History
I was maybe 10 or 11 when my favorite Aunt Marian gave me a book to read. It was Stephen King. Though I can’t remember which title, I read it and I was hooked! She gave me more to read and a beautiful bond was formed between us. Aunt Marian lived in the Midwest, outside of Chicago and my family and I lived in Connecticut. Every time we drove out to visit, she would give me a new book to read, only now, she was introducing me to other authors like Dean Koontz. We watched horror movies together too and when I graduated high school, I announced I was moving to New York City. Marian pulled out the movie Last House on the Left; it was her way of teaching me an important lesson. Don’t go home with strangers! I was a naive little 18 year old, and this lesson probably saved my life not long after I moved to the Big City! But as for our Stephen King connection, comparing notes on the latest book, sharing books in case either of us didn’t have it yet, that would continue throughout the rest of our time together.
I do have a penchant for writing horror, but my true love is science fiction, hard and soft. I’m working towards writing hard sci-fi, but at the present, I am better at the soft. Though life has gotten in the way more than once, along with ADHD, I have never forgotten about my passion for storytelling and wanting to be better at it. I think we always have something to learn, even when we feel like we’ve learned all there is to learn. In fact, when we feel we’ve learned it all is where I think we have the most to learn! I hope that makes sense. I’m on my second cup of coffee and still trying out new ADHD meds so sometimes my words get a little jumbled on the trip from my brain to hands as I type this.
Anyway, below you will find credits for what I’ve done so far. They do not reflect my sci-fi love, but that is because I started writing these stories after doing the things listed below. The credits do reflect my love of the theatre, another aspect of my writing career, and horror.
Credits
“Million Dollar Question” by Tara McMillen
The newspaper had mistakenly been delivered to Taylor Cook’s doorstep. Normally he stole his neighbor’s newspaper, but luck had been on his side today. He flipped through the pages as he descended the stairs to the street and found the full-page ad. What would you do for a million dollars?
Taylor Cook answered the ad to find out, a curiosity he would soon come to regret.
This was my first publication back on May 6, 2011 on The Fringe Magazine Blogspot. The magazine has since been archived, but they keep the website up so you can read “Million Dollar Question” and many other horror stories for free.
Theatre
“To Be Me” a short play
Playwright at New Works Festival, Middletown, CT
I originally wrote a monologue that was based on my own experiences, and experiences of friends due to our androgynous and butch appearance titled “To Be Me”. This monologue resulted in a stage performance with a wonderful group of writers, all of us sharing our work with a compassionate audience. There was a Q&A afterward, in which we were to each speak about our piece. I was terrified. I didn’t know we were supposed to do this. It turned out great though. I was able to express how “To Be Me” came about from people calling me sir, how, in fact, before the show, someone had mistaken me for a man. I said this laughingly and the audience laughed with me. I felt better then and this became one of my best memories.
Promotional Poster for the theatrical production
Theatre
“The Amazing Dickie” full length production
“The Amazing Dickie” was about a gay teenage boy, Tyler, who gets gay bashed by some other boys at school. He goes home to try to come out to his mother, but his Uncle Dickie unexpectedly shows up, along with his boisterous loud-mouthed older sister, both of whom cause so much drama (comedic) that Tyler can’t seem to find the right time to say anything.
The show ran for 4 nights, and most of them were sold out. This lead to the addition of one more encore show, making the production run a total of 5 nights. The coolest part was when someone saw a ticket for The Amazing Dickie on eBay! I was also interviewed in Seattle’s paper “The Stranger” for an article about LGBTQ playwrights and directors, and I was quoted.