Hello world!
Today finds me being the stereotypical writer: sitting at Starbucks, earbuds in, busily typing away. I know it has been quite some time since my last update, and many of you readers have emailed, Facebooked (is that even a word?), or tweeted to ask how I have been. Let's recap, then I'll update on the Marilyn progress.
On the life front, the musical wrapped up with set strike on January 28. Moving forward from there, this past week had been a challenge. After 3 months of being at the theater until at least 6:30 Mon-Fri - and yesterday being my first free Saturday in 4 weeks - I have had major rehearsal blues.
January 28 through February 15 is my small window of time to do "all the life things!" I'll admit, I'm very stir crazy and gloomy right now, which is unusual for me. To try and distract myself, I've spent this week contacting all my friends about getting together, lining up piano gigs, cleaning my apartment, writing a bunch of Marilyn chapters, and polishing my nails multiple times. Sidebar story: yes, multiple (3) times. Yes, I know you all find this weird, friends of mine, that polished nails are a sign I'm stressed. My piano teachers believed in clean, short nails, and to this day, I tend to keep them that way. At the moment however, they are turquoise. Let's hope that doesn't change again.
But onward and upward, loves! C'est la vie - such is life! The majority of my friends are very busy (I miss you all, but I understand life happens, you're all still the best I promise!), I'm out of things to clean, I've practiced the keys 'til my hands are sore, and I'm still stewing about the right direction for this novel mainly because I haven't had the time to commit to working on it. Baby steps, reader friends. Once the play begins on February 15, I'll be very busy again and won't have time to be gloomy! So, let's shift the topic and talk about Marilyn!
I decided to choose a different literary agency. A small roadblock, declining an offer, but I promised myself that when I started this project in June 2016 that I would take the time to do it right (yes, even if it means years). This decision stemmed from wanting this novel to be with the right publishing company or imprint, and to do that, I need to have the right literary agency first. In the meantime, I've reorganized all my electronic files, starting pulling the copies of the letters for my chapter drafts, and have a major paper mess in my living room right now as a result (I'll post pictures in the next update, just so you can see how insane my process gets). It's a good thing I took the time to scan all the letters that June, because that's how I'm referencing them now as I sit here at Starbucks. God bless the digital age - there's no way I'd be dragging that paper mess here.
Despite the "cluttered desk, cluttered mind" situation, I have almost a dozen chapter drafts completed. While I have not been updating here in January, I have been writing when I have the spare time. Writing keeps me sane. Even now, I can feel a little of my pent-up energy and frustration dissolving. Clearly I've needed this time, even though I have a million other things I should be doing: writing my blocking for the play, finishing the set design, lesson planning for my poetry unit (that I'm starting tomorrow), practicing the 7 pieces of music I have to learn as an accompanist - the list goes on and on.
Because I'm free of the constraints of a literary agency right now, I'm going to post actual Marilyn chapters this week! Yay! I know I've teased you all long enough readers - and now this week you are going to get to read the book in its early stages. I'm so excited to share this with you, and believe me, I really need some excitement in my life right now. I hope you are excited too.
Thanks for checking in on me. Thanks for continuing to share these posts, to tell your friends, to spread the word. Views continue to climb even higher into the thousands. You all have my gratitude.
Love always.
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