Dreams

     If my dreams were realistic, I would have already achieved them. That’s what I often tell myself; and it’s partly true. I say 'partly' because I’ve partly achieved them; not fully to the extent that I want, but I’m steadily chipping away. But I understand I have lofty goals. I want to pursue my writing, film/acting and music… I love them all. And maybe that’s the key… loving what you do (and at least being kind-of good at it). Let’s face it; I may not be the best person in the world to do all of these things. I'm a decent storyteller, but there are better technical writers out there, there are many better-looking- better-acting actors, and better musicians. I know I’ll never live up to my own expectations of myself, but that’s okay. I love writing, film and music, and doing them makes me happy. There will always be fans and critics of your work, but at the end of the day, if you can do what makes you happy and it brings you peace, you couldn’t ask for anything more. If other people like it too, that’s a bonus. So I’ll keep dreaming big and striving to fulfill those aspirations. I hope you all do the same in your lives.

     I have been keeping myself very busy. Editing the third and final Sebastian and the Afterlife book has been a long process, but I’m happy to say that it’s nearing the end. Its release date has been pushed back a couple of times and is now January of 2014. I know that’s a long time to wait, but it will be worth it to have a really good, tight edit, and do the end of the series justice. I have suffered the consequences of a hurried edit in the past.  I think Sebastian fans will be really happy with the final book.

    2013 has been a big year for film… at least for me. Most recently, a film called The Spectacular Now, that I had a small part as a pedestrian in, was in theaters a little earlier this month. It stars Shaleene Woodly and Miles teller, two great young actors. I also had the great pleasure of playing a Post-Apocalyptic Wastelander in a film called Preserve that shot at the beach just south of St Simon’s Island, GA.  And just a few weekends ago, I played a 'group member' in a short film called Saga Orphans. It was a movie about a support group that meets to help people who can’t handle that their fantasy sagas have ended (Harry Potter, Twilight and the like). It was really funny. 

I have decided to make my most recent feature-length screenplay (one called 'Veronica Got Grounded') into a movie. I've started a production company called 'Sleepy Decision' as a banner to make this and future films under. I have a blog (http://sleepydecision.blogspot.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sleepydecisionentertainment) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/sleepydecision) if you're interested in  following the film's progress, you can see it at any of those places. 

So here's to dreams, I wouldn't want life without them. 

Take care, 

William

January

Hey Everyone,

     I hope 2013 is treating you good so far. It’s been an odd winter here in Georgia. In any given week the temperature will be in the mid 70s, then drop to the 30s or 40s later that week… and then quickly get warmer again. I’m not complaining, I’m not a huge fan of freezing cold weather.

     

     I have a lot going on this year, and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to keep everyone better informed about things... so you should get more newsy news this year.

     Editing on my third Sebastian and the Afterlife book is coming a long nicely. It’s going to be the series conclusion, and an exciting conclusion it will be. The book has a title and a tentative release date in the fall of this year. I will make more specific announcements soon as the editing wraps up. There will likely be more web/live appearances and signings coming up as I promote the upcoming book and the series as a whole. I’ll miss all of my old Sebastian and the Afterlife characters, but I’m really excited to start on a new story that has been swimming around in my mind for a while. 

     

     I have plenty of film stuff going on as well. I got the opportunity to be in a few films late 2012 that should be hitting the screen soon. I expect ‘Hell Hole’, “Masked’, ‘The Hospital’, and ‘The Spectacular Now’ to all be released relatively early this year. Hell Hole, Masked and The Hospital will be making the film festival circuit and will hopefully be picked up by distributors. The Spectacular Now will have a large release and it should be coming to a theater near you sometime this year. In addition to these movies, I have been busy filming a web series that should be released next month. I will be starring as Matthew, a normal guy who begins receiving not-so-normal messages from an unknown source. Sorry to be cryptic, I can’t say a lot about it yet.

     I plan on 2013 being my return to music as well, so be on the look out for a new album to drop in the spring. I’ll keep you posted.

     I hope you have a lot of great plans for the upcoming year, and hopefully I can keep you entertained when you take a break from what you’re doing. 

Take care,

William  

The First Day of Fall

Today my calendar says it’s the first day of fall; I’m happy about that, autumn is my favorite time of year. But looking back, I have to say that this summer was pretty great. It flew by, as I stayed busy with a number of excellent projects.

Editing for my third Sebastian and the Afterlife book began (which I’m happy to get started).  I have already put in a bit of work on that; my chief editor and I will be buried in editing for the next couple of months. 

What really stuck out this summer is all of the film-work I got to be involved with.

In the beginning of August I did some extra work in a feature film called ‘The Spectacular Now’, starring some young Hollywood up and comers you’ve likely seen on TV and other films. It was a high school dramedy (drama-comedy) filming here in Athens. I got to be a pedestrian that walked by in a number of shots filmed outside of a clothing store. If the scene stays in the movie, you should be sure to see me this one particular time that I cross the street about twenty or so feet behind a couple of the lead actors as they are delivering some heartfelt dialogue. It will be coming out sometime in 2013.

The week following that, I found myself outside of Chattanooga, TN, in a little horror movie called ‘The Hospital’. This was a fun shoot, and my wife actually got to be in the film with me.  We were diner patrons at this little restaurant called the Dixie Freeze. It was basically that classic scene where the young college kid comes to the small town and says that they plan to go to the old ___(insert creepy location here)___  (in this case it was the old abandoned hospital … oh, did I mention that it was haunted?). At this point all of the town’s folk warn her not to go there, but the visitor doesn’t listen… of course. My mind kept going back to the old crazy guy in the 1980’s Friday the 13^th movies telling the kids “you’re all doomed!” The diner was small, and there were only a small number of us in the scene, so you’ll definitely notice me. The movie will be in film festivals by the spring of 2013, but from what I understand, it is not for the faint of heart.

Right at the beginning of September I was very excited to get a chance to play a ‘Crawly Demon’ in the horror-comedy film Hell Hole. I had a big costume/makeup job from head to toe to make me look like this terrible monster… it was awesome. Everyone loved the character… a number of people were taking pictures of me and with me. I kinda felt like a rock star on set. I had a number of great scenes where I brought my monster swagger and attacked people. I eat one guy, attack another, attack an officer, get beat up by one of the lead girls, and attack the leading men. It was all part of a day’s work for your local hell monster. The scenes I was in were both scary and hilarious. You should keep an eye out for this film in 2013.

On another movie note: my picture will be appearing in a short film currently titled ‘Masked’.  The image will appear in some mug shots of ‘The FBI’s 10 Most Wanted’. I’ll be looking forward to that. I believe it’s a horror-thriller, but seeing a mug shot of me as a serious villain is going to be pretty amusing. The movie is in pre-production right now, I’m sure they’ll be trying to have it done in time to enter film festivals early next year.

I was supposed to be playing a role in a horror movie called Deathwoods, but filming got delayed. I will probably be a part of that very soon. 

If you're curious about any of the films I mentioned, (with the exception of the short film 'Masked') they are all already all on IMDB.com. 

So it’s been a pretty insane summer… but it’s been insane good. Now that it’s done, I can’t wait to see what the fall is going to bring. I hope your summer was nice as well.

Take care; and I’ll talk to you again soon,

William

Week 8: The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Hello All,

I got tagged in a work in progress blog hop called 'The Next Big Thing' by my friend and agent, Donna. It's week 8 of the blog hop, and it consists of answering some questions about the book you are writing, and then tagging some other authors to do the same on their blogs next week. I guess I better get started... 

What is the working title of your book?

Sebastian and the Afterlife Book III (Sorry to be stingy, I'm not ready to release the rest of the title yet).

Where did idea for your book come from?

It’s the third installment of a series I’m writing about a 17-year old boy’s surreal adventure in a spirit world after death.  I feel like the idea for the series was really born out of my characters, Sebastian and Sarah. I knew I wanted to write a young adult dark fantasy, but I didn’t know what it would be about. I came up with two of the main characters, Sebastian and Sarah; I knew they were in love, and that there was an obstacle between them, but I didn’t know what it was. Then I realized that the obstacle between them was going to be death… at that point I realized I was going to be writing a ghost story. Soon the story all came together in my head.  

What genre does your book fall under?

Middle-Grades/Teen Dark Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play the characters in your book?

I don’t have a lot of the characters cast in my mind; maybe just a couple. Even when I was writing the first book, I always saw Sid as John Cusack. I could also see Logan Lerman (Percy from the Percy Jackson movie) playing Sebastian

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? 

A teenager finds that his greatest adventure begins after death.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

The book is currently in the editing process and should be released by TWCS Publishing House in 2013.

How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I believe I spent about 5 months on it. Starting out casually, and then really writing a lot more as my deadline approached.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Probably Harry Potter, Twilight or Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Beyond what I mentioned before about getting the idea from my own characters and their situation, I guess a fear of mortality could have played into it. Death is such a disturbing subject; it’s nice to be able to deal with it in a way that is approachable. If what lies beyond life is a fantastic adventure story, maybe I can manage dealing with my worries a little better.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

While the book is about a pretty dark subject matter, it really is more of an adventure story... Even to the point that you forget at times that the lead character is actually a ghost. You don’t have to be into dark literature to enjoy it.

I am really supposed to tag 5 other authors to continue on with this blog hop next week, but I was only able to round up three. So let me pass the torch. They are:

http://cynthiahillbooks.com/

www.jebriggs.co.uk

http://rosiesmith-nazilliwrites.blogspot.com/

 Rules:

1-      Answer the questions about your work in progress

2-      Tag 5 other authors to do it the following week

Summertime

Hello All,

I hope you’re having a good summer and staying out of the heat. I‘ve been keeping myself busy (as usual) with plenty of creative endeavors. I really enjoy everything I’m working on; the trick is just keeping my head above water.

Editing for the final book of my ‘Sebastian and the Afterlife’ trilogy has officially begun. This part is easily my least favorite chore of the process. My editors already have a laundry list of things for me to tend to, but that’s par for the course. It’ll be a relief to have the series finished and tie up all of the loose ends that I left open at the end of the last book. It’ll be a tall mountain to climb, and I’m ready to be done with it; time to get to work. I have already been notified that its release (which was tentatively scheduled for March 2013) will be delayed. From what I can tell, the book will end up coming out closer to the fall of next year. I will have more specifics on that as the editing progresses.

In addition to my writing, I’m looking forward to doing some more film acting this summer. It’s confirmed that I will be involved with two different independent horror films; with the strong possibility of a drama in the fall. The first of these will be filming mid-August in Tennessee. It should be a lot of fun.

Speaking of my films, ‘The Watch’, a movie that I was an extra in last year, came out in theaters this weekend. I went to go see it earlier today and thought it was great. It’s funny (and very raunchy); it’s a good ‘guy’s summer popcorn flick’. Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it –

I guess that’s all I have to report for the moment, but I’ll have more to say soon. Take care of yourself and put on some sunscreen.

Your Friend,

William

Crunch Time

Hello Everyone,

     Sorry that I’ve been quiet as of late, I’ve been keeping busy writing the third Sebastian book. It’s getting to be crunch time with the deadline for the first draft due on July 1^st. I’ve still got a bit to go, but if I can keep up my pace, I should be able to finish it just in time (as usual) (I believe I turned in the first draft for Agents of the Reaper the day before it was due). I am pretty happy with how Sebastian three is turning out so far. I was having trouble coming up with a title that would be representative of the book, but it finally came to me earlier this week. I’ll probably wait to make that announcement until I'm sure it won’t change. It feels good to be tying up all the loose ends that were left open in the end of book two and bringing the series some closure. There are some really exciting sequences I’ve written over the last week I know you’ll enjoy, I can’t wait for you to read them. Beyond the action, I’ve also intertwined some interesting backstory with events that happened before the first book took place. I know thus far some of the villains have seemed perhaps a little one-dimensional. Really it’s because I haven’t taken the time to talk about their past. In the new book we get some insight into how and why a couple of the ‘bad guys’ have turned out the way that they are. It’s nice to get some origin story for some key characters. I feel like the spirit realm is a very rich tapestry, and I love adding more to its history and mythos. To me the first two books have very different feels, and if I were to compare the third, I would say it is more like the first, but with faster pacing and more action. Speaking of action, it’s looking like the last three chapters of this book are going to be straight action. This should make all of you adrenaline junkies happy. A lot of stuff goes down; some big characters are going to get killed off… hopefully none of your favorites (though I can’t guarantee anything). It’s exciting to be concluding the trilogy; the nostalgia is already starting to hit me as I write. I know I’ll miss the spirit world a lot when I move on to something else. Though there will be closure for Sebastian’s journey, there might just be enough loose ends left open to warrant another book later in the future, should I ever decide to return to it. But for now I am going to enjoy it as the finale of a trilogy that has been an absolute pleasure to write. I’ll keep you updated on the book’s progress.

Take care,

William

Catching up with April

Hello Everyone,

                I hope you’ve been doing well. April has been a busy month so far, but most importantly, I’ve still been moving right along, in the middle of the next Sebastian and the Afterlife book (the finale to the trilogy). I like it a lot so far. I know book two ends leaving a bunch of questions unanswered, but all the loose ends will be accounted for. From having fans of the books approach me and tell me how they think it will end, it looks like some of the outcomes might be a bit unexpected. It makes me happy that the overwhelming consensus from readers says they enjoyed the second book even better than the first. Hopefully the third book will easily top book two. I guarantee you it won’t be short on action!

                At long last I have a book signing coming up. It’s at the Jittery Joes in Athens, Georgia (Atlanta Hwy location) from 7-9pm on Tuesday, May 1^st. There will be copies of the new book available for purchase if you haven’t gotten yours yet. It should be a fun time. Stop by, say hi and get some delicious coffee if you have a chance. Here is the address for your GPS - ‎2950 Atlanta Hwy

Athens, GA 30606

                In other points of interest, my publicist is up for an Independent Book Blogger Award on Goodreads for her literary blog at http://www.girl-who-reads.com/. April 23 is the last day for the public to vote. You should check out her blog, and if you’d like to vote for her, you can do so here - http://www.goodreads.com/book_blogger_award/entry/67

              The other day I won a couple of movie passes from calling into a local radio station. It’s exciting (it’s been a long time since I’ve won something cool). I’m going to pick them up Monday. I think I am going to save them a week for the next movie I really want to see… ‘The Raven’  I mentioned this film on Facebook and Twitter months back. John Cusack is playing Edgar Allan Poe. It looks creepy ... and right up my alley.

                           

I need to go for now, but I’ll be back to post again before you know it.

Take care of yourself,

William