Wed. May 31, 2023: A Solid Writing Day

image courtesy of  Clker-Free-Vector-Images via pixabay.com

Wednesday, May 31, 2021

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

I’m kind of enjoying these pretty days.

Today’s serial episode is Angel Hunt.

Episode 37: Hunting Your Own

Lianna discovers the position Lucius DeWitt’s put her in, and she is not amused.

Angel Hunt Serial Link.

I got today’s Process Muse post, on Interruptions, ready to go, and wrote next week’s post. That’s up, polished, and ready to go.

I adapted two chapters of Angel Hunt into 8 serial episodes. I read through the rest of the material, figured out where to insert the sequence to fix the unresolved arc, went over and smoothed out the notes for the climactic sequence and the resolution. I need to get ahead a bit on Legerdemain, but maybe later in the week, I can put in some concentrated time on ANGEL HUNT, get the rest of the episodes sorted out, and then, next week, upload and schedule all the rest for this serial.

Did the rounds to promote Legerdemain. Did the three client projects. My friend wanted to know if I could get her the blurb for the book by Friday (my original deadline was July 15). Good thing I’ve been reading the book!

I found out I was not offered the residency in Buffalo this summer. I’d sort of figured that out (the residency dates began June 1). The letter was perfectly polite and proper, but there was a hint of disdain under it, that they were funding “serious” projects and not “entertainment.” Which isn’t what the guidelines stipulated. But then, this is their first year offering such a program; maybe they’ve learned what it is they really want, and will adjust their guidelines for next year. A month ago, it would have devastated me; now, I’m disappointed, but I’m curious as to what’s in store for me instead.  And I wouldn’t have had any chance if I hadn’t tried. However, that project is on indefinite hold, since I have to do onsite research in Buffalo, and I won’t do it without proper funding.

Hey, it’s not like there aren’t other projects to keep me busy.

I did three short client projects in the afternoon, and then finished reading my friend’s book, so I can write the blurb today, polish it, and send it off by the end of the week. I noodled with some ideas for the Llewellyn project.

The idea for the short play that’s due July 1 dropped into my head, almost complete. I checked the guidelines to make sure they could accommodate 6 characters, and they can. It’s silly, goofy, and slightly bonkers, definitely a farce that needs actors who can handle quick lines, but I’m having a blast writing it. I hope to finish the first draft over the weekend, let it sit for a few days, give it a few more passes, and then send it to a friend for her opinion before I do another draft and get it out the door.

The ideas are starting to form for the memorial scene in FALL FOREVER. I hope, in the next few days, they are solid enough to put on the page.

I did not send any follow-up emails from the Playland Painters project. I sent them out close to Memorial Day, and the poor recipients deserve at least a few days to recover.

The National Archives sent me information to be a “volunteer transcriber” for some of their materials, which sounds really, really interesting, but I’m not sure I can take on “volunteer” anything right now. Depending upon which materials are available (say, maybe the journals and letters of interesting women?), it could be a great deal of fun. But again, time. Money (or lack thereof). I have to think about it. It would be an awfully cool credit to have on the resume and the website. And, as I said, the work itself would be fascinating.

Well, it’s not like they’ll have run out of material if I take a few days to mull it over.

As I predicted, the Republicans are stalling and doing whatever they can to make sure the debt ceiling doesn’t get raised on time and the economy crashes. That way, they get everything they want and more, and still destroy people’s lives.

Well, Friday is going to arrive, one way or another, and depending on what shows up in the bank account, I’ll know how I have to restructure the month.

This morning, I was at the laundromat when it opened. I revised the next batch of Legerdemain episodes. I also reconfigured the first five episodes of REP. I really need to end the third episode (the last free episode) with the news that this Rep company will be in space, which is part of the hook and the premise. The early episodes have a real 30’s-40’s touring vibe to them, and then I want to contrast it with the high tech but vintage look on the station itself. But the information that the company will be on a space station needs to happen at the end of the 3^rd episode, in the chunk of episodes that are free. It was currently in the fourth. So I reconfigured the first three episodes to be the first two episodes, and the fourth episode is now the third, and the fifth episode is now the 4^th. The first three episodes, the free ones, can be a little longer than the typical episode, which I want to keep between 900-1200 words.

So basically, by the time I got home a little after 7 AM, I felt like I’d put in a full day!

On today’s agenda: drafting an episode of Legerdemain, working on the new play, writing the blurb for my friend’s book, library run, noodle on the Llewellyn pieces, read the next book for review. I’d like to do some more work on ANGEL HUNT, if I can. I want to stay in its flow. I have to do the social media rounds for ANGEL HUNT and for The Process Muse. And I have two small client projects to turn around.

Anyway, it’s a very pretty day, and I intend to enjoy it, even if it’s just looking out the window while I’m working! We’re lucky to have such lovely tall windows, and so much natural light.

Have a good one.

Tues. May 30, 2023: Climbing The Mountain That is This Week

image courtesy of James Wheeler via pixabay.com

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

How was your holiday weekend (if you live somewhere that had one)? Ready for our catch-up?

Today’s serial episode is Legerdemain:

Episode 89: Gloria’s Opening Night

Shelley refuses to be distracted by a mysterious man’s attention on her sister-in-law’s opening night.

Legerdemain Serial Link

Legerdemain Website Link

Friday’s errands went better than expected: picked up some good stuff at the library. Picked up my mother’s prescription. Did a better-than-expected grocery shop within the budget. Mailed my residency contract. Picked up a bottle of wine.

The damn beeping heavy machinery over at the college made me want to explode. It’s been months. If I had that kind of equipment? I could have painted the whole thing in a week. They’re just dragging it out for money and the college lets them because they’re sulking about not being allowed to turn one of the dorms into a homeless shelter and getting 2.6 million from the State – money which  should, instead, go to the families so they can, you know, actually get OUT of homelessness. So now the college is just being an asshole, trying to be as lousy a neighbor as possible.

In the Westchester Archives Playland Photographs collection, I found a sketch artist named Dorothy Dwin, who had a concession. People would pay her to sit and sketch them. I believe it was part of the WPA’s Federal Arts Program (you’ll see why in a minute). I tried to research her. I found her in the 1940 census. She lived on Lexington Ave. in NYC, as “head of household” although she’s listed as married, but she was the only one in the apartment. She was 37 then (which meant she was 32 in the Playland photograph). Her profession is listed as artist, and as part of the WPA. She was born in Russia, and was a naturalized citizen, and had lived at that address since 1935 (that was a question then, where one lived 5 years ago). She is not in the 1930 census, at least not as far as I’ve found, Nor does she show up in the 1950 Census (although she could have remarried)? There are 24 of her sketches in the National Gallery in DC, but I didn’t find any information about her, so I emailed them.

She resembles one of my Playland Painters. I cropped the photo, and ran that, with her photo, through facial recognition software. I got a 70% hit on one program and an 18% hit on another, so it’s unlikely they are the same person. The hairstyle is similar, but they could both just be fashionable. And the smile is somewhat similar.

Saturday morning, I got my National Archives research credentials set up, because I hoped to find something in the WPA files, but I’m not sure how to search them. It’s not logical; it’s red-tapey. Hey, big surprise.

I did a search through the digital collections of the New York Historical Society, the Museum of the City of New York, and NYPL’s digital collection. The only thing that came up with at NYPL, in the correspondence of literary agent Emma Mills (who died in 1956), and her papers from 1920-1956 are in the collection. But there weren’t any details (in-person only access) and it might just be coming up relating to “Godwin” or “Edwin” and not actually Dorothy Dwin. Emma’s correspondence sounds fantastically interesting, but I’d need to set up in NYC for a few weeks, and I just can’t do that on something that might be a wild goose chase.

But then, THEN, I just put Dorothy’s name in the general archive record  at the National Archives– and found out that she changed her name on June 10, 1930 to Dorothy Dwin from Dorothy Golden. And she lived in Brooklyn in 1930. First the age says “34” but it was crossed out and replaced with “27.” So why did she change her name? And “Dwin” is unusual.

Tracking her back as Dorothy Golden to the 1930 census in Brooklyn, I found her by using the address on her change of name petition, at that age/birth year – married to a taxi driver named Benjamin, who was from Poland. On top of that, Dorothy was not born in Russia, as it says in the 1940 census – she was born in New York, and her parents were from Hungary. On top of that, she had a 2-year-old son named Howard.  I don’t know why she left her husband and son, complete with legal name change, but there’s some serious re-invention involved.

Moving forward to the 1940 census, I found Howard, now 12, living with his father Benjamin, still a taxi driver. They are now in Queens. Benjamin is married to a younger woman named Bettsy, from Romania.

In the 1950 census, Howard is still living at home. He’s 23 now. He’s a “Wholesale Ladies Dressman.” His dad Benjamin, now 45, is now an auto accessories salesman at a gas station. This time, the wife is listed as “Betty” and was supposedly born in Russia. I found an obituary for a Howard Allen Golden, born in 1928, died in South Amboy, New Jersey in April 2014, but there’s very little information in it, other than he died as an inpatient in the Perth Amboy hospital, the visiting and funeral information.

It’s all fascinating.

I wish I knew Dorothy’s maiden name. I have not yet been able to find the marriage records between her and Benjamin. I might have to go to the library next week to use Ancestry.

Anyway, Friday afternoon, I turned around two client projects. I also made notes on some stuff for the Heist Romance script. I’m starting to doubt myself in some POV areas – I’ve kept the POV of the script pretty tight on Ben – we’re on Ben’s journey here. But I’m wondering if I should open it up to others, especially Tara’s. But it feels wrong. So I’ll trust myself for this draft, and then play with it.

Trying to figure out that memorial scene for FALL FOREVER. I need to come up with a unique memory/anecdote around Lily for each character to share (and it has to be succinct, but in their unique cadence).

Saturday, I had to run out and get ink again.

I unpacked a couple of boxes, and found some interesting stuff, but not what I was looking for. I washed various pieces throughout the weekend, and decided what to put up and what to pack away again.

I was looking through the Cornelia True and Roman Gray stories, starting with “The Ramsey Chase” which needs to be re-released, and then “Miss Holton Apologizes” and then the third story have to be finished and released. They are very similar in tone to India Holton’s trilogy and a few other things that are selling well right now. They were ahead of their time. So I need to get my act together and get them out there while the market wants them.

I went through some old scripts. Some need to be retired; they are beyond help. But I found two: PARALLEL-O-GAME and MODERN CREATION MYTHS that are mostly solid, though unfinished – and without outlines. I need to spend some quality time with them and figure out where to go next, even if it’s different from the original intent. They go in the queue after the scripts that need to be finished, and the drafts that need to be polished.

I read India Holton’s THE WISTERIA SOCIETY OF LADY SCOUNDRELS, which was a lot of fun. And Erica Bauermeister’s NO TWO PERSONS, which is hauntingly beautiful.

I found more of my photos from the Playland Boardwalk Museum, which was opened in 1998 until the Westchester Children’s Museum took over the space. I contacted WCM last week, so hopefully, they can tell me what happened to that collection.

Up early on Sunday and baked biscuits.

I’ve been trying to get into the 1925 Census (which was a state census rather than a federal one) to see if Dorothy and Benjamin already lived in Brooklyn, but no luck so far.

I may have to go to the public library this week and search via Ancestry.

Wrote 23 script pages on the Heist Romance. They’ve been kidnapped to find the treasure and Tara has negotiated a contract for the treasure hunt. Because she’s not doing it for free or for threat.

I hung up summer sheer curtains in my bedroom. Tried to hang a painting and it didn’t work. I think the frame’s warped through all the decades of carting it around the country (it was painted by my college roommate back in the 80’s). Got some of the painting done on the windchimes. Hung up a summer curtain by the back door (it looked very bare without the winter fleece). Put away the flannel sheets and the winter curtains. Washed a bunch of stuff I’d unpacked, and am slowly finding homes for these things.

It was in the mid-80’s, but because there wasn’t much humidity, it was pleasant. Tessa stayed on the porch all day. Read India Holton’s THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEWOMEN WITCHES, which was delightful.

Watched BULLET TRAIN in the evening. What a hot mess. A good example of style over substance. Whatever writer came in to punch up the dialogue in the Lemon and Tangerine scenes did an excellent job – the comic beats built well and landed, without losing the heart underneath. And it was obvious those scenes were doctored by a different writer; they played like they were from a different movie. But there were too many tangents overall, and moving the reason for the big climactic sequence (The Elder vs. The White Death, the different views of family) from subplot into main narrative drive was clunky. There were too many throwaway scenes to give Brad Pitt screen time to do what’s become his signature schtick lately. The action scenes went on too long in every case, and the casual violence was lingered over each time a few beats too long, making it “look what we did!” instead of keeping it as casual violence that’s ingrained in the characters. Adding in the Wolf and the Hornet subplot was a tangent. Other than Pitt’s character being peripheral to the wedding sequence (without ever elaborating why he was there), it could have been cut without hurting anything. It felt like it was in there to add diversity for the sake of diversity, not to layer in the plot. The actors gave it their all, though – nobody phoned it in, and one could tell they were having fun. It touched on a lot of the tropes in train/chase movies, but again, didn’t do enough with them.

However, I learned a lot about what I don’t want to do in my own work.

Sandra Bullock’s cameo (which she did in exchange for Brad Pitt’s cameo in THE LOST CITY) was fun, and the genuine friendship they have with each other offscreen reads well onscreen. Channing Tatum had a cameo (which was also funny, but unnecessary and such a small sub-sub-plot it didn’t matter if it was cut or left in), and Ryan Reynold’s quick bit of a cameo was  in return for Pitt’s cameo in DEADPOOL 2. It’s a lot of fun to have those crossover cameos, and I probably wouldn’t have even watched BULLET TRAIN if I didn’t want to see the exchange cameo Bullock did for Pitt. I’m curious if the Tatum cameo was written specifically for him to be part of it, or if that just seemed like a fun place to put him, for those few lines.

The premise of Pitt’s character caught up by accident when he steps in for another agent who called in sick (and the agent was one of the White Death’s targets) was funny, but it didn’t fulfill the promise of the premise.

Up early on Monday. Wrote 13 pages of the Heist Romance script. Polished, uploaded, and scheduled 8 episodes of ANGEL HUNT, which gets me into early July. Adapted another ANGEL HUNT chapter into four serial episodes. I’m hitting a point where I have to insert some material for continuity’s sake; I started an arc that needs to be fulfilled. Not sure where I’ll put it yet. Uploaded and scheduled the promos for this week’s Legerdemain and Angel Hunt episodes where I could.

Finished painting the windchimes. Once they dried, we started setting up the Enchanted Garden on the back balcony. It still needs more work, as we add plants and hanging baskets, but it looks pretty. It’s a nice, peaceful space, and we will enjoy it this summer.

I turned around a client project, so that I wouldn’t be so overloaded with work today. I started reading my friend’s book that I promised to blurb, and got about half way through it.

Supposedly, there is a debt ceiling deal. It’s not as bad as I expected, although the Republicans, as usual, got too much. However, they are trying to stall and whine and drive us over the deadline cliff anyway. This is why bipartisanship is dead, and there can be no more capitulation to them: they pretend to “compromise” and then get everything they want, while still destroying as much as possible, and not living up to their side of the bargain.

They’ve held the country hostage with intent to take the ransom and kill the hostages anyway. On a very literal level.

The Democrats need to stop negotiating with terrorists, and Republicans are terrorists. There’s no such thing as a moderate or ethical Republican anymore.

Reading about what’s happening on Cape Cod, we got out just in time. There was a shooting over the weekend at the beach down the street from where I used to live. People are being forced into homelessness in order to make room for short-term summer renters. Someone I know there told me bridge traffic off Cape yesterday took up to six hours. People are being forced out of dune shacks their families have leased and poured money into for decades so the National Parks Service can rent them to gentrifiers.

Another beautiful place destroyed by greed.

Watched THE BOOK CLUB last night, with Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen. It was cute, although I felt the third act was rushed.

Barely got any sleep, because Charlotte had anxiety all night and woke me up every 20 minutes, wanting reassurance. Of course, now she’s curled up fast asleep, and I’m wrecked.

I’ve got a large workload this week, partially because I’m expecting the Republicans to destroy everything (again). I hope I am wrong; being wrong will take the pressure off me for next weekend. Since I didn’t really take the holiday weekend (much as I encouraged everyone else to do so), I hope to get some rest next weekend. If we’re not driven over the debt cliff, and I can actually take the weekend, I want to get some more plants for the Enchanted Garden on Saturday and sleep most of Sunday.

But next weekend is a long way away, and I have to get through this week first.

On today’s agenda: draft an episode of Legerdemain, work on the Llewellyn pieces, work on the flash fiction for the art call, finish my friend’s book so I can blurb it, turn around three client projects, and do the social media rounds for today’s Legerdemain episode. I also have to get tomorrow’s Process Muse post polished, uploaded, and scheduled, and get to work on the June posts. I’m not sure I’ll make it to yoga this afternoon, although I desperately need it. And get some filing done! I’m falling behind, and that will bite me in the butt if I’m not careful.

Have a good one.

Mon. May 29, 2023: Take Your Holidays

image courtesy of Steve Bidmead via pixabay.com

Today is Memorial Day in the US, and a holiday.

Taking our holidays is important.

Yes, I’m doing stuff that needs to be done, so next weekend might be when I take my holiday, but time off matters.

Enjoy!

Oh, and my intent for the week: Prevail

Fri. May 26, 2023: I’d Rather Be Reading

image courtesy of  nini kvaratskhelia via pixabay.com

Friday, May 26, 2023

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Are you ready for Memorial Day Weekend?

I am totally not.

Yet I am.

Today’s serial episode is from Angel Hunt:

Episode 36: Quarry or Guardian?

Is her host a hunter or the hunted?

Angel Hunt serial link.

I forgot to mention that Wednesday night into Thursday night, I had nightmares.

The first was that I was called back to work WICKED, because they were short-handed, only I didn’t have my running notes, and they wouldn’t give me a new set. I pulled myself out of that, totally disgusted with myself because: A) That’s not who they are, they want the show to work, and B) the last time I worked the show was in 2010 and my notes wouldn’t even be relevant anymore.

The second nightmare was that I was back in the Cape house, trying to clean it out and being totally overwhelmed. I pulled myself out of that sense memory stress and reminded myself that I am here NOW. I am in a different reality, and building a different future.

Meditation was cancelled, sadly. I should have just sat on my own, but I went down the Census rabbit hole again. Some Playland information, but also lots of other interesting stuff. There was an author. His English-born wife was an insurance researcher. They had four kids, including twins. Her sister, also an author, lived with them, and they had a lodger who was a librarian. Now, is that a dramedy in the making, or what?

There was the 63-year-old actress living as a “guest” in the house of a laborer at the Amoury, his wife, and their older children. There’s a story there. The teenaged “umbrella boy” at the beach, whose slightly elder brother is an office clerk for a film company, and whose father is a building inspector. The grand opera ballet dancer, born in Switzerland, living with her mother, her stepfather (a gardener at a private estate), her brother (who arrived from Basel, Switzerland and now works as a machine operator at an electric company), her four year old son, and her aunt, who arrived from Paris, and now works as a maid.

There were all the usual stone masons and carpenters and painters and office clerks and bank tellers and barbers and railroad workers. There was an increase in dressmakers and women working in dress factories (mostly Italian), and millinery places, along with more Germans, Poles, and Austrians (getting out before the war), and an uptick in “butcher” as their profession. A German painter and her Polish art dealer husband.  A young artist living with her parents (photographers), and her sister is a stenographer for a soap company. Then there were more unusual professions like gravedigger and religious ornamental salesman and marine pilot.

I heard back from the Archives. They are so excited! They didn’t have the photos I had, but they found photos of the same women , but they’re not named. They’re also pulling payroll books and other administrative records, and are thrilled that someone is trying to put names to these women.

So I need my grant money, so I can get down there and do some research! (Yes, I can use the grant for this stuff).

I also put together a residency proposal for next winter. Finger crossed. I’m using this project as one I’d like to work on in residency. If not, I’ll do it anyway. I worked on next week’s Process Muse post.

I did the social media rounds for Legerdemain, checked on the strike news, and the impending debt default. The fuckers decided the Memorial Day weekend was more important than doing their job. Disgusting. Even more disgusting is that the Democrats CAN fix this without caving to the Republican demands, and they CHOOSE not to. So we are going to default and all the people who actually work for a living, all the seniors, all the veterans, you know the people who actually make things WORK,  get screwed next week. This is unacceptable. The Democrats’ unwillingness to actually get in the trenches and fight is disgusting. All Congressional salaries should be frozen until they reach a deal AND they should be locked into the Capitol building until a clean debt ceiling raise is passed. Nothing else is even faintly acceptable.

In the afternoon, I did two client projects, and something came in for today (no four-day weekend for me). I may work on Monday, if something comes in; or try to just double down on work Tuesday and Wednesday, for this pay period. I’m making my calculations for the worst possible outcome; if I’m wrong and it doesn’t happen, then I can work from there. I’m also seriously exhausted and burned out, and don’t know if I can sustain without a break. However, I may not have the option to rest. We have bills to pay, and they’re not going to pay themselves, and if there’s a default, any owed monies won’t get here, and I have to make up the difference.

This is what happens when you don’t arrest the insurrectionist members of Congress the day they tried not to ratify the election. They continue with the insurrection. This is why you can’t give ANY of these Christo-fascists an inch and EVERY single one of them has to be completely destroyed. We need to stop negotiating with domestic terrorists.

Today’s agenda: upload/schedule the next 8 episodes of Angel Hunt (which will get me into early July). Maybe do some more work on it. Do the social media rounds to promote today’s episode. Go grocery shopping. Pick up my mother’s prescription. Swing by the library, to pick up a few things that came in. Do client work this afternoon.

Over the weekend, I plan to read the next book for review and also read my friend’s book so I can write the blurb and send it off to her next week. I also want to set up at least some of the Enchanted Garden on the back balcony, hang some pictures, and turn over from the winter clothes to summer clothes. And catch up on filing!

Writing-wise, I’ll do some work on Legerdemain, and, hopefully, tackle the memorial scene near the end of FALL FOREVER, so that draft 4 of that script is done. I’ll have to do some episode videos for the serials, too, and maybe some book recommendations. And do a rough draft of the flash fiction for the artist call.

Next week is about keeping up with the serials, getting ahead on The Process Muse, working on the pieces for Llewellyn, and getting back to “Labor Intensive.” I need to sit down and do a short outline on the story. Some of what I have is going too far into subplots that would work if this was a novel, but it’s a short story, so, nope. Keep it focused.

I’d rather spend the weekend in a book fort, but we’ll see.

Have a good holiday weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side.

Thurs. May 25, 2023: Using the Census for Research

image courtesy of  Clker-Free-Vector-Images via pixabay.com

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Partly Sunny and cold

The latest on the garden is up over on Gratitude and Growth.

Today’s serial episode is Legerdemain:

Episode 88:  Jed Smythe’s Apartment

Who’s so tidy? The victim or his kidnapper?

Legerdemain Serial Link

Legerdemain Website

Yesterday felt like a somewhat fractured day. I did more research on the Playland Painters. I think I’ve located the boxes of information I need in the Archives; now, I have to plan a trip down there. I polished, uploaded, and scheduled next week’s episodes of Legerdemain. I submitted comments about the hazards of the machine gun range the military wants to build on Cape Cod – destroying 170 acres of forest, along with creating hazards in the aquifer. I may not live there anymore, but I don’t want to see it destroyed. Enough is being destroyed to appease tourists.

I did a library run. More books than I expected showed up. I’m looking forward to getting some pleasure reading in this coming weekend.

Did the social media rounds for Angel Hunt and for Process Muse.

Wrote the episode log lines for Legerdemain, did the episode graphics, converted to Insta format, and also did the TikTok videos. Might as well do all of that at once. Today, I will upload/schedule what I can for the promos.

Did only one client project, and another came in, so I have two for this afternoon. I’m fine, deadline-wise. I hope something comes in for tomorrow, and then I can take Monday off without fretting.

I meant to look at the 1930 census for “just a minute”. Three hours later, I’d gone through the 1930 census for my hometown, page by page. I have a lead or two that might be a couple of my Playland Painters. There’s also no reason to think they all lived in Rye, but I figured I’d start there, and work my way out. There’s no way to search by term within the census (at least not in the version I could get into without paying for), so I went through it, page by page, focusing on the “occupation” line, and working from there. I took a lot of notes, including notes about anyone who worked at the park, because maybe I can trace back from that.

I also took notes on interesting people and patterns, such as the theatrical manager and his theatrical secretary wife who lived in the building where I grew up! There was also St. Benedict’s Home for Colored Children – how did I grow up in the town and not know this? There were a lot of butlers, cooks, maids, gardeners, and servants listed, as working for “private family” without naming the family. I noticed that the butlers were usually English, German, Southern (Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri) or Japanese, while laborers and other servants were usually Italian, Irish, Nova Scotian, and there was a group from Iceland.

Moving on to the 1940 census, there were more listings for “artist”, both men and women. There was also an uptick in men listing their profession as “copywriter for advertising.” There were also women listing their profession as “novelist” or “fiction writer” or “writer” and I even recognized some of the names. That shouldn’t be surprising; my family moved there in 1966, which wasn’t that far removed from the 1940 census. And more people by then were involved in professional radio.

I found more amusement park workers, although not necessarily painters. There was also the dress model listed as a “lodger” with the “head of household” a woman with her own dressmaking business, and the other lodger a nurse. There’s a story there. There was also the Irish chef and the Polish gardener who listed their place of employment as “insane asylum.”

So many stories.

Some of this may add texture to whatever I write about the Playland Painters. Others may earn their owns stories.

I have more 1940 census sheets to go through today. Those sheets are not just from my hometown, but also surrounding towns. In the 1930 census, I have to go back and go through the other sheets for the other towns.

I also have to make sure that I don’t neglect other work because of this. But I’m tired and grumpy and discouraged, and the research makes me feel as though I’m DOING something.

My hometown library is encouraging me to come down and read what they have that isn’t available for lending, and also will help me coordinate with the historical society next door. They’ve even offered me a “study room.” So I might combine that with the trip to the Archives (which is in a different town).

Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about going back to visit, even with a purpose. I have a rather complicated relationship with my hometown. And yet, a lot of it is positive, so why not focus on those aspects? Most of what’s tied to negative memories no longer exists there.

I had a blasting headache by the time I was done. Read a little at night, caught up on the WGA strike. So, HBO merged with MAX to become HBO/MAX and now drops the HBO part, which is the recognizable part of the brand? And, on top of that, they stopped listing writers and directors in the credits, calling them “creators”? Then, they backpedaled, claiming it was a “technical glitch.”

Bullshit. It was a test balloon to see if they could get away with it, and then split hairs in the contract so they would have another excuse not to pay people hired as under the writer or director banner.

At least it lit a fire under the directors, and they are showing up on the picket line, even if DGA won’t let them carry DGA signs (which is bullshit, too, but probably part of their negotiation agreement).

Tina Turner died, which is sad. She was truly an extraordinary human being and talent.

The Florida Demon announced his candidacy for President – on Twitter – with technical difficulties. Serves him right. He’s a dangerous fascist, and must be stopped at all costs.

What’s on today’s agenda? Meditation. Drafting new episodes. Making the rounds to promote today’s episode of Legerdemain. Returning my residency contract for autumn. Two client projects. Hopefully, uploading/scheduling the next 8 episodes of Angel Hunt (which then means loglines and videos, but I’ll wait on the videos). Maybe finish painting the wind chimes, so they can go out, and we can set up the Enchanted Garden on the back balcony. It was in the 30’s overnight with frost warnings again, so we haven’t been able to do much.

Somewhere in there, I’m sure I’ll spend more time on the census.

Oh, yeah, and I’m out of frigging ink again!!!

Have a good one!

Wed. May 24, 2023: Research Into a Place From My Past

image courtesy of  Connor Johnson via pixabay.com

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Come visit the Process Muse, where I talk about Idea Cookies.

Today’s serial episode is Angel Hunt:

Episode 35: Who Is He?

Who is the entity who allowed Lianna entrance? What does he have to do with the hunt?

Angel Hunt Serial Link

Yesterday was just kind of an “I’m disappointed in myself” kind of day. My brain just checked out, early on. I got the blog up. I did some more research on the photographs of the Playland Painters. I’m pretty sure I’ll need to go down and research in the archives in person. I worked on next week’s Process Muse. I crunched numbers. If the grant money doesn’t show up and the debt defaults, we’ll get by, although June will be tight. If either the grant money or the debt ceiling limit is raised by June 1, I can move forward on everything. Even without the grant money in place, if the debt ceiling is lifted, I have enough to take care of everything that needs attention in June, and even a few things that want attention.

The back-and-forth on the Playland Painters was interesting. Playland park itself knows nothing. The new “management” company has no idea, nor do they know where any of the materials from the museum ended up. Typical. No sense of history or lineage.

The researchers at the Westchester Archives are intrigued. They asked for the jpgs, and I sent them over. I told them the search terms I’d used from their collection, which hadn’t yielded results. One had been 8 pages’ worth of thumbnails. The other is over 50 pages, and I’ve only made it through the first 10 (although, in both, I found some really interesting photos that will help with the project). I also found a book on the history of the park, which I will order sometime in June, depending on how all the money stuff shakes out over the next few weeks.

The Archives is only open to appointments one day per week, and then only 2 hours in the morning, and 2 hours in the afternoon. The loose plan is, if/when I book an appointment, I’d drive down very early in the morning to be there when they open, research both sessions, and then either drive back partway and visit a friend, or stay in a motel overnight and drive home the next day. Doing the full drive is possible – especially since I’d be done late afternoon. But, energy-wise, I’m not sure I could do it, especially after researching all day. Play it by ear.

I took a brief look at the Rye Historical society site. It doesn’t look as though they allow researchers; they research “for a fee.” They have very little of their collection digitized thus far. They have some photos of Playland, but I don’t know what other types of records they have. I contacted the Westchester Children’s Museum, which took over the space where the little museum in which I found the photographs used to be.

I tried to look for census records, but the last NY state census was in 1925. Four years too early, and I need a name.  If I want to look in the federal census online, I need to have a name.

What I need are Playland’s employment records. The Westchester Archives might have them. I’m also wondering if maybe they were part of the WPA program? Although that didn’t start until 1935, and, according to the caption below the photo, these women worked there from 1929-1940 panting. They’re wearing smocks, and it’s hard to tell what they have under them, but it looks like, from the hem length, the shoes, and the hair styles, the photo was taken somewhere in the mid 1930’s.

I sent an email to the reference librarian at the library where I got my first library card, just in case. I keep hoping that someone I send the photo to will be related to one of the women in it!

Anyway, that was that rabbit hole yesterday (and early this morning). What else did I do yesterday? I didn’t draft an episode of Legerdemain, which puts me back. I uploaded the Legerdemain episode video on TikTok. I’m having a terrible time with the sound attribution. It keeps listing it as original sound by me. One can only change the attribution line ONCE – and when I change it, it doesn’t save what I entered. I did the social media rounds for Legerdemain. I worked on next week’s Process Muse post. I did two client projects, one fairly large, one short. I sent three plays out on submission.

I did not go to yoga, which I missed, but I wasn’t feeling up to it.

On a practical level, I patched the hole in the screen from the time Spiro Squirrel tried to get in. I got myself a roll of screen tape for this kind of patching.

I’m reading VIVIANA VALENTINE GETS HER MAN by Emily J. Edwards, and it’s lots of fun. I’m thinking I might do book recommendations occasionally on TikTok, too, if I can set up a good template.

Went to bed early, exhausted. Woke up around 3 AM with sense memory stress. Managed to get back to sleep, and got up with the coffee. The oat milk is all clumpy AGAIN – that’s twice lately. I didn’t think plant milk could curdle.

I didn’t go to the laundromat, which I’m fine about today, but will regret next week. On today’s agenda is a lot of Legerdemain, so I can get back on track; more Playland research; a trip to the library to drop off/pick up books,  I have two client projects to do this afternoon. I hope I get in more for tomorrow and Friday. I really want to take the Monday holiday. I need the rest. But we’ll see how it all shakes out. I might have to push through all this week into next.

I’ve pushed working on the flash fiction to the weekend, along with drafting a 10-minute comedy play. I have to start thinking about the radio play for the UK company, too.

So I better get going, hadn’t I, and get a few things done! Have a good one, my friends.

Tues. May 23, 2023: Unpleasant Limbo

image courtesy of Melissa G via pixabay.com

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Big announcement: You can find short videos about my work over on Tiktok. Trying it to see if that will expand the audience, especially for the serials and the Topic Workbooks.

Ready for our usual Tuesday morning catch-up? How was your weekend?

Today’s serial episode is Legerdemain:

Episode 87: Roommates

Shelley sets up a sting to catch a killer.

Legerdemain serial link

Legerdemain website link

Remember I mentioned interest in Alice Diamond’s Forty Elephants gang last Friday? Turns out there are already several novels out about it: Erin Bledsoe’s FORTY THIEVES and Beezy Marsh’s QUEEN OF THIEVES. So I don’t need to write a novel! I’m going to read their novels, though, and I’m going to read Brian McDonald’s nonfiction book on Alice. Disney’s doing a series, supposedly, which I’m likely to have mixed feelings about. (I’m glad Disney’s fighting DeSantis, but that doesn’t mean I suddenly love Disney). There might be another one of my historical women plays in there. Or I might read it just to read it.

It makes more sense to work on the script (or maybe it will be a novel) about Katharine Cornell’s tour. I have Gladys Malvern’s books (I ordered my own copies), and Gladys is quickly becoming one of my favorite people. In addition to being an actress touring with Cornell and others (also known as a “trouper”), she was an author, best known for the children’s books she wrote.

There are so many wonderful arts and culture events happening around here that it would be very easy to overload and not have any time for my own work. I need to make sure I keep a balance. I want to meet fellow artists and support their work, but I also have to keep putting my own work first. And I have to avoid unsafe situations where I might get infected.

On Friday, I finished the episode of Legerdemain I’d started writing a couple of days prior. This week, I have to upload and schedule the next batch of episodes.

I went to the library for what should have been a quick drop-off/pickup of a few books. However, I ran into a stranger and we started talking. Turns out we’re close to the same age and have both been in business all our lives. He works for MCU and was one of Stan Lee’s proteges. We’ve worked with about 30 or 40 of the same people throughout the years. Anyway, what started as a quick chat moved outside the building and wound up being a two-hour conversation. So that was fun, but I wasn’t wearing a jacket, and by the end of it, I was chilled to the bone.

Finally got the grocery shopping done, then came home and tried to warm up. Some client work came in for next week, so I didn’t worry about not having anything for Friday. And I’d missed my window to go to the Clark, plus it was clouding over, so I stayed home.

I experimented some more with FlexClip and Canva video tools. I like FlexClip much better, but there are instances where Canva does more of what I need.

I worked on the poem. I did the social media rounds ANGEL HUNT. I wrote up my review and sent it off. I continued reading THE SECRET SERVICE OF TEA AND TREASON, which is hilarious. So clever. I needed the rest.

Saturday, the cats tried to roust me out of bed and I refused to get up.

When I finally got up, I played with video again. I tried ClipChamp (urg) and Power Director (which just needed more time than I have to give it right now). Between FlexClip and Canva, I finished the Devon intro video, polished the Topic Workbooks videos, polished the ANGEL HUNT intro, and created a Legerdemain intro. I also set up video templates in Canva for AH and Legerdemain episodes, where I just have to pop out that week’s logline and/or graphic, save it, and the rest is set.

I also worked on the poem.

In the afternoon, I finished reading THE SECRET SERVICE OF TEA AND TREASON. What a delightful book.

Slept well Saturday into Sunday, although I had weird dreams, which fled as soon as I woke up.

I worked on the poem some more, adding in breath marks (I like to do that on pieces I read, so I don’t run out of air in the middle of a sentence).

I then worked on the Heist Romance Script, which has been begging for attention, doing the Corsica and Sardinia sections. They need work, but at least they’re there. About 20 script pages.  Got my characters back to Marseilles and separated them. Ben is back in London. Tara is wherever she is. I have to do some montage-y stuff and then do some research for the next bits, which are in Barcelona, and then York. I also have to write the dramaturgy on the treasure. I’ll only put bits and pieces of it in the script itself, but I need to know the whole story in order to do that well.

This draft, however, is to get characters and the main plot points in, and make sure I hit the action/team/romance bits. As I work on subsequent drafts, I will rip out what’s reading flat and build more dynamic beats that serve on multiple levels.

Which is ass-backwards, because most scriptwriters plot out the beats first and then write the script. But, since I’m not in a room with others, and it’s not on contract (nor would it be, with the strike going on), I’m doing it this way. Takes longer, but I’ll get there, even if it’s not the considered best practices.

I put on real people pants and makeup, and drove down to the Mount, in Lenox for the poetry reading. We had a stage out behind the stable, with a backdrop of trees. It was lovely. There were 11 poets, and it went well. I was second up. The piece got laughs where I hoped, and acknowledgement of the more serious beats where I hoped. I only blew one humorous line in delivery – the beds of kale line. Note to self – have full stanzas on the same page; end the page early if the stanza needs to spill over, because turning the page mid-stanza loses the rhythm.  I made a few adjustments as I read, when I realized the upcoming word wasn’t sustaining the rhythm created, but I could change those on the fly, without stumbling. Hopefully, I’ve remembered them all to fix them for the next draft. I’d printed it out in 16-point font, which made it much easier to read. I thoroughly enjoyed the other poets’ offerings. One of the things I love about the WxW events is that the audience are active listeners. They really pay attention and pick up on nuances and details.

On the way home, filled up the car with gas, and picked up a few things at Adams Fresh Market. Home, made dinner.

Read for a bit in the evening (not that thrilled with the current book, might just stop and take it back to the library).

Went back and did a few more pages on the Heist Romance Script – these scenes will need a lot of reworking in the next draft. Not happy with them.

Charlotte started bothering me at 2 AM, but I refused to get up until the coffee started at 5:30.

They’re still “painting” the library across the street, the machines making lots of beep-beep-beep all day from 6 AM onwards. It should have taken then a week to paint the building. We’re going into our third month. Ridiculous.

Instead of doing what I should have been doing all morning, I did a fix pass on the pages I wrote the previous night, so they’re better (but not where they need to be), and then wrote about 20 more pages. This will be a limited series (used to be called a mini-series), but this first draft is one big ole draft no one could ever use, and then I’ll cut and shape it. Again, not following best practices for the format, but, since I’m doing it for me at this point, not anyone else, I’ll do it my way. If I get a draft I feel is submission-worthy, I’ll make the necessary structural/format tweaks in that stronger draft.

Someday, it will actually get a title.

Also uploaded the first four videos to TikTok: the Devon Ellington intro, the Topic Workbooks, Legerdemain Intro, Angel Hunt intro. The only way I can edit sound attribution was to put the damn app on my phone, which I am not happy about. But, needs must.

I had four short client projects to turn around in the afternoon, which I did. I was assigned the next book for review. There’s not much from that editor now, and, with the strike, there’s not much coverage work. With the looming debt ceiling crisis (if my mother doesn’t get her social security check, I have to cover her expenses that it usually handles), AND the fact that I’m still waiting for the effing grant money (it’s going on three months late, which is just fucking with us at this point, just to fuck with us), it’s stressful, and I’m in a holding pattern. (Think Hanged Man Tarot card, hovering over The Tower). I can do it, even if (when) the Republicans catapult us over the debt cliff next week,  but it means reshuffling bills and other payments a bit. If I was in the usual work rhythm with the usual workload, it wouldn’t be a problem. I could take on a few days’ extra work, and it’s covered. But with the strike, a review pool slump, and Topic Workbook sales down because of the Muskrat’s algorithm changes, it all hits the squeeze point at once. Fortunately, the serials are still bringing in some cash (not a ton, but enough to make them worth continuing).

Such is the life of a full-time writer at this point in time. We’re all struggling. But we’re not giving up the fight.

Hence the expansion into TikTok, but again, none of this is instant. It all takes time, energy, focus, and work to build audience on any platform. I already have to reconfigure how I do it on the other platforms. Spending more quality time on specific platforms on specific days, while cycling through the others makes the most sense, at this point, but I have to be ready to adjust as needed.

There’s no point in building any of it if I let the actual creative work fall to the wayside. I can’t market what isn’t ready to market, or hasn’t yet been created. Well, I COULD, but it would come back to bite me in the butt.

And let’s face it, the GOP WANTS the country to default and everything to come crashing down. It’s all part of their plan. They haven’t even pretended to be anything but who they are since Reagan, but too many people are complacent. So, here we are.

Well, by the end of next week, I’ll know what needs to be shuffled where, and can actually DO something.

Anyway, once I finished the client work, I downloaded the Kindle App onto my creaky old tablet (and yet, it still works better than the Hive app ever did). I like using the tablet to read.

I also went in search of my SD card reader. Before my friends came, I put it in a Very Safe Place. You see where this is going, right? I can’t find it. Anywhere. I keep electronic stuff – extra cords, adapters, charging squares, et al – in a specific place in my office.

The SD card reader isn’t in there.

I checked ALL the bags and ALL the drawers.

Can’t find it anywhere.

I needed a specific photo, that I took way back around 2003 or 4 or something. I decided to go through the photo backups and the imports I tried to do from the Mac. It took a couple of hours, but I found the photos I needed.

I don’t have photo permissions to share them, or I would. The photos are of five women who did the specialized art painting at Playland Amusement Park from 1928-1940. I took the photos of these photos way back when, at the Playland Amusement Park’s small museum. Those five women have always fascinated me. They show so much individual personality in these photographs.

If you’re not familiar with Playland Amusement Park, it is in my hometown of Rye, New York (I grew up and went all the way through elementary and high school there). It’s an art deco amusement park with the infamous Dragon Coaster and one of the old Derby racer rides. I have a lot of pictures taken over the years (good thing, since the current owners are wrecking it). I set the novelette “That Man in Tights” there (and the big chase scene is based on The Flying Witch House Ride, which has been destroyed), and set a couple of the Christy Miller bylined short stories there.

Anyway, I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a piece in a fictional park of the era inspired by Playland for years. I want to know who these women were.

I finally found the photo and sent it to the office at Playland, asking for more information. I printed the photos out, and I also saved them in my picture file. I sent a similar email to the Westchester County Archives, asking if they had any information, or could point me in the right direction. I may have to go down and dig in there myself at some point.

On the Archive digital website, I found some cool photos of the park at that time, which I will also use as inspiration. But I didn’t find a match for these photos.

I want to know these women’s names. Their names shouldn’t be lost.

Possibly, the Archives will have employment records, and I can try to match them. Or maybe I can try looking in the census.

Anyway, that was the rabbit hole from yesterday afternoon through this morning.

On today’s agenda: draft an episode of Legerdemain. Work on the flash fiction. I’ve percolated the beginning and the end; I need to work the arc between them. Maybe work on REP or the Heist Romance script (although I have to do more research on the latter’s next section). Do the research for the first Llewellyn pieces.

I desperately need to do some filing.

Fill out the paperwork for the residency. Do the social media rounds for Legerdemain, including posting today’s episode video on TikTok. I have a client project in the afternoon. I don’t think I’ll make it to yoga this afternoon; I’ve had a fever on and off through the night and into this morning, so isolating seems like the smart choice.

I better get going, huh? The clock is running! Have a good one!

Mon. May 22, 2023: Intent for the Week — Stay on the Tightrope

image courtesy of  Vanesa via pixabay.com

I’m in sort of a holding pattern this week, waiting for promises to be fulfilled. I’ve done all I can on my end; now I need the other parties to do their bit.

While waiting, because I can’t take the next steps on several projects until certain elements are in place, I still have to hold the course on the serials, the client work, and implement other steps in the overall larger business plan.

But there are two vital, big pieces of the overall puzzle that have to click into place before I can move forward with the summer. So I am going to hold my tongue, hold the course, and try to be patient this week.

What’s your intent?

Fri. May 19, 2023: New Moon = New Focus (I Hope)

Clark Art Institute Reflecting Pool. Photo by Devon Ellington

Friday, May 19, 2023

New Moon

Partly cloudy and cold

Still in the 30s when I wake up. I prefer cool to hot, but I’m worried about the plants.

Last year, when I turned in my section of the collaborative poem, I was terrified. This year I’m giddy. Growth, I guess?

Today’s serial episode is from Angel Hunt:

Angel Hunt Serial link

Episode 34: A Castle That is Home

An oddly-built castle with a wall and a drawbridge out of amethyst and ghosts dancing in the moat. What’s inside? Lianna is determined to find out.

Angel Hunt Serial Link

I’m pleased that SAG-AFTRA authorized a strike, and stands so strongly with WGA. The writer-actor partnership can be wonderful. Let’s hope the DGA doesn’t throw us under the bus in their current negotiations. The SAG-AFTRA position might put more pressure on them to work with us, but I’ve worked with too many directors who have contempt for both writers and actors and believe they (the directors) are the only ones with vision. A good director with both a strong vision and strong collaborative ability is wonderful; the ego-centric ones are a nightmare. It takes everyone to put on a good show. The DGA is fussing about the rules that hyphenated members (belonging to both guilds) can’t make “minor” script changes during the strike. Um, when it comes to directors, there’s no such thing as a “minor” change and even non-hyphenated directors do way more script changes than is in their purview far too often. The WGA should stand firm, and the fucking DGA members should not have given up their strike clause and should not be crossing picket lines no matter what.

Neil Gaiman showed up on the picket line, which is a big deal.

I think I fixed the dishwasher. I ran some tests, and it’s the outlet, not the dishwasher itself. I got it back into the outlet so it gets power – but I knocked something that dripped. We ran sink tests and it’s not one of the pipes for the sink, which means it’s probably one. . .connected to the dishwasher. So I’ll have the maintenance guy check it when he’s here to check the smoke detectors and the fire extinguisher. I don’t want to start the dishwasher and find I’ve disrupted a pipe and cause damage. Although I checked the lines with a flashlight, and everything looks like it’s connected tightly.

Or maybe the dishwasher is just going to conk out every Mercury Retrograde, and come back to life when Merc goes direct.

Worked my July poem and worked it and worked it. Did several drafts. Read it with the stopwatch. Adjusted for time. Read it until it came in consistently at 30 seconds (our time limit). Sent it off, so today’s collaborator begins with my last word.

Still have not found the final two lines for Sunday’s poem, which needs to happen today, so I can work it some more tomorrow, time it (I have a 3-minute limit), make necessary cuts, and get comfortable with it. Because Sunday is. . .soon. It sounds like I’m hunting through the sock drawer and closets for those lines, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

The good thing about writing for radio is that I can work the material so it fits within the time limit.

Had some email discussion about the September reading and promoting it. Did the social media rounds for Legerdemain. Worked on a future post for the Process Muse.

Worked on an intro video about my work. I’d already created/updated the logo for the Coventina Circle Mysteries. Created one for the Gwen Finnegan mysteries. Eventually, I will do one for the Nautical Namaste Mysteries, but right now, it’s just listed. I may change that, and do a collage of covers instead. I’m using the Ava Dunne avatar for the pieces under that name. I should come up with a logo for the Delectable Digital Delights shorts, and I need to have an alternate Topic Workbook logo. I have to do an avatar for the Cerridwen iris Shea name, and add that in, and then do a slide of the other names that I don’t use as often.

Because I don’t go on camera, I have to come up with interesting visuals that aren’t about ME. Because none of this is about me, anyway; it’s about the work.

Did some client work in the afternoon. Finished the book for review later in the afternoon/evening, and will write up the review today and hopefully get my next assignment.

Got my paperwork for the autumn residency at MASSMoCA; will fill it out and get it back to them next week. I have to scan some materials for them.

Started reading THE SECRET SERVICE OF TEA AND TREASON by India Holton which is absolutely hilarious. Loving it, and I want to read her other books now.

Someone on Spoutible posted something about the Forty Elephants Gang and I want to write about them, especially when Alice Hill was in charge. No, I’m not worried someone will “steal” the idea; we’d do it very differently.

Dreamed about looking for parking so I could attend a loft party. Huh?

On today’s agenda: Get the last two lines of Sunday’s poem settled, finish the Legerdemain episode, do the social media rounds to promote today’s episode of ANGEL HUNT, do a drop-off/pickup at the library, do a minor grocery shop.

I don’t have any client work (although that may change). I’m not sure if I’ll stay home to work on Legerdemain/Angel Hunt/Rep (once the poem is sorted out), or if I’ll head over to the Clark, for that project. I’ll play it by ear.

Will probably do a bit of writing tomorrow morning (Legerdemain and Angel Hunt, most likely), and then household stuff in the afternoon. Sunday will be about the reading over at the Mount.

Next week, along with juggling serials and client work, I have to get back on track with “Labor Intensive”, the current revision of FALL FOREVER (so it can rest, before the next round of revisions), and work on the material for Llewellyn. I also want to rough out some promos for the reading in September. The sooner we get these materials done, the better lead time we have for promotion. Next weekend, I get to read an ARC of my friend’s new book and blurb it.

Have a good one!

Thurs. May 18, 2023: A Poetry-Centric Week

Clark Art Institute Reflecting Pool. Photo by Devon Ellington

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Dark Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and cold

It was 29 degrees F when I woke up this morning, and then dropped to 27. Brrrrr.

The latest on the garden is over on Gratitude and Growth. Once again, Twitter is no longer letting WP post the link. I’m back on it a lot for the WGA Strike news, but then, I need to be done with it.

Today’s serial episode is from Legerdemain:

Episode 86: Bedpan Guy

Brone’s rescuer recognized Brone’s attacker. Sort of.

Legerdemain Serial Link

Legerdemain Website Link

I have to sit down with my long range plan (which is, as always, somewhat of a work in progress) and make some business decisions over the next couple of weeks. This is a good thing, not a bad thing, but it takes time and mental space, and needs to be done. I’d like to walk a labyrinth as I ponder it, but I won’t get to do that until I get to Kripalu later in the season.

Of course, once I make the decisions, I then have to build the schedule to implement them.

Worked on the poem for Sunday. Still need those last two lines to give it a big finish.

Only got about half of a Legerdemain episode written. Had trouble concentrating.

Did the social media rounds for Angel Hunt and for Process Muse.

Headed down to Bear & Bee Bookshop, They are delighted to host the Boiler House Poets Collective reading in September, and we set it for the 30^th. So happy about it. Love that place.

Now we can figure out the graphics for the marketing and get that prepped, so it’s ready to go when we need it.

Created a couple of video pieces in the afternoon, two on FlexClip, one on Canva, as a comparison/contrast. I did a promo video for the Topic Workbooks on both. I have to edit out some text on the FlexClip one that I didn’t see when I was putting it together. I did a video promo for ANGEL HUNT on FlexClip with I love. I will let them sit for a few days before I start uploading them.

Of the two, FlexClip is easier for me, and reminds me more of the tools I learned in film school and then used in iMovie. If/when I have to buy a subscription, I’m more likely to do so on FlexClip. I should do both, since I use Canva for promotional materials for the serials, but if I can only afford one, it’s more likely to be FlexClip at this point. Although I bet Canva will change its policies and I’ll be forced to pay for both.

Creating the videos for Legerdemain will be a challenge, because I don’t want to do one per episode.

When I get my new camera, I’ll be able to do photo/video shoots specific to projects, and that will be an improvement, too. I mean, my degree is in film production, FFS.

I did some client work in the afternoon (reluctantly), but it was done and out on time.

I got my word for July’s poem, and am thrilled with it. It aligns with the ideas I’ve been playing with, so I don’t have to start from scratch.  I will work on that today. I have to turn in my segment of the poem by 3 PM.

It’s a very poetry-centric week!

Got the contract back to Llewellyn. I love my editor there so much. We work well together.

Maintenance is coming around late this week/early next week to test smoke alarms, etc. I need to tidy up a bit from the chaos of multiple projects, turning over the apartment into summer fabrics, and the storage run.

I started reading the next book for review.

I had a bad night of stress dreams. I’m so grateful for all the good that’s in my life right now, and annoyed that I’m still having sense memory stress.

On today’s agenda: meditation, for the start. The priority today is the poem due by 3 PM. If possible, I will also finish the episode of Legerdemain. I’d like to finish Sunday’s poem, too. And I have some client work to do this afternoon. That’s probably as far as I will get, along with doing the social media rounds for today’s episode of Legerdemain. The episode graphic is kind of fun, and this is one of the more comic episodes.

Have a good one!

Wed. May 17, 2023: Arranging Word Pebbles

Reflecting Pool at the Clark Institute. Photo by Devon Ellington

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Day Before Dark Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and chilly

Day before dark moon is always my lowest energy day of the month, but I need to buck up and get things done.

Today’s Process Muse post is about Managing Energy, which I’m trying to get better about. You can read it here.

Today’s serial episode is from Angel Hunt:

Episode 33: Forest Dreams

Where is this astral travel journey taking Lianna?

Angel Hunt Serial Link here.

Yesterday was just kind of an all-over-the-place mess. I’m having serious Sense Memory Stress that has little to do with my current reality. Yesterday, it was almost paralyzing. Yes, there are things I’m concerned about: the continued delay in receiving the grant money, the WGA strike, the looming debt ceiling crisis, trying to find a vet so I can update the cats’ shots and get them wellness exams, the need for new glasses, etc. But it doesn’t need the extreme stress response I had yesterday.

I figured out a few things on FALL FOREVER, and, once I get the big August rewrite done, I have a submission call to aim it at on September 1. I found another submission call with a July 1 deadline for a fun piece that I should be able to whip up and hone between now and then. I found another call and submitted a short play that fits, but I’m so close to the deadline that they might have found what they want. Last week, I had a great exchange with a company in the UK who does audio dramas, and I will submit to their next open call in June.

Drafted an episode of Legerdemain. Adapted two chapters of ANGEL HUNT into a total of 9 serial episodes. I hated to stop work on it; I was in a flow. If ANGEL HUNT continues to perform well and improves (which is always the hope, get more readers), there will be a second “season.” I’m hoping it will be between 30-50 episodes, and I’ve gotten it roughed out. I even have a working title. If that does well, there will be a third season, taking place in one of the more interesting astral locations from ANGEL HUNT, and I hope that will be around 60-90 episodes. But first, I need to finish adapting all of ANGEL HUNT, polishing, and uploading, so I know what I have. Then I can plan for the other two. Those will build on ANGEL HUNT, while still being different enough that they can be read as stand-alones.

I struggled with the poem that I’m reading Sunday, and considered giving up my slot so that someone with something that works could have it.

Had trouble focusing on client work. I’m fine with their deadlines, so I just cut myself a break, and started the 4^th draft of FALL FOREVER. I got most of the first act done before I had to leave for yoga. I made a lot of internal cuts to tighten scenes, rearranged some material, and changed the approach to one of the conflicts. All in all, it’s two pages tighter, even with the new material woven into it.

Went to yoga. It was great. We were all dragging, so we did yoga Nidra, instead of what was originally planned. During Savasana, I found the poem for Sunday.

I’d been using the wrong voice. I was using Tragic Poetess Voice when it needed to be Cynical Chick Lit Voice. Once I found the voice, the rest of it clicked into place. Just because it’s personal doesn’t mean it has to sound “precious.”

Came home, scribbled most of the poem, ate (I’d made crockpot chicken fajita). Went back to work on FALL FOREVER, and did a good portion of work on the second act. I stopped at the memorial scene, because I need to completely rip that apart and restructure it, and I have to come up with short anecdotes for them to share as their celebration of Lily that arise organically from their characters and unique perspectives. The scene from the third draft runs 6 pages; I certainly don’t want it to run anymore than that. Hopefully, it will be less.

Got the heads up that my word for July’s poem will arrive within the next seven days. How much do you want to bet it shows up on Sunday, when I’ll be spending most of the day with the poets at the Mount? But I’ll still get it done. I know what I want to write about, and I’ll find a way to weave in my starting word.

Up early and out the door to the laundromat. Revised 4 episodes of Legerdemain, and about 3 of REP. I worked on Sunday’s poem a little bit. I tweaked a few things to sharpen images and improve flow. I need a Big Finish – a couple of lines to wind it all up. I’m playing with and discarding images, not yet finding the right one. I’ll get there.

On today’s agenda: type up Sunday’s poem and figure out the ending so it sticks its landing. I’ll work it for precision and rhythm the next few days, and time it so I’m within my 3-minute slot limitation.

I’m letting the memorial scene for FALL FOREVER percolate. Maybe I’ll write a couple of the anecdotes; maybe they need a few more days. I have another episode of Legerdemain to draft, and I’ll make the social media rounds to promote today’s episode of ANGEL HUNT and the day’s Process Muse post. I’d like to do some more work on AH, but not sure it will fit into this morning.

When the bookstore opens, I’ll head over and talk to them about the reading in autumn. Hopefully, the requested day will work for all of us. We’re supposed to get our residency contracts soon, which is exciting.

I didn’t get my contract back to Llewellyn yesterday, so I’ll do that today. I have some fun dates to work with, and the research will be great. For this almanac, I’m assigned 24 specific days, which I research and build the material around, and then a bonus piece that could fit in any day.

In the afternoon, I have to catch up on the client work I didn’t finish yesterday. I’m still fine on deadline, as long as I focus and get it done. I also have to read the next book for review.

That’s the plan. Let’s hope I can make it work! Have a good one, my friends!

Tues. May 16, 2023: Trying To Balance The Writing Needs

View across the Clark Art Institute Reflecting Pool. Photo by Devon Ellington

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Waning Moon

Mercury Went Direct on Sunday

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and chilly

Busy weekend. Good busy, but still busy. So, I hope you have your favorite beverage handy for our Tuesday catch-up.

Today’s serial episode is Legerdemain.

Episode 85: Attack on Brone

Brone is attacked in the Infirmary. His rescuer is a surprise.

Legerdemain Serial Link

Legerdemain website

Friday, I wrote another episode of Legerdemain. I uploaded and scheduled this coming Thursday’s episode. I puttered on the poem.

Out the door late morning, headed for the Clark Art Institute. It was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny. On the way there, I stopped at the Milne Library in Williamstown, because the lilacs are just starting to bloom, and they have wonderful lilacs. Their lilacs were just beginning, but I got to see their reading garden (a lovely spot in which I hope to spend time this summer) and checked out their book cart, where I found a few things, including a couple of mysteries by Anna Clarke. I met a woman at the cart, an artist who uses discarded books to make collages. She’s currently working on one using prints of old circus posters. She grew up in Bridgeport, CT and used to watch the Ringling Brothers Circus train come in, when they wintered there (before they moved to Florida for winters; PT Barnum Museum is still in Bridgeport).

Anyway, after that, I headed up to the Clark, which was packed. I never even made it inside the museum; I sat in a chair under a linden tree out by the reflecting pool. I worked on the project for a bit, and just enjoyed myself. Okay, I also eavesdropped, rolling my eyes at a few things I overheard, and made notes that will be integrated into future characters.

On the way home, I stopped at Wild Oats and then Stop & Shop, to pick up a few things. In the afternoon, I read Anna Clarke’s LETTER FROM THE DEAD, which was very good, and one of the few mysteries where I didn’t get ahead of it and figure out the murderer.

In the evening, there was a special session at my yoga studio, where they hosted Lama Tashi Norbu, who is both a Tibetan monk and an acclaimed tattoo artist. He is the director of a museum of Tibetan Arts in the Netherlands. It was an interesting session and gave me a lot to ponder.

Home, dinner, and to bed early. Didn’t get much sleep, because it was the night before MCLA’s graduation ceremony, and everyone was doing one last blowout. Considering we live catty corner from the college, it’s amazing there isn’t a lot more loud partying all semester. I can deal with a day here and there. Charlotte sat in the window all night and watched them.

Just before bedtime, I got word that I did not get the August residency I hoped for in upstate New York. It was a very nice letter, but disappointing. I’d hoped to use that time to do the big revision on FALL FOREVER. However, now I can use all of August to do it instead. I still want to do another revision of it between now and then.

The alarm went off at 4:30 AM on Saturday, and we were out of the house a little after 5:30, headed to the Cape for a storage run. It was sunny, but cooler than the previous day.

The drive down wasn’t bad, and there wasn’t too much traffic over the Bourne Bridge. We got to storage, and loaded up a rather eclectic bunch of boxes. I didn’t find the family photos/scrapbooks yet (which should have been on the truck), and I forgot to bring up the blank canvases. This is the last run we can do before autumn, so what we have is what we have.

We headed along the canal to Sagamore to the big Christmas Tree Shop over by the bridge. The chain was sold to a hedge fund, who intentionally ran it into the ground (which is how they make their money; anything a hedge fund touches is destroyed for profit), and this store is closing. It’s been around a good long time; we shopped there well before we moved to the Cape. The vultures were already there, and many shelves empty. We didn’t buy much; it was too sad, and we weren’t going to buy just to buy. I took some pictures, because I bet they tear down the building, including the lovely large windmill.

Back along the canal and off Cape on the Bourne Bridge. The traffic was picking up, especially going on Cape; we missed the worst of it. It was a fairly smooth ride until Worcester, where we were caught up in 12 miles of stop & go traffic, losing the time we’d gained. But once past that, it was a decent ride home.

While driving, I pondered some of the things discussed in Friday’s session with the monk, and got an idea for a story. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet, but I made some notes, and will let it percolate.

Stopped at Adams Fresh Market for a few things, and then to get takeout. We were home just after 2:30, which was a pretty decent time frame for a roundtrip of a little over 400 miles, plus storage sorting, plus shopping. Ate first, then I unloaded the car.

Saturday was graduation day, but it had pretty much cleared out by the time we returned, and everyone was in that state of stunned exhaustion and adrenaline withdrawal.

We just rested in the afternoon and evening, and read. I read Lina Chern’s PLAY THE FOOL, which was a lot of fun, especially in the way it used tarot cards.

Slept well; up early on Sunday (because the cats figured 4:30 was better than 5:30 for breakfast, per the previous day). Baked biscuits for my mom for Mother’s Day.

We had a quiet Mother’s Day. I unpacked most of the boxes we brought up. I have to do some rearranging to integrate things. Stuff needed to be washed, so we did that. It was fun, finding things we hadn’t seen in a while. Finally found my poodle bookends. I’ve been looking for them since we moved to the Cape, much less than moved here.

Tried to make a pizza with all of my mom’s favorite toppings. Unfortunately, I used a commercial dough I hadn’t used before. I knew I wouldn’t be up to making dough from scratch after the storage run. The dough I like and usually use wasn’t available at Big Y, and I found this Birrittella’s dough in Stop & Shop. First of all, they don’t have directions on the package. They force you to their website. I shouldn’t have to watch a video; it should be printed ON THE PACKAGE. There are plenty of times I’m cooking at a residency or retreat or whatever, and there’s no internet. Second, it takes over 2 hours to prepare the dough. I mean, I might as well have made it from scratch. This was supposed to save me time. Third, once in the pan, it doesn’t bake properly. The toppings were starting to burn, but the crust wasn’t baked. It was a disaster. We ended up scraping off the topping and making impromptu garlic bread to eat with it instead. At least the topping was good: sauce, sauteed onions, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, pancetta, pepperoni, and lots and lots of mozzarella. But at least I know what dough to avoid at all costs. Absolutely awful. Worst pizza dough experience I’ve ever had.

At least I’d gotten my mother a nice cheesecake, her favorite.

Read THE FOXGLOVE KING by Hannah Whitten, which was good.

Relieved that Mercury went direct, and completely exhausted by it at the same time. This Pluto Retrograde won’t be particularly pleasant (lots of squares with other planets, causing tension), but at least we don’t have to worry about Mercury again until August.

Noodled with next week’s poem. It’s not where I want it. I need physical and mental openness/space to make it work, and not sure how I’ll manage it this week.

I was worried I’d get my word for July’s poem while we were on the road, so I packed my poetry notebook as insurance I wouldn’t, and it worked.

Weird dreams overnight, which fled as soon as I woke up on Monday.

Drafted an episode of Legerdemain. Did this week’s episode graphics, uploaded, and scheduled. Polished, uploaded, and scheduled next week’s Legerdemain episodes. Once they were approved, I created the episode graphics and uploaded those promos. Did a temporary graphic for FALL FOREVER, mostly so I could add it to my Creative Ground profile.

Did a dropoff/pickup at the library (and scored three fantastic cookbooks from the discard cart). Picked up my mom’s prescription at the pharmacy. Swung by the bookstore to talk about autumn’s reading, but their hours have changed, and they were closed. I have to go back on Wednesday. Mailed some bills. Deposited some checks at the bank. Swung by another store to pick up a couple of things, which, of course, they did not have. I need to go over to Carr’s Hardware on the other side of town instead, probably at the end of the week.

The siren song of FlexClip was calling again, but I needed to do my work first. I really miss iMovie from my mac. And, much as I want/need to create more enticing visuals for Legerdemain and Angel Hunt, I might start with something simpler like the Topic Workbooks. We’ll see. I need uninterrupted work time for that.

Did the client work. Had time for dinner before soup class, which was fun. We’re almost at the end of our soup class journey. It’s been an amazing few months. I’ve learned a lot, and the sense of community built is fantastic.

Started working on the next draft of FALL FOREVER. Making a lot of internal cuts in the scenes, tightening beats, getting rid of repetitive information, etc. I’m reworking one of the arcs. I need to up a confrontation scene. There’s a bit near the end that I want to move earlier, and turn into a half page or so exchange, and I want the Solstice celebration scene to have more fun and energy, instead of being a little self-conscious and trite, the way it is now. I’m not combining two characters, as a Trusted Reader suggested; the two characters work better separately, because one of them is very much a fulcrum on what the two pairs of relationships balance. I tried writing a few scenes where the characters were merged, and it shifts the themes I want to explore too much. A dynamic like that would work better in a different play. When I read the play, there’s enough of one of the characters, but when I heard the play read, I felt his character should have a little more. That’s partly due to the actor, I’m sure. But I want to layer him a bit more, so his flashes of humor and insight come through the grief better.

My contract for the 2025 Llewellyn Almanac arrived. Woo-hoo! I will sign it and send it back today, and then get started on writing the 25 spells next week, doing 3 per week at minimum, to get them all done and give me time to revise them before the mid-September deadline. And, the rate went up! Very happy.

Weird dreams overnight, that fled when I woke up. I have a feeling they were tied to FALL FOREVER. I did some more work on the play first thing this morning. Worked on the poem for Sunday, too. I started wondering if maybe I was working on the wrong thing/theme. I may do some freewriting later this morning, and see where it leads.

On today’s agenda: Legerdemain, maybe some ANGEL HUNT, work on the poem, work on the flash fiction piece for the artist call. Some new grant opportunities landed on my desk yesterday, for next year. I have to look at the calendar and see what’s what, and then work on those applications. Client work in the afternoon, and then yoga. Maybe after yoga, I’ll feel like I can focus on the poem better. Social media rounds to promote today’s serial episode. One last look at tomorrow’s Process Muse post. I’d like to do some work on FALL FOREVER, REP, and the Heist Romance Script, but I don’t see that happening today.

Have a good one!

Mon. May 15, 2023: Intent for the Week — Climb Out of Mercury Retrograde

image couortesy of Shri ram via pixabay.com

Mercury Retrograde always makes me feel like this one in the picture, although without the safety harness. I am grateful that this wasn’t my worst MR of recent years (the worst was when we had to move during it in 2021), but I definitely took some hits.

Mercury turned yesterday, and this week, I will attempt to climb back up and land on top of the cliff and keep going. There’s a new moon at the end of the week, and that should help.

What’s your intent for the week?