On the road again...

I'm currently in London, supporting the new production of Hamlet's Fool. ​

From the program:​

Hamlet's Fool serves to give a voice to Yorick, whose skull is exhumed by the Gravedigger in Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Known simply as 'The Fool', he is outwardly in complete control as the Lord of Misrule, but when a new fool is introduced to the court and adopted by The Queen, a sinister edge begins to emerge.

​Production photos will be posted when I have them.

Meanwhile having a great time exploring, catching up, and making new friends.​

Book of the Dead in Sculpey

I've been meaning to try out Super Sculpey, and ​inspired by some Necronomicon projects (both from Lovecraft and Evil Dead versions) I whipped this up. 

This is coming in on the half way point-- it needs detail work and paint, but it was fun to get it this far.​

​I'd seen this version of the Evil Dead Necronomicon some time ago, and when I was doing research I realized that it had actually taken the place of the original in my mind. So I just embraced that and borrowed heavily from it.  

If I were to to ​do it again (and I might) I would really play up the notion that it was erupting from the cover. I did pull back the faux leather, and the piece I included in the sculpt is nice, but it's not enough, and is really only noticeable up close. Also, I'd sculpt the teeth then wrap them with the excess leather I cut out, so that they would appear to be formed from the cover itself. 

​Meh, live and learn. 

Write 1 Sub 1 update

Well, I fell off the time management wagon this week. I got a lot of words on paper, but they were scattered across a number of different projects, so none of them actually got done. A bit disappointed in myself, but I start fresh again tomorrow.

No action on my outstanding submissions. Looking forward to some rejections so I can do some editing; I feel like my craft is improving enough that pieces I sent out for submission a few months ago could be rewritten and vastly improved. 

Still feeling like I'm learning & improving, just need to buckle down and apply it.

Write on!

Brainstorming a Classic...

Not sure how long this has been floating around out there, but it's brand new to me. ​

During early pre-production of Raiders of the Lost Ark, director Steven Spielberg, executive producer George Lucas, and screenwriter Larry Kasdan sat down and talked through the plot. That conversation was taped, and the transcript can be found here. ​

The meat of the document is Spielberg, Lucas, and Kasdan spitballing ideas. It's fascinating reading; among the gems is the moment when the famous boulder dash from the intro is first conceived, and a ride on mine carts that didn't make Raiders but did appear in Temple of Doom. There are also misfires, such as a side trip to Japan where Indy would battle samurai. 

The transcript is a really interesting look at how the look and feel of a film classic was fleshed out by three people who were comfortable throwing any idea on the table.​

One of my favorite moments:​

L — Do you have a name for this person?

G — I do for our leader.

S — I hate this, but go ahead.

G — Indiana Smith. 

There is also a separate conversation between Kasdan, Philip Kauffman, and Debbie Fine which delves more into the background story of the Ark.​ Also interesting stuff, and good insight into the process of fleshing out the tapestry of the film.

Homebrew Necronomicon

I recently came across a very cool project by the artist ~meroth on Deviant Art. ​He's slowly transforming a sketchbook into his own version of Lovecraft's dread Necronomicon. Very beautiful work. Hopefully he'll age out the pages at some point and share the finished result!

​Seriously, it just goes on like this... amazing stuff.

Write 1 Sub 1 Check in

The pendulum has swung the other direction...

Last week I managed to write and submit a story, but struggled with finding time to revise older pieces. 

This week I did extensive revisions and resubmitted them, but didn't write anything new.

It's a delicate balance, made more complicated by a week with limited time to write. I'm trying to take each rejection as an opportunity to review my stories and improve them, rather than blindly resubmit.; at the same time I think that the point of W1S1 is to keep generating new work, to walk through the creative path over and over again, until I can find my way in the dark.

But the good news is that I'm learning to strike that balance. I'm excited to see what I can pull off for Week 14.

Write1Sub1 Status

Just looked over the status updates at Write1Sub1, and it's been another week of impressive placements. Certainly helps me to keep writing when I see so many talented people plugging away week after week.

This week I completed and submitted a flash piece. I also worked on revising "Dear Mr. Sumers", but I'm feeling like my wheels are spinning on that one. It's starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth, so I'm shelving it until April, when I can look at it with fresh eyes. 

This coming week I'm looking forward to writing a new story and reworking/resubmitting the two that came back to me last week.

Photo Credit: wikimedia.org user: Drake

Write1Sub1 lessons

I'm still working through the Write 1 Sub 1 challenge this year. Inspired by Ray Bradbury, it's a challenge for writers to write and submit one short story a week, every week for a year.  (The challenge can be modified to one a month if the original concept isn't practical for you.​)

Being new to W1S1, I'm chalking this week up to a learning experience. I got a lot of writing done, but didn't finish anything. I spread my time out among too many pieces, and I was guilty of jumping from them when they got to a difficult stretch.

I think that I need to pick a single project for the week, then focus on that with all of my core writing time. If I'm able to do work beyond that, I can move to something else. (Kind of like a reward for doing the tough slog of the other stuff.)

In any case, I'm looking forward to putting this into practice this week, and seeing what the results are.

Fungus Among Us

Just a quick mention of Fungi Week over at Weird Fiction Review. ​You know, like Shark Week, just slower and more insidious. They're promoting the publication of Fungi, a new anthology of weird fiction incorporating fungus in some fashion. WFR is also highlighting some great fungus photography, short stories not found in the anthology, and other variations on the theme.  (In a measure of self-restraint that far exceeds my own capabilities, they don't have a single headline declaring that they're putting the Fun back in Fungus.)  Anyway, it's worth checking out.

And now, a fairy ring growth in a pleasant suburban yard:​

By User:Mrs skippy (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Blind Date with a Book

The Worthington Library is running a "Blind Date" promotion for Valentine's Day. They have a shelf in their entryway of books wrapped in brown paper bags, with hints of story within. If you're intrigued, you can check out the book (barcode is revealed on the back), take it home, and find out what you've gotten. 

I picked the one labeled "Murder..." and decorated with bloody Valentine's hearts.  (I know, big shock, right?) I got my blind book-date home and unwrapped it to find...

And yes, I love it.  

Looks like the author managed to sell it as a series. Nicely done, Mary Lou Kirwin!

Anyway, I mostly just wanted to give a shout out to the Worthington LIbrary for a simple but ingenious promotion.