Playing Catch-up

It's been a while since I last posted.  In fact, since last year I have been quite derelict in my blogging duties, which I plan to rectify.  But I also promised myself that I will keep things short and sweet (or acerbic, as the mood strikes me).

Did two workshops this year.  In July it was the Great Blue Heron in Antigonish, where I did a playwriting workshop with Daniel MacIvor.  I took a one-act play called Hair Of The Dog, which is about a fifty-something recovering alcoholic who decides to have a bar mitzvah as a way of connecting to a higher power.  By the end of the week I realized that I needed to expand it into a full-length play, so that is what I will be doing for the rest of the year.  

In July I attended the Seawords workshop here on PEI.  My instructor was Christy Ann Conlin, with whom I got on like the proverbial house on fire (apt because her partner, James, is a volunteer firefighter).  We had a great group and I made some friendships that I think will last well beyond the workshop.  The other instructor was Erika Ritter, who I also got to know a bit. A funny and engaging woman, I look forward to staying in touch with her.

I will have more to say about both these workshops in future posts.

There has been some eventful writing news as well.  My screenplay adaptation of my novella Fatted Calf Blues is a Top 100 Semifinalist in the Scriptapalooza competition.  Although it did not advance further, the good news is that all the screenplays, from semifinalists up, will be promoted for the next year by Scriptapalooza.  I assume they will get sent around to film industry insiders in LA, which makes this competition unique.

The other huge news is that my book Fatted Calf Blues has been long-listed for the ReLit Awards, which are specifically for books published by small presses. It was a shock to see my book on the list because it came out in April 2009 and I assumed it would have been eligible for the 2009 awards.  When it wasn't on that list I just assumed it had been passed over and that was that. So, even if it doesn't go further than this I'm pretty happy that the book got some recognition a year and half after being released.