Screenplay into a Novel

5th December 2024

Dear Screenwriter,

From you ad I can tell that you’re looking for someone to turn your screenplay into a novel. It just so happens that I’ve done that but never been published. This makes me a bad candidate for this job but do you have any better candidates? I can show you the script I started with and the novel I ended with and we can talk about publishers.

Truth is, I’m willing to work on speculation but I need to see what I’m working with and if you want to get the novel published fast there are ways that you can do that but none are ideal. Still, an accomplish novelist shouldn’t be willing to do the work on speculation.

Anyway, as far as the Sci-Fi elements I got the Bank of America award for physics in high school and hold a BA in Psychology so I’m something of a geek. I’ve had a few short films produced and written a few short stories in addition to my novel but nothing that would make me as an author you should pay attention to.

Bottom line, if what you need is someone to write you’re film into a novel I can do that and I can show you the proof. If what you need is someone who can help you market your screenplay then that’s just not me.

I grant that I probably shouldn’t be writing to you because of how bad a fit for this job I am, but the truth is that you miss every shot you don’t take.

Kind regards,



Richard Leland Neal

Unwanted Visitors by Harriette Sheffer Abels

 

Unwanted Visitors by Harriette Sheffer Abels is a science

fiction children's adventure book that features the Emergency Ship M88 and it's crew coming into contact with a not so new group of lifeforms. 

I have to say that I love science and I love to dream so science fiction is my jam. This was a fun little book I would have loved to have had as a child. I understand that there are many more books about the M88 crew and if it were not for that fact that I have books piled everywhere in my home I would certainly go looking for them. 

Who should read this book? Geeks who love to dream.

Books read:  calculate

'Let's Talk About Gossiping' by Joy Berry Book Review

'Let's Talk About Gossiping' by Joy Berry is a developmental book

that helps children understand honesty. It's one of many in the 'Let's Talk About' books, and where it is not the best of them it is still an interesting and worth wile read. 

I find the words to be honest, the art to be fun, and the books to be enriching. I wish my school had these books when I was growing up. 

Who should read this book? Everyone.

Books read: 210 of 5,000

Hay Mr. Book Geek

I believe this letter was never mailed. I wrote it hoping to help a book geek who was screwing himself over by practicing poor judgment in moderation. Well, we live and learn. Just remember that the learning part is really important if you’re going to do a lot of the living part.

26^th May 2017

Mr. (Book Geek),

It would appear from the fact that there are no more books to review on your website that your publishing company is all but defunct with only your previously published titles remaining for the public. Well, that is the world we live in and I hope one day you can open again for publication.

In that vein, I have to point out that group moderation, book screening, and overall management of the site needed improvement. If you ever get things back up and running addressing these things should be a number one priority.

I know I once sent you an email about what you could do to improve things, and I’ll avoid covering those topics over again. Still, one issue that needed resolution was the whole spelling thing. By that I mean the fact that I got a letter from your site telling me my book met requirements for spelling and grammar and yet reviewers, even your employees, mentioned spelling issues.

A higher standard for spelling would probably be a good idea. After I reviewed my manuscript I saw that it indeed had a number of spelling issues that I should have addressed.  To be honest, I had sent it off expecting to get a rejection and hoping to send in a copy after the next edit to see if I had improved. My book needed some major editing before being viewed.

The second point in this is that moderators really should have mentioned to reviewers that all the books on the site had been cleared for spelling, and that spelling issues should not be accounted in reviews. It’s just one of those things that everyone needs to be on the same page.

I would have to say that even further; a review should only be placed on the site after a moderator has read that review and checked it for politeness.  I have never read a book on your site that I honestly thought was worth publication. I gave honest reviews, I know that much, but given how my own work was treated I feel I offended someone.

I hope things turn out well for you,

Richard Leland Neal 

Karl and Carolina Uncover the Parts of a Book by Sandy Bridget Donovan

'Karl and Carolina Uncover the Parts of a Book' by Sandy Bridget

Donovan is a book that uses dinosaurs to teach children about books. This is a great idea and very funny. 

The art work is surreal and the information is well related so I have to give this book both thumbs up. This was a fun read and a great book for children and book lovers. 

Who should read this book? Everyone.

Books read: 98 of 5000

Loss of Your Company

18^th January 2018

Dear (Book Geek),

My condolences on the loss of your company as it would appear it has gone under. This isn’t the first book publisher I’ve seen that fell to the bad economy, but with the world turning more and more to used books and books about politics coming more and more into the public eye you can hardly be surprised.

However, with nothing left to lose or gain I do have two questions to ask. The first is ‘may I publish the correspondence between myself and your company’, and the second being ‘what was the real truth behind what happened to my work’?

I publish almost every letter I write or receive of a page length or longer on my blog, and so I think it would be helpful to other writers to publish at least one of the letters you sent me. I will remove your name and the name of your company, not that it would make a difference, and I will never speak of who wrote them. I simply believe that the advice I was given may be of help to others.

As for my second question, there is no secret to the fact that I was feuding with another author and that it was him and his friends who gave my book bad reviews. You asked for harsh criticism, and I gave it to you, but everything I wrote was honest. This fellow took it personally and got his friends to gang up on me. Then you took both of our books down.

I know this to be a major outlier, because there were books that sat for more than a year with no reviews and still were left on the site, but the two of us got the ax without a definitive number of reviews. I also noted that I could still access my book on your page but that, unlike other books that had been taken down, moderation had been removed.

If I offended you I’m sorry, if I caused you trouble you have my apologies, but it still looks as if there is more to the story, and I would like to know. It may even do you well to tell.

Best,

Richard Leland Neal 

'Haley Helps at School' by Blaine Fronczak Book Review

'Haley Helps at School' by Blaine Fronczak is an activity math book with a story to go along with

the learning. 

It features pictures and not drawings so it is grounded in reality, and none of the tasked needed the math.  

This is a book one would read with their child and ask them to do the math problems along with the book and it would be worth reading for preschool and maybe kinder garden children. 

Who should read this book? Very young children an their parents. 

Books read 68 of 5000

'The World Of Horror Aliens' by John Hamilton Book Review

'The World Of Horror Aliens' by John Hamilton is a textbook that teaches children about the use of aliens in modern media. This covers subjects from as far back as the original 'War of the Worlds' to the video games of just a few years ago. 

I would have to point out to parents that a number of the properties

mentioned in this book are indeed R rated and not appropriate for young children. If I were an eight or nine year old reading this book I would want to watch the movies they book talks about and play the video games which are violent and lewd in some cases. 

One of the films mention in this book is the 1979 Sci Fi classic 'Alien' which is a film that gave me nightmares as a child. I don't recall when I first saw the film, but I remember it giving me at least one night of bad dreams. 

Another film that is included in this book is the 1997 'Starship Troopers' which was very gory for the time and featured a good deal of nudity. 

In the end, I came away from this book having learned very little about the topic because common knowledge subjects were covered and there was little depth to what was being said. Now, I am thirty eight, and this book is written for eight year olds so they should have less knowledge about the topic. 

Who should read this book? Horror alien enthusiasts who know very little about horror aliens. 

Books read: 45 of 5000

Philosophy of the Soul - Russ Kolibas

101 Ways to Boost Your Math Skills Book Review

'101 Ways to Boost Your Math Skills' is a self help book that looks amassed from the suggestions of children who have no idea what they're talking about.

Some of the things here are certainly helpful but the big thing is this book is that it tells you to live your life around math. 

If you're going to spend a lot of time doing math you will do better at it but is that how you want to live your life?

This isn't a book for the average person. This is a book for that person who really wants to be an engineer or mathematician.   



Who should read this book? Skeptics 

Books Read: 37 of 5000

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander Book Review

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander" is a collectible of the Harry Potter universe and meant to be a reproduction of Harry's textbook from the famed Hogwarts School of Magic and Witchcraft.

There is very little to this textbook having in it very few bits and odds from the Harry Potter world and only few notes written down by Mr. Potter himself. 

   
I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy reading this book, but I would have enjoyed it more if it had been longer and more in depth with more illustrations and more notes. 

That is to say the worst part of this book is that their is so little of it that you are left unsatisfied. Now again, this book is meant to be sold as a charitable act and proceeds go to a learning foundation. That was why I got a copy of this book.

Who should read this book? The charitable an the Potter fans. 

Books Read: 31 of 5000

Books on Humans Made of Humans

 

Books of Learning

04/21/2010

Dear Children's Books (Publisher),

What you have here is a children's picture book manuscript written in rhyme and teaching children the difference between pear the fruit and pair as in two things with some mention of to pare.

I yield to your better authority how it is all to be edited and produced. I have only the experience of reading to children as my guide in the area. I do know something of art work and printing so I can easily understand what limitations you set up. The poem is fifty-two lines but how many lines appear on one page is up to you.

I have been published three times in the past as a poet in periodicals. Once with my junior high school and twice in high school but have submitted nothing professionally.

Thank you for your time,


Richard Leland Neal

The Five Thousand Project

Simply put, The Five Thousand Project is a condition where I read one hundred books before buying any more. Once I have done this I will read ninety nine books before buying one more. I will do this until I reach a total of five thousand books read or reach a ratio of one book to buy for everyone I read. I will make proof of my reading by reviewing every book.

The definition of ‘book’ can be interpreted here, but it is enough to say that first I will focus on books I own. As I believe myself to own far less than five thousand books but more than one thousand it should be of no extraordinary difficulty. As libraries exist, and the Gutenberg Project has now more than thirty thousand books online for free a person could spend most of their life reading and never buy a book.

It should be noted that this would be impossible for the student as they need to buy half a dozen books per semester. It would likely be impossible for the good father to adhere to the rules of this project as he would need to buy books for his children.

Thus, I can say that if ever I would be a student or father I need to complete or very nearly complete this project. Before I can take on these tasks I need correct the flaws in my damaged brain.

Any person having read five thousand books would be a person of skill. Even a centenarian would need to have read and average of fifty books a year for every year of their life to reach such a total. If in this pursuit I read a book every day it would still take nearly fourteen years to complete.

Thus we can say that this is a mammoth undertaking, but my lacking mental faculties require mammoth revision. This is the small work of a lifetime but I have a lifetime to work.