What’s The Best Part of A Story?

What you consider the best stories or the best part of a story can change from moment to moment, year to year, and depends on you – the mood you’re in, what’s happening in your life at the time and what you’re looking for at any given moment.  

Most good writers can write all types of stories depending on where they are in their own lives at the time, their experiences, and the passion that grips them.  A story is an experience. As a reader, your journey through its pages immerses you in the world of the author’s creation. For the duration of that journey, you can experience being a native in a foreign land, the ordinary or the exotic, being a royal, a victim, or the powerful one — countless things you may not currently or ever experience in your own life. For me, life is about experiencing its many facets. Truly meaningful artistry is how you play out and paint the canvass of each day of your life.

I believe that being continuously curious leads us to keep evolving. And that’s a good thing, because if you’re not growing you’re dying.  Psychologist Daniel Gilbert said, “Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.” My career, both as a writer, producer, and many other things, has not ceased evolving and I look forward to more.

I wrote my first book at the age of seven and have been writing in some form ever since. After graduating from the University of Texas, Austin (BS in Radio/TV/Film) I worked for a local PBS station, then received an offer to work for one of the most prestigious commercial real estate firms in town. That detour into real estate right before the S&L crisis hit armed me with priceless material. I was in my early 20’s in a very male dominated environment where personal stories collided with professional ones in monumental ways. After ghostwriting a couple of books and writing my first novel, I moved to LA where I worked as a pitch writer and development consultant for the William Morris Agency and Development Executive for Finnegan Pinchuck Productions before landing at Paramount Pictures as an executive for the International department.

After five years as a Paramount executive, I co-founded a production company and co-wrote and Produced the feature film The Inner Circle. The Inner Circle was featured on England’s Hallmark Hall of Fame and sold well in Europe, Austraila, New Zealand and Canada. It is currently available on streaming platforms worldwide. In July 2009, The Inner Circle won the Exceptional Merit in Media Award. The EMMA’s were created by the NWPC to honor and reward outstanding material in radio, television, print and the internet that inform and educate the public about critical issues that impact women’s lives.  

In 2018, I wrote and produced a short film, Hotel, winning for Best Original Concept and Best Sound in the Independent Horror Movie Awards.

Over the course of my career I have written novels and screenplays (some under pseudonyms) that have been optioned and produced.  My writing partner and I are currently developing the television series, Best Texas Land, which began with my recounting tales of two partners from the real estate firm where I worked in Texas.