OCSWA and SCWA board member Larry Porricelli contributed to this report.
he writers at SCWA grabbed a real gem to address their March meeting.
Deborah Pratt (IMDB) is a true "slash." She's a dancer, singer, writer, actress, producer, director, and a few more slashes to round things off - like mother to talented actress Troian Bellisario ("Pretty Little Liars.")
As you might have intuited, she was also married to legendary TV writer/producer Donald Bellasario ("Magnum P.I." "Quantum Leap") and she wrote for those shows and others. She came up with basic concept for Q.L. and although she's too classy to say, there must have been a really good story there because she wasn't directly credited - well, she was, but as a producer only (except for the eps she wrote or acted in.)
Ms Pratt is in a word, wonderful. She's funny, effusive, knowledgeable, positive and her creative energy escapes in constant. bright bursts while she talks about her journey as a person and an artist.
She enthralled us for over three hours while she put forth about the business, her recent steps into novels, and her life in general. She was accompanied by an equally accomplished and charming Dr. Lana Bettencourt (website) who helped her brave the rain on the drive down from L.A., organize the materials, and then kept us laughing all during lunch. Another ray of positive light and "goddess energy."
Deborah (she didn't want to be a 'Debbie' when she was young) started as a "Goldigger" - no, I'm not being mean - she was a dancer/singer on the old Dean Martin show. The Goldiggers were his talented eye-candy - sorta like Vegas showgirls who came out and either backed him up or performed with him. That opportunity got her to CA and Deborah made the most of it. She didn't find a lot of actress roles that made sense to her at that time so she began writing and quickly became a TV-writing star. Impressive because at that time there weren't a lot of female TV writers - and certainly only a smattering writing for shows that featured action as part of the storyline.
Deborah is almost as knowledgable about science fiction as she is about Hollywood/TV and that is unusual. To see such an accomplished woman in a field dominated by men is unique indeed. She knew everyone I knew (scifi-wise) and I'm a huge fanboy (had to miss WonderCon to see her, damnit! Worth it.)
The main reason she was at the SCWA was to talk about her YA book series "The Vision Quest" which is a fully-realized exploration into a future that is much less ominous than typical recent apocalyptic-postulations.
In fact, she said she created it specifically because (as a mother) she hated the idea that our futures would be dark and ugly. Sure, there's issues in her fictional worlds but it's not populated by horroshow zombies who eat anything that moves. In her Universe(s) corporations actually band together to help civilization when they see it heading in a bad direction. Now that I'd have to see, :-)
How special is she? When she was talking about spirituality at the beginning of the morning, I snapped a photo of her on my phone. Check out the shaft of light from the heavens that surrounded her - it wasn't there when I framed the shot (and when I looked later) but she managed to summon it just by being in the room! Really.
Okay, truth - when I showed her the photo, she joked about her "key light", in this case a spotlight just above her on that side of the podium which managed to shine very effectively on her at just the right moment. But still, it's weird. How much more symbolic can you get when you give a talk on the nuts and bolts of writing but consistently mention the spiritual aspects of that endeavour and the Universe shines its light directly on you. Right? Deborah (and Lana) - keep shining your light on the world. It is appreciated.
Just a small sampling of the awards Deborah has garnered include (from IMDB):
Women In Film, Lillian Gish Award, 1990
Ms. Pratt won the Lillian Gish award for her first 'Quantum Leap" episode "The Color of Truth".
- 5 Emmy Nominations, Best TV series - Producing, 1990
The series "Quantum Leap" was nominated 4 times 90-91-92-93. Deborah was nominated for writing "My Friend Martin". - Ben Awards, 4 for Producing and 1 for Writing, 1991
Ms Pratt was awarded the B.E.N Award four times for producing and once for writing
Deborah Pratt is an articulate, engaging, and funny speaker and she is doing book signings all over. I urge you to go see her and get a blast of that wonderful
smile. I could write reams on her and her writing philosophies which so dovetail with mine - "it's show business with a spiritual side that should keep you growing" - but I'll stop now and hopefully you'll discover her for yourself sometime soon.
The first book of the Vision Quest series is available as a free download HERE.
Congrats to the SCWA and (OCWSA & SCWA board member) Larry Porricelli, and Victory Crane for putting on this event. I had a great time, got to visit with some of my wonderful friends at SCWA, met some new ones, and most importantly was able to talk to and experience Mmes. Pratt and Bettencourt.
Deborah had some suggestions fgor good books during her talk. Here's a list:
Novels:
Worlds of Wonder - How to write science fiction and fantasy David Gerrold
Stein On Writing – Sol Stein
The Writers Journey (2nd Edition) Christopher Vogler (I love this book)
Getting the Words Right – Theodore A Rees Cheney
The Art of Fiction - John Gardner
The Comics Tool Box – John Vothaurus
The 8 Characters of Comedy - Scott Sedita
Movies and TV:
Creating Unforgettable Characters - Linda Seger
Making a Good Script Great - Linda Seger
From Script to Screen w/ Edward Jay Whetmore
Save the Cat (1&2) - Blake Synder
Playwrights Handbook - Frank Pike and Thomas Dunn
The History of Hollywood
Adventure in the Screen Ttrade – William Goldman (truly great book)
An Empire of Their Own – Neal Gabler
Here's a video of Deborah talking about her books:
