Author Spotlight: Nicholas Checker
Independent Film Screenwriter, Author, Playwright Nicholas Checker Discusses His Work!
The Saga of Marathon -- blend of legend, mythology, and history where a young foot-courier races against peril after peril for the future of democracy.(Photo Courtesy of Author Nicholas Checker)
Hey Readers!
This week I am thrilled to welcome Screenwriter/Author/Playwright, Nicholas Checker to A Busy Lady’s Author Spotlight.
I love meeting other writers and learning more about their journey and works. One of my goals for A Busy Lady is not only to bring you content that empowers you, but that inspires you. Having a place where both indie and traditionally published writers can share their journeys is part of that plan!
About Nicholas Checker
Nicholas Checker is an enormously talented screenwriter, author and playwright whose works have gained national attention. He’s written independent films shown in cinemas and festivals nationwide. Shedim -- an eerie supernatural piece premiered at Niantic Cinemas and followed with impressive festival appearances that included Yale University and the Channel Island Film Fest in Los Angeles. Other works, including The Snowman, followed by Radio Rage, Checker's 2004 stab at hate radio talk shows, also made a solid festival trek.
In addition to film, Checker is also known for his notable stage works including Kangaroo Court (Eldridge Publishing) a dark satire where animals put humans on trial, which saw productions throughout the country, and in 2023 won a Best High School Production in the state of Texas. Other works include highly lauded historical play on the Pequot War, Elegy for an Icon, that premiered at the Local Playwrights' Festival at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in Waterford, CT, and Run To Elysia – with music by songwriter Rick Spencer of Mystic, CT, which premiered at the O'Neill Theater.
All this and more! Checker also wrote and directed Trashed, a documentary-drama on eminent domain and homelessness, showcased in major festivals in Connecticut and New York, in addition to The Curse of Micha Rood, based on a historic legend and starring Ron Palillo (formerly of the Welcome Back Kotter series). Check out more on this here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2308072/
The Legend of Kwi Coast -- a rebellious young dolphin is exiled to the open seas for defying her Clan's rigid code, and discovers an evil truth. (Photo Courtesy of Author Nicholas Checker)
Checker is also author to several novels including Scratch, Druids, and recent works, The Saga of Marathon and The Legend of Kwi Coast, all of which can be purchased at Amazon or Bank Square Books in Mystic CT (more on Checker’s books and where to purchase are in the interview – but here is a link as well! https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nicholas%20Checker/author/B0063M5NOW)
Checker has studied under Hollywood screenwriter Peter Filardi and Filardi's brother Jason -- both successful writers who still assist Checker in evaluating his new works. In fact, Checker himself is an extraordinary teacher, inspiring numerous writers.
I recently had the opportunity to ask Checker questions on his work, his journey, and his thoughts on writing. You don’t want to miss this!
And if you’re in the Connecticut area, Checker will be performing his short story, “Hungry Headstones” published last year by national literary press, Conceit Magazine, at the Veterans Coffee House of Eastern Connecticut on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at the GRISWOLD SENIOR CENTER, 220 Taylor Hill Road, Jewett City CT, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM. This story's essence holds great significance to the spirit of Memorial Day.
So, without further ado – I present Nicholas Checker.
Thanks so much Nicholas for being here!
First, please tell me about your writing journey. Did you always know you were a writer?
My writing journey actually began as a child, writing fictional adventures about my dog, Butch. I had become hooked on storytelling as a result of my mother luring me into an appreciation for literature via Classics Illustrated Comics, which featured great authors like Kipling, Melville, Dickens, Shelley, Stevenson, Hawthorn, Twain, HG Wells, Jules Vern, Cervantes ... the list is endless. It led me into reading the actual books on which those illustrated versions were based (my mother's plan from the onset). It worked, and I credit a great deal of what I know about the craft of writing to my exposure to the masters, leading me also into reading Tolkien, Adams, Clavell, King, Moorcock ... another endless list. Sir Isaac Asimov once said, "If you want to learn to write, then read ... read voraciously. I've done so all my life!
Teachers and even an elementary school principal mentioned to my parents that I had an aptitude for writing, and in junior high school my English teacher saw to it that a creative piece of mine appeared in the school paper. In high school, my sophomore English teacher persuaded me to submit a spooky story I had written to a regional newspaper contest, and it received Honorable Mention. But I did not continue writing until after college when I wrote some features for local newspapers. (I had been too caught up in performing arts and in gymnastics.) Two friends of mine, shortly after, gave me The Writer's Handbook as a Christmas gift and I felt obligated to at least write and submit a short story. It got published and set me on the path to pursue fiction writing, which I also wound up teaching in schools and through regional arts & community organizations. The storyteller in me was unleashed and I'll let the brief bio I've submitted say the rest!
What does your writing process look like?
My writing process is precisely what I teach my students who have ranged in age from elementary school to senior citizens. When the initial muse for a story strikes me, I jot out a flurry of story aspects and characters, then map it out in a tightly disciplined order of events, and follow that map-out in creating the actual tale, knowing that "spontaneous literary combustion" will occur during the process. Then I edit until it reads the way I envisioned it, followed by a couple of highly trusted literary friends reading it. When I feel it's right, I send it out.
Can you tell us about your journey into the world of independent filmmaking and playwriting?
At the University of Connecticut, where I was a Fine Arts major (drama and literature), I performed in countless plays and did so after college as well. But I had never considered playwriting at all until becoming aware of a controversy regarding the longstanding statue of a Colonial commander who had led a brutal attack on a local Native tribe in Mystic (CT), the Pequots. I had just come off performing in a gripping historical drama about the ill-fated 10th Voyage of the famous whaling ship, the Morgan, on display at the renowned Mystic Seaport Outdoor Museum. It was written by a woman named Ann Peabody and we performed it all summer on the very deck of the Morgan itself. I was utterly impressed with the way Ann had "gone back in time and come back with the ghosts" we all brought to life. And when the Mason controversy erupted, I took my inspiration gained from Ann's play and vowed to do the same with the Pequot War. I did just that and the play made its debut at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in Waterford, CT in the 1990s. It was lauded for its sense of historical responsibility in bringing our Colonial and Native past back to life. And years later -- very recently -- I was awarded a state arts grant to adapt my old play into a solo-performer piece, which I presented in regional venues, enhancing the play's historic and educational value. Following the original Elegy for an Icon, I wrote my next play, a biting one-act satire, Kangaroo Court, where animals put humans on trial. The theme was that "animals are not disposable items" and it captured a wide range of audiences throughout New England, well before being published by Eldridge Publishing (1998), leading mostly to high school productions across the country. Most recently (2023), Kangaroo Court was performed in a statewide high school competition in Texas where it took first place! (My bio covers the rest of my playwriting endeavors, including a concept I created and developed for adult students, the "One-Character-Wonder.") This One Character-Wonder Exploratory Playwriting Program -- a highly successful one -- is conducted in coordination with the Garde Arts Center and Flock MakerSpace, meeting at the Thames Club in New London. These students have delighted audiences throughout the region and represents one of my most significant artistic achievements.
Ironically, it was Kangaroo Court that led to my delving into screenwriting and independent filmmaking. I had attended a screenwriting seminar conducted by Peter Filardi, a native of Mystic, where I lived at the time. Peter had recently made a mark on Hollywood with his chilling feature film, The Flatliners (he would go on to make his mark on Hollywood all the more) and was sharing his craft with other hopefuls. I was among them and Peter agreed to teach me screenwriting after having read Kangaroo Court. It lead to my writing and seeing produced a fair number of short indie films (see bio), including The Curse of Micah Rood, which featured former sitcom star, Ron Palillo, of the old Welcome Back Kotter TV series. Directed by Alec Asten of Firesite Films, Micah Rood went on to win multiple awards. I was also fortunate to also receive solid guidance in screenwriting from Jason Filardi, Peter's brother, another successful Hollywood writer.
Scratch -- a legendary tomcat struggles to save two warring clans from a far greater danger stalking them both. (Photo Courtesy of Author Nicholas Checker).
Do you have any advice for writers that want to explore storytelling in different mediums?
For literary writers, keep in mind that invoking the senses -- sight, sound, scent, touch, taste -- is what draws readers inside your tale and keeps them there in your grip; and that the magical grip of the 6th sense, thought -- that introspective aspect where your main character is the "tour guide" through whom the reader "lives vicariously" -- is what constitutes the power of fiction writing.
Screenwriting is often referred to as "a story told through(moving) pictures" where imagery is your best friend, though dialogue is also key.
Playwriting is far more dialogue-dependent and dynamic where clever use of language determines success, though movement is also key.
Your works touch on many important themes and topics. How do you choose which story to write next?
I don't really choose my next topics; they choose me. And that inspiration can come at any time from any number of sources. Elegy for an Icon came to me due to a public controversy; my novel, Scratch, came to me due to frequent visits from a mysterious feral cat that visited me and my windowsill-princess (cat), Prowler ... giving me cause to wonder where this "Puss'n'Boots" of the woodlands went on his many journeys. A disturbing newspaper article then cemented my reason for this story being developed into a full novel.
In developing the novel. Run to Elysia -- my stage musical based on the legend of the Greek foot-courier who raced on a desperate mission to help save the future of the world's first democracy -- came to me on a training run of my own, the terrain I was crossing raising images of what I had seen in a historical Classic Illustrated. Later on, I would adapt that play into the finest piece of writing I have done to date, my novel The Saga of Marathon.
Your play, Run to Elysia combines theater with music. How did the collaboration with songwriter Rick Spencer influence the storytelling?
I knew songwriter & singer, Rick Spencer, from performing at the Mystic Seaport as role players, and especially from our both having acted in Ann Peabody's The Tenth Voyage of the Morgan. When I had first been struck by the muse for developing the tale of legendary foot-courier, Pheidippides, it was to be a short story, but I could not get it to work and shelved it. After the success of Elegy for an Icon and Kangaroo Court, I thought about the story I had first titled Marathon Primeval and considered it as a play instead. But it was still lacking something ... and that something was music, songs with lyrics in particular. Having been familiar with Rick's music and the soulful manner in which he probed the human spirit, I showed him the original short story I'd written and asked if he might glean songs from it. He said yes and we sat down, tossing ideas back-and-forth, some of the lyrics even being derived from the story itself, but most coming from Rick Spencer's depth as a composer and lyricist. So I adapted the story into stage form, Rick provided the beautiful music and songs, and it was soon after accepted for its debut at the Local Playwrights' Festival held at the Eugene O'Neill Theater in Waterford, CT. Successful productions followed which delighted audiences. (Covered in my bio.) And it was former Boston Marathon winner, Amby Burfoot of Mystic, CT who urged me to adapt my play into a novel, saying that a worthy and engaging representation of Pheidippides' bold 26-mile trek from the Battlefield of Marathon to the fabled city-state of Athens had never been properly told. Well, according to Amby and everyone who has read The Saga of Marathon -- including my publisher, The Wild Rose Press of New York -- it has finally been done. My goal is to one day see my novel made into a film, which would be the ultimate triumph in paying homage to Pheidippides and the heroes of 490 BC Greece!
What is the single most important advice you have for writers on sharing their work with others?
Best advice for sharing one's work with others is that you must first know your own story and its interior so well, that you are virtually the "Oracle of all Knowledge" on the subject and how you wrote it. Then let a couple of highly trusted readers experience it and give you their reactions to it. Be ready to consider realistically any suggestions made, but also trust your own sense of what you intended and wrote.
Druids - a trio of unlikely comrades are thrown together on a deadly quest to rescue their ruined realm from a deranged sorcery. (Photo Courtesy of Author Nicholas Checker).
What inspires you?
Any number of things inspire me. As stated earlier, I never go looking for stories; they always come looking for me and then it's my responsibility to represent them well in the telling. Tolkien once said, "Just tell a cracking good tale!" The famous German playwright, Bertolt Brecht stated that he wanted audiences thinking about what they had just seen, maybe even inspiring social change. And during a seminar I attended at the O'Neill Theater, playwright Wendy Wasserstein made a memorable statement: "You're going to see and hear things every day that are going to make you angry; don't get angry, go home and write!" This trio of great writers inspired me immensely!
Tell me about your current work.
My latest work is a novel I refer to as an environmental thriller called When the Raven Flies, where ancient woodland spirits rise up in defiance of corrupt humans ... with an ambitious young business couple caught in the middle. For what I hope it will accomplish, it may well prove to be my most important and engaging work to date. Hoping to have it ready to submit by summer's end.
Is there anything else you’d like to share? How can readers find you to engage with your work?
One last thing to share with fellow writers is that I believe the most important book on writing is Strunk and White's, The Elements of Style, 3rd or 4th edition. A prominent fantasy editor once urged me to make that purchase and I am eternally grateful to him for it! Also, I am often asked which genre is my favorite. I always answer the same:
"Anything with colorful characters engaged in colorful conflicts."
How can writers contact you and where can they find your work?
I can be reached via my e-mail: nickchecker@aol.com and on Facebook: Nicholas P. Checker
My novels, The Saga of Marathon, The Legend of Kwi Coast, Scratch, and Druids are all available on Amazon, as is my novelette prequel to Druids -- Freebooters. My novels are also available at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT, while Druids is also available at No Other Book Like This, also in Mystic. And my short story, Hungry Headstones, that I will be presenting publicly for a regional veterans group, was published by a classy literary press, Conceit Magazine out of California that has also published a number of works written by my short story and novelette writing students through the Town of Groton Parks & Recreation. I'd love to hear from you!
Thank you so much Nicholas Checker for sharing your journey with us!
I hope you all enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Please leave a comment and share with your friends!
Till Next Time,
Sarah
AKA A Busy Lady
Great job Sarah
Wowzah! An amazing interview. Thanks!