January 2005 Archives

I now know exactly how my wife feels around Christmas and my birthday. I've been banging my head against the wall trying to find a gift for my brother's birthday. He's exactly like me. If he sees something he wants, he buys it. This is a gross generalization, but guys are creatures of impulse. We can't ever wait for something. Nor can we ever ask for directions when we're lost. It must be the testosterone.

Anyway, I finally caved this weekend and just asked my brother what he wanted. I'd rather get him something he'll enjoy rather than something that will sit on the shelf for years. I guess I could just give him a gift certificate or money, but while that's okay for friends and acquaintances, it seems bad for family. It would mean that I don't know my brother well enough to get him what he wants, when the truth is he buys the stuff before I get a chance to.

On the weekend, we started talking about MP3 players (a gift his girlfriend is giving him), and I got excited about the portable machines. From his questions, I could tell he was thinking it might make a good present for my birthday. Well, that's too bad. I'm going to get one for myself next week. And I'm not asking for directions to Best Buy.

Last night, I saw the Citadel Theatre's production of West Side Story. For the first time ever, the rights to this musical were available to professional theatres, and I'm glad that the Citadel snapped up the opportunity to produce the show. The dancing was spectacular, and some of the acrobatics just blew my socks off.

My only complaint about the show is the script itself. The story is great, but the 50's slang took me out of the play a few times. While a show like Grease can get away with outdated jargon because it's a kitschy comedy, a musical drama like West Side Story does lose some of its connection to the audience because of the vernacular. It's a minor complaint. The production itself was big, brash, and brave. It wasn't quite the Broadway experience, but it was as close. What would have made the evening a truly New York experience is if a crabby usher yelled at me (I was scolded at Wicked for trying to buy a scalper's ticket... I never did get to see that show). Anyway, the night was great. My friend Gerald kept me company as I awkwardly stood around the opening night reception waiting for my wife Michelle to finish work (she was in tech for another show at the Citadel) so I could take her home.

The great thing about going to see the opening of a play is the reception afterward. I guess the caterers wanted to make sure everyone was fed, because food just kept coming out. Normally, the food is gone within the first 10 minutes. There were still chicken satays sitting on the table an hour later. Unfortunately, I'm still on my diet, and all I could do was watch other people eat. Ugh.

Finally, the votes are in and I've settled on the title for the sequel to The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. Actually, the votes were split 50/50. The deciding vote came from a breakthrough in the book. I've been revising the novel from chapter one, and I realized the first graffiti message should use "Ghouls." Once I learned this, the rest of the book started to unfold right before me. So the title is definitely going to be Graffiti Ghouls... until I change my mind again. Okay, back to the book.

What a fun day. I read at Glendale Elementary, and I think some students from Grovenor where there as well. They had lots of great questions, and for the first time in a long time, no one asked if I was related to Jackie Chan. I'm not!

Anyway, I felt confident enough to test drive the new chapter of my second book. I got the sense that a lot of kids can identify with being embarrassed by their parents while clothes shopping.

The reading was in a gym, and I decided not to use the microphone, so my voice is a little hoarse right now. Thankfully, I don't have to do any more readings until February. Now I can rest up and work on the sequel to The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. I'm still not settled on the title, but Graffiti Ghouls is leading by a nose.

I just came back from readings at a couple of schools: L.Y. Cairns and Dickinsfield Jr. High. The kids at both schools were great. I had a rough start at L.Y. Cairns, as it was the first reading in about a month, but the students were keen and pretty cool. I tested the first chapter of the second book and it went over well. I'm still debating over Graffiti Ghouls versus Do Zombies Have Curfews as a title.

The second session at L.Y. Cairns included high school students, and I started talking about The Bone House, my serial killer play. The kids were excited, and I almost want to remount that play in Edmonton. I'll have to think about it some more.

The other reading had a terrible start. I was supposed to read at Dickinsfield, but I had the wrong address and ended up being 20 minutes late. Thankfully, the teachers and students were patient, and they were very enthusiastic when I read from The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. Lots of good questions and good feedback.

Now that I have my first readings of 2005 under my belt I'm feeling confident that my readings will get better over the year. I can't wait to test drive the second book. I might sneak into a couple of schools in February when the first draft of the manuscript is done.

This week is going to be crucial in the revision of the sequel to the Mystery of the Frozen Brains. Last week, I revised the first chapter and got it to a place where I'm happy. This week, I plan to finish revising 5 more chapters. These will be tricky as I have to juggle the chapters around, cut out some parts of the story, and invent new plot. But I'm feeling confident that I'll have a better first draft. I have to finish by the end of February, so the pressure is on. Yikes! What am I doing blogging.

The lack of sunlight in my basement office is really sapping my motivation. I can't seem to make any good run at my book. I'm right at the last quarter, but I can't get more than a page done. It's too cold to go outside for longer than 15 minutes, and I'm feeling like I should hibernate. The best thing for me to do is to abandon the last part of the novel and go back to the beginning of the manuscript and revise. Hopefully, that will give me the momentum to push past this hump. Ugh, I really hate winter.

Oh, my head hurts. I'm trying to finish off the first draft of the sequel to the Mystery of the Frozen Brains. I have an outline, but the story is starting to go off the rails, and I have to go back to the outline and find out why. I know this is all a part of the process, but sometimes I wish it wouldn't this hard. I guess I can take comfort knowing that at least I'll feel really good when I finally get this manuscript finished... kind of like how a person feels after they stop banging their head against the wall.

I just finished reading Michael Crichton's novel State of Fear. Generally, I like his books because they're easy to read and have the right blend of thriller to almost-plausible sci-fi. This time, he tackles eco-warriors and their claim that global warming is all hype and no heat. I have to admit that he made some very interesting points in the book, and I almost wish that he had written this as a non-fiction book, because the plot was a bit thin. While I couldn't get into the story, I was taken by the footnotes and the arguments about how easily science can be usurped by agendas. While I wouldn't recommend shelling out money for the hard cover, I do recommend nabbing the paperback when it comes out. It's a good way to kill a Sunday afternoon.

Back from the holidays, I'm pulling apart the play the Forbidden Phoenix. The workshop in December revealed many problems, namely the lack of focus in the script. I got so concerned about songs and plot that I forgot the story and the premise. I'm going right back to square one and forcing myself to re-examine the spine and the dramatic engine. Once I get set back on the right course, then I can build from there. Until I have a solid base the play will just seem random. I think all the work I did to this point can be put under the umbrella of exploratory writing. I definitely know what doesn't work; now I just have to figure out what does work, and the answer lies in reminding myself about the original seed of inspiration.