The Story Behind Up Faith & Family’s THESE STONES

Welcome Cheryl McKay!

Writer and producer Cheryl McKay (Price) became my friend when tragedy struck our family. My brother Rick was hospitalized, on a respirator. He struggled to heal from pneumonia and right-sided heart failure.

After he graduated to Heaven, I filled a momento book with his impact and testimonials from hundreds of people. We, as his family, had no idea that he had touched so many. And one really stood out. Cheryl needed my support—and to grieve with me.

Rick was instrumental in her career as a mentor, helping her develop as a writer through scriptwriting. She continually shared that she wouldn’t be where she is today without his support and care. With each text and message, we grew a bit closer and bonded in our shared loss.

I followed along as Cheryl continued to work in the industry. I was part of her prayer team during the years she searched for a home for the first season of THESE STONES. And now, her hard work has paid off, and season one streams on the Up Faith & Family Network.

My Review of These Stones

This show, my friends, is worth your time, and of course, I am not surprised. Rick was a stickler for quality in Christian writing and films, and apparently, so is Cheryl. I have also adopted this striving-for-excellence approach in my writing and connections with other Christian writers (CCW).

I returned from a visit to Heaven last summer (although I did not get to see Rick, the Lord has given me some visions of him before and since). I was awestruck to realize even more now how important it is to reflect Jesus’ quality in our work for Him here.

Lives depend on it.

The award-winning THESE STONES meets a human need for compassion, spirituality, and love, as exemplified by Jesus. From the score to the acting to the cinematography, the quality shines.

Touched by an Angel

In the scheme of “Touched by an Angel” and “Highway to Heaven” (only with several fun twists), each episode is uniquely watchable on its own. But you won’t want to stop at one. I admit to – ahem – binging just a bit. The colors, flavors, brilliance, and emotional tug of these stories will touch your heart.

It is a drama that may elicit tears from sensitive individuals (or those who know the story behind it), but it is well worth your time. Our Up subscription comes with our Amazon Prime membership. I noted that I had to go into Amazon on my television screen to access it (top, small print).

Although I waited a while to watch THESE STONES, I was so excited after watching two episodes that I pelted Cheryl with questions. She was kind enough to share with me and give permission to pass them on to you!

Interview with Cheryl McKay

Hi Cheryl. Thank you for joining us. How did you get started on your journey as a scriptwriter and producer?

I started writing plays when I was five. I staged them and acted them out with (and for) the neighbor kids. (Captive audience, I’m sure!) My original goal was to act, but in a BFA undergraduate acting program, my professors told me that wasn’t my talent. I didn’t believe them at first. But it was the best rejection I ever had because it redirected me to my true professional love, which is writing. It was orchestrated by God to get me on the right path. I was already writing all the time.

When I was 15, I saw an Afterschool Special on TV that I loved! I tracked down the writer/director/producer, Susan Rohrer, and asked her how I could one day do what she does. She’s been my writing mentor (and life mentor) and great friend ever since. She also directed all six episodes of THESE STONES. This series was my first chance to produce what I wrote and serve as the showrunner.

 

Thanks to Susan for her part. How inspirational is that! Cheryl, what have you learned along the way? What has God shown you? 

 

God is much more concerned with the character I am than the characters I write. There was a time I had made writing an idol, more important than Him. I was living in Los Angeles, and was very obsessed with getting that first real writing job in LA. I’d write morning, noon, and night around the hours of my “day job” at PAX TV in the promo department.

I saw writing as my “salvation” out of that post-production job. It didn’t work out so well. God didn’t want anything else to be more important than Him. I came to a place where I willingly gave it up. I became a substitute teacher to at-risk students, and for a season, it drastically changed my life.

The Ultimate Gift Movie

I feel like once He knew I could be trusted with the gift I so wanted, He was able to give it back to me. And He did, in the form of a job writing the feature film, The Ultimate Gift.

I’ve also learned a great deal about the power of the pen and the responsibility that comes with what we write (or produce, or act in). You can’t argue with the fact that the media (including television and movies) shapes culture. That can be for good or bad. I want to make sure my work has an eternal impact, a positive impact on others, and inspires good.

One of the things that excites me most about my new series, THESE STONES, is the way we can inspire hope and encourage others to delve deeper into the Bible stories we hint at, or even learn about the acts of kindness that can emerge from ideas inspired by these stories. My director and I co-wrote a devotional study guide to accompany the series: THESE STONES: Your Personal Devotional & Group Handbook for Season 1. The book contains lots of what we call ACTIVATIONS, which are ideas inspired by each episode of the show. I hope people start to do them and share stories about them online or with friends and family.

What About the Stones?

I have always loved rocks – to my detriment. In fact, my folks had me watch “The Long, Long Trailer” with Lucille Ball (hilarious!), and once my husband, who was packing them around for me in Arizona, told me I was cut off. Ha! It’s so cool that a rock with a message is included in each episode.

Cheryl, please tell us about any future dreams/projects? 

Of course, I hope THESE STONES gets multiple seasons. I love the show, its format, and the types of stories still left to tell.

My number one writing dream is to have Never the Bride, my favorite script I’ve written, made into a movie (and possibly movie series) in three parts or a spin-off into a TV series, called Love Almighty. I started that project in 2006 when I was single and annoyed at God for taking so long to write my love story. It’s loosely based on my fights with Him.

Never the Bride is about a woman who accuses God of being asleep on the job of writing her love story, and God Almighty shows up to face those charges. And He’s handsome, close to her age. He has a proposal for her: the only way He will write her story is if she surrenders her pen, the same purple pen she’s used her whole life to write in her journals about how her love life should go.

The latest version of the script has been winning numerous awards lately, including Best Romantic Comedy and Best Screenplay. So hopefully, that dream will become a reality. I also sold the novelization rights to Random House, and the novel was adapted by my incredibly talented friend, Rene Gutteridge, who also novelized The Ultimate Gift.

Stories Until the End, Chocolate, and Cats

That’s so exciting. I can’t wait! What is one thing most people do not know about you? 

I wish I could say my addiction to 85% dark chocolate and that I eat it every day is a secret, but it’s not. Or that I love cats, even though I’m allergic. I have an insatiable desire to see leaves change colors in the fall or celebrate Christmas before Thanksgiving starts. For about six weeks straight! But any person who is my friend on social media already knows all that.

Something I’ve only recently started sharing is that when the time comes when I no longer write screenplays, I don’t want to retire. I hope to become a novelist and self-publish whatever stories I still have left to tell. One of those is based on my complete obsession with Solvang, California. My novel series, about a set of four sisters, will be called Windmill Falls.  One day…but I’m in no hurry to get there.

What else would you like to share with us?

I miss Rick all the time and loved working with him. He didn’t just mentor me – he secured me several writing jobs at Pure Flix*. He could be challenging at times. (Yes, lol)  But he also was my fiercest defender. He stuck up for what he believed in.

I’m a better writer today because of him. I wish he could watch THESE STONES today. I know he’d be so happy to see that my dream has come true: to both write and produce my show.

Thank you, Cheryl. And yes, he would be oh so proud of you, just as we all are. I’m fairly certain he’s aware of it and can’t wait to congratulate you someday. ;-)

Check out Cheryl’s books plus new Coloring Activity Books on Amazon

 

*PureFlix (Movies) has since merged with Sony and become Affirm Films, but you can still subscribe to the PF channel (Now Great American PureFlix) to stream all kinds of cool shows. Rick was the Director of Development for PureFlix for several years and is most known for his work on God is Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness, God is Not Dead 2, The Case for Christ, and Samson (although he was not happy with the changes that he felt sharply decreased the quality of the Samson movie).

Links are Amazon Affiliate and help fund Julie’s insatiable need to research Heaven.