CASTING CALL!

I want to thank you if you are visiting to get additional details about auditions for the 'Seven Days Normal' video montage. Besides completing my first novel, this is the biggest project I have ever taken on, and once completed, will be another dream come true. To see the characters I created take on life will add a new dimension to the book that I hope will draw more readers to the story, as well as shine the light on the local talent we have right here in Lubbock. Without you, this phase of my hopes for my story could never be accomplished! Please read on for story, audition, script, and filming details.

'Seven Days Normal' is a story riddled with drama and angst, but driven by hope and love. These are the components that I want to portray. I will take several scenes from the book and give them life through a short video montage. Each scene will be darkened with the element of drama, but the hope and the love the main character, Casy, clings to, will drive each scene to a crescendo that will leave the viewer hungry to see how the story ends. Please visit amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com for a complete synopsis and a preview of the first chapter. Reading these will give you more insight into the story. I will also have free copies of the book at auditions if you would like to have one. If you land the part, I ask that you do read the book to help you get to know each character.

Auditions are by appointment only. They will be held at the Mahon Library in the conference room. You will be called in to read a part in front of me(and I will most likely read the part opposite), a colleague, and the videographers. I may ask you to stay or come back to read the part again with another actor that same day. You will need to bring the following items to your audition: a passport like photo, and your acting/modeling/job resume. You may dress casually. I will have an information sheet for you to fill out when you arrive. While this may be my first time to ever hold a casting call, I promise to make your audition as comfortable and easy-going as possible. It may be your first time too! No acting experience is required.  I understand that you may be a beginner, just as I was at one time, and that can be an extremely daunting and discouraging place to be. I hope I can help you begin, or add to, your acting resume. Having said that, please know that this is not a high paying gig. I am a writer, after all! I'm also a mom of three small children, and my income is limited. I will provide the following stipends, but if you are looking for a large paycheck, this won't be the job for you. If you are looking for experience and exposure, or even extra credit if you are attending school, this job will most definitely help you gain those things.

Male Lead(Casy Devon)-$100
Female Lead(Bo Black)-$75
2 males(Broderick and Jason, bodyguards)- $50 each
female(Emily)- $50

You will receive your pay at the end of filming, which I hope to complete in one 8 to 12 hour day. In that day, I will provide you with lunch, and dinner if need be, along with refreshments/snacks. I will try to limit sets to about three, but I will tote you around from set to set, so you won't need to use your own gas. If you are a student and looking for extra credit, I will be more than happy to write a letter for you or whatever you may need for your class. I am also willing to be a reference for your resume. These things may seem small now, but once the video is uploaded to You Tube, my website, my blog, along with the other websites I plan on utilizing, the exposure you gain will be priceless. I will also use the video at my book signings, the first of which will be at our local Barnes and Noble. Everybody has to start somewhere, and I hope to be a part of your dreams as you are helping me accomplish mine!

Since I know the story inside and out, I will be writing the script myself and directing the video. Your input to the script, once you receive and review it, will be very valuable to me. I am counting on your artistry to bring this to life. With my vision, and your talent, we can make this video spectacular. We will take one Saturday in November or even early December and film. Once all five actors are hired we can decide on that date so as to accommodate everyone's schedules. I will have a videographer, and a colleague or two to help me direct, and the other actors, depending on what scene we are filming, all on set. This can be a smooth operation if each of us puts forth the effort to arrive on time and perform to our best ability. I will have all sets and props ready to go. I will ask that you provide your own clothing and make up depending on the scene(the script will designate those details). Other than that, I will have everything ready and in order for what I hope to be a relatively easy day of filming.

Once you are chosen for a part, I will notify you immediately and I will get the scripts to you via email within a few days. If you are chosen as a stand-in, I will email you to let you know and also provide you a script. I want a back-up for each part just in case something falls through. If you are not chosen, I will as well email you. Everyone who auditions will know one way or another if they have landed a part.

You can email me at lubbockcastingcall@yahoo.com if you have questions or to schedule an audition.

I look forward to meeting you! Thank you again for considering to be a part of my dream!

JOLEE WILSON

Quote

This goes so well with my last post. Ah, Ernest H.

“Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it-don't cheat with it.” 
― Ernest Hemingway

Utilizing Your Emotions For Writing

I am determined to make something fruitful bloom out of the chaos that has been planted in my life as of late. I did not sow this misery, but I'm gonna make dang sure I reap from it. How?
By writing it all down.
I will spare details. This isn't a soap opera blog, although it would make for a juicy one, riddled with all sorts of nastiness and backstabbing and he said/she said crap, but maybe the world will get to read it one day in book form.
That's right people. I'm certain this will be a bestseller! May just be wishful thinking, but that's the best kind, right?
Anyways, to the point- have you ever been weighed down with so many emotions that you can't handle it. Depression, anger, grief, despair...don't they tend to jumble your mind so badly that you simply just want to shut down and go into hiding? I've definitely contemplated it. But then I had a better idea. Why not write what I'm feeling, jumbled or no? Besides, it's my joy, word-smithing an idea into physical form; it's cathartic, making nothing, or in this case, bedlam, into something. So, since I've been seeing every hour past midnight(part of this is due to pregnancy insomnia too), I opened up my Mac, aka 'Money Maker,' and started translating all these emotions into words. I was surprised that when thirty minutes passed, I had nearly three thousand words. May not seem like much, right? Most people keep a journal and do the same thing. But an idea struck me as soon as I read what I had written: 'Could I make this into a fictional story? Wouldn't it strike home for so many people? I'm not the first to go through something like this! And isn't that the best kind of tale, one that people can relate to and get lost in because they empathize with the narrator on a variety of levels?'
I rubbed my hands together in splendid delight as I answered every question with a 'yes'.
When I was writing 'Seven Days Normal,' I was at a very happy place in my life, and the story came easily. Even though there are many depressing and dramatic twists and turns in it, 'Seven Days' is still a sweet story with a joyous ending. It truly does reflect my emotions at the time. Then I started 'Taffy,' which I work on ten minutes here and there. It hasn't come easy. I've gotten writers block many times, and I now know why. I just couldn't relate to the main character. There was nothing of me in her. I couldn't understand her emotions as well as I could Casy's or Bo's.
Well, that has definitely changed. Now that I know a little of what she's experiencing(can't tell, don't want to spoil before it's even published), I'm sure she'll flow onto paper a little easier. I can now relate.
So I've learned a lesson. I have to know what my character is experiencing to write better. I'm sure that's not the case for all authors, but it is for me. I've taken these tumultuous emotions hell bent on sending me to the crazy house, and morphed them into something good-a story. Maybe that can be said for other things in life, not just writing, but since it's my love, that's the avenue I've taken. Do you do that as a writer too? Can you take your joy and make a story come to life? Can the heartache or depression, or whatever less than desirable emotion you are feeling at the moment, be turned into a multi-dimensional character? I say if writing is your passion, then do it. Even if it means stopping one story and working on another one. Don't lose what's in your head and heart at any given moment, cause it may never come back in the same way. Utilize it for your good, and maybe one day the world will get to read your thoughts in the form of a book.
Happy Writing.

The Waiting Game

Every day since early December 2012, I've been sitting on pins and needles, my mind a chaotic whirl of 'what if's' and 'when's' and 'what now's?' The cuckoo clock on the wall has ceased to be my time keeper, and is now just an annoying reminder that I still have no idea what is happening for any given minute, hour, and day. It's little chirps now sound like the rancorous cry of a grackle, making my ears ring unpleasantly, and only adding to the intensity of the moment. I am in waiting, playing that age-old game that Father Time must get a sadistic little kick out of. It's a state of limbo unlike any I've known before.
Okay, a little dramatic I know, but I haven't written in a while and my fingers are twitching to express some sort of emotion, and with the week I've had, drama won out. So what have I been waiting on? What has flung me into the empty limbo of time as if I've been sucked into a black hole?
BOOK SALES, that's what.
I have absolutely no clue how my book is doing. Any other first time authors out there experiencing the same agony? If so, I'd love to hear from you and how you're coping!
Yes, I can get on Amazon.com and check the rankings. I can do the same with Barnesandnoble.com, but I'm sorry people, these numbers really tell me nothing. And to be honest, I don't like seeing all those digits, especially when they reach up into the millions. It does not comfort, to say the least.
Pre-order sales should be composited soon by my publisher, and I will get a report that will at least give me some idea of the road that 'Seven Days Normal' is taking. The next report showing all over sales will be in June, then my first paycheck comes in August.
That's eight months of waiting, my friends. Eight months of chewing on my nails, hoping my book is getting out there to the world. Eight months of squirming in anticipation. And it's not really the paycheck I want(yes, it will be nice), it's just the knowledge that my marketing skills, measly as they are at the moment, have paid off at least a little, and that the story I created has touched enough people to travel by word of mouth.
So, the question begged is this: what do you do in the meantime(considering you have time, that is)?
Write, of course!
I have a 14 month old and another one due within the next few weeks, so I only write about ten minutes here and there, between changing diapers, picking up toys, cleaning, cooking, and all that other domestic stuff. But at least I'm writing.
Because no matter if 'Seven Days Normal' bombs out and never gets to be that best seller I wish it to be, I will continue to write as if it was the best story ever told and sells better than the Good Book itself.
In other words, don't let not knowing hinder you from doing what you love to do. Have I thought about just stopping until I know sales, at least for the sake of saving my precious time? You bet I have. I am only human, and am no stranger to discouragement. Common sense says stop until you know how well the market receives you, but the heart says, "Don't give up! At least you got published! At least it's for sale! At least some people like it, even if they are only family!'
So while you're playing that waiting game,  even if you feel like it's kicking your tail all over the place, don't stop writing, don't stop honing your skills, and don't give up hope that the world will know your story.
Happy waiting. Happy writing.

Goodreads.com Giveaway!

Enter to win a copy of 'Seven Days Normal' at the following link:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/42450-seven-days-normal-a-story-of-fame-addiction-and-love

Fresh Fiction Blog Guest

Here's the link for my guest blog post on the Fresh Fiction website! Happy reading everyone!

http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=4674

My Thoughts on Self Publishing

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year! We did at the Wilson residence, with our baby Scout turning one and having her first Christmas morning within days of each other. I'm still tired! But I wanted to post about a certain topic because I've been asked this question numerous times within the last few weeks: 'Would I have self published had I not gotten picked up by a publisher?'
My answer friends, is a big, fat NO!!
Don't judge me yet; I certainly don't want to give the impression that I'm too good for such a thing, or not humble enough to admit there are many good writers out there who have gone the self publishing route. My reasons are simple- so simple that it's kind of laughable really.
First reason: self publishing intimidated me more than submitting to a publisher.
Second reason: I was not in a hurry to get published, at least not in the literal sense of the word.
Why intimidated?
Well, I won't lie. I did a little research on it. My dad has a friend who self published and told him to inform me that it was easier, you're in control, no contracts, yada, yada, yada. So I looked into it. But not for long. Ten minutes max, probably. I'm sure I didn't educate myself on the subject enough to eradicate the fear that made my gut tingle, but it seemed SO hard! Getting a printer, a distributor, and even a publicist to help you promote sounded downright scary to me. Not to mention the cost! It truly seemed too much for my amateur brain to handle. And truth be told, it still does. I would rather write a thousand query letters than to find a reliable distributor or a publicist who was dedicated to my work, just to name a few things.
So my hat goes off to those who take that leap, whether they're worth a darn at writing or not. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seems like it takes a lot if bravery to self publish. Especially in today's market, where excellent writers get turned down left and right by the higher powers that be.
Then there's reason number two. When I say I wasn't in a hurry, well I wasn't. I kinda wanted to get a few rejections, simply for the feedback. When a publisher tells you the word count is too high, but the story is good, well, that's an encouragement and a place to improve and tighten up the story a bit(I was told this by two publishers and cut my word count in half!). I wanted as much advice and feedback from the professionals as possible. Yes, I got discouraged, but you have to take that emotion and use it to the benefit of your writing. Don't raise yourself on a self righteous pedestal and think you're too good for rejections. Utilize every one of them to hone your story into a great book. I was willing to wait years to be picked up, with the intention of starting on a new story. And another. And another.
So there is my answer. But please, if you want to self publish, go for it. I will say that the market is brutal. It's hectic, and impossibly aggravating at times, but I don't care who you are, to see a story you created in physical form in the palm of your hand is priceless. So do whatever your heart leads you to do to make it happen!