Blog | Jenny Waldo

Writer - Director - Film Educator

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Write what you (don’t) know

Jul 24, 2017
6 min

Write what you (don’t) know

I recently went to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to view the Ron Mueck exhibit. As I walked in, there was a piece by another artist that consisted of an LED panel scrolling text like you might see in Times Square. I don’t know who the artist is or where the phrases showcased come from, but as I passed, the phrase “A MAN CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE A MOTHER” scrolled by and I had a multitude of visceral reactions that stuck with me as I went on to the Muec

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Review: THE BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER

Apr 14, 2015
4 min

Review: THE BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER

The Ballad of a Small Player is vivid in the way a dream is when you first wake up, before it disappears from consciousness. A novel about the thrill of losing, and the impenetrable wall between opposites that sometimes vanishes in an instant of luck. RATING: 2.5 out of 5 stars. The Ballad of a Small Player is heavy on atmosphere. Locations are richly detailed, but the story is difficult to find through the haze of smoke. At the end of the first paragraph, we know all we real

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Photos, Books, Life…

May 20, 2014
2 min

Photos, Books, Life…

Don’t go thinking I haven’t been doing anything just because I haven’t been posting here! Oh no! I think that’s one of the things that we forget as creative people because it’s the WORK that matters, what we PRODUCE that can be touched or watched or absorbed through one sense or another. But life happens. And I want to experience it. And I’ve also just been busy trying to slog my way through the producing aspects. So here’s a tally of what’s been going on and I plan to get

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Book Review: PUSHING THE LIMITS

Mar 26, 2014
3 min

Book Review: PUSHING THE LIMITS

I have to admit, I was embarrassed to buy this book because the title and the cover looked so…cheesy. But my own YA novel “pushes limits” on things like sex and I wanted to see what was out there in the market. Honestly! I bought this for research…and then I fell in love with it. The synopsis of the story, below, is not why I fell in love with the book. The plot is fairly weak, a framing device to push the characters closer or to heighten tension. But what McGarry does in be

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YA Writing Contest! “Dear Lucky Agent”

Mar 26, 2014
1 min

YA Writing Contest! “Dear Lucky Agent”

If you write YA, send in your submission to the Dear Lucky Agent Contest! First 150-200 words and two social-media postings to be eligible, otherwise it’s FREE!!! Here’s what I’m sending, from my YA novel AFFINITY: A ball the size of Diana’s fist knotted in her stomach and tightened with a pinch. Nothing felt right. She scanned the crowd of bodies before her, surging like a tide, pushing and pulling, turning and reaching. Diana’d come home eager to get back to normal life

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BOOK REVIEW: PURE series

Mar 5, 2014
2 min

BOOK REVIEW: PURE series

PURE by Julianna Baggott follows several characters but the main heart of the story belongs to Pressia, a young girl turning 16 in a world that’s been obliterated by an atomic bomb 10 years prior. Everyone on the outside of a Dome which served as protection for the “pures” are considered “wretches” and have some kind of fusing. In Pressia’s case, one hand has been covered by the doll’s head that she was holding at the time of the blast. Another character is fused with birds t

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Book Review: ALLEGIANT (DIVERGENT series)

Jan 2, 2014
4 min

Book Review: ALLEGIANT (DIVERGENT series)

I just finished ALLEGIANT, the third and final sequel in the DIVERGENT series by Veronica Roth. It would be a disservice to give away anything that happens to the major characters, but I have to say that Roth’s writing is as brave and convention-shattering as her main characters. She demonstrates that Young Adult fiction does not have to be safe and comfortable for its audience. Out of the series, I still love DIVERGENT the best because of the newness of the world and the u

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Writing Villains & Understanding Their Villainy

Dec 13, 2013
7 min

Writing Villains & Understanding Their Villainy

Cruella de Vil is such a great villain. Her image sticks in my mind throughout time as a creepy lady who scared the crap out of me. And the best part about her, and most villains, is the entertaining value of her villainy. She is sassy and flashy, visually exciting. While I don’t want her to get those puppies, it is also fun to watch her try. I don’t even like 100 DALMATIONS as a movie, but I love Cruella de Vil. Childhood is where we learn about good and evil. Where o

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NaNoWriMo Begins

Nov 1, 2013
1 min

NaNoWriMo Begins

National Novel Writing Month begins with a challenge to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. Today is Day 1. I’m working on a sic-fi idea I’ve had since reading an article in the LA Times in 2003. Ten years later, I’m giving it a go. Okay, need to write! #NaNoWriMo #nationalnovelwritingmonth #novel #Writing

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MM: Walking Away

Sep 30, 2013
2 min

MM: Walking Away

Today was my last day at work for the Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) as their Program Coordinator. It’s the first job I’ve ever quit without some other reason like “I’m moving to another state.” Moreover, unlike my predecessor in the job, Michelle Mower, who left the position because she was pursuing full-time filmmaking, I’m leaving for a full-time job that’s not in my field. It’s the proverbial day-job and I guess I had hoped that through my work at SWAMP I wo

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WW: NaNoWriMo

Sep 5, 2013
4 min

WW: NaNoWriMo

In 2008 (OMG!) I took part in the National Novel Writing Month “competition” where anyone who signs up is challenged to write 50,000 words in 30 days, from the first minute of November 1st to the last minute of November 30th. I stopped at Day 18 with 85,000 words. This November, I plan to do it again! Here are the rules: Write a 50,000-word (or longer!) novel, between November 1 and November 30. Start from scratch. None of your own previously written prose can be included in

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WW: Openings (the struggle)

Aug 21, 2013
4 min

WW: Openings (the struggle)

So here’s the opening of my book, which is currently titled FIREPOWDER but will be getting a new title when I can think of a better one. It was originally entitled SOULMATES because that’s exactly what it’s about, but I’d like to come up with something less Harlequin Romance. PROLOGUE Soulmates, they both thought. It was a word she associated with silly girl fantasies, but now came to mean so much more. The existence of both a soul and a mate pointed toward s

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WW: The Idea

Aug 14, 2013
4 min

WW: The Idea

I am often asked, as a writer and as a filmmaker, where ideas come from. It’s a question that I have a very strong reaction to because, where do ideas NOT come from? Who doesn’t have ideas? And that reminds me that people think and live and breathe in different ways. I think visually; I have to SEE it. I also have words, dialogue, arguments, rants, and other verbal insanity running through my head at all times. And when there aren’t words there are songs from the radio.

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Writing Wednesdays

Aug 8, 2013
4 min

Writing Wednesdays

I’m doing this one kind of late today. It’s a busy busy time for me this month and this is the first moment I have to spend some time of this… I’d like to applaud the work of Maggie Stiefvater, whose writing I have come to love. I don’t always fall for authors. I usually fall for particular books and don’t care to read other works by that author. As a writer myself, I can see how horrifying this is, but at the same time it’s all about the art and not the artist. But I thi

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Movie Mondays

Aug 5, 2013
6 min

Movie Mondays

I’m starting a new initiative to get this website rolling! Welcome to MOVIE MONDAYS! I will also be having WRITING WEDNESDAYS and PHOTO FRIDAYS. Check in each week to see new posts regarding these topics. So for my inaugural Movie Monday post, I want to focus on learning to make movies at film school versus on the job. Today, August 5th, is the first day of a Teen Filmmaking Camp run by the organization I work for Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) which is a great r

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Book Review: LEGEND

Apr 12, 2013
4 min

Book Review: LEGEND

LEGEND by Marie Lu opens with high stakes and high suspense and remarkably manages to build up from there in an action-packed thrill ride that kept me hooked from page one. The story is told by one of two main characters who alternate each chapter, Day and June. Day is a criminal, a poor kid from the slums rebelling against the system and currently the government’s most wanted. June is a prodigy, the only one to ever receive a perfect score on her aptitude tests, graduating f

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Book Review: PRODIGY

Apr 12, 2013
3 min

Book Review: PRODIGY

PRODIGY by Marie Lu is the sequel to LEGEND. It begins right where the first book ended and continues the upward trend of high stakes and suspense through another action-packed thrill-ride. The story is told by one of two main characters who alternate each chapter, Day and June. Day is a criminal, a poor kid from the slums rebelling against the system and currently the government’s most wanted. June is a prodigy, the only one to ever receive a perfect score on her aptitude te

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Mar 11, 2013
1 min

Execution

The black hood lowered Over the round sky Blocking out the light My eyes strained At the artificial midnight My body instinctively knowing It should be day Outside I’d never seen lightning like this Alien blasts of Blue-white light Echoing through the air And I was surprised to see our world Still standing in their wake #poem #poetry #Writing

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Mar 1, 2013
1 min

Ode to Morning

The fog lay a thick band onto the grass, a crowd of people standing shoulder to shoulder. I couldn’t see but over their heads. Red and blue bands arced across the sky. Red where the dawning sun hit the clouds and blue their shadowed underbelly. The golden yolk rose from the ground, trumpeting its rays and painting the world before it priceless. Horses stood still in their fields, cows still lazed on their bellies. Their eyes watched the passing cars whose lights cut through t

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