Well, what can I say? I took a year of hiatus from this blog and my other blogS- plural, yeah, I have a few blogs- and I took almost a year from writing. That is something that I hadn't done since I was thirteen. Honestly, I am one of those annoying writers who writes every day until, that is...my family's life blows up.
If you follow me on social media, you know that my favorite aunt and the person who I have been the closest to in the world has Alzheimer's. It's been the absolute WORST thing to watch happen over the last five years, but even before that, when it was starting, and I was begging her from three thousand miles away to "please get checked," she did nothing.
It's no excuse to stop writing. When my mom died, I still wrote. When my father went into the hospital and would stay for the next six years, I still wrote. And, when my Westie died in 2012, I was writing comedy for a British Production Company that gave me exactly twenty minutes to be sad about it, so I still wrote.
Last year was different. I spent fourteen to sixteen hours a day on the phone for MONTHS trying to help her when she was abandoned and left to die by her two sons. It fell on me, and I was here in Southern California, and two of the unions I've been in went on strike simultaneously. I lost Script Supervising jobs on films that I had lined up, I could no longer submit my writing, talk about projects and was supposed to be on the picketlines. My strike captain was so cool when I told her about my auntie.
I had BIG PLANS for 2023. I was going to write four TV Holiday movies and sell them, and I had a theatrical romantic comedy that I worked on during a weekend comedy workshop that I already had an interest in, but everything came to a halt when I had to step up.
And I don't regret it, but everything fell apart. I barely had time to draw (one of my day jobs) and had no energy to be "on" and network. I kept to myself on the picket lines as much as possible, wiping away tears and hiding from the cameras, especially when the famous actors showed up; I couldn't function.
This is my long-winded way of explaining why I was gone for so long. I plan to get back into blogging about my writing journey, things I'm noticing, new trends in screenwriting, pitching, writing groups, and more.
Currently, I am writing TV holiday movies and have one theatrical rom-com making the rounds, and I am finishing another one that is quite possibly the best thing I have ever written. I seriously can not wait for that one to be produced and on the big screen. :)
Thanks for reading, and if there is something you'd like me to talk about, please email me at stephanie@stephaniebourbon.com with BLOG IDEA/QUESTION in the subject.
XO Steph!
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