I wrote Back Bay and it became a best seller.

What is your writing process like? How do you balance writing and research? 

I write on a computer, like most people these days. I used to write longhand on looseleaf, then type it all myself. That was a killer. The computer can't write for you. I mean, how many of the great novels were written on computers? But it sure can make the whole process easier. As far as balancing writing and research, there really is no balance. You just do what you have to to give the story and its characters the truth that they need.

How do you get ideas for what you write? 

I don't know is the honest answer. But... I read, I ruminate, I talk to my agent and editor. And once I'm writing, I often let history give me my big scenes, like, say, the Battle of Anteitam or the assassination in Ford's Theatre.

What is your biggest advice for young people reaching for their dreams?

If your dream is to write, WRITE. Don't dream about it. Many people will tell you the odds against you, but you have to believe in yourself.

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Samuel Johnson said, "No man but a blockhead ever wrote for anything but money." And yes, I write to pay the bills, to put three kids through college, to buy a few nice wines, to do some traveling. But there are easier ways to make money. Like most writers, I also write for fulfillment, for the fun of traveling to different places or times to meet, in my imagination, people whom I would never encounter in real life. I write to learn and perhaps to teach. I write to get myself through the day and to help others get through the night. I write because I hate traffic and would kill myself if I had to commute beyond my attic office. And I write because I love knowing that somewhere, right now, someone is reading one of my books and seeing the world through my eyes.

Connect with William Martin:

• Website
• Facebook page
• Buy The Lincoln Letter on Amazon