A Sign?

And Confession

Several lifetimes ago, I moved to Los Angeles with a dream of becoming an actress. I landed gigs, joined SAG-AFTRA, and got an agent, but my professional life took me in other directions, including bookseller, teacher, licensed psychotherapist, producer, screenwriter, and author.

Last year, my third thriller, THE UNDERDOG, was published, and I nervously returned to my acting roots, co-narrating it with the talented Kate Hergott. It’s about a down-on-her-luck filmmaker working on a reality TV music show who crosses paths with a dangerous, obsessed fan—the role I voiced.

In December 2024, THE UNDERDOG’S PREQUEL, BROKEN THREADS, was published. A 39-page thriller novella about an older technical writer who loses her job to AI and hires a young influencer to promote her book when things take a deadly turn.

I always thought it would make a great series or film, so I decided to turn it into a vlog-style vertical and star in it, and I created this Substack to document the process.

A confession. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been stalling, doubts creeping in. Do I still have it?

A sign? On Friday, I got a notice from SAG-AFTRA that I’ve been selected to serve on the 33rd Annual Actor Awards Motion Picture Nominating Committee and will vote to select the Actor Awards nominees for Outstanding Film Performances this year. A reminder that I was once part of the acting community and had earned my membership by being a working actor.

So much of an artist’s life is finding the determination to keep going in the face of “Nos,” whether it come from within or from the outside. I took the notice as a sign to keep going.