Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I didn't realize it had been so long!
I think part of the reason for it is simply that I've been waiting -- waiting for editors to get back to me about my book. I've had a couple of pretty "positive" rejections, and we're still waiting on three others. Hopefully something will come of the waiting -- but who knows how long it'll be until I actually hear anything.
That said, I just want to say that Rachael is awesome - I couldn't be happier than I am with her.
Otherwise, not much else new really. Caitie has been working and liking her job quite a lot. I've been working and - well - teaching is teaching.
I'm almost done reading the third Game of Thrones book - it got deadly slow in the middle, but the last 350 pages or so (yeah, last 350 pages!) were pretty intense. I joined the sci-fi book club, so I'm practically swimming in books to read now. I have no idea where I'm going next (but definitely taking a break from Martin for a little bit!).
If I don't have anything else to report on here, I hope all my readers have an excellent and wonderful holiday. Here's hoping for all good things in 2012!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Editors
Rachael sent me a list of editors today she's going to submit to - places like Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, Harper Children's etc. I can't wait to see the pitch she's going to put together -- it's starting to feel very real!
Sorry this is so short - I don't really have much more than that now.
Just very excited!
Sorry this is so short - I don't really have much more than that now.
Just very excited!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Edits
Rachael (my awesome agent) sent me edits today on my book. There were far less than I expected - mostly minor things like spacing, punctuation, and a few awkwardly worded sentences. She even caught a couple of small references I messed up that only someone who really "gets" theater would have caught.
Next step - she writes the query and starts submitting to publishers...
That's when the REAL nerves start kicking in!
Next step - she writes the query and starts submitting to publishers...
That's when the REAL nerves start kicking in!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Music of ....the mid-Afternoon
To be fair, it was night in London when the 25th Anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall began, but it was only 2pm here in New Jersey when we saw it at our local movie theater. Thank you, Fathom Entertainment - the last year alone you gave us Company, Memphis, Les Mis, and now this spectacular production of The Phantom of the Opera.
Caitie and I had been planning to see this for months. While Phantom isn't either of our FAVORITE shows, it's one we both spent a lot of time listening to, and both of us have seen more than once. All right, we both pretty much know the show by heart. I hit those high notes Christine sings at the end of the title song every time. The last sentence is a huge lie.
Anyway, we were surprised to find some small lyric changes:
"Think of me, every so often, promise me you'll try.""
Wait..wha? "Every so often"? Since when? Both of us always knew it as "Think of me, once in a while, please promise me you'll try."
Well, odd lyric changes aside, the concert was spectacular. I don't really know that it can be called a "concert" as it was fully staged. True, they didn't drop the chandelier (I'm guessing because they rig it in the theater) and the cool trick during the title song when Phantom and Christine go from the top of the stage to the bottom in an instant wasn't there, but most of the original staging (as I remember it) was there. Ramin Karimloo has a rich voice and made a wonderful Phantom. I've heard him on the cast albums of "Love Never Dies" (don't get me started) and as Enjolras in the Les Mis concert. He has a great career ahead of him. Similarly, Sierra Boggess was incredible as Christine. Her "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" was probably the best rendition of the song I've ever heard. It was simply beautiful. We saw her a few years ago in "The Little Mermaid" - she was good then, but she's improved quite a lot. The rest of the cast was equally impressive - the Carlotta was more expressive than I remember and had a great "opera" voice (I'm sorry, I don't know the technical terms - other than knowing she's a soprano - I think.)
The end surprise was great fun. I love Colm Wilkinson, so was happy to see him there. I recognized John Owen-Jones - and there was that other guy who had that incredible, crystal clear voice - who was it? Oh yeah - one of our favorite performers, Anthony Warlow! Sarah Brightman was there, and for some reason Michael Crawford didn't sing. Andrew Lloyd Webber is the most awkward man on the planet, but I doubt he cares much.
While Webber's not my favorite composer by any stretch, he has written several great (and some not so great) scores - Phantom definitely is amongst his best. It's hard to argue with 25 years of success, and even after all these years, "Music of the Night" is still gorgeous, the relationship between Raoul and Christine still makes no sense, and the end scene in the lair is still moving and beautiful.
Caitie and I had been planning to see this for months. While Phantom isn't either of our FAVORITE shows, it's one we both spent a lot of time listening to, and both of us have seen more than once. All right, we both pretty much know the show by heart. I hit those high notes Christine sings at the end of the title song every time. The last sentence is a huge lie.
Anyway, we were surprised to find some small lyric changes:
"Think of me, every so often, promise me you'll try.""
Wait..wha? "Every so often"? Since when? Both of us always knew it as "Think of me, once in a while, please promise me you'll try."
Well, odd lyric changes aside, the concert was spectacular. I don't really know that it can be called a "concert" as it was fully staged. True, they didn't drop the chandelier (I'm guessing because they rig it in the theater) and the cool trick during the title song when Phantom and Christine go from the top of the stage to the bottom in an instant wasn't there, but most of the original staging (as I remember it) was there. Ramin Karimloo has a rich voice and made a wonderful Phantom. I've heard him on the cast albums of "Love Never Dies" (don't get me started) and as Enjolras in the Les Mis concert. He has a great career ahead of him. Similarly, Sierra Boggess was incredible as Christine. Her "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" was probably the best rendition of the song I've ever heard. It was simply beautiful. We saw her a few years ago in "The Little Mermaid" - she was good then, but she's improved quite a lot. The rest of the cast was equally impressive - the Carlotta was more expressive than I remember and had a great "opera" voice (I'm sorry, I don't know the technical terms - other than knowing she's a soprano - I think.)
The end surprise was great fun. I love Colm Wilkinson, so was happy to see him there. I recognized John Owen-Jones - and there was that other guy who had that incredible, crystal clear voice - who was it? Oh yeah - one of our favorite performers, Anthony Warlow! Sarah Brightman was there, and for some reason Michael Crawford didn't sing. Andrew Lloyd Webber is the most awkward man on the planet, but I doubt he cares much.
While Webber's not my favorite composer by any stretch, he has written several great (and some not so great) scores - Phantom definitely is amongst his best. It's hard to argue with 25 years of success, and even after all these years, "Music of the Night" is still gorgeous, the relationship between Raoul and Christine still makes no sense, and the end scene in the lair is still moving and beautiful.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Follies on a special day
First, the business: my contract came in the mail today! I signed it, and am as of now an officially "agented" writer. (Well, maybe not until it gets mailed back, but still). WOOHOO!!!!
We went to see Follies on Broadway today to celebrate. I chose this show because, as any of you who knows me at all knows, I'm a total Sondhead. Is that a term? Sondheim freak? How about super-duper-uber Sondheim fan? Anyway, Follies has been at the top of my list of "want to see" shows for a very long time as it's one of the few of Sondheim's I hadn't seen yet. Also on the list: A Little Night Music - didn't get to the revival for several reasons, Pacific Overtures, Sunday (though I've seen the video, of course), and Passion (again, seen the video). Yes, I've even seen a production of Do I Hear a Waltz, for any keeping track.
On to the Follies: it was well worth the wait. The show was stunning - the music (which I knew already would be) was exquisite and the performances were universally strong. I was surprised to find Jan Maxwell (Phyllis) and Danny Burstein (Buddy) to be even better than Bernadette Peters (Sally).
Much has been said about the show, of course, but I want to comment on two elements. First, I'd heard much about "Who's That Woman" in the past. Peter Filichia, a theater critic I've corresponded with for many years, has said often it is his favorite number in any show (forgive me, Peter, if I'm not 100% accurate on that - but he's definitely sung its praises many times). Musically, the song is good, but doesn't reach the heights of some of the other numbers in the show like "Losing My Mind" "Could I Leave You" or my personal favorite, "Too Many Mornings". The staging and choreography are what make the number work, though. As aging chorus girls relive their glory days by performing an old "mirror number" the ghosts of their former selves drift into the dance and become the mirror images of each woman. It's gorgeous, but what makes it so brilliant are the details. The older women aren't perfect - the dance isn't QUITE right, so you get to see what it was, and what their memory and older bodies can do now. It's difficult to put into words, but it truly was one of the most joyful and moving numbers I think I've ever seen on stage. I agree wholeheartedly with Peter's assessment.
The other moment I want to touch on comes right before the "Loveland" sequence. As our four main characters' marriages are breaking apart they begin arguing. The argument is then augmented as ghosts of their past selves come on and we see the couples when they were starting and an early conflict that directly led to the fight in the present. As the older couples fight, their words are echoed by their past selves, or reflected upon by old words. They interact across 30 years by living the whole thing over again, making the same mistakes their younger selves did, but with the twist of thirty more years on them. The writing here was mind-blowing. Seriously, how do you write EIGHT characters in a scene, four of whom are ghostly presences of the other four, have the dialogue resonate perfectly across the decades, and still have the whole thing make complete sense for the audience? Usually I can say "I could do that" with regards to writing -- maybe not exactly like it was done, but I could certainly tackle the problem in a creative way. I honestly don't know that I could have handled this - the control and perfection of the scene was fascinating. I don't know how much of this was due to the staging (which was brilliant) over the writing, but either way, this is now my second favorite non-musical sequence in any show (the first, for the record, is the debate scene in 1776).
If you can get to the Marquis before the show closes, go. Go see Follies and revel in it. The only Sondheim show I can truly say is better is Sweeney Todd - and that's saying something.
We went to see Follies on Broadway today to celebrate. I chose this show because, as any of you who knows me at all knows, I'm a total Sondhead. Is that a term? Sondheim freak? How about super-duper-uber Sondheim fan? Anyway, Follies has been at the top of my list of "want to see" shows for a very long time as it's one of the few of Sondheim's I hadn't seen yet. Also on the list: A Little Night Music - didn't get to the revival for several reasons, Pacific Overtures, Sunday (though I've seen the video, of course), and Passion (again, seen the video). Yes, I've even seen a production of Do I Hear a Waltz, for any keeping track.
On to the Follies: it was well worth the wait. The show was stunning - the music (which I knew already would be) was exquisite and the performances were universally strong. I was surprised to find Jan Maxwell (Phyllis) and Danny Burstein (Buddy) to be even better than Bernadette Peters (Sally).
Much has been said about the show, of course, but I want to comment on two elements. First, I'd heard much about "Who's That Woman" in the past. Peter Filichia, a theater critic I've corresponded with for many years, has said often it is his favorite number in any show (forgive me, Peter, if I'm not 100% accurate on that - but he's definitely sung its praises many times). Musically, the song is good, but doesn't reach the heights of some of the other numbers in the show like "Losing My Mind" "Could I Leave You" or my personal favorite, "Too Many Mornings". The staging and choreography are what make the number work, though. As aging chorus girls relive their glory days by performing an old "mirror number" the ghosts of their former selves drift into the dance and become the mirror images of each woman. It's gorgeous, but what makes it so brilliant are the details. The older women aren't perfect - the dance isn't QUITE right, so you get to see what it was, and what their memory and older bodies can do now. It's difficult to put into words, but it truly was one of the most joyful and moving numbers I think I've ever seen on stage. I agree wholeheartedly with Peter's assessment.
The other moment I want to touch on comes right before the "Loveland" sequence. As our four main characters' marriages are breaking apart they begin arguing. The argument is then augmented as ghosts of their past selves come on and we see the couples when they were starting and an early conflict that directly led to the fight in the present. As the older couples fight, their words are echoed by their past selves, or reflected upon by old words. They interact across 30 years by living the whole thing over again, making the same mistakes their younger selves did, but with the twist of thirty more years on them. The writing here was mind-blowing. Seriously, how do you write EIGHT characters in a scene, four of whom are ghostly presences of the other four, have the dialogue resonate perfectly across the decades, and still have the whole thing make complete sense for the audience? Usually I can say "I could do that" with regards to writing -- maybe not exactly like it was done, but I could certainly tackle the problem in a creative way. I honestly don't know that I could have handled this - the control and perfection of the scene was fascinating. I don't know how much of this was due to the staging (which was brilliant) over the writing, but either way, this is now my second favorite non-musical sequence in any show (the first, for the record, is the debate scene in 1776).
If you can get to the Marquis before the show closes, go. Go see Follies and revel in it. The only Sondheim show I can truly say is better is Sweeney Todd - and that's saying something.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
New Girl
We watched Zooey Deschanel's new show tonight and were pleasantly surprised. We laughed several times through the pilot, and Zooey is very entertaining. We'll definitely be tuning in next week.
Similarly, and in line with my book, Glee returned tonight. I was so happy to see the show back to BROADWAY. Hairspray, Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Wizard of Oz - West Side Story jokes...that's what makes Glee the show I wanted to watch in the first place! Let's hope they keep it up!
Similarly, and in line with my book, Glee returned tonight. I was so happy to see the show back to BROADWAY. Hairspray, Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Wizard of Oz - West Side Story jokes...that's what makes Glee the show I wanted to watch in the first place! Let's hope they keep it up!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Big, Huge, Gigantic, Mega, Super Uber awesome news
It happened.
It finally happened.
I can't believe it.
I've been trying and trying and trying for more than two years.
I've written five books.
I've written more drafts of query letters than probably all the pages in one of my shorter books (maybe not, but it's got to be close).
On Friday, I got an email.
Today, I made a phone call.
Later this week, I'll be signing a contract and sending it back to my NEW AGENT!!!!
I'm not ready to say WHO just yet (haven't signed the contract YET) but I'm SO excited.
It's taken so much work, so much talking to other writers, using what I've learned from Writeoncon, editing, revising, and, most importantly, support from my family, friends, and above all, Caitie.
I'll be writing on here tracking my progress, for sure.
But --- I HAVE AN AGENT!
It finally happened.
I can't believe it.
I've been trying and trying and trying for more than two years.
I've written five books.
I've written more drafts of query letters than probably all the pages in one of my shorter books (maybe not, but it's got to be close).
On Friday, I got an email.
Today, I made a phone call.
Later this week, I'll be signing a contract and sending it back to my NEW AGENT!!!!
I'm not ready to say WHO just yet (haven't signed the contract YET) but I'm SO excited.
It's taken so much work, so much talking to other writers, using what I've learned from Writeoncon, editing, revising, and, most importantly, support from my family, friends, and above all, Caitie.
I'll be writing on here tracking my progress, for sure.
But --- I HAVE AN AGENT!
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