My current projects

I'm working on a few rather big writing projects, all of which have me intimidated to a greater or lesser degree:

1. I've written slightly more than half of an adventure novel (planned length about 90,000 words as far as I know at this point). This has been the typical back-burner project for well over a decade. The first few chapters have been written and rewritten (which is sort of like chewing and rechewing your food, only not as nice), and the subsequent chapters get increasingly haphazard and rough.

2. I've got the first act written of a typical (no, I'll be kind and call it "classic") whodunit stage play, written with a particular troupe of young (teenage) actors in mind. I'm aiming for about an hour of stage time, which is significantly less than "full length", but it's the first play I've written since the 10-minute play I got performed when I was 13. (Having already had one's first play performed tends to put rather a heavy burden on one regarding the second play, even if it is over three decades later....) Houston and Margaret, both of whom are actors, obliged me with a reading of the first act last night in our living room, and it's not as embarrassingly leaden as I had feared. It's pretty much guaranteed a performance, as I'm writing it to order for the kids, as well as workshopping it with them; I'll post its progress (and, hopefully, eventual success) on this blog.

3. I'm collaborating with Houston on a major work called Earth and Space. I provide the poems, he sets them for mezzo soprano, chorus, various instruments that I can't recall off the top of my head, and electronics. I don't really consider myself a poet, except I keep writing poems, so what's the story there?

4. And, of course, because I have nothing else to occupy me, I've started this blog. Ta-dah!