Category Archives: 35 Days to 35

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35 Days to 35: Four Little Words


Last year, I was part of a four person team that created a new community theatre here in my hometown. (www.thetheatredownstream.com) I’ve written about the experience a few times, and how rewarding/enriching/tough it was, and has been. We even created a web series documenting our progress from first production meeting to final dress rehearsal. See the first episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuAZg_ayNWE

If you view the series in its entirety, or especially those first few webisodes, you’ll notice how one of the problems that plagued us last summer was the lack of a corporate sponsor. A corporate sponsor, for those not in the know, gives you a large(ish) chunk of money up front to help you fund your show expenses. (Paying the musician, stage manager, prop or costume costs, printing costs, etc). This enables you to make more profit on ticket sales to be used to help fund future larger shows, such as musicals.

In return for their financial contribution, you shower them with perks such as their name on all advertising material, including the poster and program, complimentary tickets, a poster signed by the entire cast and crew presented opening night to a company representative, your unending, undying devotion and the right to name your first born.

Minor things like that. It’s a small price to pay to help a fledgling theatre get off the ground.
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35 Days to 35: A Beautiful Distraction

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Simon adores her

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Doing her best Katie Holmes

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The face of determination

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The essence of Hannah. She found a penny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a whirlwind weekend of a reunion party with a cast mates from a former show, and two days of auditions and casting for our new show, today was to be spent working on the manuscript again. Except that it wasn’t.
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35 Days to 35: Beginning the Journey

It was a terrible day to begin work. I was numb with sleepiness. Literally, mind-numbingly numb. I thought I had gotten plenty of sleep the night before. I’m not one for napping, but my body was begging me to put it down. My maroon and cream Sherpa comforter and cream colored flannel sheets were like a siren on the rocks, calling to me, luring me to their cloud-like comfort. “It’s chilly in the house and the bed is a warm, soft, haven of happiness,” they cooed. “Just close your eyes for a minute. You won’t sleep long.”

Instead, I marched myself out of the bedroom and into my office, put Pandora on the “Mumford and Sons” station, selected five novels to use as a guide, fixed a giant cup of caffeinated Vanilla Caramel hot tea (with NO sweetener, lest I be lulled into a sugar coma) and spread out my printed manuscript.

The novels I chose were the novelization of a film and a fiction manuscript from our previous publisher, my mother’s self published novel, “One Life,” the book I’m currently reading, “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed, and my mascot novel, “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett.

I pulled up the file for the book on my computer, noting ruefully that it had last been edited on July 7, 2014. I consulted each book by opening it to the very first page. I had assumed the title page would be the first thing I’d see. Actually, it universally seemed to be the page consisting of reviews and snippets of praise for the book. No problem! We already had that, only ours was called ‘Endorsements.’ I carefully copied and pasted the endorsements we had gathered and put them ahead of the table of contents I had already listed in the book. First step, done!
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35 Days to 35: Betting on the Impossible

Now that we’ve fully accepted the rejection of our manuscript from the printer by eating our comfort food, venting our true feelings, and staring numbly into space, we need to move on.

Rachael and I exchanged a flurry of phone calls and text messages when the news broke, culminating in a two plus hour meeting going over the manuscript and discussing our options. There were several on the table, but only one that we both felt comfortable with.

Self-publishing.

Not that we don’t want to send off the manuscript to other publishers, or that we think it will get turned down. We do, and we don’t know. It might get turned down, it might not.

Mostly, it comes down to timing. If our last experience is any indication, if we sent the book off and got accepted by another publisher this very week, it could be a year to eighteen months before it is actually printed and released. This September, it will be the five year anniversary of the start of filming “No Lost Cause.”
When we penned the book, it had only been three. If things don’t happen soon, our cute little “Behind the Scenes” companion piece to the movie is going to be better categorized as a memoir.
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35 Days to 35: Dealing with Rejection

For Cheryl Foster, who asked to read something Inspirational.

What do you do when you’re just not wanted?

I had intended to start my “Birthday Blogs” on Feb. 1st, full of cute musings, funny stories, and cat pictures. But as I just had a pretty big disappointment happen, I realized that today is exactly 35 days til I turn 35, so now is just as good a time as any to get real.

You know those bloggers/speakers/mega personalities that encourage you by saying, “Don’t give up!” as they recline on a sofa made from money and pick their teeth with golden toothpicks after eating a salad of shredded cash?

I’m not one of those people.

I’m not a millionaire. I’m not even a thousandaire. I might be a hundredaire. I do bring in tens of dollars a week.

But I’m going to tell you not to give up; and given my circumstances, I’m probably going to sound ridiculous while I say it.  What kind of person encourages people when they’re not technically (read financially) successful yet?
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