Betsy the Gremlin

Writing about writing to avoid writing her writing.

gremlin kvetches

  • A Tale of Three Sticker Makers

    I have been printing and selling my hand-designed stickers for about eight months now (which is a ‘wow!’ all on its own! Yay!), and I have learned a lot. I plan on writing a little bit more about how the whole process works and what works and didn’t work for me in the past, but Read more

  • Inadvertent Hiatus

    So, 2020 struck. My father had a cardiac arrest. He’s doing okay and recovering very well but writing blog posts hasn’t really been a priority. I’m going to just try and enjoy the rest of the year quietly and post more articles in January. Here’s my femme!xmas tree and a gingerbread camper that I made Read more

  • Disaster Movies and the Gremlins Who Love Them

    I have a guilty secret; I love disaster movies. Disaster movies in any iteration are my bread and butter. Natural disasters and manmade disasters, you name it, I love it. From earthquake to terrorist attacks to avalanches to nuclear reactors failing, I want it all. Ultimately it’s about normal people thrust into completely wild situations. Read more

  • Try try again.

    So, I didn’t make it to the next round of judging in one of the competitions I entered. It really sucks, but I’d rather write about it here than pretend that a) nothing is wrong and b) I’m both far removed and successful in this industry. I’m not. I write with advice that I’ve gleaned Read more

  • No Article This Week

    My computer died. (It was so dramatic. It froze, and then the start up disk disappeared. I was texting Apple tech support for about three hours before they decided it was better to just send it in to be repaired.) It’s been a little hard to try and get anything done with my phone, and Read more

  • If you’re going through hell, keep going…

    It’s odd that just last week I was worried about submitting to screenplay competitions. That was the main thing and a real source of almost stress. I say ‘almost,’ because my father had a health scare last Saturday; he went to the hospital. He’s fine now, but I thought I knew what stress really before Read more

  • Competition conniption.

    I’m trying to decide if I want to tweak and submit one of my pilots to competitions again. There’s a few that are due on the 31st, and the pilot did okay last year (AFF Second Rounder good! Yippie!), so it’s not a completely impossible option. Hell, it might be a good shot even. I’m Read more

  • In the dark times will there also be singing?

    So, needless to say, the quarantine has really affected my life. Not as much as some, and financially I’m okay (sort of), but boy howdy this is not where I thought I’d be a few months ago. I’m back in Sonora, which is a little rough. I was getting really comfortable in SF and now Read more

  • Writing through the plague.

    I’m so tired of the inane “this is the time to finish that big project” messages that are getting churned out at a time like this. Sure, some of us have more time, but it’s not like a vacation, it’s not the same as spending a day home from work. Even if we’re all just Read more

  • International Women’s Day

    Merci Adèle! My last big girl blog post was about being a fat woman trying to make it as a screenwriter. Now I’m wondering if perhaps a more pertinent problem is just to be a woman trying to make it as a screenwriter. And whether or not that’s worth it in an industry that is Read more