"Advent Tour" is now available on Amazon.com and directly from the publisher, www.blackmatrixpub.com.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at "The Bag," for which I was casting director and script supervisor.

The Adventure Begins

Today, I signed a contract with Black Matrix Publishing for my first novel, a young adult comic fantasy titled "Advent Tour." It's about a coffee house worker who is transported to another world as its reluctant ruler, and he's put in the position of having to tour his new realm to gather report from his skeptical subjects.

Moved my desk right next to the window and ditched a bunch of stuff that used to be on it. I don't know if the change in scenery will be as uplifting as I hope, but it is nice to have something pleasant to look at and some room to spread out scene cards. My life does seem to be a frequent battle with entropy.

The horror musical I was assistant director for, SOME KIND OF HORROR, won an award for best director. Congratulations Lawrence and Savannah Morgan. See www.quickfest.com to watch it.

It is considerably more fun to write than to rewrite.

I'm sitting in Blue Stone Cafe, my hand-scribbled notes all across my draft of "The Unintended Stray." I've been pondering a problem: On the first page is a locksmith. How much should I describe the locksmith? Should I name him? Does it have to be a him? I've come up with an entire back story for this locksmith, who appears only on the first page. Since that troubled me, I wondered if I should work the locksmith into the book more.

Oh, the things I will do to waste time. I have many, many pages of work ahead of me, some significant changes, and I'm fiddling around with such a tiny detail. Yes, I do want my writing to be detailed and carefully thought out, but it is important to not neglect the big picture in the process.

On movie front, "Model Rules" has won the Northwest Emerging Artist Award at the Salem Film Festival.

I forgot to mention somewhere along the line that Ray and I picked up "best screenplay" for "Sixes and the One Eyed King" at Cine-Fest in Kentucky. SIXES also won "best feature." The list of winners is up, and I'm not named correctly. (www.cine-fest.com/WINNERS%2008.html)

There go MY 15 seconds of Internet fame.

I'm trying to figure out what to see at the Ashland Independent Film Festival. "Model Rules" is showing three times, and I'll probably go to the Saturday showing and party down afterward with everyone. There are so many options, and I've created this grid to help me plan it out. Of course, I'll want to make some time to mingle with filmmakers, as that's the best part of festivals. I should have done this some time ago, as some things are already sold out.

I have a lot more work to do on "The Unintended Stray" after doing an on-paper edit on it. As much as I love trees, there's something really useful in a hands-on read through your writing. I have all sorts of notes over the pages, and I must now translate them. I'm a ways from where I first envisioned the book, but I think it has grown and shaped itself as I've worked on it. Of course, there's the nagging fear that this is all stupid and pointless and terribly written, not insightful or enjoyable at all. At some point, you have to decide to move forward and endure dismal failure if it happens.

Following the Facebook "we own everything you post" scare, I've removed the portions of my novel I'd posted previously, just in case this site should get all possessive and legalesque. Probably unnecessary, but it makes me feel better. 

I'm now making my first major edit of "The Unintended Stray," and I'm seeing that I'll have some significant changes to make. Sometimes you need to work through the story to understand it better. Once you have something down, you can see how it could develop even more.

I've done a bit of update to the site, adding a soul mates poll related to "The Unintended Stray." I like "stray" over "mongrel" because mongrel implies ill breeding more than a lack of fitting in. It's about parentage more than position. "Stray" can result from one's own choices, while "mongrel" results from an accident of birth. I want her to feel like she doesn't fit in, but I there's a certain way that she doesn't fit in and reasons behind it. While some of them are tied to her parents and their differences, that isn't the sum of her problems.



One involvement lately has been in helping to organize Southern Oregon Film and Television, a nonprofit industry group hoping to promote productions in this area. The website is now up and running, and I've added that link. http://www.filmsouthernoregon.org/ Check it out. I'm on the board, but that pretty much means that I'm doing extra work. Some things are worth effort.



Speaking of effort, a library opened in Grants Pass in December after being closed for a year and a half. I'm so proud of the efforts of Josephine Community Libraries http://www.josephinelibrary.org/. It's been an education to help bring this organization together and convince people to support a brand new nonprofit taking on a service normally provided by government. I'm working on a documentary about the situation. I've completed shooting it and now begins the long editing process. I've never attempted anything this long; my goal is for it to end up about 30 minutes long overall. I wish my technical skills were better and that I had my own equipment rather than borrowing it from the regional public access station. It seemed interesting enough to me to put in the effort without the likelihood of reward beyond the fulfillment of creation. Again, some things are worth effort.



I've worked on a couple of webisodes over the past few months. I was casting director for "Search for a Vampire" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQYEX4dcjFE and in charge of continuity for "The Hightowers." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPbNOAUSSfU

The 2008 Bend Film Festival was fun but very cold. Congratulations to Marlyn Mason, who picked up the Best Actress award.