March 2018 has fully been entered into the history books and with it, the recent release of my second fantasy novel, The Blue Gem.
After a stretch of seemingly non-stop edits and rewrites between the start of the year and the book's release date, April promises to offer a window to catch my breath.
Only for a moment, though, as the writing and other ventures continue to move forward.
The Blue Gem is a fantasy novel 3.5 years in the making, though in reality the title, characters and ideas were taken from a story I wrote way back in my early teen years. The Dragon Princess -- once upon a time called The War of the Lands -- gave birth to the earlier and now current version of The Blue Gem.
Released late on the evening of March 16, The Blue Gem is available for download for the low price of $3.99.
Outside of submitting to agents/agencies, I am also exploring releasing a couple of paperback copies through Kindle Direct Publishing. I believe it is in option this time around and need to take a closer look at that before making the final call.
The focus on finishing The Blue Gem left little time to write much else. I did add a few pages to another novel I've been working on, Palm Trees and Paradise, along with a few pages on a youth Christmas story and some edits on a new play, Half Past Midnight.
I initially had a reading of the first 30 pages of this play about 7 years ago and had mostly set it aside over the years. I picked it up again and aim to have a first draft done by the end of the month.
The NCAA tournament occupied my weekends the last three weeks and I did find time to write multiple posts on that (keeping my blog active in the process). College basketball -- and specifically this time of year -- continues to be my favorite sport to watch and I'm always a little sad when the season ends.
Also in March I was handed some more responsibility with Alley Rep as I'm heading up a new monthly series. Alley Repertory Theater, along with Rediscovered Books, started the Brick by Brick play reading series, held the second Tuesday of the month (except in April. It will be on the 24th). The series will be readings of plays that have sparked the interest of Alley staff and board members. The event starts at 7:30 pm.
Due to these things, I did not get around to starting my monthly interview series in March like I'd planned on. This is still on the agenda for April, but in the meantime here is are a few things happening around the Treasure Valley in April.
The Red Light Variety Show is back at the Visual Arts Collective for their spring show. These fine performers are taking audiences back to the 80's April 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 , but get those tickets fast (it does look like as of 4/2 the 14th, 21st, and 28th are sold out).
The Boise Bard Players will be performing The Taming of the Shrew at The HandleBar April 20-22 and 27-29.
White Do Reading Series --presented by the Opal Theatre Company and White Dog Brewing -- will do a reading of play called Pluto at 6 pm on April 16 at White Dog Brewing.
Be bold. Be kind.
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