Dear Dean...Love,Mom

Credits & Credentials

Credits & Credentials

Author

Speaker

Screenwriter

Script editor

Workshop Facilitator

2010 (partial list)

"Dear Dean...Love, Mom": Nonfiction inspirational Book, Wisdom Trends, imprint of L&L Dreamspell Publishers. True account of what my son taught me about God and life ...from the Other Side. Released Febryary l, 2010.

"Murder in the Movies": Novel. Author. Published by Port Town Publishing; hardback rights picked up by Hilliard & Harris 2007; released in paperback by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries Sept. 2010.

Missouri Writers Guild Conference: Novel-to-Screenplay Workshop Facilitator; Creating Dynamic Dialogue Workshop Facilitator; St. Louis, Missouri; Mystery Writers Panel Participant

Oklahoma Writers Federation Conference: Creating Dynamic Dialogue Workshop Facilitator; Novel-to-Screenplay Workshop Facilitator; Oklahoma City, OK

Topeka-Shawnee County Public Library: Angelic Encounters, speaker

The Glick Mansion: Angelic Encounters & Ghostly Tales, Host: Atchison, KS Chamber of Commerce; Atchison, Kansas

The Retired Railroad Employees, Topeka, Kansas; speaker

Sissters in Crime: Creating Dynamic Dialogue; St. Louis, Missouri

The Cray Mansion: Angelic Encounters & Ghostly Tales, Host: Atchison, KS Chamber of Commerce; Atchison, Kansas

"Tools of the ScreenWriting Trade" : Author. The only screenwriting aid used by Harvard Square Screenwriters, Boston.

"Screen Writers Q & A": Nonfiction book, AuthorHouse. Author.

"The AJ Davis Story": DVD, True story of WWII veteran. Executive Producer, editor, director. Heritage Classic LR Productions

Speaker: Association of Women in Communication

Florida Motion Picture & TV Association

Association of Retired City Employees

National Association of Retired Railroad Employees

Emporia State Collage

Grace United Methodist Church, St. Louis MO & Hoyt Kansas

Leavenworth-Lansing Chamber of Commerce

The Cosmo Club, Topeka Country Club

Orlando FMPTA Confernce

University of Missouri, Kansas City

University of Miami (film department)

Burt Reynolds Ranch Screenwrites Workshop

Dallas Screenwriters Association

Atchison Chamber of Commerce

Daytona Community College

"The Last Hour of Revelations": Nonfiction book. AuthorHouse. Ghost writer.

"A Perfect World": Stage Play. Libretto writer. For Broadway, London, LA Producer

"The Book of Revelation": Screenplay. Script writer

Guest Lecturer: "How to Market and Promote Your Book: Self- Published or Otherwise" - Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library

Authors Panel: River City Festival, Lawrence, Kansas.

Sisters-in-Crime Mystery Writers Conference, St. Louis, MO

And under a separate title of Does Anybody Really Want to Know This? I started out writing commercials for radio stations in the Midwest. Then came educational films that led to my participation in a PH. D. film-making grant at the Univeristy of Missouri-Columbia. The Department of Arizona Tourism invited me to write and produce a film on their state when the grant ended, which put me two inches closer to Hollywood (on the map). But I never thought about Hollywood. After all, Hollywood was filled with bright, pretty, creative genuises who knew everything and everybody. I was rather lackluster, not too pretty, and I knew nobody. Except other people like me. Then I went to Hollywood and found out they didn't know a bit more than I knew and they weren't all that pretty. For the most part.

CBS hired me to work in their script department. Basic training for those who aspire to be screenwriters. Which I didn't. I just wanted to keep working and, preferably at something I could sort of do. Like write. I was at CBS for only three months when MGM made me an offer I couldn't refuse. That's how I became production coordinator on a couple of network shows, assistant to the Vice President of MGM-TV, one of two people in MGM development, and sold my first original screenplay to the first production company I sent it to: Dick Clark Cinema Productions. Amazing.

While at MGM, I married a Location Manager who eventually left me for his mother. That really ticked me off. It also inspired me to murder his rearend, which I did in my first novel: "Murder in the Movies". It was published by the first publisher I sent it to: Port Town Publishing. I was also giving screenwriting workshops around the country with one of my MGM bosses, Donald Gold. Donald was producing "Diagnosis Murder" at the time of our cross-country workshop adventures. Once in a while, we were joined by Marie Gillen (exec. producer "Fried Green Tomatoes", officer in Morgan Freeman's company Revelations Entertainment), Paul Rabwin (Emmy award-winning producer "The X Files"), Jack Allen, network development executive; Mark Schulman, really big in DreamWorks; and Paul Mason, Senior Vice President of Production, Viacom (also my ex-boss when I was production coordinator on "CHiPs").

After being hired to write "Malice in the First Degree", a screenplay based on the true story of a Caribbean attorney framed for murder, I moved to the Midwest to concentrate on writing novels. For nine years I was guest screenwriting workshop facilitator on the Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City campus. Now I sit in a very old house in the historic part of Topeka, Kansas writing more novels, though my heart lies in criss-crossing the country, telling others about all I've learned of God, and Life, since my son, Dean, began sharing with me things I never imagined, from The Other Side. "Dear Dean...Love, Mom" isn't actually about me and it isn't really about Dean; it's about the fact there is so much more to life than we realize, so much more to cherish than our hearts can ever hold - and the clear message that there is, indeed, Life-After-Life.

If there is a point to all of this, it isn't too orginal: Follow your heart and don't get too involved in earthly goals. It's better to enjoy the journey.

Screenwriting Workshops:

Missouri Writers Guild conference

Oklahoma Writers Federation conf.

St. Edward Univ. Austin, TX

W.VA Writers Conference

East Coast Writers Conference

Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte,NC

Art Space, Raleigh, NC

Miami Women's Club, Florida

Burt Reynolds Ranch, Jupiter, FL

Midnight Oil, Concord, MA

Topeka & Shawnee Co Public Lib

UMKC Campus-Communiversity

Daytona Community College, FL

Orlando, FL (several)

and many others

Once upon a time I was production coordinator on a short-lived Viacom TV series, "The Master", out of Francis Coppola's studio. The cutie behind me was my assistant.

With husband Larry, I created a children's audio series, "The Magic Of Apples, Bees & Calico Cats". Directing the cast of 11 in this photo.

When I was production coordinator on the TV series "CHiPs", I met some of the most talented and downright nicest stuntmen Hollywood had to offer. After I left MGM, I created, produced and directed a series, "The Hollywood Stunt Show", featuring the stuntmen I had worked with. Here we were setting up for a shot with special effects genius Marlowe Newkirk. That's my son Dean in the striped jacket. He was a terrific production assistant.

When Dean died, I vowed to go out and help aspiring screenwriters and film makers in his memory. I traveled around the country doing just that.

Paula Carroll worked wonders at one of my several Orlando workshops.

Bonnie did a great job of seeing that our workshop on Burt Reynolds ranch in Jupiter, FL went off perfectly.

The 3-day West Virginia Writer's Conference was among my very favorite workshop experiences!

Development Director Jack Allen joined me in my Orlando, Jupiter, Dallas, and Miami workshops. We went to Florida's Crystal Reel Awards together. Isn't he the cutest thing ever!

Donald Gold was my boss when I was production coordinator on "CHiPs". He went on to produce "Miami Vice", "Diagnosis Murder", two Burt Reynolds movies and write a terrific book, "Producing for Hollywood". We gave something like 20 workshops together across the country.

I was hired to write a screenplay based on the life of flamboyant Puerto Rican attorney, Jorge Chaar who had been framed for murder and sentenced to life in prison. 12 years into his term, he solved the case - with the help of his long-time best friend, Otto. That's Jorge at the microphone and Otto at the end of the table. This was at a Puerto Rican press conference, announcing the completion of my screenplay, "Malice in the First Degree". It went into production 2010.

Carter Lord attended our Burt Reynolds ranch workshop. 7 years later he hired me to re-edit, score, produce and co-write the family film, "Lithium Springs", which he exec produced, directed and did a fabulous job of starring in. It has been endorsed by the Dove Foundation and chosen as Movie of the Month by the Library Journal. It was nominated Best Family Movie at film festivals, won once. It was recently picked up for a 5-year distribution deal.

If you find your spouse cheating on you, do what I did and write a book where you murder his butt. Very theraputic. Hilliard & Harris pub.

2008. Produced and directed my first indie documentary: "The AJ Davis Story". November premiere in Topeka, KS resulted in my producing another documentary, this one on a WWII Marine tragedy, "The Flintlock Disaster". To be released Sept. 2009.

It all started when I was barely out of my teens and landed a job as production coordinator, wardrobe mistress and gang girl in a terrible little indie film called "The Cool and The Crazy" shot in Kansas City. Here with my roommate, Karen Lipe.

"...(Dear Dean...Love, Mom) grabbed my heart and didn't let go..." Dianne Lawson, writer, astrologer, Feng Shui consultant

Credits & Credentials

Here's pretty Paula Carroll with me again, this time at the 2006 Florida Motion Picture & TV Association's Crystal Reel Awards. That's Tez Lord looking on. Tez not only starred in Lithium Springs (as a woods nymph, no less!), but was the Art Director as well.

Carole Ferrill is the awesome State President of the Florida Motion Picture & Television Assoc., but she's no snob. You should have seen Carole and Paula sweating their buns off, cooking lunch - with no air conditioning! - for everyone in my Miami screenwriting workshop.