The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Wayang -er- Washington Irving
I was almost going to let Halloween go by without an appropriately thematic post, and then an old classmate shares something he’s narrated — and sharing is scaring!
Various and Sundry
Month: October 2022
Writing
“Leveling Up” your Writing Prior to NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is almost upon us, so I’ve been posting articles for what many writers call National Novel Prep Month. (I’m mainly going to hype my writing in an anthology this month… and also work on some scriptwriting). In this installment, Shannon Valenzuela goes into some actions you can take to make the most of your prep.
Various and Sundry
Real Secret Societies You May Not Know
What with the casting I’m working on for our show, Quorum, I’ve been thinking about actual secret societies, and how secret they actually are. Enter Jackie Mansky writing for Smithsonian magazine. Per the article, actual secret societies are often centered around good causes (certainly as far as the members are concerned). Not only that, but these days, they’re aren’t not too secret. Indeed, their existence is often in plain sight even if their purposes might…
Various and Sundry
Cleaning Up Personal Data Online
Firmly in the “getting around to it” folder is this NPR article about changes with Google’s tools to take personal information out of searches from earlier this year. More later this week. Right now, I’m in the midst of a sizeable casting for Jabberwocky Audio.
Writing
9 Steps to Build a Strong Plot (NaNoWriMo Prep)
NaNoWriMo will be upon us next month, and so for a lot of people, October is National Novel Prep Month. (I’m mainly going to hype my writing in an anthology this month… and also work on some scriptwriting). Now, if you read last week’s post and decided that you are more of a plotter, writer Derek Murphy has a 9 step “plot dot” for you. For some, you’ll quickly pick up on the fact that…
Acting
R.I.P. Angela Lansbury: A Grand Dame for the Ages
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury has died at the age of 96. You can read obituaries and appreciations of her career in: The AV Club Collider Deadline NPR The New York Times Variety Vogue The Washington Post, and Disney (she was, of course, a “Disney Legend”) And if you want to celebrate her many parts singing memorable songs, Playbill has a wonderful video compilation. Amazing that she simply termed her voice “serviceable.” Indeed, if you find…
Writing
Are You a Pantser or Plotter? (NaNoWriMo Prep)
NaNoWriMo will be upon us next month, and so for a lot of people, October is National Novel Prep Month. (I’m mainly going to hype my writing in an anthology this month… and also work on some scriptwriting). This Monday’s entry is important, as we’ll be midway through this prep month before you know it and you need to ask yourself: am I pantser or a plotter? Will Soulsby-McCreath walks you through some thought exercises…
Various and Sundry
Oh Yeah: Columbus Day
I mean, if I’m going to post for the vikings yesterday, I might as well do this today:
Various and Sundry
Vikings in Myth and Movies
I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole earlier this year, going through the various “experts in [X] talk about the treatment of [X] in movies.” When I saw this one, I knew it had to be this year’s Leif Erikson Day post. (Because of course I have to have a Leif Erikson post. Have you seen my name?).
Writing
Sci Fi versus Fantasy
A meme tickled Twitter users’ fancy late last month and for good reason: it was a pair of pithy comments contrasting science fiction and fantasy and skewering the related tropes for both. Mignon Fogarty has a good collection over at the Grammar Girl, but be warned! You’ll start wanting to do your own. To whit: Sci Fi is this blog on an encrypted server you’ll need some cyberpunk hacker to access. Fantasy is this blog…