Well, as any of you who saw my post this week on Facebook now know, as of this past Thursday evening, I am now a full-time Creative. I stepped away from my job teaching elementary Media Technology so that I can stay home with my son in the fall, which means that I now make all of my living (such as it is) from playing, writing, and privately teaching music (with an extra $30 a year thrown in from the sale of my books). It was a hard week as I left friends and students I have come to care about, and left a really nice elementary library that has been my home-away-from-home for over a quarter of my life. Still, as I said to some friends before I left, I'm not running away from anything, rather I'm running toward a wonderful new chapter of my life where I get to help raise my son into a young man who, God willing, won't be a sociopath, and where I get to spend all my time making the music and stories that I have only been doing on the sides for years now.
That being said, don't be surprised by the lack of activity in this week's Summary...
Music -- I did, early this week, finish up another two piano pieces -- a peppy arrangement of Peace Like a River, and another original entitled Offering. Both have been sent off for hopeful publication, and both (along with the three from last week) will be played in church over the coming weeks.
I figure this is as good a forum to state this goal as any -- my hope (goal?) is to have a piece of music I've composed or arranged be a part of our weekly church service every week for the coming year, be it a prelude, postlude, or otherwise ... and I hope that nearly all of those pieces will be newly-composed, not something I've pulled out from the past. If nothing else, I figure this will encourage me to compose more, and to branch outside my comfort zones of handbells, piano, and strings. I hope to arrange some choral pieces (probably SAB or two-part) and some organ pieces (probably on the easy side) to help with this goal. I'll try to remember to keep you all updated on how that pans out.
Writing -- I've decided I'm going to go ahead and participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this June, working on the rough draft of a novel in a new trilogy I've been thinking about for a while. I'll give more details on it as it gets going, but for any of you who have ever contemplated trying to write a rough draft of a novel, I invite you to join me -- just head on over to the Camp NaNoWriMo site, sign up, then feel free to look me up -- jwkrug is my username -- and let me know. Should be a lot of fun, and beats doing pretty much anything outside during the balmy days of early summer.
Publishing -- I received the mp3 recording of my newest coming out from SoundForth, a level 1 handbell arrangement of Twas In the Moon of Wintertime. I'm actually really pleased with this one, as it was a bit of an experiment in how to have different tonalities (major and minor versions of the same chords) in the same piece without ringers being allowed to change bells. I think it turned out really well, as, evidently, did the folks at J.W. Pepper, who made it one of their Editors' Choice pieces for 2012. Feel free to check it out! I'll upload the sound file to my Compositions page (which really needs to be updated) in the coming weeks.
That's all from here. Right now, I'm trying to come to grips with my new employment status, with trying to work from home nearly all the time (which, truthfully, will go much better once I get this office straightened up a bit -- it's a mess!), and with making a feeble stab at getting my son on a regular nap schedule so Daddy will have time to do his composing and writing during the days. I truly think new and exciting things are around the corner, and I do hope you all will follow along with me as I explore this strange new world. Until Wednesday, then, have a fantastic week, a wonderful holiday weekend, and keep creating!
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