About Mario

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Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mario Piumetti is a freelance writer of science fiction, horror, screenplays, and nonfiction. He has a bachelor's degree in English from California Lutheran University and an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. An avid music lover, his work is heavily influenced by rock, punk, and metal. You can contact him at mario.piumetti.writer@gmail.com.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Art and Life

Hi, folks.

This hasn't been my most productive week.  I mean, I've been busy like hell, but the writing output's taken a beating.  Between increased hours at my internship and moving house, I suppose it was bound to happen.  There are only 24 hours in a day, and mine have been action packed for the last few.  As such, one short story in development got derailed, and I cancelled the first draft of another one that had stalled as I dealt with everything else.  On the bright side, I've been on track revising a third story from a week ago, and should have it ready to submit by the weekend.

But the truth is that I couldn't help feel a little ticked off being forced to clear off one day of writing after another.  Even though I'm running on fumes and waking up tired, I felt bad.  I'm also rereading Stephen King's On Writing and got to the part where he talked about his drug and alcohol addictions.

He ended the section with this: "Life isn't a support-system for art.  It's the other way around."

I'm not a drug addict.  Never tried the stuff.  And it's been a few months since my last drink (a celebratory shot for Roar Shack's publication), and, geez, I think over a year since I got really tanked.  But I understand what King's really getting at with that quote.  Life has a tendency to happen.  People move.  Babies are born.  Bills have to be paid.  In the 24-hour day we all get, the plate sometimes gets so full and we have to sacrifice time somewhere.

Hopefully, there's not too much sacrificing, more like moving around the pieces, because every writer has to deal with this, and all of them from Stephen King to JK Rowling are able to produce new works.  Even the ones who had a lifetime of full day jobs like Wallace Stevens made it happen.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Hey! Wha' Happened?!

Hi, everyone.  I have a few minutes to spare this morning (it's a little too quiet at the office), so I thought I'd deliver on that long-promised update on what's been going on lately.

Writing-wise, a lot's been going on.

I just finished my TV writing class at UCLA and it's already having a positive impact on how productive I've been, especially with my new desire to submit a short story weekly.  It's a four-week process.  The idea being that I develop an idea during Week 1, write up the first draft in Week 2, let it simmer in Week 4, and then revise and submit in Week 4.  And because different stories are expected to be in different stages at any given time, it should allow me to make weekly submissions.  For example, if I'm writing the first draft of Story A, that same week, I'm outlining Story B to be written the following week, and then start the process for Story C the week after.

Originally, I thought about doing two stories per week, but with internship, job hunting, and other projects, that's just not possible.  Still, a story a week adds to 52 annually, and that doesn't sound too lame.  You know what I mean?

I'm still writing for Carpe Nocturne as well.  The last issue was a quiet one for me because it was steampunk-themed and none of the reviews I had fit it.  But I have a few reviews lined up to write for the next issue.  I'd also like to branch out a bit and try submitting an essay on the horror genre at least once a year.  I'm actually not originally a horror guy.  I converted only several years ago, so I figure these essays would give readers an interesting look at the genre from the perspective of a late-bloomer.

I'm also working on my first screenplay, but I'm not ready to go into detail on it yet.  It was an invitation from my boss at the entertainment company I work at, a chance to build up my writing portfolio.  He was pretty encouraging after reading a rough synopsis, so I'm plugging away at it when I can and we'll see what becomes of it.