Author/Screenwriter PJ Woodside – I spent decades learning how to use fewer words. (Is that a short enough story?)

About

My first memory of writing is telling my cousin I could write cursive, and making rows and rows of loopy lines across the page. I wasn’t prepared for her to ask me what it said, but when she did I gave her an entire story, putting my finger on each “word” as I did.

I’ve been writing ever since. I passed a million words a long time ago. I should probably take a rest, but I can’t. Writing is what makes me feel the most like me.

After making zero-budget movies for 10 years, I’ve switched to writing full-time. I have several unproduced screenplays available as well as three completed novels.

I would love to work with you!

CONTACT: I can be reached at pj.woodside at gmail.com or pj@pjsproductions.com

My latest project combines my writing and movie-making experiences. Now available: Cheapskate Movie Makers: How We Made 10 Horror Movies in 9 Years With Nearly Zero Budget

Novels

I hold an MFA in fiction from George Mason University and studied under Ernest Gaines and Richard Bausch. My publications include dozens of short stories, poems, and non-fiction articles.

Below are my current projects looking for homes.

Ready for sale

Ravine, 84,000 words. A middle-aged theater professor whose husband and lover die in the same tragic accident attempts to numb her grief through a series of sexual encounters. Complete and under consideration.

A Reckoning of Hands, 82,000 words. A reluctant psychic is trying to quit the business when the son of a former client walks back into her life and demands she put right the trauma she caused his family. In progress.

Diving in the Dark, 90,000 words. A girl whose father is serving in Vietnam in 1970 watches the women in her family deal with love, loss and liberty even as she tries to decide what kind of women she wants to be. In progress.

In development

The Jesus Project. Based on my short story “Second Coming” published in NFG in 2005, this story is set in a future world which has cloned Jesus for political purposes, and is told from the unwitting surrogate mother’s point of view. In development.

Screenplays

Unproduced

Love From a Safer Distance (Romantic Comedy): When a struggling wannabe costume designer finally gets her big chance on Broadway, her dream is complicated by the pandemic –and by the snarky, attractive stranger who moves in next door.

Pretty Demons (Demon Thriller): When the brilliant but bullheaded curator of a struggling museum accidentally unleashes a sex demon that preys on men and terrorizes a city, she must find a way to unravel the spell or lose everything she cares about.

The High Road (Buddy Comedy): Two distraught women escape their families and troubles for a quick getaway that turns into a new business venture. Vibes of Thelma and Louise meet Harold and Kumar. Under revision.

The Creepy Doll Returns (Horror): A doll with eerie powers entices a bullied teenager to take revenge on her older stepsister and the friends under her control in this sequel to The Creepy Doll (2009) which can work as a standalone as well. Complete and ready for sale.

Produced

Frances Stein (2015) with Big Biting Pig Productions

Lucid (2013) with Big Biting Pig Productions

The Creepy Doll (2011) with Big Biting Pig Productions

Widow (2009) with Big Biting Pig Productions

Movies

For 9 years I worked with Big Biting Pig Productions making micro-budget horror movies. I wrote and directed four of them and Steve Hudgins wrote and directed the other six.