Blog No. 243
Now that we are well into the summer, my schedule is starting to look more like normal. Other than the odd weekend wedding, the day job is slowing way down. It means tightening the belt, but it also means way more time for writing and such. Even the upcoming events have slowed down, which I’m not going to complain about. The last few didn’t work out so well, so taking a break from so many is fine by me. I’ll be nice to work my way back in front of the eight ball that ran me down a few months ago. That may be easier said than done, but even with a little more writing finished, I’m already feeling like things are on the way.
Speaking of events, the next one is an interesting one. Walkerville, repeatedly claiming the title of the artistic area of the city, is having an Art Walk (the fifteenth annual Art Walk actually). Many of the local businesses will have tables set out in front of them where artists will have their stuff on display. I was lucky enough to be invited to hock my wares out front of Biblioasis. They asked the authors to do spontaneous readings too, so that could be a fun one.
Following that, I’m open until the next ChiSeries Reading at the end of August. The first one was a lot of fun, but I’m looking forward to getting some of the kinks out. I’m really hoping the city will embrace the event. It could be a really good thing for the area, and not just for the writers. Being connected to a national series has a lot of benefits and it can give us the opportunity to show off our artists to the rest of Canada. Plus, since it’s a paid event, we can bring in some fun folks and even leverage our proximity to the US. It could be great is what I’m saying.
What else? Uh, Episode five of Flags and High Fives is due out tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s more than halfway done. It’s been a lot of fun to work with Arvin again. We’ve even got caught up in some of the old (and I mean old) ideas we had back before he moved away and before I was ever going to really write anything. Chances are we are too busy to make much of them, but it’s always fun to expel some old demons. There are three big episodes to go still in the series, but we’re already looking at what we’re going to do next. If I can get my act together, we may do some intensive thing that involves me heading up there for a longish amount of time, say more than a weekend. The down side is interfering with his family’s routine. The positive is getting a ton of content done in one go. It’s still just an idea and we still haven’t sorted out what we’re going to do, but it’s exciting to think about.
For now, I’m back to focusing on some writing. I have the next Fifth Monday to finish before the end of the month (maybe the last one for a while) and the story for Urban Farmhouse Press to do. I also have a whole lot of layout to get done for the Crime Anthology, but thankfully I have a good month before I have to worry. Anything I get done now is a bonus (in that it’s done in a reasonable time and not a mad rush to get it done on time). Maybe one day I’ll actually get my other novella done. By now I’m starting to think it may make an interesting winter/holiday release.
Ben Van Dongen 