There has been a lot of typing, writing, editing, rewrites, pitches, and log lines scripted and rescripted over the last few weeks. There have been new registrations, copywrites, and submissions too. In fact, it has been quite a while since I’ve felt so much pressure and intensity around my career as a writer. It has felt exciting and draining, powerful and terrifying, and all that good junk that goes into bearing your soul on a blank page before critiquing it, and throwing it into the wild, hoping that someone somewhere understands what you’ve manifested, and hoping that the same someone is gentle with your vulnerability. Sheesh. Whoever thinks writing is for the faint-hearted couldn’t be any more wrong.
Excitingly, I’m not the only one who has news. The other part of myself – the part that’s much taller than me, who rocks shoulder-length braids and cheekbones for days – has also got some exciting news of her own. Like, Pacific Ocean-sized news! Construction Manager, Project Manager, and Superintendent of both commercial and residential construction, who makes up one of the 13% of women in construction in Atlanta, and one of the 4% of women in managerial roles in construction in Atlanta, and who’s often the only woman on sight, Erika McKoy, my soulmate, has just finished her FIRST screenplay!
Woooo. I need a moment to breathe. Because every time I think about her journey of conceptualizing, cultivating, and then writing her screenplay, I get giddy and goosebumpy. Even right now, I’m all tingly as I write this. The screenplay LOT 22 is amazing. And it’s finished. And it’s registered with The Screen Writers Guild and is already doing cozy time at The Library of Congress. So yes, Erika is amazing for 101 reasons, and now, she’s amazing for 122.
LOT 22 is about an Atlanta Detective who tracks a series of gruesome murders back to a very peculiar family. She must find out if one of them is the murderer. But who? LOT 22 is a psychological thriller that’s interlaced with grit and edge. It’s a multilayered story, developed with the same precision that Erika brings to all of her projects, and for that reason, it’s a well-crafted plot that’ll leave its audience with a burdening question: what would you do?
Sure, I know what you’re thinking. I’m clearly fangirling over my wife because she’s my wife, right? Wrong. I’m fangirling over the screenwriter and future film director, Erika McKoy because she gifted me with an incredible story. It's a story that she’ll give to the world when she finally has the time to make it happen. Until then, I’m just going to sit in my celebratory tutu dress – wearing my Siren-esque crown of gemstones – and celebrate the remarkable feat of Erika Mckoy, my love, finishing her FIRST screenplay. What an epic moment.
This certainly does call for the posh teabags! And yes, I'm going to drink my tea from a champagne flute and clink glasses too!
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