Amber Grey's Official Journal

I don't know what this means, as I'm not well-versed in linking, but I think USAToday.com has linked my George Hurrell article:

http://content.usatoday.com/topics/article/Irving/0bSFfjb11de79/6

That's my article! And I don't know what this means! lol Was it just randomly picked up by the site? Or is it something else? I don't know! But it's on USAToday's database! Ahhh!

On the joyous occasion of my 21st birthday that I celebrated on 15th, I spent the day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. In the one memorabilia store, I could not get away from the display case that had various items of Mary Pickford's Estate and finally latched onto a beautiful scent bottle. I am happy to say that it is actually in my possession now! I am the proud owner of a piece of Mary Pickford's estate! I took pictures of it too:

Mary Pickford's Scent Bottle!

"The Story of Gwili Andre" is #7 on the first page! And I just published it on Friday! (when you search "Gwili Andre")

"Frances Marion & Mary Pickford" (the first article I ever wrote for Bellaonline) is #1 on the first page!
(when you search on "France Marion" "Mary Pickford")

"Hedda Hopper Attacks Charlie Chaplin" is #1 and #2 entries on the first page!
(when you search "Hedda Hopper" "Charlie Chaplin" together)

Woweee!

This week was a pretty good writing week. I was able to write my weekly article for Bellaonline in two days so I didn't have to worry about it on my birthday. I uploaded it yesterday morning. It's about Gwili Andre, a beautiful girl who came to Hollywood to be possibly the "second Garbo" but failed. She's only known for her death and not her life or her short career, so I figured I could try and write an article about her.

It was pretty hard because there's only a few paragraphs here and there about her that I had to try and piece together. Since I saw her picture by accident on Flickr.com in a album for 1930s actresses, I've become a tad obsessed with her. I had to justify it with an article that I hope everyone in enjoys.

Article: "The Story of Gwili Andre"

I also started writing a second article the day I finished my article about Gwili. The second article will be about the relationship between Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst. I figured that since I have nothing better to do, instead of just writing one article a week and waiting until the following week to start the process allover again, that when the mood strikes me, I should just write an article and be a head by a week or two. Of course, that all depends on how many articles I can write after the initial one needs to be finished. depending on how many articles I write.

btw, I had my 21st birthday on Wednesday! Now, I am the proud owner of an authentic perfume bottle Mary Pickford once owned! :D

It's sort of a belated wish into the new year but I figured I would make a short post since I haven't written anything since October '08. I did write a 100 page draft of my novel by the end of November just as I had planned and I had my month off in December as well. It was really nice because I had the chance to reflect without worrying about deadlines. I think it'll become a tradition with me.

This month, I'm continuing with my goals I've set up for myself. I've started rewriting my novel with the first chapter finished so far. Along with writing it as a novel, I'm practicing my scriptwriting with writing it as a film as well. I'm not sure which version I like more yet. I'd really like to turn it into a film one day.

I'm also working again with other scripts. I highly recommend Final Draft 7 software for writing scrips if anyone is wants to write movies. It's incredibly nice and makes your script look really professional. Other people have said that it has a few problems here and there but I haven't run into any problems yet. I hope I don't.

Also, I don't want to jinx myself but I'm planning on interviewing my best friend Cathasaigh who is a musician for another editor at Bellaonline.com. She is possesses a phenomenal talent that deserves to be recognized, so I hope with my interview I can give her some more exposure. Here is her official site if anybody is interested: Cathsaigh.com

Since I've graduated from home-schooling a few years ago, I'm finally taking the GED at the end of this month. I'm a little nervous about the math as I've never been good at math but I hope I'm good enough to pass. If I pass, I'd like to start taking classes in the fall at a local community college here that offers a 2-year degree in Film Technology.

I have no doubt that it'll be an interesting year. :)

So, the rest of this month and all of November will be a little hectic for me.

(the rest of) October
- Finish whatever I can of my novel in time for November.
- Continue writing script in time for the end of November to get sixth a draft finished.

November
- Start/Finish novel by the end of the month.
- Continue writing script.
December
- My vacation month! Nothing but writing my weekly articles.

January 2009
- Revise everything and start drafts over again.
- Brainstorm on possible business ventures/jobs.
- Take GED.

Phew! I'm going to be busy but I'm extremely excited about the possible progression I could make!

I've been thinking about where I want to be at this time in 2009. I would like to have my novel finished and circulated around to agents/publishers. I would like to have my script nearly finished and I would like to have a small online boutique of handmade items I could make a little income on. I would like to have visited my best friend who lives in PA (possibly stay for a whole month!) and shoot a music video with her (my directorial debut).Yessir! I'm going to be busy!

I also have two new articles @ my column:

Beware Of The Blob! An article of trivia facts that you may have not known about this fun monster film.

Night Of The Living Dead It may be shot in black and white but it'll scare the stuffing right out of you when you see it. Plus, I was born and grow up in Pennsylvania where they filmed it! lol And the traffic report for my articles are doing great! My article "Hollywood's Profane Angel" is #1, "Freaks" For Hollywood is #2, and "Beware of the Blob" is #3 on the traffic report list of my Bellaonline account! Woohoo!

I have officially reached my one year anniversary of being the Classic Film Columnist @ Bellaonline! And just a few days short of Carole Lombard's 100th birthday!

This week's article was a short biography of Carole Lombard's career and life.

Hollywood's Legendary Profane Angel

So far this month, I've managed to finish "Live and Let Die: A Novel" By Ian Flemming. It's the second book of the Bond series and I'm increasingly becoming an even bigger Bond fan than I thought I would be. lol I love that Flemming shows Bond is still at his core, a mortal human being. Bond may be the most notorious secret agent in the world but he makes mistakes, possesses fears and doubts. When you need someone to get the job done, it's Bond.
The closest actor I can see coming close to Flemming's characterization is Daniel Craig. I know he's only made one film, but he was extremely good in "Casino Royale" and when I read the book, there were certain aspects of Craig's "Bond" I could see in Flemming's Bond. I am extremely excited about "Quantum Of Solace" and I hope it's not the last one with Craig as Bond.

I want to finish "Weight" By Jeanette Winterson. I've recently discovered her and I am mesmorized by her writing abilities.

But there was one setback this month. The Muse has recently been playing around with a character idea of a Pyromaniac. I figured I could read a piece of fiction to familiarize myself with the way that kind of character is drawn into the plot of a story.

I picked up "The Fires" By Reine Steinke because on Amazon.com it had an average of 4/5 from reviewers. I could not read it. The first paragraph was incedibly descriptive and well-crafted. However, the rest of the pages I managed to read were "Yuck!".

I have a pet peeve about "purple prose." Some people say it is necessary. I have yet to find a piece where it is. This book was another case of it being unnecessary. On top of the ornate narrative that ultimately leads to nowhere, the sheer pain of my boredom was even more realized by the drawling, first point-of-view standpoint. The writer has potential with her next book, but this one, was just too awful for me to continue reading it.

Someone said in their review, "You can't put it down." Well, I have to say, "I did and I won't pick it up again."

This week's article is a tribute to silent film actress Anita Page. It discusses her famous co-stars, "The Broadway Melody" and why she was forced to leave Hollywood too soon.

Remembering Anita Page.

Well, my plan this weekend is to read the books I have from the library. I have a few grammar books, a book about finding and specializing in your own freelance field and how to make money at it, and a screenplay book.

I want to look through my poetry and see if I can put a few together to publish a small poetry collection. I want to finish both chapters six and seven of my novel. I also want to trudge through my incredibly horrible script.

In art news, I want to try out my new watercolor pencils and ink pens on a simple flower piece. I also want to browse the art books I have from the library.

Okay, I didn't make my weekend goals. I felt restless all weekend and ended up swimming most of the time. lol But today, I did write the fifth chapter of my novel and I'm hoping to write the sixth tomorrow.

While I'm writing, I'm allowing two friends of mine read it so I can receive some honest feedback. I know there's a rule about writers not allowed to show their work when it's in its infancy, but rules are meant to be broken. lol

I've received a positive response from them which I'm glad about, but I think it's running stale. I don't know why. I just sent my fifth chapter to my friend and she's continuing to love the visuals and thinks everything is still going strong when she reads it. However, when I write it, it seems bland. I don't know. Maybe, it's because I've worked on this for seven years and now that everything is practically flowing, I'm getting nervous.

I did find out that an average first-time published novel starts from 50,000 to 100,000. So far, I have 2,509 as a word count shared between 5 chapters. But I'm not going to get hung up on the word count. lol At least, let's hope not.

So, this weekend's writing goal is to write two chapters of my novel and the first few pages of my script. I'll report back with the results on Monday.

In the meantime, I have a new article. It's about the Gish Sisters.

The Remarkable Gish Sisters

This week my new article is about "Pre-Code Films" and how The Production Code came to be. It was a lot of fun to research and write this one because a lot of people are under the assumption that Hollywood was once prim and proper, but it wasn't always like that. In "Pre-Code Films" female sexuality was very apparent, as well as gangsters, violence, and other such taboo subjects viewers didn't see between 1934 to 1960s. During that period, those subjects went underground. And it wasn't until 60s, where The Production Code was abandoned and replaced by the MPAA, which we have now.

The Article: When Hollywood was once Sin City

I'm writing the third chapter of my novel this weekend. I'm really enjoying it! I'm so thankful that every day I have another bit to write whereas for the longest time (seven years), I was struggling to even write the opening. I hope I don't lose this momentum. But I'm prepared if I do.

I've entered a poetry contest! *fingers crossed* I had to write the webmaster to make sure my poetry was submitted because the submission form was having trouble going through. He promptly returned my e-mail and told me my poem was with the other entries! Woohoo! :D The object of the contest was to write a poem inspired by a painting the website put on display. The winner gets a glicee print of the painting! I hope I get it, it's a beautiful print.

I'm in the progress of creating my first real art piece right now. Before this, I was copying a lot of pictures from magazines and other references, but now I was getting bored. I really think I was inspired when I picked up my first copy of "Juxtapos" Magazine. It had great interviews of Audrey Kawasaki and other fantastic artists. They discussed their varied methods and it went outside the boundaries of what I thought I could do in creating something. I always knew it, but hearing it from artists who were alive and happy with their work, made me think I could possibly create something too.

My first piece is called "Arachnaphobia" and as soon as it's done, I'm going to scan it and upload it. I'm also going to see what's required in uploading it to the computer and handling prints to sell. I really like the way it's progressing. It'll be done in India Ink, water color pencils and colored pencils. I cannot wait!

Well, back to work now!

In what secion of a bookstore or retailer's website will your book be found? Definitely in the general/literary fiction, at least for this first one.

Which authors can your work be likened to? Honestly, I don't know. I think I may be influenced by Alice Sebold (she's the author of "The Lovely Bones"), but I'm not sure. I think I may be influenced by Margarted Atwood (author of "The Handmaid's Tale) and I can see my succinct style is close to Ian Flemming. Maybe it's because I haven't been able to get enough of the James Bond series lately. lol

Well, I finished my first chapter of my novel and I've never been more pleased with the tone, with the use of first pov for my main character, everything is perfect. As to quote one of my friends who read it, she thought it was "creepy and perfect." That made me goose-pimply allover. (I just love when Marilyn says that in "The Seven Year Itch" hehe).

I'm starting on the second chapter tonight. And as I was researching for my weekly article, I had to search on Clara Bow for a quote I couldn't quite recall. When I did, my review of "Running Wild" appeared on the first page of Altavista's search results! Twice! 6th and 8th place! Holy Cow!

btw, has anyone seen "Mommie Dearest"? Does anybody believe the story Christina told about Joan Crawford? My sister and I watched more than half of it last night and it was terrifying at one point but melo-dramatic and silly the next.

I didn't feel sympathy for Christina at all -- I don't if it was the direction and the acting that made me feel that way, but I didn't. Maybe it's because I've seen Christina in a few documentaries and she's still incredibly bitter towards her foster mother. If her mother was so bad why didn't she just break ties with her as soon as she was old enough? I mean, a lot of children do that when they're in such a predicament. Marilyn did it. It only seems when the child has a mental problem themselves, like Clara, that they stay with the parent -- Clara stayed with her father and supported him through a lot even when he was putting her through hell. *shrugs* Some of it just seemed a little fabricated for me. I do think Crawford did suffer from OCD though.

What’s the last thing you wrote?
A new outline for my screenplay and last week's article for my column.

Was it any good?
I came up with a brand new beginning scene, that is far less boring than the previous one I had and I think it's a lot better. I also really enjoyed writing my column last week -- It was short but I knew I needed to write about the impact of Jean Harlow's unfortunately short career.

What’s the first thing you wrote that you still have?
It goes all the way back to when I was about 4 or 5 and I used to make my own books by stapling pages together and then illustrate the cover and write the story inside. Some of them would include an author's biography on the back and everything. Besides the first few pages, I never finished a story. lol

Write poetry?
Yes, that was what I started to write first.

Angsty poetry?
When I was a teenager and going through some rough points. I think every creative person at that age has done it.

( Rest of the meme )

One of the things about writing a novel, is that if it's ever picked up by a professional publisher, they're looking for more ideas to come from that author. I'm trying to brainstorm what I would do if my novel was picked up...I think I'd like to do a series.

I'm brainstorming on what I could possibly do for a series...I'm thinking about something that may span a few decades...Maybe start in 1900s/1920s and move forward? I'm not sure.

I have realized that in two months, I wrote 105 pages for my first draft of my novel. lol Wow! That's a lot.

I think I've finally found what I needed to stir my novel in a big, gigantic way! I've added yet another character -- this time the character is modeled after two my best friends of whom I needed through rough moments in my life. Her name will be Clarissa and she will help my main character through her rough times as well. I've already written a conversation that takes place between Leslie and Clarissa. (Lisa, if you're reading this, I need you to read it, you're my reality check reader ;).

And I'm going to change the pov from third to first. I've experimented with it by writing my opening which I never liked how disconnected the prose was from the character and what she was feeling. In fact, that was one of the main reasons I was feeling completely frustrated over and it never occurred to me that first pov could be the solution. Maybe earlier on, I tried to first pov when the novel was still in the works and it didn't work because the background wasn't solid and I thought it wouldn't work, but now it does! :D :D

If I could have one moment of brilliance for this novel, it would be the opening I've rewritten. One of my best friend's and I think it's creepy and perfect.

Btw, does anybody know the code to override entry tags visible on the front of their journal? I'm looking to override the links and make them go horizontal and clump together instead of having them in a vertical direction.

For July I read:

1.Clara Bow: Runnin Wild By David Stenn. (The review I wrote for it is provided in the post below this one)

I want to read at least 3 - 5 books in August. I want to read:
1. The Night Watcher By Sarah Waters
2. The Golden Compass By Philip Pullman
3. A Push and a Shove By Christopher Kelly
4. The Girls: Sappho Goes To Hollywood By Diana Mclellan
5. Live & Let Die By Ian Flemming

This week I decided to review a biography of Clara Bow called "Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild" By David Stenn. It had to be one of the saddest yet most compassionate biographies I've read. I usually refrain from reading biographies because the writer tends to be judgmental or tries to be controversial in their material without providing any real proof. I was glad and surprised at how her biography turned out.

I hope my review will consider anyone's interest in reading the book.

Runnin' Wild - A Review

I'm considering, since I enjoyed writing this one so much, of reserving a piece every other month to a book I've read about classic film. I'm already considering my next book to be "The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood" By Diana Mclellan. It's supposed to be about the subject of actresses' mysterious sexuality such as Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich -- the details the studios continuously tried to cover-up in order to keep from destroying their and the star's reputation. It should be interesting and I hope the author doesn't fly off the handle and present the material in an inane way.

I'm just waiting for that one scene, one chapter, one character trait, heck I would settle for one new character to make this novel work! Argh.

Anyway, I'm almost done with my screenplay outline! Yay! Just in time for me to start the actual writing on August 1st. This will be my sixth draft of my screenplay and it'll be one of the two scripts I didn't lose to a computer crash. Argh. I'm still so mad I lost those four drafts.

The outline is working out nonetheless. I'm looking back on one of my earlier outlines and it looks like I'm 10 scenes shorter in my most recent one! I think that's great because the other outline was soooo boring. lol I think I'm learning more about trying to balance historical accuracy with actual story. Now I know why screenwriters get mad when people comment, "It wasn't historically accurate." Go watch a documentary then. lol

It's probably because I love 300. Besides the fact that it was based on a great graphic novel, it captured the essence of what really happened. Maybe it wasn't verbatim because it didn't depict the whole Spartan battle on the ocean while the other Spartans were fighting on land, but my gosh, that would have been a 5-hour film. lol I love films getting as close to the original material as possible, but sometimes close is too close.