Jackie Gladfelter Devereaux 

January 2012Hooray! My screenplay MARS BONFIRE advanced to the Semi-Final round in the American Screenwriting Contest. This means the script made it into the top 2% of all entries. I'll find out by the end of January if it advances to the Finalist round. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.*************Also, my current script, BANDIDOS is getting the finishing touches and will be presented to 20 Producers in March 2012. I'm so excited about the future for this script. I'm praying for divine guidance on this one.****************Also, I'm nearing completion in the ProSeries Screenwriting Courses with Hal Croasman. Thank you Hal for all your attention and expertise.  I highly recommend that anyone interested in a serious career in Screenwriting to take his courses at ScreenwritingU.com*************Nov. 2011My screenplay, BANDIDOS, is evolving nicely. I traveled for one week deep into Mexico conducting research, photographing locations and talking to locals. ************Oct. 2011My business relationship with Gidget Worldwide Inc., took an giant step forward when the COO, Kevin Powell, signed a 5-point Letter of Agreement with me for my work with him and the company to date. Thanks Kevin for having faith in my abilities.**************I also finally took a giant leap forward and hired a Script Consultant to critique two other screenplays, MARS BONFIRE and A FEMININE MANIFESTO. Danny Manus from NoBullScript consulting service delivered some harsh feedback on the structural and story line problems in both scripts. However, he did give me some encouraging advice about how I could fix the problems and shore up the story world, theme and character profiles so that I'll have a better chance of attracting a Hollywood Producer or Studio. Thanks Danny!*************Whoo-hoo!I learned on Feb. 15, 2011 that I won 2nd Place in the 2010 Scriptapalooza TV Writing Contest in their one-hour existing dramatic series category for my episode, HOUSE MD-THE PERFECT STORM. It's based on my experience battling leukemia. I was shocked and thrilled because this was my first attempt at TV writing. I wrote the story as a form of therapy to aid in my recovery. *********My screenplay, MARS BONFIRE, made it to the Semi Final Round of the 2010 Big Break Screenwriting Contest in the highly competive Drama category. I'm very happy since this was my first attempt at writing a feature length film. ********Works-in-ProgressScreenplays include:BandidosMars BonfireGidget TV Writing includes:House MD-The Perfect StormA Feminine ManifestoNovels and Short Stories:PalimpsestTravels with RayWhite RootsA Collection of Poems***********   Mars Bonfire is based on the extrodinary life of my second husband, Craig George Michael Evers, aka Mars
Bonfire. Mars first worked as a San Diego police offier but "resigned" after being accused of smoking marijuana. Mars then organized several protests against the Vietnam War and helped form The Cloud Family, a group of free-wheeling hippies who distributed marijuana, hash and hash oil internationally.  While living in Nepal, he studied with yogis, sahdus, gurus and other holy men.The Cloud Family story happened 20 years before I met Mars.We were married by Buddhist monks on Koh Samui Island, Thailand on June 12, 1990. I worked as a Journalist at the time and thought I knew a little about the world. However, in retrospect, I now realize I learned more about the world from him than I could have imagined. Mars introduced me to Eastern philosophies, mystical practices and religious teachings. He took me on incredible trips through Southeast Asia, Central America and Europe, where I experienced many magical adventures that should be made into a movie or adventure novel.After our separation in 1998, he returned to Southeast Asia and continued his lifelong study of mysticism until his death on Sept. 29, 2009. Doctors in San Diego said he died from a rare subtropical disease.He was a compassionate, generous and good man. I rewrote the story as a tribute to him and submitted it to honor and chronicle his extraordinary life.  I thank the judges for liking his story.******* Travels with Ray and Adventures with Zorro are based on the true events with our dogs, Ray and Zorro. No two could be more opposite. Ray is old. Zorro is young. Ray is fat. Zorro is lean. Ray is light. Zorro is dark. Ray is small. Zorro is large. Ray is surly. Zorro is sweet. I I outlined 10 episodes of A Feminine Manifesto, short stories about about my sex life as told to my husband, Tom. He said I should write them down. I have 33 vignettes in total.  Oct 2009 - Oct. 2010 I was commissioned to write a screenplay for the remake of a 1960s Teen Surf movie but am under and Non-Disclosure Agreement so I can't tell you the name of the project.

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Near death experience
  This back-only photo was taken in March 2009 while recovering from a near-death experience with leukemia.In 2009, my oncologist said my eosinophils were in a "tolerable" range. 

Doctors predicted it would take two to three years before my body returns to normal. I also could go into remission.

 

I used Acupuncture, Herbs and other forms of Alternative Medicine to strengthen my immune system.

 

I am lucky to be alive and grateful to my husband, Tom, who helped me during the horrible medical ordeal. He saved my life giving me a second chance.

 

I thank God and the Holy Spirit everyday for this second chance. 

 

Tom not only saved my life but he also saved my life's work from the garbage dump and encouraged me to follow my dreams. I owe him my life.

 

To all the doctors, family, friends and colleagues who prayed for me during that horrible time,THANK YOU. Your prayers worked.

 

NEWS - International Screenwriter's Association Announces

2nd Place Screenplay Contest Winner 2011.11.20 21:24
Jackie Devereaux won Second Place in the 2010 Scriptapalooza TV Writing Contest for her one-hour  existing dramatic epiosde House M.D. - The Perfect Storm, her first attempt at writing for TV! She found this competition through InkTip.

What I've Done... 

LATE JANUARY 2012

Back in the desert working on BANDIDOS. Finished the first draft and sent it to three writers for feedback. My wrists are sore and my back hurts. I'm taking a brake from the computer for a a couple days to recup.

January 2012

We're on another trip into Baja California and have made some wonderful contacts for my script, BANDIDOS.

We also visited with some old friends, went to the dentist, took our dog to the vet and got the truck tuned up. It's been quite an event-filled trip but I'm ready to head home and get back to work on BANDIDOS.

October 2011

Just returned from a week long camping trip in Southern California. Saw a few friends and had an important business meeting with Gidget Worldwide Inc.

Later, we camped at San Elijo State Beach in Encinitas. Ah...I love the sound of the ocean.

September 2011

I made two amazing road trips through Baja California Norte where I met leaders of the Kumeeya Indian tribe. My husband, Tom, and I were invited to take part in a Temesal ceremony or sweat lodge on sacred Indian lands in Rumorosa, Mexico.  

Jesse, the spiritual leader of the Kumeeya tribe performed a rare Passing of the Pipe ceremony. We were allowed to smoke from the holy 250 year old peace pipe before it was handed over to Arturo Fisher, a well known Yaqui Indian Shamam from Sonora.

Jesse and Arturo then shared duties during the overnight Ayahuasca Healing ceremony.

There's a movie here.

August 2011

Flew back east to attend my husband's family reunion at Camp Dearborn in Michigan.

Later, this month two friends from Mexico visited us in Desert Hot Springs, California. We took them to the hot mineral spring spas everyday.

July 2011

I'm enrolled in the ProSeries screenwriting course with Hal and Cheryl Croasman. It's a six-month intensive, on-line class.

April - May 2011

Entered two screenwriting contests - Page Awards and Final Draft's, Big Break. Keeping my fingers crossed.

February 2011

I've made a full circle back to the desert. My husband, Tom, and I moved back in the Coachella Valley.

December 2010

My transition into the world of screenwriting is paying off.  My first screenplay Mars Bonfire made it through the Quarter Final and Semi-Final rounds in the 2010 Big Break screenwriting contest. I know it's not perfect, and I made a lot of mistakes but at least I know I have a good story.

In 2009 - 2010

I'm retooling my writing skills from Journalism to Screenwriting after becoming disabled by leukemia in 2008.

I completed a Screenwriting class with Hal Croasman through ScreenwritingU.com in September. It was billed as a 10-assignment class on Advanced Dialogue but it took 30 days to complete. Of the 26 students who started the class, only seven finished all 10 assignments. 

I entered the 2010 Scriptapalooza TV Writing contest with a one hour existing drama episode, House MD - The Perfect Storm.  It's based on my true experiences battling leukemia. I won 2nd Place.

Other Creative Writings:

I wrote my first manuscript entitled, Palimpsest, back in 1984 to complete my Honors Thesis at the University of California, San Diego. I earned a bachelor's degree in Literature and Writing and was awarded Magna Cum Laude for my efforts.

Palimpsest, a 75-page novella about reincarnation, collected dust until I resurrected it in 2007. I plan to adapt it into a screenplay.

The story is based on my experiences with past life regression therapy and the pioneer work of Brian Jamieson of San Diego.

The title, Palimpsest, originates from the Greek word palimp-sest, "meaning an imprint or erasure or mark that suggests previous ink or etchings. It's the imprints from which ancient documents, writings, paintings, etchings, cave walls, petroglyhs and fossils are decifered from." (per Wikipedia)

During Feb - May 2010

I began self-publishing and legally protecting my past Creative Writing Projects which up till now gathered dust and mold in boxes stored in three different cities. 

In 2007, I tracked down and gathered my old writings box by box, city by city because of my wonderful and loving husband, Tom. Most of my writings were recovered but sadly some was lost.

Luckily, the original copy of first novel, Palimpsest, was among those found.  

Also recovered in 2007 were both versions of Mars Bonfire.

My heart jumped when I found the original hard copy of the novel and the adapted screenplay. The novel, Mars Bonfire: An American Sadhu, was written in 1994 and is about my late second husband, Craig Evers. I adapted it into a screenplay and submitted it to Project Greenlight in 2002. The writing contest was hosted by actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. 

Project Greenlight judges gave the story excellent reviews but noted two major drawbacks to the story.

1) it had too many foreign locations and would cost $60 to $100 million dollars to produce  -  they had a $1 million dollar budget.

2) they didn't like the "to be continued" ending. 

I ended it that way because I ran out of time and still had a lot of the novel left to incorporate into the story. Plus I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I was taking a stab at screenwriting and thought maybe there would be a sequel or TV series.

Also, I entered the 2002 Project Greenlight contest only because a media colleague, Rachel Lockhart, gave me copy of her expensive screenwriting software. Rachel wanted to enter the contest but didn't have a good story. I did. She encouraged me to adapt my novel into a script as an exercise.

I did it partly to prove to her (and myself) that I could do it. I did not expect to win and was proud for finishing the script on time. I was more thrilled by the judges feedback.

Sadly, I did not continue my screenwriting exercises for five years because of poor choices I made during a 6 year bad relationship. Finally, in May 2006, I escaped and fled from the domestic violence and started my recovery.

After my recovery in 2007, I began writing again, this time starting something new with, Travels with Ray, short stories based on road trips with my Pug dog, Ray.

I also started writing an autobiography which turned into a historical novel based on my family tree entitled, White Roots. 

White Roots was inspired by the years of geneology research complied by my late mother, Helen Tarapchak Glodfelter. I found some chapters of her manuscript in a dusty box three years after her death in August 2006. 

Sadly, her larger 200-page handwritten manuscript was lost to the trash. The chapters I found were about my father's military career in World War II and Korea.

White Roots chronicles my ancestor's journey to the New World and follows them through time to the 21st century. I utilized the historical documents, military archives, land and tax records, as well as, birth, death and marriage records to tell the story.

White Roots is a new kind of history book because it follows one family starting at the difficult colonial years through the turbulent Revolutionary and Civil Wars into the Industrial Revolution and Westard expansion culminating with my personal reflections about life in the 21st century.

White Roots offers a more personal look at our nation's history through the evolution of one family and how they reflect the great American Dream.

Their story begins just prior to 1743 with the struggles of colonial Americans, then chronicles the birth a nation.

White Roots portrays American history by showing the strength of character, the determination and the absolute faith of one family who reflects how the New World became the greatest nation on Earth.

This story shows the tenacity, hard work, strong values and patriotism that created the American Dream. This story answers the question why anyone who lives here feels proud to be an American.

White Roots begins with their struggles against political, economic and religious repression sweeping Europe during the Protestant Reformation.

It then follows their life in the new colony of Pennsylvania through the Revolutionary and Civil wars, then through the Industrial Revolution, World Wars 1 and 2, Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War into the Space Age culminating in 2012.  

Chapters from my mother's hand written manuscript have been expanded and published on a military history website, www.footnote.com.

www.footnote.com/profile/JackieGladfelterDevereaux

The Caspar Glattfelder Association of America website, family members and historians have contributed greatly to the story. Go to:  

www.casparglattfelderassociationofamerica.com

PHOTO CREDITS:

ELIZABETH SARON MILNER took the photo of me holding flowers minutes before my wedding.

TOM DEVEREAUX took the photo of me typing.

I took all other photos unless specifically noted.