Pictures have always fascinated me. They can hold so much—memories, stories, feelings, a lifetime—and each of us look to find our own meaning in it all. 

You're probably wondering what this picture means to me. It may seem like a simple answer. Three little girls. They sit outside their country home, decorated like innocent play dolls just as Mother wanted. The oldest looks over her sisters, sure the usual mischief will start. The middle child, conveniently placed in the center, innocently looks for approval. And the youngest, ever-independent, laughs knowingly as the shoes once again come off. 

Somehow, a single moment in time, was able to capture an entire childhood. Beneath this momentary glimpse lies the story of their lives and the paths that guided them. 

Life is all about the relationships we have and our interconnectedness. Laura, the oldest, taught me how to tie my shoes, write to Santa Claus, kick a soccer ball, and never settle for anything. Liz, the middle one, was my compliant playmate and sidekick, always agreeing to do whatever weird thing I had planned for us. Being the youngest, I wasn't always the easiest, as shown by this picture. 

You see, I came into this world dead set on hating dresses, and it was my mother's only request that day. "Kit, it won't be for very long. It would mean so much to your grandparents if they had a picture of you in your dress." I remember her pawning the desire off on others, but I knew my mother. She was the one who wanted the picture of us in our dresses. I knew because she said I could have two extra Flintstones vitamins that morning. That was the sign of a special day. 

As always, the bribery worked. I would put on her dress and sit on that blanket as she told me to, but I was going to have her know that she couldn't fully break me. If she was going to get her "three-angel-girls picture," I was going to ruin it by taking off my shoes. It was my "quiet" stand. 

This story extends beyond that simple autumn day. My story is about learning from others, leaning on them when I need to, but always pushing the limit. I'll always look at this picture and be reminded of three things:

1. Even if it is done quietly, I should never shy away from my individuality, especially if Flintstones vitamins are on the line.
2. I am a person created by many. The impact of others have sculpted me, and I wouldn't trade their sets of hands for anything.
3. My sisters may have taught me how to tie my shoes, but I showed them how to take them off.

    
    "I don't know how to tell you this, but we're going to have to buy wood and build a tree house."
    "Kit, you're being ridiculous."
    "I know it's going to be terrible and a lot of work, but it's the only way. Dani and Keely had a tree house, and if we want to make this realistic, it's just what we have to do."
    "You and I both know that we aren't building anything."
    "Maybe we could build a little model tree house and zoom in on it then. You have a hot glue gun around here, don't you?"
    "I'm going to shoot everything right here," she said, ignoring my question. My sister and I stood in her backyard, a fenced-in plot of land filled with scattered bushes and an old, dilapidated playset. 
    "But how? Are we going to hold the stuffed animals up against the fence?"
    "Nope."
    "We're going to shoot them sitting on the patio?"
    "No, I'm putting them right up there," she said, pointing to the rickety playset. 
    "Laura, people are going to see right through the posts and know that we're in a backyard."
    "No they aren't. They're going to see exactly what I want them to see. You just watch."

And that I did. She made me realize that Dani and Keely's story was all around me. It lived in a red leaf and a half-eaten pomegranate. Their heartache could exist inside a single drop of concocted blood. I learned that we didn't need to recreate an entire scene to make it complete. My dramatic imagination may have taken some time to accept this, but my sister showed me the beauty of simplicity. 

Even though I was adamant that we had to film someone lying in a cramped dog cage in the trunk of my CR-V to get the right shot, I was proven wrong by a small slab of the crisscrossed metal. 

Luckily, Laura didn't allow me to go to the lengths I would have gone to create the bloody effect. Who would have thought that barbecue sauce was the secret weapon of fake blood? 

We may have been a little excessive with our blood supply, so it was for the best that I didn't end up being the source. Let's just say that things started to look like we were filming a cross between The Blair Witch Project and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by the time we were done.

As for Dani's trailer, we knew that our backyard wasn't going to cut it. We scouted out the local parks and found our gold mine right up the road. McAllister Park may not have resembled the forests of northern Massachusetts, but we eventually found a spot somewhat off the beaten path that would work. 

My first month as a self-published author has officially passed. It's been wild. It's been daunting. And it's been worth it—all of these feelings are worth all the work I put in to get here. However, there is one major part that has been missing. Many of you may have known my grandpa, his kooky smile and captivating personality. I find it hard not to miss him. He was my greatest inspiration. He gave every story a heartbeat, and I would give anything for him to see me try to do the same. 

Even after his passing, he still was a part of Satan's Garden. For those that have watched Keely's Trailer, you may have noticed the knick-knack boxes in the background of some of the shots. In the book, they were filled with Keely's private collections—her movie tickets, special pennies, and Pog collections. These were parts of me, things that I would put inside the boxes my grandpa made for me and my sisters. Every Christmas, he would build us a special puzzle box. All were different and wacky, but they still had that signature "Grandpa Boehm touch." Each one represents a year I got to spend with him, and that time is the most precious thing he could have given me. 

I'm glad that a part of him will live on in some way through Keely and Dani's story, but I cannot help but want more. He deserves that. I want people to know him the way I did and to understand the parts of me that were gifts from him. The only way I can think to do that is to tell his story. He was a great man and an even better grandfather. My eulogy can't really do him justice, but it can at least leave you with a piece of what he gave to me. 

In response to my previous post, I want to share with you a piece of my screenwriting background. Since I was pursuing a career as a TV staff writer, I needed to prepare samples of my writing. Spec scripts are original episodes written for currently airing shows, and they showcase a writer's ability to capture the characters and overall tone. 

I have an affinity for the mockumentary style, so it only made sense that I wrote a spec for Modern Family and The Office. The two specs were written back in 2011, so both of the scripts reflect the storyline of that season. For all of you Office fans out there, Michael is still well and alive in, "Worms & Dirt." You can find both downloads below. Enjoy!

Terminology for Scripts

For those of you who have never read a script before, here is a list of basic terms found in screenplays:

• INT/EXT — Interior/exterior, stating whether a scene is happening inside or outside. 
• V.O. — Voice-over, when dialogue overlays the action lines and the speaker is not physically in the scene. 
• O.S. — Off-screen, when a character is heard in the specific scene but cannot be seen on camera. 
• ( ) — Whenever there is a parenthetical used with dialogue, it is telling you what the character is doing while speaking or how the words are being said. 
• Tag — This is the last segment of an episode. It is usually when the credits roll. 
• Cold Open — This is a teaser at the beginning of an episode. The Office was known for their cold opens. 
• D# — Represents the day number in the storyline. If an episode is dependent on a timeline, this detail is important. 
• Continuous — If this is present in a scene heading, it is telling you it's a continuation of a previous scene. 
• Beat — Signifies a brief pause. 

Self-publishing has a certain stigma. It is often looked at as a "last resort" or an "only option" for authors. "It's a quality issue," they say. "Bad content is clogging the system."  While I think there is some truth to that, my overall belief is that the lasting stories will find their way to the top of the pile one way or another. It isn't so much about how much bad content is out there, but rather, it has more to do with the growing number of good content that is working its way into the system. Competition is becoming thicker as more people are vying for those top spots, but I believe there has never been a better time to be a writer. 

Self-publishing Was My First Resort

I didn't send out any queries for Satan's Garden. I didn't print out a manuscript and mail it off to dozens of agents and publishers. It wasn't because I don't believe in the traditional process, because I do, very strongly. Writing is and always will be a collaborative process, and traditional publishing provides that constant creative network and support system. Nevertheless, I wanted to use the resources and team I have in my corner and show the world what I am made of, without a big house behind me at the start. 

Today's publishing landscape is in the writer's favor. The platforms available to us puts the cards back in our hands. It allows us to create our own worth, to earn our spot. Self-publishing is my first resort because I believe that in order to prove myself, I have to be my greatest advocate. 

At twenty-four, the road I took to get here may not seem that long to many of you. However, in the last two and a half years, I feel as if I have lived many more than that. I have had setbacks, disappointments, epiphanies, and revelations. I constantly found myself going back to the drawing board. What I realized was that each time I went back, I was closer to figuring it out. All of those revisions and wiped-clean boards, they all mattered. 

Figuring Out What I Didn't Want

I moved to LA the summer of 2011 to pursue a career as a screenwriter. Screenwriting has always been my first love. It was the reason I moved across the country and what I had planned on doing with my life. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind that it was where I was supposed to go.

As the start to any conversation, I thought it would only be polite to introduce myself. I'm not really a huge fan of the generic, "Hello! My name is..." template where you list a bunch of facts that anyone can look up on a social media profile. Granted, I'm not going to throw away the entire onion concept either, but I am going to let you in a little past its flaky skin. 

If I could live my life through movie quotes, I would. I'm the type of person who would rather do nothing with someone interesting than do something incredible with someone boring. Life is all about the analogies. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. My party trick is and always will be singing "What Would You Do?" by City High—eight states and over twenty karaoke bars strong. I'm pretty competitive, but I don't accept challenges involving holding my breath under water or jumping over objects. If there are two things I love most in the world it would be moments that allow for speeches and those people who make me want to give them. 

I currently live in San Antonio, Texas, with my sister and brother-in-law, and I can safely say they are the reason my first novel will be released in a little under two months. Not only have they given me the time, but they have also played a huge part in making my story come to life. They are both doing their residency here with the Air Force, leaving them few options when their son, Leon, came into the picture. I help take care of him while they are at work, which has allowed me the lifestyle to give my writing a real chance. It's an incredible feeling to know that I'm laying down the pipeline, and it's all starting to feel very real. 

This isn't going to be a themed blog but rather a writer's rambling space. I don't want to put myself in a box by saying I'm only going to talk about self-publishing or my tips on making Cup Noodles nutritional. I'm going to free myself from the conventional. I know that people have a general need to have a purpose behind an action, but why can't my purpose be to not have one? I am a part of the tangent-talking species, so I want to widen my platform. 

However, I have broken it down into seven main categories:

• Childhood Stories
• Personal Anecdotes 
• Thoughts on Life
• Self-publishing
• Past Work
• The Writing Process
• Words of Motivation

I can't promise what order my posts will come in, but you can bet you will get a little bit of each. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for behind-the-scenes footage of my upcoming book trailers!