Julia Spencer Fleming Visits the Library and The All the Books Show!

The first NYLA conference I attended was held in Saratoga Springs. My wife and son came along and since I had evenings free it felt like a mini vacation too. One of the guest speakers for the weekend was Edgar Award winning author Julia Spencer Fleming.  I was familiar with her work, but hadn’t read it.  Regardless, I was looking forward to meeting her.  I picked up a copy of her first book for myself and one for my mother-in-law. It was almost her birthday so I thought I’d see if Julia would sign them for me.

                She did and we had a nice conversation. I gave her my card and invited her to come do an event in Wellsville sometime.  She had some early connections to Western New York, so I thought that might be enough of a draw. I told her I would be in touch.

                Back at the library we did the first of her Clare Fergusson books for the book club and it was a big hit.  She was pretty popular with our regulars. I reached out via email to see if we could set something up.  After months of emails and proposed dates we finally found something that would work.  We set a date in March of 2017 and the promotions began. As part of the deal she also agreed to be on the All theBooks Show so Eric and I were excited and a little nervous about that.

                Eric and I mulled over the best way to do it.  We figured the simplest way would be to set up the podcast equipment backstage and do a quick Q&A before we started. Alternatively we could do it live on stage with the audience there.  That felt a little daunting, but the idea of doing a live podcast interview was too exciting. We settled on having her do her talk, then doing the podcast interview before taking questions from the audience. Eric could get it set no problem.

                Then, Eric had to go out of town for a funeral.  Obviously there was no warning on that and we had everything set. Still, we decided to press on and I would do it solo.  Eric set the equipment before he left and library staff helped with some of the logistics on the day of the event. I didn’t like the idea of him missing out so I did the next best thing and printed a picture of his face to hold up on a stick when he would normally talk. From my conversations with Julia, I knew she was a good sport and would play along.

                The interview went great. She really engaged with my questions and was a really game for jokes with the Eric sign.  She got a kick out of his delighted expression and “hipster beard.” Afterwards everyone hung around to get books signed and take pictures.  The whole thing went great.

We cut the interview into episode 85 of the All the Books Show, beginning at the 35 minute mark.  Take a listen.

https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-80-take-five-with-julia-spencer-fleming

Plucky Pipsqueak II... This Time it's Personal!

Last year, when it came time to select a script for my acting students (at the Houghton Movement & Arts Center) to perform at the showcase, I hit a bit of a brick wall.  I scoured the internet for something in the public domain that was interesting and age appropriate but all I could find were things that were either dated and stuffy or light and cutesy.  I worried that working with a script like that would do more harm than good.  I wanted something fresh that would emphasize the individual strengths of the students in my class.  Left with no alternative, I decided to sit down at my computer and see what I could come up with. (See here for more details.)  The result was A Plucky Little Pipsqueak, a 15-minute, 4-character comedy centered on a group of students waiting at the principal’s office.  It was a fun experiment that I think/hope worked out in the end.

This time around, with a year of teaching under my belt and a mix of new and returning students, I decided to work the script-writing process into the class.  As the spring semester rolled around I began to open class asking for suggestions for a showcase piece.  It was agreed upon that we would do a sequel to Pipsqueak with the returning students reprising their roles and the new students taking on new ones.  (I have a weakness for sequels.  See this or this or this.) The students became very engaged in the brainstorming process, as we began to discuss plot points, characters and other details of the new script.  We settled on a mystery theme, fleshed out the new characters and even decided the resolution together. 

In the week that followed, I once again sat down at my computer, this time armed with my notebook filled with their suggestions and got to work.  The next week I presented them The Trophy Case, and was pleasantly surprised by their excitement upon seeing the new script.  Just as we had discussed, The Trophy Case tells the tale of 5 students accused of breaking a prized trophy and their mission to solve the crime.  As we first read it aloud, I watched their faces light up as they saw their ideas come to life on the page.  It was an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and hopefully for them too. 

One of the things I try to emphasize in class is that the art of stage craft is layered.  I think that in order to be a truly good actor you have to have an understanding and appreciation for all of the things that go into plays.  Like most things in life, the more knowledge you gather on something, the better you become at it.  It is a joy for me to watch these talented students work through The Trophy Case each week, and I can’t wait to see it up on stage at the showcase.  My hope is that their involvement in its inception will make it that much more rewarding when they finally get to do it in front of an audience.

Mark was 29

This is just a little nugget of a story I was playing with.  I like it.  I might attempt to finish it someday.

Mark Noonan was not a young man.  Clocking in at just under thirty, the realization hit him that he was no longer young.  It hit him harder than he would have expected.  He never gave much thought to aging and certainly did nothing to cling to his wonder years.  He looked forward too, even embraced change, but something about turning 29 just wasn’t sitting right.  And it bothered him.  Was it vanity?  No.  If that were the case he’d be able to stick with his resolution to exercise more.  No, it wasn’t physical issues that gave him pause; though he did wonder if the corners of his hair line had always gone back that far.  It was something else.  Something he couldn’t define.  Most of the time he could wave these thoughts away, but on that day they were showing him a persistence he hadn’t yet seen.

The morning in question began like any other.  Seven minutes before 7:00 his phone lit up and whined a greeting.  He reached over to snooze the devise, taking care in his sleepy state not to accidentally dismiss the stalwart alarm thereby making him late.  Mark wasn’t too concerned about rolling into work a few minutes late, but it wouldn’t do for Mallory.  She wanted to be on-time, early if at all possible. (It wasn’t.)  He found her earnestness in this matter cute, if not a little out of character.  Alliteration aside, Mark and Mallory were an excellent couple.  Though their differences were legion, they struck a balance that worked wonderfully.  They put up with each others malfunctions and not only were they in love, but they liked each other too.  In Mark’s mind they had the kind of marriage and partnership that was to be emulated.  While Mallory’s parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all still happily married to their original spouse the only stable marriage in Mark’s family was his own.  He grew up knowing exactly what he didn’t want out of life and against the odds had thus far managed to avoid it.  He loved his wife.  If that was all he had, it would have been enough.  It was not all he had.  As his whining cell phone was quick to remind him, he also had a job that he was now 10 minutes closer to.  As if on cue, the playful combination of barks and scratches let him know that he also had a dog.  Archibald knew that the second time he heard the high pitched sound his living room banishment would soon be over and his two favorite people would soon scratch his head and let him out to bound in the new-fallen snow.  Mark was tempted to gingerly hit snooze one more time, but knew it would prove futile.  Arch was ready to play and Mallory was reluctantly stirring in preparation to move to her closet and hate all of her clothes.  It was a new day. 

Arch was in rare form.  Mark had barely opened the door and Arch was already on the bed making sure Mallory knew he was there. He bent down to stroke Troy, Arch’s brother from a feline mother.  As he surveyed the living room it became clear that while the Noonan’s slept Arch and a reluctant Troy had turned the pleasant room into some sort of Speak-easy.  The couch cushions were escew, dog food was scattered all over and the latest issue of TV Guide was now a festive confetti.  It must have been a hell of a night.  Mark’s first instinct was to be mad.  They knew the rules.  But, boys will be boys.  No harm no foul.  He knew Mallory would be less understanding.  As Troy cozied up on the windowsill, Mark quickly tidied the room and jumped in the shower reminding himself to sit the boys down and give them a stern talking to.  This kind of behavior would not be tolerated.

Arch knew he was in trouble.  He knew that the look-how-cute-I-am gambit would fail, but he also knew he had to try.  He was laying it on thick with Mallory. Putting his head on her stomach and looking up at her with his precious little eyes.  Licking her hands as she tried to scratch behind his ears.  Ultimately it would prove futile.  Mark would fall prey to his roguish charm.  Mallory saw right threw it.  He knew this and yet he pressed on.  It was now a numbers game.  Sooner or later the kitchen floor would dry and she’d never know that had grown impatient in the night.  He had to keep her in the bedroom for as long as possible.  Unfortunately for Arch, Mallory’s suspicions and punctuality gave her the strength to get out of the warm bed and tramp to the coffee maker.  Arch had to act fast.  He knew  his cuteness alone wasn’t enough to stop her, but if he could coax Troy into playing along…  His scheming was interrupted by her exasperated call.  “Achibald come!” Mallory beckoned.  He pretended he needed to do some scratching, but even he knew it was weak. “Archibald! I said come.”  Reluctantly he did so.   As he trotted into the Kitchen he could have sworn he caught a smirk of satisfaction on Troy’s feline lips, but he knew that was absurd.  Troy was just a cat.

As Mark turned off the shower he heard Arch being scolded, but he couldn’t make out specifics.  He was certain Arch would rat him out.  Mallory walked in to brush her teeth.  Mark expecting an accusation gave her a smile and casually dried himself.  She smiled back and loaded her tooth brush with paste, giving him a lecherous glance in the mirror.  He returned the look and gave her cute little butt a pinch as he passed, thinking he’d gotten away.  As he turned the turned the corner Malloy, betraying nothing, said “You forgot the kitchen.”  Check and mate.   Yes, it was a morning like any other, and Mark was 29.

Mark and Mallory lived in a small town.  Not small as in “We only have one movie theatre, can you believe it?” but rather small meaning “Let’s take a day-trip to Wal-Mart.”  One of the perks of small town living was that their house was in walking distance of their jobs.  In this morning, like any other, they drove.  Though she avoided it in most other situations, Mallory was behind the wheel for the morning commute.  This allowed her to drop Mark off at the library then park nice and close to her office building.  Mallory worked as the registrar of a small college, the same college where she and Mark had attended.  They had been college sweethearts and were married during her senior year, much to the panic of her parents.  To say that Mallory enjoyed her job, might be overstating things just a bit.  She was good at her job.  She enjoyed aspects of her job.  But as a whole, there were about a million other things she’d rather do.  As usually Mallory was the first of her office mates to arrive.  She traced the familiar pattern of opening the office, then sat at her desk, turned on her computer and began her day.  A day that would include stretches of busyness, followed by endless patches of boredom, intermixed with worrying about the Noonan budget and scattered trips to the coffee shop to load up.  While Mallory’s job had its share of stress, she was able to leave that on her desk when 5:00 hit… a skill Mark had yet to master.

My Debut as a Playwright

So I've recently started teaching a beginning acting class for the Houghton Movement & Arts Center (http://www.houghtonarts.com/instructors.html). It has been a really interesting experience so far. The students range from roughly 11-14 years old. For the first couple of classes, we discussed theatre and general as well as some of the goals for the class. I've also had them running scenes from shows I've directed. We spent a lot of time on George Batson's House on the Cliff, a show that's near & dear to my heart. We've also used portions from my most recent show Cinderella. It's been a lot of fun so far.
When the class wraps in May there will be a Spring Showcase including dances from some of the classes and a short play starring my class. Find a script for that proved difficult/impossible. I wanted something fresh and age appropriate for the students in my class, but it seemed like everything I found was either really dated or really cornball. I finally decided to sit down and see if I could come up with an original piece. I've wanted to write for a long time, but have never really put any serious thought or effort into it. (Fun fact, my main reason for starting this Blog 5 years ago was to get me in the habit of writing.) Anyway, I was talking about it with one of my student workers (who happens to be a talented actress that I've also directed) and I just typed a quirky little sentence using her name as the main character. It was just a joke. It wasn't a serious attempt to write, but something about that sentence clicked for me. So I wrote a line of dialogue, then another and another and another. An hour and half later I had a funny little 4-character comedy that will work perfectly for my class.
While this may seem like a very minor accomplishment, it actually means something to me. It means that even on a very small scale, I've written something that I'm proud of... something that will be performed on a stage. Obviously this isn't going to win me a Pulitzer, but for better or worse, it's a start. It's exciting.

I'm not very good at this

I'm really not very good at keeping a blog. I'm sure that's clear by my two lame, six-month-old entries. I do want to get in the habit of writing more so that one day I might actually have the discipline to start the novel I've always wanted to write. Anyway, there will be more to come... hopefully.

An Explanation

I've always wanted to write a book. I've never really been all that serious about it, but I've blindly starting writing from time to time only to stop when I got stuck or was bored with it. My wife always encourages me to actually do and she said they best to start writing a book is to just start writing something. So I decided that by starting an ongoing blog I could ease into writing regularly and someday possibly start actually writing my story. Here it is, post #1. Enjoy.