I know I haven't really been updating this blog as frequently as I'd truly intended to when I started it. This winter has been super crazy (super is my winter into spring 2011 word, and I can't help it), with lots of personal things (all good stuff) taking place amid massive amounts of blizzards which turned into a spring that is just now hinting its way into warmth and joy.
So now I feel like I can breath. I'm a little too reactive to bad weather. I've always looked at January and February as throwaway months, but when March stayed cold, I stayed relatively unproductive. Don't worry, I still went to work and managed to be pretty darn social, but as to progressing career plans I apparently needed sun for that.
Here's what I did do, however. The novel I'd been working on for the past year was finally ready to be read. Sort of. I finally admitted to my mother how close I was to finishing this project (I had no more rewrites left in me and the darn thing was already 200 pages), and she said, whenever I was ready, she was there to read it and remind me how very clever I was (this will come with lots of notes, having been my first editor of school papers, she knows my writing well). Then Sal said he would like to read it. Two days later I told a super (this will get old) great friend, let's call her Louise, about the mass reading about to take place (2 people!) and her response was, as you might expect at this point, that she would like to read it as well. All people whom I completely trust both personally and artistically. This didn't stop me from freaking out about two hours after all three e-mails had been complete.
What had I done? The baby that I'd been incubating for a solid year, molding and honing was now out there for others to see. And suddenly, despite the positive energy I had felt from reading my book one last time the day before, I was sure it was awful. I texted Sal to apologize for the terrible thing he was about to read and called Louise to vent this sudden knowledge. Both of them told me to shove it, and I calmed down. This is, in fact, a very good tactic with me, and they know me well.
Three days later Sal had read the whole thing and loved it. Since we made a pact ten years ago to never lie to each other in regards to artistic endeavors, I had no choice but to believe him. Then two weeks later Louise had finished it, sending me updates on where she was in her process throughout, and she too gave me incredible praise. I'm still waiting on my mother.
Obviously there are things to edit and adjust, but I guess my point is that while marketing for Standard Bear has gone to heck and the only voice work I've done in two months is breathing in Pilates, I can at least say that I wrote a book. I couldn't really say that before someone else read it.
I should share that the book is a novelized chronicle of our battle with cancer from my point of view. I do my best to make it funny. Weird, right? Now it's time to share it with my dear friend who is a professional writer. She is probably reading this and wondering why she hasn't gotten a copy yet. Hopefully the neurosis explained above will tell her why.
Also, I need your help. I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog. It started out as a way to represent our company. However, since I am only half the company and this is - let's be real - my point of view on life, I need a new name. Suggestions?
That said, I promise to continue sharing Standard Bear news and updates. Here's proof: Season Two, Episode Two. If you haven't watched The Prologue or Episode One you might want to watch those first. Either way, definitely watch through the credits, we left some gifts for you at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n35TOhoaPNg&feature=related
