Hi Scott, I've been posting for a few weeks now and found the Black Board through GITS, so have been making the most of both sites since. And, without sounding too sycophantic, they are both great sites and I have been learning a lot from them. But me? I'm 39, live in the UK, work in NHS Research and Development. I am married (ceremony in Vegas!) and have two daughters. I started writing seriously last year. As for a lot of people, it is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and have finally bitten the bullet, and said "**** it" - might as well try....better to have had a go than regret not trying. I'm still learning with 3 completed screenplays, that I think are getting better as I go along, a couple in the pipeline and a little black book full of ideas. Think I still have to find my voice, as per some recent discussions on The Blackboard and GITs, but I am still early in my journey, so know I will get there eventually. Love films (don't we all) and have done since I was a kid. Favourite movies? Always a moveable feast as it is for everyone, but I would say that 2001: A space odyssey is pretty much always at the top. But I like anything in any genre, as long as I like the story and can identify with the characters. But I also know that, if I try to make a list, I will be editing/adding to the post every five minutes as I think of another movie to add to the list! I may be the only person left alive who hasn't seen Titanic. Big home cinema fan as I don't get to the real cinema as much as I used to since the kids came along, but still go when I can. But the home cinema is a great way to introduce the kids to some classic kids films as well as the new ones. I have a full HD projector set up in a dedicated room, and it makes me grin like an idiot every time I switch it on and dim the lights. I did dally with a blog, but felt a bit of a fraud without a great deal to say (yet) so I might go back to it one day in the future, but I am on Twitter - Mark Walker @purplehaahoo.....don't say much, but am finding it to be a great way to pick up on other people's knowledge, suggestions, hints and tips! Anyway, before I start to bore everyone, I just hope I can keep learning from the blog and contribute more and more as I discover new things about the craft, sharing my experiences along the way! Thanks for all your hard work, putting this together for us Scott. Cheers Mark

Mark, thanks for that. I've been happy to swap comments with you over the past few months and now great to learn more about your background. And for jumping in with this information, here's a blast of creative juju for you! KAAAABBBBBBBBOOOOOOMMMM!!! Use it wisely.

i found GITS a little over a month ago via an accidental stumble onto TBSR's blog and a puppet interview with Franklin Leonard. i have a puppet crush now. I blame Henson. anyhoo, i'd heard of the blacklist only a week before from a fellow soccer dad (well, i'm not a dad, but you know what i mean) who i'd randomly heard mention something about he was a screenwriter by day and i wanted to ask him some advice. he mentioned he was a Nicholl's finalist (i totally had to look that up) a few years ago and blah blah blah Blacklist (had to look that up, too) and talked about what projects he was working on now and he asked me what i had in the pipeline and i literally pulled out my pockets and flitted away some lint... "ain't got squat." i've ALWAYS loved movies and have always been hugely inspired by music with regard to scene creation and imagination and would make up stories all the time growing up, but i never actually did anything with them. in 2000 i really got the bug and, between my job and school, pounded out some ideas (based on music, of course) without actually putting them into proper format. i lost the disk and was devastated and never circled back to try for any rewrites. i’m still bummed. FF through life on both coasts and in Europe, a marriage and a couple o' kids, and here i am as a stay-at-home mom with time to spare and brains seeping out of any and all orifices up top. i never intended to be a stay-at-home mom, but with a special needs kiddo, it came down to me quitting work. i love being a mom, but i'm also very driven and require constant creative outlets. living on one income, however, doesn't afford much for that vice. i dabbled in writing for online mags, but it got boring because it wasn't fulfilling my creative monster. after surviving a bullshit 2012 with deaths and disappointments, i made myself a 2013 promise to find something productive and pointless that would let me get my creative fix... so i started a blog, and it got the juices flowing again. then one day i was listening to some crazy new music and the urge to create a scene took over me and had to run inside, grab the laptop, and run back out to the car where the music was blaring and reverbing just right. the bug had latched on and bitten harrrd. so I started googling anything and everything and tried to read and absorb as much as i could until something clicked. i had nav'ed a bunch of bullshit before i found TBSR and, ultimately, GITS. i've always been a hungry learner and this blog has sated me in every way. i'm never bored with the daily updates and if/when i am, i'm neck deep in the archives and googling interviews, etc. i'm so insanely green in this screenwriting world, and with Hollywood in general, and having access to what i’ve been able to read and learn here on GITS in such a short period of time has been outstanding and hugely enlightening. i’m grateful! i’m obsessed!

and i will likely annoy the sht out of people with my frequency and long-windedness.

Despina, thanks for that. Nice to attach some background to your name. You are more than welcome here as we are all sojourners on a creative journey and it's helpful to share that experience with others. What is your blog URL? Happy to add you to the Friends list. And now some creative juju for you with a maternal twist to honor you and your kids: MAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAJAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMA!!!

Thanks Scott, I shall invest it well!

http://negativeghostwriter.wordpress.com/ this is the one I just started for screenwriting. sort of a way to make myself own up to "coming out" as a wannabe screenwriter :)