GHP Counts Down To Summer! - featuring Richard Schall

Today is the first day of May, which means May Day! Where did the time go? We are hoping those April showers bring May flowers and warmer weather! Regardless, it’s time to begin daydreaming about and planning those summer vacations!

Next up in our Glass House looks forward to summer interviews, we’re talking to author Richard Schall, who writes MG of all sorts--high fantasy, space opera, pirates, aliens... Richard says, “Summer in NYC is the best. You have everything you want right at your fingertips … in really nice weather.”

He has some big events coming up that he’s really looking forward to, including his June birthday. Read on to hear what he’s looking forward to, and his favorite things about summer!

What is the THE event that you’re most looking forward to this summer?

Being the best man at my brother's wedding and producing my sister's summer stand-up comedy tour around the country.

Where do you live? Describe this winter in your area in three words.

New York City. Totally random snowfall.

What do you hope to accomplish in your writing over the long summer days?

I hope to finish Lee Fahrenheit and the Gracian Pirates, my newest MG, and get it ready for the public.

Lee Fahrenheit and the Gracian Pirates follows eleven-year-old Californian runaway Lee, who means to run away from home … but is instead, much to his dismay, kidnapped by a rogue gang of aliens who are striving desperately to not only escape his planet, but save their people from a lifetime of slavery … and the universe itself from domination. Danger lurks around every corner as Lee and his new allies encounter friends and foes--many of whom resemble creatures from Earth's myths and legends--in their race to save not only the rest of the Gracians, but the universe itself.

What trend or catch-phrase are you going to start this summer?

Everything is going great!!!!

What is the BEST summer story from when you were a kid?

My best summer summer was when I was eight years old. My whole family went to Disney World, and I was ecstatic! My mother and brother headed off in one direction, my grandmother and I went off in another, and my dad and my sister stayed by the pay phone (so my dad could make business phone calls). I took my grandmother to Space Mountain. She thought it was a kiddy ride since I was eight and wanted to go on it. Then she saw the sign that said not to go on if you have back problems, were pregnant, or had a heart condition.

She thought that was to scare people.

When we got into the shuttle and zoomed off, though, she held on for dear life. She said that she didn't want to scream because she didn't want to scare me, but she now says that it was the scariest moment of her life. When we got back to my family, my parents said that she was as pale as a ghost and was shaking for the rest of the day. These days I tell her that for her ninety-fifth birthday I'm going to take her back. She always tells me no. =)

What is the WORST summer story from when you were a kid?

None! Every summer was a blast!!!

Summer blockbuster you are most looking forward to watching and why:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 because who doesn't like a tiny tree as a good guy?

Rapid Fire Questions:

The All-Time Best Song of Summer is: Wipe Out by The Surfaris

Your Summer Guilty Pleasure: The Last Ship TV show

Daylight Savings Time for Summer: yes or no? Yep!

Beach or Mountains? Beach

Swimsuits: yes or no? Yep!

Sandals or Bare Feet? Sandals

Ice Cream or Popsicles? Ice Cream

Memorial Day or Independence Day? Independence Day

Put these words in order: Swimming, Baseball, Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, Air Conditioning, Vacation

Air Conditioning, Ice Cream, Hot Dogs, Swimming, Baseball, Vacation

Sum up Summer 2017 in five words: YES! Everything is going great!!!!

Follow Richard Schall on Facebook!

Facebook: facebook.com/richardschallentertainer

Screenwriting vs Novel Writing with Filmmaker Richard Schall

We are beyond excited to have award winning filmmaker, Richard Schall on the blog today! Richard is a gifted entertainer and writer (who once worked for the WWE!) 

Richard recently sat down with Glass House Press for an exclusive interview on screenwriting vs novel writing, the writing process, and The Goonies, because... I mean... THE GOONIES!

Filmmaker and Author Richard Schall

1) Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Richard Schall. By day I am a special education teacher in Brooklyn New York but my real passion is that I am also an award-winning filmmaker. I specialize in short films that are family friendly. I’ve been a part of over twenty different film festivals and have won fifteen awards. My latest film, Lost in Manhattan: The Love Story of Hymie and Thelma has just been released on iTunes.  https://itun.es/us/48xoeb

Along with being an entertainer, I also manage my sister’s stand-up comedy career. She was named one of the “Top 5 Comics to Watch in NYC” by CBS.com, and together we’ve been producing the show “Ladies Night” at Caroline's on Broadway in Times Square.

Personally, I have lost and kept off almost 100lbs since Dec 2015, which has been my biggest accomplishment to date. Next up: finishing my book! I can’t wait to tackle this new project. I’ve always been a storyteller, so being able to tell a story on the page instead of on the screen is very exciting for me.

2) How do you think the writing process and film making process are alike/different?

Creating a story is the same in any form. You start with an outline and go from there. I started my novel the same way I start any of my scripts. Building something entertaining is the key, and plotting out what the real plot twists will be is always important. The real difference is that I get to pretend I have a million-dollar budget for the book and have to limit myself when I make movies.  

3) As a filmmaker, do you write your own scripts or do you shoot what someone else has written? If you write your own, describe how script writing is different from book writing.

The writing process is very different. As a filmmaker, I usually write my own script. But even then, I I have to leave it up to the director, crew, and actors to create my world visually. If something doesn't work, it gets changed. When you are writing a book, you need to put the all the visuals in the reader's mind. Your imagination is the only really the limitation in books--you don't have to worry about that pesky reality of whether something can be done or not!

4) What are your favorite types of stories to write... and do they correlate to the movies you like to make (are they the same genres)?

I always love a happy ending, as you'll be able to tell by my movies and soon-to-be-finished series, Lee Farenheit and the Gracian Pirates. I am always geared more toward  family friendly movies and books. I want to make you laugh then cry, and then maybe get a sandwich-and laugh some more. In my award-winning short film, The Last Prank, I wanted to make it family friendly, but still have a certain edge, which all ages would enjoy. 

5) What is your absolute favorite movie of all time? What is your favorite book of all time?

My favorite movie of all time is The Goonies, and my favorite book is The Monster at the End of this Book. What can I say, I am a child at heart and I love a happy ending!  

BONUS QUESTION: Do you think the SCREEN versions or the BOOK versions are better ;) 

The book versions are always better. As I stated before, your imagination is the only limitation. You always have a million-dollar budget when you are reading a book. As an author, you never have to limit yourself. The reader always takes your words and makes them their own in their mind. The movies always run the risk of not doing the book justice, and alienating the reader who has grown to love the words on the page just as their mind sees it. 

**

We would like to thank Richard for his time, and we are so excited to get to work with him on future projects!

You can find Richard on Facebook and watch his amazing videos on YouTube.

Happy Reading,

GHP

A Look Ahead at the rest of 2016...

And oh my goodness, how terrifying is it that I’m already saying that? Where did this year go????

Now that we’re finished with Spring StoryTime—and what a party it was!—it’s time to start thinking about what else we’re doing for Glass House Summer Reads, and fall releases. So, without further ado, here’s a list of what we have coming out:

August 9: Unnatural Souls by Linda Foster—a Realm of the Claimed prequel.

August: Book of Seidr by B3E, a prequel to the No Man’s Land series.

October 11: Autumn StoryTime! This one will feature stories from new authors Richard Schall (TruthSeeker) and Sonya Craig (Cascade Reaction), plus another installment from Linda Foster, with her second Realm of the Claimed prequel, Abandoned Angel. This StoryTime could also feature another story from B3E—though we haven’t seen it … yet!

November 29: We’ll be releasing Linda’s third installment for the year—phew!—which is a yet-to-be-named Realm of the Claimed prequel, and the third in that mini-series.

Don't forget to check out DEBBI by George Ebey and LET ME FLY FREE by Mary Fan -- both are available now!

I THINK that wraps 2016 up, and will bring us to a total of seven book for the year—a GH record! In 2017, look for new books from PT McHugh, B3E, Mary Fan, Linda Foster, Sonya Craig, and George Ebey—to start! We’re over the moon … and more than a little scared … at the publishing schedule coming up, but we can’t wait to share these amazing stories with you, and hear your thoughts!

{BOOK TRAILER RELEASE}: The Curse of Iswardel

We have something exciting today! Author Richard Schall has a sparkly, super awesome book trailer for his upcoming book, THE CURSE OF ISWARDEL! But before we show you, owner, editor & publisher, Carrie White-Parrish has a few things to say about this unique book....


I started working with Richard on his MG high-fantasy project about a year and a half ago. The funny thing is, when we first started working together, it was labeled a YA and had a fantastic world and a set of characters that was going to knock everyone’s socks off—but wasn’t really finished.

In fact, the reason we started working together was because Richard told me that the story felt incomplete. He wanted to flesh it out. Make it big. Build it to its full potential.

Well. It wasn’t long before we started making some big changes. As editor, I was asking ‘why is this happening? Who is this person? What if they did this instead?’ The names of the characters changed. The pacing got more intense. The world began to get even bigger, and the characters started to flesh themselves out…

And before we knew it, we started having conversations that went a lot like this: “The manuscript is at 500 pages. Is that too long?” “The word count is over 100,000—do you think anyone will want to read something that big?” “Do we need to tighten this up? How can we make it more manageable.”

Now, as anyone who knows GH books realizes, I’m not an editor that believes in the idea of page or word counts. I like to tell people that a story should be as long as it should be—and if that’s longer than the average book, we’ll figure out how to deal with it. No short cuts here. No cutting out characters or plot lines if we need them. But when the manuscript starts reaching toward 1000 pages—in one book—it becomes obvious that something needs to be done.

In this case, we’ve come up with something that I think is really quite brilliant. We have a story that is one continuous plot line, and can’t REALLY be broken into different books. Believe me, we thought about it. We really did. But it just wasn’t going to work. And we certainly can’t publish it in one piece, b/c though it might be a really great door stop, a 1,000-page MG high fantasy really isn’t going to see that much action. So what are we doing instead? Simple: we’re publishing it in episodes. We’re breaking the manuscript up into bite-sized pieces, each with a big part of the full adventure, and publishing the pieces on their own. That means this one book is going to become three … or four … or possibly NINE separate pieces, each published within three months of the last, until we get the whole story out there into the world and into the hands of our readers.

At which point we might—MIGHT—publish the entire thing in one piece. But that’s something we’ll have to talk about later.

In the meantime, I hope everyone out there is ready to experience a fast-paced, intense, and incredibly fantastical story about a boy, his sister, and how they’re out to save their nation from the curse of an evil sorcerer—before it’s too late, and their world is torn to pieces. I’m SUPER excited about it, and can’t wait to start publishing our episodes! Until next time--#BreakTheCurse #CurseofIswardel

And now, without further ado.....

New Author Interview: Richard Schall

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Glass House has some new faces! Today is the third of several upcoming New Author Interviews where you, our lovely readers, get to know our new authors! Up next... Richard Schall!

Tell us a bit about yourself. 

My name is Richard Schall. I’m a special education teacher in Brooklyn New York, and I’m also an award-winning filmmaker. I specialize in short films that are family friendly. I’ve been a part of over twenty different film festivals and have won fifteen awards.
I’m also a fan of all forms of entertainment, from Dr. Suess to Steven King to Steven Spielberg to Quintin Terintino to Lambchop to Emminem. If it entertains I will enjoy it!

Along with being an entertainer, I also manage my sister’s stand-up comedy career. She was named “Top 5 Comics to Watch in NYC” by CBS.com, and together we’ve been producing the show “Ladies Night” at Carolines on Broadway in Times Square.

Personally, I recently lost almost 100lbs, which has been my biggest accomplishment to date. Next up: writing a book! I can’t wait to tackle this new project. I’ve always been a storyteller, so being able to tell a story on the pages of a book is new and very exciting for me.

Tell us a bit about your book. What’s it about? Where did you get the idea to write this? 
This story was originally a simple fairy tale that came from a conversation in my dining room fifteen years ago. It has blossomed into an epic adventure over the past several years.

The book, The Curse of Iswardel, is a middle grade high fantasy. It follows Gem, a thirteen-year-old boy, his sister Pepper, a fisherman named Bran, and the town crier, Josephus Biddlebug, on their quest to lift a curse that has driven their kingdom into ruins. To do this, they have to bring back an ancient tournament that will put the (lost and presumed dead) princess on the throne, where she belongs. There’s an evil sorcerer, some henchmen, a couple of assassins, and a world that hasn’t laughed in nearly twenty years. So it’s a big story, but it all comes down to our characters coming of age and … well, saving the world!

What’s your writing process like? Do you plot out every point or do you prefer to wing it?
For me, the stories come into my head like a movie, and I write them as if I have a multi-million-dollar budget—which would never happen in real life! Most times I know where the story has to go, but then there are some times when the story has a life of its own. And of course once you get to the end you realize that you got there the wrong way about, or the characters had something else in mind, or …

You know really, outlining might be a good idea.

How did you find Glass House Press, and what made you ultimately decide to sign with them?
Originally, I was just looking for a talented editor. I teamed up with Carrie and we really hit it off. I was very excited when she offered me a proposal for editing, and jumped at the opportunity to work with her. Then, over the next year, we decided that we wanted to take it a step further, and she offered me a contract with her house. I’m over the moon to work with such an influential publishing house.

Have you started the editing process yet? If so, what’s it been like for you? If not, are you looking forward to it or are you dreading it? What’s your biggest editing fear?
As a cinematographer I understand how important the editing process is. And it’s not much different then editing for a book. Things change and I understand that sometimes you have to “cut the fat” out of the story. What I’m enjoying during editing with Glass House is that Carrie talks to me like I’m editing a movie, so it goes very smoothly.

It might take a few days, but in the end the story looks great. Biggest fear? Computer dying before I’ve saved or backed up my work. Ha!

What advice do you have for new authors? 
Write. Write. Write. Even if you think it’s garbage, eventually it will turn into gold. But you have to keep at it. If you give up, you’ll never know what might have been.

Unfortunately, rejection plays a large part in an author’s path to publication. Tell us a bit about your journey and how you overcame rejection to get where you are today. 
This story had gone through the wringer of rejection, just like many others. Every six months I would tweak the manuscript and then send it out in hopes that someone would see what I saw. After several years (yep—years!) I was told that I was mislabeling my manuscript. I was pitching it as a YA when in actuality it was an MG—and then BAM! Everything fell into place.

Just like in any field or in life, you must take rejection with a grain of salt and move on. What’s great about this business is that all you need is one “yes” for everything to change.

What other projects do you have planned for the future?
I am currently working on a novella, which is a prequel to The Curse of Iswardel, along with a new middle grade space opera. Also, a film I wrote and directed will be released on iTunes this spring. I’m also excited to be filming a children’s feature that I wrote and will be directing this summer. So when you ask what I have planned for the future … A LOT. But I never like to sit still—I always like to be moving and challenging myself. That means there’s always something going on!

Where can we find you on the internet? 
Website -- www.richardschall.com
Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/RichardSchallEntertainer
Twitter - @RichieSchall
Periscope - @RichardSchall

Okay, so let’s have a little bit of fun and really let our readers get to know you better with our Favorite Fifteen! Keep your answers short. 
1. Favorite book or series: The Monster at the End of This Book starring LOVABLE, FURRY OLD GROVER
2. Favorite movie: The Goonies
3. Favorite TV show: Red Dwarf, The Walking Dead, Dr. Who
4. Favorite author: Dr. Suess
5. Favorite actor: Robin Williams
6. Favorite actress: Robyn Schall (Check her out!)
7. Favorite color: Green
8. Favorite snack food: Peanut Butter Cups
9. Favorite animal: Monkey
10. Favorite hobby: Rubik's Cube
11. Favorite vacation spot: I live in my favorite vacation spot - NYC!
12. Favorite type of drink: Diet Mountain Dew
13. Favorite meal: PIZZA!
14. Favorite season:  Summer…or Winter…or Spring…oh! I also like Fall!
15. Favorite holiday: Passover – We have an amazing musical Seder!