Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya O’Quinn.
Hi Tanya, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
TANYA O’QUINN: ‘where intuition and creativity collide’…
I am pretty much the ‘typical’ Pisces: sensitive, insecure, creative, moody, intuitive, entertaining and so forth. Well it would just so happen that my creative and intuitive traits have formed a strong collaborative bond to create the ‘psychic writer’ known as ‘Tanya O’Quinn’.
I began developing my intuitive ability over thirty years ago; I’ve been a writer all my life – wrote my first spec script for a popular TV show when I was about ten years old. Spent my adolescence writing poetry (‘crowned’ the ‘Class Laureate’ by my Jr. High School English Teacher); and had a classmate doubting my virginity due to a poem I wrote about abortion.
Years passed. Life happened, and I found myself working in the Music Industry…and then I was not…BUT my screenwriting interest had been piqued by a fellow colleague so on a new journey I embarked.
To date, I’ve written over ten features, and eleven shorts; I’ve also written the pilot for a TV series and created the treatment for another; additionally, I’ve created a slew of original ideas for television and web series. And, due to the supernatural-drama-turned-TV-pilot ‘Keepsake’, I’m an award-winning Director and Writer.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
“Has it been a smooth road???”
HA! I laugh out loud and in your face!
NO!!!
Discovering my intuitive energy and then developing it was a horror in itself, having no guidance while hearing, seeing, knowing and feeling things that others couldn’t hear, see, know or feel was a remarkable feat for this insecure Pisces, yet it has been accomplished.
While developing my intuitive abilities and sharing them, I became engrossed in screenwriting. I had no idea that the two would collide, and yet they did!! My unorthodox way of writing (writing what I ‘see’ and ‘hear’) became a ‘habit’; and in the first year of screenwriting – with no formal education – I had written six feature-length screenplays. Still, I had no outlet, no representation, no mentors or industry friends…just a few family members and two friends to supply feedback.
The biggest challenge for me has not been the craft; it has been lack of support. As a Pisces, I seek support (emotional energetic exchange); however, as a Pisces, I’ve learned that self-motivation, self-encouragement, self-trust, and of course heightened self-awareness has to be enough when perseverance is required.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
…and here we are, the ‘summation’ of Tanya O’Quinn.
Professionally speaking, I’m a Psychic and I’m a Writer/Director.
Now, I’m not just ‘psychic’; I’m a ‘Psychic’ – I give readings to others and have been for three decades; alas, I can’t read myself lest I’d have won the lotto years back. Still, this is what I do to honor my ‘soul purpose’, which is ‘to assist in the healing of others’.
I’m a Creative Writer who writes screenplays; have been writing for over two decades. Writing has always been a passion of mine and the art was parlayed into screenwriting at the suggestion of a colleague. Writing became a more concentrated focus when I met Chad Newsome in 2010. It was his support, motivation, encouragement, and compliments that transformed a beloved ‘hobby’ into a more serious focus and potentially viable business.
I’m a Director…more so by default. In 2020, during the Stay at Home Order issued during the early days of the pandemic, I performed my first role as Director on the short film “The Cough (A Covid-19 Comedy)”. Chad and I had met some folks who were apart of the independent film community (actors and crew) so we took advantage of the creative energy, relationships, and idol time.
Once bitten by the ‘directing bug’, I then went on to direct the short films “Browsing History”, “The Drug Deal (A Covid-19 Comedy)”, “The Store (A Covid-19 Comedy)”, “Keepsake”, and “Hey Neighbor!” During our film festival run (which began in 2023), we’ve amassed ‘Best Director’ awards for “Browsing History”, “The Drug Deal (A Covid-19 Comedy)”, and “The Store (A Covid-19 Comedy)”; and “Keepsake” has won an award in several categories including screenplay, directing, cinematography, production design, original score, and each of the three main actors received their own accolades.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
As a Writer/Director, my current focus is the short psychological thriller “Her”.
Remember how I said I ‘write what I see and hear’? Well, “Her” was originally imagined to be a six- to nine-page comedy about sleepwalking; I had plans on this being some funny sh*t!
Alas, the script really does write itself doesn’t it? “Her” turned into a nineteen-page mental health PSA.
Welcome to MY world.
This film delves into mental health illness by way of childhood trauma. In “Her”, the ‘damaged inner child’ confronts the ‘accomplished Adult Self’…and it’s not pretty.
While the award-winning screenplay is ready to go, and the cast and crew are ready to go, a lack of funding says ‘Not yet’.
…and so we persevere.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.2ndchildhoodproductions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psychic_writer317/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@2ndChildhoodProductionsLLC
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/mssoulspeaker/
