Reassembling Sasha published by YouthPLAYS.com

I got some more good news recently: my newest one-act comedy, Reassembling Sasha, is now published by YouthPLAYS.com.

YouthPLAYS is a new publishing company/coalition put together by playwrights Jon Dorf and Ed Shockley, who both have a ton of experience in the youth market. The business model is slightly different from other publishers, slightly greener--you can read a complete perusal script for free on the web site. And if you choose to produce one of their plays, you get a pdf document, so you can print out your own copies--you don't need to order them and they don't need to be shipped--all the school/theatre pays for is the performance rights.

The rights may appear to be more expensive than other publishers ($60 for first performance) but that's misleading, because normally a school has to pay for scripts for each actor, as $5 each. For a large cast like this, that's an additional $60 or more. So with YouthPLAYS schools actually end up saving money.

Reassembling Sasha is a fun comedy about identity, with lots of good roles for young women. Though I have many plays that are used by students (more than 30), this is actually the first one that I've written specifically with a high school audience and performers in mind. Here are the details:

Comedy. 25-35 minutes. 1-3 males, 7-9 females.

Synopsis

Professor Sasha Marlowe has created a fantastic machine that can split a person into their constituent parts, but maybe she shouldn't have tested it on herself. The seven different elements that make up Sasha are running loose and aren't all eager to go back to being part of a single workaholic person. And what happens if she gets put back together and one of the parts is missing? A comic look at trying to find a balance between all our different strengths and weaknesses (and a riff on the seven deadly sins).

If you want to take a look, you can visit the YouthPLAYS site and read it here.

Reality Check Micro Writer's Conference--aka the Blind Leading the Blind

I’m thinking about putting together a micro conference, maybe I'll call it the Reality Check Micro Writer’s Conference—a.ka. The Blind Leading the Blind.

Here's how it would work: I’d send my family away from the house for a day (or a chunk of a day) and invite a bunch of friends over for baked goods, chocolate, coffee, and lunch, and we'd talk about our plans and strategies for our business careers.

Maybe it would include 5-8 people total, mostly writers around the same career level as me. These would all be folks who can all learn from each other, and who know each other’s work well, or else are willing to do some reading to acquaint themselves with each other’s work, and who might be willing to do some homework on marketing so each person brings something to share.

I'd need to invite people who are willing to commit to being honest (I won’t say brutally honest, because that’s never helpful. Sneakily honest works better) with other people, and also with themselves, about their goals for their careers and the current state of their careers, their work, their marketing efforts, and the state of the business.

For me, it might be kind of hard, because I’d want to invite both playwrights and novelists. Would they be useful to each other? They each bring a certain amount of ignorance and knowledge about each others' worlds, which might be okay or might be a big problem. Or do I need to do two separate days, one for novelists and one for playwrights? (Which seems like a lot of extra work)

It might be a big failure. Or it might be really fun. We might need a lot more wine than coffee.

Part of what got me thinking about all of this was this great post from the blog Apparently!, where she talks about the importance of clear goals to help steer your career forward. I do want to take a day to myself and just think about my career goals, which is good. I already write down goals every year, and I talk about them to poor Tracy all the time. But I’d feel like I need some outside reality checks in this, too. If I had an agent, she might be able to help in all of this (but I don't. Yet.).

Hmm. I’m gonna think about it. I want something more intimate than a real writing conference, like Grub Street's Muse & Marketplace, though of course it won’t have the agents and editors and chances of making some great new connection. But I think it still might be useful.

I've got to think about it some more. (Who knows if any of my friends would even be interested. Or what if too many people are interested? Will feelings be hurt if people aren't invited?) I'm always a fan of small-scale projects that can be done for little money, but where people are able to connect and help each other. This seems like one of those projects.

(Just what I need, one more project.)

be the first to get a ticket for Constant State of Panic

Okay, opening is more than two months away, but just in case you want to be the first one on your block to say you have your tickets for Constant State of Panic, they are now available on line.

The show, being produced by the Madcap Players, runs from January 14-31 at the H Street Playhouse in Washington, DC. Tickets are $20 (with discounts for groups, and there are preview and other discounts, too). It's gonna be a fun show.

Just for fun, let's say that the first person to buy a ticket online gets a free, signed copy of Tornado Siren (my novel). Just let me know that you've bought your ticket, and I'll check to see if you're the lucky winner.

New book by Mark Dunn: The Calamitous Adventures of Rodney and Waybe, Cosmic Repairboys

My friend and one of my favorite writers, Mark Dunn, has a new book out for kids: The Calamitous Adventures of Rodney and Wayne, Cosmic Repairboys (Book One: The Age Altertron). Mark wrote one of my favorite books of all time (for adults), Ella Minnow Pea, which is one of those books I liked so much that everyone ended up getting it for Christmas the year it came out.

Mark actually asked for comments on an early version of this newest book from me and my daughter. At the time, Kira was the perfect target age for this book and a voracious reader (still is). When the book came out, Mark sent us a signed copy, and in the acknowledgments Kira and I are both thanked. It's especially cool for a young teenager to see herself mentioned and thanked in a book. I don't think many kids grow up seeing the inside of the writing process as much as she has (though maybe it doesn't seem unique or unusual to her.) I know she's looking forward to reading the published version, and I can't wait to read it to my son, who will love the adventures of Rodney and Wayne.

Good News: one-act comedy, Couch Potato, published by Playscripts

My one-act comedy, Couch Potato, is now available from Playscripts. It's a fun play that's good for performance either by adults or students. Here's the description:

GENRE	Comedy
LENGTH	Short, 30-35 minutes
CAST	2 females, 3 males (5-6 actors possible: exactly 2 females, 3-4 males)
SET	Living room of a small New York City apartment, with two entrances/exits.
NOTES	Mild adult language
Eric is the ultimate slacker, but his goal of remaining motionless in front of the TV is in serious jeopardy. His sister and fiance move out and leave him behind in the apartment, and the two newlyweds moving in aren't keen to share their space with a complete stranger. Can Eric use his wits to stay rooted, or is he about to be yanked from his chosen resting place? A fast-paced comedy of inertia.

You can read a sample of it for free on the Playscripts site. This my third play now published by Playscripts. They also publish Pumpkin Patch and Christmas Breaks.

Interviews by Adam Szymkowicz

Adam Szymkowicz has been doing a great series of interviews with various playwrights, and now I'm one of them. Go check out his latest blog post.

The series is actually in ideal learning tool for new playwrights, I think, just because it shows such a variety of writers in various stages of their careers (most are early to middle-career writers).

Lies, Lies, Lies and Counting Rita tonight in LA (Venice) at 8pm

Counting Rita and Lies, Lies, Lies, will be part of Theatre Unleashed's "Through a Caffeine Haze" tonight at:

The Talking Stick
1411c Lincoln Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
8pm.

They're doing a bunch of short plays set in coffee shops. Should be a fun evening. (If you see it, let me know how it goes.)