Wow, what a fantabulous weekend!

I was invited up to the great Northwest and spent the past few days in glorious cool weather, and had a fantastic get together with the screenwriters of Seattle and Vancouver.

Seattle, let me just say, is beautiful this time of year. My visit was arranged by Aadip Desai who is on the board of the Northwest Screenwriters Guild. I had a chance to meet with him and several writers and read their scripts — all a cut above, I must say! Aadip and his fellow writers have a great organization in the NW Guild with lots of events and speakers, and I had a great time talking to the group Friday night. They literally had to pull me off the stage to get to the airport! But I appreciate everyone’s hospitality; you really made me feel welcome.

Flying into Vancouver for a weekend workshop late Friday, we had a packed house Saturday and Sunday courtesy of Biz Books, who organized the event at a great new venue for us. And what an amazing class! We had every different kind of script imaginable, from mockumentary to true life to adaptation, and by Sunday night everyone did a complete 15 beat pitch for their story — and I was so pleased by the results! I love writers! And there is nothing more exciting than seeing their stories come to life with new creativity and enthusiasm. Great job, everyone!

And in between, I also had a chance on Saturday night to meet with Eric Johnson, his wife Adria, and Eric’s writing partner, Michael Coleman (with whom Eric is working on several new scripts that are fantastic and concise pitches). Eric is the star of the upcoming Flash Gordon TV series on Sci-Fi Network and one of the true good guys — even without the action hero costume! He and Michael are also Cat! readers who, like many of you, were recommended the book and thought… another book on screenwriting! Then saw in Cat! some brand new techniques that rang true! Thank you Adria for organizing our get-together!

So I am back at my desk, and back at it big time this week. I will hopefully be finishing up the re-write on my script Ringers with partner Mike Cheda, a heist movie with a definite twist!

But I have very fond memories of this weekend and hope to return to the Northwest soon! Thanks to everyone who made my trip possible and made the work we did such a success!