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!

Fri. Feb. 17, 2023: Books and Cats

image courtesy of Gerhard via pixabay.com

Friday, February 17, 2023

Waning Moon

Rainy and warm

It’s going to be 57F during the day, and go down to 18F tonight. Ick.

Meditation was good yesterday. Charlotte participated in almost the entire session, and was delighted.

Wrote the loglines for the next batch of Legerdemain episodes, and started uploading/scheduling next week’s promos. Didn’t get far, because I needed to point the time to other things, so I’ll catch up over the weekend.

Got everything all sorted out for the grant recipient celebration on March 31 at the Clark Institute. I just have to figure out what to wear, and I’m all set. Possibly my teal and black dress, or one of the Banana Republic knit dresses in red or gray (if it’s on the cooler side). I have six weeks to figure it out, so I’m not going to stress (too much). Hopefully, I’ll have had my hair cut by then.

They told me I don’t have to do anything but show up. Having done these before, and that not being the case, I’ll be ready with something to say if asked to speak, and a quick piece of my work. With any luck, I won’t have to use either, but at least I won’t be caught out.

The stitch markers finally arrived, so maybe I can get started on the piece in the thin alpaca yarn I bought when the local yarn shop closed a few months back.

Did the rounds to promote yesterday’s episode of Legerdemain and #28Prompts. Did some research on schedules for a couple of things, so I won’t get caught up closer to the time.

Worked on the article. Most of today will be spent on that, and on organizing the photos, so that the editor can choose which photos to use.

Typed up and revised, revised, revised the very short comic radio plays until the rhythms worked, the jokes landed, and the punch lines hit. Started prepping them to submit  — and saw, in the guidelines, that the plays can only have 2 characters, and I used 3. Ack. Re-assigning lines flattens the pieces out, losing the rhythms. I have to tear them apart and rebuild them completely. I’m so mad at myself. As 3-handers, they’d been worked to the point where they really worked. That’s what I get for not paying attention to the submission guidelines properly from the beginning. I have only myself to blame.

Read the second book in a series where I’d really liked the first book, and was frustrated by the second book. It took a hard turn to right ideology, while pretending to support the left. And the central female character behaved like an idiot throughout. I wanted to bitch slap her multiple times. So the book frustrated me, instead of delighting me, the way the first one had.

Went through the artist resource for the list and found a few things to send to a friend that are more suited to the work she does than to the work I do.

I had another working dream last night, in the same brick buildings I’d dreamed about the night before. Charlotte woke me around 3:30. When I finally got back to sleep, I was back in a cottage on a mansion’s lakeside property (I recognized it from a previous dream). Willa had gotten out (except I kept calling her ‘Irina’ for some reason). I went looking for her. The door to the big house was propped open, so I went in, and it was full of cats. So I hunted through the rooms, looking for Willa. I could hear Tessa, in real life, yelling that she wanted her breakfast, and I tried to tell her that I had to find Willa in the house first, but couldn’t. For some reason, author Elle Griffin was in the dream, too, making pancakes and folding laundry. Go figure.

Today is about the article, with breaks to run some errands. There are more books to pick up at the library. I need to go to the store to get coffee and oat milk. I need to swing by the liquor store. I might make another stop or two, if it’s not raining too hard. But most of the focus will be on the article.

A script and a treatment are in my cue, both at decent rates. They’re not due until Tuesday, so I don’t have to read this weekend, unless I want to. I might turn the treatment around, and leave the script for Monday, since it’s a long coverage.

Over the weekend, I need to do some work on both Legerdemain and Angel Hunt, and prep a couple of other things. I need to do some research for the next section of the Heist Romance Script, and a future section (because I need to return some books next week). I also want to do a lot of work on contest entries, and read at least one of the two books for review. If the weather is nice enough, maybe I’ll go up to the lake or out to the Spruces for a bit, just to get outside. I can take some reading or a notebook with me, and work outside, which is something I will try to do more of this coming season anyway.

In and around all of this, I’ve been doing some noodling on material I want to shape into a series of poems.

I got POEM CRAZY, a book I’ve had since my days living in NYC, out of the library, because my copy is in storage. When I do a storage run this spring, I want to bring my poetry books up.

Better get going. There’s a lot to get done this weekend. But the primary focus is the article, so I can give it a polish and get it out the door on Monday. It’s the first time I’ve worked with this editor, and I want to make sure we have time to do any revisions she needs.

The next episode of ANGEL HUNT drops today. Hope you enjoy it!

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