Day #278 - #296: Finishing Strong

Well, I guess November was my time to take a break away from blogging. As I indicated in the previous post (from over two weeks ago) I've been putting my nose to the grindstone at work, so there's been very little time to focus on creative projects.

However, I'll do my best to articulate what I've been up to this month.

• Hamilton - the original Broadway Cast Recording. Musically, this double album has consumed my life since my birthday. 
• I finished the big stack of argument essays. Now I'm waiting for final exams.
• Family time... we have been enjoying the holiday season. (Oh, and my mom visited!)
• Friendship time... we've been reconnecting with our friends in Orange County. Joel bought us tickets to an Escape Room! And Joshua and I are getting very excited about the new Star Wars.
• Walking time... Since the beginning of November, we have been walking the dogs around the neighborhood. It's a four mile hike (ruffly), and the dogs are constantly annoying me in new ways, but Cheri and I still have a good time.
• Drawing time... Yes, I have managed to carve out some creative time... I'm not going to meet my self-imposed deadline (to finish by Dec 18th) but I might be able to finish before the spring semester begins. 

Oh, and we had a lovely Thanksgiving at Joel and Elysia's home. The Eklund's stopped by in time for desert. Fun and food was had by all.

As the title of this blog post suggests, I am planning on finishing strong -- meaning that this December I will double my effort, posting everyday, and pushing one last time to reach my extra income goal. I'm probably not going to make it, but I've been having fun trying.

Hope your holidays are joyous, and that 2015 is finishing strong for you as well.

Day #276 - #277: The Semester Home Stretch

Ten days have emerged and faded since last I posted a blog. This lapse is partly due to my slacker ways -- and partly due to the fact that I'm in the trenches of essay-land. I've almost dug my way out of the pile. (Sorry to mix metaphors.)

November finds me focusing on the job of being an English teacher and a productive faculty member who dutifully attends curriculum meetings (in which I do my best to pretend I am a grown up).

Very little creative work has been accomplished in the last ten days. Every once in a while, I sketch some of the Duck Town characters, just so I stay in practice.

A few interesting details in my personal life (which I am writing down more for me than for you, dear reader...)

• my daughter Emily turned 14
• my mother visited us during Halloween (and now she's visiting us this weekend as well)
• I hurt my wife's feelings, sincerely apologized, and I still feel quite guilty
• I've been reading Don Quixote for World Literature
• my daughter Mackenzie went to work with me on Wednesday
• her visit made me reminded me that I am an untidy slob (mostly my car, but partly my office.)
• I finished watching the complete series of Star Trek: The Next Generation
• I might be working on a holiday themed radio play
• I went to the dentist for a cleaning, and I'll need to return for a crown prep
• I graded a ton of poetry essays
• my daughter Mackenzie turns 17 tomorrow

Oh, I received a royalty check from Amazon Publishing for $104... so that means we get to slightly raise the challenge total! 

Challenge Total Update: $9861.70

With a little luck, we'll reach $10,000 by Jan 1st. (That's only the halfway point -- but that's a lot more than farther than I ever imagined I would get!) 

Day #266: Only 99 Days Left! (Challenge Update!)

Well, I haven't created a blog entry for every single day, in fact, October has been a slacker month, but I have managed to continually think about my $20,000 goal.

At the beginning of this personal challenge to increase my income and pay off those pesky credit cards, I had originally imagined that I would be creating or building something to sell online, or perhaps get into buying and selling things on Ebay or Etsy. Those ideas quickly devolved into failed attempts followed by inaction... However, I did redouble my efforts to write some good stories for my agent to sell, so I've made progress in that arena.

I don't know if I'll be able to complete the goal, but I've managed to get nearly halfway there. During the last couple weeks some more royalty checks have come trickling in. I earned $40 for a new article for Pioneer Drama Service. I also received a royalty check from Brooklyn Plays -- most of which goes into the checking account -- but $34 goes toward my goal.

Here are the updated challenge total results:

Last Week: $9,683.70

Updated Challenge Total: $9757.70

Day #265: Happy Halloween!!!

I've always loved Halloween... (What kid doesn't love wearing costumes and getting free candy?)

But for over a decade now, this holiday means even more to me because it's the birthday of my second child, Emily.

She's fourteen years old today! But here's a photograph of when she was my little pumpkin...

Day #264: The Joy of Half Baked Ideas

So I've been waiting for the next BRIGHT IDEA to hit me... As I may have mentioned before, writing a picture book is not as easy as you would think. When I first started writing them, I thought to myself, "I could write one a day! After all, they are only 500 to 1500 words. How hard could it be to come up with a dozen each month."

Turns out, it's really hard... For me at least. That is to say, it's not hard to generate a lame picture book, and sometimes it's easy to come up with a mediocre picture book, but writing a GREAT PICTURE BOOK is the opposite of easy.

When I do stumble upon a bright idea, I have to let it settle in my brain for a while. The story idea marinates in my mind. That's what happened with my dinosaur book. I developed an early draft in 2013... I knew that I like the beginning and the end, but the middle was all mushy and messed up. The form wasn't right (at the time the only character who spoke was the bellhop). The draft was half-baked. So I let it cook for a while... And I was never sure that I was ever going to revisit the idea. But about six months later, while attending Eugene Yelchin's lecture at the 2014 SCBWI conference, he said something that made everything click. I suddenly realized the right form, the right structure for the story, and then all of the missing elements soon appeared. The writing process from that point was easy... But only after all of those months of head scratching and paper crumpling.

So, I keep track of my half-baked ideas... Today, I made a list to organize the half-bakers. I thought I just had a few floating around, it turns out I have a total of ten... And, as if by magic, the tenth half baked idea on the list started to rise... It's now fully baked, and it's ready for me to devour. 

Day #263: Enjoying the Calm Before the Storm

This week has felt so good because I dug myself out from the avalanche of essays. The respite will not last forever. This coming Tuesday, I'll receive a bunch of World Lit essays, and by November 11th I'll be wading through a ton of Poetry and Argument essays. But for now I have spare time, and I've been making the most of it... Spending time with my family, and spending time in Duck Town, both lovely places to be. 

Day #262: Original Artwork!

Cheri and I purchased an original painting by our friend (and Canyon Theatre Guide superstar) John Alexopoulos.

It's his re-imagining of Disney's Haunted Mansion -- one of the rides Cheri once worked on, way back in our Disneyland days.