I'm baaaack

Summer is ending and writing time is picking up. I'm at work on a new full-length play, using the methods described in "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder (he died recently and suddenly from a pulmonary embolism -- the same thing I had in May, but I survived). "Save the Cat" is a book for screenwriters, but I'm convinced one can use those excellent methods for any piece of writing -- stage play, screenplay, memoir, novel or short story. Maybe for poetry although I'm no poet so can't say.
I've rejoined Writer Island, an online group of writers who commit to turning in 15 pages per week or get kicked off the Island (for a week). I stayed with the group for months while I "finished" my memoir. Now that I've spent 18 weeks reading it aloud on the radio, I can see it isn't finished at all, but instead needs tightening, rewriting -- a tune-up! So in addition to working on the new play, I'm also working to ACTUALLY finish the memoir.
What did you do on YOUR summer vacation?

Marching on! More sex stories in the following weeks ...

Talk about a poor little thing, but look at me, I was happy. I had both parents, I had my doll Susie, and I had relative freedom. I ran around the farm, mostly unsupervised, because either my Mom trusted me to be "good" and not fall in the pond or into the cistern or pick up a copperhead snake, or else she didn't care, and I chose to believe the former. I was about 3 years old in this picture, no siblings in sight, my dad usually gone somewhere working, just me and my mom alone for weeks at a time. No electricity, no running water, no near neighbors, no near family. Kerosene stove, kerosene lamps, hot summer days and nights. Mom trying to scratch out a vegetable garden and praying for rain. A few chickens to lay eggs, no real farm or farm animals. One exciting day was when Tom the cat found a nest of baby mice in the barn. I got to see them before they were dispatched to heaven. By Mom. Or maybe they weren't. She didn't like to kill things. I'll have to ask the next time we talk. I liked to sit at the edge of the pond and watch Tom try to catch frogs. He wasn't very good at it because he didn't like to get wet. This took up a lot of both Tom's and my time.
I spent time with the 3 musketeers again yesterday, but they let me tell the stories this time, so I don't have any new ones to share with you. They were very interested to hear about the practicing for sex that I did with Sharon ... I told them they should be listening to my radio broadcasts. YOU have, right? If not, now's a good time to check out the archives at www.PIVTR.com, because I know you don't want to miss the good sex stories that are in the archives.
And be sure to tune in tomorrow night!
For Women's History Month, I'll be on KBOO.FM's Stage and Studio tomorrow at 11AM Pacific Time. If you miss it, you can pick it up online after tomorrow. Dmae Roberts is an excellent host. Tomorrow she's having 5 different women reading their work. Check us out. You won't be sorry.

technology frustration!

Last Tuesday night, those of you who listened could not hear me. Or if you leaned really really close to your computers you could hear a tiny little voice akin to that of a mosquito with my accent, but could not make out my words. After the broadcast, two listeners alerted me to the problem, I was able to alert Lillian Cauldwell, PIVTR owner and she made the recording available for free -- BUT google wouldn't allow me to post to my blog until today! So, I wasn't able to tell you unless you emailed me or called me ...

My apologies, most sincerely.

Tonight is Chapter Three, and although I warn you most sternly that the material is rated for mature audiences, in fact Chapter Three is sex and violence free. You can relax and just enjoy it, even share it with your kids if you want to.

My reading of "Copperheads and Common Women" at Portland Center Stage on Sunday went very well to a nice-sized appreciative audience. The two adolescents in the audience liked the story about the copperhead the best. Maybe when I finish the memoir, I'll read this piece for the radio.