Another Song

I wrote a new song yesterday and recorded it today, then I posted it to my ReverbNation page. You can listen to it here. It's basically about the memories left behind when a person is gone. 

Within a span of twenty-four hours, this song went from not existing to being available to stream on the other side of the planet. That kind of amazes me. 

I hope you like it, and if you happen to need healing, I hope it helps.

Songs on Spotify

I haven't really posted too much on here lately, as much of my writing time has been dedicated to other projects, including my music blog, where I have been adding new material almost daily. 

A couple of my songs have really taken off on Spotify in recent weeks, and since I don't really use social media, my blog is kind of the only way that I communicate directly with listeners and fans. 

Hop over to my music site for more. 

First Dose

I can't remember ever being so happy to get a shot. My spouse and I got our first doses of the Covid vaccine yesterday. This might be a side effect, but I think I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I can also confirm with some certainty that I have not had a mind-controlling microchip covertly implanted as part of a vast conspiracy to keep you from the truth... unless, of course, that's what I was programmed to say. 

Just keep your tinfoil hat on, you should be ok. Here in the real world, science is not influenced by whether you believe in it or not. 

Please get vaccinated -- if not for you, then do it for everybody else. Remember: we're all in this together. 

General Theory of Being Quarantined

I've noticed that after a year of being quarantined, people who own their own houses are repainting and remodeling, while people who rent are driving each other crazy. I'm sure there's an academic paper in there somewhere. 

Current Project

I spent the last few months of 2020 outlining and sketching out another novel. It's pretty well ready to be written.... but then I got an idea for a screenplay and decided to run with it. The story as I imagined it wasn't all that complicated. Basically, it's a road comedy about two friends who rent a car to drive to their other friend's wedding, none of whom have seen each other in over ten years. En route, as one might expect, hijinks ensue. I am imagining this as something that could be shot on a minimal budget. 

I chose to work on this project now, in part because the submission period for the big screenplay contests (Nicholl, Austin Film Festival, etc.) ends around the beginning of May. So if I want to submit a screenplay to any of these contests, I need to have a polished draft done by then. I also feel like this particular script has broad appeal, which might help it to land favorably with readers. 

Of course, as I probably should have known, as I get deeper into this script, the more complicated it is turning out to be. In my experience, if I don't make a detailed outline ahead of time, then I end up having to more or less start over once I do have one. That's kind of where I am now. The plot as I have coneived it is like a Rube Goldberg Device, where one thing causes the next, which causes the next, etc. As such, if I change even one plot point or character dynamic or whatever, then it's probably going to affect some of the other parts as well. As this story gets more complex, there become more moving pieces to consider with every decision. 

I still aim to have it done by the end of April, but we'll see how it goes. The most important thing is that it's good. That said, I tend to work better under the pressure of deadlines, even if they are self-imposed.