This has been a very good week for me and my writing. This week, I entered my first evaluated playwriting contest (I have entered the Fringe, but it's by lottery and three 24 Hour contests, but they are literally writing for a day and handing it in). I printed up three copies of Fathers And Sons (yay it's over) and mailed them to a small theatre company in Minnesota and hopefully they get there in time for the contest. I was so nervous sending it, getting way too excited in the line at the post office and freaking out the attendant. :) I really don't care if they pick it (though let's be honest; it's not like that wouldn't be cool too) because I needed to do this, to get something out there and seen. I have two more copies and I plan to send them to Factory and Taragon Theatre for thoughts.

What this has done though is give me more excitement in writing more often. This past week, I wrote two more chapters of my online serial and I'm really starting to get into that. It's halfway between a writing log and therapy hehehe and I'm loving it. I am now in the process of charting the story on my wall using a huge piece of brown paper to keep myself focused on where the characters are and where they should go. I plan to be about two months ahead of my postings to give myself some breathing space (we all know the craziness of life) and so far I am about five chapters ahead.

My plays are also being given new life. The State Of Tennessee was given to its first reader: Todd and he liked it. Now of course giving it to your partner may not seem risky, but he is by far the most honest person when it comes to critiquing, so it was a chance. Some things worked and some didn't and that's all I wanted. I plan to get a draft ready for the Fringe new play contest at the end of the month and see how it goes. My other play, tentatively titled Brothers And Arms, is coming along as well. I have been using a whopping new Mead writing book and my time at the local library in the mornings to write out the scenes. I'm hoping to have the first act done by Christmas, not pushing myself too hard. I will chat more about that another time. As for The Code Of The West, I will get into that one a little later too.

Books I've Read:
1) All Things Oz - Well after finishing the Wicked sequel, I needed a dose of the originals and this collection of small stories about Oz and highlights of the quotes of Baum was an excellent read. Some of the sayings were rather profound and I got a good laugh from most of them. A must for an Oz fan :).