Also, today marks the 7th anniversary of my main website going online.

With this being my site’s 7th anniversary, I decided to  do a timeline on how far my Hooked on Mutts series goes:

1997- Gwendolyn “Wendell” Dalmatian. Originally a fan character but later established as an original character. 1st of my of Hooked on Mutts cast.

1998- Story idea with Sienna (Female Beagle Harrier/Hamiltonstovare mix) Caesar(Male Rottweiler) and others as characters is developed but then forgotten.

2000- Stan (Male Dalmatian/Beagle mix), Mouse( Female Silver Tabby American Short Hair cat) Calico(Male American short hair), Lorraine(Female Persian/ Egyptian Mau mix) become characters also the year I began writing and became interested in screenwriting.

2001- What I consider one of the golden years for creating original characters, Kenny(Male Red Wolf), Lisa(Female Red Fox) Nevada(Female Gray Wolf) Shiba(Female Basenji) Kennedy(Male Bald Eagle) Espresso(Female Canaan Dog), Dorthia(Female Arctic Wolf), Tia, Tara & Kara(Female Bengal Tiger triplets) and many other new characters are added to the Hooked on Mutts cast. Idea for the animated feature film, West Coast Wolf National Forest is developed after being inspired by Dr. Dolittle 2, Disney Animation and Don Bluth Animation.

2002- New characters are added including, Mitzi(Female Hamiltonstovare/Beagle Harrier mix). Gia(Female Mute Swan) and her son, Shaw(Male Mute Swan) Another golden year. Previous character backstories are either established or revised. 2nd golden year

2003-  Kennedy’s family is extended with the addition of brother and sister, Rene and Eddie(Red wolves) parents Mama Lena & Smokey (Also Red wolves) and a wife/mate Wanda( Female Beagle Harrier), Orlando(Male Osprey), Yakitty-Yak(Male Alaskan Reindeer), and his parents Juniper and Kirby(Also Reindeer), Ted(Male Betta fish), Knuckles(Male Pitbull), Elvis(Male American short hair), Ralphie(Male Chinchilla) and others, including members of Sienna’s family are added to the cast.  Another good year for creating characters. Real life Ted passes away March 30th at the age of 1 year and 8 months.

2004- New characters: Akeelah,(Female Striped Skunk),Owen(Male Ocelot), Igloo(Male Honshu wolf/Indian Wolf mix), Mustafa(Male African Wild Dog), Lamont(Male Beagle/Airedale Terrier mix), Samson & Jessie(Brother and sister Border Collies), Dallas(Male Mountain Lion) and others are added to the Hooked on Mutts cast. Story premise for West Coast Wolf National Forest is still in development. Hooked on Mutts cast is pretty much developed and established. Real life, Sienna passes away September 28th at the age of 11(99 in dog years).

2005- Series featuring Sienna and my other animal characters is officially titled Hooked on Mutts, title is inspired by a combination of the coffee shop, Chock Full O’ Nuts and the ’80s/’90s literature program, Hooked on Phonics. My main website Freewebs.com/sienna-beagle goes online Tuesday, February 22nd, around 9:30 am.  Other new characters, Checkers(Female Gray Wolf), Panther(Male Side-striped Jackal), Ivana(Female Barn Owl), Radika(Female Iranian Wolf), Allen(Male American Short hair) and more are added. Characters from 2004 and further back are revised, including changes in name, design, breed/species, gender and back story. Real life Knuckles and Elvis pass away at ages 5(45 in dog years) and 4(32 in cat years). Began watching Academy Awards and writing movie reviews.

2006- 1st Anniversary of Hooked on Mutts and freewebs.com, Hounddogg Studio is Founded. Joined YouTube in November.

2007- Posted trailer for West Coast Wolf National Forest, (renamed Dogwood) on YouTube. Script for Dogwood is developed, Synopsis is written.

2008- Pilot episode for Hooked on Mutts is in development. Learned more about the movie industry from doing research and reading the book, Screenwriting for Dummies.

2009- Met Best-selling author, Kevin J. Anderson. Final edit for Dogwood’s premise is finished. Episode ideas for Hooked on Mutts are written, expanding over 5 seasons. Saw comedian, Bill Cosby live at Treasure Island.

2010- Pen & Paper is launched on WordPress.com, 5th Anniversary for freewebs.com/sienna-beagle, attended Comic-Con 2010, met famous animation screenwriter, Earl Kress, producer, Bill Duke, Superman actor, Jack O’ Hallaron, and longtime comicbook artist, Neal Adams, and joined facebook  July 18th.

2011, 1st anniversary for Pen & Paper, entered a movie pitch for Dogwood in the Champion Screenwriting Competition and made the quarterfinals!, took a roadtrip from Seattle to Los Angeles which provided additional inspiration for the setting of Dogwood and Joined twitter March 24th. Favorite writers, Dwayne McDuffie and Earl Kress, pass away in February and September. Received an encouraging and warm email from sci-fi TV actress, Rekha Sharma.

2012- 7th anniversary of freewebs.com/sienna-beagle, 2nd anniversary of Pen & Paper, met Pitboss star, Shorty Rossi and more to come!

Well this is what I’ve done so far… The year is still somewhat new and I’ve got another 10 months of writing and other things to do, so stay tuned for more updates!

See ya on Friday!

I know it’s kind of late, had I known the BAFTA’s were on I’d have watched. But anyhow, Octavia Spencer won for best supporting actress. Take a gander:

Winners & Nominees

http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?award=false&category=Film&pageNo=1&year=2011

Well now all that’s left is the granddaddy of award shows… the Academy Awards!

Look for an Oscar related post the monday after the awards.

See ya then!

Went to the Vegas Pet Expo on Saturday and I have to say, it was a great experience. Lots of people and lots of pets.

I got there late so I missed some of the main attractions, though I did get to meet and see a lot of great dogs.

There were plenty of vendors ranging from pet products to booths advertising animal shelters and rescues.

One of my favorites was the Southern Nevada Beagle Rescue, they had 5-6 dogs both young and old, looking for homes. My two favorites were Annie Oakley and Buddy Holiday. The Pet Talent Show featured several talented dogs strutting their stuff.  Some which looked like the stuff of Hollywood.

One of the highlights I enjoyed was meeting Pitboss’ Short Rossi and his Pitbull Hercules. His booking agent, Ron Lee Clark was very nice. Bentley(my pug) certainly enjoyed himself that day.

All-in-all the Vegas Pet Expo is a great event. This is my second time attending a pet expo. The first one I ever attended was the America Family Pet Expo in L.A. in 2005. There I met and saw different dogs from various breed groups that I had only seen on T.V. or in books.

Whether you live in L.A. or Vegas, I highly recommend attending either one of these events. There’s something for everyone.

Aside from the typical dogs and cats, the Vegas Pet Expo has showcases for other pets and animals: Livestock and exotics(horses and pot belly pigs) small animals, birds and reptiles. The Reptile guild had a booth with different pet reptiles including a female  python! I’ll say this, if the males are bigger than the females, I don’t want to see what he looks like. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, snakes included but I don’t think I’ll own a pet that can eat me!

I have to say Hercules is one of the most laid back I’ve ever met. My sister had a pitbull once. They’re good dogs if treated right, like many breeds with bad reputations: Dobermans, Rottweilers, German Shepherd Dogs and Dalmatians. I grew up hearing that these dogs weren’t good with kids, but that’s certainly not the case. I’ve interacted with each and every one of these breeds and they’re all good dogs. But check out, Shorty’s TV series, Pitboss which airs Saturday night on Animal Planet. I recommend checking your listings and setting your DVR.

A little piece I’ve written about Hercules:

Confessions of a Pitbull

Saturday, February 11th 2012… 4:50 pm…

Two words describe how my day went… awe some!

I’m typing this slowly due to my paws.

  How do people expect dogs to use a computer keyboard?

I guess they hadn’t thought of it when they invented the doggone thing.

So… uh… moving on…

I spent the day with my human and Ron at the Vegas Pet Expo…

 Which I have to say was just… great!

While I sat back and watched the show, Shorty did all the talking…

Not that I’m not shy about getting a word in, mind you…but hey, it’s not like I’m the only dog in the world who can’t speak human.

The day wasn’t without excitement. There was Tyson the skateboarding English Bulldog, the Pet Talent show and… well, this was one of those things where you had to be there.

I saw and met quite a few dogs of various breeds.

A few autographs and photo ops later… here I am…

I had a short conversation with Bentley, a pug who is also a native of Southern California, like myself.

Lost his eye when he was 3 months old after becoming infected due to being misdiagnosed.

Nice guy… remember, respect the smaller breeds… they’re dogs too!

Well, that about sums up my day…

I better go before someone notices me using this laptop; plus, I think I hear Shorty calling me…

Ciao!

- Hercules

Kodak moment

It’s Friday… not just any friday… 11 years ago today was the first time I experienced snow.

Happened while in Lancaster, CA. it had been raining then all of sudden the rain froze and turned into snow!

I have to say, it was a pleasant experience, cold but fun.

Up until then, I had only seen snow in movies, on TV and in the mountains.

Granted I like snow but having spent a winter on the east coast in New York, I have no problem looking at snow from a distance, by distance I mean on TV and the local mountain range.

Listened to a great teleconference early this week and hopefully I’ll be finding out about the semifinalists in the writing contest I entered.

Every Writer has their day so this one might be mine!

Will post how things go.

See ya on Monday!

With the Academy Awards a couple weeks away, just thought I’d post this interesting article.

Seriously, two songs nominated for Best Original Song?

Take a look:

Why There Are Only Two Nominees for Best Original Song

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscar-original-song-nominees-the-muppets-288382

Even Mary J. Blige herself wasn’t keen on her song “The Living Proof” snubbed and for good reason.

If my work got snubbed and it was something really good, I’d feel like chopped liver too.

In all honestly, five nominees in the Best Original Song category would’ve made things interesting.

Whoever coined the phrase “That’s Hollywood” obviously doesn’t know what he or she was talking about at least in this and many other cases.

I’m hoping I’ll never hear that in life.

I’ve heard of many cases where writers have sold their work and the rewrites were the exact opposite of what they had in mind though there are new ways that help writers retain their rights and have their stories told as is.

Aside from that, Make sure all Is are dotted and Ts are crossed before getting into anything.

The fine print and terms of use on websites is there for a reason.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the Oscars.

Might mix up some cupcakes or brownies for the occasions. Not quite sure yet, still up in the air.

On another note, there’s a teleconference coming up, will post how that goes.

See ya on Friday!

Not much to say, just a list of what I have planned for this month:

Music of my heritage 2 -Feb 19th

Rootz- Coming Soon

Website anniversary -February 22nd

And the Academy Award Goes To…

Say It Outloud, I’m black and I’m proud! 3 part series.

Just a look at what’s ahead.

Stay tuned!

Back in kindergarten and first grade when black history month rolled around I was always interested in it.

For me, being black is something I am not ashamed of. Sure, I have my moments like anyone else but by the end of the day, I feel about being a person of color.

Besides, not everything is black and white, nothing’s wrong with diversity.

Anyway, look for some related topics, both from my own family tree and other sources.

Trivia: George Washington Carver invented peanut butter and came up with 100 uses for the peanut including using it in shampoo, instant coffee and motor oil.

I’m also working on a personal essay I call Rootz which is in depth look at finding myself. By finding myself, I mean finding out about my heritage which for me took over a decade and a half. Still, it was worth it.

Will post some updates so stay tuned! see ya on Monday!

I won’t go into detail but it’s nothing serious, I promise.

Sorry for the inconvenience, will have something new posted later this week when I’m feeling better.

In the meantime I’ll be taking a pain-killer and will try to stay off my leg as much as possible.

See ya on Friday!

The S.A.G. awards aired last night on TNT AND TBS.

Was happy to hear The Help took home 3 awards last night.

Don’t believe me?

Read it for yourself:

http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/18th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards

My trip to L.A. had been an enjoyable one. As for my borderline cold, it’s pretty much out of my system. Hopefully I’ll be able to declare myself well by Friday.

I’ll be taking it slow this week due to my recent trip and the fact I’m not feeling all that great, which if anyone asks is not related to the cold I’m getting over.

For now I’m just going to sit back, rest and watch a movie or two.

I’ll be updating my website next week.

In other news I listened to another teleconference this weekend. Great stuff! brought up a lot of good points.

Also due to the high number of entries in the Champion Screenwriting Competition, I recently found out that the Top 20 and Top 10 Movie and TV show scripts will announced next sunday and hopefully the semifinalists for the other categories won’t be too far off.

Will post how that goes. I also have some ideas for a some blog posts for February which is Black History Month.

So stay tuned!

See ya on Wednesday!

Well, the Oscar nominees have been announced and to be honest I was taken aback that “The Living Proof” didn’t make best original song. It was one of the best songs I heard last year and The Help was a great movie.

But enough about that…

Here are the nominees for the S.A.G. awards:

http://www.sagawards.org/media-pr/11213

I sadly won’t be in L.A. for the full week as originally planned. I’m pretty saddened by it but I hope to be back in the city soon.

Will post the S.A.G. award winners after the awards on Sunday.

See ya on Monday!