“The Feathered Tale of Talula Jones” is my thesis project for USC’s Master of Professional Writing program. It’s been an awesome experience, and to top it off, I’ve been fortunate enough to have writer/net-worker extraordinaire Gina Nahai (author of “Caspian Rain”) as my advisor.
In Gina’s class a few weeks ago, my classmates and I had the chance to pitch our stories to a fancy Hollywood agent (I’ll call him FHA, for both privacy and brevity). Off the top of his head he tossed some interesting and unique ideas back at us (that’s why he gets paid the big bucks). The whole experience got me thinking about a few key elements of my story. After just one five-minute exchange with this guy I’m toying with some exciting changes – nothing that would a require a total rewrite, just a slightly different, more magical framing.
After letting these ideas roll around in my head for a few days, I emailed FHA and asked if I could have a few more minutes of his time, and what do you know, he said yes. So this Thursday I’m going down to FHA’s fancy Beverly Hills office to pitch him a revised outline for my story.
Would I be totally grateful if he were willing to read my manuscript when it’s done? Absolutely. Would I dance down my street singing the “Fame” anthem if he actually decided he wanted to rep me some day? Um, hell yeah. But for the time being I’m just excited to get feedback from someone who knows this business so well.
Now I just need to get a revised version of my new outline ready to pitch succinctly, so I don’t get nervous and screw it up. My mantra this week is “be cool, girl, be cool.”
Tune in next week and I’ll tell you how it went.
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