Authoring & Playwriting

Merry Christmas, Debbie Seagle! I plan on writing the best scripts of my career in 2026.

To ensure the 1982 anime movie "Queen Millennia" gets the wide release it deserves.

Hey, Jed. So, it's very unlikely that a publisher will look at an unagented manuscript, let alone one that's part of an existing series. Also, they won't look at it unless it's finished. I've been in the industry 26 years and it's harder than ever to break in. Also, there's no such thing as getting paid quickly. You have to negotiate a contract and it's a few weeks before you get some of the advance. They don't give you full money up front and you'll wait until the book is released for the rest (some will pay a portion when the book is accepted after edits). It can take a year or more for the book to come out. Honestly, indie will get you money faster. Sorry. If you want a traditional deal, start a new series, or take down you existing one and see if a publisher is interested in book one. I'm afraid that's a long shot as well. Wish I could give you a better answer.

You seem to think that Indie publishing will cost you money. There are services such as Draft2Digital that will, for free, publish your book online, do all the necessary formatting and make it available through many outlets. They make their money ONLY when a copy sells. I use them and am pleased. I've made very little money selling online, but have done OK selling paperbacks in person -- all printed by D2D. Other people have done EXTREMELY well selling through them. If you use them, they will let you use your Dark Jetty Publishing label.Their print on demand rates are reasonable.

One advantage to Indie publishing is not having to pay back money that was advanced to you earlier. I've two friends who were excited to get a contract and anadvance,,, and were then expected to cover buy-back costs for returned books.

If all you want is to advertise, there are podcasts that cater to authors that might be willing to interview about your writer's journey. Especially since this is book #9.

Hathryn, Fran, Thank you both so much!

Rutger Oosterhoff 2 I'll take the KitKat! Enjoy your break.

Definitely taking a break!!

Darrell Pennington Enjoy it!

I’m not at the computer but my dreams don’t take a break. Polishing ideas keep swimming in for my Operation Sea Devils sci fi script.

Nancy Wilkinson Sometimes things come better away from the keyboard I find!

Pacing pulls me out of a story sometimes, Kat Spencer. I think pacing decisions usually come from the writing, but sometimes it's out of a writer's control, like if it's a screenplay that got made and things changed during production or post-production.

Exactly Maurice Vaughan ... I have nightmares about post-production editing. - What if they leave my "darlings" out!

Thanks Maurice Vaughan - Do you have a current show or movie where that comes to mind?

Debbie Seagle Do you think we have any say at that point? I'm not sure I could hold my tongue, haha.

You're welcome, Kat Spencer. I think some of the pacing in the beginning and middle of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery could've been better, but the pacing gets better later in the film. It's a phenomenal movie!

Wow - congratulations with having your story being made into a film. That is the coolest thing and thank you for filling me in on how the journey is going... I will vicariously through you until I'm in the same boat!

Wish I had a tractor. I've got books and screenplays, but I don't have a tractor.

David Taylor I'm not a good tractor driver though. It's somewhat like having a wonderful horse you can't saddle. Books & screenplays may be the way to go!

Lauren Hackney I have no doubt you're going to be jumping the wakes in your boat beside me! (Can I ski behind yours?)

Debbie Seagle Thanks for the vote of confidence - I appreciate it!

I agree, Sara Ghadersahi. Believing in my writing talent, getting better at writing scripts, and learning more about screenwriting helped me pitch my scripts, sell short scripts, and get jobs.

Maurice Vaughan I wish you all the best and hope you make progress every day. Thank you for sharing your experience.

You're welcome, Sara Ghadersahi. Thank you. Best to you. I hope you make progress every day and have an incredible new year!

Wishing you a Happy New Year in advance!

Happy New Year, Sara Ghadersahi!

That’s a truly great question. For me, the rule is simple: my mind won’t let me give up. There are many obstacles and struggles, but my stories deserve to be told.

I write first for me. I’ve built up quite a collection of stories, have a large project on the horizon, that I’ll self produce.

I'm in the same spot . any way I can help let me know

Thank you Fares Moha @meriem @mandi @jay and @david - it's so interesting to read everyone's responses. I like how you said dreams are goals Fares!

You Nailed it Lauren Hackney - it's the love of doing it!

I feel like my obsession with scientific plausibility almost becomes a kind of mental illness for me—I spend too much time reinforcing it hh Banafsheh Esmailzadeh

Meriem Bouziani lol I feel that, it could be xD it can be hard to let go of but try it :)

Thank you, Meriem — beautifully put. I love the idea of mutual nurturing. When the work is honest, it really does feel like a living conversation rather than a one-way act of creation.

Yes, it’s a true, active conversation that only the creator truly knows, feels, and lives. Even when we share our work, no one can experience it the way we do the first time. Charmane Wedderburn

“Exactly — that first, private experience belongs only to the creator. Sharing the work invites others into it, but that initial conversation stays uniquely ours, and I think that’s part of what gives the work its pulse.’

Debbie Seagle Hahaha Wow indeed! Guess it's good you had some other eyeballs on it. I probably have, but very few of my family have read anything I've written, so it's moot HA!

Koby Nguyen I'm going to write characters (the ones I have witnessed) "like a soul in fiction" from now on! That's beautiful.

Debbie Seagle I've had to make a decision that I don't even bring up or offer or ask people I know to read stuff because I use familiar names and personalities ALL THE TIME.

Debbie — this is such an honest question, and I think many of us have been there. Drawing from real people is often where the emotional truth comes from, but there’s a moment where craft asks us to transform rather than transcribe. I’ve found that once a character moves beyond a single recognizable source and becomes a composite, the writing actually deepens — and the story gains more freedom. Your awareness here says a lot about your integrity as a storyteller.

Awwwh Thank you Charmane Wedderburn. I'm with you on: "Drawing from real people is often where the emotional truth comes from," I invent characters all the time & they become real to me, yet - I can't help it - some characters need an avatar... they are who they are, and personalities collide/merge.

GIRL, yes! This is by far the practice we PREACH on Monday's Coverage Report in the Writers' Room. We forget that the "audience" for screenplays is not the "butts in seats", but the actors, directors, cinematographers, production designers, etc. So, write for production, not perfection. We'll defer to novelists for the perfection! LOL

Karen "Kay" Ross My aim is to create characters actors want to play, design want to dress etc. And if they audience falls in love then that's an added bonus!

Lauren — this is such an important reminder. In screenwriting, momentum, clarity, and emotional truth often matter more than polish at the early stages. A script can still open doors if the core works — the refining happens through collaboration. Letting go of ‘perfect’ is often what allows the work to actually move forward.

Beautiful response Charmane Wedderburn this kind of thinking makes me want to quit publishing haha it's so freeing to hear!

I’m so glad it landed, Lauren — and please don’t quit publishing. That freedom is exactly what keeps the work alive. Perfection can wait; momentum is what opens doors.

“Meriem — I love this framing. ‘What if’ opens the door, but I’ve found it’s the follow-up questions that really deepen the world — questions like what does this cost the character, what are they avoiding, or what happens if they don’t change. Asking from different angles — emotional, moral, practical — seems to turn ideas into lived-in worlds rather than just concepts.

Yes, of course. ‘What if’ is the first step; the other questions lead to the creation of the entire world. Charmane Wedderburn

Exactly — ‘what if’ opens the door, and the questions that follow are what furnish the world. It’s in that questioning that the story starts to breathe.

What's the worst thing that could happen to my protagonist, and what's the best thing that could happen? These two questions lead me to wonder not only about the characters, but also about the plot and the protagonist's possible transformation arc.

Thank you very much—those are truly important questions for developing strong characters. I’ll definitely try them with my own characters as well Tania Cárdenas Paulsen

I think Dune’s perspective is a wise lesson for this question. We don’t have to imagine the unimaginable; we have to use the full potential of our minds to discover new perspectives. Koby Nguyen

I have dreams about the past and the future. In the past, I see different people—for example, an African woman in 1940, or a Chinese girl in 1850, and so on.

When I wake up and research what I saw, I discover that yes, someone really lived there at that exact time and place.

Sometimes I also dream about extraterrestrials and metaphysical or supernatural beings that I can't research or verify.

yeah dreams also could shape your imagination Rozbeh Rad

“Meriem — I think you’re touching something very real. No matter how far we stretch, imagination still seems to move through human perception — language, memory, emotion, pattern. But I wonder if the work isn’t to escape those limits, but to brush up against them. In trying to imagine the unimaginable, we may not create something truly ‘alien,’ but we do reveal the edges of what it means to be human — and that, in itself, feels like meaningful discovery.”

Yes, I love what you’re saying—we’re not really talking about aliens for their own sake, but using them to discover humanity in new ways Charmane Wedderburn