Thursday, April 12, 2012

Anybody here?

Well, I moved over to WordPress, and guess what's happening over there? Nothing. I guess I'll give it another week or so, but if you won't follow me to my new neighborhood, I'll call the movers and come back. I moved over there so I could invite in other writers, guest bloggers I thought you'd enjoy. But oh well. Blogger may make it easier to bring them here one day. Here's what I wrote today at WordPress, and here's the new address http://redcrested.wordpress.com/ : It’s lonely out here. I feel like I’ve moved to the tundra. I can feel the wind whistling by … According to the stats, not one person has read one post since I moved my blog to WordPress. Hm. I moved over here because SUPPOSEDLY I would increase my readership. I thought (obviously I was mistaken) that my readers were coming here from twitter by clicking on a link there and would simply click on whatever link was in the tweet. Not so. All righty then. I will post on dehelensbits and see if anyone is still looking for me over there. Meanwhile, if anyone does wander by, looking for a sandwich or something, say howdy, will ya? Leave me a note. Take whatever you can find in the cupboard. I’ll be back soon.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Moving ... to wordpress.com

For a few reasons, I am starting a new blog on WordPress. Please book mark me at http://redcrested.wordpress.com/ and come visit me over there. One of the main reasons is that I will be able to guest blog and have guests on my blog easily via triberr.com. Another reason has to do with links and other tech items. I will keep this blog for awhile and may try doing two blogs, as I know that many writers do.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover! Passover means I can buy Coke at the grocery store without corn products, it comes in bottles with a yellow cap, for a week. One week out of a year. I'm off to Albertson's. Then, on Monday it means 1/2 price chocolate at Walgreen's. That's what I learned from my friend Ginny several years ago. She always bought chocolate after Easter and after Halloween. I like those little individually wrapped Dove dark chocolates, and never buy them ... except after Easter and Halloween. I keep them in the freezer and have one after dinner. Now to write!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

THE STARS ARE OUR ANCESTORS: A Table Reading

Had a table reading of my newest full length play last night. I belong to PDX Playwrights group which meets twice a month to read new plays by its members. The reads are cold, and parts are handed out on the spot to whomever is available at the time. After the reading, feedback is given to the playwright in the following way: 1) popcorn response (one or two words), 2) what worked in the play, 3) the playwright gets to ask for specific feedback.
Here's the synopsis: An astronomer overcomes agoraphobia and travels to Korea with her adoptive mother, bi-racial daughter, and lesbian lover to find her biological parents. Her daughter disappears, her mother dies, she suffers relapse. Only her true ancestors – the stars – can save her now.
Usually after a table read, I just come away ready for work. This time, the positive feedback overwhelmingly outweighed the things that need fixing, however. I came away feeling terrific. There are definitely a few places that I need to tweak, a couple of problems to solve. The playwrights in the group are so helpful and generous that I'm really glad I joined this group last September.
Do you have a good writers' group? Do you have rules for giving and receiving criticism of your work in that group? How does that work for you?