TGIF, RG2E Peeps!
How ’bout we kick-off the weekend with a Tom Selleck tale…
Here’s RG2E Featured Author Patrice Williams Marks to tell you all about it…
Hi, I’m Patrice Williams Marks, the writer of THE UNFINISHED short story, and the soon to be released full novel, THE UNFINISHED 2.. I’ve always been a writer; loved it from infancy. In the second grade I wrote the wildly successful (in my own mind) “The Day Snoopy Got Married.” My teacher shared it with her fellow instructors. Never got it back.
By third grade I was writing commercials for shaving cream after watching my grandpa wield a razor expertly. I can still hear him, “drink buttermilk; it’ll put hair on your chest.” Yuck. Needless to say, I never drank buttermilk.
Right out of college I took a job at a bank in Portland Oregon. It was a new branch, so we had few customers and time to kill. I decided to write my first script. It was an episode of Magnum P.I. Not because I saw myself as a screenwriter or television writer, but because I just HAD TO MEET TOM SELLECK! (No I didn’t this time in my life. However, several years later, I met him twice… see photo of the two of us).
I went to the library (way before the internet) and checked out the only book on screenwriting. It had cobwebs covering it, but it taught me the basics of formatting a script. I hired a friend of the family to type up the script, ordered a list of agents from the Writer’s Guild of America, and sent off my mimeographed letters of inquiry.
Some agents actually wrote me back saying they could not take me on as a client, but they were impressed with my ability to have a bank pay for my postage! However, one agent from Woodland Hills, CA did reply and wanted to read my script. I shipped that sucker off the next day (of course with the bank’s postage).
I was very naive. But sometimes naivety can work for you. It lets nothing stop you. I expected to get interest, and I did. This agent actually got this poorly written, poorly executed script into the hands of the producers of Magnum P.I. Negotiations were fast and furious for a month before they petered out without a sale. I later found out that they were interested in the idea, and would have re-written it. They would have paid $5,000 back in the early 80’s for the storyline. Not bad for a teen just out of high school who only wanted to meet Tom.
I’ll continue the story in Part 2.
Be sure to visit my newly launched KICKSTARTER PROJECT where, as a supporter, will get access to the full novel before it is released, as well as my next novel, CLEAN KILLS AND OTHER TROPHIES, (a screenplay that is being re-written as a novel).
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The UnFinished: In a future where the Unfinished (murdered) are brought back to life for only 72 hours to testify against their killers before being “put down” for eternity… an Unfinished is resurrected to what he believes is his one chance to point the finger at his accused killer.
$1.99
BOOK TRAILER: The Unfinished and Unfinished 2 by Patrice Williams Marks from Patrice Williams Marks on Vimeo.
If you’d like an Ebook Gift Copy of THE UNFINISHED, it’s yours!
I’m giving away unlimited free downloads through Smashwords until January 28, 2013
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: JH57B
Expires: January 28, 2013
For those of you who haven’t used Smashwords Coupons yet for Free Ebooks…simply use the Smashwords link above for the book, add the book to your cart, and at checkout, enter the coupon code above, which will make the final price FREE! 🙂
Connect with Patrice Here:
Kickstarter Project Preview Link
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Fabulous fun post, Patrice! Go, Girl, Go!
Thanks bunches for sharing your story with us today and for the Ebook Gift Copies too!
The Best of RG2E Reading Wishes — D. D. Scott, RG2E Founder
The Reader's Guide to Epublishing 
Awesome story, Patrice! And thanks for the coupon–your book sounds great too! 🙂
Thanks so much, Dana. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to read it. It’s a quick read. Full novel coming April.
All the best,
Patrice
I love this story. The writing is superb! I’ve read the book 3 times already and love, love the trailer on the book. The narrator does such a great job too!
Love! Love your post! Giggling from the start. And, oh, Tom Selleck may have pulled me right into your post, too. I’m so jealous. LOL! Lucky you to get to meet him in person. And cool that your script got so close to getting picked up for the show. That’s truly awesome!
And I have to say the premise of your book, “The Unfinished” sounds intriguing. Super cool trailer, too. Thank you for the coupon, Patrice!
Now, I can hardly wait to read part 2 of your story. If your book is made into a movie, then maybe Tom Selleck can have a role in it. 🙂
Sharing this post with writer peeps!
All the best! 🙂
Thanks, Maria! Yes, that would be way cool if Tom were in the movie. But first I have to finish the novel, then publish. (Oh well).
I forgot to mention that the Magnum PI script I wrote was about a director whose cover was coming to Hawaii to shoot a commercial, but in actuality he was smuggling black diamonds inside cereal boxes back to the mainland.
Part 2 of this story will be in a few weeks I believe.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook!
All the best,
Patrice
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