Sunday, March 17, 2024

Research Tips for the Tired: :Because You Can't Get Away from the R Word

I’m having a frustration moment (or seventeen) this morning — can you hear me screaming? It’sbecause I just realized one of the characters in my book isn’t grounded in enough research. Even though he’s a supporting character, I still need to learn more about the condition he has if I want to be true to the story. That means I need more time before I can send my manuscript to the publisher.

I used to think that barely anything I wrote required much research — especially if it was a book or play of my own devising. Looking at It more closely, I’ve come to understand that almost everything most of us write will require some sort of research. Why?

We’re all trying to make sure our work has enough credibility or reality, even if the worlds we’re writing about are fictional. Besides the book I’m writing, I’m thinking about two different play subjects — one that includes a World War II idea and the other, a supernatural possession story. Not only do I need concrete historical information about the war, I need information about the source material that frames my possession play. 

--Read more in Medium.

Photo by Headway on Unsplash


Sunday, March 10, 2024

To God and the Devil: Missing a Neighbor who Passed Away

A new publication on Medium, part of the Parasol Publications Group, is called Imogene's Notebook. Focused on poetry and fiction, it allows writers like me to explore poetry more than we usually do. I wrote this for my neighbor, who passed away suddenly in Feburary.




Like a thief, breaking and entering without permission 
The world stole you away at two in the mronign and all we saw
Was the light of the ambulance, blue-red flashes through our window
Thiking it was your wife who was ailing; but it was you.

We stood there, not wanting either of you gone
Tears came too without permission, but still
We thought we had reason to be hopeful
Closing our eyes and trying to sleep.

A week later we’d see your urn on a funeral home mantel
Knowing your darling would take it home as keeper of your ashes
Not knowing what to say to her as we edged closer
We could see the sorrow open her like a coat, digging in.

Read more on Medium.


Monday, March 4, 2024

Why Are Swordfights Such a Favorite Onstage?

 

Are you creating fights onstage or onscreen? Acting out these fights (or even thinking aboug it)? My own preferences shy away from guns or fists — but I am a huge fan of fencing.

There is something about using swords and broadswords that I find absolutely thrilling — and somehow, that seem less violent than other sorts of fighting — even when I know that isn’t true. When I was just out of college, I studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Fencing was part of the program, and the day we had that class was one of my favorite days.

I loved sparring with broadswords, especially, but also enjoyed the lighter touch of fencing. I had only the one beginner’s class, and though I’ve thought about taking more classes quite a bit, I never did get around to it.

At the end of the summer, there was a stage fight performance by our class, with students paired off in partners who performed fight scenes from selected plays. For some reason that I cannot even remember, I did not participate in this session. I can’t imagine I wouldn’t have wanted to, but can only say there was something that kept me from it.

The event happened on a bright, warm day in San Francisco as the sun lit up the room. Students and faculty gathered on one side of the gym as my classmates performed. While most involved fencing, there were also great examples of hand-to-hand combat and broadswords. And while it’s a cliché to say my heart “leapt” while watching them, I couldn’t help but wish I’d participated, thinking, “You really could — if you only would.”

Read more on Medium.

Photo by Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Her Theater Made Me a Better Playwright: Remembering Tanya Berezin

I don’t remember how I first became aware of Circle Repertory Company, but growing up in northern New Jersey, I got into New York City as much as I possibly could. In my twenties, I discovered a theater that would (cliché alert) change my life.

The first thing I did at Circle Rep was audition for a role, and I even remember the part I wanted — that of a Yugoslavian immigrant trying to reconcile her old life and her new one. The actors I auditioned with had astonishing concentration and made me feel as though we were already in the play. It was one of my favorite auditions, though I did not get a callback that day.

I did, however, leave the company thinking about how much I wanted to return. It wasn’t so much about being part of an established theater. It was about finding a theater where the kind of work they were doing matched the work I wanted to do.

As I stepped outside of 99 Seventh Avenue South, watching crowds of people avoiding other crowds as they do so well in New York, I made a pact with myself:

Some day, I will stand at the door of this theater, and be invited in to be a part of it.

Read more on Medium.

Photo by Martin de Arriba on Unsplash


Monday, January 29, 2024

Do You Have Friends Who Lost Housing? Odds are High You Do

The cold is like an animal here, but not just any animal. It’s a T-Rex with a mouth as wide as a cave, screaming cold into your bones until you freeze. It’s the Snow Queen, icing your heart solid while your body ices around it. The cold perches on your chest like a wolf, draining you of all defense and forcing you to shiver and hunt for the nearest blanket. 

That’s the cold we live with in the Upper Midwest.

That cold is bearable for those of us who have warm kitchens, beds and fireplaces. It might even be something you seek out if you want to spend the day skiing or snowmobiling. If you have no choice about being outside, though, it’s a very different story. As January winds grow defiantly stronger, I can’t help but think about the people who don’t have anywhere to go.

I met a woman I’ll call Sadie some years ago. She had not had a place to live for a year. Sadie stayed in shelters where she could barely sleep because of well-founded fears of her possessions being stolen. Luckily, she found a community college program that allowed her to live at a care community while she was training to be a certified nursing assistant. She was also able to stay at that community as an employee with reduced rent.

I interviewed Sadie for a newsletter at my workplace, and found her to be funny, lively, kind and unfailingly positive. Her story inspired me and I was honored to write it. Yet, a few months later, creditors from her former life descended on her and hounded her mercilessly. Sadie fled the area and I was never able to discover where she went.

Read more on Medium.

Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash


Sunday, January 14, 2024

Theater, Religion and Sacred Space: The Similarities May Surprise You

 

This is my church,” they say, but you’re not standing in one.

Monday, January 8, 2024

Frankenstein's Dad Had Nothing on His Mom: Exploring the Fascinations of Author Mary Shelley

As a former camper and counselor-in-training in northern New Jersey, I liked most of the activities offered up to me. One in particular, though, stands out: overnight campfire -- sleepovers and the ghost stories that went with it. 

While they were always fun and I loved hearing and making up ghost stories, none of them compared to the classic TV horror movies I watched when growing up (think Svengoolie). My favorites were the Frankenstein movies, though Dracula and the Wolf Man caught my eye, too.

Then, I learned something about Frankenstein that endeared the movie (and later book) to me even more: the story was created by a young woman who wrote it after being challenged to write a ghost story. She was the only one in her circle who did — at the ripe old age of eighteen.

Her name: Mary Shelley.  She was married to the poet Percy B.  Shelley and had what seems to be a difficult, tempestuous marriage. When I first discovered one of the most enduring horror stories in the world had been created by Shelley, I wanted to learn everything I could about her — and can see I’m not alone here on Medium. Like many of you, I keep trying to figure out why she continues to pique my curiosity.

Read more on Medium.

Photo by Dad Grass on Unsplash