Book club meets again tonight. I will be the friendly neighborhood buzzkill again tonight. I will bring store brought cookies. Again. Tonight. 

But at least the author brought something into the world. 

In that happy spirit, enjoy this excerpt from the outline of a TV pilot I am writing.  

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14. INT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE EXAM ROOM - DAY

Tiffany sits across from a MALE DOCTOR (couldn’t possibly be over 40, somehow looks freshly showered) who is ignoring her while loudly typing away at the standing computer station. She tries to jump start the conversation by explaining that she just wanted to meet in person about her physical results, to make sure the cholesterol panel was all good, that she’s worried about her sodium intake because she can’t stop eating sauerkraut, and that she’d like to up her generic Zoloft a bit to take the edge off, plus some weird body stuff she’s experiencing but, yeah, still no luck with getting pregnant. The doctor non-chalantly replies that the bloodwork was all good, she just has early onset menopause, and that she’s probably been in it for years already, calls her “very ordinary.” He offers little in the way of knowledge or care outside of a menopause pamphlet. TIFFANY is a bit stunned and tries to ask if this is why the IUI fertility treatments never worked but can’t seem to remember the actual acronym. She gets stuck in a loop, stuttering EUE, EUE. He disregards her question and suggests she ChatGPTs her symptoms. That thing knows even more than he does! He rushes out the door, leaving TIFFANY alone in the room. She remembers out loud. IUI! Then looks down at the pamphlet. The model on the cover has white hair and a beaming, wrinkled smile.