Amazon & Goodreads Human-Hand Review For My Book!

Good morning folks!

I feel delighted this morning as I realized immediately with the start of the day, I had received my first, human hand book review - besides ChatGPT and Gemini - through the Booksprout campaign platform for my fairytale fantasy pocket book When Magic Truly Happens!

"Christian fantasy narrative"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 July 2024

 

"Jennifer meets Jack, who sees something in her. Jack invites Jennifer to meet his world and all his friends in Snow White's circle. This is an extremely short story with a Christian message alongside the fantasy narrative.

I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily."

 

By Louise

 

Reviews are distributed via the platform across all possible touchpoints - retailers - selected, so I want to truly thank Louise for the comments as well as people in Booksprout for the continuous support they offer before, during and after campaigns!

Stay tuned for what's next!

Story H: On Creativity & Feelings

INT. GREECE – CHURCH – LITURGY – DAY

SCARLETT, 33, a computer analyst and a screenwriter and ANGELA, her best friend have come to the liturgy. Snapshots from the eagle-like statues, the mesmerizing atmosphere and the passion of the cantors performing Byzantine music. After a while, preaching begins. Moments of reading the gospel before the initiative of the PRIEST.

The priest paraphrases the parable of the transfiguration of Jesus that was supposed to have dinner with a woman, only to be kicked out three times.

PRIEST

Jesus was supposed to have dinner with a woman, at her house. She was expecting him. It was winter and it was cold. The following day, a poor and devastated woman of old age came knocking on her door, asking for a blanket. She threw her out, telling her she was expecting guests. After a while, another man came asking for food. ‘Go away, I have nothing to give you, I didn’t cook for you’, she said to him throwing him out of her house. After a few hours, a poor and fatigued man came knocking on her door asking for money. ‘This wealth is not yours’, she said and slammed the door in his face. Jesus had not come yet. The next morning, she met Jesus. ‘I’ve been waiting for you, where have you been?’ she asked him. ‘I came three times to you and you kicked me out’. ‘What do you mean?’ she continued surprised. ‘Three poor people, a woman and two men, came at your house asking you to give them warmth, food and money. It was me; I was transformed!’ The woman was shocked and asked for forgiveness…

As he explains the main message of the parable, there’s a glimpse of the Gothic art-like decoration of the Church and the full of passion audience that is being taught.

CUT.

LATER…

EXT. GREECE – CHURCH YARD – DAY

The liturgy is over and people have been given the holy bread to eat. The belfry is being heard as an act of triumph and people already chit-chat with one another.

SCARLETT
Transfigurations are all around us but we barely notice…

ANGELA
Not sure you completely mean what you say.

SCARLETT
I see what others cannot see…

ANGELA
You need an emphasis on your creative mediums.

SCARLETT
Are you referring to my work as a computer analyst and a screenwriter?

ANGELA
Art and Science. Period.

SCARLETT
Creativity originates from our subconscious…

ANGELA
You shall firstly bring it on the conscious level and only later shall you worry about subconscious motifs.

INT. GREECE – COMPUTER STUDIO – ESSAY WRITING – DAY

Scarlett has brought Angela to her computer studio. As the girls get excited with the multiple computers and the work that Scarlett is in the middle of, they start to discuss her recent piece of writing, in between the writing of it.

ANGELA
You’re so open to ideas and abstract logic, Scarlett. You can become a great writer, talking about unproven concepts and theories. You always see patterns and connections not obvious to others…

Scarlett feels excited writing while listening to her best friend. She now searches for quotable language in the internet.

SCARLETT
Are we still figuring out our limits? Some lines were never meant to be crossed however good your cause may seem.

ANGELA
I’m just suggesting to bring things forth.

Scarlett is ready to bounce over her chair with excitement when she discovers a fascinating quote.

SCARLETT
Hey, watch this how it goes, by Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

ANGELA
Meaning?

SCARLETT
That the less accessible paths may hide rough grounds known to very few of us.

Scarlett is in the middle of completing her piece of writing. Giggling with excitement, there are computer snapshots of her creativity at hand as a computer analyst and a writer.

INT. CALIFORNIA – THEATER PERFORMANCE – NIGHT

Scarlett and Angela have gone to the theater to see a remake of Finding Neverland. Several snapshots of the actor portraying J. Barrie, his platonic affair with Sylvia and the relation with her sons that inspired him of writing the story with Peter Pan. They feel moved and excited.

CUT.

LATER…

THEATER BREAK – OUTER SPACE – NIGHT

Angela and Scarlett are having a cigarette while eating pop-corn.

ANGELA
Did it ever cross your mind by now we should all feel responsible of acknowledging our own feelings?

SCARLETT
Emotion is, what tunes matter. The way I got it from J. Barrie.

ANGELA
Do you feel vindicated for the choices you made along your creative and personal life?

SCARLETT
I can only say vindicated for my knowledge and experience of learning to interpret the world… As well as providing myself with excellent opportunities to develop. But… you never know.

ANGELA
I believe, you have something of the sparkle of Christopher Nolan, who put epistemological foundations in writing.

The audience has started leaving the yard of the theater for the second part of Finding Neverland. As the story is highly exciting, there have been paparazzi coming from all over America to interview actors after the premiere. They push and bully each other to be the first.

SCARLET
You never know.

ANGELA
So, may I know what is the meaning of Neverland in your own life? What does it mean to find this elusive and far-reaching place of yours you call a dream?

SCARLET
I should remind you of the liturgy, that we never know or better say most of the times we don’t know the forms through which goodness or Jesus try to visit us…

ANGELA
We should only believe that everything happens for a purpose, right?

SCARLETT
There you go, girl!

Angela and Scarlett are getting prepared to go back to theater to watch the second part of the play.

Photo Credits: Menelaos Gkikas 

Story G: On Virtues & A Well Examined Life...

1.) INT. LONDON – BRENDA’S WRITING STUDIO – AFTERNOON

BRENDA, 21, an English literature student, is having discussions over the internet. The atmosphere is electrified. We watch her next to her elaborately decorated pinboards. A few snapshots on her lips casting her first words:

BRENDA
Me, myself and I…

In between her ambiguous look showing humor as well as sarcasm, she finishes publishing several of her stories in her website.

BRENDA
Let’s see now what kind of metal are you made of, kids…

After a few moments, JACK, 20, an actor, Brenda’s boyfriend, messages her on Viber. Brenda, taken away from her laptop for a few moments to have a break, barely manages to see his name on her iPhone.

BRENDA
Here comes trouble…!

Jack, partly jealous as a result of missing the train with their affair, provocatively stupid and pretentiously off topic, trolls her creative writing accomplishments. Meanwhile, he flushes from the other side of the phone. She glimpses his message.

JACK (written word)
Hello dolly! I’ve read several of your publications… How will all these be done?

Looking angry and ready to raise her decibels, she partly manages to show a neutral response over the phone.

BRENDA (typing)
What exactly do you mean, Jackie?

In between snapshots of their faces as well as their touchscreens, she aggressively continues the response.

BRENDA (typing)
Another delirium of yours?

JACK calls her directly over the Viber.

JACK
Who do you think you are?

BRENDA (furious)
You are not a delegate neither of my partners nor of my family.

Brenda angrily locks her iPhone completely and heads back over her laptop. The crazy little feast of the Facebookians has lit up…

Brenda is bombarded from all over the world in her Messenger, with questions about the booming success of her new books and their plots. Messages roll over the screen with speed.

LORNA
You rock girl! Show them your class!

NAUGHTY GIG has typed both sided emoticons together with a YouTube upload, “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”.

MEAN GIRLS
We’ve come to shake your hand!

TOBIAS (story-wise)
Are they dead?

THE INVISIBLE
You’re the chosen one! You’re great!

Brenda, moved and happy now that her work makes perfect sense of her past and future, shuts down her computer and heads over her bed with the iPhone at hand. As she lays over there to get some rest, she closes her eyes and immediately flashes back to her amateur years of being trained as a writer. The vision of one of her first professors appears.

THE VISION
Unless you show some self-reliance, you will be found fighting with many forces doing good but also doing evil…!

A teardrop rolls on her cheek out of exciting memories.

BRENDA
I guess we’ve learned that maneuver really well, professor, right?

2.) EXT. LONDON – HARD ROCK CAFE – DAY

Brenda and Jack are having a breakfast out in the yard of Hard Rock Café in London, being on the verge of breaking up. It’s summer and there’s an otherworldly charm applying a peculiar effect at their talkings. The outside world seems joyfully celebrating.

BRENDA
Where have your acting, or better say pretending abilities led you Jackie, so far?

JACK (almost collapsing)
Definitely not in choosing sides, like you do.

BRENDA
I didn’t choose a side but a sidekick. But you haven’t learned to love yet, right? You only cared about race horses that will continuously run for new accomplishments…

JACK (furious)
Accomplishments? You wanna know about accomplishments?

BRENDA
Jockeying for position…

As the music of Hard Rock Café is getting groovier and people pass by with excitement in the mood of summer festivities, their conversation reaches a climax.

JACK
I care about peace and well-being.

BRENDA (ironic, giggling)
Full of love…

JACK
Yes, love.

BRENDA
Well, let me state the case for you Jack. This is not an emotional issue. You do something right, you have a working plan and that’s great. Anything else is just misery.

JACK (feeling defeated)
So long, Brenda Wells. I could still see you again at some other universe.

3.) INT. LONDON - ENGLISH LITERATURE AMPHITHEATRE – DAY

Being after the end of summer vacations, Brenda is brought back to the everyday excitement of university life. Students’ long memory and deep hard drives are once again into the mood of writing hits. A few snapshots linking their brainstorming and storytelling inspiration, showing the perversion of the most geniuses in other words, with the eschatology of the 21st century. Students are in the midst of writing again.

A little while before the start of their university class, the atmosphere in the amphitheatre is electrified. DR. WHALES would be teaching the Romantics.

STUDENT A
Who is teaching the Romantics?

STUDENT B
His majesty of Dr. Whales!

STUDENT C
It gets me up!

BRENDA (partly confident)
Are you serious?

STUDENT D
Seriousness, accountability, it seems we’ll have to memorize the entire Lord Byron by heart…

The class begins as Dr. Whales enters the amphitheatre. Rumors in the class started naming him The Unorthodox professor.

STUDENT B (partly whispering)
Attack on the Titan!

BRENDA (mystified)
The Titan?

Student C, sitting next to Brenda, silently whispers to her with his hand over his mouth.

STUDENT C
Prometheus!

It was partly known due to his former classes Dr. Whales always used to start his classes with some anecdotes related to Prometheus.

DR. WHALES
Good morning class, we’ll be doing The Romantics this semester and you shall be quested to exceed all expectations. You’ll be doing research, comparative literature, prepare for the exams as well as writing your own pieces.

He stays silent for one moment.

DR. WHALES starts narrating the story of Prometheus, The Titan who is occupied with the Creation of Man by clay. He steals the creative fire from The Gods and attributes it to humans and as a result of that, he is being found onto a rock with eagles eating his livers every now and then…

DR. WHALES
And what is known as the moral lesson of this story, may I know?

BRENDA
Professor?

DR. WHALES
Yes, may I know your name?

BRENDA
I’m Brenda. How can someone from a champion of humanity be led to unpredicted outcomes…

DR. WHALES
Exactly! What dear Brenda here foreshadows is that with me, you will be battling Renaissance! The clash with the past so to surpass classical antiquity belongs to those who have closed the doors with it completely. As long as that’s true, we can’t be doing synthetic work which shall be the quest and the utmost ideal of yours. Am I understood?

Brenda flashes back to her break up at the Hard Rock Café only to bring back to memory a quote she had heard at cinema, somewhere in the internet land by great actors.

The laptop screen is brought onto her mind.

ACTOR
A well examined life is a life worth living…

Photo Credits: Menelaos Gkikas

Story F: Students-Instructors Teams Search Their True Calling!

1.) INT. NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL – REHEARSAL STUDIOS – DAY

KEVIN, 26, daily inspires his students quoting the Dead Poets Society, “Seize the day” & “Words change lives” were his recent comments to them. They’re having a rehearsal for their dancing-theatrical performance near the end of their school year.

KEVIN

There’s only one thing I should remind you kids in the midst of acting classes. You should get trained in stop listening to other voices.

BRENDA, 16, an actor, looks awkward while playing, listening to his realizations. They’re playing next to a piano while having several moments for breaks and coaching. This time was one of them, at the moment of ending their scene.

BRENDA

Getting us disillusioned professor? Let’s see where this will lead us…

Kevin also plays the piano. He sits in front of it, and they prepare for their next scene.

KEVIN

Becoming spectators and hands clappers is a worse case than merely being disillusioned folks…

BRENDA

And you won’t stop until you save the world, right?

Students gossip silently and laugh while listening to acting advices. They look absorbed and over performing in their numbers while the atmosphere has something of the magic of early youth actors.

Kevin starts playing a piece of music and one by one his students listen and some of them start participating and following his rhythm.

CUT.

LATER…

STUDENTS, talk and gossip while at a break in the rehearsal studios.

BRENDA

Someone should get interested about his trajectory. I hate seeing him decay…

JASON, who has listened to his classmate’s comment approaches her sarcastically.

JASON

You are having a crush Brenda, right?

BRENDA

Worrying to match words with actions affects all of us Jason. I feel sorry for you as well…

JASON

The school diva… Who got As in his class and believes the world is at her feet!

BRENDA

I have found my voice, Jason. Pity for those like you, who still wear masks!

As Kevin re-enters their company, they’re getting prepared for the play.

2.) INT. NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOL – STUDENTS’ CLASSROOM – BREAK – DAY

Students nearly finish their math class. As their professor leaves their classroom, they take sometime to talk. Brenda sits next to JULIE and they start talking.

JULIE

Kevin worries about our voice and you, decided to weight all of them Brenda, right?

BRENDA

Hey, lose the attitude Julie, OK?

JULIE

Kevin believes that if he becomes more professional and less an ecologist, he will lose something of his treasured creativity. I’m fed up! I might decide of letting go of my part. See ya…

Julie ends the discussion with a sarcastic smile, stands up and leaves the classroom…

As Brenda shakes her head buffled, she stands up as well and heads outside the classroom straight towards the lockers. The atmosphere inside school halls is cheerful and there’s music and talk doing coming from the megaphones of the school radio. Space and time during these moments get something from the sparkle of eternity.

As two girls, KELLY and MYRIAM from their class next to theirs gossip on Brenda, she reaches the lockers. Meanwhile they decide to approach her.

KELLY

The entire high is talking about your performance Brenda. Has the protagonist part been locked on you, by now?

As Brenda takes her books and locks her lockers, she shows she has nothing to say to her competitors and weaves goodbye with minimal words.

BRENDA

You bet so, little girls…

Near the exit of their school hall towards the campus, Kevin stares at Brenda from apart and decides to reach out to her. Brenda has a mixed outlook whenever she talks to him outside from some school performance. As she walks towards the exit, she weaves at him and walks a little bit faster to meet him. Kevin takes off his earphones listening to music and starts talking.

KEVIN (enthusiastically)

What’s up Brenda? Are you still passionate to act? The performance is in less than 3 weeks.

BRENDA (partly ironic, partly content)

Light my fire Mr. Robinson!

KEVIN

Take away the other world’s influence my dear… For no matter how hard you try, you still struggle to come to life…

BRENDA

So, I should make bigger mistakes of feeling complete with it?

KEVIN

The devil is in the details…

BRENDA

If only you could listen to your raw material and listen to the words you say…

They greet each other and leave.

3.) INT. NEW YORK – HIGH SCHOOL PARTY – BASKETBALL STADIUM – NIGHT

Students are having a party while the former cheerleaders of their previous events perform a dancing number. The school year has finished and there’s a sense of melancholy in their face. They look more mature than usual in the face of time.

As Brenda talks with some rest of her classmates, they’re holding a drink while feeling excited about the future. JACK, an antagonist of Brenda in the play takes the floor. He looks content with finishing the year but partly disappointed with Brenda.

JACK

I only have one complaint about you, Brenda…

BRENDA

I’m all ears!

JACK

From the very first day you started mingling with theater and other school projects, you seem to believe the rest of us exist outside of you…

BRENDA (partly hostile)

Failing to become a double personality like you?

JACK

There’s a timing you have to listen at, Brenda, make it count…

Brenda looking partly arrogant and moving her head towards the opposite direction, she pays attention to her best friend at the other side of the stadium and beckons him to come closer.

BRENDA (to JACK)

There’s always something you have to give and take Jack… Not very good with compromising…

JACK

Unless you’re forced to confess your true self…

BRENDA (turning the argument to the other side)

Willing to try Jack? You have a long road to walk.

Meanwhile, Brenda’s best friend ROBERT arrives and she makes a few steps outside of her previous company.

The party goes on.

Photo Credits: Menelaos Gkikas

Story E: The Unbearable Lightness Of Youth!

 

INT. HELSINKI – MUSICAL RESTAURANT – CHRISTMAS – NIGHT

 

JOHNNY and JULIE, his girlfriend, have gone on a Christmas excursion at the snowy and elaborately decorated Helsinki. They’re having dinner at a musical restaurant that plays ballads. During the beginning of their affair, they’re enjoying deeper conversations regarding Johnny’s character and memories.

 

JULIE

I’d be delighted if you would open up about your early youth, Johnny! You seem profound enough for me to know there’s mystery behind a beautiful man…

 

JOHNNY

The years defined by our previous childhood, my my! They were definitely unforgettable.

 

JULIE (wondering)

So?

 

JOHNNY (enthusiastic)

I was a hell of a great student in math and natural sciences. But I would not lose the chance to enjoy family life as well.

 

JULIE

What was the driving force behind such a performance? Can you identify your influences?

 

JOHNNY

Science was definitely not an end in itself! I used to find excitement in reading about hidden symmetries in cosmos, knowing the notion of expelling fear, seeking dreams and nightmares, seeking the truth, searching the real power of symbols, be a fan of ballads and music and last but not least my persistence in excelling at science.

 

While Julie drinks a sip of white wine, the soft music coming back from the piano intensifies. They’re having a mouthful of food so to continue their discussion.

 

JULIE

Only a few words for a lifetime of inquiries! I would be delightful to get to such discussions continuously…

 

JOHNNY

My honor, Julie.

 

JULIE

So, what was it exactly that you were searching at math being so young? A math wizard or an explorer of perfection?

 

JOHNNY

It was only in my later years that I read in a book about The Platonic dream stating our world is nothing else but the materialistic incarnation of a mathematical idea! Subconsciously back then, such equations had been my motivation…

 

JULIE

Meaning above the scope of mere science. Was it music as well, for you, a case of mathematical beauty? You mentioned ballads indeed.

 

JOHNNY

It’s definitely true and we all know it that music has a mathematical structure.

 

JULIE

We’re gonna have plenty of time Johnny here in Helsinki to talk about art and science. Right now, I’m just enjoying the piano over there.

 

While Johnny gets a mouthful of food, he wipes his mouth and takes the floor.

 

JOHNNY

He’s a wonderful player. He’s driving me back to the years of innocence!

 

The couple continues eating with the font of a Christmas decorated restaurant.

 

INT. HELSINKI – HOTEL LOUNGE – CHRISTMAS – NIGHT

 

The couple stares at the fireplace sitting next to it at the lounge of the hotel. There are two or three other couples and individuals present and passing by inside the hotel, including the hotelier who finds chances to talk with her clients.

 

JULIE

I suppose there were voices by movies Johnny that made you emerge these concepts we were discussing back at the restaurant. You remind me of Contact and Sliders.

 

JOHNNY

That’s the truth, Julie!

 

JULIE

Only the truth of emerging pictures or the one you’ve been seeking?

 

JOHNNY

Well, inspired by our Creator as well, in the beginning there is word… We, humans may miss the medium between how words can shape universal matter.

 

JULIE

To the point, Johnny, was it mere science that inspired you as a teenager?

 

JOHNNY

I guess all great students exhibit hidden parts of some form of epic fantasy…

 

While sparks fly out from the fireplace, Johnny manages to get out a sweet potato.

 

JOHNNY (CONT’D)

Hey, wanna taste some?

 

JULIE

Definitely yes!

 

As Johnny and Julie enjoy the food, Julie takes the chance later on to pinpoint her arguments.

 

JULIE (CONT’D)

Importance, progress, knowledge, power, recognition, are notions equally important that emerge out of the effective dealing with scientific problem solving.

 

JOHNNY

You mean that hermeneutics might be the counterpart of rational thinking and science, right?

 

Julie drinks a sip of coffee.

 

JULIE

It’s the journey that we make to get back to our country being our childhood years.

 

EXT. HELSINKI – SNOWY PUBLIC SQUARE CAFÉ – DAY

 

Johnny and Julie are drinking tea and having morning breakfast at a café in the snowy public square at a district of Helsinki. They’re wearing their coats and skull caps.

 

JOHNNY

Let us not try to rationalize our fears, Julie…

 

JULIE

I’m all ears to hear the analysis of it!

 

JOHNNY

When your instincts tell you something’s not good but you lack later evidence of proving that, don’t ignore them. They’re usually right!

 

As the couple enjoys having breakfast, there’s silence and a few moments afterwards Johnny continues.

 

JOHNNY (CONT’D)

The risk is real but fear is a choice.

 

Julie looks mystified by the fact that everything can be put under pen and paper.

 

JULIE

They all carry a story, right? So, Johnny, tell me, what did it take you to be able to explain all that so simply?

 

JOHNNY

Falling flat on my face and being inspired by a few good men who happened to come on my path…

 

JULIE (in awe)

It takes a lot more than just a good company, right?

 

JOHNNY

Remember, Julie, with fear and the power of symbols, like with the shot of Quinn’s counterpart in Sliders, if we only seek success but we fear the measurement of it including rejection, we’ll come up with inner conflict. It means we focus more on failure and that dominates us.

 

JULIE

Grown-ups love numbers, Johnny. It’s high time we embraced measure.

 

JOHNNY

Independent from the rules!

 

JULIE

Independent.

 

Julie kisses Johnny’s cheek as they continue with their day at the square.

Story D: "Not In This World, Sebastian...!"

INT. LA CALIFORNIA – WRITING ROOM – WINTER DAY

SEBASTIAN has a break in his writing office. He looks absorbed by the tools, whiteboards, pinboards, templates, verbal acknowledgement of structural components, his library, software, notes and printed screenplays around him, in terms of his recent screenwriting venture. MIA, who’s having a break drinking coffee next to Sebastian, accompanies him with her thoughts.

MIA
The great writer at work! How’s it going, my dear? A penny for your thoughts…

SEBASTIAN
Have you read this book Mia?

Sebastian grabs Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces and holds it next to his face to show it to Mia.

MIA
It’s definitely a great book, of course! It portrays the hero’s journey.

SEBASTIAN
That exists as an expression of the writer but not as a creation. That’s my greatest conflict right now in my mindset.

Sebastian, who is a Physicist and a Writer and Mia, who is a Musical Programmer take advantage of the environment to reach their arguments. Mia sits next to Sebastian’s piano pretending she is a singer – sings a little – and Sebastian mimes with his hands writing fastly on the keyboard.

MIA
I guess your Einstein studies didn’t quite predict such an evolution, right?

SEBASTIAN
This is a war and not a fairytale, Mia.

MIA
Go on then. Express yourself. What’s holding you back?

SEBASTIAN
Beyond the script assumptions of a narrative economy. It’s a match made in hell right now of how I will manage to reach the other side, complete the script and sell it…

MIA
We should all feel grateful of who we are including the respect of our ego.

As Mia keeps playing the piano and Sebastian gets up to play with his telescope based next to his window in this quite big and comfortable room, Mia draws back from her experiences in music. She looks at the piano with a joyful and enigmatic look.

SEBASTIAN
It looks you’re so confident and serious when it comes to creativity, right?

MIA
Not in this world, Sebastian…! At least not when it seems you bit the apple.

SEBASTIAN
Meaning?

MIA
Do you truly believe artists are the sole persons who can have the life they desire? You? An internationally renowned Physicist? Oh boy, it’s a multifaceted world!

As Sebastian stays silent and looking serious, he grabs a book and browses its first pages only to pronounce the quote he had written inside of it. He shows the quote to Mia with his one hand.

SEBASTIAN
“In the journey of discovering ourselves, the subject is more important than the label”.

INT. LA CALIFORNIA – WORKPLACE BREAK ROOM – LOUNGE – DAY

Sebastian also works as a data scientist in a multinational. They’re having a break from work and he has called Mia, his girlfriend, at the company to have a good time during their break. Whiteboards with equations also exist in the lounge.

MIA
You must be giving a tough battle right now, right?

SEBASTIAN
It’s just this whirlwind of attributes doesn’t always function…

MIA
Says who?

SEBASTIAN (ironic)
The data scientist!

MIA
Science is independent from the scope it’s being used for… Just remember how many physicists from your class became data scientists, how many of them became researchers at e.g. the LHC at CERN and how many of them ended up primary secondary education professors at public schools…

While Sebastian looks somewhat annoyed and serious, he gets up to approach the whiteboard next to him to play with a few equations…

MIA (angry, CONT’D)
Never ever confuse the science with the career Sebastian…

SEBASTIAN
I guess we may not all deserve a wonderful world…

MIA
Is this your conclusion from your writing hurdles?

SEBASTIAN
I guess so!

MIA
Well, it’s not true, not even for your future colleagues in the entertainment industry.

SEBASTIAN
Where are you heading at, Mia?

MIA
Even producers and directors nowadays are technology heavyweights from what you already know from their resumes and being a writer, a sci-fi writer concerning your script means that accuracy is not guaranteed. You have to find your inner voice…

SEBASTIAN
I guess I will have to invest more time, maturity and a decent amount of money…

Mia with a faint smile now that Sebastian tries to find an edge, get’s up from the table and hits him at the shoulder while he gets back from the whiteboard to sit.

MIA (enthusiastic)
That’s right!

INT. LA CALIFORNIA – COFFEEHOUSE – SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Mia and Sebastian are having a coffee while they discuss their experiences and Sebastian’s journey. They look partly happy and partly disappointed by their realizations.

MIA
You were always looking to find certain standards at people, Seb. Now it seems that affected you as well…!

SEBASTIAN
I’ve been at theater workshops, volunteerism, writing associations, book clubs, dance schools…

Sebastian looks disappointed that his past enquiries didn’t seem to work or be fruitful.

MIA
So?

SEBASTIAN
We can’t predict how others think. Plus, it was an alchemy in my mind to believe such institutions could possibly solve someone else’s problems.

MIA
They’re doing their work, Sebastian… What’s yours?

SEBASTIAN
Being affected I suppose… Political fanatism, underdeveloped individuals, left wing partly rebels, Facebook attacks and indifference is what I ended up mingling with.

MIA
Has that led you to illumination?

Sebastian looks Mia with wonder.

SEBASTIAN
That I should focus on serving myself and not serving the world I suppose…

While Mia and Sebastian are drinking a few sips of coffee, they’re preparing to pay the bill.

Story C: The Student Surpasses His Masters!

                                    

INT. LA SILICON VALLEY – UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM – DAY

AI graduate students have submitted their ideas at the entrepreneurial center of the university for consideration. There’s a pile of papers next to DR. RICHARD’S desk while he reviews the profile of his best student, JACK.

DR. RICHARD
(excited)
 

AI and math with honors, Google Academy, Johns Hopkins, Creative Writing, a thought leader with a record of repetitive innovations in the internet, screenwriter, developer, Jack… I’m impressed!

JACK
 

Thanks a lot professor, it’s an honor hearing you say it.
 

DR. RICHARD
 

So, Jack… what brings you by?
 

JACK
 

A chance to get recognized and ranked for my pioneering work!

Two other students, BRANDON and MARK gossip Jack close to one another.
 

BRANDON
(tilting his head towards Mark)
 

Moves with guts, pal…!
 

MARK
(whispering)
 

You bet they are!
 

DR. RICHARD
 

I believe you will have ample time and opportunities to prove that! That’s it, people, for today. Remember the final day for filing papers is one week from now. Mind the homework, the exams and get ready to write history. It’s your turn, now!
 

Dr. Richard stands up, packs his notes inside his suitcase and leaves the auditorium. It’s time for a break.
 

CUT.
 

INT. LA – UNIVERSITY HALLS – DAY – A FEW MOMENTS LATER
 

Students are having a break from class. The place is crowded, there’s noise, while Jack chit chats with his fellow classmate, GEORGE.

GEORGE
 

You have an extraordinary history of accomplishments Jack! Interested to explain your past and your pitfalls behind this experience?
 

JACK
 

Got fed up with going back and forth with high school math logic and reading poetry gobbledygook by inglorious professors. You know… the web!
 

GEORGE
(happily smiling)
 

Hey, hey, that’s competitive intelligence or better say… your own shadows?!
 

JACK
It’s the price of science into the applied world. There are ups and downs everywhere…
 

The two students head towards the coffee machine next to the canteen. As soon as Jack grabs a cup of coffee he replies back.
 

JACK (CONT’D)
 

You know, science and math are superficial while in high school. Being bombarded with dozens of equations, vague theories for years, bemusing your head vainly, without knowing how to use anything at all… Just for the showoff of saying I know…!
 

GEORGE
 

So, what’s the difference between good and bad science?
 

JACK
 

Time? It’s only a game of physicists, chemists and mathematicians that believe they will have to learn piles of complicated equations by-heart…
 

GEORGE
(enthusiasted)
 

So that weeee, can have a chance to change the world now, right?
 

JACK
(shaking his finger)
 

Not with your ego…! Also a contradiction to some university professors who believe the world, students, are their marionettes…

 

GEORGE

 

Marionettes of their own ideas.
 

CUT.

INT. LA – JACK’S FAMILY DETACHED HOUSE – AFTERNOON
 

Jack has called NICOLE & BRENDA - his classmmates – at his home to study together. They looked puzzled and absorbed over the table with open books and notes on entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. They have a discussion.
 

BRENDA
 

It’s big ideas and not big money that can make positive difference. Pure and simple!
 

JACK
 

Are you thinking the one without the other, Brenda?
 

BRENDA
 

No, just thinking of my sequence of steps.
 

NICOLE
 

Bigger than what you were used to in some initial schools, Jack.
 

BRENDA
 

You can’t have traction without money or money without traction, folks. Just like the chicken or the egg dilemma.
 

JACK
 

But we can focus for those, who seek to find a way to leave their world behind…! Do you remember this is a Jumanji quote?
 

NICOLE
 

You’re so Robin Williams as an artist, Jack, at many aspects of him!
 

Being baffled inside the books and the coursework, Brenda decides to throw the books on the table and take a break.
 

BRENDA
 

Anyone out in the garden for a cigarette?
 

JACK
After a few of our noble interests, but it’s actually words that change lives, right?
 

Nicole and Brenda cheerfully nibble Jack and they all go out together.
 

FADE OUT.

Story B: Shades Of TV Taste!

                                     

This is a story about Anna, an ambitious storyteller who finally learns that opening up about her preferences, her interests and her culture in her personal and professional relationships might be more important than her ego.

 

Opening up the YouTube she feels allured by the shows and the interests and the performances that have played their part in her almost breaking-up mode with her boyfriend, Mark.

 

American Idol, America's Got Talent, writer's room in TV studios and plenty of examples around art and culture have forged her by being the continuous choices in her professional endeavors.

 

Walking away from Mark's worldview boosted by the bodification of emotions, she will seek of creative luck. What does the future hold for her?

 

INT. LA CALIFORNIA VILLA – SLEEPING ROOM – DAY

 

ANNA, an ambitious storyteller has just woken up in her room and watches TV. Opening up the YouTube she feels allured by the shows and the interests and the performances that have played their part in her almost breaking-up mode with her boyfriend, MARK.

 

ANNA 

(looking angry and disappointed)
 

Boys, boys, boys… Such a jerk!

 

Anna watches the audition of a 17 years old girl in America’s Got Talent, singing and playing the piano simultaneously that gifted her the golden buzzer. After a few moments the phone rings. It’s Mark.

 

MARK

 

Hey, what’s up girl? Changed your mind? Wanna hear me now?

Anna tries to get up while holding the phone.

 

ANNA

 

I’ve been a witness of your mentality for years Mark… What makes you think you come first now?

 

MARK
 

I’m just missing of what we had… You drove me nuts with your world, Anna…!
 

ANNA 

(abrupt and outrageous)
 

Keep thinking you have a world asshole…! End of story…

Anna hangs up the phone as she eventually breaks up. She stands up while putting on her clothes.
 

ΕΧΤ. CALIFORNIA – VILLA GARDEN – DAY
 

Anna is having her breakfast while her best friend, ELIZA is enjoying a cocktail lying onto their hammock.
 

ELIZA 

(a little bit sarcastic)
 

You did everything you could again, Anna, right?!
 

ANNA
 

As you fall in love, or making friends you become a witness of their culture, their worldview, if you get my point…
 

ELIZA 

(a little bit ironic)
 

So, it must definitely be American Idol?
 

ANNA
 

The same it goes with mobile phones, the same it goes with platforms and data entry, the same it goes with art exhibitions, the same it goes with model shows, theater, it’s always the same with anything that goes against their economistic perception, or worse, their own anatomy and negligence towards culture. Sometimes I believe they got some money and started to shit everyone…
 

ELIZA
 

Of course it’s so as long as you correlate him with yourself! Must you be the same?
 

ANNA 

(losing control)
 

Forget it! We broke up now…
 

ELIZA 

(skeptic)
 

I truly hope you will find what you search for, Anna, one day…
 

Anna finishes her breakfast and leaves the house.
 

INT. LA - TV WRITER’S ROOM – AFTERNOON
 

Anna works in the development of a TV pilot together with directors and producers and becomes the receiver of angry feedback from management.
 

DIRECTOR
 

You don’t need to become Whitney Houston to mirror interests and preferences in your scripts…
 

MANAGER
 

Hold on a second, JOHNNY (DIRECTOR). My biggest criticism – reflecting your art as well - is that unless you open up your interests to what’s truly inside your heart, you shouldn’t be expecting of breakthroughs in Hollywood or TV…!
 

ANNA
 

I guess my character should open up artistically, right?
 

DIRECTOR 

(Winking)
 

You got it kiddo!
 

EXT. LA RED-CARPET EVENT – PREMIERE TIME – NIGHT
 

Anna and the production crew of their musical “He’s going Hollywood” are celebrating their premiere posing excited at photographers. There’s electricity in the atmosphere as well as gossiping the performance with endorsements.
 

ANNA
 

It’s been a long road, folks! Do you believe it?
 

DIRECTOR
 

This film will reap awards in the future, you bet it!
 

Spectators of the event as well as teen audience cheerfully scream and are being pushed to get autographs. There’s a majestic view of Anna smiling with satisfaction in her ballgown while signing autographs.
 

INT. LA – VILLA – LIVING ROOM – AFTERNOON
 

Anna and Eliza discuss in Anna’s home by making a journey of consciousness in terms of their personal and professional relationships and successes. They look calm and thoughtful.
 

ELIZA
 

Always remember it was these wars that revealed the true face of yours, Anna…!
 

ANNA
 

No matter what it costed, right?
 

ELIZA 

(looking reluctant)
 

Well I can’t fully agree with you, though… When you make criticism, you better look yourself in the mirror. Cos they will always judge your ego and not just what you believe.
 

ANNA
 

It’s my time to disagree now, I guess… Being work-centered with a career holding pattern is 1-dimensional when it comes to movies and Hollywood. We’d better search for ourselves in the ‘area of destiny’…
 

ELIZA 

(giggling)
 

Eventually you learned to win, didn’t you?
 

The two women hug each other with satisfaction.
 

FADE OUT.

The Entire Education Is Theater "For Writers"...!

Hello all creatives and social networkers around the world. Today’s title implies a very important discussion, hence I will take care of presenting it so, as well! Today I will try to pose the educational, experiential as well as artistic sides of getting into the minds of characters, walking in our characters’ shoes and find out what makes them believable for writers, as well as general tips of … what actually works (you have a first taste by the title 😉)

I have been taking very analytical lessons by ScreenCraft, an organization located in Beverly Hills, California, on developing dramatic movie ideas. So, this is where the origin of the wonder “getting into the minds of characters” actually began. Did they bite the forbidden fruit? No. Did they say something they shouldn’t have said, heard something they shouldn’t have heard, did something they shouldn’t have done? It depends on the viewing angle…!

 

Those of us who have seen La La Land, would probably give everything to feel and live like its main protagonists, Sebastian & Mia, even if it deals about the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams. Today’s discussion is about the analytics all around it, not just the film but the experience of any of it. You may have seen High School Musical, or Step Up 2 The Streets, or Good Will Hunting, or Dead Poets Society or many more films independent from the genre and now many of us are writers. When we create an experience with scenes and narrative action, we ideally need first-hand experience about those scenes and actions. Ideally, we should reveal as much information as possible in our scene headings that play an organic part in the entire screenplay, it’s how we set up a story dealing basically with personal, indirect (relevant) or in our best of options, educational experiences, this actually means first-hand knowledge. Let’s find out where this leads before we draw our first conclusion. Many of us when we eventually have to explain the conflicts of character development and actually develop characters with scenes and structures, we come up with topics, ideas and analyses that we have to experience them to make them believable, how could we possibly know how the character acts and behaves? 

 

For example, in the first draft of my 3rd book that needs plenty of work, I talk about a ballerine. A ballerine by whom I feel attracted, so if I’d like to describe how she communicates, behaves and acts with her dancing students I would have to come up with relevant descriptions… Perhaps someone else would like to describe the acrobatics of Cirque Du Soleil, or if it's a musical or a film with dancers, it’s the setting of a “screenwriting story” that determines what’s necessary and what’s not. For example, the screenwriter in La La Land is not expected to come up with lyrics, he talks about music numbers but someone else will come up with writing music. Eventually though, the writer has to deal with the method, the research, the atmosphere, the imagination and the acting of the script. As well as beginners say, we have to be familiar with the material…

1.) What would my character do in this situation?

2.) What would hurt my character most?

3.) How would my character react to this conflict?

4.) How would my character shine in this situation?

 

That’s The Magical If  😉

 

Conclusions rise from the fact that to develop characters effectively we must deepen in their psychology, we must deepen in their worlds and their routines, we must deepen in their dreams and nightmares and wonders, we must deepen in their habits and tastes and we do not have such an expertise. All the above define the limits of where writing what we don’t know of stops, and we have to come up with writing on what we feel familiar with. This will give us a sense of our repertorie, but again, to make quantum leaps we need to work with concrete paradigms. 

 

In the competitive world of USA actors in America, the big names that are professionals are not mere professional actors but professional celebrities. Projects and writers have bombarded us with Hollywood’s next flair of the week relevant with an artist’s journey, musicals, melodramas, etc but like writers, both actors and writers have to get along with agents, have to market themselves, have to do public relations, have to give interviews, have to work with publishers and the internet and these movies describe the overall feeling and excitement of growing up as an artist… If we’d like to portray hunting fame in a screenplay and put an actor socialize, are we aware of public relations? Do we get the overall atmospheres of festivals and journalists surrounding them? Eventually we will come up with scenes and subtractive logic in a screenplay, but “can we”, though? If we possess the experience, it’s fine. If we don’t possess the experience, we should seek something relevant (indirect) that we possess. We should definitely count on reading books, watching movies, talking with people and the ideal is that we could be educated on these things. If La La Land deals with Mia becoming an actress, what’s the dimensionality of being an actor?

 

In ancient Greece the paths of knowledge had been parallelized with drama. The entire education was a theater according to ancient Greece. This took place for no matter what happens with our educational lives, our professional identities and our expertise, when we have to portray characters doing all the previous we eventually have to come up with our most fundamental conclusion for today that “right education” means “right theatre”…! For example, those of you that will take a look at my profile:

 

A.) Communication

B.) Conflict Management

C.) Emotional Intelligence

D.) Public Relations

E.) Marketing

F.) Writing – Screenwriting

G.) Psychology Elements

H.) Logic

I.) Career & Strategy

J.) Scaling Up

K.) Fantasy

L.) Being an entrepreneur of one’s self

 

All the previous dimensions have been part of my educational profile and are also part of an actor’s life as well…! In The Words of Emily Logan, Joel & Emily begin as student actors in high-shool and later on Joel will deal with professional drama and Emily with English literature. Developing a screenplay requires a packet of things. Do my characters portray that packet? If I’d like them to deal with personal development, it’s very easy to theorize but eventually, how can our previous dimensions help us in terms of building up their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in their profiles? Better visualization at the end of the day for the actors, means better visualization of my profile, direct or indirect.

 

Of course, if someone writes action, or thriller or sci-fi, it’s both an actor’s educational dimensions (he will have to sell it to actors eventually) as well as education relevant with helping the genre of the script deal with the important things of its subject matter and make the script shine. Can we? Personally speaking, attending not just introductory classes on screenwriting, but the analytical art presented by ScreenCraft, made me realize my education is the other side (the real one) of an actor’s life, as a writer and by being both me and the actor who we truly are! Actors need a very strong inner life to counterbalance their fantasy life and quite often, this means being well-searched on the above fields…

 

Realizing that right education means right theater, we realize that the building blocks of a writer’s art and creative profile are the building blocks of his/her artistic materials. Someone who is keen on history will develop historical novels. Someone who likes science will engage in science fiction 😉 Someone else will produce courtroom drama because he has experience with law and justice, like in A Few Good Men, or A Time To Kill or Erin Brockovich. To come up with material we have to put ourselves in our characters shoes and find out ourselves, how the heck are we going to put them in believable situations that seem real. If someone wants to get to know a character really well, it’s the writer’s subjects and expertise that need becoming aware of it, building it as well as refining it… Have you felt that in your interactions and feedback? Quite often, it’s about people we assume to know, but we do not quite know really well after all… Have a great time folks!