Publishing a book and trying to raise funds for film school at the end of a long year sounds crazy doesn’t it?

Well, that is exactly what I’m doing. Creative people thrive off of stuff like this, trust me.

Ideally, I would have wanted to have published my novella, 12 Hours of Daylight already and especially right before the Christmas holiday, but it just didn’t work out that way. Self-publishing is fun, but it can be very unpredictable. I am currently waiting on the completion of my paperback version of the book cover and available funds to get it distributed across a few book retail channels. If all goes well, it should be available for purchase in early January.

Now, for the film stuff. I have been wanting to take a screenwriting course for a while. Work always got in the way.

Or I was busy working on a book idea or trying to get an agent or something else entirely. This year I started thinking about it again after watching film and TV work by awesome creators Ava Duvernay (Queen Sugar), Issa Rae (Insecure) and Aziz Ansari (Master of None).

I was also inspired by what has been happening in our country politically.

We are living in a time when our voices are our currency. If we aren’t heard our rights can be taken away. We can be also be harmed and no one will have to atone for it if our stories are invisible. I think it’s part of a writer’s job to give voice to the voiceless and inspire during times of turmoil as well as entertain people. Being able to create concepts for film and TV and get those stories sold and seen is a great way to inspire, awaken and educate as well as entertain the masses. That is what I’d like to do.

That’s why I applied to New York Film Academy’s One-Year Screenwriting program.

Even though I knew paying the tuition would be tricky, I thought, just apply and see what happens.

Then this:

Of course I was thrilled to receive this acceptance letter in my inbox.

After completing the application which called for a writing sample, and a few essays and other document gathering, I was exhausted, so to get a positive response was gratifying. Then my heart started pounding when I thought about how much it would cost and that I don’t have it like that.

When I shared the news on my social media pages I received a lot of encouragement.

People know that I am a film and TV junkie and pop culture vulture. A few suggested that I create a GoFundMe campaign. My pits started to sweat. Fundraising and the kid don’t mix! I have done it in a few work situations, but it doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.

After some prayer and deep breathing I created a campaign. If you would like to learn more and contribute, visit my GoFundMe page.

Although I would love to be traveling for the holidays, I feel pretty good about these two projects. There is nothing more that pleases a creative than opportunities to learn and also share their work.

Once the novella is out and god willing I am able to attend New York Film Academy, all of my hard work will have been worth it.

Thanks for all of your amazing support this year and I pray that you all have a fabulous holiday with family and friends.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

HERE’S TO AMAZING BOOKS AND FILM

TO ENJOY IN 2017!

© 2016, TamekaMullins. All rights reserved.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.