Later in
the day something happened that made me feel all squiggly inside: both the
producer, Shaun O'Banion, and the writer, Chad Shonk, tweeted me to thank me
for my post about their movie.
Um, say
what?
Yeah, that
was my reaction.
And then
I flipped out and couldn't respond . . .
BECAUSE
WHY DIDN'T I POST IT ON MY
I'M-SERIOUSLY-TRYING-TO-BE-A-LEGITIMATE-WRITER-SOMEDAY BLOG AS OPPOSED TO MY BLOG WITH RPATZ DANCING TO I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT?
O! M! G!
But you
know what?
To quote
Jonah, "Who has time to be embarrassed?"
Not me.
So, yeah.
This is my blog, and while I am currently writing my first novel, I also write and
publish stories online. Masen Days is my most popular piece, and it takes place
in Scottsdale , AZ. Masen, the protagonist’s boy
of choice, is an abused skater who hangs at The Wedge in Scottsdale . He’s damaged, unassuming, sweet, and
poetic, and Jonah reminds me of him. So I had to tell my readers because they
will want to meet Jonah too. Sigh and yay for sweet boys.
After my
freak out and the following calm that came via Jonah’s wise words, I got to
comparing my story, which seemingly no one will ever read (though it’s had
close to 200,000 hits, so that’s not no one), to Dakota Skye. And you know what?
They’re both independent. And independently good, in my opinion. So that’s
good. It’s all good. And it made me realize I could respond to the producer
and writer without any hesitation. I mean, just
because Dakota Skye doesn't have Ellen Page in it and Masen Days isn’t on
shelves at Barnes and Noble doesn't make either of them any less fabulous. There’s something so great about
indies. They’re real and gritty and dirty and relatable. And thank goodness
too.
And now more clips and random gushing about Dakota Skye . . . because that's how I roll.
There’s a scene wherein Dakota is on the phone wearing a
wrinkled bland shirt, and I thought, “Awesome! Now that is real!” And the ugly
dresser in her room is real along with the hideous pillow shams. And Jonah
wears these Hanes undershirts. And Kevin has a hideous rat tail that makes him simultaneously
goofy-cute and skeezy. And I love it all. Real. Real. Real.
Know what else is real? The way these characters treat each
other. Dakota can barely stand Kevin. She merely tolerates him, but that’s
better than being alone. Plus, he’s not bad in his band and apparently the sex
is good. And she doesn’t have to pretend to be happy while with him, which I
think for someone miserable like Dakota would be important.
And now a Kevin clip because I did not do him justice in the first post . . .
And now a Kevin clip because I did not do him justice in the first post . . .
I love how ornery Dakota and Kevin are together. I love that we don't see his sweet side until after Jonah confesses that he likes her. That was a bittersweet scene. Because aw, now I feel bad for Kevin. But back to thier realistic relationship. I love that she lashes out at him about things like bowling and ordering the same hamburger and Coke every time they’re out at Jim’s. Because that’s how real couples behave. They are mostly trying to put up with each other’s crap and trying not to kill each other. I’m so glad that that was portrayed and Dakota wasn’t vilified for it.
In fact, quite the opposite happened. Jonah tells her that
she and Kevin are good together, and they are – for them. That’s their dynamic,
and it works. Though, obviously Jonah and she will be better for one another
because he’s honest and she can learn to actually be happy. That
would certainly be interesting watching that story arc – chronically miserable
girl gets fairy tale ending and is actually happy now. What would that look
like? Man, I’d like to know.
Now meet Dakota and Jonah . . .
Now meet Dakota and Jonah . . .
Doesn't it look great? Go watch it! Go buy it!
But in all seriousness . . . what the hell am I talking about?
This post was meant to do two things: 1. explain that I am
legitimately trying to be a writer, but I was initially embarrassed which is
why I did not respond to the special tweets, and 2. share more thoughts about why
I love Dakota Skye and why my readers will too. And now I hope there’s a surge
of Dakota Skye fandage. Tweet the producer and writer. They tweet back. No
joke!
A special thanks to Shaun and Chad for reaching out to me via
Twitter and then my blog. I can’t even begin to explain how humbling it was to
wake up to see the writer of a touching movie had written
something kind in turn to me. Wow.
Seriously, wow.
And now for my insipid questions for Chad:
1. Where the hell do I find this music?
2. How else can I pimp this movie? Because it needs to be pimped!
3. When was this movie filmed? Because as an Arizonan I was perplexed as to why Dakota wore her jacket in May. Not a complaint, just an observation. :)
4. Who was attached to this movie that was from AZ? They highlighted all the right things, and on a side note, every time Dakota said, "It's so hot" I laughed. Out loud. It doesn't matter than I'm native . . . it is hot!
5. Where were the school scenes shot? Kevin's concert? They both look familiar.
6. Will your next script come to fruition? Because, um, it should. If I had money, I'd give it to you.
And now for my insipid questions for Chad:
1. Where the hell do I find this music?
2. How else can I pimp this movie? Because it needs to be pimped!
3. When was this movie filmed? Because as an Arizonan I was perplexed as to why Dakota wore her jacket in May. Not a complaint, just an observation. :)
4. Who was attached to this movie that was from AZ? They highlighted all the right things, and on a side note, every time Dakota said, "It's so hot" I laughed. Out loud. It doesn't matter than I'm native . . . it is hot!
5. Where were the school scenes shot? Kevin's concert? They both look familiar.
6. Will your next script come to fruition? Because, um, it should. If I had money, I'd give it to you.
