Wed. Aug. 27, 2025: Boundaries
image courtesy of Nikki Wyatt via pixabay.comWednesday, August 27, 2025
Waxing Moon
Pluto, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron Retrograde
Partly cloudy and mild
Mid-week, yet again!
Yesterday was a day of boundaries, communication, and trying to get things done. It was a lot of, “This is what I understood. But is that what you meant?” and some of “That doesn’t work for me right now. How about this?”
We will see how it all shakes out. There was a good deal of refusing to be backed into a corner for something with red flags.
Am I worried I’m missing out? Not as much as I would have five or ten years ago. I’d rather make choices based on a solid foundation than on panic that I might miss something.
That doesn’t make any of the conversations easy, but at least they don’t have to be adversarial. Most of them, anyway. I can see one, about the parking lot, becoming so, but too bad.
The paperwork my mom needed help with is chaotic and offensive. And yet, we had to fill it out and I have to head up to the library to fax it today. Insurance is a huge scam.
Deleted my account from an agency which started as an international job matchup for freelancers. Not only have they never lived up to the promise or (nor?) responded to feedback, but the last few messages I’ve gotten from them have been obvious financial scams with heavy whiffs of illegal operations about them. All under the guise of “partnership” rather than freelance contract work. Do they think I’m stupid? I deleted my account and got an absolutely vile message from the agency. Glad to be shot of them.
On top of all of that, I managed to get out three play submissions for short play submission calls. I somewhat shot myself in the foot this year by not finishing a full-length play early in the year. Another theatre who likes my work invited me to submit a full-length with not more than 8 characters. But the two full-lengths I have that fit those specs they already read and felt weren’t right for them. They claim they really like my writing and want more. But I don’t have a “more” this year to give them. Even if I WILL BE DIFFERENT could be completed by the end of the residency (which is within their submission window), it has more than 8 characters (though may be able to be done with 8 actors). But I won’t know until it’s complete. JUST A DROP, the full-length they have not read, has more than 8. So does SERENE & DETERMINED, which isn’t in shape to send out yet, although it might be whittled down in the revisions. The revision notes I have on S & D are stellar, but I haven’t been able to integrate them in a way that pleases me yet. It’s like a tuning fork when it hits properly, and I haven’t had that hit from S & D revisions yet. I honestly don’t think I could whip up a 75-minute 3-hander within the submission window that could be revised enough so I’d feel it was fit to submit. I mean, I’d have to have an idea for it first. Maybe I could think of something, draft, and then revise during the residency? I may have to pass this year and hope they invite me back next year, since they are narrowing the submission invite. I’m debating whether or not to talk to them about it. If an honest conversation hurts my chances, it’s not the right place for me to be.
I’ve also been invited to submit to a place I’ve longed to be a part of for years, for their development program, but I’m not sure if I should send them something polished or something I feel needs the development. The latter would be more helpful to me, but I’m not sure the work is strong enough to make it into such a competitive program for the very reason it needs the development. I will have a discussion with them about it, and feel comfortable about having that discussion. They allow a slightly bigger cast size, but it still keeps JUST A DROP out of the running. Update: We had a good discussion, and I have a clearer idea about what they want. Now I have to decide if it matches what I want/need.
Being invited to submit to these places means a lot to me. I know I’m not the only one invited, and that they still have a huge amount of submissions. But the invite matters. I just wish it was in a year I had something strong to offer. I’d really need two different plays to submit one each, rather than the same play to both. Then I could switch them next year. But I can’t see that happening within the submission window.
Oh, for the days I could pull an all-nighter and get a draft like that done!
Yet another reason to stand firm and not get backed into a corner on the situation with the red flags and unrealistic timelines. I have my own tight timelines to deal with on both the ghostwriting and the playwrighting front.
Most of the day was gone by then, and I was far behind where I hoped to be in just about everything. However, the WAM meeting was switched over to fully remote, which meant I did not have to drive down to Lenox, saving me 2+ hours in my day.
I heard from my town councilor about next steps regarding the Sidewalk Chewing Demons. So I went around the neighborhood, took a bunch of photos, and they are getting an effing PowerPoint with a timeline today!
A friend sent me a call for submissions, and I got another play out.
Oh, and we finally got two weeks’ worth of mail delivered.
I look at the day, and I got a lot done, but it doesn’t feel like I did, probably because it wasn’t what I wanted to get done.
The WAM meeting was excellent, although small. We had excellent discussions about the plays and about the very relevant and complex topics covered in them.
Heated up some leftovers. Read for a bit. Overslept and was late getting out to the laundromat. When I returned, some jerk had taken my parking spot, so I left a polite but pointed note on the windshield. There are 9 parking spots in the lot, and most of them are empty all day. Do not take mine.
Today: fold laundry, too much admin work, put together the photos and timeline for City Hall, Llewellyn polish, faxing at the library (and book pick-up/drop-off), post office, script coverage, ghostwriting, read a play the theatre’s AD asked me to read. And I’ll wrap up that puppy with a cocktail!
Have a good one.
