Has anyone ever been to a seminar? And by seminar, I mean one of those places where the motivational speaker gets everyone all hyped up on words like "Mindset!", "Vision Board!", and "Positivity!" Well, I have, several times, and I love the way that they make me feel. I love the rush I get as I participate, and I love the positive energy that feeds the room, as everyone gets a healthy dose of confidence and "I think I can" attitude. I like to think that I have a positive mindset, and I do have a vision board that I made on my computer. None of these things are harmful, and they do help give me drive when I feel stuck, or need a healthy jolt. So, when one of my favourite speakers sent me an email inviting me to co-author a best seller with him, I hopped on down to his website and signed up to hear what it was about. As a writer, this all sounded fantastic! It was right up my alley.

DISCLAIMER: I will not name names, name the project, or say when I did this. For all those who chose to take on the project, I wish them nothing but success in their endeavours. My beef is not with them.

Now, I waited for the appointed date and time, and I called in to hear what this was all about. The speaker and his partner began to talk about all their accomplishments, naming uber famous people that their success had allowed them to work with, and saying that their positivity and work ethic had allowed all of this to happen. I was feeling pretty jazzed. It all sounded so good! They then began to outline the project, and to state that they weren't going to accept just anyone. Fair enough. Not anybody could write well enough to help with putting together a book, much less a best seller. However, if anyone interested had a good enough story to tell for their chapter, they could use one of their ghost writers for $500.00 a pop. Hmmmm... I let that slide, because I know that there are fantastic stories out there. Okay. And then, one of them said, "As for revenue, and royalties, we won't be paying them. For every ebook sold, Amazon takes 50%. That leaves $1.00 to divide up, and it makes no sense to send everyone $0.35 every few months." So... How many chapters does this behemoth of a book have? If it's a best seller, (which they GUARANTEE it would be) it won't be selling in minuscule numbers. That sounds like more than $0.35 to me. They then said that the revenue would be given to charity. Okay. I can live with a charity project, but be up front if that's what it is. 

What came next was staggering. We were told that it would cost US $8,000.00 to contribute to this book! But we'd be getting EXPOSURE, and PRESS RELEASES, and the ability to say that we were a BEST SELLING AUTHOR in everything that we do from now on. ​

And yes, I was silently judging. After al, they had us all on mute so no one could here our reactions. If they had, I would've given them an earful. I know some best selling authors, and I think it's safe to say that unless our last names are Rowling, King, James, or Martin we aren't rolling in the dough. So for these men to abuse their power and name recognition in this fashion left me feeling more than a little bit queasy.

When I write, it takes time. I take care with my words, and I put a lot of thought into what I do. My time is worth something, even if that something is a measly pittance. That pittance shows that I am valued. I can't pay my kids' tuition with exposure. Nor can I pay off a mortgage, repair a car, or pay for my dog's vet visit the next time he tries to play with his "stripey friend" or eats a bowl of pot pourri. 

A singer doesn't do a concert for free. A dancer doesn't appear on stage for exposure. Actor's don't perform Hamlet in High Park for shits and giggles. I don't understand why people like these men, and entities like The Huffington Post think that they can get by with so little regard for the countless men and women who work their asses off to give them content. Yes, there are those who paint, write, dance, and sing solely for fun. But for those of us who look at this as our calling, it is demeaning and insulting to ask us to work for literally nothing. This is exploitation in every sense of the word. And for these toxic idiots to also ask people who most certainly have significantly less than they do is beyond gross. Those who do this know that they are not dealing with the hobbyist, or the person who does this as a "side" project. Their talk was all about "Increasing our sales", "Using this as a stepping stone", and "Driving our brand". I was aghast. This was wrong. I am through selling myself so short. I deserve my royalties, my fee, and my exposure will come with a big fat paycheque. They can take this crap and shove it. I am writer. Hear me roar!

So, anyone who knows me know that I always have a million ideas bouncing around in my head. This means that I have about twelve different projects on the go in various stages of completion, and they all somehow get written. This also means that I am usually existing on a steady diet of caffeinated beverages. (Yes, I acknowledge that this is probably unhealthy.) Now, what I always wanted to do was write, and I feel that I have accomplished my lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Over the past four years I have had six books and two short stories published, and I have two others under contract to come out soon. I am quite proud of what I've accomplished so far. However, I didn't just desire to write books. I also wanted to write for stage and scene, and this is where I've come to the point of this blog. I am embarking on both of these projects!

When I was in university, I took a course on screenwriting. I loved it, and wrote two short films. Now, here's where the story gets a little bit discouraging. My York University professor encouraged me to submit my work to see if I would be accepted into the next level course. I was thrilled to get the opportunity, and I did so. Now, my scripts were both dealing with Jewish characters, and they were at different points in their lives, either finding themselves, or dealing with an outside conflict such as anti-semitism. My prof thought I had talent, and she thought that I could do something with my work. As a class, she taught us that we should write what we know, and that is what I knew. Now, I got my rejection letter for the course with the comments that my work was too "ethnic". (It seems that this comment tends to follow me around. I had a publisher reject the Hadariah Chronicles for this very reason as well.) The thing was that I let this stop me. I hadn't written a single script since then. However, my ideas for shows, and my longing to do this persisted. 

I am of the mindset now that it is never too late to follow your dreams. I am working with the lovely and talented Jen Frankel to turn Sitnalta into a stage musical, and we will soon be able to announce the awesome composer we're working with on this! I am also working on developing a children's television show, and soon I will have more news on that as well. Writing treatments, show bibles, and scripts is nothing like writing a novel. I always want to add more description than is necessary, and I have to accept that the characters on stage and screen may look nothing like the way they do in my head. And this is both nerve wracking and liberating. I have to relinquish some control over my ideas, and it's been hard. Especially when working with songwriters. I'd do the lyrics myself, but I can't write poetry to save my life, and that's how I view lyrics.

So, this is what I'm up to. It's been crazy, but in a very good way. I look back on my rejection, and what I'm doing now, and it's like I'm telling those profs a very loud F--- you. And it feels good. Don't let others tell you what you can and can't do. Just go out there and live your dreams.