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The story behind the story of Rogue Wave (Part 1)

Part One: After taking several years off from writing following the death in 2019 of my younger brother, Dave, I began writing again in 2024. I started work on the long-awaited prequel to my five-book "Novum" series. The story is called "Rogue Wave", and it tells the events that led Jake Stone to acquire his girlfriend’s cargo vessel, then called, "Messenger", after her tragic death. This backstory was referenced several times in the original series, but due to a head injury, Jake was left with very few memories of what actually happened. This story finally reveals the truth. However, instead of writing it as a book, I decided to write a screenplay. I’ve always loved the screenplay format, and I needed something to kickstart me out of the creative rut I was in following Dave’s passing. Since the story was already fully outlined, it didn’t take long to complete the 120-page screenplay. With dialogue editing from my sister Lori—an amazingly talented person a...
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2026 means a brand new website!

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I spent the last couple of months creating a brand new website. If you haven't checked it out yet, please do, and tell me what you think. https://josephrhea.com
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Rogue Wave is Live!

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  A year of work writing a combined screenplay and novella in my (very rare) spare time, and both are now finally completed: Rogue Wave (book) is now live worldwide: $6.99 paperback or $2.99 ebook. For the screenplay, see links on my website. Beneath an alien ocean lies humanity's last hope!
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Personal milestones achieved!

As of yesterday, I have completed a 114-page feature screenplay as well as a 25,000-word novella, both called Rogue Wave. I also wrote a 2-page film pitch for the script which I'm quite happy with. This was my goal for the year, as an attempt to restart my writing after a 5-year hiatus following my brother Dave's passing in 2019. I think I'm back and I know he would be Happy. 👍
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Script-to-Book update for 6/17/2024

Today I finished writing my "lean" draft, which is the direct "prose translation" of my "Rogue Wave" feature screenplay. Next I will start writing the true novella by filling in scene descriptions, adding character thoughts when appropriate, and beefing up the sparse script dialogue when needed. Very glad I finally stopped dragging my heels and started adapting this. 
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Rogue Wave screenplay is finished!

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"Rogue Wave", my latest original feature screenplay is finally finalized, officially copyrighted, and uploaded to Coverfly. So with my Rogue Wave screenplay finished, what's next for me? Why, of course it will be the Rogue Wave book. I just spent the past two days converting my present-tence script into past-tense prose, word for word, and it's already longer than half of the novellas in my Novum series. Rewriting the story fully as a book will potentially double the word count, so I guess I know what I'll be doing in my spare time in the months ahead.
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Writing alone? Not so much.

Long ago I switched from writing screenplays to writing novels because I believed that I needed "absolute full control" of my creations. Now, as I ease back into the Screenwriting world, I'm reminded that unless you're literally a genius, or figuratively an idiot, everything you create will be a group effort. Beta readers, editors, and friends will all influence and sometimes drastically alter your final product. And that will make it better. Accept that. Embrace that.
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