Wed. March 1, 2023: Sun After Snow

image courtesy of Kanenorivia pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Waxing Moon

Sunny and wet

Yesterday morning was quite productive, with the snow falling outside. I wrote an episode of Legerdemain. I created loglines and graphics for the 4-Batch of Legerdemain episodes going live in the next couple of weeks. I uploaded the promotions for this week’s Angel Hunt episodes. I read over the edits on the article that the editor sent; I didn’t have to do anything. It was just a courtesy on her part, so I wouldn’t be surprised when the piece went live, which is much appreciated. I polished, uploaded and scheduled today’s Ink-Dipped Advice post, which is live here.

Today’s Process Muse is about Setting, and is live here.

I did the social media rounds for yesterday’s episode of Legerdemain and for the final #28Prompts post. I turned around coverage on two pitches, a scoresheet, and two full scripts. I made less than half of what I wanted to this pay period. But the coverages for the next three days will get me back on track, provided enough scripts come in next week.

I pre-ordered The Midnight City Oracle deck, because I like the tarot deck so much. That should ship in June.

In the evening, I read Amor Towles’s A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW.  Anthony Lemke recommended it. I’d heard of the book, but hadn’t read it yet. His recommendation moved it farther up my reading list (because I trust him). I really enjoyed it. It was a nice change to read something not genre-focused and see how genre elements are used in something with a larger scope. The character and setting work are as enchanting as the plot is riveting.

I was delighted to see that one of my favorite scripts of the last couple of years made The Grey List. I love to see scripts that enchanted me during the analysis process succeed.

The Dramatists Guild sent me log-in information; I assume it’s because I’m part of End of Play, and a lot of that will be done via their site? I mean, I’d love to be a DG member, and I could be – if all my programs weren’t in storage. (I have to provide proof of a paid production via a program from it). Maybe a photo of a poster would do it. It’s not something I have to worry about right now. I’ll make a decision after the End of Play project.

Tessa slept on the bed all night. Charlotte didn’t even come in this morning. The minute the coffee started, Tessa went to the kitchen to check, then came back to roust me out of bed, because the smell of coffee now means it’s time for breakfast. While Tessa was off doing her morning rounds, Charlotte grabbed the bed back, and now Tessa sits on the floor in my office, glaring into my room. Charlotte has turned her back and gone to sleep. Willa is staying out of it.

It will be an interesting day on the feline front.

I have to dig out the car later on. We didn’t get as much snow as predicted, only 4 or 5 inches instead of 10.  But most of the day is about drafting another episode of Legerdemain, promoting Angel Hunt, uploading a few more Process Muse pieces, working on another idea, and possibly uploading and scheduling the next 8 Angel Hunt episodes. It’s definitely a challenge to keep clear between the two serials, but hopefully one that I’m meeting.

I’m edgy and full of doubts today, so I need to get over myself and focus on the work. I can always find solace in the work, even on the more difficult days.

Episode 11 of Angel Hunt drops today. I hope you enjoy it.

Fri. Jan. 8, 2016: Revising the Writing Schedule and Goals

Friday, January 8, 2016
Dark Moon
Mercury Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Meeting in Hyannis yesterday morning. It was fine; at least I didn’t want to jab my eye with a fork, like I do at some of these meetings.

Back to work, tried to catch up. Computer isn’t working properly, so that makes it more difficult.

I got some sad news: Amber Quill, with whom I have half a dozen titles, is shutting its doors on March 30. LAKE JUSTICE, SEVERANCE, ELUSIVE PRAYERS, and TRACKING MEDUSA will cease to be available from them at that time. I wish I’d found out directly from THEM instead of through a second party, but, other than that, I’ve always been treated well by them. I loved my editor; they paid on time; they gave me good covers. They believed in their authors. I will miss being a part of the company.

So what does that mean for my writing?

Several different things.

I’m meeting with my advisors to decide what to do. There are still two months until the doors close, two months until rights revert back. Once rights revert back, unless I’m going the indie route, it doesn’t make sense to just shoot the titles straight out again. While it makes me nervous to have anything go out of print, at the same time, I need time to launch a re-release properly, wherever and however I decide to do it. I expect they will be out of print until at least September. If I go independent, I’m going to have to marshal massive marketing resources to make it worthwhile. Right now, that much marketing emphasis isn’t going to fit my schedule. I’m not convinced the independent route is the right choice for me. I prefer to work in a more traditional model right now.

I do realize that, when I’m ready to launch the series that started life as THE POWER OF WORDS (which now has multiple titles as it breaks down into multiple books), it is most likely I have to use the independent model, because it would be exceedingly difficult for a traditional publisher to put it out in the usual channels. It’s a strange monster – one I love, but one that would require the type of Gentleman (or Bluestocking) Publisher to take it on, a type of publisher who no longer exists.

I was in the throes of planning a big marketing campaign for everything over the next few months, which now will not include the titles that won’t be available, for obvious reasons.

I also had three books scheduled to go to Amber Quill this year, all Gwen Finnegan books: BALTHAZAAR TREASURE, SANDOVAL SECRET, and SHAKESPEARE’S BACON. It was a pressurized schedule, but I wanted to make sure I finished the Gwen Finnegan cycle quickly for them, with an eye to moving in some new directions, as inspired by last August’s conference, where Claire Cook gave me the push I needed to give what’s now TIE-CUTTER a shot, and Carole Bugge encouraged me to continue work on SONGBOUND SISTERS.

With those three books off the schedule, at least for the moment (which means I’ll work on them in and around other projects, without the pressure) it moves up SONGBIRD SISTERS and the aviation mystery set in the late 1940s that I’ve been playing with for a few years.

I do love Gwen and Justin, and I want to see their stories to completion, but a break may not be a bad thing. As I kept saying last year, struggling with BALTHAZAAR, I can do it fast or I can do it well. Both aren’t happening in tandem right now.

HEX BREAKER and OLD-FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK, the Jain Lazarus books, are still with Solstice, and I’m not sure what’s next with them; we’re in a bit of a holding pattern.

I have several play scripts and radio scripts on the slate for the year, and some film and television scripts on which I worked last year, which go out on submission this year.

The focus will be more on writing, polishing, and submitting this year, building on the previous writing, but taking me in new directions that I’ve been interested in for the past few months. That’s a positive. It moves up the timeline for me, but it’s a positive. It takes a lot of the “write as fast as possible” pressure off me – something that’s bogged me down over the past couple of years and actually interfered with my productivity, instead of increasing it.

As saddened as I am by the news, I think it’s the push I need right now. My gut tells me this is a positive in the long run.

I’ll have a long day at work today, but, since I’m feeling run down, I pulled out of my commitments for this weekend. I have some work to do for Monday’s NMLC Board meeting, and I’m going to write. I want to finish the first draft of the short radio play that goes out at the end of the month, and I’ve been approached to adapt the historical play into a radio play. I’ll take a look at that to see if it makes sense. I use a good deal of sound in the play anyway, and I think if I make some changes to make it more aural than visual, it will work. I also need to get LIGHT BEHIND THE EYES into US radio format from BBC format, because I have a US market interested.

Plus, I want to stay on schedule with TIE-CUTTER and DEATH OF A CHOLERIC.

So I’ll have a solid writing weekend ahead of me.

This certainly didn’t happen the way I wanted it to, but I have a feeling that, in the long run, these changes will be positive.

I remain hugely grateful to Amber Quill for their support, belief in me, and everything they’ve done for me and for my writing over the years I spent with them. I wish all the partners well in their new ventures, and I hope we can all stay in touch and support each other’s work. Thank you, Amber Quill!

Have a great weekend, people.

Devon

Thurs. Dec. 12, 2013: Writing and Timing

Thursday, December 12, 2013
Waxing Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Cloudy and cold

Good writing day yesterday on the novella, one of the screenplays, TRUE HEART, and the television pilot. Also got some correspondence done. Still struggling with the climactic sequence of the other screenplay, but I think I’ve got it now.

I HATE working in Courier font, but for screenplays and teleplays, that’s the standard, so that’s what I’m working in. The same way one should draft the novel or short story in Standard Manuscript Format, because it’s easier to change OUT of it than INTO it per submission guidelines, it’s easier to work from the first draft in Courier for scripts.

The morning look-for-internet-because-Comcast-continues-to-behave-like-a-douche was at Sturgis Library, which was a zoo. Kids running around unsupervised, screaming. Excuse me, this is a library, you have a children’s room. KEEP them there. But I managed to work with students, send out a short story and a requested manuscript, get out some interview questions, pitch for jobs, and catch up on email.

The editor with whom I thought I’d straightened things out is back to random payment dates again, and I am not amused. I only have one more set of articles due at the beginning of January, and then I’m done.

Got some more writing and research done at home in the afternoon, then headed over to Wheldon Library for a quiet hour on the internet. A few things to catch up on, but mostly, under control.

Having to go elsewhere for a connection certainly makes me realize how much time I WASTE jumping on and off the internet all day. The mileage and drive time are annoying, and I have to keep running lists going in both directions of what needs to be done before I go in the other direction, but I am being productive, for the most part.

Iris has decided that it’s too cold to sleep outside the covers, so now she’s sleeping curled against my lower back. I have to be careful when I roll over in the night not to squish her.

Watched the BBC remake of THE 39 STEPS last night. Wow, was the continuity a mess. He’s got a briefcase in one shot; it’s gone in the next. He’s running down a lane without anything in one shot; he has a lantern in the next. He’s in his pajamas in one shot; he’s wearing a fisherman’s sweater (miles away from civilization or anyone who could have lent it to him) in the next. Drove me nuts. The leads were pretty good, the locations and camera work were great, but the continuity and the overly-melodramatic music took away from the piece.

Reading Danny Danziger’s book on behind the scenes at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fantastic book, and makes me miss the museum terribly. During this season, I always visited the Angel Tree in the Medieval Hall. I have the calendar and the book about the tree, which is a comfort, but it’s not the same as making the yearly pilgrimage to SEE it.

The only thing I miss about New York are ethnic food delivery at odd hours and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Devon

Tues. Nov. 19, 2013: You Get What You Pay For

Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Cloudy and cold

I’m trying to remember yesterday. I know I pitched for jobs, worked on a big critique project, and juggled three screenplays. I had to do some layering on one, upping the stakes early on, and then just did opening sequences for the other two, so I wouldn’t lose them while they were hot.

As I suspected, a client who’d booked me for a big project needed before Thanksgiving flaked. Forfeited slot, deposit, and specially negotiated rate. Had another person contact me who’d ranted and raved at me that I was too “expensive” on the rate quoted to line edit a novel. Fine, I respect that, go somewhere else. The client hired a cheap-ass editor, and now is getting rejected by publishing houses because of all the errors in the manuscript. Now the person comes back to me and says that I “HAVE” to re-edit the messy manuscript — for $150, because the writer spent so much money n the other person.

Honey, I don’t “HAVE” to do anything. I choose my clients, the same way writers choose their freelance editors. And I’m not going to work at a fraction of the price I quoted because YOU made the wrong choice. When you come back and expect me to clean up the mess, the price goes UP.

In negotiations for a long-term gig on a cool site; hope it works out. I’d get to work on a wide range of topics.

Got to get a lot done this morning, because a team of us are going to the Writers Center storage unit to clean it out this afternoon, then I have a development meeting at NMLC and then I’m helping a friend of a friend with a live chat during a TV show.

Busy day, but at least it mixes it up a bit.

Devon