Today's Topic: Self Publishing

Today's interview is with Tina Marie Lockhart, Self Published Author, Library Assistant at the New Jersey State Library and member of the Hyacinth Organization.
Ms. Lockhart is author of the novel....Ten Houses Filled With Leaves. 
 Summary of the novel: ("Part of a child's maturation is forming a personal identity and, after deciding what kind of person they want to be, coming to grips with reality both from within and without as they make their way in the world. Meet Maisi Waverly, a young Black girl who is lighter skinned than most of her counterparts as well as exotically attractive, garnering the attention of both adults and her peers, although sometimes this attention is unwarrantedly negative. Nevertheless, Maisi seems to form friendships with the most unlikely of people, primarily because she is quite secure with herself and her identity. She refuses to be a party to society's forms of suppression and flaunts her independent and free spirit as she sticks to her morals and takes care of business. From the lives of babes, we can learn so much about ourselves and becoming comfortable in the skin in which we were born.")
MLAC: How has your childhood influenced your work?
TML: I've seen a lot of things in my life! I had a strict upbringing...my parents wouldn't let me go anywhere without supervision. But when I was older, and on my own, I had a lot of life experiences that made me grow into the person I am now. Sometimes when you're sheltered, you're scared to show your true self and you keep things private. This book is a way to express my true feelings. It made me become more outspoken. I've been writing since I was 5 or 6 years old...telling stories and writing poetry. I wrote Cheers for the Cheer Leading Squad. Many of my works that I have produced were kept secret because I didn't want people to figure out anything about me. But now I have become much stronger through some of the tragedies I've encountered and want to express myself through my work. And maybe these can inspire, entertain and educate people.
MLAC: Who are the authors that have inspired you?
TML: There were some children's books that have inspired me, such as the Funny Guy ...A different period in time that my grandmother would speak about. The main character was an outcast who had hardly any friends. I related to this character because when we were growing up, we moved around a lot and we weren't able to hold onto friendships for a long period of time.
MLAC: Can you tell us what drove you to write a book?
TML: I wanted to write a book because I wanted to educate myself through the process of becoming an author...and I had a story to tell.
MLAC: What are some of your previous works?
TML: I wrote a play for the Newark, NJ School System and the South Jersey School System. My play is about a son who is on drugs...how parents are in denial...and are enablers. The parents actually need to go to counseling, too. I know people who have experienced this ordeal and how it affects the whole family.
MLAC: What are you currently working on?
TML: I am writing a documentary about my father's life and his medical conditions and how it changed everything. It made me look at hospitals differently. To write this piece, I had to learn all about medical procedures and the outcomes. This documentary is a closure to what happened to my father when he entered the hospital. I had waited 5 years before I really started to think about it and put words on paper. I went through so many emotions, such as anger, sadness, disappointment and hurt.
MLAC: Please explain some of the challenges and the process for self publishing a book.
TML: I thought about the discriminatory situations and language...and should I include this in the book? I realized that the story could not be told without some of the graphic material because of the type of situations that the main character lived through. When I was writing the book, I had to become all of the characters to decipher the outcomes of the situations. The first step toward publishing was to send my work to the Library of Congress for a copyright. For publishing the book, I reviewed several companies and decided on Dorrance Publishing Company which is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had several payment options and ways to advertise. Dorrance had hands on assistance for production, promotion and distribution.
To purchase the novel Ten Houses Filled With Leaves written by Tina Marie Lockhart go to www.amazon.com  or   www.barnes and noble.com.

Today's Topic: Movie Making and Script Writing

Today's interview is with Paul Brenner, MFA, film maker, script writer, Director of Audio Visual Services at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The University of New York. His focus was English Studies and Film Studies at the College of NJ, Rutgers and USC and then on to Northwestern and New York University for Graduate School.

MLAC: Can you tell us about some of your earlier creative activities?

PB: I started making movies in Jr. High School ...Super 8 films...one starred my dog and was called Bozo the Magnificent. Another was a film with my sister called Death in the Snow. Then I got more serious and started making films at TSC. One film that got me into USC was called Armadillo Souffle. This film was a parody of Invasions of the Body Snatchers. One morning the main character wakes up and everyone looks like Groucho Marx and starts to chase him. The film culminates with the main character (Ed Holub) jumping to his death from an open window. USC loved it. I'm not sure if they loved the film or the concept of Ed jumped to his death out of an open window. Actually, USC liked the way the shots were composed, the editing, etc.

MLAC: Was that the movie you asked me to be in on that rainy, spring day at TSC as I trudged through the mud pits to my car....and you and Ed Holub were about to enter the mud pits? I turned you down because I was having a bad hair day and didn't want my straight hair to get any straighter. Now I could kick myself because... I could have been in the movies!

PB: Yes. You could have been the next Pia Zadora.

MLAC: Back to your earlier creative activities.

PB: At Rutgers, I got more involved in film criticism and writing about film. I was the film critic for the Rutgers Newspaper, The Daily Targem.

I got accepted in 1974 to USC and went there for a couple of years. I mostly wrote scripts and worked collaboratively with teams of students on films.

I went to Northwestern University for Graduate School and majored in TV-Radio-Film mostly film history and theory and I made films because at Northwestern you could study film history and production in the same department. Several of my films were shown at festivals at the Art Institute of Chicago. Here I ran the film society, called the A & O Film Board. The society ran films 7 days a week with midnight showings on the weekends with special guests.

MLAC: You've had some very interesting experiences at some of the universities!

PB: At Northwestern University, a friend and I had to pick up Dennis Hopper from the O'Hare Airport for a special screening of THE LAST MOVIE, which Hopper wrote, directed and starred in. It was his first film after EASY RIDER. After the movie was shown we then introduced him to the students. They were not happy with the film, so they started to criticize the film...they were very angry about it. After the film a Question and Answer period took place and he didn't like some of the questions. It wasn't like Inside the Actor's Studio. It was more like Inside the Psycho Ward at Bellevue. A snarky, elitist film student disparaged the film as a piece of pompous drivel…some kind of intellectual diatribe. Hopper's film WAS very experimental and very alienating and some folks in the audience couldn't comprehend the fact that there was no narrative. Hopper had just returned from shooting APOCALYPSE NOW and he was super-paranoid.

Hopper reacted psychotically. He lunged over the footlights at his student critic and shouted “What do you mean by that?” and he revealed a gun stuck in his belt! I don't know if the gun was loaded or not, but I was, after Hopper got back on the plane.

At USC, there was a special retrospective of Orson Welles films with Welles himself in attendance.. At the end of the screening my friend Ken and I were supposed to sneak him out of the theater and to his car without Orson Welles fans seeing him.. We were using a golf cart as a means of transportation to Welles's car with Ken and I in the front of the cart and Orson in the back. It was slow going with Welles's feet dangling from the cart and he was spotted by the crowd, who started pursuing the electric cart. Welles started sweating and the mob kept getting closer. As his legs bounced around as we bounded over potholes, Welles would crane his head in our direction and in a booming Shakespearean voice he yelled, “ Faster, faster you b.......!”

MLAC: What are some of your professional writing assignments?

PB: I have written for a number of books and conducted research for others. The books I've written for have included two editions of The Motion Picture Guide, The Encyclopedia of Film and The Movie Guide. I researched and/or conducted interviews for Close-Ups: The Movie Star Book, Women and the Cinema, Cult Baseball Players, We Played The Game, Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero (published last year), and Gotham (which won the Pulitzer Prize). I have also written many film reviews for a number of websites including America Online's first movie review site, Critic's Choice, MediaScreen, and FilmCritc.com.

MLAC: How do you find writing jobs?
PB: Finding writing gigs is like fishing. You just have to target certain editors and pitch yourself and offer samples of your work or links to your work. The more gigs you get, the more you add to your resume and the more you add to your resume the more editors will pay attention to you.
You can also get work by making contacts. For example, Paul Kelly with whom I co-wrote Fermented and My Day is a playwright who also works at John Jay College and we got together to write. So too with another script I wrote called Betrayal, with Kathy Willis, who was the producer of a television show, Criminal Justice Matters, that I direct. And the author of Gotham, Mike Wallace, I also knew from the college. Danny Peary, with whom I worked on the baseball books, I knew because his brother was a professor of mine at Rutgers, with whom I worked on several film books and Danny and I kept in touch through the years.

MLAC: Any memorable movies that you've worked on?

PB: In 1994/1995 I worked with director Ken Kwapis on the film Dunston Checks In which featured Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway, and Paul Reubens. I was working at 20th Century Fox and my job was to write sight gags and jokes for the film. I was working with a story board artist to construct comedy sequences and the sight gags. The film was put on hold because of Rupert Murdoch who had taken over the studio and shut down production of everything and funneled all the money into The Power Rangers Movie, shot in Australia. I had already uprooted my family and quit my job, and my bank account was flatlining. With film on hold for several months I had to head back to New York and get my old job back. And the day I finally wrangled an apartment in Plainsboro, then they green lighted the film. It was shot, they used my gags but it didn't help the film at all. The film tanked at the box office. Jason Alexander went back to Seinfeld, Faye Dunaway went back into seclusion and Paul Reubens ended up hosting a game show.

MLAC: What project are you currently working on?

PB: My current solo project is called The Big Igloo which is based on the 1922 Robert Flaherty documentary Nanook of the North. Nanook of the North is generally considered the first documentary feature and it deals with an Inuit family Canada's Far North. Particularly a famed Inuit hunter Nanook. Well, the film was a big hit when it was released in the United States and Nanook became a cultural celebrity. The Big Igloo is a satire film is about how William Fox brought Nanook to NY for publicity and how Nanook became dazzled by the city and couldn't go back to his old way of life. In reality, Nanook went back to the Arctic wastelands and he and his family starved to death. But my script is about Nanook in NY. In my version, Nanook becomes a drunken lout who ends up losing it all and going back home where he can no longer fit in and can't adjust. A cynical take about what happens to an innocent when exposed to a modicum of fame. It's a laugh riot.

For a future project, I have written hundreds a film reviews as an online film critic and I'd like to collect all of my movie reviews and create a website or blog featuring the reviews and new criticism.

MLAC: Do you have any advice for film makers, script writers etc.?

PB: I agree with John Cassavetes. I met him one time during a screening of his film A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE and he told me that if you want to be a film maker or any type of creative writer, that has to be your main focus. Once you have an idea, see it through to the end. Don't solicit opinions from friends and relatives. Be true to yourself and your ideas. Cassavetes followed his own advice ...he would mortgage his house to complete a film.

My advice is...you have to make time each day for writing and you have to have a passion for what you do!

If I had had any sense, I would have worked in a Video Store like Quentin Tarantino. I would have been able to make more movies that way instead of getting a degree and making loan payments until I am 90. Thirty years ago, before video, it was very expensive making films. Today you can buy a flash card and film for 6 hours, then weed out what you don't want. A sloppy way to put together a movie. When you shot with actual film, you had to think every shot through since film costs money. It forced you to get a handle on what you wanted to shoot.

Paul's film reviews as a writer for FilmCritic.com on AMC:http://www.facebook.com/l/mAQHQj5n6AQH7iSkXQKYHHBCn42TAgBEhrgBxoHRa1_4QLQ/www.amctv.com/search%23t=ALL&q=paul+brennerhttp://www.facebook.com/l/mAQHQj5n6AQH7iSkXQKYHHBCn42TAgBEhrgBxoHRa1_4QLQ/www.amctv.com/search%23t=ALL&q=paul+brenner

For the Fermented film in which Paul co-wrote the screenplay:
http://www.facebook.com/l/TAQGSUFxfAQF7F7qv6ksFeuCPouHHyghDLYERRZjaR_0c7w/www.amazon.com/Fermented/dp/B007GUHOFGhttp://www.facebook.com/l/TAQGSUFxfAQF7F7qv6ksFeuCPouHHyghDLYERRZjaR_0c7w/www.amazon.com/Fermented/dp/B007GUHOFGFor screenplay formatting, he uses a program called Final Draft.

Paul Brenner's Movie Reviews and Previews-Rotten Tomatoes:http://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/paul-brenner/

Movie reviews, previews, and articles from Paul Brenner on Rotten Tomatoes! Paul Brenner best and worst review.

Paul Brenner's email: pbrenner7@comcast.net

Today's Topic: Graphic Memoirs and Cartoon Strips

  Written by Bart Davidoff

                       Illustrated by Maria Madonna Davidoff

   Maria Madonna Davidoff

Little Mado Comic Blog

Today's interview is with Maria Madonna Davidoff, graphic novelist, graphic designer, writer, cartoonist, painter, crafter and blogger who has a degree in Fine Arts  (Visual Communications) from the University of Phillipines.

MLAC: You have quite an unusual and very interesting background!

MMD: I was born in the Philippines but have lived in Switzerland, Singapore and the USA. I am now based in New Jersey. I come from a family of writers. My grandfather (Juan L. Arsciwals) was ahead of his time because he was profeminist. He wrote books about women...not in the way they were perceived at that time. My mother, Luzviminda Arsciwals, was a screenwriter for a popular TV Series, and a journalist for a Phillipine newspaper called Taliba. She wrote in Tagalog Language which is the National Language of the Phillipines. My brother, Jolan Angeles, is a playwright who won a major award for a screenplay entitled "Kastilyo ni Kardo". My father was an architect turned businessman. All of my life I've been working as an illustrator/graphic designer for several publishers and have been influenced in a visual sense. I got the visual from my dad and my interest in the literary from my mother.

MLAC: What was the onset of your career?

MMD: Right after I graduated  from the University of the Phillipines, my family and I moved to New York. So, my professional life started in America. My first illustration job was with Crane Publishing in New Jersey and my assignment was for a 4th grade reader in full color. I've done lots of graphic design work and illustrations for magazines, newspaper, graphic studios, catalogs, retail catalogs, publishing houses and textbooks.

MLAC: Describe your cartoon strip...Little Mado.

MMD: My cartoon character Little Mado (short for Madonna) attends a Private Catholic School for all girls run by American Nuns ( Maryknoll Sisters). The medium of instruction there is English. It's really like a fictional memoir because I want to use my imagination. I attended an all girl Catholic School from 1st grade through High School.  I want to use the environment, atmosphere and the interaction among classmates. I'm compiling all the cartoons into a sequential graphic novel. Little Mado's experiences take place within the school and outside of the school.

MLAC: Any other inspiration or influences for the Little Mado Cartoon?

MMD: Social media played a big part in this. I had a lot of friends that I found through Facebook. When I started to post some of the Little Mado Comic Strip, I got a lot of comments from my former classmates who inspired me to develop it further into a graphic novel. These classmates are from Switzerland, NY, Phillipines, Canada, Australia, etc. and have made comments about their own experiences also. So, I dedicated the graphic novel to my classmates (school girls) from Maryknoll.

MLAC: Can you tell us a bit about your latest projects?

MMD: The Little Mado Graphic Novel is just one aspect of my work. I am finishing the illustrations for a nonfiction book I've written about homes around the world called At Home Around The World. I was inspired by living in different countries around the world. This Pre K book depicts children of different cultures and what they do in their homes. Another project I am currently involved with ..."The Crafty Madonna Items". I have created International Plush Dolls, Postcards and Paintings and sell them on my website. I also exhibit Batik Paintings that I completed in Bali Indonesia and are displayed at the Yippie Museum in NYC.

MLAC: What type of materials do you use?

MMD: I use a combination of digital and conventional materials. I can work in wash and water color. I scan them and rework them digitally. It's easier to revise them. I start with a pencil sketch, then I scan them and rework them. I use a Wacom Tablet to draw directly on my computer.

 View Some of Maria Madonna's Latest Projects:
Maria Madonna's Comic Strip Little Mado is featured weekly at the online magazine OSM!
 (The online magazine for awesome global citizens):
http://justcliqit.com/little-mado
  
Maria Madonna’s Online Craft store “Crafty Madonna”showcases her handmade Plush Dolls representing different countries, Postcards and her Original Small Canvas Paintings:
http://mariamadonnadavidoffsblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/launching-of-my-online-store-at-etsy.html

Maria Madonna originates from a family of writers starting with her maternal grandfather,
 Juan Lauro Arsciwals:

http://mariamadonnadavidoffsblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-grandfathers-novel-published-in.html

Maria Madonna’s website:

http://www.madonnaart.com/

Maria Madonna’s Artist Blog:

http://mariamadonnadavidoffsblog.blogspot.com/

 A New York Times features Maria Madonna together with other artists painting in Central Park, NYC:

http://mariamadonnadavidoffsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/NYC

An Award from the SCBWI first Art Showcase 2003 in NYC:

http://www.madonnaart.com/madonna/socb.htm

Maria Madonna’s Art exhibit appeared last summer at the Yippie Museum in Soho NYC:

http://www.af3irm.org/2012/3/xicana-and-filipina-transnational-women-artists-join-af3irm%E2%80%99s-la-bracera-women-and-work-exhib

Maria Madonna’s latest book published will be launched Spring 2013

http://www.lulu.com/shop/bart-davidoff/momsies-book/paperback/product-15769671.html

Today's Topic: Memoir Writing

Today's interview is with Maria Okros, Memoir Writing Instructor at the Lawrence Branch of the Mercer County Library. Maria was born in Hungary into a literate family where "reading was religion". She is the eldest of 4 and always excelled in school. She remembers fondly how her mother would read the classics to the family.

MLAC: You have quite an interesting background!

MO: I studied to be a fashion designer, had 2 years of nursing school, became a professional beautician and therapeutic masseur. I'm a triathlete and fitness instructor and give health and physical fitness classes. I am also a Toastmaster with the Princeton and Successfully Speak Up Clubs and a Professional Writer.

MLAC: How did you find yourself in the role of Memoir Writing Instructor?

MO: I originally came into the group as a member and was voted into the position and became leader of the group.

MLAC: I've always wondered what exactly is a memoir and how do I write one?

MO: It's remembered events of different times and places in life which includes the tremendous to tragic, from birth to the present moment. Memoir writing is intensely personal. What people write about and how intimate is up to the person. There are no musts, have tos, or shoulds, but good writing is good writing. The single greatest thing about memoir writing is that it's about ourselves and getting our story out. You don't have to make up a story because you have lived it!

MLAC: Can you tell me about the Memoir Writing Class? I noticed that the class (after listening intently to each others pieces) gave opinions, reminisced about similar situations, etc. You also gave instruction about sentence structure, where more descriptions were needed and if more details were called for.

MO: It's a group setting where people inspire each other, learn from one another and energize each other. The group setting also sparks other peoples' memories. Writing for many people is a dream. They think here is my opportunity to be a writer! It's wonderful because people feel safe here. If people aren't comfortable, it wouldn't be an authentic experience. And writing styles differ from person to person. We all carry our own story. There's no competition in here...so just relax and tell your story!

MLAC: You asked the class a question: What is the greatest thing about Memoir Writing?

Class Response: Memoir Writing gives us the opportunity to hear beautiful stories and from people who have written them. We inspire each other. Allows us to get in touch with our entire life. We can better understand earlier things and where we went wrong.

MLAC: Is there a specific format to follow for Memoir Writing?

MO: You have a choice how to write it. It can be written chronologically or stages of life in any order depending on how you want to organize your experiences. Some people want to write about turning points. Every one doesn't want to start with childhood. There are people who focus more on growth of relationships, hobbies, their work or career. These are some of the ways in which Memoir Writing can be approached. Everything that we have experienced and how these are stitched together as in a progression of events. Like little stories stitched together like a film frame and made to flow like a movie. Story + Story + Story.

MLAC: Any closing thoughts about Memoir Writing?

MO: A lot of people get stuck because it requires too much honesty. They say “I don't know where to begin.” To get started...go to a place where you are comfortable and happy and write about it. Look for turning points and moments of insights. And write enough where you can trim down. Let your thoughts and feelings come out. Don't worry about capitalization, punctuation,etc. Don't worry about the mechanics. Find an austere time in life that really touched you. What made an impression? I guarantee that every one of us has books in us!

For more information about the Memoir Writing Class at the Mercer County Library (Lawrence Branch) go to www.mcl.org and click on Adult Programs.

Today's Topic: PiBoIdMo

 

Not much time left to sign up for PiBoIdMo....Picture Book Idea Month!  Created and Hosted by Tara Lazar, picture book author and blogger .... Writing For Kids (While Raising Them). It's a 30 Picture Book Ideas in 30 Days Challenge! ...And you can win prizes! Registration remains open until November 7th. Go to taralazar.com for inspirational blog posts and to sign up.

Today's Topic: Writing for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Today's interview is with Eileen Amato, who has a B.S. degree in Teacher of the Deaf, and a Masters in Teacher of the Handicapped. She is certified in the following areas: Wilson Reading Program, TOD Teacher of the Deaf, TOH Teacher of the Handicapped, Elementary School Teacher, and Preschool Handicapped. Eileen also has training to become a Reading Specialist.
MLAC: How did you get started writing materials for your students?
EA: I started out a long time ago as a Teacher of the Deaf. At that time there weren't many materials designed for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. All of the teachers I knew created their own materials to help reinforce and teach skills. This became one of the most exciting parts of my career.
MLAC: How do the materials for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing differ from materials for the Average Student?
EA: I would say a Teacher of the Deaf knows what is going to be problematic for a Deaf and Hard of Hearing student when she looks at regular materials. I had to teach from a regular reading series and I would know right away what would be difficult for my kids to understand. So I would write my own stories and draw pictures, etc. to help the students understand concepts and vocabulary, expressions and idioms. Example: "His nose was running." "She had a run in her stocking." "Time is running out." So I had to explain everything to the students and we were signing every word, literally, when I first started out. We used the Oral Method where the students read our lips. Then we moved to signed English...we signed everything even adding "ed" at the end of a word. Now American Sign Language conveys concepts. I have moved to working with students who have cochlear implants which is very popular now. The students have to learn to hear and I have to go back to the Oral Method. I have to teach expressions, idioms, past tense of verbs, making sure they have an "s" at the end of a similar verb. Expressions are so important for them. So, I am back to making materials again for the students that I teach orally.
MLAC: Describe some of the materials that you have created.
EA: Lots of times I write little stories about one of the subjects the students are covering in school, such as bullying. By reading the story, the child can understand who a bully is and I also use vocabulary that's used in class. Along with the story I made up questions, games and activities that the child could complete to reinforce the concept of bullying. I create activities such as fill in the blanks, games, completing paragraphs, choosing the best solution for different scenarios, etc. Another thing I do for Social Studies and Science classes is to write a nonfiction selection to help clarify what the teacher is presenting in class. An example of this would be if the students were studying lakes, I would write a nonfiction selection and have related activities to go along with this subject matter. Then I would write a fiction selection dealing with lakes and incorporating some of the facts that the class had learned about lakes. My materials always address current core curricular standards. I have also written poems that I use to teach vocabulary, idioms and rhyming and just for fun!
MLAC: What are you currently working on?
EA: Currently, my school district has supplied all Speech Therapists with iPads and since I work very closely with these therapists, I was inspired to design Apps for the Hearing Impaired Students. That's the new thing.
MLAC: Can you describe the new Apps?
EA: These Apps are used for classification which is very important for the hearing impaired. They might not know that a car/boat/plane are considered transportation. I can use this concept in combination to teach the concept of conjunctions. Pictures can be combined, matched and used to create sentences. The child can compose, read and self correct sentences.
For more information and to contact Eileen Amato go to suki@gmail.com.

Today's Topic: Screenwriting

                                                      The Art and Craft of Screenwriting
Today's interview is with the accomplished writer, actor, producer and web designer,
 Mark Violi.
MLAC: How did you learn to be a screenwriter?
MV: I'm self taught. I've read many books and taken a little from each one. Being an actor helps me as a writer and being a writer helps me as an actor.
MLAC: What's your writing process? Do you start at the end and work back to the beginning?
MV: I have tried a lot of software that deals with story structure. They haven't worked for me. I develop my ideas by brainstorming....I write any ideas associated with the story such as dialog, characters, etc. and that evolves into an outline. This is a seven page outline, not like a school outline but a series of scenes or story beats that I will break out into three acts...Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3. This ends up being about seven pages and from there I massage that outline which leads to story structure, plot and character development. A few pieces of dialog will find their way into the outline. Scene location is less important at this time. Once I have this completed outline, then I can start writing the screen play. I usually start at page one. Rarely do I write a scene out of sequence. Once I have the first draft completed, then the fun begins. I might have a story. The nuances, punch line and nailing character arcs are reserved for a second draft. I usually like the process of rewriting because that's when I know that I have something that's working. I'll follow a similar path for a stage play. There also has to be a sense of marketability...I put that as part of my process because it requires some direct thinking.
MLAC: What's your suggestion for learning the format of screenwriting?
MV: I've read my share of screen plays but I've learned more from watching screen plays. Being an observer of films helps me more than reading them...to write visually. I can get a better sense of visual writing. I will screen films that are in the same genre that I am writing...in the early stages of developing a script. Two books I recommend for everyone ... The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler and Save the Cat! (Series) The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. There are many other good books that I've learned a lot from, but if I had to pick, those would be the two. You can apply the concepts in Writer's Journey to any sort of story telling or writing.
MLAC: Any advice for screenwriters trying to get produced?
MV: My first piece of advice is to write something great. There's no substitute other than to write something great. And you need to think about marketability. There's a balance that has to be struck between creativity and originality, if you are going to have commercial success.
MLAC: What was your inspiration for writing Roebling:The Story of the Brooklyn Bridge?
...taken from Mark's website  (www.roeblingplay.com): "the new drama Roebling: The Story of the Brooklyn Bridge is in development for a New York City professional production. Produced through special arrangement between the author Mark Violi and Theater To Go. Based on the true story of the Roebling Family who labored against all odds to conceive, design and finally build New York's World-Famous Brooklyn Bridge. This play has been endorsed by the Roebling Museum and played to great acclaim in two past non-equity productions."
MV: I was born in Trenton so I was always aware of the Roebling Family. One night I was watching the History Channel and they did a short piece on the Brooklyn Bridge and it was absolutely amazing. I had always wanted to be a writer and never had anything to write about. So this story really struck a chord with me. Someone should write to dramatize this... and I did it! The mechanization was already there...the plot, the characters were already there. It was a great thing for me to write first. I had to do a ton of research because I wanted it to be historically accurate and of course entertaining. The goal is to have a production in March 2013. We're in the middle of the Indie Go Go Campaign and accepting Tax Deductible Donations with some cool perks of artifacts from the Roebling Factory.
MLAC: Can you tell us about another project you worked on?
MV: Riding the Comet was the second thing that I wrote. It was produced in October 2011 at the Actors Net of Bucks County and was named a top 5 production of 2011 by the Princeton Packet. That idea came to me in a dream. I had a dream about two American soldiers during World War II who were in France and met two sisters. Something made me hang onto that and I built this story around two soldiers and two sisters. That also required a lot of historical research because I wanted it to be accurate.
MLAC: You have a Writer's Resource website...and you are the facilitator/instructor for the Screenwriters' Critique Group at Barnes and Noble in Hamilton, NJ. So that makes you a Pay It Forward kind of guy. Can you speak to that?
MV: One thing I love about writers is that they are so willing to help each other out. We seem to love hashing out story lines, working on characters and navigating through the business end. That's what we try to do with the writers group I facilitate. Writing can also be a very solitary exercise and we find great value in meeting once a month to talk about what we're working on, discuss specific issues with our work and read some pages. I also keep a Writing Resource Page on my www.markvioli.com that has many websites and online materials that I have found useful and puts them in one place to help writers out. I think it is very vital to your success to help out others with their work. So in these ways I get to help others and encourage my colleagues to do the same.
MLAC: To visit Mark's Blog and to find out about his experiences working as an actor in the new film Paranoia and many other projects go to www.markvioli.wordpress.com