Can I believe it is already the waning months of 2018? Having to work 60-70 hour at a 'normal' job in order to survive can be a lead weight on your psyche. I am jotting down notes and ideas on my phone's notes app consistently - but getting them into cohesive projects has been a slog.

I have three completed projects I need to market - two screenplays that have received wonderful feedback and are funny - and of course, my novel - which has received wonderful feedback as well - if you have read any prior post, it is the one that in 2011 was considered a 'man's book in a women's market.'

In 2011, any thought of self-publishing my comic crime novel was easily dismissed as then, it was considered a way for authors without the chops, but with the $$, could get their book printed and bound. (They then could fill Yankee Stadium with a hard copy)

But now in 2018... many authors are able to write, market and sell their books without the stigma that used to be associated with self-publishing. They call it 'Indie' publishing and there are careers to be had without having to find an editor at a major publishing house willing to put their neck on the line for an unknown author.

This is my path. I cannot continue on the one I presently trudge. I am a salesman, but one with a fatal flaw - I cannot sell something I don't believe in, or have to lie in order to close a sale. I cannot rip people off. I can't take advantage. I'm not good at it. I am the BEST, I mean the fucking best salesman when what I sell has a truth to it - if it was bread, I could sell it - but if I was told I had to present the bread as a loaf that could shrink tumors, and it had no such power; my numbers would be shit.

My current job I am told to lie, cheat and steal. There may be a need for what I am selling, but I am not the place they should be getting it from - there are mechanizations behind the curtain that would sour any potential client from working with me - if they knew the truth.

I left the job Friday. After a meeting where I was told I had too look at the customer as the enemy and it was a battle and I needed to pressure them until I was asked to leave, I couldn't go on.

It was 'Glengarry Glenn Ross' all over the place - and there were no steak knives in my future.

So I am back to square one at my age - I have no assets but my wit (and it seems to be waning) and whatever writing I have completed and the stories in my head yet to be realized on the page.

This is what I am - and what I must be. Shit or get off the pot.

So my lonely little blog page may get some activity in the weeks and months ahead. I know it is up to me to make it happen.

Monday May 16th, 2016. The Page Screenplay competition FINAL deadline is tonight at midnight - I think I will submit "My Bad Fairy Godmother" as I made the quarter finals in the Screencraft Comedy Screenplay contest. I also paid for the additional feedback and was pleasantly surprised at how positive it was. The reader gave me some constructive feedback - and while I don't need to completely revamp it, I am going to incorporate some of the notes in a new draft that should be ready before the deadline.

Woo Hoo.

The Austin Film Festival screenplay contest FINAL deadline is this Friday - I may jump in there as well. I am looking for representation - that's the big deal - This is what I want to do when I grow up - :)

Leap Day 2016. Another tough one - haven't been able to get business off the ground today - going to start working on the things I love - my stories - my books - my scripts. I have written two funny comedies - one a sweet, quirky rom-com set in New York, the other an R-Rated comedy with multiple female lead characters. A $200m summer comedy that would kill....

Every time I see the Ink-Tip "script wanted" email, it is chock full of requests for low budget horror movies - well I have one of those in my head and I have been plotting it on my Notes app on my iPhone... it is next. Kim would probably rather I expand my old 30-page teleplay (horror) The Contract, which I wrote a long time ago for Tales From The Crypt" before I was told that show was a playground for established writers and usually hung close to stories from the original comic.... Dave's agent thought it was good - better than most of the dreck she read.

So I am better than Drek. But am I better than Drek the Third? :)

It has been too long since my last post and I have made a decision to keep up with my blog. I have written a few projects and have numerous ones in the formative stages. I hope to update this periodically - since so many of my "normal" ventures have gone by the wayside, it is time to focus on what makes me happy - making others laugh. Often I simply have to make an appearance - lol.

Wish me luck - R Scott Park

....maybe that's why screenwriting is a great fit - they like guy's films that hurtle.


but my current opus is for the girls (and the guys they will drag along over and over again)  - R Rated - Female Lead Characters!

My book "Unnatural Act" was almost repped - A very nice NY agent said she smiled during the entire read - but it was "A man's book in a womens market."

I need to dial down the testosterone.

Here is a copy of her message to me....

Dear Reggie,

It's taken me an unconscionably long time to get back to you and I apologize.  The office move and its attendant chaos slowed me down, but we're up and running again. 

I've now read Unnatural Act and I'm torn.  You are outrageously funny, mordant, deliciously ironic.  I love the sensibility of this novel.  I certainly understand why Elizabeth George is taken with you.  I read the whole book with a smile.  Who can resist that?

However, after smiling till my face hurt, I confess I was less taken with the relentless, madcap, caperish romp through drugs, sex and rock n roll.  

The story doesn't unfold so much as hurtle.  It left me breathless, but I'm not sure that makes it convincing.  It's a guy's book in a girl's market.  I'm not sure how I would sell it. As much as I admire your talent, I'm afraid I'm not the right agent for you. 

I appreciate your thinking of me, and Elizabeth's recommendation.  I hope another agent disagrees with me and can knock it out of the park for you.  I'm glad I had the opportunity to read your work, and I wish you every success finding a home for it.

Okay - haven't spent enough time paying attention to this site - but it is time for an update. I have completed my Hard-R screenplay and went back and re-wrote my other screenplay: Ten Day Free Trial. That script is a 4 star selection on Trigger Street Labs as of today. It is also on Inktip. The logline has had around 12 hits, but the synopsis has had one individual view it - albeit twice.

I am attending the Inktip pitch summit on the 20/21st of this month - taking my High-Concept R-Rated comedy (Female Leads) with me...

Here is the log line: "An uptight, but broke Broadway producer is assigned an obscene musical, so she summons the return of her lewd and crude childhood guide to help her cope."

I think I will actually try to keep up with this after the summit as it will be a place I can be found.

Hopefully someone will come looking for me.

LOL - my script on Triggerstreet was "reviewed" by a character who also has a RomCom on the site. I never really believed the grumblings about how some members look to torpedo others in order to raise their own work - but now I wonder. When someone states unequivocally that something must be re-written because he "doesn't get it" where others have clearly "gotten it" - you have to consider the source. Review on the site can certainly have a negative bent, but it is usually based on the reviewers impressions as opposed to something that simply "needs to be done because I say so."

My suggestion is not to step over and on people you meet on your journey - you might come across  them again on the road - and writers are like elephants - we remember.

If you want changes like that - you'll need to option the script!