The Vine Yard: Chapter 1

After deciding to turn The Vine Yard from a nonfiction book into a TV show, I sat down to write. Usually, when I’m inspired, I can crank out a decent story in about an hour. This time, I got caught up. Formatting for novels is distinctly different than it is for a TV script. You have to condense character descriptions into two lines max and avoid mentioning eye and hair color—unless it’s imperative to your story. Normally, I could take up three pages setting the stage, and giving insight into my character’s thoughts. But for scripts, there are no inner thoughts. Everything is spoken through dialogue or actions, and given deeper meaning via your actors. That alone posed a problem, outside of the bigger issue:

I had no idea what to write about.

Sitting down with my dad—my notorious brainstorming partner—I posed the question: what is a fictional story about Vine really about? I thought of telling the story of the female protagonist kicking butt and creating hilarious comedy. But that’s the thing about Vine, there were only a handful of female comedy Viners, so it wouldn’t be true to the app and its culture. Plus, my dad pointed out, I would get more people to watch the show, and identify with the character, if my protagonist was a male.

Thus my Male Protagonist was born. But I still had nothing for Male Protagonist to do. So, I harkened back to the reason I started this project in the first place: 20-year-old me wanted to know the details about a Viner she was obsessed with, so I decided to fashion Male Protagonist after him. He was 19 when I was, so I could understand his motivations as he grew, as we would be the same age.

When it came to naming Male Protagonist, I was stuck. After taking a Holocaust Studies class at university, I felt really connected to my Jewish culture. Looking around, I realized that there were a handful of shows with Jewish protagonists, but not many. I was tired of the Jewish characters being the token character in a story set in New York. So I wanted Male Protagonist to be Jewish. But, again, my dad interjected—Male Protagonist should be Jewish, but not so much so that he would ostracize the general public watching the show. Again, I conceded. We named him Josh Glass; Jewish enough, but not on the nose—pun intended.

After figuring out the details of Josh Glass’ life, the story started to take shape. The Viner I loved years ago wanted to be a filmmaker, not an actor. So, Josh wanted to be a filmmaker. But I wanted Josh to have struggles. It’s easy to create when you have the means to at your fingertips. A filmmaker unable to write a film, however, worked. He could see the vision he wanted to create, but couldn’t put words on the page. This, too, connected to the Viner I loved, because though he wrote and directed his own short films, his dialogue often fell flat, reading as unrealistic conversation between two people. (He's a much better writer now, though!)

With my basic characters and love interests planned, I sat down to write. It wasn’t until I returned for my last semester of college that I finished the script. It tells the story of Josh’s introduction to Vine, inspired by my favorite Viner’s first interaction with Vine, fueled not by curiosity and boredom, but rather by Josh’s secret love for his best friend, Alexis. I was thrilled when my best friend, roommate, and parents all loved it. They found comedy in it that I hadn’t planned, and assured me it was one of the best things I’d written. As I don’t particularly think I’m all that funny in my writing, I was excited. To date, my favorite line in the script is from Josh’s jerk of a roommate, Derek: “What the f**k’s a Vine.” It was inspired by Ozzie Osbourne’s commercial in which he confusedly says, “What the f**k’s a Bieber?” I laughed at that much harder than I should’ve.

My only concern was the explicit nature of the script. I don’t curse in any of my other work, since I write mainly young adult fiction, and don’t really find the need to curse to my younger audience. However, Vine was explicit. The Viners, themselves, are explicit people. Listening to their podcasts and YouTube videos is like listening to a sailor that stubbed his toe. I wanted to be as realistic as possible, but also:

When Vine shut down, a majority of the Viners moved to YouTube and became creators. Creators make money on YouTube via ads placed on their videos. However, YouTube instituted a new algorithm that refuses to place ads on explicit content, trying to keep YouTube more family friendly and discourage lewd content. So, if someone drops an f-bomb, chances are they won’t make any money from that video, regardless of the number of views.

As such, many creators feel that they’re being censored, and therefore aren’t given the freedom of creation that YouTube promises. I, therefore, wanted to tackle that issue many ex-Viners/YouTube creators are facing, because it is a facet of the Vine chronicles.

Once I explained my thought process to my creative team (i.e. my parents, roommate, and best friend) they assured me that the language within the script was just fine. Reassured, I printed my script, edited it, and prepared to begin the journey of turning it into a TV show! It was time to find a producer and set the wheels into motion. The Vine Yard was going to be the next hit dramedy!

Book Spotlight: Double Life

By: S. Usher Evans

For my first ever book spotlight, I’d like to introduce you to the captivating world of Razia. By day, she’s a droll scientist that studies and records planets. By night, she’s the galaxy’s only female pirate, and a damn good bounty hunter. Of course, she struggles with proving herself in a man’s world, while trying to balance her day job. What ensues is an enthralling tale about a young woman going after what she wants most in the world, while slowly building herself along the way.

So, I first discovered this book at Florida SuperCon almost four years ago. I was looking at releasing my own book at the time and was scouring the author tables for advice about what to do.

Enter: S. Usher Evans.

She talked with me for about an hour, detailing how she went from having a sturdy day job, to pursuing her dream of being a full-time author. (Spoiler: she’s been incredibly successful at it. Check out her website and her books here)

Of course, after our lengthy conversation, I wanted to buy one of her books. And she directed me to Razia. I had been going through a tough time with books then, finding a lot of YA work dull and predictable. So, when she told me the protagonist was in her early twenties, and therefore not subject to falling into the tropes and clichés of YA, I was sold.

Some sci-fi novels are difficult to comprehend, are dry, and plain. This is not the case for the Razia series. Sush’s writing is descriptive and enjoyable. The characters are relatable, the world is imaginative, and everything feels attainable. You can understand exactly what the characters are doing, though their technology is foreign to us. The banter is witty; the dialogue reads like real people having real conversations. Nothing is stilted.

This series is a great read. But if sci-fi isn’t your thing, Sush has an incredible array of books to choose from, in a number of different genres. Give her a chance. You will not be disappointed.

Advice About Conventions

Back in August, I participated in my very first ComicCon! Ever since I self-published my first novel (check out Call Me Anastasia!), I’d wanted to sell my work at a convention. After reading some blog posts about conventions, and speaking to a few indie authors at Florida SuperCon, I made sure I was completely prepared.

What I forgot:

FOOD. Bring some food with you, outside of granola bars. It’s a long day and unless you have someone along with you that can go get you something, you’re going to be starving.

Plan raffles and giveaways beforehand, so you don’t look like a putz scrambling around. I found I garnered a crowd by offering a free copy of my book at two separate times throughout the day. It made people stop and look at my booth. Plus, everyone that entered gave me their email, which will come in handy when I eventually get my mailing list together. Those people could turn into your trusted followers! Keep track of them.

Have a grab-bag of things to write inside peoples’ books when they ask you to sign them, again, so you don’t look like a mindless putz. Ideas: “I hope you enjoy!” or “Keep writing!” or something that pertains to the content of your novel.

I had someone ask me who I was and what I was selling. They didn’t realize I was an author, and my name wasn’t visible on my banners, as they were behind my table. Some conventions will provide you with a banner, showcasing that you’re an author. If not, be sure to put it up yourself. That way, when people walk by, they know exactly who you are.

What I did:

I made sure I packed all my books, and got my banners and accoutrements packed in the car beforehand. 

I made myself a thermos of coffee and a bottle of water. Though the convention was only one day, I knew standing, smiling, and conversing with people all day would be exhausting. And I brought my author mug, which earned me a couple chuckles.

If you have a special tablecloth or something, make sure you iron it beforehand. There’s nothing worse than a creased tablecloth. It makes your display look hastily thrown together and not professional. Same goes for your banners. Make sure they’re not wrinkled.

Bring some knickknacks to decorate your table—as long as you have the room. Don’t crowd your table, but also don’t make it cluttered. There’s a fine middle ground.

Make sure you have a “booth babe” or someone with you so you can escape—I mean, use the restroom in peace. Same goes for eating breaks. Plus, these people tend to help sell your books, and can attest to the quality/relate to the potential readers.

Order some jazzy book stands and make your display look nice and neat. Need some inspiration? Check out indie authors’ instagrams. They usually post photos of their booths online. And because they’ve done it before you, they know what works and doesn’t work.

I was told that as a vendor, you should never sit during a convention. You need to be extroverted and open to draw people in. If you sit, or seem like you’re closed off, people will treat you as such. Therefore, wear some comfortable shoes and hunker down for the long haul.

Greet EVERYONE. It can get tedious after a while, especially when the same four people continuously walk past you. However, a guy told other people that I was the nicest person at the convention, which drew in customers. I also had a young woman tell me that she finally stopped at my booth because I greeted her and complimented her on her shirt. It costs nothing to be kind.

Overall, it was a great first convention. I really connected with some great people, and I earned some loyal readers. Plus, three months later, someone recognized me by one of my books, remembering me from the convention!