Monday Morning Musings

My little town, Winnsboro, is one of the few rural cultural arts districts in Texas, and one of the reasons we acquired that designation is the Fine Art Market that is held annually. Another reason is the vibrant Winnsboro Center for the Arts, where I am very active.

In addition to being the Theatre Director, I organize the Author Showcase that is held in conjunction with the Fine Art Market, and for one weekend the air in town is infused with creativity. On Saturday I was at the Author Showcase with a number of other authors and it was a good event. We had lots of fun greeting folks we knew and meeting new friends. I was especially pleased to see a number of my Young Players come out for the day, and was thrilled to sign a book for Natalie, a terrific young actress.

Sunday, I went back to the market to do some shopping, and it was so much fun finding unique gifts for my kids and grandkids. I always love it when something just pops up and says, "Buy this for..." I even splurged and bought a gift for myself.

In other news, I have a story in a new anthology that is being released November 15 by S&H Publishing. The book has already received several early reviews on Amazon and so far readers are enjoying it. There will be a launch party for the book this Sunday in Virginia. I sure wish I was close enough to attend. Who doesn't love a party?

The book, Short & Happy (or not) is available through the S&H Publishing website and other online retail stores. I will be happy to send a signed bookplate to anyone who might want to order the book as a gift - to someone else or to keep. Just e-mail me at maryann@maryannwrites.com

Autographed book make terrific gifts, and I would be happy to sign and ship copies of my other books that you might want to buy as gifts. Just contact me at the above e-mail addy.

To end with a bit of humor, I cracked up when I saw this cartoon from Drabble yesterday. Ralph and June are in a restaurant, where June has made quite a mess with her soup. Ralph is thinking, "If your spouse goes to the dentist in the morning and the dentist gives her long-lasting Novocain, and she asks you to take her to her favorite soup and salad restaurant afterward, I suggest you sit at separate tables. Just sayin'."

Monday Morning Musings

As if my life wasn't already frenetic enough, things are really going to be busier than ever the next couple of weeks. We are counting down to the opening of Arsenic and Old Lace at the Main Street Theatre in Sulphur Springs, Texas  on September 29th, so I only have two weeks to finish learning my lines. And in addition to lines, I have to learn more blocking moves for this show than I ever have for any other show I've been in.(If you click on the link you can see pictures from one of the rehearsals.)

In addition to that, I have to start preparing for two shows at the Winnsboro Center For the Arts. One, a Reader's Theatre production, will run the last weekend in October, and the other is our annual holiday show. It doesn't open until the first weekend in December, but we need to be in rehearsals by the middle of October, which means I need to be ordering scripts, etc. now. 

I'm also arranging an Author Showcase, to run the first weekend in November in conjunction with the Winnsboro Fine Art Market. Thankfully, there is not a lot of work involved with that, but I do need to contact a couple more authors, and prepare press releases, registration forms, and exhibit space. 

On the home front, we are getting a new deck built, and work will probably start next week. That means I have to finish emptying the "step" flowerboxes that connect two sets of stairs leading up to the deck. They are filled with good, rich dirt so I don't want to lose that when the steps are taken down.  I love those flowerboxes, and in this current drought, the flowers there have been some of the very few to survive.

In the midst of all that, I have to finish editing a book for one client and get started on another right after that. I also have deadlines to prepare Open Season for electronic release in December, and I am really trying to finish writing a new book.

To get through this and not mentally explode, I will have to make lists of tasks and really focus. Sometimes my approach to a daily task list is what my husband calls "push down- pop up". Apparently that was a common term among computer programmers to describe how you would be pushing down on one task and somethings else would pop up that needed attention. My husband says I am much to easily mislead by a pop up.

How about you? Is it easy for you to stay focused on the task at hand?