Thurs. April 20, 2023: Projects in Different Stages

image courtesy of Albrecht Fietz via pixabay.com

Thursday, April 20, 2023

New Moon

Partly sunny and chilly

How’d you do with the eclipse? Are you ready for tomorrow’s Mercury Retrograde? Such are the preoccupying thoughts.

I wanted to post the questionnaire for Serial Writers, but really? With Mercury about to go into retrograde? What am I thinking? And yet, I might do so anyway.

Today’s Gratitude and Growth post decries the way I’m dragging my feet in this spring’s planting.

Today’s serial release is Legerdemain.

Episode 78: Abbot Ellis Confides Over Tea

Abbot Ellis planned to remove the controversial priest; however, someone else took that initiative.

Legerdemain serial link is here.

Legerdemain website link is here.

Settling in to FALL FOREVER wasn’t easy, but once I did it, it flowed pretty well. I wrote 4 ½ pages. I think I have one more scene (today’s, I hope), then the climactic scene, then the final scene. The end is in sight. I just have to hold steady and do the work to get there, and I’m flagging. I can’t/won’t take a day off, because if I do, I’ll take another and another and it won’t get done. I need to push through and finish.

Got up the promos for this week’s episodes of ANGEL HUNT.

Faffed around getting settled back into Legerdemain. Wrote an episode, although it’s on the short side for this serial. But it does its job and it was a good end point for the episode, so there we go.

FALL FOREVER has been chosen for an END OF PLAY table read in early May. In fact, it’s the first slot of that week’s programs. I am terrified and excited. Guess I really do have to finish it now, don’t I? And then do a revision before I send it off!

I mean, slots were chosen by random lottery, so it’s not like it was chosen because anyone fell in love with it, but I’m still excited.

The seed for this play was planted in the playwrights workshop I took last June, sponsored by the Williamstown Theatre Festival. It looks like they’ve discontinued the program (since I haven’t heard anything since), but I’m sending a thank you note to the leader of the workshop, and will, of course, credit him, the workshop. The Dramatists Guild, and the arts council in the work. Even though the grant money hasn’t arrived yet, I don’t know that I would have blocked off the time to write the play this month if I hadn’t known it was on the way.

I stared at the art piece and let a few things percolate. The character is coming into view. Now I need the character to tell me her story.

Did the social media rounds to promote The Process Muse and Angel Hunt. For some reason, I couldn’t post the Substack link on Post. I hope they’re not getting squiffy about Substack links like Twitter!

Can I just say how much I love Substack Notes? At first, I groaned – not one MORE thing! But I’m finding all kinds of great conversations there. It’s one of the things I enjoy about Substack – the chance to have actual conversations, both on my own project and on other people’s projects.

Did not manage any work on REP other than the revisions/multi-colored draft on the first episode at the laundromat, but that’s okay. REP is a project to work on in stolen moments at this point, when my work on other projects is complete. It’s definitely mixing the retro theatre touring vibe with a futuristic vibe in the way I hoped.

Was late getting started on coverage. Since the three coverages in my queue are all novels with an eye to adaptation, I downloaded yesterday’s to the tablet (creaky as it is) and read it lying on the couch, Charlotte on my lap, taking notes in longhand. It was a delight, a reprint of a mystery from the 1930’s by an author whose work I had not yet read, but who is on my list of authors to research. Such an enjoyable read. I will write it up and send it off today, and then read the next one (I have three in my queue by this author, rounding out my week).

I read a couple of contest entries afterwards.

Slept badly, but managed to pull myself out of bad dreams and get back to sleep.

Meditation this morning, then my FALL FOREVER pages (might try to get them in before meditation), draft another episode of Legerdemain. And a grocery run – I did not plan Tuesday’s trip well enough.

I need to get the next 4 episodes of Legerdemain polished, uploaded and scheduled. That will take pressure off me next week with our friends coming in, and Angel Hunt’s all set. It will just be a case of doing the rounds to promote them, while continuing to draft episodes of Legerdemain. Social media rounds, script coverage and contest entries later on.

What’s on your agenda today? Have a good one.