A few years ago, i was reading scripts for a producer friend for a time. Now, i have little or no interest nor investment in the horror genre of movies but one of the projects that came across his desk made me want to take six weeks and see if i could re-write it into a horror comedy that could be made on enough of a shoestring that it barely had to succeed to make a profit. It had a title so good i thought it would make money on that alone (unfortunately, i can't list it here) and an interesting premise but, otherwise, was total garbage. Unfortunately the author, as writers will, thought it was perfection and wouldnt let a line be touched nor even option it if a rewrite was our intent. We let it go, but i been rewriting it a li'lbit in the back of my head ever since.
The Oasis Diner had been bypassed by a new interstate highway for over a decade. The failure of the establishment killed the man who'd run it most his life and both exigencies had ground his wife into a bitter invalid, growling & grumbling in the giant house aback the diner. Operation of the Oasis was down to two indolent & disagreeable sons. Breakfast and lunch trade from a nearby gypsum mine kept the operation barely afloat, but the mother insisted that the Oasis keep the same hours her husband had, leaving the brothers little to do but spend their evenings sniping at each other behind the counter and scheming ahead of each other in their dying mother's will consideration. One night, just when the brothers' animus had already reached a near-homicidal pitch, a pretty young woman walks into their establishment covered with blood. Mayhem ensues.
As for your humble servant, my years-long sentence caring for my my aged parents has dashed my highest writing aspirations into utter infeasibility. In fact, the last few years i've dedicated the first month of the summer to an intentionally light project to clear my palate but, this year, even that episode was disastrous. I've been trying to think of a way to write something that would take no care whatsoever and help me kick out the jams of my own anger and frustration. And the Oasis Diner stepped up to the fore of my addled sensibilities. Thought i'd take a month and try to fire out my own Grand Gignol a la Spec to present to the producer which might inspire him to make another offer on the property.
I always pick a specific writing soundtrack for each piece (i listened to nothing but marimba music for almost a year on one project cuz i liked how it sounded like acoustic electronica) and intend the fifty songs in the Oasis Diner jukebox (which will have foregone update since the interstate was built, which serves my interest quite well) to serve as the playlist for composition of my nasty li'l project.