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Have been working on a treatment for a play (that could also be a MG book) about dinosaurs.  It’s been interesting using the Hero’s Journey as a scaffold, and checking out 8-10 kids’ stories (everything from Hans Christian Andersen to Wreck-It Ralph) to see how they hit the beats. I’ve used this structure before, but mostly as reverse-engineering for an idea I already had, rather than as a guide to creating something new. It’s been interesting and inspiring. Amazing how you can put together connections that spark new ideas.

So, when the four of us go to the Rainforest, it is a two-day drive (we have long ago given up the dangerous, stomach-churning option of driving over night). We want to arrive ready to write, so we have a tradition of giving each person up to half a day (usually it turns out to be 1-2 hours) to talk out whatever they want about their Rainforest project.

Then the rest of us ask questions, help brainstorm, and diverge into writerly topics sparked by the discussion, ending with, “is there anything else we can help you with?” Invariably, not only the focus on the individual, but all the discussions and divergences, ignites each writer’s ideas, creativity and passion for their project. We land at the Rainforest primed and ready to write.

In addition, the writers I travel with are knowledgeable professionals, so it is like a series 4-member convention panels providing a two-day professional development course in addition to the writing and inspiration of the actual Rainforest, itself.

I head out on Tuesday to Lake Quinault in Washington State for a week-long writers’ retreat! Looking forward to outlining Book 4!!

So, with the novel in submission, I’m back to freelance editing. I have 2 clients at the moment, and another I need to talk to, to see if we are a good fit for each other. My current projects are both super-interesting, and I really enjoy the editing work!

Bursts of Fire has been supported, so far, by two action-adventure videos. The next videos we want to put out are artist-inspiration videos, but the feedback we got last summer was that they were unclear. So we are re-thinking the idea of having them with no voice-over.

I had one of the artists (Adria Laycraft) visit me this week and we did a voice recording of her answering a bunch of questions about what inspires her art. Of course, with modern technology, you can do a fairly good digital recording with minimal equipment, but my daughter, who has her BFA in this field, suggested we do it in the laundry room with foamies to absorb the echoes, and use a nylon-stocking pop-blocker.

I think the recording worked pretty well. Of course, the proof will be when we put it onto the video, and see if the quality is what we want. Still, an interesting experiment.