Writing RULES!

This past Mother's Day weekend was a busy one for me. On Saturaday I attended a writer's workshop in Canton, GA with 4 of my writing buds. Our speaker was producer, actor, screenwriter, Sean Gaffney, who came from CA to oversee the production of a school muscial that he and Jennifer Schuchmann had written for American Heritage Academy. Lucky for us! He packed in as much info as he possibly could into one Saturday. He was an excellent speaker besides being a talented writer. The two do not always go hand in hand. He had our rapt attention as he walked us through the basics of Structure in Screenwriting and Writing Dialogue that Sounds Right. He used clips from movies to illustrate structure & dialogue. So effective was his excitement at teaching that the day flew by and we hated the class to end. We left better equipped and encouraged that writers write. Published or not. To find our more about Sean Jaffney, visit his website, www.Gaffneyinkwell.com.

My Mother's Day was blessed as well. My sweet daughter, Sheri was over the weekend before and had given me a beautiful card and a very beautiful amethyst ring, knowing my love of purple. No, it's not my birthstone. I felt very special and very loved. My 3 yr. old grandson could hardly wait for me to open the cards and gift. Such fun! On Sunday, my son, Jared, took me and his dad out to lunch with the zillion other people who pressed in line for their place at the table. His gift to me was a collection of CD's that he'd personally recorded of my favorite music selections. He is the music guru in the family, but we all love music. He knew exactly which songs to record, and which would make me cry! I think he and his sister are in competition ever since she made a scrapbook of me when I was pregnant with her, until she became a mom herself. That's when he said there was no way he could compete with that! So it's like a joke between them now, I think. I really do feel honored by them and honored to be their mother.

I really missed my mom this week. She died 7 yrs. ago, but the memory of her is still sweet on my mind and heart. I gave my mother a journal when she was 70 to keep for me. I believe she inspired me and my brother to write, with her own storytelling through the years. I like to think she was looking through the porthole of heaven wishing me a Happy Mother's Day, too!
Brenda