Episode 52: [GUEST] Don't Wait! Follow Your Dream From Print to the Screen with B.L. Thoma

This week on the podcast, Stephanie interviews her friend, author B.L. Thoma, who shares her unique writing journey from a dream to the screen. It’s the direction so many authors hope their book takes from being traditionally published to being optioned for the screen. 

B.L. Thoma’s first novel, Hear My Whisper, in her Morgan’s Landing series was written in an unexpected way, yet it opened up opportunities and helped her discover her gift for storytelling. 

And so I got out of bed, I grabbed a spiral book, I crawled back in bed, I wrote and wrote everything I could remember from a dream. 

It’s not how you usually hear about a book being written, but what it illustrates is how every writer has their own way. 

You approach your writing in a way that works for you. It’s what B.L. Thoma emphasizes during the podcast.  

With B.L. Thoma’s series being historical fiction, she did a lot of research to ensure accuracy of the details and staying true to the characters she created. 

When you listen, you’ll get a glimpse into B.L. Thoma’s wonderful sense of humor that she integrates masterfully into her writing.

Something would just,  it just happens in my brain and I could just insert, and I would just be sitting there laughing at it.  And I thought, I hope everybody else laughs, I'm laughing.

The success B.L. Thoma is experiencing did not happen overnight. It’s been a long road with a lot of learning along with some unexpected connections. 

What you’ll discover is the power of setting your mind on a goal and continuing to take the next step.

It’s not a story you can replicate, but it’s one you don’t want to miss listening to this week. 

There’s so much packed into this episode from hearing about B.L. Thoma’s writing process to multiple rounds of edits to getting the query letter just right. 

Connect with B.L. Thoma online at https://midweststoryteller.com/

A little bit about B.L. Thoma from her website: 

B. L. Thoma is an award winning author, capturing readers with her original, fun, historical romances as well as short stories and non-fiction. With a background in homeschooling and youth theater, she’s written plays and a children’s book as well. She lives in the heart of the Midwest, just a hop, skip and a jump from where she was born and raised, enjoying life with her family and her chatty cat. She shares her passion here for books, healthy living, creativity and laughter. It’s been said that success is attained when a person is unable to tell whether they are working or playing. That’s what happens when she writes!

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Transcript

Stephanie: 0:03

Hello listeners and welcome back to another episode of the Inspired Writer Collective podcast. I'm here today with author B. L. Thoma, an award winning author who writes historical romance as well as short stories and non fiction. The first book in her Morgan's Landing historical fiction series has a publication date coming in October and has also been optioned for the screen. So, welcome to the podcast today.

B.L. Thoma: 0:35

Thank you for having me. It's exciting to get to share a little bit about what's been going on.

Stephanie: 0:40

Well, I'm sure our listeners will be eager to hear about uh, how you got to publication and the screen, but let's start first with what was your inspiration for writing your historical series? Oh, okay.

B.L. Thoma: 0:54

Everybody's going to be different. Mine's going to be really different. Um, I, I have always written a lot of short stuff, written for years and years, but usually short stuff, a lot of humor things, um, people would always say, Oh, you're so good at this, you're so good at that. But, and each time I ever thought about doing like a novel, like something lengthy, a novel type thing, I would be inspired by some other author or some true story or something. And then I would just stop and check myself and say, Here I sit in the middle of nowhere. I have zero contacts. If I wrote this thing, I would have to put it, shove it under the bed. I mean, I wouldn't know what to do with it when I got done with it. And so, I have no contacts in the publishing world. So, what a lot of work and effort and editing. And then, I just never, the thought, I didn't know much about it. I have nothing against self publishing, but I just never thought, nah, no. So, I just abandoned every notion. And then, uh, several years ago, I just went to bed one night and I dreamed the story. Now, I do have technical or wild and fancy dreams, but they usually have oddities in them that are not, would, you know, discount them being written into a real story. And so I woke up from this dream. At the point where, and this would now occur in, in the beginning of the second book in the series. I woke up at this, uh, I mean there's some, there's some, uh, cliffhangers in the first one too, but there's a big one in the second. And I woke up at that point with a big gasp, but somehow I knew how it ended. And then it would be a really impossible, considering what just happened, it would be a really impossible ending. And so I laid there for a little while and I just replayed that in my head that morning and all of a sudden I just thought, there's nothing like dumb in this. There's just, I, I've had a download. And so I got out of bed, I grabbed a spiral book, I crawled back in bed, I wrote and wrote everything I could remember from a dream. And then, My daughter and my husband got up and they were like, what are you doing? And I said, well, I You know, don't bother me. And so at lunchtime then My daughter came home for lunch and I said while you're eating listen to this And so I read her my notes from the dream. She said oh, wow mom, and I'm like I think I got something and so from that point. I didn't really matter to me You How much work it took, where I had to find the contacts, what I had to do, I knew I was supposed to do. I felt like, oh, this is a gift. I got this. I got a gift. And so, I just started going, well, I guess I'll start writing. Well, then I tell my husband, and, You know, a lot of couples are opposites. I have always been my glasses half full and his glasses half empty. And throughout the years, I could come up with, you know, I think I'll try doing this, try doing that. And he's like, no, no, no, that'll never work kind of thing. And, um, I told him, I'm going to write this, I'm going to write a novel. And he said, start now. This you can do. I had full faith and I'm like, who are you? And so I'm like, he is behind this thing. And so I, um, uh, I started in. He didn't, it didn't matter, uh, how many hours I spent on the computer. When I walk back in the room, you would be expecting, you know, sometimes you're happy to be saying, uh, yeah, I've been here all alone and nobody. And he would just look up at me like, how many chapters did you get? And I'm like, really? And he was so supportive all the way. And so that's how it all got started. And it ended up being, um, historical fiction. It's set around 1905. Um, Uh, in the dream, it started out, it was happening to my daughter, this whole story, and so the main character, I patterned after her, and, um, I just, I just sat down at the computer every day and said, okay, Lord, you got me this far, um, come back and help me make this a masterpiece because, um, we have to get from, uh, we have to get this done. Get this written. And so it's been a long road. I did not expect it to be a three novel thing I expected it to be one and So that's kind of been the beginning. That was the that was the roots of it.

Stephanie: 5:58

That's such a unique experience for you to Dream the book and have it come to life come together for you in that way. Did you have to do any research once after you had dreamt it? And I know it's historical fiction, or is it based on aspects of, you know, your family? Historically, what? What did you do to come up with it?

B.L. Thoma: 6:22

Well, they always say, you know, write what you know. And so, I'm like, okay. We are history buffs anyway. We're ancestry buffs. We're local history buffs. And I thought, I know history here where I live really well. I don't know everything, but I can find out what I don't know. And so I did set it here and in a in a fictitious town along the banks of the Missouri River and I think people who live here when they read it are going to go And so I felt most confident in in doing it that way but it is it's still fiction and so You know, I but I would look up things nitpicky because I don't When I watch something on TV or read a book and they do something really dumb for the time period or, you know, that, you know, and then my husband's one of those people that like watches a Western and goes, well, that gun hadn't even been invented yet. I mean, he's like, those kind of things. And I'm like, I hate that. Or, and I, you know, in the out of character things or getting people, um, uh, platforms that they never would have had at that point in history, that kind of stuff. I'm like, no, history, let's keep it like it was. So I, I did lots of research just to keep my, even though I had a lot of historical knowledge, I did a lot of research just to keep myself on track. What was the

Stephanie: 7:52

most fun

B.L. Thoma: 7:52

about writing?

Stephanie: 7:54

The book.

B.L. Thoma: 7:57

Um, well, I am. I'm a humor. I love to do humor writing, but yet there's so many serious things happen to the people in the book. But for me, it just creeps in there. And so my humor style. I find it when you look up. People who are humorists or humor writers, very often, they are, um, it's snarky humor. It's all sexual innuendo. It's all, um, it's just a different kind of thing. Mine is like visual. I'm, uh, type of humor and, and, um, uh, I just feel like kind of that's, um, That's my gift of being able to help you see what's happening in the picture. And so, um, that was fun. Because it would just happen in my, as I'm writing, like, moving along in the serious plot. Something would just, it just happens in my brain and I could just insert, and I would just be sitting there laughing at it. And I thought, I hope everybody else laughs, I'm laughing. So.

Stephanie: 9:07

Did you share it with the audience? Did you wait for your husband as you were writing it all or did you wait until you were done or has he even seen it? Has he even read it? No,

B.L. Thoma: 9:18

and he says, I know it's great. I know it's great. And he is one of his great loves. Flow of life is long soaks in the bathtub. And he said, I'm gonna read it when it's out in it's bathtub size. You know, the, the big, you know, manuscript that I can print for him. He is like, no, no, no. I'm waiting for bathtub size. So, no, he has it, but he's like, it's great. I know it's great. He did help me. So there are sections that he, he read because there is character in there that I kind of patterned after him. And I said, I need, I need some, you know, mechanical, uh, advice. I want this to be funny, but I don't want it to be unrealistic. And I need to, to, um, so the main character's father, I said, this is, this is kind of what I'm looking for. So he gave me all kinds of ideas and then I wrote it and then I gave that part to him. And he's like, Yeah, so.

Stephanie: 10:15

Oh fun. And how about your daughter? You said you used her as inspiration for the character.

B.L. Thoma: 10:23

She hasn't read it since it was rough draft. So it'll be now that it's gone through all the edits and everything She'll probably be really, you know, it'll be almost be like it's new to her I think.

Stephanie: 10:33

How many, how many rounds of edits did you go through as you worked on it? I don't know.

B.L. Thoma: 10:42

Now that it's three, this is gonna go people over and they're gonna say I'm never gonna write a book, Keep in mind, there are three of them, so, in the series so far, number four is up here, but, um, that, um, I planned on it being one, so after I wrote it, and, you know, let me pause and say, if anybody's out there thinking about writing a book, my biggest advice is start now. Because it's going to be a long road. You're going to have so much to do that is more than just getting your story plunked on to, you know, I say paper, but computer. Um, and, uh, So you better start now because you're going to go through all the edits. You're going to go through all the processes. You've got to do all these things. So you, you, you think, Oh, this will take me a year. No, no, so, um, so start now. Um, because, and then if you're writing something like my next thing that I want to do after this is, uh, the true story of my aunt and uncle's love story. And, um, I extensively interviewed them before they passed, passed away. Um, you know, if someone's thinking about doing that, you need to get those people interviewed because they might not be there and you need to just get there. If you have an important story like that in your family, you or or someone that you know, you need to, you need to get started now. Um, and so, uh, I forgot the question. Just the number of rounds of edits. So just the process. The um, oh gosh. Once I, and I was really a newbie, so once I got it written and the first person that I really showed it to um, you know, burst my bubble by saying, I hope you know they don't print something this size. You're not going to get a publisher to do this. I'm like, really? Um, there is a word count problem here. And so, you have to whittle it this far down or, you know, and I'm like, can I whittle it this far down? And so, I, it, a new author on the shelf in the bookstore is not going, I mean, there is a cost to printing, so when the publisher puts that out, they're going to have to say, if we charge this much for this new author, That nobody's ever heard of and put her on the shelf besides these well known authors, but her book is twice as much Who are they gonna pick up and read they're gonna pick up the person they already know, you know So you've got to get it down to where your book is the same price as the others next to it And so I'm like, what will I do? So I went over it and over it and over it and finally thought I can do this I can and first I tried to do half And then I'm like, this is not feeling good. It's not right. And then I thought, where can I go? Maybe it's three. And so I went through that. So it's this girl's story. Um, and so it carries the little saga carries through the three. Um, And, uh, and that seemed to work out really good. So, um, and so that took time, that was an edit that took time. Then, so I edited it that way and I had a super good English teacher. Um, so I'm not that bad at it myself. And so I, so I did a big edit and then, um, uh, I realized it, you know, it's going to need more going over. It's going to need, and so a lot of the edits, I mean, you know, you're editing your line editing for boo boos, but you're also editing for, um, crafting a sentence and making it. And there's certain things that like I ask, um, agents and editors back when I was starting on, on this. And you'd go to conferences and they'd lead workshops and they're like, you have to do this. You have to do that. You have to do this. And finally, I just said, raise my hand. I said, so what you're telling me is. Charles Dickens, James Mishner, I forgot who else I mentioned. I said, you wouldn't, they couldn't get published to, you, you don't, you don't want that. They're like, no, we don't, you know, and so there's a whole, and, and I'm a great lover of old books. And so it's like, So you don't change your story, but you do change some of the things that they are, like they, for some mysterious reason, they've grown to hate adverbs. Um, they hate the use of was and were They and so they're like, you know, this is a crummy manuscript, and you're like, in what year? And, but that's the way it is now. So, um, going, I went through it and recrafted all of every sentence. Then my sister who had my same. Um, I sent it to her and with the three books, I mean, she and I edited all one, literally all one summer. And then we sent it to her daughter who, um, uh, did me the fix. She does a really good at, uh, she's excellent booboo finder. And so she edited it for that and sent that back to me and I had to go over and, um, So it went through quite a few, but we did, we did do it. You need to hire an editor. You need to hire an editor. And I, when I did finally get it to the publisher, they came back and said, looking really, really good. So, I feel like on our own, we did good. Not everybody can do that, but. We did so

Stephanie: 16:29

yeah, well, it sounds like you had a great support system of individuals who could really put their eye on it. Well, and I'm sure that that was really helpful for you too, because I'm sure after staring at the manuscript for a while you start to sort of lose sight of everything. And so it's helpful to have other eyes on. On the project for sure. Yeah. You

B.L. Thoma: 16:51

have to do that because you get so close to it and then you get, so you, you go over it and pretty soon there can like, um, not be a missing question mark at the end of a sentence or something and go right past you. You won't even know quotes are missing or everything. And because you just, your eyes are just tracking over and miss everything. So

Stephanie: 17:12

you mentioned going to conferences and, and workshops. So was that part of your process for. Eventually connecting with a publisher. Um,

B.L. Thoma: 17:24

well, let me start with another gift that I had. And that was my husband is a electrician farmer. And so he works in various people's houses. Well, he went to work in this lady's house. And I'd been in a Bible study with her like 20 years prior. Hadn't seen her in forever. And he mentioned that I was writing a book. This is before Rough Draft was even done. And she said, Oh, wow. When she finishes, have her call my friend. She's written a couple books and she might be able to help her. And he brings me home this phone number. With a, you know, name and number, and I'm like, What am I supposed to do with this? And he said, wait, when you finish the book, call this lady. And he's Mr. Don't bother people, don't get in their hair, leave people alone. And I'm like, What am I supposed to say when I call her? Hello, I'm listening to the book. I can't call her. He said, yes, you can. As soon as you get this book done, you call this lady and literally he would not leave me alone. And so when I finally came downstairs one evening and said, I finally typed the words of the end, he said, call that lady. I'm like, Oh, here we go. Call the lady. And so I finally gave in and I called her and, uh, she said, well, I kind of want to see what you've written. Why don't you bring it and we'll have lunch. And so we met and we had lunch. So. That was just another gift. I had no idea who I was meeting with. She had a couple books out that were like novel style memoirs of her mother. Um, and uh, now she has about Half a dozen books out and so I did was unaware completely. She was president of the Ozarks Writer's League She was the one who lines up agents and editors to come to their conferences. She was doing that and I'm like, oh And so I was just gifted someone to kind of hold my hand and take me through this I was like, I haven't I had zero contacts And then I met her. And so that was a blessing. So, my, I, really, uh, author, Diane Yates, and she has helped me so much. And so, uh, she is the one who started saying, you need to get to this conference, you need to join this writer's group, you need to do this and this and this. And then she started telling me the awful news that I needed to pitch to agents and editors. And I'm like, oh, it's just, it's terrible. Rough and I'm not ready for this. I've got to edit it. I have to do all these things and she says, you know What is good practice? You go to this conference and you get in front of them and you pitch this thing and I'm like I'm going to throw up And I thought, but you have to, you have to get this book out there, you have to. And so I just thought, you know, I'm going to follow her advice and do what she tells me. So, um, started going to, and conferences can be super expensive. They're going on all over the country and you may or may not have the resources to travel around and go to all these things. I didn't. So, I had to go to what was local. So, uh, University of Missouri had one, uh, uh, Branson, Missouri. And so I would just go to. Where I could get to. And, and I would pick and choose the ones that looked like they were going to have agents and editors present, who wanted historical fiction, who I could, I could get in front of and, you know, pitching is a, you know, they call it, they call it the elevator pitch for a reason. If you are stuck in an elevator for about a minute and a half, what would you say to, if you, if, if you met a publisher in there, this is, let me tell you about my book, and you've got, you know, this, this, this, And so you learn to, you know, condense it down to it's, it's bare bones and tell somebody about it and then let them ask you the rest of the questions and, um, go, go from there. And then you just take the workshops and, and get around writers. And so. Go to join writers groups even if you get there and find out that they're full of weirdos because writers are an odd bunch. They're all different. Everybody's writing different genres and different stuff and you will meet a, uh, a mixed bag of nuts at that thing. And so you just need to get in there and do your thing and, um, uh, and learn. And learn where you need to be and just start doing it. Meeting publishers and, um, you just decide, you may want to self publish, but I didn't, I didn't feel, for me, I wasn't supposed to, so, and it's worked out, it's worked out well.

Stephanie: 22:06

So what was, what was the, uh, pitch that you used for? Your book. Um,

B.L. Thoma: 22:16

Oh, now I haven't given it in a while. Um, uh, along the banks of the Missouri, small town on the banks of the Missouri River, Julia Lansing is miserable. She's trying to forget Adam Cole, the man she met on the. On a trip to Savannah, who seemed to be the perfect man. Um, however, she wakes up one day and discovers that, um, Oh my, that's a spoiler. Never mind. I have to give it to the agent, to the publishers and the agents, but I can't give it to you. That's a spoiler. Um, anyway, she's in Bershok. And so, um, Anyway, she takes it with her mother and, um, uh, find someone she thinks she really wants to love and everything goes wrong. So, anyway, that's my teaser, I guess, for now, because I can't, I can't get in when I give it.

Stephanie: 23:20

So is that your, is that your advice if someone's going to pitch, that you give away a little bit of The good stuff in your

B.L. Thoma: 23:28

yeah, they have to know because they want to know what I published it if I found, you know, This shocking shocking moment. Um, uh, ooh, that makes it tell me more, you know Those things because they've got to take a look at what you're

Stephanie: 23:44

and did you find the first like did the first time? Did it go well, or did you find that it took a few? rounds of meeting with different editors and publishers to Find a connection. Okay.

B.L. Thoma: 23:58

I'll be very honest in this I got my pitch all honed down for the first conference that I went to, and I felt pretty good about my pitch. Then, um, there were maybe three or four people that, at that conference, that I was able to pitch it to, who seemed to want those type of stories. And, literally, everybody that I have ever pitched it to has asked me for the manuscript. But, getting them to read the manuscript is a different thing, because they go to all these conferences. They're out there looking for things all the time, and so, actually, at some, at, at some of the conferences, um, the writers group of people in it will, you know, you get there, you get in your hotel, you do what you're doing, and you go to dinner. Well, sometimes the agent's editor is going to dinner, too. So it gave me an opportunity to talk to them in a different setting, everything. Mm hmm. And when we were, uh, one, one night at, uh, we were in a restaurant and another author said, I have a question of all you agents in it. And she said, when you receive a manuscript, And you open up the email, and you think, what, what makes you, what kind of things make you stop reading? What kind of things make you set it aside? Okay, so you think that their answer is going to be, um, I, uh, Well, the first page just didn't really grab me, it just wouldn't, or, It just had, uh, uh, too much, too many, Bunny trails, or maybe I just don't like flashbacks, or maybe there's something, you know, you think you're going to get those kind of answers around the table. Every single one of those people said, Oh, I don't know, the dog barked, the doorbell rang, I had to go to the bathroom. I mean, and I was like, Oh, Oh, and so, um, I couldn't think of any other term, but this is a crapshoot. Yeah, it's like, oh, and so I began to realize that some of the people who did not ask for my manuscript, then their response email at first, I could tell in the email, they didn't read them. They asked me for it, but then they actually didn't read it. And so I'm like, why aren't they reading it? But, then I soon learned that you still have to send a query letter with it, you know. Uh, thank you for the time you gave me at the conference, and here is my manuscript. This is a summary. Here's a, uh, uh, you know, one page synopsis. Because every editor or publisher is going to have a different This drove me bananas, because you think I will get this like this, and I'll send it in to this person, this person, and you don't. Every one of them says, I want your first three chapters, and then I want a one page synopsis. Well, then the next one you meet says, I want your first chapter, and your last chapter, and a two page synopsis. The next one says And you're just like, so you feel like you're sitting down to your computer all the time, making this person happy. And so I'm like, okay, now what do I do? And I decided, okay, it's that query letter that goes with it. That's why they're not opening the file is because the query letter, my manuscript can be a masterpiece, but my query letter stinks. And if I can get my query letter down to where they're like, okay, I can already see this person, I can already see the bones of the story are good, I can already see, then they're going to open my file and read it. And it really was when that happened was when, uh, was when I. When I got my, when I got my query letter right, so I don't think there's anything wrong with my manuscript all along. It was just the fact that you've got to get past the dog barking. Um, you have to go to the bathroom doorbell ringing. Um, and, uh, but that was, I was so shocked at that answer.

Stephanie: 28:26

Well, no, that's such, that's such great information for listeners, of course, to think about the query letter, especially for those who want to go the traditional publishing route with their, with their novel. And then so how did all of this then transition to You connecting with a screenwriter and having the book optioned for the screen now.

B.L. Thoma: 28:50

Okay, well the book is, uh, okay, so the book series is Morgan's Landing. That's the name of it. And then each one will have, so the first one coming out soon here, there'll be October. I hope they really mean October and we don't get too close to Christmas. Um, but it's the first is called, uh, Hear My Whisper. Uh, it's coming out So we're just down to the, the cover and the little bit, you know, um, some, some line edits and just getting it all out there, getting the blurb we want on the back of the book and all that kind of thing, ready to go. Um, and, uh, so when I last year, when I got my, Sure. And which will be with, uh, Ozark hollow press. So there'll be author updates on their author, author interview kind of things on there and, uh, things, things about the book. And then, uh, of course, when it comes out, it'll be on Amazon, uh, algorithms, I think, determine where else it goes and how soon it gets there. And so, um, When that happened, I thought, yay, I have my publisher. And I did not. I thought that's, you know, now I gotta get in there and work hard with the publisher and do promo and everything and get this, and that's where we are. I had, like I said, with, I have zero contacts in many other, uh, so that was another gift, and I just thought, boy, God's hand prints are all, all over this because it's stuff, you know, I say, I know. You know that it's not, as far as dreaming the story, you know it's not you when you're not even conscious when you get it, so it's gotta be coming from somewhere else. So, um, this is just a crazy story. So my same, the same lady that I was giving the phone number on the piece of paper, she got a very strange email and thought she was being scammed. Uh, this award winning Hollywood screenwriter has found your book and he would like to write a screenplay for your book, or you'd be interested in having him write your screenplay. And she thought, I'm getting scammed. So, she didn't answer it right, she didn't delete it, she didn't answer it right away. And finally, she, um, looked him up, and there he was. Oscars. org getting an award. She's like, well, okay. And so she decided to, you know, I'm not going to give too much info, but I will Zoom with, you know, I'm going to set up a Zoom call. And, uh, he, he did. And I, and I said, so did you ask him how he, why you, why did he contact you? And she said, oh, yes. And she said, he loves, um, True Stories. True Stories. He loves things said in the Ozarks. He loves me and he found stumbled over her online and thought what a story of her mother. So, um, So anyway, he, he, he wanted to do well because of that contact. She and I are in the same writer's group and they scheduled him to be keynote speaker last fall. And so they had said, you can't, uh, you don't, you don't pitch to him. He's gonna, but you can schedule like 10 minutes just to ask him if you think you should go further with this. Does he think it's screen worthy? Should you even think about this? So I was probably the first one on the website to say, yes, sign me up. And so, um, at that weekend conference. everywhere, literally everywhere I turned around, lunch, supper, conference, there he was, I was with him. I mean, it was like one thing after another. Um, he, he kept me quite a bit longer than my 10 minutes and my book wasn't even out yet. I thought he's not gonna want this. I'm not even out yet. Uh, he did ask me for, he said, well just, Send me the manuscript. And so I did, and shortly he was back saying, I really think that this would attract A list talent. He said, I don't see it as big screen. I see it as a series, which made me really happy because I did too. Um, and he said, I think we got something here. And I'm like, okay. So I prayed about that and the, because you don't know this, you know, I'm like, I really You know? And this is, this is a big deal. And yet every time I thought about doing it, I got butterflies. Every time I thought about not doing it. I almost got sick. It was like a feeling of you came this far. You have to try. You've got to try. And so, um, anyway, I decided that I was going to take a chance. And so we started in April. We wrote on it together until July. He's very, um, interested in, in, um, Keeping it the way I wrote it, um, and, uh, I've learned so much, so much, and if you're thinking about writing your own screenplay, I would, my advice is to think twice because there, seeing it, seeing it, going through the process now, oh, oh, you know, things you would never have known, like there is a literal formula to it, so, and you have to watch your, your work be stripped down too. You know, and it's like, It's very, it's like, it's like, you know, my little baby's naked here, and it's going in this thing. And, so, but that is such a learning thing, and there's, there's like, you have so many minutes in your screen, it can be no longer than this, you have so many minutes to do this, so many minutes to, you know, for that, that little teaser before the music starts kind of thing. That little space in time, and it's, it's very short, where you have to introduce your secondary plot. So, if it's not there yet In the book, then, you have to move it, and, um, in a, in a way that works. And so just sitting down to do that with him, so we met every week or ten days, and he would have several more pages done, and then we would go over it line by line together, and, um, so, I, I really enjoyed working, so, um, and just, so, anyway, I'm very thankful to Alan Roth, who's done a great job on, on the screenplay.

Stephanie: 35:36

Well, that's such an amazing story. And you've shared so much with our listeners today. Where can they connect with you online? Um,

B.L. Thoma: 35:47

well, I do blog at midweststoryteller. com, so they can go there. Um, I will say, as far as an update, The screenplay is done, and it's out on the market now, and it's with seven or eight studios that you would definitely recognize them if I told you who they were. One of them came back almost right away, um, Alan had said, oh, once they, they, if they take the screenplay, it's two to four weeks before you're going to hear anything. They were back within a week saying, can we have the book? And that is a, a big step because, um, If they say they want the book, then that means that they're going to assign a staff member to read it, pick over it with a fine tooth comb, suggest talent, um, send it up the ladder, that kind of thing. So, um, that's good news so far. And then he, and then appointments come, coming up with, um, uh, uh, Uh, several others, and then others that we're waiting to hear back, back from, so it's um, it's exciting to, you know, um, hear that it's, you know, it's out there and things are coming along, so, um, and, uh, so for right now, I would, you know, midweststoryteller. com is where they can, uh, and so I do update, there's, there's tabs on there, and one, I, it's kind of a lifestyle blog, but there is a tab that says books, so if you go there you get. updates on the, on the books. And, um, then they'll be on Ozark Hollow Press. We'll have it when it gets a little bit closer here. Um, so that's OzarkHollowPress. com and I guess that's it. Um, um, there will be, I think people need to understand maybe when you're working to get A publisher, some of them won't be right for you and you'll have to make that decision even though it's bad if you want to get your book out there. Um, you know, I did, I had a couple, um, you know, some publishers are Amazon only. And that can be great. I mean, that's 85 percent of all books sold. That is nothing to sneeze at. So, that might work out well for some people. But then, you know, you're not going to be anywhere. else. And Amazon has, um, they tend to do their own thing. And so I hear from other authors who have that, that sometimes you may get this much percent profit, maybe the next month you'll get a different one, but you won't have any way of knowing why. Amazon is Amazon. Um, so I mean, there's just, There's lots of things to, to take into consideration and, and decide how, you know, the first offer that comes along, you might, you might not want, um, so just kind of think, I think I'm happy where I am now. Things seem to be going good.

Stephanie: 39:02

Well, no, that's wonderful. And that's that is great advice, because it is important to take into consideration, you know, your own values around your work and where you want to see it and how you want to be able to put it out there in the world. Because, yeah, when Amazon takes a little bit of the monopoly. of it. It doesn't give you the opportunity to, you know, connect with say independent booksellers that can be great advocates for writers and especially local authors and, and other places where your book can be, or even being able to have it on your own website. Oftentimes with Amazon, they can be kind of finicky about even doing that. So it's definitely great advice for people to think about. If they're going the traditional publishing route, what, what does that look like for them and making sure that the choice is right for the right publisher?

B.L. Thoma: 39:54

And you want to be able to have it in your own, like if you live in a town that has book bookstores and things like that, you want to be able to put it in there. And, um, and I have a, uh, good friend in my writer's group who self publishes. It works out really great for her. I, um, uh, I met and, and also took a workshop with her. Class from a lady who self published and she made really good money self publishing But as I listened to her in her workshop, I discovered that she Did not have a life outside of that Because you know and she literally says I I never leave room but I'm at this phase of life. I, I keep my grandkids four days a week. I do, and I'm like, no, no, no, I'm, I'm half. I want to be able to do other things. And literally when you self publish, it's, it's all you, it's all of you. Not that you don't have to work when you go, when you go the traditional route, but the publisher is, you know, there's, there is some other promo there and, and things like that. And different public, um, one. Potential offer that came in after I signed with my publisher was from one who, um, and I just, we didn't get any further because I had to answer back and say I've already signed a contract. Um, but they had, they were a little bit bigger than my publisher, but they did have a really great internet presence and did a lot of promo for their offers. And, uh, but they were Amazon only. And they were, and so it was like, you know, you just kind of decide what you want to do. But I think I'm happy where I am and, um, so

Stephanie: 41:51

wonderful. All right. Well, listener, if you're looking to connect with BL Toma, please check out her website and blog at Midwest storyteller. com. And there'll be a link in the description of this podcast for you to find that easily. Okay. So. Thank you again and happy writing.