Book Preview: The Word That Pulled Me Off the Couch

I was lying on the couch, watching The Bachelor, wondering if it was time to quit. Then Ray Bradbury called. He read my play. He believed in me. And he signed this photo with one word that changed everything: Onward.

It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

I was broke. Burned out. Lying on the couch watching The Bachelor, seriously wondering if I was done. Not just with filmmaking—but with dreaming altogether.

And then the phone rang.

Not a metaphor. Not a movie moment. A real phone call—from Ray Bradbury.

He had read my play. He liked it. And then he said the words that would knock the wind back into my lungs:

“You have what it takes. Promise me you won’t quit.”

This chapter is about that moment. That call. And the single word he later mailed me on a signed photo—a word that became my compass.

“Onward.”