Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

The E.C. 500

This is my 500th post -- can you believe it?  Started wayyy back in 2011 and from February 11, 2011 through November 28. 2022 done 500 posts.

Would like to say over that time I've collected quite the following; but, alas, that has not been the case.  To date I've had 94,254 page views.  And 364 comments. 

Not bad...

Kidding.  That's PITIFUL.  Definitely not the winning car breaking the ticker-tape at the end of the INDY 500.

Still, I keep at it which begs the question, why?

I view this blog as my personal space, where I get to air my opinions.  Since I have ambitions of making movies of the screenplays I've written, and one day completing my epic fantasy series; my creative endeavors dominate what I post here.

This blog really started at a different site, Living the Romantic Comedy which was run and hosted by the one and only, Billy Mernit.  I used to post and respond there a lot back when Billy's site was more active.  I JUST found the site, it looks as though Billy has consolidated that under a bio website.  I think I last searched for that a couple years ago and couldn't find it.  Anyway, back when I used to attend the Screenwriting Expos I attended one of the rom-com classes Billy Mernit hosted -- and even gave him a shirt!  The guy is a library and wealth of info on that.  He fell out of favor with me me when the subject of Bob Dylan came up, and he took a stance that I wasn't on-board with. 

Still, no sense dregging up the past, it's just the IDEA for hosting a blog of my own came from him and the GREAT blogsite that Billy Mernit had constructed.

For a while I did my own rom-com posts under the Exploring Issue in Rom-Com Movies sub-heading...  But eventually you run out of thing to talk about on that subject.  I got up to 70 posts, with the last entry so far in the series entitled, In the Ring.  That post from May of 2020 was in celebration of me realizing that as I was editing So Go Back and Get Her, I was participating and adding to the lore of the romantic comedy genre, which is still my movie genre of them all.  See Billy Mernit, after all these years we still have something in common! 

Not saying the Exploring Issues in Rom-Com Movies series is over; it's just, let's face it, there hasn't been a lot to say about romantic comedies for a long time.  I did try to push Taylor Swift to get involved with my romantic comedies, and maybe even The Commune series, but alas, I was never able to make a connection.  I recently read Taylor is going to be doing an Era's concert tour in 2023, and recently she's had a couple minor movie roles of her own in Cat (2019). and Amsterdam (2022).  So Hollywood and the queen of pop have met.  I figure she can now get movie scripts with roles anytime she wants from anyone she want, which leaves me out in the dark as per usuge.

Over the past 12 years I've reviewed a few movies that I liked under the Movies that Move Me banner.  But for the most part, I haven't felt the unction to make this a main focus, as I'm more of a content creator than a content evaluator.  Now over at Scriptshadow there are lots of users there who really get down and dirty when it comes to movie reviews and the history of cinema issue, but that's really not my jam.  I can interface in a limited basis in that, but it's farrr from a passion of mine.  That said, if I find a movie I do like, like: Birdman (or the Virtue of Ignorance) [2014 -- can you believe it's been nearly 10 years since that movie cam out?], Planet of the Apes (1968), or Aliens (1986); then I could go on and on about what the filmmaker did right, for I love those three movies.  Therein like the rub; love v.s. indifference.  Most movies don't rub me as great movies so I don't spend a lot time trying to dissect them.  Last GREAT movie I saw was Redeeming Love, and, yes, that movie did make entry #10 in the Movies that Move Me series. 

One thing I was curious about was my posting history over the years, so I thought it would be cool to summarize my progress so over the years.  So now going backwards from now to the beginning, here's my blog post totals:

• 2022: 20
• 2021: 22
• 2020: 17
• 2019: 16
• 2018: 23
• 2017: 27
• 2016: 55
• 2015: 73
• 2014: 75
• 2013: 78
• 2012: 48
• 2011: 46

What Riggan Thompson is saying here is, E.C.'s written 500 blog posts, people!

So what can you make of those numbers?  Hmmm.   Probably the "normal" curve to be expected from someone in my situation: an enthusiast who writes with the dream of one day making it big and seeing my work produced for mass consumption.  At first the blog was new to me, then I got in grove and had an active series I was pursuing: Exploring Issues in Rom-Com Movies; then I ran out of things to say on that so the numbers dropped off.  Moreso, the more posts you make the less territory you have left to talk about so that factors into it to.  But recently I started post a little more.

Over the course of these 12 years a lot has happened: First, I noticed a lot of blogs that I used to follow got abandoned.  This is understandable due to the tough nature it is to make a sale.  I used to frequent a bunch of fellow screenwriters, they were all pre-pros like me, but after a while they stopped blogging.  During my blog time the romantic comedy genre really petered out.  Now were in outright time where the whole studio movie system may go under.  Woke ideology and the Democrat party to blame for these ills.  So sad we have a political party in the Democrats that does NOTHING for the American people and our prosperity.  Till that changes I thing are just going to go from worse to worse.  Also along my tenure was the rise of Amy Schumer.  And then of course the China flu which wracked American society and was used as ploy by the Democrats to tighten their aurthortarian grip on political power, the elections, and free speech.  Finally, in the summer of 2022, there was me at breaking point where I had to confront my own excesses and deal with the fact I'm an alcoholic.    

We are in dark times.  I hope that the Lord uses me for His glory in whatever capacity that takes.  The truth, is at the end of the day, I'm a Christian.  And I'm His.  Can't forget that, the most important part:  belonging to God .  That brings me great joy.  Hopefully, that reflects in my posts.  Christian first, author and content creator second.  At the end of the year I'm slated to explore the American southeast with my mom, brother his wife and two kids: Florida part III+ Georgia and Alabama.  Still have my eye on the rapture too.  Really getting into the book of Exodus and the parallel's between what was happening then, and the upcoming rapture of the church.

Spoilers: the wokers are going to get their wish, and when God's people are taken from their midst they're going to get to live through the stuff written in the book of Revelation.  Abortion, gender confusion, loss of freedoms, corrupting U.S. elections, Ponzi schemes.  Democrats -- THAT is your legacy.  So sad, because God isn't going to judge favorably on any of the things that wokers and Democrats are striving to achieve.    

Better to be on the right side of Jesus, than on the right side of (a Democrat) corrupted history 

Still, I don't know when events will take place.  So like Jesus instructed the seven churches in Revelation this is a time to hold on to what you have and contend for the faith the best you can.  Realize the times we're in; and that in reality all we're waiting for is for the Holy Father to tell his Son that it's time to get His bride (the church).  So get some oil in your lamps, and be listening for Lord's call.  The time is short, but in the end, God is good.

To infinity (501 posts) and beyond!

 E.C. Henry  from  Kingsport, TN 

Wholesomeness

These days nothing makes me happier than drinking a cold glass of milk.   Wholesome .  There's an inherent good about  milk .  Babies typically get milk from their mothers.  It's good for your bones.  It's nutritious.  It feels healthy when you drinking it, or enjoying other products that have a heavy  milk  about them.  Another food that I often crave and is wholesome is --

Carrots.  What, did you think I was going to say bunny?!!  Come on, man.  I just love the crisp snap of a  carrot , then I love sucking it's mash in my mouth, where it feels like I getting a straight dose of healthy  nutrients .  

The older I get the less I like the sweet stuff.   Hard candy  in very low doses is OKAY, but if I eat more than two Jolly Ranchers, I start to feel sick.  The sweet and sour candy I stay away from altogether.  Still, IF you search the candy aisle there is ONE brand that is hearty enough: a  Snicker bar .  I think it's the nuts in it, that make it feel wholesome.  Anyway, a Snicker bar  from time-to-time is a treat.  But even in this can't eat more than one.

Main meal wise, I THINK I'm trending towards more healthy foods too.  LOVE my mom's sourqraut.  Staying away from corndogs, and pizza.  Love a good steak and potato.  Eat too much popcorn as a snack.  Love the combo of celery and peanut butter:

A   regular staple   in lunches E.C. makes to eat at his paying, day job.

Okay, enough about food.  There's more to life than eating.  Wholesomeness also applies to writing.  

I don't know why it is, but ever since I was a kid my mind tended to gravitate towards the darker stuff.  BUT my mom and her faturnal twin, Denny, always wanted me to write, nice, family-friendly stories.  Give It Up for Chimpy sorta hems along those lines...  As does Bubblehead Saves the Day.  But for the most part what I've written to date is mature teen to mature adult content.  Going to try to change that with the new animated script I'm working on.  

So far my mom hasn't been much help crafting the story.  She's given me some names for characters, and commented on some "cute" situations she favors.  But getting down to story crafting and find a compelling conflict is something that makes her face go blank! 

Thankfully, I'm in tune with that sort of thing.  AND I get it; in an animated, more family-friendly fare, you don't need a compelling conflict.

Cute character interchanges > page turning plot -- in kid-friendly animation

So what constitutes the central plot in cartoon flicks?  Hmmm....

• In Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer the central conflict is Rudolf redeeming himself and getting back in the good graces of his fellow reindeer and Santa Clause.
• In Finding Nemo the central conflict is a father fish's adventure to find his missing clownfish son.  
• In Cinderella the central conflict is a maid's struggle to get out from underneath the schemes of her stepmother and stepsister to go to the ball and fall in love with the prince.
• Inside Out (2015) central conflict is what affect a girl's emotions will have on her relocating to a new home -- when those emotions express themselves as either constructive or destructive entities.  Of all the animated movies I've seen, I think I like Inside Out the most.  For a "kid's movie" it really has a Charlie Kaufman-eque premise.  

From Inside Out (2015) and the "control deck" of a child's mind, here's what's going on:

So when attempting to write wholesome, family friendly stories I think a writer is best served finding a relatable conflict first.  Conflict is what drives a story.  Even in kid's fare there needs to be something which compels the protagonist to do something heroic.  So there has to be a problem to solve.  It's just in kids fare that takes a different accent than what you'd find in the other movie genres: horror, adult drama, action/adventure.

So when thinking about conflict in wholesome movies gravitate toward adventure, and taking indentifiable characters out of the comfort zone to solve a problem.  

Protagonist, problem in kid's style!   How hard can that be? 

I think in writing family fare stories, the writer has to identify with the audience.  That would be kids, if you're writing animated scripts.  So a good place to start is what problems kids face when growing up.  You then as the writer take the kid on a adventure as you explore a story involving a common problem that an audience of kids can reasonably be expected to identify with.  

Bond audience to central conflict THEN go to Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory for a zany adventures.  

Story crafting kids style, something NEW for the brain of E.C. Henry.  So wish me luck.  Hopefully when I'm done I'll have a wholesome project that makes my mom happy.  Just wish I could have had a project like this under my belt before Denny died.  I loved my aunt.  She said something about me that bothers me to this day.  She said I was a hard man.  Hard meaning cold, and not as warm and loving as she was and would have liked me to be. 

Character flaws, and times we don't live up to other people's hopes and expectation.  That's a hard pill to swallow.  But if gives me motivation to change.  I've got have at least ONE STORY in me that my aunt and mother would be proud of.  Hopefully, the family-friendly animated story I'm working on now will end up being wholesome enough to make those two women proud of me.  That's the goal with this one!

Bye-bye, for now.  Till we meet again,

 

Making Sweet Pea a Screenwriter

For my next feat, I'll be attempting to make Sweet Pea a screenwriter -- and she's looking forward to it!

So who is "Sweet Pea"?

Well, as far as I'm concerned Sweet Pea is my pet name for my 73-year-old mother, Donna Marie Henrikson/Misik.  I'm not sure how long ago I started referring to my mom as "Sweet Pea" -- but she doesn't mind that nic-name, and has never reprimanded me for calling her that so it's stuck.  I asked her one time if that nic-name bothered her and she said, "no"; rather, she thought it was nice and endearing so it stuck and I use that name more than any other when referring to my mom.

As seen in the opening picture, Sweet Pea refers to a baby character in the ol' Popeye cartoons:

Kinda weird that Popeye was originally conceived by a cartoonist by the name of E.C. Segar who lived from 1894 - 1938, as my chosen writing pseudonym is E.C. Henry.  Even weirder is the fact that  E.C. Segar  was born and raised in Illinois -- the same as E.C. Henry.  I lived in Illinois from 1969 - 1980, btw!  

 E.C. Segar  was among the first cartoonists to combine humorous situations with long-running adventures.

Sweat pea is also a Italian legume (Lathyrus odoratus) having slender usually climbing stems, ovate leaves, and large fragrant flowers: 

So which is it E.C.?  Is Sweet Pea a cartoon baby who used to be part of the adventures of Popeye and Olive Oyl, or is it an annual flower of the annual variety?   (Annual means the flower completes its growing cycle in one season, in case you didn't know).   And if you use the cartoon version it's spelled Swee' Pea!

Well, in looking at those two instances of the word, I must say that MY Sweet Pea is a glorious combination of the two and so much more.  I don't know exactly why I started referring my mother as Sweet Pea.  Going into this I didn't actively know in my mind that Sweet Pea was a character in the Popeye series OR that it was a colorful annual flower.  But now that I explore other uses of that name, I see both kinda fit my mom.  

My mother, Donna Marie Henrikson/Misik (her maiden last name before she married my father), is a great lady.  I couldn't have asked for a better mother. 

Donna Marie Henrikson/Misik is:

• Beautiful!  For someone who is now in her 70s, my mom has retained her beauty very well.
• A born again Christian!  Yep, my mom's name is written in the Lamb's book of Life.  Donna Marie Henrikson/Misik loves Jesus with her whole heart.  So get used to see that face, because IF you make it to Heaven, my mom is sure to be there as soon her service is complete in her allotment of time here on planet Earth.  Someday my mother will be on the worship team.  I believe that with my whole heart, Donna Marie Henrikson/Misik will be on the Lamb's worship team up in Heaven.  It's gunna happen, that's my mom's ultimate destiny the way I see it. 
• An avid golfer.  A love she picked up from time spent with my father.  They used to golf together quite often.  Sometimes even doing golf "vacations", where they'd travel to destinations they hadn't been too before just to golf!
• A very generous woman.  She bought a house that me and my brother are currently living in.  I'm in my 50s and later this week my younger brother will be turning 50 as well.  
• a avid reader of the bible and waiting eagerly for the return of Christ.  Me and mom have that in common.  Both of us see the corruption in society, most notably in  politics  -- and want out!  Out of this world, eager to be with the Lord in paradise.  To both me and my mother this world is farrrr from paradise.  We see this world getting morally sicker and more evil by the day.  This gets Christians like me and my mom to dig in deeper into our faith as we realize that this world is plunging deeper into darkness as it turns from God and believes and accepts the lies of the devil and the dominion of hell.
• Vivacious.  There is LIFE within my mom.  A deep, vibrant life.  She has recovered from my father's passing with flying colors.  Yes, she cries for him from time-to-time; but her she's still active and ALIVE.  She's still doing God's will as best she knows how.  
• And she's going to write a screenplay with me!

Yep, that's right, I told Sweet Pea about a story idea I had -- and she like it and wanted to help me write it!

That's so funny because just this last season she was MAD at me for writing horror.  Sweat Pea was insistent that Christians, who are followers of Jesus, don't write horror stories.  Well, I did.  To date I've written two:  Owen   Decides   , and  Gravesite Crows .  The Commune series also has a lot of horror it it, a la Ridley Scott's Alien/Prometheus franchise.  If I remember right, Sweat Pea actually went with me to see Prometheus back when it came out, and she didn't like it.  Aliens gestating in human hosts was too much for her to handle. 

This is the reaction you can expect if you offer horror stories to my Sweet Pea:

But trying to justify my taste in entertainment to my mother is in the rear-view mirror now.  For now going forward me and me and Sweat Pea: my 73-year-old mother; are writing a cartoon story of our own.  This will be my first endeavor attempting to write a strictly cartoon/animated story.  I did write some accenting cartoon shorts for An American Princess which featured Captain Bip, Timmy the temp, and sharks!  But that was back in the 2006/2007 era.  What I'm writing now will be animated, coming-of-age story that takes place over a year span -- and it will have a few musical numbers in it too! 

This is a story I started taking notes on as far back as 2007, I believe.  Jotted down a couple more notes in 2013 when I was deciding on projects to work on.  So I've already got some mass to work with, and had some false starts on this project before.  Right now me and Sweat Pea are "brainstorming" and building momentum.  I'll supply the framework of story, and she'll paint in details and lend her creative mind on shaping the scenes.  She's already given me three pages of notes on character names.

I think I'm VERY GOOD at working with others and letting them be part of the creative process.  It's fun to see dreams in other people's eyes when they try to envision a movie being made over what we're actively discussing.  

That's right, I'm making Sweat Pea a screenwriter.

So stay tuned to see how that works out!

 

 

Voting in NE Tennessee 2022...

... was easy, fast, and secure!

• First they scanned my Tennessee driver's licence.
• Then they asked me if I was still living at the same address.
• Then they handed me a receipt to initial.
• I handed that receipt to person accepting receipts and explaining the process.
• They initialed the receipt I was given and put it in a box.
• Next I got my ballot, and went to private booth to fill it out.
• Lastly I entered the ballot myself into a scanner which remained in the scanner.  

Simple and easy process, was in and out in about 20 minutes with a small line of six people ahead of me.  Overall was very impressed with Tennessee's in-city polling stations.  

Not sure about elections in other states, but my experience participating in election day proceeding in Tennessee was a positive one, definitely better than times past in the state of Washington that did away with polling stations in favor of all mail-in ballots (Boo, hiss), which I think is a gateway to corrupting the vote and true will of the people.  Sooo go Volunteer State!  For the first time in my life I can honestly say, I'm Tennessee proud; all on account of the way the hold their elections.  May my experience be shared by others who are concerned about free and honest elections.

Polling stations and voter ID, GOOD!

Mail-in ballots, BAD.

Big Day of Site Traffic

 170 page views  and it's only 8 a.m. EST:

For context I normally get a little over 20 site views a day.  And eight days ago I got ZERO when Typepad was down for a day!  Anyway, 170 page views was an unexpected development worth celebrating. 

So keep viewing my posts.  I'm closing in on 500 of them. 

Lots going on in my writing career. 

Always willing to branch off and talk about other things too. 

Thanks for visiting my site and adding to my statistical count.  I love my fans!

Publish
 

Owen Decides: E.C. Henry's 29th completed spec. script

I know it's after Halloween now, but I can't help but celebrate in all it's pomp and glory, the first page of  Owen  Decides , my 29th completed spec. script. and 9th written in Lit Expression.  

Owen  Decides  Logline: 

On the eve of his graduation a high schooler gets caught in a witch’s scheme  that draws him into the dark side of spirituality and an increasing body count.

Had a lot of fun writing this script which ended up being 102 pages long.  For starters it had an antagonist that was hard for me to write -- a   witch !   

Who writes about witches in 2022?  Nobody, exactly.  Furthermore in the greater lexicon of horror movies are rare and far between.  Going into writing this I keep thinking about the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.  But that was a light-weight fantasy movie from nearly 100 years ago.  Knew I had to some digging if I was to bring  Dorthea Saumels  to life.

For starters, that's where bringing a new version of the  witch witch character to life began for me, giving her a name.   Dorthea Saumels ...  Hey, now that she has a name, she doesn't sound so scary... 

Later I added a bio for Dorthea, and knew her marriage life and how she came to be the person that she is at the beginning of the script when she is first introduced, which happens on page 8.  

 Owen  Decides  doesn't just rely on the  witch  though, I have a plethora of other "bad guys" that the main protagonist, Detmer Brown, must contend with during his great trial the night before he was slated to graduate from Addington High.

There is more of a  Freddy Kruggar  vibe to Owen  Decides  than  Michael Myers , read it and see for yourself.

 Owen  Decides  turned out to be A LOT different than  Gravesite Crows .  I love both stories, but I still think I like  Gravesite Crows  better. 

 Roarke : Ronald Orken Keyfeather was a more straightforward character, he wasn't a wrath-filled, self-centered bitch like  Dorthea Saumels  turned out to be.  In real life -- if these characters existed -- I would have like to have met Ronald.  I know him, at heart he's a descent guy.   Dorthea  Samuels  , on the other hand, is more deviate.  That said I hope audiences rally to root against her. 

Writing on  Owen  Decides  I cannibalized a lot of stuff from previous scripts.  Especially it came to apply this story's use of Lit Expression.   I used some Lit Expression from the past to add some zest to this story, and help it fit better in the greater cannon of screenplays I've written.  Legacy, broh; you're always adding to it.  I'm not trapped by my past, I'm freed up creatively by it.  I'm a forward momentum kind of guy.  That said the Lit Expression in  Owen  Decides  was HARD, it took a lot of extra effort to perfect. 

Still, I think crafted some new, evocative scenes with my latest screenplay.  There's even a scene in ACT II where I swear to God I thought I was writing Scarface --

Say hello to my little friend!

So as I now transition off this script, I do so with my head held high.  I gave it all I had.  For better or worse, I wrote the best script I was capable in my own, unique way and style.  I didn't want this project to bleed over into November, but wanted to use this month to write a script with my mom!  That's right I'm getting E.C. Henry's MOTHER in to the production!  My next script will be coming-of-age cartoon story.  Quite the departure from supernatural horror.

Look forward to talking to you about it as I go through.  Sorry for not posting more.  Next week is an election in the U.S.  Things are pretty bad in this country right now.  There's even talk that the FBI is colluding with Big Tech to censor citizens who raise objection to Joe Biden and his agenda.  Heck, just a couple weeks ago the FBI raided the home of a family man just because he took a stand against abortion.  Can you believe that?  A politically weaponized FBI.  We live in very dark times.  Stay strong in the Lord, I don't think His people are going to be here much longer.  

- E.C. Henry from Kingsport, TN