It has been a fantastically creative week here. I've composed, submitted, written, and even done a bit of visual art just for fun (playing with some new oil pastels -- cool medium to try). Having basically the whole week just to myself helped immensely, and gives me a wonderful window on what my life would be like if I did nothing but creative and artistic work full-time.
Music -- I decided this week I was going to start incorporating music back into my work (instead of focusing single-mindedly on editing my novel). The result is I finished one in-progress piano arrangement and wrote another two, all of which will be played in church tomorrow. I enjoy writing music, but it always gives me an extra little thrill when I can take a piece I've written and turn it around and put it to work doing what it was designed to do.
It's been a while since we've seen this, but I actually needed to update it today, so ... here it is:
- Handbell pieces --
2010 - Piano pieces --
2013 - Choral pieces -10
- String pieces -- 4
- Band pieces -- 2
- Other instrumental pieces -- 4
- GRAND TOTAL FOR 2011 --
6043
Writing -- A lot of movement here. Since I'm heading off to AGEHR's National Seminar next week, I wanted to have this current draft of SC2 finished before I left. Thanks to a marathon editing session yesterday (23 pages edited while fighting a migraine headache all day), I'm back to the point where I think getting this draft finished is quite possible. This won't be the final draft by any stretch of the imagination, but is nonetheless one step closer to the book being done. (Of course, another major step to getting the book done is actually coming up with a title, but that's a battle for another day.)
Publishing -- The first publishing news is about my writing: just a reminder that The Coming of the Heroes is half off this month at SmashWords in countless e-book formats -- only $2.00. You don't need a handheld e-reader to take advantage of this. There are many free e-reader programs available online, and you can also read the book in PDF or plain ol' HTML format. One purchase gives you access to all those formats, so you can try one until you find one you like. Please, check it out, and encourage your friends to do so, as well.
Once I finished the aforementioned three piano pieces, I sent them and several of their brethren off to Lorenz to see if they'd like to publish the lot. So far, all my published piano works have been through Lorenz, so I figured that was a good place to start. (The fact their piano catalog is impressive doesn't hurt matters, either.)
I also sent off my handbell piece Sympatico to AGEHR to see if they want it, and sent off Escape Velocity to Kevin McChesney at Jeffers for his consideration. Escape Velocity is the one I wrote for the Raleigh Ringers, and which they've been playing at all their concerts this season. I've had more people I've never met make nice, positive comments about that piece than any piece I've ever written, so I'm hopeful it will be available for folks that want it sometime in the future.
I also got a royalty check from the folks at SoundForth. They're one of the publishers that give royalties twice a year, so neither check is as large as some others, but they come more often. Regardless, it was a nice little find in my mailbox.
I think that's it from my corner of the world. Look for a regular post on Wednesday morning, then updates and posts at random times from AGEHR's National Seminar in Minneapolis later in the week. Should be a great time with a whole bunch of people crazy about handbells (and crazy handbell people) getting together for four days of ringing, learning about, listening to, and breathing handbells. Have a great weekend!
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