Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

E.C. Henry's version of "1989"

Twitter Fishing

For the past week or so I've regularly been going on Twitter and tweeting out to some pretty big names out there: Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds, Matt Damon, Tom Hiddleston, Judd Apatow, and WME (William Morris Endeavor: the agents for Ryan Reynolds, Matt Damon and Tom Hiddleston).  So far I've had no luck.  But I continue to fish on!  

I'm hoping that Twitter is the industry's work around for most places policy of not accepting unsolicited material.  When a person or representative cites that policy.  You.  Are.  Dead in the water!!  Stop, right there, you've officially been shut down.  AND in all honesty I understand this policy as the people and places I'm going to DO have a business to run and things and agendas that they're pursuing.  

But as an undiscovered I don't know what else I can do but knock on some door and ATTEMPT to peddle my Girl Scout cookies (my scripts and novel).  

Wish I was a better smoozer.  That's just not a natural part of my persona.  Believe it or I don't like bells, whistles and shenanigans.  All I want is a fair shake.  That's all I've ever wanted.  A CHANCE to entertain people like: Taylor Swift, Ryan Reynolds, Matt Damon, Tom Hiddleston, Judd Apatow and the people at the William Morris Endeavor agency.  If you're a REAL writer and believe in the stories that you've penned that's all you ever want: a read by someone with an open mind.  It's just in today's world its very hard to get that from key people who actually have the power to bring your dreams out of your room and into mainstream reality.  

Let me know take a moment to demystify why I have targeted the people I have targeted:

• Taylor Swift: She is the next rom-com queen, of that I feel pretty confident in saying.  NOW is her time to pick some movies to star in.  I want her to pick mine: Give It Up for Chimpy, then Love, Music, and Monkeys: Give It Up for Chimpy II; Stacy Dutchmen role, Cupid's Helpers; Holly Pearson and Jennifer Means, An American Princess: Danielle Holiday.
• Ryan Reynolds: Would make a GREAT emerging protagonist, Logan Bennett, in The Commune, then would go on to reprise that role now as the established protagonist in a new, dark sci-f adventure in The Commune II.   
• Matt Damon: Would make a GREAT lead role in The Commune, where Matt would start out as the character who looks like the good guy, but then later in the movie his true motives become evident and he turns out to be the main villain that Ryan Reynolds' character, Logan Bennett, must overcome.  
• Judd Apatow: I really want him to direct and helm, Give It Up for Chimpy, then do the same for its sequel, Love, Music, and Monkeys.  My scripts will expand and prove Judd's excellence as he does a different brand of comedy that he's done before, the screwball variety.  
• Tom Hiddleston: I got a role for him The Commune that I think he's going to LOVE!  Kinda is a playoff his character as Loki in the Thor movies and a fusion with his aristocratic look and appeal.
• WMW: These guys are the agents for some top talent in Hollywood.  Impress them and get them on your side, and the WORLD opens up to you.

Okay, so there you go, a little more information as to what is going in my head these days.  Please TRY to realize something.  I am a WRITER.  Going out and putting on a circus show to draw attention to what I've written.  DOES.  NOT.  COME.  NATURALLY.  To me!!!  BUT that's something that as an undiscovered talent I gotta do, EVEN if I manage to secure the services of an agent.  It's not enough just to write the thing.  You gotta market and promote it too.  That's where fishing in Twitter comes into play...

Expanded Persona

A term I invented!  That's right, me: E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA; invented this.  So before this term gets popular and gains some traction I want you to know that I came up with this idea and put it into practice, starting a LONG TIME ago back when I used to go to Hollywood on Sherwood Oaks adventures in the hope of meeting reps. at the companies that make movies.  Given my temperament as a shy loner kind of guy, I figured I needed a gimmick to capture people's attention so they wouldn't immediately dismiss me, lost amidst the thousands of wanna-bees out there who were all trying to sell the speculative movie scripts that they had written.  I used to go to after-event parties in my expanded persona get up, and even walked around L.A. one night in that costume.  

So what is expanded persona?  Well-p in a way its like Halloween--only 360 days a year!  In expanded persona you're a type of superhero--but your own brand of superhero that embraces your inner self and as is an outward expression of your personality, only in a grander form.  

Okay, dipshit (you may be thinking at this point) how does that explain the: 1) magic wand, 2) the lime green cape, 3) the jester cap, 4) the black mask.  

Thought that question would stump me?  100% wrong!  This artist CAN explain his art:

• The magic wand is my writing. Yes, I write things that are good and inspire in bevy of different genres.  My magic goes into my writing.  The magic comes from God.  My only muse is the Lord.
• The Mardi Grass cape is a sign of royalty mixed with fun and levity.  I DO have a deep sense of respect and honor--but I try to temper that with a little fun too.  No sense being a stick in the mud all the time.
• The jester cap is sign to YOU that I am an entertainer.  No, it doesn't mean I can do stand-up comedy, I'm not that funny in real life.  I'm just not quick witted enough for that.  RATHER, the jester cap is SUPPOSED to cue you that it's okay to screw with me for your own amusement.  Back in feudal times that's what court jesters did: they amused the king and his guests.
• The black mask is a sign of mystery.  Who is this guy?  You kind of want that uncertainty as an entertainer, it makes you more interesting.

Okay, so that's a breakdown of my stylistic choices of E.C.Henry's own expanded persona--but has it ever worked?

Sigh.  Much to my chagrin, for the most part my expanded persona up to this point hasn't really worked to the master affect I wanted.  But in my defense I've always operated from a position of weakness.  I did expanded persona on my own.  NOW, if I had a group of friends who were in on the gag and we could play off each other...  Totally different story.  THEN I think my expanded persona becomes empowered and works to a greater affect.

So will I ever be surrounded by people who have bought in and do have the ability to play off a man who is dressed in jester cap, has a Mardi Gras cape, and carries a magic wand?  Yeah, I believe God is going to bring such people into my life.  Why?  Because I LONG to be surrounded by such like-minded people.  And I'm going to be pursuing such people VERY SOON.  And when that happens and I get accepted into their greater circle, you're going to see my expanded persona in a new light, in a new way, and then it won't be so easy for you critics out there to so easily dismiss me, rather I'll then be considered a maverick of sorts.  

So can I pull off a greater, expanded persona?  Well, I'm going to try.  A lot is going to change when I find that group of people who have bought in and we develop a rapport for playing off each other, which is something I never had before.  And I've learned that much of comedy and entertainment is rooted in people's desire to make fun of someone else, and that person's willingness to allow themselves to be the butt of the joke. One thing I've learned about myself is that I can take a punch.  No, I'm usually not quick witted enough to immediately rebound with a verbal zinger, but like Taylor Swift of recent memory when Kanye West took the stage and interrupted her from receiving a music award, I too can take a punch and deal with embarrassing episodes and treat them with grace.  

If I ever "break-in" am I going to continue to wear a jester cap, cape, promo shirt, black mask, and carry a magic wand.  YES!  That's one of the ways I'm going to be known.  If that rubs you the wrong way initially I'm not too worried about that.  As one my mantras is: first make an impression, THEN worry about making that impression a good one.  

You wanna have a meeting with E.C. Henry?  Well then you better be ready for my expanded persona because THAT'S what you're gunna get!  I'm not afraid of Hollywood big-shots, or people in the book making industry.  WHY?  Because they NEED colorful characters like me.  They need people willing to make a fool of themselves to make other people laugh and be more at ease.  Sure, if someone is DEAD SET against my expanded persona I can tone it down and give them what they feel more comfortable dealing with, but they need to realize that's a concession that I'm making to them, and NOT the way I wan't to play it.  

So watch out!  EC. Henry and his expanded persona are not going away. In fact sometime real soon there going to come to life in a much bigger and broader way.

P.S. My 8-year-old nephew has been bitten by the writing bug too, now.  He has a new novel that he's working on.  It's called, The Legend of Elves, AND last night I even got the chance to help him work on the map for that novel.  It features: mountains, a forest, Elves, a dragon--and even Big Foot!  Brcyen got a real kick out of it when I penned in an Elf shooting an club-wielding Big Foot with a bow and arrow.  And ya know what, the kid already has a secretary dictating down the contents of his novel.  Here's Brycen in his version of expanded persona with novel in progress on a tablet:

Get on the Bus!

It's time to get on the bus, people!

I'm no longer waiting for my "big break" to happen. I'm going to go out and make it happen myself.  And I'm inviting you along for the ride.  Okay, to be completely honest this whole Facebook and Twitter outreach wasn't my idea, it was more the prodding of the system that asks writers to have a "platform", but that is neither here nor there anymore, because I've seen beyond this to the greater good.  And the greater good is getting re-connected with people in my life and actually living life with them, as opposed to being separated from them so I could work on my "art".

I have been writing since the early-to-mid 90s.  I got the idea for the A Legend in Thars series while I was away in Boise, Idaho working for the first "big"/higher paying job I ever had working as a robotics technician for a company called, Santa Clara Plastics.  They moved from California to Idaho where they manufactured "wet benches".  What's a "wet bench", you might ask yourself.  Well-p, I'll tell you, it assists in the production of microchips, the stuff in your computer.  A wet bench provides the acid then cleaning baths which etches the circuitry on a wafer chip, which is later installed on PCB board which comprises your computer.  Thank you very much.  And yes, I did that from 1992-1996.  

But the bus left Boise, Idaho.  Why?  I was VERY LONELY in Boise, ID.  Crazy city.  At time I was there it was very very high tech: Micron, Zilog and us: SCP Global Technologies (as we were re-named like a year I was there).  

But now "the bus" analogy applies to me and my proactive stance in my novel and screenwriting career.  I'm no longer waiting for opportunity to find, I'm going to go find it myself.  

Wish I could guarantee I'll "make it", but there are no guarantees in life.  Shoot, I could die tomorrow--if the Lord so wills it--and never achieve my dream of "making it".  BUT one I do control my reaction to my life circumstances.  And in that regard I'm seizing the keys and driving the bus to publicity.  I'm SOOOO sick of living in obscurity.  Gary Shuset once told me that it was better to live in obscurity than to have fame and be a celebrity.  Though I have a lot of respect for Gary, I TOTALLY disagree with him.  Celebrity have nothing to complain about, they brought that lifestyle on the themselves.  Gary Shuset never lived my life, never knew my pain, I have been pushed down and kept down for far too long.  I have something to add to lexicon of the history of entertainment, and I'm going to push through and have my day, my time, God willing.  

The bus is moving on.  And I'm inviting everyone I've every know to get on board and ride with me.

What does that even mean?  Well, I'll tell you: I'm going to put myself out there and take some chances.  I'm sick of my current circumstances.  Someday I'll deluge more on that, but not now.  For right now, what I'm getting at is my status quo isn't good enough for me, I want something more.  I go to my day job and honestly do it to the best of my ability (and trust me, I'm not the best shipper in our department but probably one of the worst), but all day I'm there, trying, giving it a honest day's work.  But in all honest the whole time I'm there, I'm thinking of something else.  A bigger and brighter world where my proper contribution makes a difference in peoples' lives.  I was born to be an entertainer.  That's right I said it, "entertainer" NOT writer first.  Why?  Because I feel that's what writers are, entertainers.  We do our best to craft words to entertain people.  Hence if you call yourself a writer you are by extension an entertainer as well.  

I don't know what it is, and I don't know where it will lead me.  But I'm gunna fight real hard to sell not only this novel I've written but all of my spec. scripts as well.  I'm going to it, with or without you.  But I'd prefer to do it with you.  God knows I've spent more that enough time alone making stuff up all by myself.  

But the bus is moving.  And it's coming to you.  The door's opening.  And you're invited to come along.  Come along my Facebook friends.  Come along my Twitter friends.  Come along my past aquaintences and any one else who's interested.  

The bus is my life, and I'm going to keep driving it until the Lord calls me home.  In between now and then, I'm hoping He leads me to a place of victory.  That's a tangible place in my mind.  Victory is when I'm in a room and either my script or novel has been purchased and I'm talking to the next level who is going to take my hard work and either mass produce it as a novel or take a script of mine and make a movie of it.  You wanna know where I win, it's not in the end product, it's in the meeting that proceeds all that.  

Do you know where you're victory line is in life?  I hope you do.  I don't have a wife and kids so I can't sow to that.  But what I can do, is sow to a greater form of art.  I have sowed GREATLY into that.  And if  you don't believe that, I think I'm just gunna hafta punch ya in the nose!

The bus is moving.  But along the way it has come to your stop.  And my journey has intersected with yours.  What do you want to do about that?

Get on the bus!

Becoming More Tech Savvy in Social Media

This last weekend really flew by for me.  Was really busy doing some fumbling around trying to convert the format of my 1st novel--that's right, I'm ofically a novelist now!!  Can you believe it?!

My first novel is entitled: 

And there IS someone I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude for gratitude for help expediting this day to come sooner rather than later, and that person is Kiffer Brown at Chanticleer Boor Reviews & Media.  For the most part I had an AWEFUL time at the PNWA Writer's Conference I went to last week.  Didn't get "discovered" and after a while I fell into a pity party where I found myself thing I'd never break no matter how well I wrote, or whatever method of smoozing I implored.  But then I told Kiffer a LITTLE BIT about my story and its over word count of over 780,000 words.  Now a the time I was locked in thinking, hey, I can get by with a 1,200 page book BECAUSE this an epic story much the same as J.R.R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings.  

Kiffer told me I didn't have one book, but seven.  At first I TOTALLY blew her off, thinking she didn't know my novel the I know my novel.  BUT after giving it some thought I started thinking, "Hey, I can do this the 25 chapters or so of the master cannon of A Legend in Thars are all segments of story that lend themselves to break points.  Don't think I've got seven novels there, but 4-5 easily.  And guess, though their not as polished as the 1st book in the series, they're not all that far off either...

So though I pretty much chalk up my experience at the 2016 PNWA Writer's Conference as a failed venture (I didn't get discovered, didn't get the IMMEDIATE satisfaction of "breaking through" and scoring with an agent or outright book deal) I did make some valuable progress once I got my mind right again.  Someday I will post about the DEEP mental anguish I went through that Saturday night I came home from the Conference, and lingering affect of possible missed opportunities until about Thursday.

After dealing with my pride, I got back to work.  Did some more tinkering with the first book, as I'm ALWAYS on the quest for better writing/better content.

Building your platform as I writer was again stressed at the 2016 PNWA Conference, as was author "branding".  I'll go into "branding" in another post in a week or so, but for now I'm happy to say I am on Twitter and Facebook now.  I found Facebook was pretty easy to get the hang of.  Still working on figuring out Twitter.  Did manage to update a new e-mail signoff incorporating my expanded persona, and links to my Facebook and Twitter pages--and even this blog!

So why did it I wait?  Blame it Kim Kardasian.  Just kidding Kim, I blame my bias on a wider range of superficial celebraties than just her.  Still, can anyone answer me this question, has Kim Kardasian ever worked an honest day in her life?  

The whole thing about looking at cell phone screen all the time and sending gibberish "tweets" just felt below me as a writer.  Don't mean to sound all high falutin, but I just felt as a writer the blogosphere was more catered to me delivering content than waisting my time on Facebook and Twitter, THAT'S why I avoided them for so long.  

But now, I'm all in.  I'm going for it folks.  I'm going to grow my brand, and achieve the dreams that God has put on my heart using both Facebook and Twitter. I got to thinking about it today, and Facebook and Twitter are great places for introverts like me (and most writers for that point) to TRY to connect with other people.   And so for the next week or so I'm going to really make Twitter and Facebook a priority.  Gunna reach out to people, and TRY.  Don't know if I'll succeed or not, you're never guaranteed results in life.  But I'm going for it!  Writing wise, I going to do some clean-up this week, then probably start my NEXT novel which is going to be an expansion of script I wrote a few years back. My plan here is to to have two different books, NOT going to drop the ball with Thars.  Unless the Lord cuts my life shot, or the end times start, seeing The Legend of Thars series is something I intend on seeing all the way through.  More to come on the novel's progress later.  Spent a lot of time behind the keyboard and I need a break, gunna watch a movie.  Maybe a rom-com.  Till then stay well,