Blog Tour – Torry Martin

[author title=”Torry Martin” image=”https://www.almostanauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Torry-in-New-York.jpg”]Torry Martin is an award-winning actor, screenwriter, and comedian. He is also the co-author of “Of Moose and Men” written with Doug Peterson and published by Harvest House Publishing. He has 8 books of comedy sketches published by Lillenas Drama Publishing and is also the creator of the character of Wooton Basset for Focus on the Family’s “Adventures in Odyssey.” Martin has written 11 full feature length scripts with co-writer Marshal Younger, including the comedies “The Boonies”, “Helen of Troy, TN”, “Heaven Bound” and “The Matchbreaker”.  His most recent acting roles were in the Taylor Swift parody of “The Office”, Hallmark’s “The Ultimate Legacy”, and the feature films “Heaven Bound”, “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone”, “The Matchbreaker,” “Skid” and “Mountain Top”.[/author]

What is your latest book?

My latest book is called “Of Moose and Men” and was co-written with the brilliant and talented Doug Peterson. (He makes me sound smart! Not an easy feat, mind you!) It’s published by Harvest House Publishing and available on Amazon.com and at Christian bookstores nationwide.

I’ve also written two screenplays that have been produced and will be out later this year. Both screenplays were written with my screenwriting partner Marshal Younger. (Without a doubt one of the best screenwriters I know and a gem of a guy!) We met almost 20 years ago while writing together for “Adventures in Odyssey” produced by Focus on the Family. The films are called “Heaven Bound” which is a faith-based comedy and stars Michael Joiner from “The Grace Card”, Nancy Stafford from TV’s “Matlock” and Danny Vinson from “Walk the Line”. The other film is a mainstream romantic comedy called “The Matchbreaker” and stars Christina Grimmie from “The Voice”.

Blog Tour Questions

Why do you write what you do?

Well that’s an odd question. Why does anyone write what they do? I guess the simple answer is that these are stories that I simply must “get out” of me so I can move on to the next one. Kind of clearing the arteries for more I guess. The message is always what’s most important to me but I prefer that the message appear as almost an afterthought that is clouded with a great story and of course, comedy. I also always have to have comedy involved. That’s just a natural with me.

What are you currently writing?

I’m about to start a new book that will be a sequel of sorts to “Of Moose and Men” and has a working title of “The Call of the Mild: Responding to the Lion’s Roar.” It’ll be about the experiences I’ll be having over the course of the next year and will be very organic in nature. Whatever God has in store for me is what I’ll write about, and so far- it’s promising to be a very busy year filled with travel to different continents where I’ll be making some films. Kind of hush-hush still for the next few weeks but announcements are forthcoming.

Marshal and I are also working on rewrites for the films “Helen of Troy, TN” and “The Boonies” which have both been optioned. We have three other films that have been optioned as of last week as well that we are working on rewrites for too. Those films are “The Little Wanderers”, “Mustang Summer” and “Riding Shotgun”. In addition to that, we wrote the first draft of “Touchdown on the Tundra” and are hoping to start “Amish Lessons” and “When Pigs Fly” next. Yesterday we started discussions about writing a musical for a company. Should be interesting! I also write monthly columns for “Clubhouse” magazine for Focus on the Family. Not bad for a guy who graduated high school with a “D” average and never took a writing class. I’m blessed to be able to work with talented writing partners though. I wouldn’t be anything at all if I wasn’t working with Marshal Younger and Doug Peterson. They both take a good story and make it great. I love collaborative writing and seeing how the stories evolve with my writing partners.

How does your work differ from other work in its genre?

Yikes! These are tough questions. I should probably have Marshal or Doug responding to them so I can sound smarter. I don’t know exactly how my stories differ from other works in their genre because I write in so many genres. Not just one. Romance, drama, comedy, faith based, mainstream, action, family, historical. I’m all over the place thanks to my chronic ADHD. (It really is a blessing!) I think what makes it unique though is that it’s not just my voice that people are hearing. Like I said, I work with writing partners so I tend to work in the third voice which is a combination of my voice, Marshal or Doug’s voice and then the third voice is the voice that we create together. I love the third voice because it’s infinitely better than our voices individually- particularly mine. I need a collaborator and would be lost without one.

How does your writing process work?

I usually come up with the big idea and the main story and basic character outlines. Then my writing partner and I break the screenplay down into 3 acts and place it all out on a bulletin board with index cards etc. Then after we have the story mapped out and the characters clearly defined, my writing partners take the index cards and write the first draft. Then they send it to me, I print it out, make notes all over the place, suggest dialogue changes etc and then…we Skype. We go through my notes together page by page and discuss whether they work or not and then- zoom. Off they go to start the next draft. This process repeats itself over and over and has gone up to 37 drafts for one project. That’s how many times we bounce it back and forth. Plus we have other writers and producers reading the drafts and suggesting notes for improvements as well. It’s very organic and very collaborative.

For “Of Moose and Men” we took several of my pre-existing comedy columns and made adjustments for them to fit into the book. Then for other sections, Doug would Skype me and interview me for the stories. He would record the conversations and then start on the chapters after we had decided previously which stories I wanted to tell and what the chapters would be about. Then again- we bounce it back and forth, I make notes, we discuss them and incorporate the ones we agree on and keep doing that as our process. Doug is really brilliant when it comes to finding the spiritual applications to the stories and articulating them well- he’s also a very funny guy. Marshal is also extremely funny and clever. Marshal has written hundreds of “Adventures in Odyssey” episodes and I can always tell which stories are his because they are always my favorite. They are always poignant, humorous, touching, and based in reality. He creates characters that are so real you can almost hear them breathing. I’m honored to be able to work with people as talented as Doug and Marshal. Oh and Rene Gutteridge too! I LOVE that woman! She is an amazing writer and I was honored to have her as part of the writing team on “Heaven Bound”. I also was cast in her film “Skid” that is based on the book of the same name. If you have never read her book “Boo”- oh my word- you are missing out! So funny! Rene did the novelization with Michelle Cox for the screenplay “Just 18 Summers” that Marshal and I wrote with Michelle. Still hoping that film gets produced so we can actually get paid for it. Yeesh. It’s hard knowing in the meantime that the novelization of your work is out there and you aren’t making a dime off it. Note to Screenwriters: ALWAYS keep yourself attached to the novelization rights to your work. It might be the only money you ever see and that is far better than the opposite of being money you NEVER see. Ugh. Lesson learned. Great story though!

Anyway, sometimes I have to pinch myself when I think of the talented people that I get to write with. They are too good to be true!

Of Moose and Men   http://amzn.to/1VgahXa

Visit Torry at www.torrymartin.com

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