It's been over a year since I've written here, mostly because I had to wrap my head around a few things, I started a new job and had to start putting my business together. Although really I haven't gotten to do much, mostly because I have been in somewhat of a writer's coma. I've had ideas about scripts, short stories, essays, etc. but haven't been able to get past the idea stage. I've decided to do a writing exercise to see if I can get things going again. I'm going to write everyday for 100 days starting today, March 16, 2018, until June 24, 2018. This is also a way to introduce my multimedia publishing company, Reckless Press, LTD.
This will also coincide with this blog moving permanently over to Patreon in the next couple of weeks. This wasn't an easy decision for me to make, but one that has to be done. I'm going to be using funds from this blog to help start my business.
In the next two weeks all blogs will be published here and on Patreon and then starting March 30, 2018 all blogs will be posted on Patreon. The only blogs that will be published publicly will be my Sunday and Wednesday blogs. Sunday will be my movie blog, This Week On TCM and Wednesday will vary.
Before you decide if you want to see how my 100 days of writing plays out, let me tell you about my publishing company and what I hope to achieve and why I think people will be interested in helping me to get this business going.
Reckless Press is first and foremost a publishing company. But this publishing company helps people. How does Reckless Press help people? First, I want to be able to pay authors for their works, a dream I know, but one I think I can make a reality. It may be a small advance for the author at first, but they will also receive part of the sales from the book. This is where things get interesting. With the sales of the book I would like for the authors to donate a portion of their profits to the charity of their choosing. I would also match their donation with my portion of the profits from the sales of the book. In this way the writer is helping a community that they care about and it is also a way for readers to give to a charity and better their communities. Reckless Press believes that the world can be a better place and that this is a big way to help make it better.
What makes Reckless Press a multimedia company is it will also be involved in podcasting and might branch out into producing how to and travel videos in the near future. A percentage of the proceeds from this part of the company will also go to charity as well.
The way that I will start generating money for charities is here on Patreon, a small percentage of what you donate will go to the PTSD Foundation of America. I've chosen this charity because it is an issue that hits very close to home for me. My younger brother is a military vet with PTSD. He did 18 months in Iraq and 2 tours in Afghanistan. He has lost many of his Army brothers to PTSD. He was just discharged from the Army after 12 years and only given 13 days to clear post. Perhaps I should give what I would donate to charity to him to help with moving costs? The only reason that I say a small percentage is that I will only be able to give 5% of what I raise here to charity, the real purpose for starting this page is for my business so that I can get it going so that I will be able to make bigger donations to charities in the future. If you want to read an article that I wrote about my brother, you can read it here A Soldier's Story
I'm hoping that you'll find what I write or what I'm doing interesting enough to donate so that I can take things to the next level and support more charities as Reckless Press opens up more. My first goal, after my 100 Days of Writing exercise/challenge (because it really is a challenge, 100 days.....) is to start podcasting. I love listening to podcasts and I'm hoping that people will want to listen to me. The podcasts aren't just me. The first one I want to start is with my friend Rebecca, it's going to be us talking about everything, from just what we talk to on any given day, fashion, politics, movies, celebrities etc. it just depends. I think we're funny, but you never know we could just be funny to each other, either way wouldn't it be fun to watch some people try something and see if they can make it work? If nothing else the podcast will have an interesting name: Gas Station Latte. Another podcast that I would like to do is called The Thing About My Art, where I'll talk with artists, actors, painters, DJ's, musicians, photographers etc. about their art, how they make it and what influences them to make their art. I'd like to also do two more podcasts, one that I might do with my daughter and my brother is called a Legit Moment in History, where we give a short dramatization of the moment in history and then talk about the effects it had on history, what our thoughts are on the moment in history, and what impact it still has on the world, and Cannabesties with my friend Michelle where we talk about all things Cannabis (products, laws etc.) talk to people in the industry and go on cannabis adventures (like the time that we looked for Michelle's car in Boulder for 20 minutes....). These are just some of the ideas that I, and a few others, have been thinking up. All of these can change and become something else, these are just ideas, a starting point.
The major goal that I want to work on at Patreon is getting Reckless Press's first publication rolling. I want to print a literary anthology by the end of the year. My goal besides finding authors to publish, is to publish a yearly anthology made up of different authors short stories and poetry based on a central theme. This year's theme is Science Fiction. Why Science Fiction? I really enjoy good Science Fiction, and good Science Fiction is usually written during times of social and political strife, I want to see what people are thinking about and how they express it in their writing. I would like to start taking submissions when I have 100 patrons donating.
My overall goal with my media company is to give readers good literature. There is good literature out there, but I believe there are more writers out there that might not want to go the mainstream route and that will want to do something a little different to get published. I think this will bring more diverse writers into the world and give voices to people who never thought that they would be published. I really want to cultivate writers that are diverse and that want their writing to have an impact on their communities and society. The Reckless Press website, (which should be up and running by April) will have information on what types of manuscripts that will be accepted and information for submitting to the literature anthology.
Another main goal that I have is to establish a brick and mortar location.This is a goal that might not happen for quite a few years, but it's still a goal that is worth mentioning. It would be a place the front is a coffee shop/book store to help fund our charitable donations and in the back are the offices, recording stations, art spaces and a photography studio. Maybe we'll offer a few writing and photography classes. I really want to make it into a place for artists and budding businesses to come alive. I know that it might sound like a utopia of sorts, but I think that if I can help artists and other businesses, I can help communities that might not get the help that they need other wise. I've always wanted to help the world around me and this is my way of doing that. I just hope that this project is interesting enough to get people to help fund it.
Onto the 100 Days of writing! The rules are pretty simple, I have to post something everyday on my Patreon blog for 100 days, it can be one sentence or one word, but I have to post everyday for 100 days. It can be a photo essay but I still have to writing of some type to go with it. I can write about movies, politics, script ideas, short stories and poems, I just have to write for 100 days. I can't have a guest blogger or use anything from anyone else, this has to be all my own writing. I can post interviews but mostly I will probably do a lot of essays, political op ed pieces, etc. This is a starting point to get me back into the habit of writing as I've been blocked (actually stunned is more like it and we all know what I'm talking about) for quite awhile. I'm not looking to publish my own writing with my publishing company but I'm hoping that my writing will get other writers interested in Reckless Press. This is more to get people interested in a writing community that gives back.
So in a nutshell that's everything that I'm trying to make happen. Here's the link to my Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/RecklessPress and you can find me on Twitter @ ChristineLarra
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