In Defense of LA

Admit it: your probably think it's kind of cool to hate on LA. It's smoggy, right? And full of women with fake breasts and even faker personalities? And everybody is aspiring to be the next Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. They spend all day at the beach and all night partying, right?

Yeah, not so much.

Excuse me if this is not, in fact, your perception of Los Angeles. Feel free to go check out another blog during this rant. I've recommended a few on the right side of this page.

However, if you do think that LA is one sinner short of Soddam and Gommorah, please hang around.

I hear people LA bash all the time. Even people that live here! The have the aforementioned complaints as well as complaining about the weather. Apparantley, it's boring.

Look, I admit that I'm a transplant, so maybe Los Angeles holds some sort of glamour appeal for me. However, in my time here, I've learned some things. Los Angeles is a very hard city to make it in. It's expensive, it's crowded and there are dozens of people just like you, all waiting for opportunity to knock. People here work hard, because they have to. They work long hours at thankless jobs to try and acheive their goals. They spend hours in their cars and hundreds on gas. They are always "on" because you never know who you are going to meet. They do not suffer fools lightly.

Sure, there is a certain SoCal stereotype that applies. A lot of women are blonde. People diet a lot and eat more organic foods. The three most spoken languages are English, Spanish and Industry.

But, hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. Everyone's life isn't 90210, but we're all trying to live the dream.

Advice to Aspiring (Screen)Writers

Dear People Who Send Scripts to the Company I Work For:

Hi. Thanks so much for taking the time to send out your script. That takes guts, and I appreciate it. However, may I offer you some tips? Thanks.

I know that Final Draft does not provide a grammar check. A screenwriter friend of mine explained to me that it is because dialogue does not need to be gramatically correct, especially if it is in a certain dialect. I get that. I really do. As a writer who often slips Spanish slang into her work, I understand that spell check is not always your friend.

HOWEVER! you are sending out your script in a professional capacity. You would like to see it produced. You are sending it to very busy people who receive a bevy of scripts each day and do not suffer fools lightly. Thus, my advice:

"You're" means "You Are". It is NOT interchangable with "your".

"It's" means "It Is". It does NOT mean the same thing as "Its". Just because you want to use a posessive tense does not mean that an apostrophe is necessary.

"Get's". I see this often. I'm not sure what it means. However, I do know that the sentence "John get's the wallet from Mary" makes no sense.

Your character has probably not just "kilt" someone. "Killed" perhaps. However, if they are dressed in Scottish garb, please accept my apologies.

Not everyone reading your work is a "Sir". Please address your querey letter appropriately.

That's it for now. Good luck, aspiring writers! I truly do enjoy reading your work and I'm always looking for that diamond in the rough.

Happy Writing.

International Travel

I am an international traveler. Sort of. Okay, I've technically been to Mexico. But, I did get my passport and I hope to use it soon.

However, in between running errands, chatting up neighbors and fighting Los Angeles traffic, I did manage to go to Persia today. And I was in Japan last week. How? Books. They can take you to exotic places and teach you about new customs.

"Yes," I'm sure you're saying. "Yes, I know this." And I'm sure you do. But, itsn't it amazing? And wonderful?

Take the book I'm currently reading. "A Veil of Roses" by Laura Fitzgerald (no relation). It's about a young Persian woman who comes to the United States to escape from an opressive regime and find a husband. Except she isn't really sure that she wants one. Until I started this story I knew virtually nothing of Iran other than what I've seen on the news and we all know that isn't always pleasant. However, this story has opened my eyes to other traditions and ideas and the beauty of the Persian culture.

So, dear reader, where would you like to go? It's easy enough to get there. Just read.

Welcome to my blog.

Greetings loyal (hopefully) reader,

Welcome to the blog of Elisabeth Fitzgerald, LA based writer of contemporary female urban fiction. I'm sorry, I just do not care for the term "chick lit". It sounds so...mysoginistic. They don't call male-centric books "dick lit" do they? Actually...maybe they should start.

Anyway, thanks so much for coming by my blog. I am currently in the process of finishing up my novel "Becoming Magdalene", about a young screenwriter that moves to Los Angeles to persue her dream and winds up making friends, falling in love and following her heart.

How's that for a pitch? Ha ha.

Hope to see you here soon and often. Let's be friends!