Author. Speaker. Coach.
Hi, it’s me – Marcy.
It’s been almost 9 months since my last blog post. Because that’s time enough to birth a baby, I thought instead I would birth a new cover for my debut novel, Pennies from Burger Heaven (300+ Amazon reviews).
I’m told this new design sets more of mood and tone about my award-winning story. I hope you agree.
Drumroll, please!
[Read more…] about New Cover for Pennies from Burger HeavenStop the presses! Copper Daniels Book #2 is really and truly coming out. For reals, people! The launch date for Bones and Lies Between Us is . . .
It’s been six months since my family had our house fire. I’ve experienced losses I never imagined, and I don’t mean the ‘stuff’ under that roof. Thanks to the firemen, the damage-restoration service was able to save 99% of our belongings. That’s a HUGE blessing, but we’re still never going back. Financially, it makes more sense to move elsewhere.
Our two kids were ages three and one-month old when we first moved into our home in 2000. I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear a bazillion times to my babies there. We had pumpkin-carving parties each October and ‘Pizza, Family Movie Night’ on Fridays (’til the kids became teenagers and preferred hanging out with their friends over us on the weekends).
My husband and I laughed and screamed and cried together in that house. We had a Gawd-awful 1950’s pink bathroom in the hallway I always intended to redo but now, I’ll never get the chance.
If that’s not enough pain… [Read more…] about Frustration, Procrastination & Other Gobbledygook
As you know, I took my novel, Pennies from Burger Heaven, and turned it into a screenplay last spring. Next, I entered it in the Austin Film Festival screenplay competition. They had a record number of entries this year — 9,100 screenplays!
It took me 7.5 weeks to write the screenplay. That’s not enough time, but it’s all I had before the contest deadline.Here’s how Pennies performed …
I made it to the Second Round. That’s the top 15%, or the top 1,365.
Am I proud of myself?
YES!
Am I disappointed?
Yes.
Wouldn’t it have been cool to final, or better yet, to win the whole shebang? There’s a mishmash of emotions swirling inside me, but I have to remind myself this was only the second screenplay I’ve ever written, and the first one was over 11 years ago in 2005.
Writing a screenplay writing is completely different than writing a novel. Each is its own kind of hard. Each requires a different set of creative skills, which I discussed in Turning Your Novel into a Screenplay.
The form part of AFF letter said, “This year’s scripts proved to be incredibly competitive, and featured a high-standard of exemplary stories, including your own. This is a tremendous accomplishment, and you should be extremely proud of your success.”
The handwritten comment on my letter said, “Your twist on the crime genre by having a twelve-year old homeless girl as the detective is fresh and compelling. Good work!”
I’ll receive my reader’s notes about Pennies in December, but I’m delighted. I was scared (terrified, in fact), but I wrote a screenplay, and made myself enter the contest. That may be my biggest victory.
I’m attending the Austin Film Festival, October 13 – 16, 2016. Because I’m a “Second Rounder,” I get to attend special workshops and round tables for the top 15%. Maybe, there will even be a special ribbon on my name tag!
But, wait! There’s more!
I’ve also entered the AFF Pitch Competition. I’ll have 90 seconds to sell them on my story. I made it to the finals when I competed back in 2005, so NO PRESSURE, Marcy!
I’ll do my pitch on Friday, October 14, between 10:45 am – Noon. There are 160 participants total, with 16 people in the 10 different pitching sessions. I can’t recall if 10 or 20 folks make it to finals on Saturday night.
Please send any and all good thoughts my way next week.
Pick up your FREE copy today of the mystery, The Moon Rises at Dawn (SkipJack Publishing). Read, enjoy, repeat.
One of the #1 questions I hear from readers about Pennies from Burger Heaven is how I created such a realistic fictional world that brave Copper Daniels ventures into alone to find her missing Mama. People want to know my background to write about homelessness, addiction, gangs, etc. (it’s meant as a compliment, people).
My qualifications for such social issues are…
Lost like a penny. That’s what Copper Daniels’ mama is. Copper is the feisty protagonist in Marcy McKay’s literary-suspense novel, Pennies from Burger Heaven. Her mama went missing last night, vanished from the cemetery where they spend each night sleeping beneath the Warrior Angel statue. Copper worries she’s been kidnapped, lost, or… [Read more…] about Launch Day – Pennies from Burger Heaven + Win a Kindle!
