Yay! My latest Life article showed up in the Edmonton Journal today. I promised that I'd work on my other projects before I pitched any more column ideas, but I'm already thinking about a couple of ideas for columns in May. But first, I want a revised draft of the Fringe play done by the end of the week. Plus, I need a chapter of A Close Shave to be finished. And I must start revising The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher.
I think I need a nap....
Bad omen this morning. I spotted a centipede in my hotel bathroom. This multi-legged creature is my Kryptonite. I've got the shakes right now and I am seriously going to wear socks the rest of the time that I'm in the room. Ewwwww. I am so grossed out. I must have been scared by a centipede when I was a kid, because I have never liked these little beasts. How am I going to take a shower with my socks on?
A nice light day with only one session to run. I talk theatre with a few teachers in the afternoon. I hoped that the teachers were able to get a lot out of all the sessions that ran over the last two days. I was impressed with the presenters. Marie-Louise Gay, the author/illustrator from Montreal was here along with illustrator Lorna Bennett and Rocky Mountain Book Award winner, Helaine Becker. Sheryl McFarlane came in at the last minute to fill in for Andrea Spalding. Gail Sidonie Sobat drove down to talk fantasy with the teachers, and Tippy Agogo showed off his musical talents. I got a chance to catch up briefly with Pamela Porter. There were a few other presenters, like Tracey Kuffner, Arlene Ward, Ramona Big Head, Wendy Passmore and Delia Cross Child, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them very much. Hopefully, I'll cross paths with everyone again. These was a brilliant bunch of presenters, and I was humbled to be in their presence.
I just delivered my keynote address to a room full of teachers and librarians. The audience was very receptive and I was thrilled to be able to share my view about the importance of stories. I still do find it funny that people will avoid the front row, so much that they're willing to sit on the side and not get a very good look at the speaker. It must be human nature to fear the front. I suspect people have the fear that they'll be picked on by the speaker, which in my case is often true.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the conference and I hope that my afternoon session goes well. Now I'm going to get a run in and then have lunch. Tonight, I'm hoping to get to work on a few projects. We'll see how productive I am in Lethbridge.
Talk about turbulence. I flew from Calgary to Lethbridge on the scariest flight I've ever been on. I felt like I was driving on the worst pot-hole filled road ever... except there was no road. My life literally flashed in front of me. I don't think I would have been so nervous if a strange beeping from the cockpit did not precede the turbulence. Plus, a passenger kept looking to her husband with dire concern. If I hadn't seen her every time I looked up, I would have been fine, but I was a mess when I came off the plane. Total stress out. Now I have to compose myself for my week's session, and suck it up for the flight home. Maybe I'll drive home.
I just picked up a very cool comment from Braylon, and wanted to respond. I'm honoured to know that I inspired you to write your own chapter book. I totally understand what you mean when you say that your friends don't hang out with your any more because you're always writing. I felt like that when I was writing in school. If you really believe in writing, then keep doing it no matter what other people think. Eventually, your friends will understand, or you'll find friends who like to write and/or read, and they'll be the ones begging to let them read your next chapter. Stick with it.
And yes, when you're finished your story, ask your teacher to send it to me, and I'll be happy to read it and give you some feedback.
Keep writing!!!!!!
Marty
Last night, I crashed an opening reception for a professional Beijing Opera troupe at the City Hall. The troupe is in town to perform two nights, and they presented a sampler of the performances at the reception. Two acrobatic performers did a scene that looked awesome. I had seen a similar performance on a DVD that a friend had loaned me. I marvelled at how similar the costumes were and how the performers' make-up was very similar. However, as the performance went on, I realized the live performers were the same ones from the DVD. I was in awe after that.
The troupe is the Mei Lang Fang troupe. Mei Lang Fang was the Chinese Opera superstar in the 1930s. He's since passed away, but his 72-year-old son continues touring with the troupe and teaching the performers. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the performance tonight, which promises a segment from the Monkey King. This is all great research for Forbidden Phoenix.
I tried to crash the rehearsal this morning, but the organizers wouldn't let me in. Oh well, at least I got to meet some of the performers. I hope that Edmonton audiences enjoy this performance.
Okay, today, it begins. I'm revising Nearly Normal into God's Eye. Rather than jump right into tinkering with the existing draft, I've decided to map out a revised outline, so that I have a general idea of where I want to take the script. I figure it's better to have an overview, so that when I dig into the scenes I won't get lost in the details. The new thing I'm trying this time out is to define the back story, the events leading up to the start of the play. Because this piece is essentially a character piece that deals with big ideas, I have to make sure that that I have a solid grounding for my character, or else he'll just turn into a mouthpiece for my big ideas, and that's not drama.
By the way, run, do not walk, to the Citadel and the Catalyst to catch the two most exciting plays of the season, The Overcoat and Frankenstein. Both plays are wonderfully imaginative and theatrical. The Overcoat is a dance theatre piece with no dialogue, but the story is crystal clear. Frankenstein is a gothic musical that has an incredible heart at the core of this Tim-Burton-esque fantasy. I saw both shows this week, and I'm still green with envy at the creators for coming up with such brilliant plays.
Sorry, but the blog was down for a few days. Apparently, I'm blogging way too much and ran out of room. My web guy has fixed the problem. Thanks, Robb!!!
Anyway, I'm trying hard to get through a few speaking engagements. Yesterday, I presented a keynote speech for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Today, I have a couple of sessions via video conferencing. I'm also trying to get started on God's Eye.
But the biggest distraction for me right now is the fact that the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe is coming to Edmonton this weekend. This may be my only chance to see a professional Peking Opera troupe in Edmonton. I'm trying to arrange to meet with the master of the troupe, the son of Mei Lanfang, Mei Baojiu. I'm really hoping I can sit in on the Saturday morning rehearsal. I'm very excited about this. After working on The Forbidden Phoenix so long, I feel like I would appreciate the work of these performers so much more.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.
So, I had a burst of energy and was able to finish off the last of my articles. This week, I have to run into the Edmonton Journal and do a photo shoot for three articles. I only have two looks and both are very bad, so I'm going to have to figure out how to make each expression fit the articles. I keep thinking about that episode of Friends where Chandler and Monica had to pose for their wedding photos, and Chandler could not look comfortable at all. That's me. Sigh. One day, I'll take a good picture.
My editor said the first of the three articles will run Friday, March 30. Watch for it.
Nothing is worse than to work through an entire weekend, only to feel in limbo on Monday and lose time to answering e-mails. All morning, I was procrastinating and dealing with e-mails that could have waited until the end of the day. I think I should have taken a break on Sunday. Okay, so I'm slow to get going on anything today. Maybe if I hit the gym after my meeting, I'll be able to get enough energy to prepare for the rest of the week and get cracking on God's Eye.
My cats are driving me crazy. Buddy has decided to be more vocal about his feeding times, and Max has decided to be a lap cat when I'm trying to work at the computer. I can barely think with Buddy yowling half the time and there is cat hair all over my keyboard. I know I can close my office door and shut out the cats, but they look so pathetic staring through the glass panes. I think they're mad at me because I haven't been playing with them as much. When my schedule calms down, I'll try to give them some cat time. I think that if I can get to the end of May, everything should be a little calmer. Or not. I have to start saying no to stuff. Didn't I say that last time?
Experiment failure. I came back from a meeting and tried to write, but ended up plunking down some general thoughts. I couldn't find the connective tissue to link the ideas and after about an hour, I gave up to watch reruns of The Office. The problem was that I pitched an article idea that wasn't clearly formed yet, and now I'm starting to see the article in a different light. I'm torn between delivering exactly what I promised and coming up with something else. It's not entirely different, but the focus is shifted a little to the left. I'm torn. What to do. I guess the grown up thing to do is to e-mail my editor and tell her that I want to shift the focus.
I just came back from the Glenrose, where I talked to experts in the field of stroke recovery and rehabilitation. In 45 minutes, I had a crash course on stroke recovery. I barely scratched the surface, but I believe I have enough seeds that I can continue my research and actually start working on my Fringe play. I have to say there's nothing that gives me more confidence than face-to-face research. When I read stuff, I always worry that I'll pull out the wrong information. It's better to have the experts tell me how things are really done rather than try to guess from books. That's the way I like working. I'm sure others prefer book research, but I always find there's a difference between what is proposed to be done and what is actually done. Nothing like field experience to give you a better picture of what actually happens in any given situation.
Well, who would have thought that the 8 - 10 pm slot would be my ideal writing time? Last night, I sat down after dinner to write an eight-hundred word article, and I came up with a pretty decent draft. I think that everyone has a creative time zone, a period in the day when they are most creative. My zone has shifted from late at night to early in the morning and now to early evening. The only time I've never found the creative time zone is the afternoon.
Anyway, I'm really pleased with the results. I have to revised and polish the article later today, but I hope to get it out by the end of day. Tomorrow, I'm going to try writing the second article in the same creative time zone to see if it works again.
Tough going over the last two days. I've been doing school presentations and preparing for the first day of the APN lab. This is the first chance I've had to get to the blog. I'm a bit stressed right now as I'm staring down the barrel of a deadline. I promised to have at least one, probably two, Edmonton Journal articles delivered by the end of the week. However, I have to do school presentations Wednesday, and I have to meetings today and Thursday. Yikes! This may be the first time in a long while that I have to pull an all nighter. I figure if I can get one article done tonight, then I can push through the other one on Thursday or Friday. Okay, so back to the basics. Everything in bite sized pieces. Do a first draft after my last meeting and then have supper, then come back to it to revise and polish.
Just finished my final session of the week, and I'm totally burned out. I think I need to sleep all weekend long. I'm happy with how the sessions went today, but I really need to revamp my presentations over the summer so that I have brand new material in the fall. I can feel myself getting bored with telling the same stories over and over again, and I'd really like to push myself. There's nothing better than having the thrill of telling a story that I don't know will work or not and then be rewarded with laughs. All I have to do is be prepared for when the stories fall flat on their face. Okay, this summer, I will raid my closet for more stories. As for now, I'm going to take the night off, then get to work on my first playwrights' lab meeting on Monday, as well as get started on my Fringe play... oh, and I promised to revise the third chapter of my virtual residency book, and I have to start revisions on the novel, and I have to write another Edmonton Journal article. When there's this much to do, I know that I'll probably end up sleeping all weekend.
Great news! The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul has been nominated for the Diamond Willow Award, a readers' choice award in Saskatchewan. Students get to read and vote on their favourite books. I'm up against some fine competition. I don't know if I'll win, but I'll just be happy if this means more kids read my book. Here's the link the nominees.
Whew! This was a tough day, but I was reminded of a good writing technique. I had finished a draft of my Edmonton Journal article about my tv watching habits. I wasn't really thrilled with the story. It lacked punch and I thought it was functional but not funny. I had to go for a blood test this morning, so I printed the article and reviewed it at the lab. Suddenly, I spotted all sorts of mistakes and realized how I could punch up the article. I have to remember that my office is the space where I create. It's not the best space to be critical. I have to force myself out of the house more to review my material. New space, new frame of mind. I'm much happier with the draft, and now all I have to do is write two more articles by the weekend. Yikes!
Okay, the real work begins on The Forbidden Phoenix. I have to follow up with the artistic directors who watched the presentation. Already, one person has said thanks, but no thanks. His political answer was that the show was too ambitious and too big for his budget. I know that rejection is a part of the process, but it's always tough to hear. I'll get over it in a few hours. So, one down, four to go. Let's see what the others have to say. All I need is one to commit with the funds to do this thing up right. Keep your fingers crossed.
Thanks to the wonderful staff and students at James Mowat, Fort Saskatchewan Elementary and Ardrossan Elementary. I had a wonderful time talking to the students at all three schools today. The kids seemed keen to hear more about my secret crush and my stinky cat.
Okay, I'm going to try to get some rest today and get ready for a session in Bruderheim tomorrow. Should be fun (as long as the roads don't get too icy).
Today, we presented the first act of the Forbibben Phoenix to five artistic directors. The actors did a fantastic job. The only thing that I regret is that we didn't spend more time working with the make-up. Our lead actor worried that the audience wasn't connecting to him. He might have a point. However, this is a minor concern. The story was still clear and the reactions to the presentation were pretty good. I have a good feeling that something may come of this project. I'll have to do some follow up next week to find out what the artistic directors really thought of the show.
In the meanwhile, I'm going to jot some notes on what needs to be clearer about the story. Here are some initial thoughts.
- there are two beginnings and one has to go. My director asked for overture and choreography number, but it now delays the introduction of Monkey King.
- the overt references to the Bachelor Men are holding back the allegory as a story on to itself. I'm going to have to think of the story as something of its own and really explore the mythology.
- some of the lyrics need to be revisited to clarify the intentions of the characters. In particular, I have to look at Horne's song as well as Laosan's number and the Empress' song.
- I have to talk to my composer about the Empress' song. I noticed that the tip of the hat to Peking Opera alienated some of the audience members.
- The geography in the west needs to be cleared up or I have to stop worry about linking the exact history to this story and find the simpler way of conveying the information.
Anyway, the presentation was pretty informative and I was impressed with what the actors did. While I still have a lot of work to do on the first act, I have a good feeling that I won't be alone in the next step of development. The next step now is to find out who is interested in producing the show and getting them to help with securing some development funds for the second act of the play. I think that I'll have to look at the script, the music as well as the visual elements in the next workshop. Sigh. The work continues, but if I have even a tiny bit of hope of production I'll be able to keep going. But let me take a week off from this project before I jump into revisions.
Today, we had a run through of the first act. Wow! It's all hanging together really well. The actors have really gone above and beyond, especially our lead, John Ullyatt. I'm so blown away by everyone's hard work and talent. We had a dramaturge sit in and watch the show. She had read a draft about a couple of years earlier, but was a fresh eye to the new draft. She enjoyed the story very much and pointed out one small problem with the third act. The deal between Monkey King and Horne isn't very clear. Our choreographer also picked up on the same thing earlier in the workshop.
Tonight, we went ahead and did a MacGyver-like adjust to the scene to spell out the detail. It's not an elegant solution, but it'll hold for now. I'm kicking myself for not picking up on this earlier. All week long I was watching the scene like a tourist and the actors were so busy learning choreography and songs that they probably didn't have the time to raise script concerns. Thankfully, we had a chance to make a small adjust so that our guests tomorrow have the chance to see the piece.
After the workshop, I'll take another look at the scene and find a more elegant fix. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight. Already, I'm feeling the nerves.
