by Sylene Argent
photo submitted
Five years ago, Amherstburg’s Sue Varney had an itch to learn how to write an animated screenplay. So, she started learning the process and began working towards her goal of accomplishing something special.
Back then, the Admissions Representative at Westervelt College never would have imagined the opportunities that were about to come her way, due to her dedication and determination.
When she submitted her first screenplay to competitions a few years back, she said she didn’t give up. She took the feedback she was given and learned from the comments.
“I never gave up. I just kept at it,” she said. “Eventually, my screenplay was polished where I started hitting competitions and placing.”
Her animated screenplay “Little Miss Rylee-Belle” would go on to place in 15 screenplay competitions. “It is about a girl born doll-sized, due to a wizard spell mishap,” Varney explained, the script is now optioned and the plan is to make it into an animated movie with a production company.
In addition, Varney has converted the script into a book with FriesenPress, which is editing the material. The book, she said, will be available in the new year.
The movie and book title will change to “Rylee-Belle and the Shrinking Spell.”
“I was blown away,” Varney said of when she heard the news, adding getting the project to come to fruition looks promising.
She has always been an individual who wants to help others, so she used the play to encourage others to be self-confident. She said her sister, who is physically challenged, inspired her to start writing the animated screenplay.
Varney has also authored her first book in her children’s series. “The Super-Duper Triplets’ Colourful Birthday,” which is available online. The second book “The Super-Duper Triplets’ Wonderful Christmas” will be available in October. The third in the series, to be called, “The Super-Duper Triplets’ Magical Unicorn” will be available in the new year.
She hopes to continue on writing the series.
She got the idea of writing the series when visiting her parents. She noticed her little niece was having trouble reading at eight-years-old.
“I thought, you know what, there are a lot of kids struggling because there was online delivery [in schooling during the pandemic]. I thought, I am writing a book. The thing is, it only took me two-hours to write the book. It just came together so quickly,” she said, adding it took some time later on to get it polished and ready for print.
She will not know how the books are doing for several months, but she is excited to see how everything unfolds. Her niece on the other hand, “Absolutely loved it. Honestly, it really, really helped her out.”
Varney explained the book was created to add colour to words that are describing that colour. “This way, she sees it and it helps her with her reading,” she said.
Throughout the process, Varney said she met a lot of wonderful people. “It has been a great journey,” she said.