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Yesterday evening at a few minutes past five, I finished the final draft of “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”.  If you’ve been following my blog or Facebook, you will know that this is a project very near and dear to me and has been in development in various forms for over six years. Although, I really didn’t hit full stride until I finished writing “Blood Splatter” and completed the promotion events and book signings.  I’d say it has been about three years in total.   It’s a very different story than the one I first started in 2010 when the story was called “Angel Askew”. 

The first draft was finished last March and I have spent the last sixteen months getting feedback and rewriting it.  The draft I have now is almost 10,000 words shorter and 43 pages lighter.  The last draft was edited with a very critical eye and I am extremely pleased with how it has pulled together.  It has far exceeded my expectations and has spurned me to continue writing.  I currently have four projects in development.  “Mephistopheles” -the second book in the Oceanview Trilogy,  “The Gate at the End of the Garden”, “The Star Wars Video Game Encyclopedia” and the screenplay adaption of “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”.  I’ve decided to work on the screenplay first while “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” is still fresh in my mind. I wrote the book with a movie in mind, so the adaptation should not be too challenging. I am undecided if I will work on  “Mephistopheles” or “The Gate at the End of the Garden” next.  I have started outlines for both. If “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” starts to generate interest, it would likely be in my best interests to start with the sequel. I have visions of turning into George R.R. Martin and having my publisher chomping at the bit for the follow up. I’m not saying my work will be as popular as Game of Thrones, but it never hurts to think big, right?

I don’t think I have ever felt more alive and bursting with creativity.  I have nothing holding me back now.  I have a mind full of ideas, a digital recorder at my bedside for midnight brain dumping, an empty notepad screaming to be filled with words and a laptop with a blank Word document open.  I am a writer. I was born to be a writer. I am doing what writers do. They write. 

The next part of the journey is both exciting and terrifying.  Writing was the easy part. The next part is where it becomes a challenge. I am under no delusion that finding a publisher or agent for “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” will be easy.   There are a thousand people like me seeking representation.  I just need to make sure my writing stands and out and I believe that it does.   I will get rejection letters. I will get notes of encouragement. I will need thick skin and a patient mind. But someone will like it and will be the right person to represent it. I have no doubt.

“Don’t Make Me Come Down There” finds me at the happiest I have been in my entire life.  I am happily married, my wife and daughter are healthy.  My friends are plentiful and supportive. I have held my current job for fifteen years. Everything is falling into place. I believe there is a reason this journey has taken so long.  I needed to get myself sorted out first.  I am not the person I was when I started this adventure and that’s a good thing. The next few months are going to be some of the most amazing of my career so far.

Yours humbly, happily and heathily (is that even a word?)

CWC

To my dearest Lily,

You won’t see this letter until you are much older, but the sentiments will remain. 

When I met your mom, I didn’t think I could love someone as much as I love her.  Until we had you.  You have made my life wonderful in ways I could never have imagined. You are kind, funny, generous, considerate and smart. You are beautiful inside and out and my heart swells with every accomplishment you make.  I couldn’t be more proud of you.

But alongside this pride, I have great shame.  I have brought you into a world I am greatly embarrassed for, and I have lied to you. The love and safety we have in our home is not a true reflection of how the world currently works. The world is beautiful as your mom and I have taught you, but it is also full of unspeakable evil.  Evil I am terrified you may encounter.  Humans are capable of great things, but we are also capable of great unjust.

Hate is now as commonplace as love. People hate because they disagree with others. They hate other people because they are of a different sexual preference. They hate because others follow religion, the wrong religion or no religion at all. They hate based on skin color or nationality.  The features and traits that make us unique and interesting make us targets. Gunmen are storming schools, workplaces and public events and we’re doing nothing about it.  Countries commit genocide and we do nothing about it.  Women are raped and our justice system blames them for being in the wrong place. War, famine, corrupt politics, the list goes on. We’ve become a black or white society.  “You’re either with me or against me”. “You are my friend or my enemy”.  “I am right and you are wrong even when I am wrong”. People used to talk. People used to listen. People used to value opposing opinions. There is a whole world of grey we avoid like the plague.

Lily, the world’s biggest failure is communication.  I teach you to use your words, to tell me what you need and want. That you will never be punished for being honest and open with me. But we as adults can’t follow our own directions. Gun crime in the US is at epidemic proportions.  But we can’t talk about it. You’re either an NRA right wing gun nut who doesn’t want a single civil right trampled on or a left wing tree hugging hippy pacifist that wants to strip away all civil liberties.  But if we searched deep inside we must know there is a middle ground that can be reached and that many of us don’t fall into either label. We can agree to disagree. We can live with different religions, races and beliefs and we can do it in peace.

Hatred isn’t genetic. We’re not born hating.  You were not born hating.  It’s conditioned and taught.  It is taught by families, friends, communities, school, politics, news, media, history and religion. But what we learn, in time we can unlearn. Lily, you have my word that I will never condition you to hate.  I will teach you to see beauty where others only see darkness and maybe you can teach others to see the same beauty.  If enough people start to see the same beauty maybe the balance can shift.  I don’t think we are past saving.

All any reasonable adult can hope for is to leave the world in a better way than they found it. Be it through being a teacher, a doctor, a scientist, an artist, an entertainer, a friend, a parent, philanthropist or any number of ways. But also through our children.  I’ve tried to be a good person. I try not to hate. I don’t rape, kill, discriminate or oppress.  I create, love, laugh and learn, but my greatest gift to the world is you. For as much as the world scares me at times, I have gifted it the most valuable thing to me. You.  My generation has failed to right the ship. I hope your generation can bring about the peace mine could not. I want you to live in a world where our words are not replaced with bullets, where you can be celebrated for being who you are. I don’t know if you will grow up straight, gay, religious, atheist, liberal, conservative, but know I will love you no matter what.  I just want you to be the best person you can be.  If the world has more people like you in it, I think it is in good hands and maybe, just maybe everything will be okay.

Love always, Daddy

*not edited for content.. Ignore spelling and grammatical errors.

Today, after thirty years of waiting, I finally had the privilege of meeting George A. Romero.  Mr. Romero created “Night of the Living Dead” back in 1968 and it changed my life from the moment I first saw it. Romero’s zombies were violent flesh eaters and the genre would forever feel his mark.  He has been a huge influence on my writing.  “Blood Splatter” would never have existed without George. “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” would not exist without George.  Today I had the immense pleasure of finally being able to meet him and thank him. 

He signed a Greek DVD cover of “Diary of the Dead” and we joked about neither one of us could translate it and that I couldn’t even play it on my DVD player. I was also able to give him a copy of “Blood Splatter”.  I am still beaming.  My zombie journey is now complete.

Yours over the moon,

CWC

There are five people who are responsible for not only my love of zombies, but for my writing career.  George A. Romero, Max Brooks, John Russo, Tom Savini and Robert Kirkman.  I have been very fortunate to meet four of them, but Mr. Romero has always remained elusive.  Until this May.  Mad Monster, a convention I have supported since it’s debut year in 2014 will be bringing to this years event.  To say I am excited is an understatement.  This is up there with Mark Hamill for me in terms of excitement. I’m getting to the point where I need to start a new bucket list.

Max Brooks in 2015. 

Tom Savini in 2014. 

John Russo in 2014.  

Robert Kirkman in 2011.

Yours very excitedly,

CWC

When I was performing with The Gentleman’s Club improv group on a more regular basis, one of the running jokes was I would tell the troupe that “tonight’s show is our most important yet”. When we landed our first show at Mardi Gras Night Club performing in front of 200 people, Alex laughed and told me I said the exact same thing when just a month prior we were performing in front of five people.  You have to believe you are bigger than you are. I think the term is fake it until you make it. 

It’s easy to knock yourself down. Far too easy actually. “You’re not smart enough/talented enough/brave enough/attractive enough”. We set up these blocks in our mind and all too often fail before we even begin. You have to believe you are the next big thing. If you don’t believe it, how can you sell it to anyone else?  I sell myself as a writer. I have to.  If I don’t believe I’m a writer why would anyone else?  I firmly believe I am standing on the cusp of making it.  I’ve finally been able to get the abundance of ideas out of my head and into a coherent form where I can write the beginning, middle and end of a story and put it to bed. Yes, I am having issue selling “Don’t Make Me Come Down There” and I could quite easily go the self published route, but that is the easy way. I don’t think the book is getting rejected because it isn’t any good, it’s getting rejected because of the subject matter.  It holds a mirror up to religion and pokes fun at it and its followers.  God is one of the lead characters and he is a passive aggressive dick.  I think a lot of people are okay laughing at offensive material until it hits home.  I know this book is a tough sell, I knew it would be when I started writing it.  Does it make the rejection any easier? Of course not.  It will just make the victory that much more sweet when I find the right agent and publisher who will take a chance on it.  I am currently focusing on trimming it down a bit. 119,000 words was probably a tad excessive.  I’m at 117,000 now with 70% left of the book left.  

For the meantime I have put “Mephistopheles” on the back burner.  As much as I want to write the sequel to “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”, it makes more sense to start something fresh.  I’ve already started working on “The Gate at the End of the Garden” and just last week got past a major stumbling block in the story.   I now know who the characters are, where they come from and where they are going.  Once I’ve finished the rewrite of “Don’t Make Me Come Down There”, I’ll be jumping back into this full on.

Onward!

CWC