Today we’d like to introduce you to Seraphina Nova Glass.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Currently, I’m thrilled to be able to say I have the best job in the world teaching what I love. I’m an Assistant Professor of Instruction and Playwright-in-Residence at the University of Texas, Arlington. Although I tried my hand at acting, directing, and filmmaking throughout my career, my first love is writing.
I wasn’t an avid reader as a kid. In fact, I hated school. Growing up, I went to a tiny, religious school with less than fifty kids in total, K-12. I think I was the only kid in my grade a few years in a row. We worked on our assignments alone, in silence all day, every day. There was no interaction or traditional teaching, so it was a very isolating upbringing. I guess I resented being forced to sit alone all day with my books, so further reading or writing…or isolation after school hours, was NOT a priority. Moving to public school–finally–in eighth grade seemed like a dream! …but I and my home-made culottes did not fit in, needless to say. I was bullied and miserable, and so I actually dropped out of high school in tenth grade and went a little wild.
I’ll skip the bad-girl, rebellious stage and jump to a few years later when I realized I was quite lost. I am exceedingly grateful for my natural drive and intellectual curiosity because it didn’t take long to discover that, to put it gently, I was not living up to my potential. I hitchhiked back home from L.A. and pursued a GED and enrolled in undergrad, and it changed my life. I met real friends for the first time and felt accepted. I discovered playwriting my freshman year, and I fell in love.
I quickly learned how hard the business is, and I’m still learning that every day. It doesn’t encourage one to keep pursuing writing when you produce a play you wrote and five people come to see it. Although I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy some success over the years, it still kind of feels that way a lot of the time, so you really have to love it and not expect anything in return.
After undergrad, I went on to earn an MFA degree in Dramatic Writing at Smith College and a second MFA in Directing from the University of Idaho, and then I had the opportunity to live and volunteer in Kenya, South Africa, and Guam and work in AIDS relief in villages using theatre as a teaching tool. There was a time I sold everything I owned and decided to stay in Kenya. I obviously came back eventually, but my time there, working with some incredible people and traveling the world has shaped me into the person I am now more than any formal education ever could.
Upon my return, I wrote some plays which won some awards. A few years ago I moved into screenwriting and now have several of my scripts under option with Hallmark and Lifetime. I was honored to have five-time Golden Globe winner, Ed Asner, star in a short film I wrote that did well on the festival circuit. In just the past few years I found agent representation for both playwriting (Robert A. Freedman Agency in New York) and screenwriting (Wolfrom Production in L.A.) But only days ago, one of my biggest dreams came true! I spent the fall writing a novel (a psychological thriller,) and it received multiple offers, to my utter shock. I just signed a deal with the literary agency of my dreams. So I’m now represented as a novelist by Folio Literary Management.
It’s been a long journey from shy, high school dropout to teaching at the University and signing exciting deals for my writing, and I am continuously humbled and grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way and for the unwavering support of the wonderful people in my life.
Please tell us about your art.
I write screenplays, which I love to do because most of the stuff I sell is happy, romantic-comedy that, although fluffy, has its place. It’s hopefully touching or funny and can allow someone to escape into an idealistic world if even just for a short time… which a lot of us need right now. At one point I thought I could just do that forever because it’s so uplifting and positive, and it’s nice to live inside a story that has a perpetual happy ending, but as most artists experience, I wanted to stretch my wings a bit and try out other genres and mediums.
I devour psychological thrillers, and so one day I thought, “Heck, maybe I’ll write one myself.” I never expected for it to receive the attention it did, so I’m really excited to continue in the thriller genre. It offers that escape in a totally different way. Anything page-turning immerses you totally in the world of the story, and I like that I am able to take a reader on a journey and offer an experience that forces them to become a detective themselves and try to unravel the mystery before the protagonist does. I’m already working on my next book.
We read, not just for entertainment, but to meet people we’ve never met, go to places we’ve never gone, and to be intellectually challenged. It enriches our lives, and in a world of 140 character tweets and abbreviated communication, I love keeping the art of full sentences alive and well.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
I think the biggest challenge is the support to do it. Every time a theatre, film, music, and art student changes their major to study for a more “realistic career,” it breaks my heart. There’s a perpetual lack of funding, and it’s tough to be taken seriously a lot of the time when it looks to peers as if you’re chasing a pipe dream, but we desperately need artists and arts education. Not just because immersion in the arts produces more well-rounded, empathetic, culturally sensitive, community-focused, engaged human beings, but because the world would be an unlivable place without it. It transcends age, race, language, politics, and ability. It unites and uplifts, and it makes me proud to be an artist and an advocate for arts education.
With the pressure to raise test scores eroding arts education, it’s increasingly harder for students to have access and exposure to film, dance, theatre, etc., but it’s crucial. There isn’t time here to go into the connection between arts education and academic achievement, so I won’t go on a tangent, but the evidence is staggering, so you should look it up. And you should support your local artists and arts education as well.
My favorite writer, James Baldwin, wrote the following, and I concur: “You write in order to change the world … if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” –James A. Baldwin
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Find my author page on Facebook: Seraphina Nova Glass: Author
I’m not on a lot of social media, but all updates for my upcoming book release and any screenplays that premier will be announced there. And, I literally just signed up for Twitter, finally.
Book publishing is a slow business, so it will be another 18 months before this first book I just signed comes out. Hopefully, some of my TV movies will premier before then, but I hope to continue my publishing journey with this new agency and hope for many more books to come after this one.
Contact Info:
- Email: seraphinanova@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seraphinasnovaglass/
- Twitter: @seraphinanova
Image Credit:
Bryan Chatlien
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