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Update on my extraordinary life and spectacular reckonings

by Robin

“Well, son of a gun,” you may ask, “where the heck have you been?”

I know, I know. Greetings, BRIGHT SOULS! Salut! Buenos dias! Buon giorno! It’s been a minute since I last posted.

No excuses. Just…

I planned for my first novel, THE IMPROBABLE WONDERS OF MOOJIE LITTLEMAN, to be part of a trilogy. For refreshers, here’s the logline: A troubled half-human, half-celestial boy mourning his adoptive mother’s death focuses on winning back his estranged dad, while juggling time between outcast kindred beings and a surly grandfather.

It introduces Moojie as an adopted, foundling child with superhuman powers who wants a family more than life itself. Slow to walk and talk, he struggles to conform to his first family’s expectations, but is haunted by identity and abandonment issues. After his mom dies, his disapproving dad, Henry, abandons him to her dad, Pappy Finnegan. At fourteen, Moojie meets the elusive Light-Eaters, his celestial kin. Through relationships with them and gruff Pappy, he struggles with self-acceptance, forgiveness, and tries to suppress his out-of-control paranormal powers. When the Light-Eaters return to their dimension, will he overcome the past and take the lead in helping his community survive a prophesied natural disaster?

I thought this would easily segue into a second novel…

Now Moojie (18) is living with his hapless adoptive dad, Henry, and meddlesome Auntie Tilda. He’s inherited his grandfather’s goat farm and is struggling to establish a healing ministry. Natural disasters are occurring in other continents. Moojie knows it’s just a matter of time before another big quake hits the region. Henry, self-serving and conniving, tries to arrange a marriage between Moojie and the daughter of a wealthy mobster to settle a gambling debt. Neither Moojie or the girl wants it. When Moojie helps her escape to the city to go to college, the mobster threatens his life and the forced sale of the farm. After Moojie finds out the mobster can’t legally take his farm, he embarks on a journey to the Mojave desert with his eccentric Light-Eater buddy, Abu, to find a mountain portal. He hopes to reunite with Babylonia, his first love, to bring her back to marry and start a family. But when he gets to the other dimension, there are more than a lion’s share of challenges to face. In undertaking new risks and challenges, his character is further transformed, and he’s ready to start his own family.

So, how’s that going for ya?

Before I get through the revisions on Book #2, I meet distinguished director/actor/producer/writer, John Crye, at a media conference in Hollywood. For longer than I care to admit, I’ve secretly housed a dream to write for motion pictures. I love the medium but, I kid you not, it’s ENTIRELY, UTTERLY, LOCK, STOCK, AND BARREL different from novel writing. Webinars, seminars, networking helps. A mentor helps. Reading others’ scripts helps. Scrutinizing films helps. Bottom line, humility helps.

John and I brainstorm ideas about adapting Novel #1 for a feature. Before ya know it, we’re undertaking a creative conspiracy that lasts years. We worked together, and as a team with screenwriter, Quinn Sosna-Spear, imagining different versions, including a TV series.

Flash forward. There’s a polished feature script for Novel #1. I’m signed with a super entertainment lawyer. Offers are coming in to adapt other projects. Yay! The Moojie script (current title HALFKIN) is being circulated and reviewed by producers and critics. It will soon be packaged for submission to studios and networks. A tidy sum of development goes into this process: budget, pitch deck, signing producers, director, actors, crew, and finding financiers. Whew!

Here’s a mock up of the pitch deck cover:

When I started the adaptation process, I had no idea that the average time it takes to develop, produce, and distribute a feature from start to finish is typically eight – YES – eight years. Also, only 1 in 1,000 films that get optioned actually get produced. Sheesh.

And here we go, scouting locations…

What in my life could have possibly prepared me for this journey? Working for decades on something I have a passion for, knowing that it most likely may never be realized?

Well, I must say, even if the film never gets made, I have no regrets. I’ve met some of the most terrific creative, supportive folks in the film making industry. I’m thrilled that my quirky first novel THE IMPROBABLE WONDERS OF MOOJIE LITTLEMAN won lots of awards and is just too weird to die.

***If you read the book and liked it, kindly spread the word. Scribble a review! Wave it out the car window! Post a picture of your goat eating it!

So, like the song says:

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Meanwhile…

I’m talking to the birds outside, trying to get them to pipe down.

As one must.

Taking one day at a time.

Bye-bye for now.

P.S. Please hug a tree. They need attention, too.

Yippee! A 5-star editorial review from the UK!

by Robin

“I must say, this is not only a very original story, it ́s also very enjoyable too. The central premise – the story of a disabled orphan with hidden powers – is well-thought out and the characters are interesting and well-defined. There is plenty of pace too, particularly towards the end, and the author has littered his story with an array of twists and turns.

Hardbound (First Edition) and paperback editions available through most bookstores and online booksellers. Ebook available through major online booksellers.
(VIDEO: http://www.premiumindiereads.club/)

Written, I suspect, with teenagers in mind, this is a book that will keep on surprising you from beginning to end. Like Harry Potter – although this book is not at all like Harry Potter – the magical world is rooted to the ́real ́ world; as such, I think many children will understand the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, and his need to belong; to be part of a family. There is also a little humour sprinkled in amongst the text, a lot of it from Pappy, a character I grew to love!

All in all, this is an enchanting story, and I ́m delighted to recommend it to 13 – 16 year olds looking for a book that ́s a little different, often thought- provoking, and always compelling. The author is a talented writer, and I ́m very much looking forward to seeing other books from her in the future.”–The Wishing Shelf (www.thewsa.co.uk)

#miracles #1900s #healing #mysticism #magic #aliens #moojielittleman #thewishingshelf #inspiration #humor #family #fantasy #magicalrealism #visionary #fiction #filmadaptation

Fabulous new 5-star review from Goodreads.

by Robin

“A lovely book that fills a much needed genre — inspiring, cultivating the imagination, and providing gifts of wisdom with a bit of humor for audiences of any age. Most books that an adult would pick up are full of stories of human dysfunction and offer little for the imagination to create anything better for this world. The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman takes a very different approach — recognize human weakness but show us that so much more is possible. With nuggets of advice that can help anyone with practical challenges in their own life. The book is a lovely story that will leave you laughing, tearing at the corners of your eyes, and turning the pages. Robin Gregory exhibits a unique craft as a writer, selecting out impressionable details to paint a colorful picture of context and space. She cultivates a fun way of expressing words of frustration without swearing, and a thoughtful way of conveying wise messages that a Buddhist monk would appreciate. Suitable for young and old. I would love to read more books like this.”–Joanna Malaczynski

ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition 2023 – Moojie gets kudos!

by Robin

Yippee! Thank you #ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition 2023 for the fabulous feedback on my novel, THE IMPROBABLE WONDERS OF MOOJIE LITTLEMAN. What a joy to receive positive pro feedback while working on Book 2 and the TV series adaptation.

“Moojie himself is a one-of-a-kind hero. While his being a fish-out-of-water facing larger than life adventures builds on classic fantasy structure, Moojie’s original view of the world and his ability to see what others cannot do well to build the uniqueness of both his character and the way he interacts with the world of his story. In this way, the writing (that is, the language and word choice) used to establish Moojie’s background and personality and how these either fit or do not fit into the world around him help tell well-loved fantasy tropes through fresh and imaginative characters and action.

Indeed, Moojie’s abilities, the celestial/ paranormal things he causes and witnesses, and the crazy (in a good way!) mess that he gets himself into because of them allow the story to lend itself well to the medium of television or film. The story’s use of metaphors as visual cues to underline emotions, foreshadow conflict (like the comparison between San Miguel de las Gaviotas and Atlantis to note San Miguel’s impending doom), and even highlight comedic moments (like Phineas [the cat] throwing himself against the window screen looking “like an obese housefly”) are incredibly entertaining to read and help to establish a visual tone that the story can take if adapted to a show.”

Bird by bird.

IRISH WRITERS’ UNION STATEMENT ON THE INVASION OF UKRAINE

by Robin

I stand in solidarity with our Irish neighbors, Americans, and international writing communities, in support the freedom of expression, liberty, and safety of people in the Ukraine and throughout the world.

25-02-2022 – The Irish Writers’ Union Statement

War is a disaster. Today we stand like many others shocked and dismayed by the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army. We oppose this invasion, oppose this war and stand for Ukraine to live as an independent country, determining its own destiny.

People who know Irish history know how much we value our independence and freedom. The Irish Writers’ Union offers its solidarity today to the Ukrainian community, to its writers and writers’ organisations.

Many people and members of the Irish Writers’ Union will recall the huge mobilisations that took place across the world in 2003 against the US backed invasion of Iraq. Predictions were made at the time about what might happen to Iraq when a war machine as great as that of the USA’s moved against it. Those predictions all underestimated the deaths, the injuries and the sheer destruction that the US war bestowed on Iraq. Today, like so many others, we can only look on as this new disaster unfolds. We know that it will be ordinary people who will suffer the most because of this invasion. But we do not know where this war will go, what it will lead to, or how much damage it will leave in its wake. We can only look at history and know that no good will come from what has just happened.

As writers we cannot do a great deal at this time other than to speak out, but we want to do so as loudly as we can. We stand in solidarity with the writing community across Europe and with the European Writers’ Council in condemning this war. End it now!