A little bit about a lot of me.
Once upon a time…
That’s how all the good stories start, right? My once upon a time began many years ago in the small town of Baldwinsville, a rural suburb of Syracuse NY. There isn’t much to say about the town except for the fact that it has, by far, the greatest slice of pizza imaginable, a nifty, locally owned tattoo shop, of which I have been a patron more than my fair share, but, most of all it has the quintessential small town vibes that so many people seem to crave. That’s where I’m from, it’s not terribly exciting or original, but it’s home. I like to think the job of a writer is to be versatile, but the impact of living in a small town for the better part of 25 years is present in each and every one of my works.
The question asked to every child and Why writing?
When I was a young lad, it was very, VERY, hard for me to decide what I wanted to do when I was older. Even now, in my much older state, (I found a grey hair in my beard yesterday, so typing that last phrase was especially painful), I’m repeatedly faced with the question of what I want to do. I was a naturally creative child, although my creativity did not manifest itself in the same way that it does for many others. I wasn’t the type of kid to take naturally to painting or music and because my school did not offer much up in the way of creative writing, I was relegated towards honing my creativity in other ways. I would craft elaborate stories with action figures, I would outline future sequels to movies I had seen in theaters, and most of all, I would read books, a whole lot of books. This went on for some time and like almost everyone does, I graduated high school with a gameplan of what I wanted my life to be and like a large percentage of wayward souls, that plan quickly fell to shit.
While what I mentioned above is all well and good for a fluff piece describing my general background, it does fail to answer the question of why I write. To understand that, I need to allude a bit better to my academic background at the collegiate level. When I entered college, it was as a public justice major, partly because I had no inclination towards any sort of artistic career and to further that point I had my heart set on a “practical” career. In the past, I had very little trouble with my academic pursuits, as I would always remain nestled towards the top of my class. However, in college, I found that I desire something more, something far different from anything else I had ever done. For awhile, I attempted to bury these desires down within me, but, like all things forged with ill intent, the cracks soon began to show. My grades quickly sank into the muck, and I was nearly, not so subtly I might add, booted out of school. However, my saving grace came from the fact that I had taken a class, on a complete whim, titled Introductory Screenwriting. It was within this class that I discovered my love of the written word. Suddenly, I had the opportunity to write stories not just for fun, but for homework and a grade. I thought I had found the ultimate blow off class, because to me, it felt far from the normal routine of classes I had been bred to expect. Surely it was a scam of some sort, how could I receive three credit hours for something that I absolutely loved to do? Before this point, I hadn’t realized that school was something you could enjoy. I certainly didn’t realize the joys I would feel in telling the stories that had been brewing in my mind for so very long. In short, the inciting incident of my life was that very first screenwriting class I entered into.
CY Factoids
In the past, I had studied Latin for 3 years. In the present, I can barely remember any of it.
Favorite film? Varies from day to day depending on my mood, but in terms of genre I almost always stick to horror films. Current favorite film would have to be Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
The first script I ever wrote was a ten page short about two gay men pursued by a gang of bikers. eventually ending up in a confrontation within a sex toy shop. That script has become lost to the annals of time, although I really wish I could find a copy of it.
Favorite writer? Myself (I kid, I kid, like many authors I’m filled with a frothy mixture of self-loathing and dissatisfaction regarding my work). In terms of screenwriting, which is my primary field, there is no writer that I enjoy reading more than Paul Schrader. He is a true master of his field and his works are essential reads for every single screenwriter just starting out.