The musings of Sean Paul Murphy: Editor, Producer, Screenwriter, Author. Or, Hollywood -- and beyond -- as seen from an odd little corner of northeast Baltimore, Maryland.
Here's another COVID free ZOOM edition of the Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast, a lively discussion of the movies that sometimes devolves into a group therapy session.
In this episode we do a little cinematic round robin. We each brought one of our favorite film biographies to the table to share with our fellow Mother Podcasters. It's a large category and they're lots of interesting choices. Check it out.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
Here's the second part of my interview with Marianne Coleman, the host of the Walking The Shadowlands podcast, about the haunting my family experienced at 21 St. Helens Avenue. The first part of the interview featured my mother and myself along with my sister Jeanne and her daughter Marion. This segment is built around my niece Natalie, the daughter of my late sister Laura, myself and some quotes from my younger brother John. Together, we give a comprehensive perspective on the haunting.
Marianne
I am very grateful that Marianne took time to talk with me and my family. Being a medium herself, and an expert in the paranormal, she was able to provide important and healing insight in the phenomenon my family experienced. Take a listen. I hope you get half as much out of it as we did.
Be sure to check out my novel Chapel Street. It tells the story of a young man straddling the line between sanity and madness while battling a demonic entity that has driven his family members to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting my family experienced.
You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
If you go to the grave of Sunshine Marie Royston Hillegas* in Holly Hills Memorial Gardens, you will find it decorated with loving mementoes. I expect it will remain so for years to come because, according to all reports, the young lady lived up to her first name. I must confess I did not come across Sunshine's grave by chance. My friend Brenda Snier Cook, Sunshine's grandaunt, told me about the young woman's tragic fate. She thought she would be a worthy grave tale. After I researched Sunshine, I couldn't agree more. Here is her story.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 14 September 2008, Sunday:
BRIDE-TO-BE DIES WHEN TRACTOR-TRAILER HITS LIMOUSINE
By James Drew | james.drew@baltsun.com
Sunshine Royston chose Sept 20, the day of her late father's birthday, as the day of her wedding.
She was a year old when Chet Royston died in a motorcycle accident in Baltimore.
Now the relatives who had helped arrange her wedding are preparing for her funeral.
Royston and six of her friends had arranged to use a stretch limousine for her bachelorette party, which included time at the Power Plant in the Inner Harbor, said her maternal grandfather, Fred Thiess.
About 4:30 a.m. yesterday, a tractor-trailer collided with the limousine in the 4000 block of E. Monument St., killing Royston.
"Now she is going to be buried around the day of her father's birthday," said her stepfather, Jeff Bull, who struggled with grief as he recalled the 28-year-old that he and his wife, Victoria, had raised.
Police said the limo was traveling east in the right lane on Monument street at Haven Street. The driver of the 2004 Freightliner tractor-trailer was heading west on Monument Street and as the truck turned left to head south on Haven, it "turned into the left side of the limo," said Agent Donny Moses, a Baltimore police spokesman.
The limousine was knocked on its right side, and came to rest at the southwest corner of Haven and East Monument, police said.
Royston suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Moses said. Theiss said the other girls were treated at area hospitals. Police did not report any other major injuries.
"Preliminarily, it looks like the tractor-trailer was at fault for not yielding the right of way," said Moses, who said the accident remains under investigation. Police didn't release the driver's name.
Royston had lived for about two years in Dallastown, Pa., with Joe Hillengas [sic], the man she planned to marry Saturday. They had met while growing up in Dundalk and lived in Dallastown to be close to Hillengas' mother. Hillengas commuted to his job at a sheet-metal company in Baltimore, friends said.
One of Royston's friends had arranged for the limousine for the bachelorette party, said Royston's stepfather.
"They thought they did the right thing by not going out drinking and driving and guess what? You do the right thing and it still doesn't pay off." Bull said.
Through tears yesterday, Bull recalled the "too short life" of his stepdaughter, who graduated from Patapsco High School.
"She was a great girl, a loving mother. She did what she could do for anybody. She was one of the best daughters anyone could have," he said.
In addition to the two children she had with Joe Hillengas, Royston had a 5-year-old son from a previous relationship, Bull said.
What a tragic tale! Sunshine was just about to begin a new life, and thoughtfully chose a powerful and symbolic date to start it: The birthday of her late father Chet who died when she was only one year old. (Chet died when his motorcycle struck a utility pole while traveling south on the 6400 block of Walther Avenue in northeast Baltimore City on October 17, 1981.) Sunshine and her friends took all prudent precautions for the bachelorette party, but sometimes destiny cannot be avoided. The grief of those she left behind is plain to see. I am certain Sunshine is remembered daily.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 16 September 2008, Tuesday:
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 19 October 2008, Sunday:
I wish I could find out more about the accident, and whether the unnamed tractor-trailer driver was found guilty of any crime. Unfortunately, I could find no further reference to the accident in the newspapers. I am sure there had to be a settlement, but I am equally sure no about of money could compensate Sunshine's family for her loss.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one...
Postscript:
I recently received this message from Vicki Thiess-Bull, Sunshine's mother on Facebook:
Hello, my name is Vicki Bull my daughter is Sunshine Royston. I just saw your blog about the gravesites and just wanted to reach out.
I think thank you, it was a little hard to go back and read but at the same time made me feel honored and proud and some kind of strange sad way I did send you a friend request and I see we do have some mutual friends. I just wanted to reach out and say thank you! If you ever want to talk more about Sunshine I am always honored and willing to talk about my beautiful daughter.
Thanks, Vicki. I always love hearing from family members. I am grateful that you feel I am honoring your daughter's memory. She seemed like a lovely woman. I know she is missed.
Please check out Sunshine's Angels. The nonprofit is dedicated to helping children stricken with grief and/or trauma. They raise money through fundraising events to help children receive the therapy they need. Looks like a lot of fun events.
*The tombstone reads Sunshine Marie Royston-Hillegas, but the newspaper stories all give her name as Sunshine Marie Royston. I am not making any determination whatsoever as to which name is most appropriate. That is a matter for her family. I simply use whatever name is supplied in the sources in context.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
I have done a number of interviews about the haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, my childhood home, but this is first one where I was joined by other members of my family. When I spoke with Marianne Coleman, the host of Walking The Shadowland podcast, I asked if she would like to speak with other members of my family. She immediately said yes. I'm glad she did.
Marianne
I have already interviewed my family members regarding the haunting. However, Marianne came at the haunting from a difference angle. As a medium herself, she had a different perspective on the events we experienced. Also, Marianne questioned us directly about the deaths of my siblings Laura and Mark. In typical Murphy fashion, those are subjects we still rarely discuss. I barely touched on the deaths in my interviews. I thought it was traumatic enough to talk about the haunting itself. I am planning to interview my relatives again about the deaths when I get to stage two of my blogs.
I do have to point out a few errors. I misspoke on a few ocassions. For example, I said our family left the house in 2016. It was actually 2006. Also, more importantly, Jeanne did not use a Ouija board in the house prior to my mother's incident. She admits using one in the basement of our Grandmother Murphy's house but never at St. Helens Avenue. A family friend said she used a Ouija board at our house, but it was probably with my late sister Laura, not Jeanne.
Also, all of my siblings I interviewed show up in the two part podcast in one form or another. In the first podcast, before we worked out a way for John to appear via his previous interview, Marianne said all of the Murphy siblings appeared or wanted to appear on the podcast. Not true. My older brother Douglas has not been participating in our retelling of the haunting. He says he never experienced anything.
So without any further ado, here's the podcast. I hope you enjoy it.
Be sure to check out my novel Chapel Street. It tells the story of a young man straddling the line between sanity and madness while battling a demonic entity that has driven his family members to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting my family experienced.
You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
Here's another COVID free ZOOM edition of the Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast, a lively discussion of the movies that sometimes devolves into a group therapy session.
This week my lovely wife Debbie brought the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon A Time .... In Hollywood to the table. She was never much of a Tarantino fan until she saw this film. Now she's a believer. Debbie also invited award-winning journalist and screenwriter Jenna Healy Gloeb to discuss the film with us. We had originally seen the film while visiting her in Minnesota. (That's two guests from Minnesota in two weeks.)
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
Here's another COVID free ZOOM edition of the Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast, a lively discussion of the movies that sometimes devolves into a group therapy session.
Last week I brought one of my favorite films, A Hard Day's Night, directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles, to the table. Can the Beatles, and their first film, work the same magic on the Mother Podcasters that it did on their fans in the 1964? Fearing the episode it might turn into a hatefest, I enlisted my old high school friend Mike Lane, a talented musician and Beatles fan, to help me defend the film.
I also called Mike in because he once saved my life with rock-n-roll with a little help from The Beatles, but you'll have to listen to episode to hear how.
Here's the trailer for the film (which we couldn't play in the episode because of copyright strikes):
Here's the podcast on YouTube:
Mike and his wife Kiki have been entertaining us throughout COVID with live online concerts from their home in Minnesota. Check this one out. You'll enjoy it.
Also, Mike did inspire me to play the guitar and form a band. Here's The Atomic Enema, live in the Mazziott Basement in 1986, playing a few songs. (I can't guarantee you'll enjoy us!)
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
I've talked with quite a few screenwriters over the years. Nearly all of them confessed that they always wanted to write novels, but they felt it was easier to write screenplays. Well, take it from someone who has written both: It is easier to write a novel than a good screenplay.
Screenplays do seem easier. You type in the location: INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT. You write a simple action: Joe and Lisa step into the room. Then you just write what they say. What could be easier? Most novice screenwriters think dialogue is the most important thing. Every screenwriter -- whether its true or not -- thinks they are good at writing dialogue. Ergo, screenwriting is easy.
What do screenwriters fear most about writing a novel? The descriptive passages. Guess what? If you haven't been writing great descriptive passages about your characters, locations, etc., your scripts probably aren't any good either.
While teaching screenwriting at the university level, I was often shocked by how often my students failed to properly set the stage for their scenes in their short scripts with descriptive passages. I'm not going to get into character descriptions. I've already devoted an entire blog to them. (Click Here.) However, succinct descriptive passages go a long way to revealing characters and relationships. For example, say you're writing a scene about a guy attending the wedding of his ex-girlfriend. Well, it makes a world of difference if he steps into the church wearing a suit like everyone else or shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. See how much a simple descriptive passage tells the reader about the situation? Your script should be filled with them. If you are a good screenwriter the necessary descriptive passages needed for a novel shouldn't be a problem for you.
Also, there are fewer rules to novel writing. Anyone who has ever read a book about screenwriting knows that there are old rules, new rules and rules about rules. The great high priest of screenwriting, the mighty William Goldman, once said, "Screenplays are structure." I couldn't agree more. With the possible exception of haikus, screenplays are perhaps the most formally structured form of writing imaginable. They're blueprints for a film, not final products.
The current screenwriting Bible is Blake Snyder's Save The Cat. I am not a huge fan of the book. I think it is one of the main culprits in the creeping homogenization of studio releases. (Can we please return to the cinema of the 1970s?) Still, whenever I write a script, I try to make my story fit into his beat sheet because that is what producers and studios now expect. Let me show you a little of the broad strokes of his beat sheet:
01 Opening Image [Page 1]
02 Theme Stated [Page 5]
03 Set-Up [Pages 1-10]
04 Catalyst [Page 12]
05 Debate [Page 12-25]
And so on and so on and so on.
And I'm not even touching on the formatting of screenplays. The arcane formatting itself makes it difficult for a layperson to even appreciate the story.
If you really want to see what a Hollywood reader expects in a screenplay, I suggest you listen to a three-page challenge on the Scriptnotes podcast. In those episodes, top screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin read and evaluate the first three pages of screenplays from listeners. Their breakdowns are amazing -- and frightening. Every time I listen to one, I realize I have to up my game yet again!
Granted, there are rules to novel writing too, but no one is going to throw your book away if you don't state the theme by page five.
Enough with the challenges in writing a script. Let's get to what's great about writing a novel.
The greatest thing is the ability to actually get into the head of your characters. I am not someone who demonizes voice over as a cheat in films, but, generally speaking, you can only reveal your character through words and actions in a screenplay. In a novel, you can jump right into their heads. That is so cool. To me, that's where the real drama lies. We, as human beings, wrestle with thoughts in our minds long before we finally manifest them in action or speech. The action and speech are only the byproducts of that internal struggle. After writing a memoir and a novel, I feel like I am only scratching the surface of a character when I go back to writing a script. I feel handcuffed, as if I were only using a fraction of the tools in the literary box.
Also, budget is not a problem. When you're writing a screenplay, especially on commission, you are usually writing to a certain budget or cast, or even specific locations and other very real parameters. When you write a novel, your imagination is your only limitation. You can set the story in Ancient Rome or one of the moons of Jupiter. Or both. Why not? You can also have dozens of characters without worrying about union rates or per diems. Writing a novel is amazingly liberating.
Also, perhaps most importantly, a novel reflects your vision. A movie will only be a shadow of your vision -- even if you direct it yourself. Don't get me wrong. I believe in collaboration. I have had actors, directors, producers, editors and composers add amazing insights to my scripts. Sadly, I have also had actors, directors, producers, editors and composers neuter and diminish my work. It's a crap shoot. It really is. When you're a screenwriter, you do the best job you can, but you have little to no influence over the production itself. The realization of your work literally rests in the hands of hundreds of people. And even if they do a great job, it will never be quite what you saw in your head. Trust me.
For good or evil, when your book is published you have no one to blame but yourself. Your vision has been realized. And that changes the creative landscape.
For example, the first producer I talked with about my novel Chapel Street wanted to change the gender of my main character from male to female. Why? Because he was putting together a four film package and he already had three scripts with male leads. He needed one with a female lead. And that would be mine. Yikes.
Chapel Street is a very personal project to me. I consider it a story about brothers, specifically my late brother Mark and myself. If I had written Chapel Street as a script alone, I would have felt obligated to walk away from that deal. However, I was willing to make the changes because I had already realized my personal vision with the novel. Fortunately, I didn't have to make that compromise. The producer decided my script couldn't be shot on the available budget. Great.
The next producer to read the script of Chapel Street said he liked it, but said he wanted to "amp up the first act." My response: Go for it!
I'm not sweating the changes to the script. Why because my vision of the story has already been actualized in my novel.
Fellow screenwriters, give novel writing a try. What do you have to lose?
