A Story To Tell

I'm one of those authors who took the long way around.  But first, some vital stats.  I'm originally a New York  City native.  Brooklyn precisely.  I'm a public school kid, K-12. Graduate of NYU, TSOA, BFA.  I also kicked around the halls of Hunter college (Undergrad),  Hunter Graduate Theater program, and Pace University (Undergrad).

I've been writing creatively most of my life.  I won a poetry contest at 10, and that cemented my fate.  I fell in love with the theater in the 1970's, (drama specifically).  Began acquiring all sorts of skills (playwright, stage management, directing, set design). Then decided I loved film more. Went to film school.  Acquired many more skills, (Writing, Directing, camera, sound, editing, producing, etc., etc.). Rubbed lots of people the wrong way (won't mention any names). Then worked the independent film circuit.  Taught television and film production for a while. Then I decided to go back home and really study fiction writing.  That was over five years ago.

The end result was a debut novel, "THE WINO MUST DIE". "WINO" started as an adaptation of one of several original screenplays I wrote.  Although the original inspiration is still an important story for me, I was knocked in the head by a question during the story's development that propelled me in another direction.  The question was "how did I get here?"

It began haunting me then, and stayed through all of my revisions.  The question also forced me to reflect on the state of my African American community at the time.  But I'm not one of those people who begrudges my people, or much less anyone, for not being "further along"  economically, socially, or otherwise.  I believe it's an arbitrary counterproductive exercise.  Life is a journey.  We are where we are.  But I do believe every destination has a recognizable journey, if we look.  The question spoke more about looking at that to me.

Journeys can be wrought with amazing challenges.  Some of those challenges get dealt with head on, while others do not.  In either case a decision to deal, or not to deal, is the gateway to an array of possible transformations that can occur along the way.  Both good and bad.

Journeys are immortalized by their trans-formative experiences.  It's also the reason why the screenplay I originally chose to adapt has become the sequel to the "Wino Must Die".  "Wino" is the story of a transformation that takes place.  I hope it launches a transformation in you, and consequently, many, many other stories.  And that's my story.


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