Anything but what I'm supposed to do.

 I have two one-act musicals for young audiences I'm working on.  Have to re-work two plays for our touring company for young audiences, one short play to write for the class I'm teaching, and one totally new play for spring for the touring company.  So, what am I doing?  Recording myself covering an Adele song.  Sometimes, I think you just have to rebel a little and recharge.  It turned out okay and made me feel good, so I guess it served its purpose.

Back to writing.  

New Musicals almost completed

Both "The Dancing Princess" and "Bayou Bug Tales" are close to being complete and ready for workshopping.  So fun to hear the words put to music and envisioning the staging.  Hope to publish both these plays along with "Yeh-Shen" and "The Artist's Brush" in April for elementary schools and high school drama students.

Working with a sound engineer and animation studio to bring all of these shows to life in a computer program.  What a fun and challenging project it will be, but looking forward to it.  They are all fun stories and I am so proud with the final combination of the music and book for each of them.

U S Copyright

Received the official copyright notice for my screenplay, "Left Hand Man".  Excited to see the official acknowledgment on paper.   I am curious to see how it is received by the various film
festivals and competitions next month.  

As always, I am eagerly awaiting feedback and comments.  Although the piece was well-received in Reader's Theatre format, I'm curious how it will be received as a screenplay.  So much more potential for visual elements to enhance the story.

Welcoming your comments

Would love to hear your comments about this sample chapter and hear your suggestions
about where to take the Travelers series in the future.  You can sample "The Patch of Red Velvet" and leave your comments by visiting this comment page.

Will be eager to read what you have to say.
 

Passing the Time

Trying to be patient as I wait for the new proofs of the paperback version of the book to arrive.  I have a pile of plays that I have to revise and expand for larger casts.  Also decided to adapt my play, "Alison in Wonderland" as a humor novel.  It will be fun to revisit those characters again.

Self publishing for Dummies (namely me)

"The Patch of Red Velvet" is edited, and once again available to download electronically on
Amazon. com.


OK.  It's easier than trying to find a publisher and/ or agent; and in all fairness, Amazon
(and its various methods of getting one's book out there) tries to make it as simple as possible.
That said, actually getting your book ready for electronic sale or getting your book
set up for selling hard copies is not easy.  It is as tedious and frustrating to a writer as the editing process.  I am very grateful to have my computer savvy husband to help walk me through the electronic publication process and am grateful for all those years I spent doing book layouts at Creative Graphics so I am able to understand the process of getting the hard copy ready for distribution.  Yay!  Once again, all that money on college was not wasted.

History is full of simply great stories

I've always loved history.  Probably because, for me, history is not just a bunch of dates and facts.  Instead it has always been the best source for adventure stories, mysteries, and romance.  This amazing collection of tens of thousands of captivating stories was inspiration for writing The Travelers' Society series.  I wanted to to witness the characters and events of the past with the eyes and perceptions of  young people from the present.  The first book in the series, "The Patch of Red Velvet", takes the three travelers back to England during the reign of Henry VI.  Even for many Brits, this period in time is not all that familiar, but it contains a tantalizing mystery worthy of one of the best storytellers of all time, William Shakespeare.  The subject of the painting above is Margaret of Anjou,, the wife of Henry VI.  Margaret is one of the mysterious and essential characters in "The Patch of Red Velvet".  Renowned for her beauty and intelligence, her delicate features hid her brutal determination and inner strength.