Heading off to my Act One adventure!

This blog normally is about the adventure of self-publishing, freelance writing, and the progress I'm making on my self-published book Deliver Me.

But I need to take a temporary turn for another adventure. I'm going to be gone for the next few weeks because back in April, I applied to a screenwriting class in Hollywood and guess what? I got accepted!

I first heard of the Act One program about ten years ago when a representative came to the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Barbara Nicolosi talked about how she and some of her Christian friends working in Hollywood felt increasing concern about what they saw coming out of Hollywood and they wanted to figure out what they could do about it. Their answer: train Christians to write for and work in Hollywood. And so they opened Act One. Although writing moral, decent content for Hollywood to produce is part of their vision, Act One also is training Christians to become excellent producers, directors, assistants, and more to work in Hollywood right alongside those in Hollywood who don't share our faith. In this way, Act One hopes to shine a light to others about what Christianity really is (since Hollywood seems to have a pretty skewed view of us Christians) and affect what comes out of Hollywood for the good.

What is produced in Hollywood is seen in countries other than the United States -- in fact our entertainment is seen around the world. That's why two veteran Hollywood professionals who have been on faculty at Act One, Jim and Karen Covell, challenge the church to see Hollywood as "the world's most influential mission field."
Ten years ago I never thought I'd be going to Act One. But over these past ten years, I have studied screenwriting, attended screenwriting workshops and seminars, and practiced through opportunities like http://scriptfrenzy.org/. A year ago, for my birthday, my beloved husband took me to Hollywood for my birthday! We stopped in to visit at Act One, and I was encouraged to apply for the writer's program.

Viola. Here I am. Done applied. Got accepted. And...I fly out Monday morning and classes start Monday afternoon! So...for the next few weeks, instead of writing about my book-in-progress, I'm going to chronicle my adventure at Act One.

I'm hoping to blog daily and let you know what happened in class each day, but that promises to be challenging since Act One has told us classes will run from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm! Nevertheless, I'm hoping to post a daily update (although it might be late at night before I get it done!).

If you're the praying sort, I'd appreciate your prayers for God's guidance (and stamina!) through this adventure. I'd also appreciate your prayers for all my classmates. There is a writing class going on, and an executive's class simultaneously. I believe we'll be together at least some of the time. I have challenged my class to be the "best Act One class ever," meaning the most fruitful for God's kingdom. You can be a part of that by upholding us in prayer.

And whether you're a visitor to this blog, a classmate at Act One, a Christian writer from CWFI, or a dear friend, please feel free to leave a comment of encouragement or a prayer to let us know you stopped by and you're thinking of us.

(And please continue to pray for the book, Deliver Me. Perhaps it's a good time for me to take a break from that project because I am terribly frustrated with it. I...um...I could go on, but... Time for a break.)

My thanks in advance to each of you. Another God-directed adventure! Here I go!
Next post: Hopefully on Monday and from Hollywood!

~*~*~*~*~
If you're interested, here is more information about Act One :

The class I'm heading out to: http://www.actoneprogram.com/programs/writing-program/

What Act One past classes are already doing in Hollywood:
http://www.actoneprogram.com/about-us/accomplishments/
http://www.actoneprogram.com/people/alumni/

Act One's mission statement: http://www.actoneprogram.com/about-us/who-we-are/