Eva Gardos is the writer/director of the soon to be movie based on my book, “Cindy in Iraq”. The script is a Semifinalist in the 2009 Cynosure Screenwriting Awards. Congrats Eva!
About the Competition: The Cynosure Screenwriting Awards seek to expand the scope of mainstream cinema by recognizing and rewarding feature-length scripts with distinctive and challenging screen roles for women and minorities. As the definition of cynosure indicates, we are looking for scripts to serve as a guide to an industry bereft of diverse stories. Two (2) $2500 cash prizes will be awarded, one to the best screenplay showcasing a strong female protagonist and one to the best screenplay with a compelling minority protagonist. Additional prizes have been added, so be sure to visit the “Prizes” section on the Contest page.
Past judges for the Cynosure Screenwriting Awards include established actors, managers and industry professionals from Fox Searchlight, Showtime, The Jacobson Company, Paradigm Literary and Talent Agency, Icon Productions, New Regency Entertainment, The Steve Tisch Co., Oxygen, Jersey Films, and DiNovi Pictures, to name just a few.
Cynosure scripts have been solicited by various studios and production companies, including Fox, ABC Television, Viacom, Licht/Mueller Film Corporation, Arpil Entertainment, Mohawk Productions, Flying Freehold Productions, Edmonds Entertainment, Klasky Csupo, Inc., Berg/Saccani Entertainment.In addition, scripts have been requested by agents and managers from Paradigm Literary and Talent Agency, the Radmin Company, Smith Entertainment, KPE Entertainment, Accurate Representation and Energy Entertainment, among others.
Personal note to Eva: I have had the greatest pleasure working with you on this. Thank you so much for talking me into writing the book and I wish you the best on this! I really hope you win!!!
you can find a full list of semifinalist at http://www.broadmindent.com/id26.html
My editor just emailed me telling me that they would like to publish the book earlier than they said, get it out for the 4th of July. She asked if I could get leave to come home at that time for the publicity. Of course, I told her I could. So folks, it looks like things are going to step up a bit and we will be looking at it being on the shelves the last of June, first of July. I am going to be one busy person between now and then. Between the job and getting all the editing done, I am not going to have much free time for a while. Of course, I am not complaining. I love being under the gun, so to speak, as many of ya’ll know. With each step forward we make on this book and the closer it gets to being on the shelves, the more real it all becomes. But for me, I guess it wont totally feel real till I see it in print. Anyway, I am very excited. As soon as I have dates for the publicity and where I am going to be, I will let everyone know. Ya’ll all take care.
Posted 4 years, 1 month ago. Add a comment
WOW! The last 36 hours have been something! First let me start with the book. As most know, and have seen the entry, Free Press Publishing sends out a catalog to the book stores so they can order the books they and to put in their store for the next season. Well, night before last, I received 3 copies of the catalog from my editors office. This is sooooo cool! I know I have been working on this book for several months now. Terry and I have been emailing each other almost daily as well write each chapter. Liz and I have emailed about the cover design and what pictures to include. We all have been working very hard on the book. But I have to say, it all didn’t seem real to me. I mean, we all do things in our lives that we think would make a good book or movie topic, but nothing ever happens to it. Then to have several someone’s actually tell you that you should write a book about something you did, that you see as just part of your life and who you are….. WELL, that is totally cool. As each step of this book has been taken, I have become more and more aware of the fact that this is really happening….. it isn’t a dream! But the other day……..well, that really brought it all home for me. When I got those catalogs and opened to the paged marked, and saw the catalog entry with my name on it……….. I was speechless! Now most of ya know, my being speechless is not something that happens very often, but I was, for a few seconds. When the guys in the office saw that I had quite talking in mid-sentence, of course they all wanted to know what it was that I had gotten. I smiled and turned the book around and showed them the page. As much as they have heard about the book and have known that I was doing it, I think they felt as I did about it. Holding this in my hands, made it real for not only me, but for them as well. Some of these guys are new friends and some I have known since I worked for KBR. You would have thought that it was happening to them. I got hugs, hand shakes and a lot of teasing! I was told I have to make sure they ALL get autographed copies! I think I am going to get writers cramp very quick when this thing finally does come out! Anyway, after I made it home, I took the catalog out and really looked at it. There is my name, in print, with a picture of what the cover is going to look like. “WOW! This is so cool! This is really happening!” was my thought. It still blows my mind!
Posted 4 years, 2 months ago. Add a comment
Free Press, June 2006
Cindy in Iraq: A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone
It’s one of the least covered stories in the Iraqi war. Now, the writer of the popular “Cindy in Iraq” blog narrates her harrowing experiences during a year driving trucks as a civilian contractor for Halliburton.
Cindy Morgan was on the front lines of Iraq––not enlisted in the military, but in a job just as dangerous: as a convoy commander leading groups of fifteen to thirty trucks through perilous territory. Having promised her three sons that she would always tell them the truth about what she was experiencing, she started her blog “Cindy in Iraq” as a way to stay in touch with family and friends back home. “Cindy in Iraq” soon became a valuable resource for families of contractors, and those thinking about becoming contractors, as well as a telling story of the disturbing realities facing brave civilian workers.
Here, we see Cindy’s story in full detail—how, after thirteen years’ experience as a truck driver in the U.S., as well as orientation by Halliburton, she still was shocked by what she faced. Unarmed, with virtually no training, one of the only female truck drivers, she became a moving target for insurgents, constantly at risk of being ambushed, shot at, kidnapped, or executed.
Cindy’s journey in Iraq also became a voyage of self-discovery. Having left an abusive husband, she went to Iraq because she was “tired of surviving her life and not living it.” She went to Iraq to find out “who I am and what I am made of here….Honor, integrity, pride and humanity can all be discovered.” As Cindy relays her experiences, both she and the reader are transformed.
Cynthia I. Morgan drove a big rig across the U.S. for thirteen years before venturing into Iraq in 2003, where she was a civilian convoy commander in charge of up to thirty trucks delivering supplies to American bases throughout the war-torn country. After seven months back in the U.S., she returned to Iraq. She lives, usually, in Tennessee.
September 2006
Free Press
Biography and Autobiography
6 x 9, 256 pages
8 pages of black-and-white photographs
Carton quantity: 20
EAN: 978074328640452500
0-7432-8640-5
$25.00 hardcover
$34.50 in Canada
Posted 4 years, 2 months ago. Add a comment
I just thought I would let everyone know that I got the papers yesterday through FedEx for the book deal. I signed them and will be sending them back through FedEx today. There will be a press release coming out as soon as they are received back in the states and everyone has their copies. I will send ya’ll a copy of the press release when it comes out. Terry Golway is my co-writer and we are hard at work on it. I have done lots of writing over the last two weeks. Sometimes it is very hard to do. The first chapter is going to be about why I came to Iraq and my thoughts on the flight over. The next chapter or two will be a history of my life from childhood till the day I stepped on the plane and flew to Houston. That is what we are working on now. At times, that can be very emotionally draining. As with all of us, not all of our past holds the best of memories. For the first time I had to sit and write out what happened the day my now, ex-husband nearly killed me 2 1/2 years ago. Whereas, that has been most difficult, it has also been a bit healing. I have cried and I have laughed in all that I have written so far. I will keep ya’ll posted on the books progress.
Posted 4 years, 7 months ago. Add a comment
