The Shrinking Woman by Rolynn Anderson

“Billions and Billions,” Carl Sagan would say, with that weird bombastic emphasis on the ‘B’ that we liked to mimic.  I believed him when he told me that the universe was bigger than I could ever imagine.  Even if I didn’t understand the concept of infinity, I got the enormity bit, and I started feeling small.  Tiny.

The other day, I saw a video, a visual representation of a gargantuan universe.  Carl, it turns out, should have been saying ‘Quadzillions’ instead of Billions.  This is a quick video, three amazing minutes, well worth your time.  You may want to look at it before you read on-it helps get your mind around the breadth of the universe.  Turn off the music...you don't need it and it's annoying.
https://www.facebook.com/iReleaseEndorphins/videos/1246708738676586/?theater

Do you see my point?  I have shrunk (in relative importance/meaning) to a size you couldn’t even see with the human eye.  I used to think I was as big as a grain of sand.  Now, I'm smaller than one of the 100 species of insects hanging around our homes…that we never see.  (Creepy that they’re there, huh?  But true.)  This makes Jonathan Swift a terrible under-estimator in Gulliver's Travels!

Relatively, says Hubble, I am less than itsy bitsy in size, and my importance diminishes with every new discovery.  My effect: a lot less than a butterfly winging it.

Usually I rise each morning buoyed by big ideas and tall purpose; we writers live by making comparisons and setting hefty goals.  But I have to admit that size does matter and my ideas and purposes seem whittled down by the ballooning universe.   

So I’m interested.  How are you dealing with the your shrinking importance in the world?  Humor is welcome, of course, whenever we have these crazy existential conversations.  Example: One good outcome-I have lost ‘weight.’  ;-)  

To go with my 'diminished' theme, I’ll trot out FAINT, the third in my Funeral Planner Suspense series.  Here are a couple tweets:

Thoughtful #dog, sweet man with #Alzheimer’s, #blind forensic investigator FAINT-3^rd in series http://amzn.com/B0180LJBRI #suspensest #romance

Criminals challenge brains & relationship of freelance embalmer & blind forensic investigator #suspensest #romance http://amzn.com/B0180LJBRI

Screenplays. Have you written one for one of your novels? by Rolynn Anderson

Happy New Year, everyone!  I'm lucky to be the blog-writer for the first of the month; to be able to holler Happy New Year is extra special.

In the spirit of looking ahead to new and exciting adventures in 2016, I want to draw on your experiences and your writing journey.  

I live close to Hollywood, so I get to rub shoulders with people who know/knew people.  Just the other day, I chatted with one of these people, and his interest in my books was both flattering and energizing.  His suggestion: If I wrote a screenplay based on one of my novels (especially one from my series), I could catch the attention of Hollywood.  In fact, he suggested I read this book by Viki King: How To Write a Movie in 21 Days...http://amzn.com/0062730665. 

His enthusiasm was contagious, but I'm already diverting my novel-writing time with short-story writing, blog writing and social media tasks  Do I make yet another detour and try to write a screenplay?  Has anyone out there written a movie script?  Was it a HUGE change from writing a novel or was it a fairly straightforward process? Did it give you an entrée into pitching movie-making folk?

I'm just as conflicted over this issue as I am over paying someone to narrate my novels for the audio market.  

Point is, I've learned that many of you have already vetted these questions and you have experience to bring to the table.  Tell me what you've learned about writing screenplays and latching on to the audio market.  Thanks!  Rolynn   

Meanwhile, I'm still 'in release' of FAINT, my third novel in the funeral planner suspense series.  If you haven't had a chance to read the details, here goes!

Their dead clients refuse to rest in peace.

How did small-town boutique funeral planning morph into crime-solving?  Ask freelance embalmer Trudy Solomon, or Pete McDonald, a blind, forensic investigator.  They’re unearthing mysteries of the deceased for their pregnant boss, Jan Keller, while her journalist husband, Roman, is benched by a ten million dollar defamation suit.

A dead client goes missing, and investigating his disappearance forces Trudy and Pete to confront their fiercely independent styles.  When danger stalks them, will they blend brains, brawn and belief in one another to solve crimes and save themselves?

Buy Sites:

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B0180LJBRI

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/592110

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/rolynnanderson

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/faint-funeral-planner-suspense/id1058955286?mt=11

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/faint-the-funeral-planner-suspense-series-book-3

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/faint-rolynn-anderson/1122952875?ean=2940152465822

Website: http://www.rolynnanderson.com