CALLING ALL GREEN DARKNESS BLOG FANS!

                Angela and I are embarking on a publicity campaign to draw attention to our adaptation screenplay of GREEN DARKNESS the novel.

                Normally, this would be the job of a producer’s publicist, but, for now, since we took the initiative and optioned the screenplay rights to the book… well, we have to continue to think outside the box and break new ground that will lead to getting our script optioned.

                To that end, we need your help. Whether you’re from Spain, New Zealand, Russia, America, England, Canada, France, Germany, Australia or any other country that has shown up on our visitor stats, we ask you to do one or all of the following:

- Tweet #GreenDarknessadapationscript. Tweet and re-tweet until it’s trending worldwide!

-‘Like’ our Green Darkness Adaptation page on Facebook

-Post #GreenDarknessadapationscript on your LinkedIn sites.

-Comment on this blog site, telling us about Romance Writers Groups, Romance Novel fan groups and networks, Romance readers’ book clubs, etc. that we should contact to advise them about the work we’ve put our hearts into to bring this classic story to the big screen.

                These actions, along with others you may think we have overlooked, will make producers notice that we have a great script available to be optioned and purchased.

                Wide-spread mention online = producers taking notice = producers developing a passion for our project = a demand for the script.

                Help us shine a spotlight on our GREEN DARKNESS script and we’ll see you at the cinemas in record time.

                Thank you and keep reading this blog for progress --

Cheers

Marla & Angela

HALLOWE’EN

It’s Hallowe’en week.

This year it’s been overshadowed and drowned out by catastrophic weather events in the Eastern US. Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by the storm.

It’s the end of Daylight Saving Time too—tonight we turn back the clock. Oh, how we wish that was truly possible! Yet in our imaginations and on film we can do just that.

At this time especially, we turn to entertainment to lighten our loads when possible. Entertainment seems so trivial most of the time, but we humans most need it when the world looks its bleakest. We go to a film to live someone else’s reality and be moved to forget our own cares.

As writers, we can slip into that alternate reality probably more easily than most. We live in our imaginations. We create new worlds and spice them with characters who challenge and entice us.

This time of year draws me and Marla right into the heart of GREEN DARKNESS. One of the pivotal scenes in our adaptation script takes place on that ghostly night. It’s on Hallowe’en at Cowdray Castle that our script makes the transition into Act 2. A violent event there precipitates all that is to follow. The protagonist launches onto their journey --into the past-- to unearth the underlying cause of their present day circumstances.

It’s a colorful and visually exciting scene as the drama unfolds… The really cool fact is that there IS a celebration at Cowdray Castle every Hallowe’en. http://www.frightnights.co.uk/home/index.php?cid=1797
Townsfolk dress in mediaeval costumes and dance the night away within the Castle’s haunted ruins. Some hold ghost vigils. Mwa ha ha.

Personally, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the night. Can you?

Here’s hoping your Hallowe’en was more “treat” than “trick”!

Till next time...

Angela and Marla

GOOSEBUMPS AND "SIGNS"

Rev. Dr. Rowland Dilke Taylor

I am constantly amazed at how much stranger life is than fiction.

As writers we try to pay extra attention to the world around us, hoping to find that next wonderful idea that will be "the one". Marla and I also believe in "signs", even though those have let us down in the past. We're both optimists at heart. Otherwise, why would we be in this crazy business?

This week, Marla's ever-expanding search for ancestors, has brought us a "goosebump" moment, which we'd like to share!

Marla's story pertains to GREEN DARKNESS, Anya Seton's fabulous novel set in the turbulent era between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. These were times when religion was determined by the monarch  First came Edward VI, then Lady Jane Grey and "Bloody" Mary.

In that interim, Catholics and Protestants were put to death for belonging to the "wrong" religion of the day. So it was that many were burned at the stake during Bloody Mary's reign.

One of those victims turns out to be Marla's ancestor!

Here we are centuries later, writing about the very times her ancestors lived and died in. We even refer to the events--in one of the earlier versions of our adaptation.

We have to ask ourselves: what drew her to the story? Was it just an accident that she was so caught up by my description? Or, could it have been the ghostly hand of  Rev. Dr. Rowland Dilke Taylor, Marla's 12th great-grandfather, guiding her, and me? We'll never know for sure, but it makes us wonder. 

For those who are interested, here's a link to his remarkable story: http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/23141487/person/12800603101/media/2?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7cpgNum

Till next time

Angela and Marla

IN HOLDING PATTERN BUT STILL ACTIVE

As the title suggests, our screenplay adaption of GREEN DARKNESS has slipped into another holding pattern on its journey to fruition on the big screen.

But that doesn't mean there's a lack of activity. To the contrary. Angela and I have renewed our option on the rights to the novel with the publisher... we are find our footing in the maze that is the world of entertainment lawyers and their roles in the Biz... 

We did indeed complete our consultations with screenwriting mentor Bill Boyle (see our April 22nd blog) to our great satisfaction and his delight with the project (we are delighted that Bill's delighted)...

And thanks to you readers, we wanted to update you on where in the world the blog views originate. From the highest number of views to the lowest - the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Russia, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Malaysia and France. The admin stat reports don't include all locations, however we remember many views from Romania, Brazil and the Ukraine.

If you're astonished that Russia, Australia, Malaysia, Romania, and the Ukraine have shown up in our stats, imagine how we feel - Surprised! Pleased! Grateful!

Your encouragement keeps our spirits raised on those days when our energy reserves momentarily flag over promoting our project.

Ever onward to our goal -

Marla & Angela

FOR THE LOVE OF GREEN DARKNESS

"Is Green Darkness a film?"

"Is there a Green Darkness movie?"

“Was Green Darkness ever made into a movie?”

Those kinds of questions have been repeatedly googled, weekly actually, ever since our blog started -- and probably long before that!

Our reaction is, well, frankly, mixed... we're thrilled that there is obviously interest in seeing the novel brought to the big screen... we're pleased that the novel is still held dear in the hearts of its vast number of readers... we're satisfied that our adaptation project and blog are still being talked about in book and movie circles around the world (we’ve had 1963 hits of our blog and many others on the FB page)... and we're encouraged to keep slogging along the road to bringing our screenplay to producers' attention…. 

Getting a producer to appreciate the hunger of the novel’s fans is the key!

As to what we've been doing to achieve that goal since our last posting -- we continue to work with screenwriting mentor, Bill Boyle.

“Angela and Marla are an exceptional screenwriting partnership that has an truly organic understanding of the screenwriting craft. They exhibit as a team a very shrewd and entertaining approach to their screenplays as expressed in ‘[Green Darkness]’ which is a complicated piece of work that flows from scene to scene skillfully and seductively.“  Bill Boyle

Thank you, Bill for those kind words! It's been a creatively exciting process-- gradually revealing our baby to a working pro who has never read the book and who sees our script as something that must stand on its own merit.

HOORAY: We pat ourselves on the back for finding a way to justify changing the title of our script back to GREEN DARKNESS from our working title PREORDAINED.

It wasn’t easy! 

Anya Seton quoted a poem in the foreword that contained the words, but that wasn’t good enough for us. 

Does anyone remember the controversy over VANILLA SKY?? We didn’t want to go that route. 

But we’re happy to say we’ve solved the problem –at least for ourselves. You’ll have to be the judge when you see the movie. And we’ll be awaiting those comments!

Let the tweaking continue as do the improvements –

If It Doesn’t Purr, Try Another Stroke!

It’s been a long month, or is it now two since our last update? One loses track of time.  Summer has nearly gone and folks in the biz are back at their desks. We’re still following up at intervals and so far have received a couple of “sorry haven’t gotten to it yet” replies. Meanwhile, we must all be patient. Gaaak!

We have a request: If you’re a screenwriter who is submitting to producers, would you please STOP THAT and give them a chance to catch up and read ours? Just kidding!!  It would be nice if people had enough time to read every script though, wouldn’t it? Maybe in a perfect world…

Is ANYTHING ever perfect? Is any SCRIPT ever perfect? For that matter, is any MOVIE? Is our script a diamond, so highly polished it blinds you? We’d like to think so. We’ve adhered to the original material enough to please the devoted fans. We’ve woven the story into a tight narrative with subtext, mythology and symbolism. We’ve stroked our theme until it… Can you hear it purring where you are? Well, then maybe we’re not stroking the right way yet.

So, Marla and I are going to plunge into another rewrite. Not because we’re convinced that our script is imperfect, but rather we feel it might still be enhanced, purr-wise. We felt it was time to get some further consulting and a coach.

We’ll probably improve many aspects as we go through the process again.

In the end, it may not be the quality of our writing that stands in the way of a sale. Just between us, my friend, I can admit we’ve got a lot of experience behind us.  The stumbling block may be the premise, the root of the story—the novel. The way the movie business works, we have to find a chain of champions who each individually believe in reincarnation and will promote a story based on that belief. The majority of people on our planet do. So you’d think our chances should be good. Fingers crossed? What, are you superstitious? You betcha!

Battling the current—till next time~~