Theater and Audio Teching – The last two weeks were and this week will continue to be strange because of Cheeky Geeky Vaudeville and Team KAIZEN, but for now, I’m back! I spent a good chunk of the last two weeks preparing for the Cheeky Geeky Vaudeville variety show. I’ll spend the entirety of this week traveling around Montana to help Team KAIZEN record some audio for a pitch video and to act as theater technician for the CGV show next weekend. Once again, if you’re in the Missoula/Montana area next Saturday evening, come see it!
Writing – Additionally, I wrote a couple more writing critiques and took on editing another novel for someone. I also got back a few critiques of Chapter 1 of The Twelfth Hour. Surprisingly, reviews weren’t nearly as mixed as they were with My Eliza! Overall, reviewers were intrigued and particularly loved two of my lead characters but were slightly overwhelmed by the amount of information, characters, and perspectives in the chapter. The negatives I somewhat expected, but the comments about the characters were a pleasant surprise. One reviewer, however, thought pretty much the exact opposite: the story was so slow as to be nonexistence and the characters were flat and boring. Because I’m a glutton for punishment, have an affinity for arguing with reviewers, and thought the review was shallow and uninformative, I decided to prod for details and argue my case. I ended up having an interesting conversation about POV, dialog, and present tense with the critiquer and getting some ideas on other things I can improve. When I return from Montana, I’m planning to release the complete conversation and the first four sections of The Twelfth Hour for some context. So look forward to that! In the meantime, I’ll continue working away at Chapter 5. I’m about halfway through editing it.
Fan Nexus – A surprise nerd convention also occurred in Spokane this weekend. A couple friends of mine going to it reported that the attendance on the first day was shockingly sparse for the amount of professionalism and passion put into it, so I decided to go to it yesterday to show the brand new convention some support. I ended up having a conversation with three publishers in a panel where I was the only attendant. I wish I’d prepared better, and I wasn’t such a social idiot, but regardless, it was a great opportunity!