A Romance in Three Acts

Synopsis:

Act One: Broadway actor Marty Jamison hires Liz Chandler as writer/consultant for Marty's newest show. Marty is interested in Liz. Liz is newly divorced.

Act Two: The one woman show decidedly needs a second person, and wannabe stage diva Felice Taite, a thorn in Marty's side, is brought in to play opposite Marty, much to Marty's dismay. Liz and Marty advance to a more personal relationship. Marty's private and professional life spiral downward when Liz walks out after professional mistreatment by Marty. Felice follows suit.

Act Three: The show goes on while Marty fights for Liz. Tony nominations name Felice and Marty as Best Female Actor.

Day Ten, NaNoWriMo - Curtain Up!

Sometimes the NaNo counter I've posted doesn't work. Bummer.

I'm here to report my ten day count is 11618. I'm averaging 1100 a day and it's well over what I expected.

I kind of like working this way. I'm still writing for quality and not quantity. Should I make 30,000 on the 30th, I'll probably celebrate. 50,000 is the suggested NaNo goal.

Add 30,000 to the total I had when I began, I'll have 43,440 at the end of the month. A novel over half way complete. YAY! I prefer to keep a story around 70 to 75,000 words.

43,440 may not impress you, but for me to write an entire novel in three months is a BFD for this chickadee.

NaNoWriMo

Day four of National Novel Writers Month has ended. If you don't know what I'm taking about, check it out here: NaNoWriMo

After today, I've totaled only 4041 words, as opposed to the 6667 I should have. I don't expect to reach the goal of 50, 000 words in a month, but if I can get at least 500 good words a day, I'll be happy. At least I'm getting more than 500 words a day - so far. I'm using nano to write the back 50 thou of a 70 thou word novel. NaNo is my whip. NaNo, per se, is not my contest.

Yeah yeah, I know "but NaNo is about quantity, not quality". Whatever. Maybe I'm too hard on myself. Maybe I like to buck "authority" too much. Whatever the reason, I'll continue to edit as I go along. That's just me.

I like what I've written so far. To me, that's important. When I don't like it, I"ll delete it. Those deleted words will not count toward my total.

Soon, probably tomorrow night, I'll begin "ActII" of a three act novel, Curtain Up! I suspect any publisher will hate that and want nothing to do with "acts", as opposed to chapters. Give them something different, I say. I'm not much of a conformist in life.

Uh th-th-th-th-th-tha-that's all, folks.

Anita Morris - Marty Jamison

In 1997, my first novel - Coming Attractions - was published. CA had a secondary character, named Marty Jamison. Marty was a Broadway actor and is now the lead character in my new romance - Curtain Up!

Broadway actor Anita Morris was my inspiration for Marty Jamison. Ms. Morris was well known for her stage work and her best role was probably in "Nine". She also worked in film. Her films included Ruthless People, A Sinful Life, and Hotel New Hampshire. Ms. Morris died in 1994, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 50.

Her husband, choreographer Grover Dale, posted a You Tube video of Anita. A costume malfunction was quite a stir, as she'd been covered to hide a reasonably transparent fabric. I love her recovery and the great smile she shows to the audience, once she's covered again.

These are Mr. Dale's words, regarding the video: "Anita was always nervous about first performances. Seconds before this one, I pleaded with her that whatever happens onstage not to stop. 'Keep going no matter what!' The malfunction you see here is the result of her honoring that request."

Anita flubs the lyrics early on; you can hear her laugh. She continued the number and then her costume bottom later fell apart.

Here's the video.

Just An Update.

I've written the first 14,000 words of Curtain Up! and I think the story is coming along well. I've secured a beta reader and first thoughts from her are positive. I'm anxious to hear her remarks and find out where I've gone astray. :-) Not only is she reading, but she developed a working cover for me. YAY! I like her cover and think it would be perfect. If I'm lucky enough to secure a contract on the story, I'll submit her cover as an idea of what I would like to see, not that a publisher would pay any attention to my desire.

Still haven't heard from my initial beta reader for The Virginal. How disappointing that's turned out. *shrug* Still waiting to hear from the "reader" who is supposed to straighten me out on world building, too. My father always said "If you want something done right, do it yourself." In most cases, I do exactly that. Unfortunately, for my writing I sometimes need a little help. In the case of the beta, I've been waiting since June. In the recent case, only 10 days, so I'll give her benefit of the doubt.

Managed my way through the flu, but not N1H1, or whatever they're calling it these days. Feeling much better now.

Go Phillies!

A Bit On Provincetown

Was fun. Good friends. Fine readings. Terrible weather. Many people with colds. I guess we shared our germs.

Vixen. The Pig. HOW. Lobster Pot. All those and more, mighty fine.

Graphic Artist SHERI surprised us. Woo-hoo! What a kind, gentle person she was and is.

So...flu here. Back to bed,

A cold, a blog, a sleepy me.

Will travel while sniffling and sneezing, tomorrow morning. I hope to leave for Ptown NLT 8am. If I'm not feeling great when I get there, I can lay on the sofa and watch football all day. :-)

Check out my post for Women and Words.

Ta ta, for now, chickadees. Bedtime.