She broke my heart. That started it all. I sat in my room with my heart pounding and my thoughts racing. How could she have done this to me? I grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper, and decided to write down my thoughts. The first thing I wrote wasn’t about what happened or a plea to get her back. I wrote two words: Chapter One.
I was 10 years old. I wrote Life In Timberline. A 6 page hand written lament about my first love.
Today, June 7th, 2017, 37 years later, my first book is published. Yes, in 2014, I self published an eBook called Scott Luck Stories, but this book, thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, has pages, a cover, pictures and an ISBN number. This book is on sale across the globe. It can be found in book stores, online stores and on my own website. I have signed over 90 copies already and sent them out. I did it. I didn’t know at 10 years old that I was becoming a writer, although the fact that I wrote Chapter One before I shared what was on my mind, should have been a clue.
For my entire life I have written things. Movies, songs, Broadway reviews, Television series, essays, novels, blogs and magazine articles. But now I am published. This journey of bringing this book to life has been an amazing experience. My favorite part of my book is my Special Thanks section. Mostly because there are so many people who helped me get here. I love thanking people who help. I won’t repeat those thanks here. They are in my book. Did you know I have one? I do. It is fun to have a dream come true.
So let’s talk thirtysomething. It started as a podcast and just an interview with Richard Kramer. It grew so quickly, and before I knew it, I was getting emails on a daily basis from some of the artists who have inspired me the most. Writers whose words set my life on a trajectory of honesty and compassion. Actors that made me understand what creating characters was all about. I spoke with directors that shaped how I would film scenes for my movies. I learned so much about art by doing this project. I am excited to share thirtysomething with the world, but I am more excited to share how good art is crafted in a time where well crafted items are usually thrown away for something new and inferior.
I also need to thank the fans of thirtysomething. These people love this show in such a deep way. I can’t imagine the letters and comments that the people connected with the show must get. I get Facebook messages all the time with people just pouring out their hearts to me. This show touches people in a way that just doesn’t happen anymore. I am honored to take these stories and listen. I respect the show and the fans that created all these feelings.
I have had a very good year and half working on this project. I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful wife Jennifer that supports me everyday. No artist thrives without encouragement. I am lucky I have it.
There will be other projects, The Blue Rose Magazine is taking off, and I have 3 other books I want to start as soon as I can. The thirtysomething project will always be my first book that actually worked out and was born into the world — just like I dreamed as a ten-year old. I am still excited to write those magical words that I wrote so long ago. They always mean begin. Begin is such better than finish. So while I put this experience to rest, I know that I will very soon grab a pencil and paper to write again: Chapter One.
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This book was truly a labor of love. For those of you who think Scott just gathered everyone at his house and just had a pow wow about thirtysomething and recorded it and then transcribed onto his laptop, you are completely mistaken. It is in fact Scott’s talented and creative style that we should recognize that truly gives us the feeling that everyone is together in a room just reflecting and sharing. But easy? This task was surely nothing of the sort. This was a tremendous undertaking, dedication and effort to take hours and hours of phone conversations from each and every person, director, writer, set designer, actor, dp, etc and then listen, take notes, edit and if that’s not enough, put together episodically. Even after that is done, he had to sift through hours of conversation finding a common thread and grouping together to make sense. Crazy if you ask me. So proud of my friend. So proud of this book. I am thrilled to even have had the smallest part in helping create this profound monster of a legacy from in my opinion, the greatest television show ever made. Kudos to you Scott.