Myths and Legends Convention 2019

I'm going to be a guest speaker on five panels for the Myths and Legends Convention.

A REAL HUMDINGER—The Hyland Spring Play 2019

This is the story of a history professor named Nigil whose renewed relationship with his grandfather leads to a scandal involving communism, the circus, and a train robbery that may or may have not happened—or eventually will happen.

Here’s how the story happened:

AFTER ALL--Short Story

This is a story I wrote a very long time ago. I rewrote it many, many times. It was rejected many, many times. Last December, it was published in the third volume of an anthology called Future Visions. Here’s the blub:

Senior Play 2018: Zigzag

In April of 2018, Sierra Martinez, Evan Vance, and I drove downtown to the Tattered Cover and brainstormed for their senior play.

Master Cat at Oklahoma Christian University

Anna Wilcox commissioned me to write several plays for BackStory, an organization she founded years ago. She has since moved to Oklahoma and recently spear-headed drama efforts at OCU. She decided to use one of my plays—Master Cat.

Denver Westercon 2018 Guest Speaker

Chain reaction. Because of my story in Once Upon a Future Time, I was a guest speaker at the Denver Westercon.

Comic Con 2018 Book-Signing

For the first time, I got to be on the other side of the table.

Book Signing and Lectures

This summer, I get to be involved in a couple of great opportunities. For the short version, check my Twitter updates @AlmostBruce. For the long, boring story, click here.

BEATNIK BLUES--Spring Play 2018--Behind the Scenes

 

Here’s how Beatnik Blues happened.

JACK AND THE QUANTUM FRACTURE--Short Story in Upcoming Anthology

I sold a short story to the Brothers Uber. They will be publishing an anthology of science fiction stories based on fairy tales. My story is called "Jack and the Quantum Fracture." It involves a boy named Jack, the abduction of cattle, and some magic beans. The books comes out around March 2018.

DELINQUENTS--Senior Play 2017

On November 10, 2017, Delinquents was performed on the Hyland stage. The actors and crew did a wonderful job.

Back in April of 2017, I sat down with Caitlin Taylor and Lydia SunderRaj (the graduating senior class of 2018) to discuss possible ideas.

Current Projects Sep 2017

Almost finished with the rough draft of the Hyland senior play. I'll be sending the first draft to my good friend Anna Wilcox on Tuesday for feedback. Then after a brief polish, we'll do the read-through on Thursday. The working title is DELINQUENTS and the tentative performance date is October 27.
I am a little past half-way through a fairly readable rough draft of MOBIUS GIRL. Progress on the novel has been briefly postponed because of the senior play script, but the plan is to get going strong again this coming week.
The non-fiction book REAL LIFE has had a slow start. A basic outline is finished and I've tinkered with the beginning. The introduction is made up of at least two parts: "This-Topia" and "Don't Ask a Fish."

Current Projects August 3, 2017

For the sake of my own accountability, and to feel like I’m making progress, I’m going to try and post works in progress on a regular basis.

Mobius Girl--Update

I’m working on the third draft of a novel for my friend Grace Garrison. She’s 11 years old and loves to read. Last summer I asked her what kind of story she’d like and she asked for a story about superpowers. Grace gave me a bracelet she made so one of the key factors in the novel is a bracelet.

The story is about a young girl named Ambry Klavins, whose mother works at a retirement center called Marigold Hills. While visiting the center, Ambry finds a bracelet belonging to an old woman. When Ambry puts the bracelet on, she is startled to discover she can’t take it off.

My goal is to have a decent draft finished before the summer is over.   

Life Among the Married People

My book is available now on Amazon.
Here's the blurb:

World Dominance for Beginners

I wrote a play called World Dominance for Beginners. Here’s how it came about and all the behind-the-scenes stuff involved in its production.

THE GRAMMAR POLICE

       Among English-speakers, there are those who have taken on the responsibility of watch-dogging others. When they catch someone breaking one of the rules, they pull them over for a verbal citation. They are sometimes called the Grammar Police.

BRAVO AVENUE--Behind the Scenes

Back in April of this year, Marcus Christman, Matthew Christman, Ethan White and I went downtown.

PAPER BULLET Now Available

My book Paper Bullets: Point-Blank Notions on Writing is now available on Amazon.

Here’s the blurb and the table of contents:

NaNoWriMo 2016: Mobius Girl

National Novel Writing Month started on Nov 1^st at 12:01 a.m. and ends at midnight, Nov 30^th. Those who participate, write approximately 1,666 words a day for 30 days. The end result is a novel-length manuscript of 50,000 words.

NaNoWriMo started in 1999 in San Francisco with 21 participants. Over the years it has become an epic event involving thousands and thousands all over the world. Although it has mostly produced quantity, there is no doubt it has also produced quality. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern and Wool, by Hugh Howey both started out as NaNoWriMo novels.

I’ve completed NaNoWriMo at least three times before. This time, I sort of cheated.

I’m already working on a novel so I’m going to use National Novel Writing Month as an extra push. I didn’t want to wait for Nov 1^st for a variety of reasons, so I started on October 19^th, aiming for an average of 2,000 words a day. When NaNoWriMo started this morning, I went into it with 26,000 words already written.

The novel is tentatively called Mobius Girl. More about that later.