Show Aftermath

I’m freeeeeeee ahahahahaha

No, I had a great time. All the shows went really well, I had fun, I love everyone, and all that jazz.

Here’s a picture of me in my Act 2 costume (after joy has been brought into our lives):

(Half the braid is not my hair, har. Never done a show with a dedicated hair person before.)

(Also, the costume room/green room/hair & make-up room happens to be the preschool downstairs.)

Rumor says the fall production will be a play, or at least more of a play than the musical reviews we’ve done the last three years (two years of Christmas on Broadway, and then Forbidden Broadway last year which I noped out on), so fingers crossed.

Completing a show is kind of like completing a novel.

I feel like I’ve talked about this before, but I can’t find it, so we’re here again. I’ll explain.

A novel takes a ton of work. It’s several tens of thousands of words. It’s mentally taxing. It’s emotionally draining. It takes a lot of time.

And when it’s over there’s a bit of a period of…depression, almost. Like something huge is missing from your life, especially if it was something you’d been working on for a long time or had unexpected difficulties. And it can be hard to move to the next project, or to get out of your funk.

I’ve found shows are like that too. It’s not as bad with the current theater company, since we only rehearse a few times a week until the end (that last week of rehearsal/shows I spent 45 hours working on the show), but especially back in high school and college, when rehearsal was often every day for at least a few hours, usually for three months, the show ending was very, very jarring.

(And it does depend on novels, too. I’ve found that if I’m working on multiple things, there’s less of a weird period when I finish something up. Or if the writing was fairly smooth, in the great scheme of things.)

What do you think, squiders? Is it hard when you finish up something big? Or is it a relief to be able to move on to new things?

(As an added complication, my husband was in the hospital all weekend unexpectedly, so I split my time between the hospital and the show. It’s honestly mostly a relief to have that all over.)

Ugh, this month. Almost March, though. Just another week.

Brain Dump

Ye gods, squiders, I am exhausted. I am drinking coffee but it is doing nothing.

Opening night tonight, hooray! I took a really great selfie of myself in costume the other night, but our director said something about wanting to keep the costumes a surprise (my spouse has suggested asking if I can keep said costume after the show, actually, so it is pretty awesome) so it’s just sitting on my phone, doing nothing. But maybe I’ll post it next week.

(Also, I am now in charge of moving a window during a scene change. It’s very exciting.)

Four shows this weekend, strike and cast party on Sunday, and then I can sleep. Hooray!

I found a BookCrossing book on Saturday! Do you guys know about BookCrossing? I remember being really into it, like, 12 years ago. It was everywhere then. I remember I found a manga collection at a con once and it was the most exciting thing ever. But the basic idea is that you leave a book somewhere, someone finds the book and checks it in, and you can watch it travel.

I hadn’t thought about it in years, but then in December the kids found a copy of The Night Before Christmas in a bush (I can’t remember if that one was a BookCrossing book or a related idea), and now I’ve found a romance novel in the theater bar. Madness. Crazy to think it’s still going after all this time, because it always seems like a lot of the stuff I really liked from that time period no longer exist.

Actually, speaking of that time in my life, I was at my local coffee shop/gameporium/comic shop this morning, and they had a volume of Bleach on sale for half off. Have I talked about Bleach here before? After checking my archives, apparently not. Predates the blog, probably, which is insane, because it will be 10 YEARS OLD THIS AUGUST (not unlike Hidden Worlds, har har. I was busy in 2010.).

ANYWAY, I was obsessed with Bleach. Hands down one of my very favorite manga/anime series (the live action was okay). I used to download the new chapter each week once it came out in Japan, once some lovely person went through and translated it into English. It was probably the last fandom-related backdrop I put on a computer. I read the manga, I watched the anime (even the terrible Bount arc), I cosplayed it. I had LJ icons. I have a poster signed by Tito Kube (the manga artist) from San Diego Comic-con 2008, where I sat through three panels just to make sure I got a spot in the room and could see him.

But Bleach is one of those series that goes on forever, and after, I don’t know, 500 manga chapters or something, I got burnt out on the cyclical plot arcs (which boil down to: A bad guy shows up, Ichigo gets his butt kicked and then works to get stronger, his friends and associates also get stronger through association with him, they triumph–and then a new, bigger bad guy shows up) and was starting to lose track of the characters (each new bad guy comes with a dozen or so new characters, at least). So I never finished the series (I should now, since it’s complete).

The coffee shop has Volume 73. Now, remember, I read the chapters directly through the Internet as they were released, so I was like, hey, I wonder where this falls in the series, and if it’s before or after where I left off. But it’s definitely after, cuz I had no idea what was going on, and also there are yet more new characters.

But now it’s back in my head, so maybe I’ll pick it back up.

Once the musical is over.

I’m reading Fixing Your Plot and Story Structure Problems by Janice Hardy for my writing book for the month (it was a birthday present from my spouse back in October, so I haven’t been sitting on it for years like some of the other ones). I think I must have been confused when I put it on my wishlist. In my head, I suspect I thought it was an in-depth look at plotting and structure, but what it is in reality is a bunch of exercises to use when you’re revising your novel.

Which, I mean, great! But I’m actually really good at fixing plot/structure during revision because I’m not great at plot/structure while I’m drafting. So I’m not finding a lot of new information. But it’s my own fault, because it’s not like the book description is unclear. I suspect what happened, since I follow Ms. Hardy’s blog (Fiction University), is that she had an ad for this particular book at the end of an article that was more plot/structure drafting than revision, and I just looked at the title and said yes, that is something I could probably use.

Anyway, I think I’ve blathered enough. I hope your week is going well, squiders. Hang on for another week, and we’ll be out of February.

Musical Interlude (Literally)

Hey-o, squiders, happy Tuesday. (Except my back is killing me, aauuugh.) How are you?

I’m in the midst of pre-show jitters, because the musical I’ve been working on is this weekend!

(I did tell you about the musical, right? We’re doing Music Man.)

The pre-show jitters are bull, because my part is so ridiculously easy I could honestly do it in my sleep. Most of the songs are in unison, there’s very little dancing (on my part), I’ve got no lines. Easy peasy lemon squeeze-y.

I’ve found that nerves rarely listen to logic, however. If they did, I wouldn’t blow my auditions all the time.

(It’s really aggravating, because it doesn’t matter how much I practice my audition song beforehand. I could spend months on it–and have–and still manage to forget the words, or screw up the rhythm, or be horribly off tune. And I can tell I am, and yet can’t seem to do anything about it.)

(And yet, performing is fine. I have never screwed up a song during a performance, even if it’s a solo. Brains are stupid.)

I tell you this, because it does mean I may miss my Thursday update. Not on purpose. But because I may be exhausted. Tech week sucks, and rehearsal runs late because we do it after the normal workday. I’m not worried about the show itself–we’re in a really good place to be ready to open on Friday–but it’s just a lot of time.

And also because this show has really made me think about what I’m doing with this particular theater company. (I suspect I’ve said that before, about previous shows. I probably forget in between shows or something.)

But I am especially thinking because the company is trying to move in a new direction, one that I suspect will make it even harder to get anywhere than it already is, if not impossible.

I like this company because I adore the people who are in the cast, and it’s convenient (it’s based at my church, so it’s close and familiar), and because they tend to do large ensemble shows that allow lots of different people to participate. (Lots of potential new friends and old favorites.)

But I don’t like it because it almost always does musicals, which are not my preference or strong point (God, I would kill to do some Shakespeare). And I don’t like it because I have no opportunity to show off my training, so I’m always relegated to the ensemble. And I don’t like it because the same people always get the leads, and there’s no opportunities for other people to advance.

I should look at other local theater companies, and see what their rehearsal schedules are/where they operate out of. It may be that none are doable at the moment, and may not be until the small, mobile ones are more independent. Ah well. I had my chance to go into theater more seriously when I was younger and I chose to do other things, and you reap what you sow.

And, I mean, it is fun, most of the time. Not terribly high stress. And the people are lovely. I’d just like to actually get to do something now and then.

But hey! Show this weekend! Should be a great time. 🙂

What are you up to, squiders? Thoughts on community theater?

(ETA: After I posted this yesterday, I went to look around to see if there were other local alternatives, and I found one doing Macbeth in July! Hurray, Shakespeare! And I’ve done Macbeth–or the Scottish Play, as it’s often referred to, since legend says saying the name of the play in a theater is bad luck–before. I played Macduff. We gender-reversed the parts because, like many theater groups, we had a surplus of women and a handful of men. I got a sword. It was awesome. I kept Macbeth’s “head” for several years after the show and it took three tries to finally throw it out. Before that I’d throw it out and it would show back up, but it hasn’t again…that I know of.

Yeah, that show is definitely cursed.

But, alas, I don’t think I can do the show, if they’d even have me. Auditions are on a day I can’t do, and with the spouse’s ongoing medical needs, doing a show over the summer is a bad choice.)

How to Celebrate a 10th Anniversary of a Book?

It’s crazy, squiders. My first book, Hidden Worlds, is 10 years old.

(The first edition came out Dec 2009, and the revised second edition, published through Turtleduck Press, came out in late 2010, complete with change in pen name and everything.)

First of all, wow, where the heck did the time go?

Second of all, wow, that’s kind of a big deal, and it feels like I should do something to celebrate.

But what? And how?

I’ve not had a book reach a 10th anniversary before.

Do I put out a new edition, with new material? What kind of new material? Notes on how the story came together? Old unpublished versions of scenes (and man, do I even know where those are?)? New stories in the same universe (I wrote one recently for my newsletter subscribers)?

Do I put out related swag? Bookmarks? Character profiles? Art of the characters?

Do I do a whole promotional blitz?

What would you, as a reader, be interested in seeing? What would be really cool to see in relation to a book that’s been out for a while?

Too many options. Woo.

(Do you know of any other books that did cool things for their anniversaries? I’d love to check them out.)

Library Book Sale Finds: The Ipcress File by Len Deighton

Heyo, squiders. It’s that time again. And once again, I try to recapture what I was thinking when I stuck a particular book into my bag. Not sure. Maybe I just thought it would be cool?

Title: The Ipcress File
Author: Len Deighton
Genre: Spy/Thriller
Publication Year: 1962

Pros: Neat example of what’s probably the height of this genre
Cons: Incomprehensible in parts if you’re not genre savvy

This book was apparently made into a movie in 1965, but try as I might, I cannot find a copy to see if it makes more sense. Wikipedia tells me this is Len Deighton’s first novel, and that he’s considered one of the top three spy novelists of all time (Ian Fleming of James Bond fame and John le Carre are the other two).

We follow our unnamed narrator as he recalls the specifics of a mission to the Minister of Defence (British spelling intentional). The story is in first person throughout, and features a lot of what we probably now consider to be common in the spy genre: double crossings, questionable loyalties, sarcastic spies, etc.

When I could follow the story, I enjoyed it. I liked the narrator (whom I honestly didn’t realize was never named until I sat down to write this), I thought the female characters were handled better than in many contemporary stories (each shown as having her own strengths), and the dialogue was fun to read in many cases.

That being said, there were parts where I felt lost, where I couldn’t quite tell what was meant or what was happening, and whether or not it was important. I don’t necessarily think that’s a problem with the writing so much as that I am not the target audience and so do not have the necessary culture references/understanding to follow along.

All in all, very interesting, but I don’t know that I would pick up another similar book. Perhaps I’ll stick to the movie versions IF I CAN EVER FIND THEM.

Read anything by Len Deighton, squiders? Like ’60s-era spy novels?

(All things being said, I read John le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as a teenager and don’t remember being lost, so mileage may vary between authors.)

WriYe and the Love of Writing

Ugh, squiders, nothing is getting done around here. I mean, I suspected my productivity would drop off precipitously while I’m caregiving for my spouse, but when you add on that yesterday was a virtual day, it has meant that I have had everyone, the whole time, since last Thursday.

(I’ve complained about virtual days before, but essentially the larger, mobile one’s school, whenever the district declares a delayed start, throws in the towel and is essentially like IT’S YOUR TURN TO TEACH YOUR CHILD, SUCKER. The school closes, but sends home a ton of work for each child to do, and you’ve got to wrangle your child into doing six hours of work when there’s invariably snow on the ground.)

(I don’t know that the spouse has ever been home for one before, but I think he hates them even more than me, ha.)

(Seriously, screw whoever came up with this plan.)

Also, my plans for the month have been slightly thrown off anyway because I’d like to try and get a mentor through Author Mentor Match, which is happening on Feb 13. I need a variety of submission things (which I have for the most part), including a synopsis, which I do not. So I’m reading back through the manuscript to remind myself what happens when.

(The trick is to not get sucked back into books 2 and 3 after I finish book 1.)

I’m going to submit the first book of my high fantasy trilogy that I have been working on forever, because despite my re-writing three times, it continues to not quite be there. And I’m hoping a mentor might offer some good tips for getting it that last step.

(I’m leaving a couple of notes here, because re-reading it, I do see what the issue is. It’s that the first…seven chapters don’t feel terribly connected to each other. More like related vignettes than anything, with threads of main plot/relationships connecting them. I suspect this is because the first part of the book covers about five or six months of time. I’ve tried to compress the timeline previously, but have always run into issues because there does need to be time for certain plot and character elements to be believable. Once we get past that bit it’s fine.)

ANYWAY ON TO THE PROMPTS

Why do you love writing?

That’s a very interesting question, really. I love my stories. I love taking abstract thoughts and weaving them into something complex. I love creating characters and seeing what they do.

Do you always love writing?

I mean, yeah, I’d say so. For the most part. There have been periods where everything feels awful and I am depressed about my skills, but I’d never actually stop. I might say I will, but I won’t.

What do you do when you (gasp) don’t?

Oh, huh, this is kind of part of the last question. Sometimes I take a break, and work on something else creative, like drawing/sketching, or sewing, or costuming, or scrapbooking. Sometimes I switch projects, or spend some time working to determine why something isn’t working (which may require having someone else at something, or doing more research). Sometimes I take a week off and play copious amounts of video games. It kind of depends on what’s going on, both with writing and life in general.

I hope your February is off to a good start, squiders!